DIY 30th, 40th or 50th Birthday Gift

My good friend, who shall remain nameless, recently reached the 40th birthday milestone. (Happy Birthday friend.) To celebrate, I wanted to do something fun for her to make her laugh. I saw something similar to this online a while ago, and I filed it away in my cluttered brain. Somehow I remembered it, and I knew it would make her laugh.

This was super easy to create. While I didn’t take any pictures of the process, here’s how you can make your own.

Supplies:

• Sturdy cardboard box. (I upcycled a box that a baby gift came in, but you can use any box.)
• Pretty paper
• Modge Podge & small foam brush
• Foam block (available in craft store near floral arrangements)
• Shredded paper
• Vinyl (or letter stickers)
• Lollipops (You can use any pops you want, but we love Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops and I know she keeps organic so I choose these. If you use Blow Pops, you could change the text to 40 “Blows”)
• Small tag with ribbon

Step 1 – Unless you have a pretty box, you will want to cover your box with the pretty paper. If you haven’t worked with Modge Podge before, it is great and can be used for everything. You will want to apply it with a small spunge brush (available at craft stores). Apply a coat of Modge Podge to your box, and then lay the paper on top. Next cover the paper in another coat of Modge Podge. This will give you a nice finished look.

Step 2 – While your Modge Podge is drying (preferably overnight), go ahead and make a tag. I wanted to soften the 40 “sucks” with something friendly, so at the last minute I made the oh-so-simple tag for my gift “But You Make it Fabulous.” When I make this again, I will do something a little nicer, maybe something printed – I hate my handwriting. But you can make this as simple or complicated as you like.

Step 3 – After the Modge Podge is dry, apply your letters. I used my Cricut to cut the letters out of vinyl (because I LOVE vinyl), but if you don’t have one, you can just use letter stickers.

Step 4 – Place foam block in your box and place your lollipops. After the lollipops are placed, fill in with shredded paper for some color.

Step 5 – Attach your tag, and you are good to go.

See, simple

How To Baby Proof Your TV

You probably baby-proofed the entire house long before baby arrived. Locking away cleaning supplies with childproof locks, inserting outlet covers in ever outlet in the house and gating stairways. But did you remember to baby proof your TV? Let’s face it, that flat screen TV that graces your living room wasn’t cheap, and you probably don’t want to have to replace it due to a costly accident. So here are some hot ideas to baby proof your TV before baby begins to crawl, climb, throw and potentially wreck havoc on your entertainment center.

Number 1 – We all love our flat screen TVs, but they lack the security big-fat-tube TVs once provided. They topple easily. If you have a climber in your family, it is crucial to tether your TV and anchor it to the wall. Most TV stands come with wall anchors, for good reason, so use them. Anchor now, save your sanity later!

Number 2 – Never doubt the power of a toddler. They may be small, but they can wield a powerful force. Case in point, a good friend lost his new TV to the power behind his 2-year-old son wielding a Wii remote. I am not sure if the wrist guard slipped or it wasn’t in use, but the end result was the same — the Wii remote crashed through the flat-screen TV.  (True story.) Toddler 1 vs TV 0. Invest in a screen protector (like TV Armor) for your TV, it’s worth the money to protect your TV from your future quarterback.

Number 3 – Little fingers like to push little buttons, especially buttons with lights. Leaving all those TV components out on an open shelf is asking for trouble. Invest in an entertainment center with a door — it will save you the headache of sounding like a broken record, “Don’t touch those buttons.” Plus your system will be safe.

Whether your TV is the focal point of your living room or is tucked quietly on a corner TV stand, protect your investment, your child and your sanity from mishap and baby (toddler) proof your TV. One day you’ll thank me.

How to Make Mickey Minnie Mouse Ears for a Party!

This post is a long time coming. I made 30 pairs of ears for my daughter’s second birthday party back in March. When “designing” the ears, I looked all over the Internet for a good guide, but everything I found was too complicated or too simple. I wanted something reasonable, but super cute. So, as I created my own “design.” I detailed my process with pictures planning to share it. Unfortunately, everything else has taken precedence, and I am just now posting more than 3+ months since I made the ears. Oh well, better late than never! I hope you enjoy my guide, and if you make some, please share your pics and/or experiences!

Materials -

• Headbands – look for about a 1/2 inch wide, any color because you are going to cover them. I found flexible ones at Publix that won’t break! Cost – $2 for 5 headbands, and I used coupons and got for free! ($5 off $50 purchase, so I bought them over time using my $5 coupon for 2 pairs each coupon.)
• Black Felt – I purchased felt made out of 100% recycled water bottles, cheap and eco-friendly! (Don’t forget your 40% off coupon if shopping at Joann’s or Michael’s)
• Foam Sheets – I bought the ones with sticky on one side, it was helpful. There were 2 thicknesses at Joann’s I bought the thinner ones and doubled up. (Again, use your 40% off coupons for these and buy a bulk pack because color won’t matter.)
• Circle Tracer – I used a circle tracer from Scrapbooking materials I have, but you can use anything that you want to trace the right size. Circles approx 3 inches and 3.5 inches will be needed.
• Scissors – sharp enough to cut felt smoothly.
• Chalk pencil in white – to trace your shapes on the black felt to be cut out.
• Sharpe marker – t0 trace your circles on the foam to be cut out.
• Hot glue gun – LOTS of glue!
• Ribbon – This is for Minnie Mouse bows, so you can skip if all Mickey Mouse. You will need 1.5 inch ribbon for the bow and a thin ribbon 1/8 inch to tie it on with – preferably in the same color.

