Holidays & Seasons Archives - Blue i Style

Easter Egg Lego Scavenger Hunt Ideas

blueistyle — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 13:18:00 +0000

Easter is just around the corner, and I love making the morning special for the kids with an Easter Egg Hunt. Each year, we come up with creative non candy Easter egg fillers. Last year, I came up with a new idea that proved to be a huge hit – Legos!

The night before Easter, I opened the box of Legos and emptied all of the pieces into a bowl. Then I filled each of our plastic Easter eggs with a handful of pieces, dividing them up evenly between all of the eggs.

Most years we attend a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt at the park, and then we always do an indoor Easter egg hunt at home. Here’s a pro parenting tip – make yourself a quick cheat sheet that notes how many eggs you hid and lists their locations. It might seem obvious, but a few years we’ve been lazy and didn’t make notes for ourselves, and we’ve always ended up regretting it.

We hid the Easter eggs all around the main floor, and then we chose a different spot to hide the Lego instruction book, and created a scavenger hunt to lead the boys to the instructions.

We always make the boys find all of the plastic eggs before they are allowed to start opening them.

They could hear things rattling around inside, and they were so eager to find out!

When they were finally able to open the eggs, they found all the Legos, along with a note inside one of the eggs that started the scavenger hunt.

Scott wrote riddles that led them to 4 or 5 different spots around the house in search of the Lego instructions. They were so eager to find out what they’d be able to build with their new Legos! Big brother read the clues and then they worked together to solve them.

The final clue on the scavenger hunt had them searching their own bedroom.

We had tucked the Lego instruction booklets into the slats of the bed frame below the lower bunk bed mattress.

The boys were so excited when they discovered that their new under the sea Legos (affiliate link) would allow them to build a shark, a crab, a SCUBA diver, and more. And they wasted no time getting started!

We’ve come up with a lot of non candy Easter Egg fillers over the years, but there’s no doubt that the Lego filled Easter Eggs were the biggest hit of all. In fact, they boys have already put their request in to the Easter Bunny for more Legos this year.

For less than $15, the 230 pieces of this Lego set were more plenty to fill the 24 or so plastic eggs that we hide each year for our indoor Easter egg hunt. In fact, it cost me less than I would have spent on candy or other little trinkets.

Looking for more creative Easter ideas?
*A Colorful Spring Tablescape
*14 Everyday Items to Repurpose as Flower Vases
*The Best Easter Brunch Recipes

The post Easter Egg Lego Scavenger Hunt Ideas appeared first on Blue i Style.

Personalized Holiday Projects Made With Cricut

blueistyle — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 08:00:00 +0000

Thank you to my friends at Cricut for sponsoring this post.

I’m a strong believer that your home should be a reflection of your family, and that’s especially true during the holiday season. I love that with my Cricut, I can create customized decor, unique advent calendars, personalized gift tags and bags, and endless gifts that are perfect for everyone on my list. Today I’ve rounded up more than 25 creative Christmas projects that you can make with the Cricut Explore Air 2 or Cricut Maker.

To help you find exactly what you’re looking for, I’ve broken this project idea list in to categories, including:

Stylish Gift Wrap Ideas
Creative Advent Ideas
Personalized Holiday Decor
Christmas Eve Traditions
Great DIY Gifts

