DIY Three Tiered Beer Cake

If you're looking for a birthday, Valentine's Day or Father's Day gift for a guy who has everything, here's a quick and easy gift he'll be sure to love. Since it's summer, it could be even be a fun way to bring drinks over to a friend's house for a backyard bbq.

Supplies Needed:


* 24 Pack of Beer or Soda
* Cardboard
* 2 Spools of Ribbon
* Scissors, box cutters or exacto knife
* Hot Glue Gun

Here is how I separated the layers:

* Top Tier - 3 cans
* Middle Tier - 7 cans (6 around, 1 in the center)
* Bottom Tier - 14 cans (10 around, 3 to 4 in the center)

First, arrange the cans into the three layers on a table to see how big you would need to make the cardboard circles. To make round circles, you can use various sized plates or bowls to trace the circles. Cut out the circles using an exacto knife, box cutters or a strong pair of scissors. You can use any cardboard you have laying around the house. I just used an old Pampers box for cardboard - nothing fancy.

Next, line the cans on each layer of cardboard so you know where you want everything to go. Then, doing one can at a time, take one can out and quickly hot glue the bottom of the can to the cardboard. You have to be fast or else the glue may dry out especially if you use cold cans.

To put the layers together, glue the tops of the cans and place the layer on top.  Don't worry about glue being on top of the cans because the glue peels off easily. Wrap ribbon around each layer tightly and hot glue the ribbon. Put a ribbon on top and voila, you're done. I topped mine off with a small sign glued to a stick.

Overall, it's an inexpensive yet thoughtful gift that he'll get a kick out of. It's fairly fast to make and you may already have all the supplies in your house - just add the beer!

DIY Wedding RSVP Card Keepsake Book Tutorial

Doing the birthday card keepsake book for Gabby inspired me to see what else I could bind into a book. I dug through our box of wedding stuff and found stacks of wedding cards. We had over 200 guests and tons of out of town guests who sent cards. I think I'll save that project for another time.

I found our RSVP cards that I have been saving for the day I figure out what to do with them. We had asked guests to write some wishes or words of wisdom on the back of the cards. We received quite a few creative and funny ones. Some people drew pictures, glued on photos or wrote quotes. One even attached a saying from a fortune cookie. I'm really happy we still have these mementos from our wedding.

The difference between this book and the birthday card book is that this one has a hard cover and I didn't need to sew the spine together.

Pictures of the materials used and more details on the process can be found under this post.

Materials Needed: 

• RSVP Cards
• PVC Glue (I still had a tub I bought for $8 four years ago from Paper Source, but it's $10 now). 
• 2" Wide Book Cloth Tape in Blossom (10 foot tape roll is $6.50 from Paper Source)
• 3-4 Large Binder Clips or Clamps
• 3-4 Craft Sticks or Cardboard
• 1 Foam Brush 
• Scissors
• Bone Folder (Optional)
• Bookboard or Thick Cardboard
• Exacto Knife
• Two sheets of decorative paper
• Extra paper for the first and last protector page

All the RSVP Cards:





Cards Ready to be Glued: I made a mistake and forgot to add one or two blank protector pages at the beginning and end of the book. These pages will be glued directly to the hard cover of the book and help secure the book to the cover.

Glued and Waiting to Dry:

Close-up of the Glued Spine: Again, make sure you have blank pages at the beginning and end. I had to add it after the fact and is not as secure.

Inside the Book:

Supplies for the Book Cover:

Cut the Bookboard with an Exacto Knife: My cutting skills need work.

I cut and glued a decorative paper sheet to each board, leaving a small gap for the book tape. I accidentally cut the pink book tape a little short so patched it. I used a thin strip of cardboard from a notepad I had to use as the spine. Leave a quarter inch gap between the spine cardboard piece and front/back cover so that you can close the book.


Putting Together the Cover:

The Inside Cover: 

The Front Cover:

Take your book and spread glue on the front page, back page and spine. Lay the text block straight onto the spine of the cover and close the book. This will bind the book right to the cover.

The Finished Wedding RSVP Card Keepsake Book:

DIY Salt Dough Handprint Ornament Tutorial

I've been so busy with shopping and errands that I haven't had a chance to post much. I'm going to try to get all my Holiday-related posts done before Christmas. We still have a few people to buy for but the hard part is figuring out what to get. I might end up baking some cookies or something. Our family always celebrate on Christmas Eve so that cuts down on my remaining shopping time.

Anyways, I wanted to share all the salt-dough ornaments Gabby and I made last week in case there is anyone that wanted to do some last minute gifts for their family.

