How to organise A slumber Party On A Budget (Part 1)

My daughter turned 10 yesterday and because her birthday fell on a Tuesday we decided she could do something special last weekend.

I guess I thought she’d just want to have a party… Ok its a load of tidying up and a little preparation but I didn’t mind… Honest!

She did opt for a party but one of a different kind… Sleepover AKA… slumber party. I had a little think about it and decided that yes she could, but she was only having a maximum of 5 friends stay over the night.

In the end she opted for just 4 of her friends and as one couldn’t make it just 3 came! Nonetheless, 4 girls in total was actually more than enough… Girls can be bitchy to one another, even sweet little ten year olds ( or so I discovered).

So, they received an invite that stated “Please bring Your Sleeping Bags” and Alice excitedly awaited the weekend.

Me, I wanted my “Not” so little girl to enjoy herself but I still wanted to stay sane during the process, especially given I’d be parenting a demanding 3 year old toddler and a melt down prone almost teenage boy with Aspergers Syndrome on the side. With this I sat down with Alice and we brainstormed on things they could do to make the sleep over exciting and fun but also in a cost efficient way (its January not one of my best months for money).

Here’s a few ideas we came up with…

Home made girly bunting & other decorations for the bedroom
Tattoo bar (temporary of cause)
Nail bar (again temporary)
Hair Bar
Face Painting
Girly chick flicks accompanied by a hot chocolate bar and popcorn cups
Monster High Cupcakes
Few little gifts on the night
Personalised girly gift bags (for when they leave)
Board Games
Karaoke
And more besides… She made a reasonable size list!

We came up with an agreement that was …

Alice could have the sleep over, mum (that’s me) would make the decorations and cakes and bags with Alice’s help. On the night Alice would be provided with all the supplies to have an awesome time but she would then need to use them as she wished… example being that she would not once tell me she was bored! She would organise her hair and nail bar and create her own schedule for the nights event. The only rule being was that all these things were done by 10 pm and then it was time to settle down with hot chocolate and watch the movies provided. I would also be making dinner at a set time so she would need to organise her fun around this time too.

The party Shop…

I decided a trip to PoundLand was in order. It was the perfect place to grab some materials for the nights events.
It was here that I stocked up on treats like crisps, marshmallows, sweets etc. I also grabbed a 20 flag bunting in all different colours as well as balloons, pretty cupcake cases and cake toppers, cupcake stand and decorative tags. Plus I found some pretty little wire butterflies and flowers that I felt would be perfect decorations for the bags. I think I spent around £15, so not to bad at all.

Next stop was Primark… Yes seriously! I was there buying myself some PJs when I noticed the big discount basket that was full off stick on nails. They had these great sparkly metallic gold leopard print design and were reduced to a fab-Tastic 50p each. That was another £2 spent.

Next up was eBay… No queues or heavy bags here. This time I was shopping from the sofa. Here I did very well. I won a bid for a bulk load of 30 girly party bag items. There was 6 different items 5 of each. These include… Temporary tattoo packs, wooden bangles, friendship bands, sticker sheets, packs of 4 hair accessories and mascaras (that they didn’t get). I won the bid at £2.20 with £1.50 postage. The stuff is of excellent quality so I was super happy.

I also brought a bag of 100 acrylic Alphabet beads (£1.40 free postage) 20 funky plastic rings £1 with 85p postage and 10 heart mobile phone charms (that can also be used on iPods, hand gaming consoles and more) these were 99p with £1.99 postage.

The last two items I got from eBay were a pack of pretty girly cellophane flower design bags and a pack of 20 monster high rice paper cupcake toppers both items were £2 each with free postage.

Prep…

Given the bunting was rather plain (just brightly coloured flags on a string, we decided to cheer them up with stuff from the craft cupboard.

We used…

Different size decorative tapes in 5 different designs (pink lace, stripy, Love, skull and cupcake)
Self adhesive buttons
Self adhesive hearts
Mod podge gloss

We cut the 20 flag strip in two halfs of 10.

We used the different tapes in various ways to decorate each flag. Some had multiple strips where others just received a boarder along the top.

We used the different embellishments to decorate. Buttons were applied directly to the tape or in the middle or bottom of our flags. The hearts were sometimes gathered in groups of 2 or 3 giving a bold and girly design.

