DIY: Easy Peasy Valentine's Day Gift Tags

Just because I'm going to be spending Valentine's Day alone, pouring a combination of Jack Daniel's and Thornton's chocolates down my throat, does not mean that I can't get in on the festivities. Any excuse for a celebration (and/or copious amounts of chocolate).

So for the romantic, crafty, or extremely bored among you, I thought I'd share a really simple tutorial for these super cute handmade Valentine's Day gift tags. Even if your crafting skills are slim to none, these tags are really easy to do (and totally addictive to make).

Cheap and Easy DIY Halloween Costumes

Halloween is one of my favourite times of year. At our house we've always made a big deal of it, decorating the house inside and out, making paper mache heads, discussing pumpkin carving over dinner and the like. Personally, I love planning out my Halloween costumes and, even on the few years at uni when I didn't celebrate, I still had a costume on standby just in case. But I'm aware that not everyone has a box full of witches hats, vampire corsets and cat ears and that, for some people, the aim is just to find something quick, simple and cheap to throw on.

So I thought I'd write up a little post filled with ideas for last minute costumes made from things you'll probably already have hanging in the wardrobe. Zero effort and zero fuss.

Zombie

The cool thing about being a zombie is that you can be a zombie anything. If there is not something in your house right now that you can use to be a zombie I would be amazed. For instance, if you have any non-Halloween fancy dress costumes, you can splatter a bit of fake blood, darken up your eyes and make a very convincing zombie Snow White/ pirate/ doctor/ lifeguard...anything. I have even seen people taking it to a whole new level and opting to go as a zombie witch, so you could even recycle last year's costume.

If you have no fancy dress costumes to work with at all, a) seriously take a look at yourself because that is totally unacceptable in my eyes and b) don't panic. What's in your wardrobe? A school uniform could work or some converse with a band t-shirt to make a zombie rock star costume. Even your PJs are an option. And, if all else fails, just be a zombie you. Make up is key.

Superhero 

Forget overpriced Batman gear. All you need is bright, contrasting colours. Take a marker pen and draw your initial on a brightly coloured t-shirt, match it with some coloured tights or leggings and, if you're not comfortable going along with the traditional 'pants on show' thing that superheroes seem to be so fond of, you could always opt for a pair of shorts or a skirt instead. Then you just need an eye mask, which you could make out of spare fabric or paper and you're set to go forth and fight crime.

Animal 

If Mean Girls has taught us anything it's that all you need to make a convincing Halloween costume is a pair of animal ears. The lingerie is, of course, optional. But going as a cat, mouse, dog, rabbit, fox or whichever animal you choose is wonderfully simple. A few years back I went as a cat for Halloween. I reused my black lace dress I'd bought to be a witch the year before, attached a tail and popped on some ears and it was one of my favourite costumes of all time.

Witch

My mother does not like Halloween. She will put up with the parties, does her best to ignore the excessive amount of skulls and giant spiders we have spread throughout the house during the month of October, and even went along with us covering her bathroom in fake blood a few years back. But she will not wear a costume. Instead, what she does each and every year is dress entirely in black, grab a cheap broomstick and throw on a witch's hat. The moral of the story being never underestimate the power of accessories.

Creepy China Doll

I love creepy china doll costumes! You can get some really beautiful ones in fancy dress shops. Personally I am in love with this one:

But if you don't want to spend out any money and you just want to throw something quick and cheap together, then the creepy china doll can still work as the perfect Halloween costume. Look in your cupboard. Any a-line dress or skirt will work and ditsy patterns, ruffles and bows are all perfect. If you have a petticoat or tutu to stick underneath then even better.
Here's an example of what you can put together in a matter of minutes. I raided my cupboard and pulled out a few things at random in less than 60 seconds. Of course, it would be great if you could add embellishments or maybe take a look in some charity shops for something will puffed sleeves, but this is proof that you can put together a doll costume in a few seconds flat without spending a penny. Again, it's all in the make up with this costume.

Barbie

If I was blonde this would be my go-to costume. Think pink! Pink dress, pink shoes, pink lipstick. Providing you can find some kind of pink attire, rock some cute shoes and look unnaturally happy all night, you can pull this off without a problem.