Personalized Holiday Projects Made With Cricut

GIFT WRAP IDEAS

Reusable Monogram Gift Tags

Color Your Own Gift Bags

Photo Credit: Happy Go Lucky

Gift Wrap with Debossed Foil

Photo Credit: The Proper Blog

"Gangsta Wrapper" Holiday Gift Bag

Photo Credit: The Cards We Drew

Engraved Acrylic Gift Tags

Photo Credit: Giggles Galore

Special Delivery Bag

Photo Credit: Clover Lane

Creative Advent Ideas

Christmas Book Advent Gift Tags

Advent Calendar Drawers

Photo Credit: Kaleidoscope Living

Holiday Countdown Banner

Photo Credit: Wit and Delight

Framed Wooden Advent Calendar

Photo Credit: Everyday Party

PERSONALIZED HOLIDAY DECOR

Letter To Santa Wood Sign

Photo Credit: Tried & True

Personalized Christmas Stockings & Tassels

Photo Credit: Happily Ever After Etc

Black & White Modern Christmas Coasters

Photo Credit: The Crafted Sparrow

CHRISTMAS EVE TRADITIONS

Treats for Santa Wood Chalkboard Sign

Photo Credit: Lemon Thistle

Christmas Eve Bag

Photo Credit: Suburban Wife City Life

Personalized Christmas Eve Box

Photo Credit: Artsy Fartsy Mama

Personalized Jammies

Photo Credit: Sew Sophie Lynn

EASY DIY GIFT IDEAS

Monogram Dish Towels

Photo Credit: Polished Habitat

Baking Gift Idea

Photo Credit: The Idea Room

Book Lovers Gift Basket

Photo Credit: Pretty Providence

Personalized Gifts for Outdoorsmen

Photo Credit: All For the Memories

Personalized Stationery

Photo Credit: Just My Little Mess

Personalized Chemistry Set for Kids

Photo Credit: Housewife Eclectic

Sleepover Tote Bags

Photo Credit: Rad and the Rest

Engraved Charm Bracelet

Photo Credit: Laura's Crafty Life

Baby, It’s Cold Outside Teapot Set

Photo Credit: Best of This Life

Monogrammed Scarf & Gloves Gift Set

Photo Credit: That's What Che Said

Monogram Makeup Bags

Photo Credit: Small Stuff Counts

The post Personalized Holiday Projects Made With Cricut appeared first on Blue i Style.

Reusable Monogram Gift Tags Made with Cricut

blueistyle — Wed, 13 Nov 2019 09:38:00 +0000

I am so grateful to my friends at Cricut for sponsoring this holiday DIY project.

A couple of years ago, I used my Cricut to make numbered gift tags for the 24 books that we wrap every holiday season for the boys to open each night leading up to Christmas. I loved how they turned out and, ever since, I’ve been wanting to make some reusable gift tags for all of our family Christmas presents.

I once again used my Cricut and created some simple DIY monogram gift tags. I made a set of reusable gift tags for each member of the family with their first initial, and I used a combination of faux pebbled leather and a variety of patterned and glitter iron on vinyls to give these reusable monogram gift tags a modern style that will look great on all the presents under our tree year after year.

Below are the step by step instructions for making these simple and stylish resuable gift tags. I’ve linked to the specific faux leather and iron on vinyl that I used, but of course, you can customize these gift tags with any colors and patterns you love to create a look that’s perfect for your holiday decor.

And these gift tags aren’t just for Christmas, they could be used for Hanukkah, birthday gifts, or for any other gift giving holiday you celebrate.

HOW TO MAKE REUSABLE MONOGRAM GIFT TAGS WITH THE CRICUT

REUSABLE GIFT TAG SUPPLY LIST

Let’s start with the supply list, and then I’ll show you how to make these reusable monogram gift tags. This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. If you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

Cricut electronic cutting machine (I use the Explore Air)
Cricut Access Fonts
StrongGrip Adhesive Cutting Mat
Black Pebbled Faux Leather
Patterned Iron On Vinyl (I used this set and this set)
Glitter Iron On Vinyl
Scissors
Easy Press Mini
Pressing Mat
Cropadile and 3/16″ Eyelets (optional)

I’ve saved my finished design file right here, but unless your family happens to have the same first initials as mine, I’ll walk you step by step through the design process of creating these monogram gift tags with the initials of your loved ones.

Start by opening a new file in design space, and click “Text” on the left side. Then click “Font” on the top bar to browse the font options. I love that Cricut Design Space will allow you to use any font on your computer, but I always seem to find exactly what I’m looking for in the Cricut fonts. The fonts are very easy to browse thanks to the preview screen that shows you what every character looks like.

I wanted these tags to be pretty thick and modern, so I chose a Cricut font called “Eagle Bold” and set the size to a height of 3 inches. I may make another set of smaller tags later, but I think these big tags will be perfect to make a statement on most of our gifts.

Rather than creating a new text box for each number, I just typed our four initials into the text box, and then used the ungroup tool. Clicking the ungroup tool automatically turned each number into its own layer.

In order to use these letters as gift tags, I needed a hole in the top of each to string twine or ribbon through. To create these holes, start by click on the shape tool on the left menu, and draw a circle. I wanted the holes to be 3/16 of an inch, so I input .1875 as the circle size, which design space rounded to .188″ in diameter.

I dragged the circle to position it in a good spot over the letter A, then duplicated the circle and dragged it on onto the B. I repeated this step until each letter had a 3/16 circle positioned near the top center.

To turn these circles into holes that will be cut out of the letters, use the slice tool. Select both the number and circle layers, and then click “slice.”

Now delete the circle layers and you’ll be left with this…

Then I duplicated each letter so that I could cut 3 of each letter at a time.

The monogram gift tags are now ready to be cut. I used faux leather, which I’ve found sticks best to a StrongGrip cutting mat. I used a fine point blade, and turned the material dial on my Cricut machine to “Custom.” After clicking “Make” in Design Space, I was prompted to choose my custom material, and selected “Faux Leather.”

