Father's Day Candy Bouquet

Hello Crafty Friends!! I am back with another handmade gift idea. As we know, Father's Day is just around the bend. I don't know about you but I am always plagued with the decision on what to get my my husband for Father's Day.

Getting him a tie would be pointless... his work attire is ultra casual and consists for the most part of polo shirts and jeans... yes, jeans... told you ultra casual! 

Then, there's cuff links... Shoot, the last time he wore a set we were getting married, and that was practically a decade ago.

T-shirts... nah!! He's got a closet full.

Cologne... uh-uh, I have a sensitive nose... poor thing wouldn't be able to wear it.

Ok, well if you're just like me and in a rut... there's always that age-old saying...

"The way to a man's heart is his stomach"!

And my hubby (aka... my babies' daddy) is no exception. That is fine by me because it always seems that I'm gifting someone FOOD and it "food gifting" has become of my specialties!

I decided I wanted to make him a candy bouquet but not just any candy bouquet a manly bouquet. Packed full of "GUY" treats like beef jerky, nuts, and ok, a little bit of chocolate... hahaha, who am I kidding... I'm stock piling it with behemoth sized servings of chocolate.. because that is just how I roll! LOL

 And then the icing on the cake... gift cards!! My children wanted to get involved and helped get daddy something special... so each of their cute little selves chipped in to buy their daddy some google play gift cards. How sweet are they?!!

My husband is a big computer geek so I know these are always a welcomed gift.

Here is what I used to make this Daddy Bouquet...

Tools and Supplies Used

Xyron Creative Station

Xyron 9" Permanent Adhesive Refill Cartridge

Xyron 5" Permanent Refill Cartridge

Xyron 2.5" Create-a-Sticker

Spellbinders Nestablities- Label Twenty-Five

Spellbinders Shapeablities - Damask Motifs

Cut'n'Boss Machine

Eclips Machine with ecal software

Craft Smith - Natural Luxury

Grafix Arts Metallic Silver Cardstock

Bazzill Basics Paper- Raven

Wooden Dowels

Transparent Tape

Green Styrofoam block

Ad-Tech Hi Temp Glue Gun and Glue Stick

True North Chocolate Nut Crunch

Reese's Big Cup Peanut Butter Cups

Jack Links Beef Steak Sticks

Polka Dot Tissue Paper

Powdered Drink Container

This project is another easy way to recycle all your old powdered drink mix containers, oatmeal canisters, or empty coffee cans. Just remove the paper label (if any) and clean out the inside and presto... instant base for your bouquet.

First thing I did was measure my container. There is a lip at both the top and the container... so make sure you measure from the inside of both lips. Mine measured 6.75" high  by 16" around. 

Then, I added at least two inches onto the circumference to allow my paper to overlap a bit when wrapping the can.

Since I don't have 18" paper I made 2- 6.75"x9" pieces instead.

I then ran both pieces through my Xyron Creative Station(with 9" permanent adhesive cartridge). And set aside.

I then used my Cut'n'Boss Machine to cut all my Spellbinders dies at once... Gotta love that extra large cutting platform!!

Cuts like butter every time!!

I ran all my die cut shapes through my Xyron Creative Station... this time using the 5" permanent refill cartridge. Love how this bad boy takes the place of 2 machines!

And the 5" cartridge still has plenty of space to run all my pieces at one time!! LOVE IT!

Next using my Sizzix Eclips and ecal I spelled out "DAD". 

 T

Since these are smaller I decided to use my smaller Xyron  2.5" Create-a-Sticker. My Xyron machines make creating a breeze. There's no drying time and virtually no clean up too!! Simplicity at it's best!

I used to hot glue my paper but ran into a couple of problems with the glue cooling too fast and leaving unsightly lumps under the paper or my paper. I like that I can just peel the backing and stick and that my surface looks and feels smooth!

I took all my small damask diecuts peeled and adhered them onto my label making one big sticker label.

Then placed it onto the front of my canister,

This the only place hot glue onto my project. I added a good amount of hot glue on the inside bottom of my container and added my styrofoam. If you can't fit your foam in try cutting down your edges before inserting.

Then I taped my dowels to all my treats, even the big bag if chocolate covered nuts. For the heavier items I made sure to give it a sufficient amount of tape to support all the weight. 

Then I inserted the dowels into the foam. I made sure to arrange the dowels so that they look like they are cascading or "tiered". You may have to cut some of you dowels down in order to achieve the stadium seating type arrangement. LOL

Lastly, I inserted tissue paper in between the dowels and down into the can ... covering the gaps and concealing all the dowels.

I hope you enjoyed this yummy gift idea.. my Father's Day "Man" Bouquet!!

See you all again next time!!

Happy Crafting!!

~Mitsy

Sweet 16 Candy Centerpieces

Hello again crafty friends!! I've been busy busy busy!! A while back I had volunteered my help to a friend for her daughter's sweet 16 birthday party... little did I know I was gonna be the sole decorator. I don't mind doing the work at all but it's getting down to the wire... her birthday party is this Saturday and we just got to see how HUGE this room is this morning. I'm gonna have to put in overtime to fill that space. I still need to make her birthday banner, make more props for the photo booth, decorate a photo mat, and make about 150 cake pops and all in 2 days. I know what you're all thinkin'... "Mitsy, you are CRAAAAAZZZYYY!!!"... YES, yes I am!!

BUT, the good news is I did finish a couple project that weren't listed above. Yes, there was more on my to-do list. Here are the 2 projects I did complete:

These are gonna be decorations for on top the candy buffet table. Probably gonna put them between the candy jars. 

CHEVRONS ARE SUPER HOT THIS YEAR!

I got these from Design's on Cloud 9's Chevron Labels file for the medallions centers.

The cupcakes were made using the Cupcake Fairies file . I printed the jpeg image on my printer. Then I blew up the image with a projector and traced the image onto mat-board  and cut it out. The great thing about using mat-board is that it comes in different colors! I did not need to paint the boards! I did, however, chalk them and add detail to them in the same way I would a regular paper piecing... but I used the chalk inks with extra large daubers instead on finger sized ones. For extra stability I hot glued  a wooden dowel to the back of each cupcake. This made the backs straight otherwise they would bend and slouch.

 Here you can see how tall these cut-outs really are... they're as tall as my daughter and she's about to turn 5.

For you out there who have a handy man in your life... have them cut these out of wood instead! then you won't need the wooden dowel! I, unluckily, do not have a handy man nor the tools to do that myself so cutting it out of mat board was the best option for me. When cutting mat board make sure to use a heavy duty pair of scissors or a sharp xacto knife or utility blade and always be very careful when handling sharp objects.

If anyone would like me to do a step by step tutorial on how to make your own giant cut-out message me or leave a comment below.

I think I'll try this for Christmas next!

HAPPY CRAFTING EVERYONE!!