Monday 8 April 2013

Handmade Lace Effect Flower Wedding Invitations

In an earlier blog post I wrote about my dream wedding stationary and there were so many gorgeous invitations that I would love to have had as my invitations. However due to doing a little cost cutting we decided to make our own and I am over the moon with how they turned out. They did take a long time though!

I'm trying to go with a lacey theme for our wedding as I prefer this to any glitz or sparkle so I was looking for invitations that were 'cut out'. I found some lovely laser cut invites but they were pricey so the best alternative I could find were use paper punches from Martha Stewart crafts. Available through some online UK craft websites, ebay and Amazon.

This is our final wedding invitation.



 
We bought some pre-folded gatefold/wardrobe cards from Hobbycraft and used Martha Stewart Deep Edge Punch - Daisy Lace for the top and bottom. We added some hydrangea flowers, another Martha Stewart stamp with some stick on tiny pearls and then tied the 'doors' together with some silvery grey organza ribbon (also bought from hobby craft).
 
Here's a few pictures of what we used and how we made them.
 
 
Pre-Folded Gatefold Card
 
 


Using the paper punch we puched along the top and bottom of the card.
 
 

It took a few attempts to get it all to line up, which we practiced using normal printing or scrap paper to avoid wasting card.
 
 
 
 
 

The card after it was punched.

 
 



 
We added a silver insert stuck down with double sided tape. We then added a smaller white paper square on which our invite wording was printed.
 


Using the hydrangea punch we made some white and silver/grey petals.
 
 

The petals were assembled using double sided tape and finished with a small adhesive pearl.
 
 

We tied the gatefold doors together with some silver/grey organza ribbon. To attach the ribbon we pierced a small hole in the card, pushed the ribbon through and knotted it.
 
See Martha Stewart on Amazon for the range available in the UK.


I'm so pleased we've made something ourselves that is really personal and fits in perfectly with the style of our wedding.

I was planning on trying to make my own wedding cake but after a couple of failed attemps with the decoration side of things I have conceeded and have ordered one. I am still aiming to make a few more things for the wedding which (if successful, lol!) I will post here on my blog :)

Jill. x


Sunday 31 March 2013

Mini Easter Egg Hunt

I was planning to do an Easter egg hunt in the garden for my little boy and a couple of his little friends this Easter, but unfortunately his friends were away on holiday this week and I wasn't sure his attention span would be quite up to looking for eggs outside on his own. Instead I did a little mini Easter hunt indoors with eggs hidden in his toys.

While dad was giving him an extra long bath, I placed his toys around the living room and hid 10 little eggs and 2 small chocolate rabbits amongst them. Some inside toys and some underneath them.



When he was nearly dressed after his bath I shouted upstairs that there were some funny noises coming from the living room and once he was dressed he should go and have a look. I told him that I'd been in there earlier and made everything very tidy and put any toys away.

He was so excited. (Or should I say eggs-cited!)

When he opened the door to the living room, he saw his toys spread around the room and a piece of paper in the middle of the room.

A letter from the Easter Bunny!


 
 
This letter was a last minute idea so it's not as good as if I'd have more time to think about and prepare it.
 
He has a brilliant time looking through his toys to find all the eggs, and we kept encouraing him to count them as we went along and also tell us what colour of egg he had found. He was so pleased when he had found them all.
 
Egg in the toy Aeroplane

Egg in the Car Transporter
 
Egg in the Play Kitchen
 
Egg in the Fire Engine
Egg in the Bus

Chocolate Rabbit in the Duplo House
I was a little worried that if I used chocolate eggs he would want to eat them as we went a long but he really wasn't bothered. When they'd all been found he was allowed to have one and the rest will be saved for other days.
 
It seemed to be a great introduction to Easter egg hunting for toddlers! And you can do it whatever the weather.
 
If you wanted to do some thing similar but didn't want to use chocolate you could used plastic eggs and when they've found them all, exchange them for a little toy.
 
Jill. x
 



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Tuesday 26 March 2013

Reward Chart

I've decided to try a reward chart for my little boy. It's with the aim of encouraging him with his potty training which, so far, has been less than successful. We add a star to his chart every time he does a wee on the potty or every time he tells us he needs to use the potty. He's been so reluctant to try so I thought this little incentive may just help. He also gets a star for other things like tidying his toys away by himself or without being asked, for good behaviour or for helping mummy and daddy do things like sort the washing or do some dusting. (He loves dusting and sweeping up!)

When he gets 10 stars he gets a little treat, like going to the soft play centre or a new little toy, some stickers or watching a favourite DVD with daddy or mummy. To be honest I'm also goint to use it as an excuse to give him a few little things that I've already bought but haven't wanted to give him for no reason, we've a long wait until birthday and Christmas!

There's nothing really over the top, one is a mixing bowl with a little whisk and spoon and when he gets it we can make some cakes together and another is a plant pot with a grow your own pumpkin! And one I'm really looking forward to giving him is a small pack of Postmas Pat stickers as it's his favourite cartoon at the moment. :)

So far the charts been working well, he gets excited now when he's earned a star but knows that we have to get stars all the way to the end of line before he gets a reward. It's also helped with his counting!


I made the chart myself and kept it really plain so he could personalise it himself.

 
 
 
He got his first star for colouring in his chart himself!
 
 
 
It's got 100 spaces in total so we'll see how far we get!

 Jill. x