To add extra style to the monogram tags, I decided to add some patterned iron on vinyl to create a color-block look. Rather than editing the file to cut just the sections that I wanted to cover with the patterned iron on, I just cut another set of numbers from each of four different iron on vinyls.

To cut iron on vinyl, place the vinyl with the patterned, shiny side down on the mat, and choose the “mirror” option before cutting.

For the patterned Iron On Vinyl, set the dial to “Iron On” so that the blade cuts through the vinyl, but does not cut through the clear transfer sheet. I also made a set of letters with white glitter iron on, which requires a deeper cut. For the glitter iron on, adjust the dial to custom, and choose Glitter Iron On as the custom cut setting in Design Space.

After the cut is complete, peel up the iron-on material starting from a corner, and pull slowly to remove all of the excess from around the cut letters.

Then weed the centers of the letters and the small holes. This will leave only the final letters attached to the clear transfer sheet.

Since I only wanted the patterned vinyl to cover a portion of each leather letter, created a color-blocked look, I used scissors to cut a rectangle around each letter, then cut off the portion of each letter that I wanted to apply to of the black leather. I worked one letter at a time, varying the positioning of each to cover a portion of the top or bottom, left or right of each number, or an angle across some.

Before ironing the patterened vinyl onto the faux leather gift tags, I consulted this Interactive Heat Guide for time, temperature, and peel temperature recommendations. Per the recommendation for patterned iron on vinyl and faux leather, I heated my Easy Press Mini to the lowest heat setting, and pressed on the top of the transfer sheet for 30 seconds, keeping it moving the entire time.

I then flipped the monogram gift tag over, and pressed again on the back of the faux leather for another 30 seconds before peeling off the transfer sheet.

Finally, to make these gift tags extra durable for use year after year, I used my Cropadile to set a 3/16 inch eyelet into the hole in each gift tag.

I repeated this process to create lots of monogram letter gift tags with three different patterned vinyls, as well as white glitter vinyl.

Be sure to save the image below so that you can easily find your way back to these instructions when you’re ready to make your own reusable monogram gift tags.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine. Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand.

The post Reusable Monogram Gift Tags Made with Cricut appeared first on Blue i Style.

Non-Candy Valentines: Free Printable Valentine’s Day Cards

blueistyle — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 13:00:00 +0000

My boys’ school has a wellness policy that requires that no candy be handed out at class parties, but since the kids enjoy giving and receiving little gifts, I designed these cute non-candy Valentine’s last year. My son loved handing out these wiggle eye rings to his kindergarten class, and they were a huge hit with his friends.

This year, I’m sharing these free printable Valentine cards with you! You can download them at the end of the post.

I bought several bags of multi-colored wiggle eye rings at Michael’s, but they aren’t available this year – at least not yet, they may become available as Valentine’s Day gets closer. But you can get this big bag of wiggle eye rings {affiliate link} for an even better price!

I designed these “I Only Have Eyes For You” printable Valentine’s Day cards to fit four to a page, and I added a white space at the bottom for my son to write his name on each one. At his school, they ask that the young kids write who the card is from, but not who the cards are to so that handing them out doesn’t take too long. But there’s plenty of space to write both to and from in the white bar if you would prefer.

After my son finished writing his name on the cards, we used a small piece of tape to tape the bottom of the wiggle eye rings onto the cards. {I split each piece in half to make it narrower.} I like how the bottom of the ring ends up looking like the little alien’s nose.

If your kids would enjoy giving these “I Only Have Googly Eyes For You” Valentine cards with wiggle eye rings to their friends DOWNLOAD THE FREE PRINTABLE VALENTINE CARDS HERE. I recommend printing them on glossy cardstock. The black crop marks will make it easy to cut them down to just the right size.

Pin the image below so that you can find your way back here the next time you need cute, printable Valentines cards!

The post Non-Candy Valentines: Free Printable Valentine’s Day Cards appeared first on Blue i Style.

Inexpensive Wreath Storage Idea

blueistyle — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 09:00:00 +0000

Hanging a pretty wreath on the front door is one of the easiest ways to add some seasonal cheer to your front porch, but storing all those holiday wreaths can become a challenge. This is especially true when you have double doors, resulting in two of every wreath.

I speak from experience! I used to just have two Christmas wreaths, but over time, I’ve added to my collection and now also have sets of front door wreaths for spring, fall, Halloween, and more. I used to use wreath storage bags in the garage, but I recently came up with a clever organizing hack that is saving space while keeping my wreaths in great shape.

