Pink Polka Dot Birthday Wreath

Happy Monday! Guess what? We moved last Saturday! Well, not everything, but we loaded up a 26' U-Haul and moved most everything out of our house and into a storage unit. It's so weird to see basically your entire life all piled up in a 10x15 cement space. We will move the rest this Saturday (and by "the rest" I mean just our beds!). My husband is gone almost this entire week for a work trip, so I'm kind of on my own to finish up. The appraisal on our house is Wednesday, and there are a few minor repairs from the home inspection and maybe a couple more from the appraisal, since it's FHA. Selling a house is definitely an adventure, and I truly hope we never have to move again. This week is going to be CRAZY - I just know it - but I'm super grateful to have my little Avabean to hang out with the whole time and make time for reading her new book from Grandpa's trip to England ("Peppa the Pig Meets the Queen") and eating lots of Chick-Fil-A, of course. :) What are you up to this week? Anything wild and crazy or exciting? Or just the same ol' same ol'? Which is truly a blessing, too!

Today, I've got a fun wreath tutorial for you that includes my 2 craft faves: POLKA DOTS + BURLAP. I could probably do a roundup of polka dot + burlap crafts from my own portfolio and fill up an entire blog post - I've done so many! Hopefully you aren't tired of polka dots + burlap yet. ;) I made this wreath for Ava's 1st Birthday last December. It may have stayed on my front door through Christmas, and New Year's AND Valentine's Day. My > St. Patrick's Day Wreath < was the only thing that finally brought it down, ha ha. This little ol' wreath is very simple & easy (classic Put A Bird On It, right?!). My fave part? The pink balloons pretending to be bows! 

POLKA DOT & BURLAP BIRTHDAY WREATH

You'll need a wreath form {I liked this straw one, because I didn't have to worry about metal or green styrofoam showing through}, balloons, polka dot burlap wire ribbon, floral pins

Wrap the ribbon around the wreath. The one spool was JUST enough.

DIY Polka Dot Pants

We've all seen them. An adorby pair of polka dot pants in your fave store just hanging there saying "Buy Me" - "Buy Me". The other part we also see? The price tag. OUCH! Keeping up with the latest trends can get pricey pricey these days. BUT. Thankfully. There is a way to get your polka on (literally) without breaking the bank. Three little letters: D-I-Y. It doesn't get much simpler than polka dot pants. You only need 3 ingredients: pants, fabric paint & foam pouncer. Read on, my friends. Read on.

I went to Deseret Industries ("D.I." - as we call it - a LDS thrift store) and bought a pair of used skinny jeans for $3. One time through the wash and they are good as new.

You can buy fabric paint, or make your own. I always opt for making my own. SO cheap and easy to make just a little for your current project. Buy a fabric medium and mix 2 parts paint with 1 part medium. I use a couple cupcake liners stacked to mix my paint. That way, I can toss it when I'm done.

How to Cut Fabric with a Silhouette Cameo & St. Patrick's Day Wreath

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

ARE YOU WEARING GREEN?!

Ok, I just love holidays! Even if I don't go all out celebrating them every year. Nope - no St. Patrick's Day mantel or treats at my house! Bad craft blogger - I know. :) But I try to do something for each holiday. I did make Shamrock Cupcake Toppers last week {click HERE for the tutorial!}. I also made an easy, last minute St. Patrick's Day Wreath for my front door. I did it in under 30 minutes Saturday morning while my lovies slept in {"lucky" them!}. I took my polka dot birthday wreath {HERE} and upcycled it into this little number. Best part of my project? Cutting fabric with my Silhouette Cameo! Even bester part? I got a NEW CUTTING MAT! I've been cutting with an old, non-sticky mat {think painters tape being used to hold down my card stock! boo}. It was a DREAM cutting fabric with my new mat and my Cameo. Total dream. I cut this adorable white shamrock fabric into pennants for the banner on my wreath. On to the tutorial!