The skull tap did look a little pirate theme but we then added a strip of Pink Love tape along with a heart to make it stand out in a girly fashion.

The last step was to apply one coat of mod podge to each flag. Now although the flags and some of the tapes were already ultra glossy due to the material they were made from, I decided to do this as to make the bunting stronger and to give the embellishments and other bits that same glossy look.

Mod Podge applied to this material dries in minutes. Our bunting took less then 20 minutes to make which does include drying time. It was therefore up on the wall in no time.

Other decorations we made together, were some very pretty hanging butterflies that would not only be fab decorations for a slumber party but a great addition to her bedrooms decor like that of the butterfly canvas we recently created and showed you here on the blog. With this I’ve decided to show you these in a later post (that will include a little tutorial). We also made paper chains from decorative papers and pompom garlands. All items apart from the flag bunting were already housed in our crafts cupboard, so the costs were kept very low

As for the party bags (for when they leave to go home) we created these with the following items…

Clear cellophane bags with flower design.
Wire ties (came with bags)
Self adhesive wire flowers and butterflies
Ribbon (different colours)
Decorative tags
Decorative paper and a balloon and heart craft punch (to make sequins)
Party Bag Contents (the items from eBay, including the rings and mobile charms)

These, were simple to create but the end results were very pretty, much better than your bog standard party bag that normally involves little themed bags that kids tip all over the floor just so they can find what it is they are looking for.

I wanted the bags to be see-through hence the cellophane bags. This allows kids to see whats inside without even opening them. Nonetheless, I still wanted them to be really pretty and girly so opted for the flower design I’ve mentioned above.

Each bag was filled with the treats mentioned and there was no inclusion of any sweets. I hate it when my kids bring home bags of sticky sweets following a party. 1- They may have siblings (and we all know how kids like to share their sweets) and 2- Sugar highs are not welcomed by all parents. I also decided to hold back the mascaras. I didn’t fancy parents calling me up asking why the hell their 10 year olds were stood in front of the mirror poking themselves in the eye as they stood applying mascara! The contents were however really fun and girlie and included all the other little bits I mentioned earlier within this post.

To add sparkle and that something extra, myself and daughter sat for what felt like ages punching out balloon and heart shapes from decorative papers with the craft punches. We then added a handful of these shapes to each bag before finally tying them shut with the plastic wire ties followed by pretty ribbon tied into a bow.

The last few steps were to apply the self adhesive wire flower and butterfly shapes to the centre of each tied bag (one for each). Finally we used a small piece of our pretty “Love” print tape to attach the pretty decorative tags that we hand wrote the names of each child attending.

Stunning don’t you think…

So… to find out what food we created, cakes we made and special little gifts we gave, be sure to return to read our second instalment of “How to organise A slumber Party On A Budget” I’ll be sharing tips on how to create fun party food on little money, cocktails appropriate for 10 year old little ladies and an update on just how well Alice’s slumber party played out… Warning Paracetamol intake involved.

This Weeks Charity Shop Finds

This week I visited a local charity shop not far from where I live. I found a few nice bits and bobs but there was one item I particularly fell in love with and its that I want to share today.

This shabby chic wooden box.

This is a really pretty box! It has lovely detail with rustic hinges and beautiful hand painted pink roses. The base colour on the box is that of a pretty light almost mint green and cream which works beautifully with the rose pattern design.

The box is really sturdy and well made. It has plenty of room inside to store jewellery or other items. I’ve decided it will make a brilliant storage box for all of my little odds and ends, the kind you struggle to know where to store … Hair clips, brooches etc.

The box was priced up for an amazing 50p so I must say that, yes… I came out of there smiling.

Anyone else found any charity shop treasure this weekend?

An appropriate picture for a #silentsunday

Shabby Chic Hand Painted Heart and Twinket Set

Valentines day, another reason to get all creative and crafty!

Yes… I know we’ve only just done Christmas and New year but Valentines day is just weeks away and if you’re planning on handcrafting items for loved ones or creating valentines gifts with the kids then Now’s the time to get going… After all last minute is so not fashionable.

I’m actually hand decorating a paper mâché large hanging heart and matching small twinklet box for my bedroom dresser. Its actually not a valentines gift for anyone other than myself (if that counts) but this would make a lovely gift for that special day! Plus, it wouldn’t seem at all right to not share it with you guys.