This post contains some affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

Wreath storage bags are great for keeping the dust off of your wreaths, especially if they are stored in a garage or unfinished storage area. I used storage bags for years, but as my collection of wreaths grew, I found that the bags weren’t protecting some of my more delicate wreaths. I considered switching to solid wreath storage boxes, but purchasing as many as I needed was going to get pricey, and they would take up a lot more room in my garage. Plus, I was also having trouble finding an option big enough for some of my larger wreaths {like my DIY monogram wreath}.

I started considering other options and came up with a creative and inexpensive solution! I recently turned an extra closet in our house into a prop closet {more details on that coming soon}, and I was able to use the wall space on the side of the closet to add wreath storage hangers that hold more than a dozen wreaths.

I purchased some flip up tools holders and Scott installed them on the wall of the closet. The holders only cost about $6 each {they were much cheaper at the hardware store than on Amazon!} and they install quickly with just two screws each {just be sure to use anchors if you don’t hit studs in the wall}.

Each holder is long enough to storage four bulky wreaths, and the shape keeps the wreaths from falling off the end. I love that when they aren’t in use, the holders can flip up and fold flat against the wall.

I offset four of the tool holders in a zig zag pattern down the wall, allowing me to use all of the wall space from floor to ceiling.

Unlike wreath bags I was using previously, hanging the wreaths prevents the feathers and twigs on my more delicate wreaths from getting squished or broken. It can be really hard to find 24 inch and 36 inch wreath holders, but I am able to easily store my over-sized and odd-shaped wreaths from these flip up tool holders.

Of course, you may not have an extra deep closet with adequate wall space to install wreath holders for storage, but these flip up wreath hangers would also be perfect on the wall of a basement storage room or in the garage.

If you are storing wreaths in a space where they are more likely to get dusty or dirty, you could use these flip up wreath storage racks in combination with wreath bags. Use the handles on the wreath storage bags to hang them from a flip up tool holders mounted to the wall to clear up valuable shelf space!

MORE WREATH STORAGE IDEAS

There are lots of other great Christmas wreath storage containers available. I personally prefer the ones that you can see through so that you can quickly find the one you are looking for.

The post Inexpensive Wreath Storage Idea appeared first on Blue i Style.

DIY Map Ornaments

blueistyle — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 12:29:00 +0000

I love to travel and I have a bit of an obsession with maps! Years ago I came across a set of gold landmark ornaments that I just couldn’t pass up, and I decided then and there that one day I would have a travel-themed Christmas tree. I began looking for a Christmas ornament to bring home as a souvenir from each country we visit. And I also thought it would be really fun idea make a set of DIY map ornaments to commemorate each of our travel destinations.

I considered a lot of different way to create my travel map ornaments, but my number one priority was making them simple enough that it will be easy to add more over the years as we check more cities and countries off of our travel bucket list.

SUPPLY LIST

*This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something I recommend, you pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

{1} Fiskars Round and Round Squeeze Punch – X-Large

{2} Standard hole punch

{3} Tres Port Postal Rubber Stamp

{4} EK Success Squeeze and Roll Glue Pen

{5} Red Sharpie

{6} Recollections Brush Markers

{7} Airplane Twill Ribbon, The Paper Studio {from Hobby Lobby}

{8} 2.25′ Metal Edged Paper Tags

In addition to these supplies, I obviously needed maps of each of our travel destinations. For this, I simply copied maps out of my National Geographic Family Reference Atlas, but if you don’t own an atlas, you could just as easily print maps from the Internet. I copied the maps onto white cardstock weight paper.

I planned to affix one map to each round kraft paper tag, and originally assumed that I’d have to cut each circle with scissors, being very precise to get the size just right. But as I was printing the maps, it dawned on me that I owned several Fiskars squeeze punches in different sizes of circles. I was thrilled to find that my 2 inch squeeze punch cut a circle exactly the right size to fit just inside the metal rim of the round kraft paper tags.

In addition to being a major time saver, my favorite part about the squeeze punch is that it allowed me to see exactly what I was going to cut before cutting it. I was able to position the map within the center of the punch, ensuring that the city names I wanted were visible.

In the photo above, I was cutting a circle from the very bottom of the map to document our recent trip to Cape Town, but when I needed to cut a circle from a location not along the edge of the paper, I simply used scissors to cut the paper down until the section I wanted could fit within the frame of the squeeze punch.

As I cut my map circles, I also kept in mind that I would be punching a hole in the top center of each to add the ribbon for hanging. With that in mind, I was careful not to position the names of important cities near the top center of the circles.