DIY Salt Dough Handprint Ornament (Heart with Gabby's Thumbprint):

Supplies Needed: 

• 4 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 1.5 cups of water
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters
• Coffee straw or skewer to make the holes for the ornament.
• Acrylic paint
• Optional: rubber stamps

Note: This recipe makes a LOT of dough so you may want to cut the recipe down. I was greedy and used every last piece of dough so we made 50-60 various sized ornaments. It took a long time to roll them all out especially with a curious toddler helping. 

Step 1: Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and knead for approximately 10 to 15 minutes until thoroughly combined. This is what ours looked like mid-kneading. Not very pretty at all.

Salt Dough Mixture:

Step 2: Scoop out a handful and roll out the dough. Shape into a circle or use cookie cutters to make whatever shape you want. Press down handprint and make a hole or two for the hanger using a straw or skewer. I used a straw and the hole came out clean. I used rubber stamps to imprint letters, numbers and shapes.

Step 3: Line up ornaments on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden. I think I slightly undercooked them because they started getting puffy if I baked them too long.

Step 4: Let air on cookie rack for about a day. You could just leave them on the cookie sheet but flip them back and forth so the back dries too.

Baked Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments Before Painting (Set 1 of 2):

Baked Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments Before Painting (Set 2 of 2):

Step 4: Paint with acrylic paint. You can add glue and glitter if you would like. Hang with a string or ribbon. I painted them using acrylic paint.

Disclaimer: Sorry the next several pictures turned out so poorly. I usually take my pictures during the day in natural lighting but ran out of time so took these at night with bad lighting. Gabby hung the ornaments on the tree so I don't want to pull them down to take the pictures again. At least you get an idea of what they look like.

Salt Dough Ornaments with Gabby's Handprint:

Salt Dough Ornaments with Gabby's Fingerprints:

Salt Dough Ornaments with Random Cookie Cutters:

Salt Dough Ornaments Imprinted with Initials for Gifts:

Failed Salt Dough Ornaments:

I tried to get fancy and painted on a clear acrylic coating to make them shiny but they dried with this thick cloudy film. Next time, I will try using an acrylic spray paint instead for a thinner and more even coat. I got tired and painted the mitten pretty poorly. Gabby's handprint is on it so I'm keeping it. Maybe I will repaint it later. 

As you can see, my painting skills really leave something to be desired. You can really tell they are "Do It Yourself" but I am glad we did it. Gabby had a lot of fun helping me. It was a long and messy endeavor but well worth it for the memories.

My Little Helper with Dough Everywhere Even on Her Face:

Gabby Deep in Concentration:

It's time for us to get ready and battle the crowds. Good luck, everyone!  Drive safely out there.

Easy Bake Cookies from Boxed Cake Mix Recipe

Gabby and I are headed off to a cookie swap and kid craft day soon. I'm excited to see what kind of cookies will be exchanged so we can sample and test out new recipes. I knew I wouldn't have time this morning so after Gabby went to bed last night, I made a small batch of Oreo Truffles and these fast and simple cookies that turned out soft and a little bit on the sweet side.

Easy Bake Cookies from Boxed Cake Mix Recipe:

Supplies Needed:

• Any boxed cake mix. These are Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Devil's Food Cake Mix.
• Two Eggs
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• Optional: Any flavor Hershey Kiss or Hug (mint, caramel, etc). These are Hershey's Candy Cane Christmas Kisses.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Step 2: Add eggs and oil to cake mix batter and stir well. 

Step 3: Use a large spoon to scoop batter onto cookie sheets and bake for approximately 8-9 minutes. 

Step 4 (Optional): While cookies are still hot out of the oven, add one Hershey Kiss on top and smoosh around with the back of a spoon. Once cookies are completely cool, place in the refrigerator for a few minutes to let the chocolate harden.

These are handy when you don't have a lot of time or enough ingredients on hand to make chocolate chip cookies or anything too fancy. You may even have a box of cake mix laying around in your cupboard. 

Here are ones made with no toppings. The Pillsbury Moist Supreme Strawberry Cake Mix is super sweet so I would not recommend adding anything else on them. These are staying at home with me. :)

I have to run and get us ready for the Cookie Exchange but I'll post the recipe for the Oreo Truffles when we get back. Have a great day, everyone!

DIY Christmas White Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Sticks Recipe

I've been taking Gabby to storytime at the library for awhile now but wanted more opportunities to take Gabby out. There's only so many times you can go to Target or the mall play area. The park is only so much fun by yourself too. So I recently joined a local Mom's group so Gabby can have playdates with other children around our area. She really enjoys being around other kids and I get to have some adult interaction and conversation too. So far, it's been so much fun! There are several events every week so there's always something to do if we wanted. We've done playdates at a gymnastics studio (for free), the park, a craft day at a fellow mom's house with about 15 other kids.

