Gone to the Beach

Mr. Engineer and I's big plans for Labor Day weekend is a trip to the beach!

 

I had to make a wreath to celebrate the occasion! 

 I used a light blue, dark blue and tan yarn. The little chairs and palm tree are actually reused from my Bridal shower cake from 4 years ago... I am so glad they aren't sitting in a box anymore!

 

 Also I got a little something for the all the girls going on the trip....

These darling little plastic mason jars will be a great to sip from with our toes in the sand.

I picked up these plastic Aladdin jars at Wal-Mart on sale.

 

Then, I ordered these custom vinyl decals from Small Victory Design.

 

 They were super easy to apply to each jar.

 It is a nice little souvenir to remember this years trip.

I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend! We have "Gone to the Beach!"

DIY Custom Cake Topper

The first weekend of August, my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary!

It was a nice little celebration that included a marriage blessing mass followed by a reception. I was happy to help out by making their cake topper.

First, I started with a sketch of the cake topper that would be personalized. 

Then, I gathered together all my supplies for this project:

 

- wood heart (it is actually a Christmas ornament that I bought from Hobby Lobby)
- paint (I just used some paint I already had -for the background I used Ultra White - 70143 Valspar interior semi-gloss paint, Navy Blue - 403 FolkArt matte acrylic paint and Metallic Silver Sterling - 4034 FolkArt enamel acrylic paint)

- pencil (to outline the image or words)

- small paint brush
- scissors

- white and blue lace (I picked these up at Handcocks Fabrics)
- pearl string
- two dowels
- hot glue gun / glue sticks

 

First, I cut the white and blue lace to size and then stitched them together.

Next, I painted the wood heart white and then outlined the lettering onto it.

 Then, I painted the lettering with the navy paint and put accents with the silver paint.

Next, I used hot glue gun to attach the wood heat onto the lace.

Finally, I used pearl string to suspend it from my two dowels.

Their custom cake topper looks even better on the cake...

 

 ...and they were pretty pleased with how it turned out.

 

Congrats to my parents on their 30 years together!

 







Photographs of the Cake Topper on the Cake by Ms. Nicole Bell of Nicole Bell Photography

Baby Shower Plaque

A couple years ago was wedding season and it seemed like Mr. Engineer and I were going to a wedding every weekend... Now it is officially baby season with all of our newly married friends becoming new parents. Last week, I went to a baby shower for a family friend. She is having a sweet baby boy.

This is the plaque I created! I like to make something to give as a gift because it is more personal than buying something.

I am going to go through step by step instructions if anyone wants to do this plaque project!

Supplies for this project:

- paint (I just used some paint I already had -for the background I used Ultra White - 70143 Valspar interior semi-gloss paint, for the lettering I used La Fonda Artisan Green - 5009-7 Valspar interior flat paint and Navy Blue - 403 FolkArt matte acrylic paint and for the outline I used Metallic Silver Sterling - 4034 FolkArt enamel acrylic paint

- pencil (to outline the image or words)

- paint brushes of various sizes

- wood plaque (this is the only supply I bought, I picked mine up at Michael's)

The plaque I used was already primed with white, so I only had to do one coat of white paint.

Then, I outlined my lettering.

Next, I painted the lettering in the green and blue.

Finally, I added the silver accents.

I even added some color on the edges.






I also wanted to share a different plaque I made for another family friend:

 

She had a little girl.

 

All I did was change the colors and font...

...so it would match the color of the nursery décor.