Once I finished cutting all of my maps, I began gluing them to the craft paper tags using an acid free glue pen {which won’t cause the paper to discolor over time}. Each tag has a metal rim around the edge, but the rim is wider on one side than the other {in the photo below, the side with the thinner rim is at the top, and the thicker rim below}. The maps fit perfectly inside the thicker rim, so I had to pay attention to glue them to the correct side of each tag.

After affixing the maps to the tags, I had to punch a hole through each in order to later add the ribbon for hanging. I used a standard hole punch and lined it up with the original, slightly smaller, hole on the blank side of each tag.

With the maps on one side of tags, I decided to use the reverse side to note the year that we traveled to each destination. But the year alone seemed a bit boring, so I picked up a rubber stamp at Hobby Lobby with three postmarks {which, because they are not quite legible, also remind me of passport stamps}.

I recently experimented with hand-coloring rubber stamps {when I made stamped place cards}, and my Recollections brush markers worked so well that I decided to use them again for this project. I colored each post mark in a different color – red, brown and green {and I opted not to color the signature across the bottom of the stamp}.

Three important tips to keep in mind when hand coloring a rubber stamp: (1) After coloring, but before stamping, you have to “huff” on the stamp {blow hot air on it with an open mouth} to re-moisten the ink in order to get nice, vibrant colors; (2) Re-color after each stamp; and (3) When you are done stamping, baby wipes work well to remove all of the excess ink and ensure that the stamp does not get stained.

I then used a red Sharpie to write in the travel year corresponding to each map next to the red postmark stamp.

Finally, I added a piece of ribbon to each ornament for easy hanging. I was thrilled to find some adorable airplane ribbon at Hobby Lobby for only $.99 per 2 yard roll. I stocked up on quite a few rolls, so I’ll be able to use the same ribbon when I make more of these ornaments in the future. I tied a simple knot by wrapping the ribbon around my finger and then pulling the ends through the loop. I pulled each knot tight and then trimmed off the excess leaving just a bit of ribbon poking out of the top. As of now, the ribbon doesn’t seem to be fraying, but if the ends of the ribbon do begin to fray, I’ll add a bit of FrayCheck to keep them looking nice.

These ornaments were so simple to make, but I really love the way they turned out! They are prefect for commemorating each of our travel destinations and documenting the year of each trip. I bought extra of the tags and ribbon, so I’ll be able to quickly and easily make a new ornament each time we travel.

As the years go by, it will be so fun to reminisce about our adventures as we hang each of these map ornaments on a travel themed tree!

These small ornaments will pair perfectly with my set of gold landmark ornaments!

Be sure to pin the image below so you can find you way back to this easy, DIY map ornament tutorial when you’re ready to make them for yourself, or to give a gift!

Now that you’ve seen my travel map ornaments, you might want to check out this post with 35 other handmade ideas for trimming your tree from some of your favorite bloggers!

The post DIY Map Ornaments appeared first on Blue i Style.

Glam White DIY Christmas Trees

blueistyle — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 19:05:00 +0000

A while back, my mom bought me a variety of unfinished paper mache and wood cutout Christmas trees from Hobby Lobby knowing that I would have fun figuring out a creative way to decorate them. I stalled and stalled and didn’t do anything with these Christmas tree crafts for a couple of years – not because I didn’t have any ideas, but because I had too many ideas and couldn’t make a decision. Does anyone else have this same problem? I call it craft indecisiveness!

Finally I realized that I could use my indecisiveness to my advantage by creating six distinctly different DIY Christmas Trees – three cones, and three flat wood Christmas trees. Today I want to share three simple tutorials for decorating paper mache cones from Hobby Lobby to create glam Christmas decorations on a major budget

I started my DIY Christmas Tree project the same way most craft projects start in my house – by pulling together paints, scrapbook papers, ribbons, and various other supplies from around my house and piling them all in the center of the kitchen table. After staring at the supplies for a while, I decided to start with the paper mache cone-shaped Christmas trees.

DIY Fur Christmas Tree. Let’s begin with the Christmas tree that I covered in white fur ribbon, which I purchased at Michael’s. Since the base of the tree would remain exposed, I started by giving the tree a coat of white acrylic paint. I unrolled all nine yards of the fur ribbon and cut strips the right length, then used my hot glue gun to begin attaching the fur strips to the tree.

I was concerned about maintaining the narrow, pointed shape of the top of the tree, so I knew I couldn’t have six strip of thick fur overlapping at the very top of the tree. Instead I started by affixing three strips of fur that were only about three quarters of the height of the tree. I spaced these strips evenly around the tree, leaving room between each to affix three more full length strips of fur ribbon.