I’ve made some beautiful heart twinklet boxes covered in pink rose Decopatch paper and posted them here on the blog last year. My initial plan was to cover both my heart and twinklet in shabby chic inspired Decopatch papers but I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to try something a little different.

I instead decided to paint my heart and twinklet with antique white and jet black acrylic paint. To give both heart and twinklet a really good finish I opted for Mod Podge gloss lustre as this would give it a great shine and strong protective seal.

What I Used…
Large Paper Mâché Hanging Heart
Small Embossed Paper Mâché Twinklet
Antique White Acrylic Paint
Jet Black Acrylic Paint
White Lace Paper Trimming
Mod Podge Gloss-Lustre-Lustre

Tools…
Medium size paint brush
Small brush (for detailing)
Sponge Applicator
Glue brush (for mod podge)
Scissors

What I did…

1: The first step was to use my medium size paint brush to cover both heart and twinklet in a coat of antique white paint. One coat isn’t enough, so leave items to dry then apply a second coat of paint. I found that this paint dried really quickly (30 minutes at the most) which was great as I had to work on one side at a time allowing drying in between.

2: Once both coats have been applied and items are fully dried its time to add the detailing to both box and heart. I started with the heart twinklet box first. With the jet black paint and small paint brush I applied black paint to the embossed areas on the twinklet. This is a little tricky and fiddly as the embossed area is rather hard to see. I had to be careful not to overdo it but also decided to add additional pattern to make the design more bold and appealing. If you decide to do this, my tip would be, not to rush the process. Remember your applying extremely dark paint to a very light colour. Mistakes would mean a re-paint in the lighter colour and it would likely mean a number of coats to cover such mistakes.

3: While waiting for the twinklet to dry I started work on my heart. Again I used my jet black paint to add detail to the heart. The heart isn’t embossed yet I wanted to add the same type of design & effect as that on my twinklet as to create a matching set. With this I very carefully applied the paint to the heart doing my best to create a similar pattern as to that on the twinklet. As I had already needed to add extra pattern to the twinklet in a freestyle way, this actually wasn’t much different and therefore turned out to be easier than first expected! With this I was lucky to escape any mistakes that needed painting over.

I decided to apply the black painted design to half of the heart on each side. I felt this would look much better than covering the heart entirely in the pattern… Sometimes less is more! Note… If you would like to try this idea, you will need to first apply the pattern to one side of your heart, allow it to dry for at least 30 minutes, before turning over and painting the pattern on the opposite side.

4: I then brought forward the lid of my twinklet box and hand painted a similar pattern around the lids edges. I then left the lid to dry for around 30 minutes or so.

5: I then took my dried twinklet lid and with my mod podge I applied my paper lace trimming around the edging of the Twinklets lid, as shown below. I used the Decopatch technique to apply the paper trimming and again left to dry for around 30 minutes.

6: Once my twinklet was dry I painted the paper trimming in the same antique white paint (a second coat can be applied if desired)! I then left my twinklet lid to once again dry. (Good job this stuff is fast drying or I’d be here for months!)

7: Once both items had there detail applied and were fully dried, it was time to apply the Mod Podge. First you must give the mod podge a good stir (remember a little mod podge goes a long way). I covered both my items in a coat of Mod Podge with my sponge as an applicator. Remember as this stuff dries it gets really tacky and you will need to be careful not to apply more stokes of mod podge as it dries or this will make your items look bumpy and untidy. More Mod Podge can be applied once the first coat is fully dried.

8: Once the first coat of Mod Podge is dry (I’d give it an hour though it is likely to be touch dry much quicker) You can then apply a second coat. I applied my Mod Podge with a sponge as opposed to a brush because brush stokes can often be seen when using Mod Podge. A sponge looks more even and the end result is much better. Finally, I decided to leave it for a few hours to ensure my items were fully dry. Tip: To save time apply the Mod Podge to both sides of the heart and then dry by hanging your heart on a metal pole or similar! Just remember that your heart needs to have room to hang freely, not making contact with any other objects or surfaces as to allow it to evenly dry.

9: To finish I tied some pretty white ribbon to the hanging loop of my heart and some foam to the inner section of my twinklet (i did this by using my twinklet lid as a template on some self adhesive foam).

