My pretty pops for the hubby

Hello, Crafty Friends. 

A while back my hubby had been asking me to make something crafty to take to work... yeah, who knew guys talk about their wives crafts (especially in the work place). LOL 

Well, some time had passed and we had recently celebrated our sons 3rd birthday. It was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed birthday party and our son requested that I make him cake pops for his party. Well, being the crafty mama I am, I made him special Mickey shaped cake pops. This leads back to hubby, I promise...

You see, hubby saw our son's Mouse eared cake pops and he wanted some too. Well, sadly, there were none leftover. And with Valentine's Day right around the corner, I figured why not! So I made hubby his own batch to take to work for him as his co-workers. Yes, I'm one of those wives that send their hubbies to work with baked goodies to share. It's just like sending your kids to school with cupcakes!! Seriously, it is!

But I just couldn't just send him with pops in a plastic bag or a plain cardboard box... nope, not this crafty wifey!! I had to prettify EVERYTHING!!

Starting with the BOX!!

I cut of the flaps a cardboard box we had just laying around the house. transforming it into a tray. 

I used this adorable paper stack from DCWV to cover up the outside of my box. I t was my lucky day because I found a box that 12"x 12" and 4.25" high.

So, I cut my patterned paper into 4 - 4" strips, for the base. And 4 and coordinating patterned paper into 4 - 1" strips, for a border. I used my scalloped edge punch to punch a decorative pattern along one edge. I ran all my strips through my Xyron Creative Station.

Then I adhered them to my box. I used the 4" strip toward the bottom and the border strip on top. This cover the .25" gap that the base strips didn't.

I made adorable decorative embellishments with my TeresaCollins Pocket Dies.

I used my Cut'n'boss machine and the bow and tails die (from the Girl's Best Friend set) to make super cute bows.

I made  2 sets of bows and hot glued them to the from of my box. I also topped both bows with a white button and hot glued them into place. 

I also cut out 3 hearts and stacked  and glued them onto each other, making it nice and thick like chipboard. Then glued it in place, in between my bows, using liquid glue. 

I also die cut 3 arrows to go through my heart... because what is a Valentine heart without a arrow going through it??

Now, my box is complete... and SUPER CUTE!!

But, I didn't stop there! Nope, had to make my pops equally as cute!!

Again, using my Cut'n'boss machine, I cut out fishtail flags and these this gorgeous Teresa Collins script die. This one says "love", perfect for the Valentine theme I'm going for.

After cutting out flags and words, I used 2way glue to attach each word to it' flag. Then hot glued them onto my cake pop sticks.

I made a few different ones, but they are all "love" themed and coordinated with my box.

 Here is the finished box of yummies that hubby took to work.

And what do you know, it came back empty!

Well, at least I still have my super cute box!!

Supplies Used

Cut'n'boss (Craftwell)

Teresa Collins Pocket Dies (Craftwell)

Patterned Paper- Chick Chat Stack (DCWV)

Xyron Creative Station w/ 9" Permanent Adhesive cartridge

Hot Glue Gun & Sticks

Scalloped Scallop Punch (EK Success)

Fishtail STAX  Die (My Favorite Things)

Arrow Die (We R Memory Keepers) 

Cake Pops

Cardboard Box

Hope you enjoyed today's project!!

Until next time...

HAPPY CRAFTING!!

~ Mitsy

Hello Kitty Themed Birthday Party

If you are planning on having a Hello Kitty themed party but are on a tight budget you are definitely in the right place. As a stay at home mom of 4 I have learned to stretch that dollar to it's max. I love Candy buffets and I love to do them for my children's birthdays but I can't afford to pay for one of those candy buffet services. Besides, I love to do stuff like this!  

 Almost all the decorations were made by hand which cut down on the bidget.

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The Hello Kitty heads & sitting Hello Kitty were made by using retired Sizzix dies I had on my stash.

I had a picture of my daughter blown up at our local Walmart. I ordered it online and it was done b the same day. And just my luck walmart.com had a coupon on their website for $2 off their poster size prints for same-day service. Total cost for an 16"x20" portrait 10 bucks and some change... AWESOME!!

I didn't have a frame that size but I did have a bigger frame in my closet that had no glass because a certain someone's husband fell on it... thankfully he wasn't hurt... and that is why your parent's tell you no horse play in the house!

I wanted to detract from all the extra space that surrounded the picture getting it professionally matted wasn't an option and would have taken way too long! I had only a few days to make everything. So with the help of some digital files from Designs on Cloud 9 I decorated my frame in flourishes of the same color scheme of my party... I mean Kyan's party!

A lot of my glass containers I have used on previous parties so that was no added expense this go round. I had originally purchased quite a few pieces from Ross'... they have awesome deals and I got several pieces for as low as $3.99. The highest I paid for a glass container at Ross' was $11.99. Still, a steal seeing that most apothecary jars and and glass containers can run upwards from $30-$40. And who says you have to use "apothecary" jars?? Sometimes flowers vases work really well... just like the one above.

I downloaded some Hello Kitty images from off the internet and made little tags to decorate each container. Hot glued it in place with some coordinating ribbon voila instant Hello Kitty cuteness!!

Now, these are new! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, milk glasses!! Again, tight budget = no milk glass money. :(

But, my good friend Pinterest came through for me again. I saw on a fellow blogger that used Starbucks' frappuccino glasses. They look almost exactly like milk glasses but with a slightly different lip... no biggy (no one even noticed). Especially after you throw a paper straw in it! I know, über cute, right?!

Speaking of cute... would you believe this cute tray is the cardboard tray the the frappuccinos came in. I bought mine from Sam's Club for a little over $13 for a whole case. They all came in a little cardboard tray kind of like how soda companies used to sell cases of soda. I just prettified them by covering the box with scrapbook paper, ribbon, and regular white card stock. Add a button and ta-da ... awesome!!

OMG...  THESE ARE TOO STINKIN' CUTE!

I had bought some paper straws from Michael's that were on clearance a while back. They were marked down to like $0.25 a bag because they were leftover from Easter. Another "SCORE"!! So I scooped them up not knowing what I'd use them for but hey, they were pink... what can you do, right?! Good thing I did pick them up too because they matched perfectly!

Paper pom-poms. Another decorative staple in my house.Depending on where you get yours from they can also be really inexpensive.Buying pom-pom for $15 is not gonna happen. Well,  lucky me, I have learned to make pom-poms with proficiency. Added a Hello Kitty kick to them by hanging handmade HK paper medallions and now I have pom-poms that no one else have.

And, why only hang pom-poms from the ceiling? I once used pom-poms as centerpieces and they looked like huge floral blooms sitting on the table. But here, I made a pom-pom into this cute little Hello Kitty topiary.

Again... AWESOME... and sooooo kawaii!!

Here are my girls all ready for the party to start... and of course the birthday girl is the one sporting the HELLO KITTY!

Hope you enjoyed this Hello Kitty Party (on a budget) post!

Craft Happy Friends!! Always, craft happy!!

I know I do! And, I also know that I'm helping my children have amazing memories!

The cupcakes picture above were recycled from a previous post. You can check it out here.