With the final three strips of fur glued to the lower part of the tree, I used a scissors to cut the top of each strip into a point. I then finished gluing these three fur strips to the top of the tree. The tree initially looked odd because of the different layers of the overlapping strips of fur, but as soon as I fluffed up the fur with the fingers, the tree really took shape and looked perfect.

DIY Bead Garland Christmas Tree. Next I decided to wrap one of the Christmas trees in a silver bead garland that I purchased from Michael’s (also on the ribbon aisle). I started by painting the tree white, and, to achieve a glossy finish, I combined my white acrylic paint with some Liquitex Gloss Gel that I had in with my painting supplies.

Once the paint was dry, I began wrapping the tree with the silver bead garland, using hot glue to affix the end of the first string of beads. The spot where I glued the initial strand of beads became the “back” of the tree. As I added additional strands of beads, I ensured that each started and stopped at the back of the tree so that, when placed on my mantel, none of the hot glue will be visible. In total, I used about eight and a half yards of bead garland to wrap the tree from top to bottom.

DIY Paper Heart Christmas Tree. I wanted to cover the third Christmas tree in some music note scrapbook paper that I already owned, though I wasn’t sure the best way to go about this. I thought about attaching strips of paper around the tree and then fringing the paper, but I was concerned that the music notes wouldn’t read if the paper was fringed. Instead, I decided to get my Cricut Christmas craft on. I pulled out my Cricut machine (this was a few years ago when I was still using the original Cricut before updating to the Cricut Explor) and cut hundreds of elongated hearts.

After cutting all of the music note hearts, I decided that the tree would be more interesting if I mixed in some fancy papers that would add a little sparkle to the tree. I sifted through my scrapbook papers and cut more hearts from silver metallic paper, as well as from paper that had stripes of beige, white, black and silver glitter.

Since I knew that the paper mache base of the tree would most likely show through between the scrapbook paper hearts, I started by painting the tree with two coats of silver metallic acrylic paint. Then, before attaching the hearts to the tree, I curled each around a pencil. Rather than curing them one by one, I found that it worked well to stack up three to four hearts and curl them all at once. Then I would glue those hearts to the tree before curling three or four more.

I started at the bottom of tree, and used a dot of hot glue at the point of each heart and a dot of hot glue in the center of each heart. I worked my way around the tree, one row at a time. On each row, I overlapped the edges of the hearts, and each row also overlapped the row below.

It was a time consuming process to glue nearly 400 hearts to the tree – about five re-runs of Friends to be specific. Once I finally reached the very top of the tree, I used the pencil to curl the final three hearts in around themselves, rather than curling them so that the rounded ends flipped up. This made the final hearts easier to glue in place and maintained the shape of the point of the tree top.

I am so excited about how these tree DIY Christmas trees turned out! Each one is so unique, but I think they look especially great when grouped together.

It’s amazing what happens when you stop procrastinating, spread out all your craft supplies, and just get to work!

My painted, chipboard Chirstmas trees also turned out beautifully. It’s amazing how a few paper mache cones from Hobby Lobby and a few chipboard Christmas trees turned into a chic white Christmas mantel display with these DIY Christmas Tree crafts! I’m just over here singing, “I’m dreaming of an orange and white Christmas…”

Be sure to pin the image below so you can find your way back to these simple DIY tutorials for decorating paper mache cones from Hobby Lobby to create glam Christmas decorations on a major budget! And then click over to see how I painted my wood Christmas trees cutouts for more DIY white Christmas decorations!

The post Glam White DIY Christmas Trees appeared first on Blue i Style.

Easy DIY Lumiere Costume from Beauty & the Beast

blueistyle — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 18:54:00 +0000

My boys love Disney movies, and Beauty and the Beast is one of their favorites. Last year, Beckett and Cooper announced in March that they wanted to be Lumiere and Gaston for Halloween, but I didn’t think much of it because I assumed they’d change their minds twenty times by the time the holiday rolled around. But when it got to be October and they were still set on the Beauty and the Beast theme, I realized I’d better get their costumes figured out!

I started with a quick online search and found lots of Lumiere and Gaston costumes for men, but almost none for little boys. I was able to piece Gaston together with a few online purchases (and a fun repurpose from a prior year’s Halloween), but Lumiere required me to get a lot more creative!

I started brainstorming a new-sew way to create the look of Lumiere’s candelabra and to incorporate working LED candles, rather than felt or paper for the flames. I’m really happy with how my DIY Beauty and the Beast Lumiere candelabra costume turned out, and I’ll show you just how easy it was to create!