Step 1 – Cover the headband – The dimensions used in this step vary based on the headbands purchased. You will basically need to measure enough felt to be wide enough to wrap the headband and long enough to close on either end. Roughly 2.25 the width of your headband and 1 inch longer then the length.

Since I am always nervous abut cutting fabric and wasting it, I recommend cutting 2 strips that you think will be the right size. Test one and use the other as a pattern for the rest of your strips, adjusting bigger or smaller if needed.

To cover your headband, place a line of hot glue down the center of your strip. Then starting with 1 end of the headband, rock your headband down the center of the glue until you reach the end (be sure to leave a little extra fabric on either end of your tip to close up – about 1/2 inch). Remember, when working with hot glue, you want to press with your finger as you go so you don’t end up with lumps.

Next, bring one side around and seal with another line of glue down the edge. Finally, wrap the other side around and glue down. Note – there will be lots of bumps and lumps, once cool, you will want to go back and fill in with little squirts of glue to seal flat. For the ends, put a little dot of glue in each end and pressed closed with my fingers. Once cool, cut off any extra fabric.

Step 2 – Cut foam circles – The foam circles will stiffen your felt ears so they  stand up nice and firm on their own. Since you will totally cover your foam, any color works. I made my mouse ears 3.5 inches in diameter. This size works well for toddlers – adults, but you can adjust if you like. You will need 4 foam circles for each pair of ears – remembered I doubled my thin foam to make stiffer. The foam circles will be 3 inches in diameter.

When cutting out your foam circles, it is not necessary to be exactly precise. As you can see from my pictures, my foam circles are not pretty – jagged and you can see the Sharpe marks. It won’t matter because they will totally be covered.

If you purchased the thin foam with adhesive, go ahead and stick your foam circles together in pairs.

Step 3 – Cut your felt ears – When creating your felt ears, you will create 2 circles joined together by a small rectangle (see picture). The purpose of this shape is to wrap the ears onto the headband. The circles will each be 3.5 inches in diameter. The size of the rectangle between the circles depends on your headband, the rectangle should be approx double the width of your headband (already wrapped in felt). Again, cut a pair to test and adjust accordingly.

Cutting perfect circles is not an easy task. I did my best to make them look nice and round, but I didn’t kill myself making perfect circles. Remind yourself that these are handmade, and people will be impressed with that. Plus once they are on, you won’t see tiny imperfections in your circles

Step 4 – Create your ears – Once you have everything cut out, it is time to assemble your ears. (Note, cutting is the longest process, I cut all my pieces out over several days because if you are making 30 like I did, your hand will get tired!)

Starting with a foam circle (doubled), use the sticky side to attach to the center of one side of the felt ears. Next squirt a generous amount of hot glue all over the top of the foam circle and fold the other side on top.  Again, squish as flat as you can. Note, in order to avoid large lumps you want really hot  glue, yes, you will burn your fingers a bit Sorry.

Go ahead and glue all of your ears. Be sure to leave the rectangle area unsealed (for now).

After your ears have cooled, go back and run a thin line of glue on the inside edge of each ear to seal.  Again, not on the edge with the folded rectangle.

Step 5 – Assembly – Now it is time to put your ears on the headbands. Slide your headband through the loop created by the rectangles at the bottom of each ear. Once you determine where you want your ears, squirt glue into loops securing ears to headband. (I attached mine a little less than 2 inches apart – this is rough because I did each pair to look.) As you are securing your ears, be sure to pinch the ears down firmly to the center of the band. Add as much glue as needed to seal.

Step 6 – Minnie Bows – To create your bows, cut a length of ribbon approx 9 inches long. Fold the two ends back until they over lap in the center, and then pinch all three layers at the center. This creates the look of Minnie’s bow. Next take the thin ribbon (in matching color) and tie around the pinch at the center. Vola, a bow! Next wrap the thin ribbon around the top and bottom of the headband and tie off. Then glue the ribbon flaps down, and use a squirt of hot clue behind the bow to secure.

That’s it. Minnie Mouse bows in just 6 steps. This pattern could be modified to make bear ears, dog ears, etc. The hardest part about the project is cutting straight felt circles and working through each time consuming step – if making multiples. Good luck!

If you are having a Minnie Mouse (or Mickey Mouse) birthday party and want more ideas for party decor, check out my other post with details about all of the other fun decorations for a Minnie Mouse Birthday Party.