Pinterest Party!

As craft coordinator of our local Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group, I get to help coordinate and come up with fun crafts for our group to complete.  The steering committee in charge spent a lot of time this summer coming up with innovative new ideas for the upcoming MOPS year.  One of the ideas was to have a Pinterest Party as part of our Mom's Night Out series.  The moms would pay a fee and come to an evening party without their children to snack and craft.  Since I seem to be the "craft lady" I gladly offered to host and arrange all the crafts.

The first challenge was finding crafts that wouldn't take too long because I was trying to squeeze three crafts, socializing,  and eating into a few hours.  I also needed crafts that wouldn't make a big mess.  Lastly, I wanted crafts that would use some materials our group already has on hand.  Sounds easy, right? 

Researching crafts is just part of the Pinterest Party.  I decided that I needed to get red tablecloths (I had a few on hand) and make red polka-dotted cups from old soup cans to hold some of the supplies like pens, pencils, rulers, and scissors.  I also used red bowls to hold the smaller supplies. At each place setting I had the glass plate for craft #3, a composition notebook for craft #2, and the red bowl filled with the jewelry supplies for craft #1.  We would need additional supplies for each craft but I would bring those out as needed.  A Pinterest sign helped me to put the finishing touches on the décor.

The first craft I had been dying to do was make jewelry! Who doesn't like jewelry?  Besides, if you didn't like the jewelry then you could gift to someone else.  I had been eyeballing these bird's nest necklaces on Pinterest and asked our group via Facebook if this was something they might like to create. The response was a big fat YES!  I purchased the wire, beads, jump rings, and chains all at Hobby Lobby during a 50% sale.  Score!  Then, I used this tutorial and found it was easier than I thought to create these beauties. 

      http://mopsbeautifulmess.blogspot.com/2013/09/bird-nest-necklace-mops-craft-tutorial.html

Bird's Nest Necklaces from our Pinterest Party!

Since the holiday season is upon us, I knew I wanted to do some sort of holiday organizing book.  We made a similar book with the whole group to use as journals for our meetings this year.  With a few modifications, this would be an easy and hopefully worthwhile craft.  I purchased a 12x12 pad of Christmas themed paper from Michael's for 40% off.  We already had glue and brushes from our regular MOPS craft stash so I just needed to pick up envelopes, composition notebooks, and gluesticks from the nearest Dollar Tree.  I also needed to make circles from cardstock I had on hand that could be used as tabs.

First we took the composition notebook and cut the paper to fit the front cover.  We glued it on using homemade modge podge.  I printed a half-sheet December 2013 calendar that the girls could glue into the front cover and add events and important dates.  The book could be completely customized by added tabs (the circles I cut with my Creative Memories circle cutter) for anything that you might need to keep track of during the holiday season.  I have five tabs in my book: To Do, Christmas Lists, Gifts, Receipts, Food, and Christmas Cards.  I also glued in envelopes that will be used to hold the Christmas lists or receipts.  The beauty of the book is that the calendar can be ripped out or glued over  and there are plenty of pages so that the book can be used for more than one Christmas!

Standard Composition Notebook turned Holiday Organizer!

The last craft of the night, glass etched plates, was a bit trickier.  I didn't get a chance to do the craft before we did it as a group.  I would NEVER recommend that but I was honest and told the group that we were going to experiment together. Thankfully, it all worked out for us!  I gave all the warnings about etching cream and basically scared everyone into being careful (Did I mention I was a middle school teacher for ten years? Ha!).  I passed out gloves for everyone to wear and popsicle sticks to move the cream around on the plate.  I had pre-printed the plate designs for everyone on vinyl.  I found the plates at Garden Ridge for $2.00 a piece.  I had taken the stickers off and pre-washed all the plates but I still had the girls clean the plate with rubbing alcohol just to be sure that the etching cream would stick.  We adhered the vinyl to the underside of the plate that way you wouldn't have to worry about food or anything in the etched portion.  Once the vinyl was down, I walked around and put a glob of etching cream in the middle of each plate.  The popsicle sticks worked great and were a cheap alternative to brushes!  After five minutes, we made a line and rinsed the plates in HOT water in the stainless steel kitchen sink.  Peeled the vinyl and voila!  Everyone was thrilled with the results!  This tutorial was an absolute lifesaver and very thorough:

www.theyummylife.com/etched_glass_tutorial

The Pinterest Party was so much fun and I think the ladies all enjoyed themselves.  I had asked the girls to each bring a Pinterest inspired dish with them to the party and I provided the paper goods and drinks.  The food was amazing and it was the perfect way to start off and end our evening.  The party was 3 1/2 hours long and we ate, drank, laughed, and completed three crafts.  I've already had requests for more parties! 

Obsessing Over Initials

I have been completely sucked into the monogram and/or initial craze that seems to be splattered over every catalog.  Our names plastered in various colors and styles in every single room shown in top notch style magazines.  I totally bought into it. 

We have this weird wall just above our hall closet in our entry way.  For years I have had a picture of Paris leaning up against the wall (remember that craze?) and a large Eiffel Tower sitting on the ledge.  My niece recently redid her bedroom and I decided it was a win-win to gift her the Paris items and redo our entry ledge and wall with said initials. 

The before :(.  Notice my husband perched up on the high ledge trying to be patient while I snap a before picture!

So I started by moving a large vase and greenery that I once had in our living room and placed it off center on the ledge.  This area needed something grand to help anchor the space and draw your eye up. By putting it off center it won't interfere with the beauty of all those glorious initials! Next, I added some lights from IKEA on a timer that will act as uplights.  These are actually under cabinet lighting but what not use them this way?

Now to gather the letters!  I found several at Hobby Lobby and using my handy 40% coupon began the collection.  Letters weren't going to be enough.  The wall needed something else to help it take shape---hmmm, shape---it needed squares!  I found the gold frame at an online garage sale website for $4 (crazy amazing, right?) and then I purchased the red frame from Hobby Lobby.  We have that same deep red in our kitchen and living room so this frame would help tie the spaces all together.  I had enough 3D R's so I decided to put black posterboard in the frame and add an R in gray vinyl to the glass.  I think the key to gathering like items is in making sure they are different enough to make it interesting.  Different textures, colors, or fonts helped to make this grouping worthwhile.

Before we were ready to hang them though, I laid the letters onto the floor and decided the arrangement.  I didn't want it to be too perfect and I was willing to get more R's if needed or ditch any if it didn't work out.  Be bold and give it a try!

Big thanks to my husband for teetering on the ledge to adhere all the letters.  I really love the way it turned out!

Our finished entry initial wall.