SUPPLY LIST: LUMIERE CANDELABRA

Aside from the glue gun and drill that I already owned, all of the supplies I needed to create these simple DIY Lumiere candle hands and candle hat only cost me about $25. This post contains some affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

Large White Plastic Trifle Container
Small White Plastic Trifle Container
Gold Ribbon
Gold Glitter Elastic
Foam Core Poster Board
Cordless Hot Glue Gun
Battery Operated Tea Lights (I used Stopen from Ikea)
Small Command Picture Hanging Strips
Simple Round Cabinet Knobs with screws
Hardware Hex Nuts
Cordless Drill & drill bit to fit knob screws
Sheet of 2″ Thick Foam

HOW TO MAKE LUMIERE CANDLE HANDS & CANDLE HAT

I was walking through the store shopping for some Halloween party supplies when I came across these white plastic trifle containers. They are made for serving fancy desserts, but the large one is the perfect size for a hat, and the small is just right for creating candle holder hands.

The first thing I had to figure out was how my little Lumiere was going to keep the trifle containers on his hands. I started poking around my craft supplies and searching through my workbench drawers to brainstorm a solution. I came across some simple cabinet knobs, and realized they would make perfect hand hold.

We turned both of the small trifle containers upside down and used our cordless drill to we carefully drill a hole through the center of each using a drill bit to match the size of the cabinet knob screw.

We placed the screw through the bottom of the first small trifle container, then flipped it over and used two hex nuts as spacers before screwing the knob in place.

Adding those hex nut spacers provides just the right amount of room to wrap your fingers around the knob.

Once we’d created a way for Beckett to hold onto his Lumiere candle hands, we needed to actually make them look like candles.

I picked up some LED tealights from IKEA, but I needed a flat surface to attach them to. Since the bases of the trifle containers are concave, I used foam core poster board to create a flush bottom.

I traced the bottom of each container on the foam core board and used an exacto knife to cut it out just a bit smaller than the pencil line. Then I added a bead of hot glue around the inside edge of each trifle container base to glue the foam core decagons in place.

To complete the look of Lumiere’s candelabra, I added a strip of shimmery gold ribbon around each trifle container.

I cut the ribbon to the right length and used a couple of dabs of hot glue to hold it in place.

I decided to affix the candles with velcro-like Command picture hanging strips because I wanted the tealights to be removable so they could be easily turned on and off, and the batteries could be replaced if needed.

I trimmed the picture hanging strips down to small pieces and placed them around the bottom edges of the tealights, leaving the battery compartments accessible. I then peeled off the backing from the other side of the hook and loop strips and attached them to the center of the foam core on the bottom {now top} of each trifle container.

For Beckett’s Halloween costume, it would have been fine to turn the tealights on and leave them on for the duration of the evening. However, if you are making a Lumiere costume to be worn on stage for a performance of Beauty and the Beast, you ideally want to control the LED candle flames without un-velcro’ing the candles to turn them on and off each time.

I used Stopen tealights from IKEA, which are perfect because they are motion-contolled and turn on and off simply by tipping them down and back up, allowing Lumiere to control his candle flames with nothing more than a gesture. The Stopen lights appear to be discontinued and have been replaced with the Mognad battery operated tealights. I haven’t been able to confirm if these lights turn on and off in the same manner.

I tried the hat-sized trifle container on Beckett, and added a piece of gold glitter elastic with hot glue to create a chin strap to hold it on his head.

Even with the elastic, however, I found that the candle hat slid around on his head and tipped from side to side. To solve this problem, I added some dense foam to the inside of the hat.

I cut a strip from a sheet of 2″ thick foam and glued it around the inside of the large trifle container. This not only made the candle hat fit Beckett’s head better and stopped it from sliding around, the soft foam also made it more comfortable for him to wear.

With the three pieces of Lumiere’s DIY candelabra complete, I just needed to find something for Beckett to wear. I found a great price on a small, white tuxedo with gold trim and a gold vest that was the perfect compliment to the white and gold candle hands and hat.

My kids have always been small for their ages, so I got lucky that at almost 6 years old, Beckett was able to fit into a size 4T tux, because a larger size would have certainly cost more, but there are still some good deals to be found if you search for white costume tuxedos. We paired the tux with some cheap white canvas shoes.

How cute are my Lumiere and Gaston? Beckett loves to be fancy and he was so thrilled with how his costume turned out, and Cooper was pretty pleased with his muscles!

I just can’t get enough of these two and how their costume choices so perfectly captured their personalities.