> PIN IT <

Supplies

Fabric  | > Interfacing <  |  Iron  |  Scissors  |  Silhouette Cameo & Cutting Mat

The Fun Part

Guest Posting at Boughtin Baby {DIY Polka Dot Burlap Wreath}

Well, friends, I am visiting another blog today! Remember the adorable onesies Ava got to where a couple weeks ago from Boughtin Baby & Bride? I am over there, at Cady's blog, sharing the pink polka dot burlap wreath I made for Ava's 1st birthday party. It was really easy (of course!) and extremely adorable, IMO, so make your way over there to read all about it! My favorite part? Turning balloons into bows! 

To get you excited...here is a peek at what you'll be learning to make!

Click HERE to view the tutorial!

xo

Enter the fab giveaways I'm currently hosting!

Target $160 Gift Card Giveaway

Wren and Rumor - Baby Swaddle Blanket & Burp Cloth Giveaway

Hot Cocoa Bar for Ava's First Birthday Party

Ava turned one yesterday! Her birthday party didn't have a theme, really, but I tried to use pink, gold, burlap, chalkboard and polka dots! Ha, like I said, not much of a theme, more of all my favorite things. I'll share the different projects I made throughout the week. Today, I'm sharing the Hot Cocoa Bar. This was my favorite part! Ok, favorite part besides Ava opening presents and feeding daddy cake. It was suuuuuuper cold the night of her party. It was amazing of our family to even come out in this weather! I wanted to keep everyone toasty and comfy during the party. A hot cocoa bar seemed like the perfect thing! For the hot cocoa, I used this crockpot recipe from Mrs. Happy Homemaker. She is not lying when she calls it THE BEST ever. My husband RAVED about it the entire night and sent me a text the next day saying he was craving that cocoa! Click the link to get the recipe. And be sure to PIN IT for later. No lie - you will WANT it and LOVE it.

Here are the pics and a list of the toppings I used. I want to see pics of your hot cocoa bar!

 I used chalkboard placecards to label the different toppings. I just made them with chalkstock {chalkboard cardstock - my new best friend!}. The cute silver scoops I got from Zurchers, which is our local party store. I added the polka dot craft tape to the handles to help them go along with the theme!

TOPPINGS

caramel bits

chocolate chips

peanut butter chips

coconut

peppermint Andes mints chips

cinnamon

mini marshmallows

mini candy canes

chocolate hazelnut Pirouettes

whipped cream

If you wanted an Ela Classic, you would do the following:

Cocoa

Peanut Butter Chips

Cinnamon

Whipped Cream

Andes Peppermints

Candy Cane {on the side}

Pirouette

Stripey Straw

YUM!

We are going to the store to get more ingredients to make more cocoa tonight!

Merry Christmas!

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Burlap & Polka Dots Quote Display *GIVEAWAY*

Happy Monday!

Today, I am excited to share my easiest craft ever.

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Happy Monday!

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Burlap and polka dots...and some inspiring words

My friend and I have this thing we do where we set goals together. Different for each of us, but we share them and talk about them. As of yesterday, we are on goal 106 {ok, slight exaggeration}.  Some are big {I will practice the piano every week}, some are small {I will have water with my lunch instead of that delicious dr pepper}, but they are meaningful to us. Some of my goals make me emotional...some come from regret...but they are there to keep me going, to keep me improving myself, and to remind me of the full potential within me. I found this quote by c.s.lewis, one of my favorite authors, and immediately fell in love with it. It is now proudly displayed in my kitchen, where I can see it every day and be reminded of the goals I've set and encourage me to keep trying {and it helps to have my latest loves burlap and polka dots, too!}.

Burlap Wreath

Burlap.  So hot right now. 

It really is!  I love me some burlap.  Following this fantastic tutorial at Top This Top That [http://topthistopthat.blogspot.com/2012/03/easiest-burlap-wreath-you-will-ever.html?spref=fb/] I created my own burlap wreath.  I kept it super simple for spring, only using some white tulips and my fave polka dot wired ribbon. 

I have been itching to turn it into a SUMMER wreath, since spring is pretty much over (ok, completely over).  To get the creative juices flowing, I turned to the husband for advice on what to use to make it summery.  I asked him what came to his mind when he heard the word SUMMER.  His reply?  "Raging Waters!"  "You could put a wave and waterslides on it..."  Ummmm...yeah...creative juices flowing?  Not quite.  I have yet to have the lightbulb go off for the summer wreath, but this 100+ degree weather is telling me it's time to change seasons.