So… here it is…

You can use other colours to create any look you desire. These colours work really well for me though I think something like a striking hot pink pattern against a black background would look pretty amazing. Note to tell self… “Create hot pink heart & black heart for daughters bedroom!”

These would also make perfect Valentines gifts. Maybe adding a piece of jewellery inside the twinklet or maybe a few homemade truffles… Yummy.

Thanks for reading and would love to know what you all think.

Shabby Chic Inspired Mod Podge & Decopatch Tea Light Jars

I love using Decopatch papers to decorate items and surfaces. I had some pretty pink rose Decopatch paper left from another project and decided to use it to make some pretty tea light jars to match my heart twinklets I made a while back.

The results were fabulous and I was left with a really pretty tea light jar that I now plan to make more of.

Regardless of the beautiful result, these tea light jars are relatively simple to make and don’t require very many materials to create.

Here’s what you will require to make one of these tea light jars…

Small jar (Ikea spice jars are ideal)
Decopatch pink rose paper
Mod Podge
Hot pink fine glitter

Tools…

Scissors
Hog brush for Mod Podge

How to make your own pretty candle jar…

1) Cut your rose paper into medium size pieces.

2) Apply Mod Podge directly onto the glass jar in the area you want to apply your first piece of Decopatch paper.

3) Once you have stuck down the paper, add a thin layer of Mod Podge over the top.

4) Continue doing the above steps in till your jar is completely covered.
Be sure to slightly over lap the papers. Cut smaller pieces of paper for any patch ups. With this piece, try to ensure your papers at least match somewhat and the pattern doesn’t look too odd.

5) leave to dry for around 30 minutes

6) Once dry add a layer of Mod Podge around the jars neck and its bottom before sprinkling the fine pink glitter over the glued areas. Shake off any excess glitter.

7) Now add a small amount of Mod Podge to the middle of your jar and then cover with a little glitter (few pinches). Now leave the jar to dry for another 30 minutes.

8) Once dry finally add a final thin layer of Mod Podge over your entire jar and leave to dry for an hour or more.

9) Now, its dried, all that’s left to do is pop in a tea light and light it up with a candle lighter.

As the flame take form you will notice how your candle jar begins to spakle with the light and glitter.The effect is simply stunning and I’m really pleased with mine.

So… There you have it! Really cute tea light jars that are easy to make and don’t cost a fortune either. Why not make them for a loved one this Valentines Day?

Snowy Snaps From The Weekend

Almost all of us in the UK, have woken, at least once, in these past few weeks, to find a blanket of the white stuff right outside our window.

All week my instagram timeline has been filled with a string of images all showcasing beautiful snowy pictures of smiling children sledging, snowmen glistening, historic buildings transformed into snow palaces and much more besides.

So what’s a girl to do? Especially one who loves to indulge herself in a little instagram every now and then? “Daily… Me? No… Never!”.

So, yes… I have uploaded a few of my favourite snow snaps to my instagram and have therefore decided to spread the snowy joy this way by uploading some of my snaps here too!

The dog & The Snow Man

A Snowy Church Court

Beautiful Snow Covered Church

A Chilly Hand Shake

The Building Of Mrs Snow Woman

Under The Spot Light

Snow Meets Light

Giant Snow Balls

Snowy Church Top

The Snow Battle

Making Footprints

Friend Walks Dog

Applying The Finishing Touches

Communication

A Red Head Enjoys The Snow

A Snowy Tumble

So… There they are. Sadly my 12 year old who has a diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome, didn’t come along to the Heath for some Winter fun. I think the prospect of being cold was enough to put him of… That and the fact he has a cold sore meaning his been hiding away from the world since it first made an appearance a few days ago.

Hope all you reading this have all had your own winter fun in the snow! My motto is… “Don’t moan about something you can’t change! Instead make it into some fun!” Yes… Its a pretty awesome motto, I know!

Check out this fantastic Tutorial for making a lace and denim shirt. So very cute.

Gembobs Inspiration

 

DIY DENIM + LACE SHIRT

This season is all about denim.. Everywhere in the shops is denim shirts!! So here is a quick and lovely way to make yours a tad different from the rest of the girls out there wearing them! 