Tonight I'm going to a kid-free Mom's Night Out and White Elephant Secret Santa Exchange which should be fun! We are going to craft some gift tags and munch on home-made goodies. With Gabby's help this morning, we made about 20 of these babies.

Christmas White Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Sticks with Holiday Sprinkles:

Gabby helped crush mini peppermint candy canes for the pretzel sticks on the right. 

Here is what you need:

• Pretzel Rods (can be found at Target, Walmart or any supermarket)
• Almond Bark, Baker's Chocolate or Candy Melts. I used about half a package of almond bark for twenty pretzel rods (see picture below). 
• Parchment Paper
• Optional: sprinkles, chopped up nuts or candy, crushed Oreos or whatever you want. This time I didn't add any nuts just in case some people have peanut allergies.
• Optional: Wilton Pretzel Rod Bags.

Step 1: Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a large plate, break off and melt two portions of the almond bark in the microwave in 30 second increments. You don't want to overheat the chocolate. 

Step 2: Roll a pretzel rod on the melted chocolate until it has a thin coating. If you add too much chocolate, it may drip and make your pretzel have a flat bottom instead of a round shape. Cover approximately 2/3rds of the pretzel rod length-wise.

Step 3: Add on your toppings and let cool on the parchment paper. You can also melt a different color chocolate and drizzle it on for a different look. By the time I was covering the pretzel rods and topping them, the first pretzels had hardened and were ready to be bagged for freshness. 

Step 4: Place finished pretzel rods in plastic bags or airtight container. The hardest part on this whole project is opening up the plastic bags! You can spice up the packaging by adding ribbon or labels if you wish. So many choices and super easy too. 

Finished White Chocolate Covered Pretzel Rods:

I had enough leftover chocolate to cover the broken pretzels for us to sample now, you know, for quality assurance. ;)

We are planning on making some sweet and salty caramel turtles this afternoon so please check back tomorrow.

DIY Lego Ornament Tutorial

The last time I was at Michaels, I picked up a couple of these button buckets from their $1 bin in green and purple. I figure I could always use extra random buttons for crafting projects but really, the little plastic buckets were too cute to resist. They come with a snap on lid and ribbon hanger already attached. I took out the buttons and filled them with random Legos and made an instant DIY Lego ornament for the Christmas tree. Perfect for your fellow Lego enthusiast and collector like my brother.

DIY Lego Ornament: 

I picked up a couple of more in blue and white from Walmart also for $1.

I think I may fill the new ones with a mini figure - maybe a snowboarder, mad scientist or doctor? There are so many cute Lego mini figures. Here's a cute stocking stuffer if you have a police officer friend or family member:

You can find more on the  Amazon's Lego Store.

If you have little ones, just make sure you hang the Lego ornament out of their reach. I know Gabby will probably try to eat them.

DIY Birthday Card Keepsake Book Tutorial

I came across this link on Pinterest and wanted to do something similar with all of Gabby's second birthday cards. Instead of having a pile of loose greeting cards, I was able to bind a neat notebook that's also easy to store.

Materials Needed:

• Greeting Cards
• PVC Glue (I still had a tub I bought for $8 four years ago from Paper Source, but it's $10 now). 
• 2" Wide Book Cloth Tape in Blossom (10 foot tape roll is $6.50 from Paper Source)
• 3-4 Large Binder Clips or Clamps
• 3-4 Craft Sticks or Cardboard
• Medium Sized Needle
• Pink Embroidery Floss
• 1 Foam Brush 
• Scissors
• Bone Folder (Optional)

Some of the supplies. Didn't end up needing any of the scrap paper.

Gabby's Birthday Cards: The card on top is from us and will be the front cover of her book. 

Sort and Clip the Cards:

I took the advice from the original poster and sorted the cards so short and tall cards are mixed in together. You don't want two short cards next to each other and create a big gap in the spine of your book. Use the biggest two cards to serve as the cover and last page of your book.

This next step is optional since the original poster didn't do this and her book seems just fine. I took it a step further and "bound" all the cards together. I wanted extra security so nothing fell out over time. The glue I used was four years old so might not be that great anymore. 

I found the shortest card in the stack and used that as a guide as to where to poke two holes in all the cards. Using a medium sized needle, I poked holes in all the cards in the same spot. 

Sewing the Cards Together:

Using about 4-5 strands of thread from the embroidery floss, I started with the bottom of the last page of the book and threaded the needle into the card. I looped the thread through the inside of the card and out the through the top hole. Then I placed the next card on top and threaded it through the top of that card, looped through the inside and out the bottom hole. Do that again for the third card - in through the bottom hole, loop inside and back out the top hole. Now I was able to slip the needle back through the previous card to tie it together. 

