Fort Kit

My nephew's birthday is in just a couple of weeks and I wanted to get him something special.  He has a million toys, so I decided to search on Pinterest.   When I babysit we always make a fort out of whatever blankets and pillows are laying around, so I was so excited to find the idea of making a fort kit for kids.  PERFECT!!

I gathered all the supplies and the whole thing cost me a whopping $15!!  Yay!!

• 2 flat sheets (twin) - $10 total
• Glowing things (sword and bracelets) - $2 total
• Men's t-shirt to make loops and ties for the sheets - $3 (I love the sale rack!!)
• Zippered plastic bag (left over from a baby gift, could also be one of those reusable grocery bags, or you could make your own drawstring bag.  I chose to use whatever was laying around).
• Card stock (whatever I had)
• Stencils from the decorate-a-onesie craft at my baby shower
• Marker (I used a blue fine point Sharpie)

And here are some pictures...

Glowing things!

Sheets!

 Bag!

Label!

To make the label, I used regular 12x12 card stock that I had hanging around and cut it to the size of my bag (see previous picture).  I used blue and green (they're a lot brighter than in this pic, sorry about that!), then used stencils and a blue fine-point Sharpie to personalize it.  

Shirt!

This one was labeled a men's Small, but it seemed a bit large to me... 

To make the strips for the ties and loops, cut the collar and sleeves off (and a little more) until you have a rectangle (I use the "no measure" method, hence the rough edges):

Rectangle!

Cut the rectangle longwise into at least 14 "equal" strips about 24" long (depends on the size of the shirt) (my strips are about 1/2" to 1" wide, and I only had to use one side of the t-shirt)

Strips!

This fort tutorial shows another way to cut the strips and has a great diagram showing where to sew on the strips.  My sewing machine is buried, so I will post a picture of the finished project soon!!

Celtic Baptism Theme Part II

So I will probably change my original plan to use Hershey's Kisses as a favor since our baptism luncheon will be outside - in June!  NOT a good plan!

I found this really cute idea to make celtic knot cookies using a shortbread recipe.

Pictures WILL be posted, I promise!!

Celtic Baptism Theme

Our boy is being baptized in a few months and I have been playing around with ideas for a theme.  I finally concluded that I wanted to stick with a Trinity theme rather than the standard cross theme.  Tapping into our Celtic roots, I came up with the idea of using a celtic trinity knot as the main decoration.  So I came up with a cheap favor idea: Hershey's kisses with customized labels!

My plan is to print these circles on sticky paper, cut them out, and stick on the kisses.  I'll then put a couple in organza bags from the dollar store with a little "thank you" card attached.

Here are my labels (I didn't make them perfectly, but it doesn't matter because I'll be cutting around the edge of the circle):

A brief how-to:

• Download the 3/4" round label template found on the Avery website.  Open in your word processor.
• Download this trinity knot image.  
• Using a photo editor, change the background color to match your theme.  I used this online photo editor.
• Purchase Avery Sticker Project Paper (8.5" x 11").  Print your circles on the paper.
• Cut out the circles.  Remove protective backing and stick onto Hershey's Kisses.
• Put a couple of kisses in organza bags.
• Customize and print out business cards using Avery business card template.
• Create hole using hole punch and attach to organza bag using choice of ribbon.

I also plan to have trinity knot fondant pieces on cupcakes for our guests.  Stay tuned for pictures after the special day!