The boys really wanted this to be a whole family costume, so Scott and I bought inexpensive Belle and Beast costumes.

The post Easy DIY Lumiere Costume from Beauty & the Beast appeared first on Blue i Style.

DIY Home Projects in Red, White, and Blue

blueistyle — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 22:24:00 +0000

Denver has been teasing us lately with a few tastes of spring like weather mixed in among the traditional cold and snow of March in Colorado. And with every spring flower I see starting to bloom, I’m itching for summer. Afternoons at the park with the kids, BBQs with friends, and warm nights on the patio.

Since summer bookended by Memorial Day and Labor Day, with the 4th of July in the middle, I often associate summer with all things red, white, and blue.

With that in mind, I’ve joined with the All Things creative team once again.

This month we’re bringing you color themed DIY inspiration in… you guessed it… red, white and blue! But rather than patriotic projects that include all three colors, we decided to celebrate the colors of the stars and stripes one by one.

Below you’ll find a collection of DIY home projects that will have you seeing red, a group of white projects that will prove that neutral can make a big statement, and then my favorite color – blue – gets celebrated with a big collection of home decor and DIY inspiration!

ALL THINGS RED: DIY Home Projects

An InLinkz Link-up

ALL THINGS WHITE: DIY Home Projects

An InLinkz Link-up

ALL THINGS BLUE: DIY Home Projects

An InLinkz Link-up

The post DIY Home Projects in Red, White, and Blue appeared first on Blue i Style.

Christmas Tablescapes for Every Style

blueistyle — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 11:10:00 +0000

I love to set a pretty and festive table, but it’s got to be easy and inexpensive! Oh, and modern. And colorful. I bet none of that surprises you at all!

Today I’m joining with a crazy talented group of bloggers to bring you a dozen holiday table setting ideas. You’ll find inspiration for every style, and lots of tips for creative ways to repurpose the decor you already have to set a table that will wow you guests!

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. If you buy something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may make a small commission.

A few years ago, I was in New York before Christmas, and I saw a gorgeous set of modern wood tabletop Christmas trees stained in bright shades of blue, green, and red. I wanted them for my kitchen table because I knew they’d add just the perfect combination of height and color, but I just couldn’t justify the cost of one, let alone the whole group I envisioned.

Instead, I came home and came up with my own, super simple, DIY version. I bought a bunch of paper mache cones and painted them red, blue, and several shades of teal. It took me very little time, but these bright trees make quite the statement.

Those HO HO HO letters on the sideboard in the background were another simple DIY inspired by a similar version that was also out of my Christmas decor budget. Grab that tutorial here.

I received the pretty, red and white color-block table runner last year, and the blue and white buffalo check napkins came from the Target dollar section last year {they are the same ones I used for my fall table; here’s a very similar set of navy buffalo check napkins for about the same price}.

This year, I really wanted red placements, but rather than running out to spend money on a color I would only use once a year, I improvised with scrapbook paper. Using paper in my seasonal table settings is one of my favorite tricks because it allows me to customize the look without splurging on new table linens for every holiday. It also makes clean up quick and easy – just toss the paper in the recycling bin!

We own one set of dishes that we use year round, but a few years ago Scott bought me this pretty set of silver and white snowflake dishes for holiday entertaining. I have matching bowls, but this year, I decided to mix things up a bit by layering in my set of clear glass salad plates. For spring and fall, I’ve cut circles of patterned scrapbook paper to place below the glass plates, but for Christmas, I decided to go with big, blue snowflakes.

I used my favorite crafting tool – my Cricut Explore Air electronic cutter – to cut four different snowflake shapes from blue, corrugated cardboard.

I’m really happy with the way my merry and bright Christmas table came together, and I’m proud that I was able to pull it together without buying anything new this year. It’s amazing what you can do just by digging into your stash of scrapbook paper!

If colorful and modern speaks to you, be sure to pin this Christmas tablescape for later, using the image below. No matter what your style, I have a good feeling you’re going to find something inspires in the gorgeous collection of holiday tables from my blogging friends at the links below.

12 CHRISTMAS TABLE SETTINGS FOR EVERY STYLE

The Happy Housie / Paint Me Pink / My Fabuless Life / Lemon Thistle

This is Our Bliss / Newly Woodwards / All Things With Purpose / Blue I Style

Elliven Studio / Lehman Lane / Fynes Designs /Green With Decor / The Restless Arrow

Which style is your favorite? Leave me a comment and tell me which table you’d most like to sit at for your Christmas dinner!

The post Christmas Tablescapes for Every Style appeared first on Blue i Style.