Regina George

I saw this idea on Pinterest and simply had to share it. Mean Girls is one of those iconic films, loved by all. Quotes such as "She doesn't even go here" and "Four for you Glen Coco, you go Glen Coco" have been legendary and, despite it's simplicity, I really think this costume would go down a storm. All you need is a purple bra, white top, black skirt, and a bad-ass attitude.  

Wally 

Stripy jumper. Glasses. Bobble hat. Go.

Homicidal Maniac

And, if all else fails, take a leaf out of Wednesday Addams' book.

So, as you can see, there's no need to panic if you find yourself stuck without a costume on All Hallow's Eve without a stitch to wear. There are plenty of costumes you can put together with things you have at the back of your wardrobe. So go have a rummage and see what treasures you can find.

Happy Halloween!

Things get Artsy: Crafty Creatives Review

I'll admit that I'm not exactly an artistic genius. I'm not much of a drawer, I can't make sense of water colours and, at 23 years of age, I'm still banned from using charcoal in the house because of the amount of damage I've been known to cause with it in the past. But I love arts and crafts. I'll give anything a go. I've knitted a blanket, made birthday cards and scrapbooks, sewn my own Halloween costumes, and let's not even bring up my obsession with the glue gun.

So I was thrilled when Crafty Creatives offered to send me one of their boxes to review. They are a monthly subscription box service and each month they send out different types of creative goodies.

Actually getting my hands on the box was a bit of a drama. I was out when it got delivered so it got returned to the Royal Mail Office, which wouldn't have been a big deal if I could have actually found the Royal Mail Office. Bear in mind I've lived in this town since birth. I've been to collect parcels countless times before. It should not have been as traumatic as I made it. But I an incompetent human being and, as a result, I ended up driving around in circles for twenty minutes, reversing into a wall, getting harassed by a fellow driver with no patience, and getting stuck in a pointless narrow lane. When I eventually found my way to the office the mean driver behind me bullied me and took my parking space and I ended up having to park on the double yellow lines, which I hate doing.

Then, package in hand, I drove home and arrived back in my street at 3:25pm. I live opposite a school. 3:25pm is not a good time to arrive home. Exhausted, frustrated and in desperate need of a packet of crisps, I wedged myself across our drive, aware that the back end of my car was over my neighbour's drive (and boy does he go into a rage about that kind of thing) so I couldn't leave the car. Then there was a very confusing stand-off between me and a woman who, for some reason, refused to move from outside my house for a whole 25 minutes. All in all it was very stressful.

But, thankfully, my cute little box was totally worth it! I imagined the it would be full of poms poms, pipe-cleaners and the like, but it actually contained an Inkodye set from Lumi. At first I was confused. Then I became slightly more confused. Then I read the instructions and suddenly I was very intrigued.

Let me explain this the best way I can. It's a kind of sunlight activated dye for cotton and other natural fabrics. You apply the dye to your fabric and then you cover it with objects or photograph negatives to partially block out the light. Then you leave it in the sunlight and the dye gets activated. 

My set included the dye, the wash to use on it afterwards, a little roller, a photograph negative and some pieces of fabric to practise on.

And it gets cooler! You can download the Lumi app, which has all sorts of ideas for you to try. Plus, you can upload your own photos and they'll send you a negative to print with. So you can print your pictures onto cushions, clothes, pencil cases..

Look! You can even have my strange face on a jumper!

Odds are I would never have tried or even come across Lumi Inkodye if I hadn't got my box from Crafty Creatives. That's got me wondering about how many other fabulous crafty goodies are out there waiting to be discovered! If you're an arty type person and love getting goodies in the post you can take a look at their website and have a little nose for yourself.

Beware friends and family, you will all be getting photo printed goodies for Christmas!

A Princess Perfect Frozen Party...and Some Woman in a Wig.