Cards Sewn Together: 

Since the edge of the back cover isn't tied to anything, I took the loose string from the front cover and tied it to one from the back cover. Trim the excess strings. I left about an inch but you can cut it shorter if you want. It doesn't matter too much since it will be covered with the spine anyways.

Gabby received a couple of cards that opened from the top so I cut it and just stacked them in with the rest without sewing. The glue should be strong enough to keep them in place. 

Prepping the Cards Before Gluing: 

The cards are still a bit floppy so I secured them together with large binder clips before gluing. Make sure you protect your cards from indentation by putting either craft sticks or cardboard underneath the clips. Now that the cards are secure, I applied a generous layer of PVC glue along the spine. Enough to get all the edges of the cards coated without it being a drippy mess. 

After the Glue is Dry:

It took a few hours for the glue to dry for me. It may vary for you so make sure the glue is completely dry before you move on. 

Adding the Spine:

Next, I measured and cut a piece of book cloth tape to the same length as my longest card. To make a crisp edge on the spine, I used a bone folder to make folding lines on the book cloth tape. You could use the edge of a craft stick to make the crease and that should work too.

The glue that is on the book cloth tape isn't that tacky so I dabbled the PVC glue all over the tape before putting it on the cards. 

The Finished Birthday Card Keepsake Book Project:

The Back:

I may go back and make a book for Gabby's first birthday as well. The only problem is she doesn't have a card from us. I never thought we would really be keeping all these cards so I didn't bother giving her one. From now on, I think I'll put together one of these books. It'll be a neat keepsake of all her birthdays, maybe even combine a few years together. 

DIY Craft Stick Picture Puzzle Tutorial

Here is another quick and easy project that's been floating around on Pinterest. You can take any photo, printed image or wording and turn it into a simple puzzle for young toddlers. Gabby is two and just starting to figure out how to "solve" a jigsaw puzzle. She definitely likes seeing our faces and being able to play with the sticks.

Materials Needed:

• Photo or Any Printed Image or Wording
• Wide Craft Sticks ($2 for a pack of 60 at Target or $0.03/stick)
• Any Craft Glue or Double Sided Tape
• Exacto Knife or Scissors

Total Cost of Project: Under $0.25 for the craft sticks. Photo was printed using a free coupon from Shutterfly. I already had glue, tape and an Exacto knife on hand.

My supplies ready to go:

Use a craft glue stick and run it all over the back of the photo, then use double sided tape along the top and bottom just to reinforce it (this is optional because the glue stick seems to hold the photo just fine). Line the craft sticks side by side then lay down the photo on top. Press and smooth the photo on the sticks. Use an exacto knife to cut between the sticks using the grooves of the sticks as a guide. 

If you don't have an exacto knife, you can pre-cut the photo or image using scissors based on the stick's width, then glue. You may not be able to lay out the photo very straight on the sticks but it will work too. 

The finished project: I ended up tossing the far right section of the picture since the original picture wasn't centered anyways.

Craft sticks are so versatile. You can use them to build houses, make puppet sticks or use them to count. This could also be an interesting way to do a greeting card or write messages. So many things you can do.

DIY Felt Tater Head Tutorial

I've been thinking about making Gabby something out of felt so she can do some quiet imaginative play. She loves playing with her Mr. Potato Head just about every single day so I decided to use some of the felt I bought over the weekend (see previous post) and make her a two dimensional version that I can toss in my bag on the go.

Materials Needed:

• Nine pieces of felt in black, brown, tan, red, white, yellow, baby pink, hot pink, blue. Usually sold in single 9x12 sheets. 
• 2-3 Sheets of Scrap Paper
• Pen or Pencil
• Scissors

Total Cost of Project: Under $2-3. 

First I took scrap paper to draw a rough outline. As you can see, the template wasn't very pretty.

I made the tater's body, eyes, two noses, two smiles, a mustache, two arms, shoes, a bowler hat, a crown, a purse and eyebrows. My cousin, Q, helped me punch of some dots and flowers using her Cuttlebug which can be used as eyes, earrings or embellishments for the crown or purse. At $0.20/sheet of felt with a coupon, the total cost of this project was under $2 and I have still have tons of scraps leftover. (Without a coupon is $0.34/sheet so approximately $3.) I am thinking of making some high heels, hair, maybe a diaper, bottle and pacifier. What other accessories should I make?

Completed Tater Head.

Originally I was going to sew the tan tater head piece right on the brown felt backing and sew a pouch on the backside to store all the pieces. Gabby seemed to enjoy moving the tater around herself so I decided to just stash everything neatly in a quart sized ziploc bag. It will keep all the pieces clean and dry as well. So you can totally do this at home with just some felt and a pair of scissors. No sewing required.

With Christmas around the corner, I may do a Christmas tree or snowman version as well. It's so simple and fast to make.