 

This season we’ve been loving demin mixed with lace! We decided to give this trend a try with a cute DIY top! Here’s how…

1. Supplies: Denim or chambray button up shirt, lace, scissors, sewing machine, sewing pins.

2. First, cut out the back of the shirt. You’ll want to leave about 1/2 inch from the seam so that you can stitch the lace directly on the seam line.

3. Next, using the back of the shirt as a pattern, cut out a new back in lace.

4. Next, turn the shirt inside out, pin the lace where the original back was, and sew into place…

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Candy Filled Champagne Flutes – Perfect Valentines Gift Idea

These candy filled Champagne flutes are a really cute valentines gift idea and really easy to create.

I brought my plastic red champagne flutes in a pack of two from the 99p store. I also got my Swiggels Matlow Love Heart sweets here too.

All you need is…

2 plastic fancy champagne flutes
Swiggels Matlow Love Heart Sweeties
Paint or paint pens
Stick on gems
Cellophane heart bags from Hobbycraft
Red Ribbon
Red wire tie (comes with heart bags)
Selection of papers (any size, scraps will do)
Red sequins

Tools…
Small heart craft punch

So here’s how to make these cute love heart candy filled champagne flutes.

1: Use your paint or paint pens to decorate your champagne flutes. I used a red paint pen to add some pretty hearts. I painted my hearts in a way that gave the illusion that they were spiralling around the glass, descending in size.

2: Leave your flute to dry. Depending on what paint is used the time it will take will vary. Mine was fully dry within a few hours.

3: Add some sparkle to your champagne flute with some self adhesive gems. I used small black gems, placing them in the centre of each heart (except for the smallest hearts at the end of my spiral).

4: Place your champagne flute to one side and bring forward your papers and heart punch. Use the punch to punch out lots of little hearts.

5: Now along with some red sequins add some of your punched hearts into the bottom of the champagne flute. Now add some love heart sweeties followed by more hearts and sequins. Repeat in till the flute is full.Tip… Make sure some of your heart sweets are facing towards the glass so the words on the heart can be seen, adding to the effect.

6: Now carefully pop your champagne flute into the cellophane bag and crunch it in the middle, using your wire tie to secure. Now cover the plastic wire tie with the pretty red ribbon.

Now give the champagne flute to someone special .

Remember the bag acts as a pretty cover for your champagne flute, but doesn’t seal the flute and its contents shut. If sending this to a loved one then cover in pretty tissue paper and box in a bottle gift box before sending.

Resources
Website for Swiggels Matlow
Website For 99p Store
Website for Hobbycraft

Mod Podge Miniature Craft Jars

So I recently brought these cute little jars from ikea. They came in a set of 4 and were a bargain at under £2.

Although they are very sweet and all, I felt they could do with a little decorating.

The jars could be used for anything but were advertised as a set of spice jars. I’ve however decided that they would make great little craft jars, perfect for buttons, sequins, pins and more.

To decorate my jars I used a number of different items… Here’s what you will need to make yours…

Ikea set of 4 spice jars ( from the marketplace)

And to decorate…

Section of patterned papers
Mod Podge Gloss
Paper Lace Trimming
Ribbon
Selection of embellishments (I used card buttons, a foam butterfly and a couple of sequins)

Firstly chose your papers. I’m aiming for a real girly design with floral papers that give the jars a bit of a shabby feel.

Take the lid of your jar and use it as a template to draw around leaving a circle template on your chosen paper. Do this 4 times, once for each jar.

Carefully cut out your circles and use mod podge Glossy Lustre to secure to your jar. The circle shape on the jar is the same size as the lid so the paper is a perfect fit. Add the mod podge to both sides of the paper using a decoupage technique.

Leave all to dry for around 30 minutes then add your finishing touches.

I’ve done the following…

Added lace paper trimming, and ribbon around the centre of each jar.

I’ve used embellishments to decorate the front of each jar. I’ve secured each embellishment to the middle of the jar where i’ve covered each one with paper. I did this by using the mod podge and again using the Decopatch technique.

Be sure to let your jars dry fully before filling with your craft bits and bobs.

2 of my finished jars are currently being used to store buttons, another is used for small cotton reels and mini pegs, where the last is housing some of my glass beads.

I really like the results. The jars are very easy to decorate and provide me with a great little storage solution.

Pretty don’t you think?

A snowy white #silentsunday