The Littlest Loon turned five last week and, as a family, Wellingtons are not known for throwing low key, run of the mill celebrations. I attempted to throw a small, casual gathering for my birthday last September and ended up with a full blown Alice in Wonderland extravaganza  ("I want it to feel like an opium trip...lots of clocks and giant mushrooms..."). So it seemed only natural that I would spend the weeks leading up to Lauren's birthday battling with the glue gun, brushing glitter out of my hair and running around town trying to find a life-sized Olaf balloon to put together a Frozen themed party fit for a princess.

The party itself was a roaring success. True, there was a brief period at the start when things looked a little rocky. Lauren worked out how to use the smoke machine and, within a few minutes, you couldn't see from one side of the room to the other. Then the smoke alarms went off and the rest of the building started to evacuate. Right in the midst of the piercing shrieks of the fire alarm, the Elsa impersonator turned up and added an entirely new dimension of weirdness to the scene. Her yellow wig was off centre and her black bra was on show. Overall, I'm not sure anyone was convinced she was really the Queen of Arendelle.

"I'm not sure anyone was convinced..."

But, once we'd deactivated the smoke alarms, opened all the doors and windows to let out the fog, and 'Elsa' had left the building, things really picked up. We had all the usual children's party games, pass the parcel and musical statues. Then we brought out the karaoke, which was simply adorable right up until the third or fourth time I had to listen to another rendition of Let it Go. There were happy children everywhere and, after the last little one headed off with their party cone and a big grin on her face, I was more than happy to take a deep breath, relax into a chair and have a Jack Daniels. Who would have thought organising a fifth birthday party could be so stressful?


Anyway, I thought I'd show you some of the little bits and pieces I put together for the party in case any of you are planning a Frozen themed party of your own and want a few ideas. Most of the decorations I made were put together with things I already had around the house so be creative. In this instance anything with glitter is probably going to work just fine. 

I rushed this sign yesterday morning right before we went to the party and it's taken me until just now to realise I'd spelled Arendelle wrong (I knew it didn't look right!). Luckily most of our guests can't read very well yet so I think it went undetected for the most part.  

 I loved these little jars! I made three of them and each was slightly different. They were very simple to make, although quite time consuming. I made some very small tissue pom poms (instructions can be found on Google), glued them to some ice blue straws and embellished them with glitter and sparkly ribbon. I cut some snowflakes out of plain white card (who knew snowflakes were so hard to draw?) and added some gems and glitter and stuck them to the straws too. I made the little snowmen out of little white pom poms and coloured wooden craft sticks. Then I added some ribbon and sparkles to glass jars, stuffed them with cotton wool and arranged the decorations inside. 

I wish we had a better picture of the snow doorway, but you get the idea. The kids loved it (although by the end of the party it looked less like a flurry and more like the aftermath of a blizzard). I just threaded cotton wool balls of various sizes onto fishing wire. With the glue gun I secured each ball with a dot of glue underneath so they wouldn't slide back down the wire. Then I attached each length of fishing wire to ribbon, which we then pinned to the door frame so guests had to walk through the snow to enter the party.

These little food signs were easy to make and really emphasized the theme. It's essentially folded card that looks fancy because I added glittery snowflakes and cut it with a craft scissors. Sometimes the simplest things look the most effective.

I piped faces and buttons onto these marshmallows with writing icing. I never want to see another marshmallow for as long as I live, but the kids really loved them.

 

The Sven cupcakes were a big hit! All I did was ice my cupcakes with chocolate butter-cream, use mini marshmallows for the noses, iced on the eyes and mouths with writing icing and used cut up Curly Wurlys for the antlers.

Then my sister-in-law amazed everyone by making a three tier birthday cake. True, it's got nothing on Cake Boss, but considering she just picked up some icing and thought, 'I think I'll make Lauren's cake myself' I think it's fabulous! I thought cupcakes were stressful, but this is something else entirely!

Needless to say, it's going to be a while before I can bring myself to watch Frozen again. I'm still finding glitter in my shoes and last night, after weeks of stressful planning and late night glue-gunning, I slept for a solid twelve hours without any party related nightmares for the first time in a while. But Princess Lauren had a fabulous time and overall I'd call it a success. 

Now to plan my birthday party for next weekend. I've been pre-warned by my mother that this year all themes are banned...