Party

Art Kit Party Favor

There are many ways to go when planning a party favor. I love the one-gift idea very much, like a puzzle or a ball or some princess wings. Last year we made flubber for everyone which was awesome. We’ve also done our fair share of paper bags filled with junk. These happen to be a parent’s least favorite, but the kids love them. The more useless dollar store toys + candy the closer they feel to having won the jackpot. My very favorite favor to give is arts + crafts (of course!). I am so excited to share this favor idea because it’s affordable (about $5.00 if you make 10 or more) and so cute!

Art kit party favor items:

muslin bag (10 x 12, set of 25 for $28, $1.12 ea) or (muslin bag 8 x 12, set of 10 for $12, $1.20 ea)

wooden star (5.5 x 5.5, $0.47 ea)

paints (I got mine at Michael’s, $2.99 for set of 3, $1 ea) – you can also find these at CVS or Walgreens

brushes (I got mine at Michael’s, 25 brushes for $4.99, $0.20 ea)

glitter glue (I got my 5-pack at Michael’s for $2.99, $0.60 ea) – you can also find these at CVS or Walgreens

pom-poms ($8.90 for half-pounder bag, about $0.10 per handful) – you can also find these at Walmart or Michael’s

mini plastic bagettes (2 x 3.75, $5.35 for box of 175, $0.03 ea) – you can also get these at Walmart or the same place as the wooden stars

lollipop (24 pops for $9.15, $0.38 ea)

I used alphabet rubber stamps and some perler + letter beads to embellish the muslin bags. But honestly, you could put all of this stuff in a paper bag or a plastic bag, too.

I envision the kids racing home to pull out their stars, paints, glitter + poms. Then propping their finished stars up on the mantle for everyone to admire. Well, that’s at least what’s happening over here!

Happy ~~Monday~~ Tuesday!

21 May 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, DIY, Featured, Party, Stamping, Supplies Tags: art kit, muslin bag, party favor, Stamping, wooden star

One Word Resolutions

Last night we had a few neighbors over, which is always the best way to spend New Year’s Eve. It’s easy, and no one has to drive! I fringed the fridge with one-word-resolutions…a little takeaway for my guests. It was interesting and insightful to see what everyone picked. My daughters and son picked one, too. I picked focus and accept. At the end of the night my husband tore some words off and put them in a hat for everyone to pick. This was a fun way to play, too, because the word you picked become more like your fate. Or, if you really want to stir the pot (and who doesn’t at 1am after a few jello shots!) you can pick one for your spouse. Look out! I picked adventure for my hubby, which got me a giant eye roll. Subtle, I know.

If you want to make a fringe wall of your own, email me and I will send you the templates!

Here are the words I used plus some extras:

love / listen / focus / simplicity / laugh / friends / create / play / read / adventure / patience / exercise / pray / peace / breathe / persist / evolve / connect / smile / appreciate / relax / compassion / forgive / accept / joy / balance / harmony / give / grateful / calm / authentic / remember / release / health / floss / happy

Cheers to a happy 2013 and best wishes for good health, happiness and well being! xo

1 Jan 2013By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, DIY, Featured, Inspire, Party Tags: new year's, one word, resolutions

Homemade Wrap // Part 1

My mind is racing these days. How could it not? It’s THE HOLIDAYS, which in theory are supposed to be warm and cozy and a time to give and share with family. Don’t get me wrong, I was actually one of those kids growing up who forced her parents to buy a big tree when they just wanted a mini with less mess. And I would decorate the life out of that sucker with as much handmade goodness as I could fit. I have always loved Christmas. But it’s just not simple anymore. Gifts to buy, gifts to make, when to fit in Christmas with all of the different relatives, what food to cook, recitals, teacher conferences. What am I forgetting? Christmas cards, stocking stuffers, decorate the house. I have not yet perfected ‘planning ahead’, so late nights are my December standard.

What this means is that I have to channel my inner child. The one who just wants everyone to be happy, and who can’t wait to share stuff she’s made. I can do it! And not only that – you can, too!

You might think it’s crazy to make your own wrapping paper during this time of stress (there, I said it). But for me, I still have at least one child who would spend all day making these papers, so it’s actually not any work for me at all. And I get to wrap all of the teacher gifts with this beautiful art, which always makes them smile.

Here’s how to do it: Buy a roll of white paper. Put out sharpies, watercolor, markers, rubber stamps…whatever you have around. Clear the dining room table, and create! Circles, stripes, flowers, patterns…it’s that simple. The bubble wrap printing is a little more involved, I wrote about that here. Perhaps save that for another time.

Here is a link for the cute teacher gift tags.

May the force be with you…and keep smiling, it really does help the mood. ♡

29 Nov 2012By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, Easy, Featured, Party, Teen Craft Tags: gifts, homemade wrap, watercolor

Candy Wrapper Halloween Banner

It’s now 5 days until Halloween, and my kids are at their breaking point with me. I brought the Halloween boxes up two weeks ago but they are still sitting in the living room untouched. Until today that is! I found a ziploc bag full of candy wrappers and remembered that I had meant to make a candy wrapper banner last year. So, despite thoughts of cavities/promoting junk food running through my head, I made the banner. And whadyaknow? It’s pretty sweet.

It’s a multi-step process, but not hard. It took me about two hours from start to finish.

Materials:

String (I used Divine Twine, but black string would be better)

Large Needle

Colored paper (mine is from Staples)

Scissors, pencil, double-sided tape

Candy wrappers (I also threw in a few muffin papers for extra green)

To make the letters, I folded the paper lengthwise into three sections. This way, I knew the letters would be the same height. I drew the letters freehand and cut them out. I used double-sticky tape to attach the letters to the black paper. Next, I laid out the letters and the wrappers. Then I started from the end, and wove my needle in and out of each piece. I made sure to pull the first wrapper (which will actually be the wrapper at the end, to the furthest right) far, far down the thread so I had enough room to add everything.

That’s it! I attached it to my fireplace mantle on the little hooks that I use to hang stockings.

I’m not much of a black + orange girl, so this colorful banner makes me happy. My kids will be so proud!

This banner would also look really cute (ok, cuter actually) if it said “trick-or-treat”.

Happy Candy Day!

26 Oct 2012By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, Decorate, DIY, Eco Friendly, Featured, My Home, Party, Recycled Tags: banner, candy wrappers, Halloween

Wishes for Baby

We had my SIL’s shower! She was her beautiful, glowy self. It wasn’t at my house, but I wanted to contribute something to the day, a keepsake that she could take home and cherish forever. I saw something, somewhere (Pinterest probably) that sparked an idea. I didn’t want it to be too much work for anyone (people at a party really don’t want to think, myself included). These WISHES were just right – small enough so that you could write something quick, but sweet enough to save and read over again through the years. And an endearing way to decorate the nursery…perhaps?

You, too, could make these! Use wrapping paper (small, light patterns work best), rubber stamps, colored paper, or let the kids decorate each animal. Here are the animal templates:

turtle-bunny-bird // elephant-giraffe-butterfly

I used mini clothespins and ribbon to hang up the wishes. But you could also put them in a keepsake box or paste them in a book.

Now we just wait for baby!!

4 Oct 2012By: Barbara Rucci Category: Create, DIY, Featured, Party Tags: baby shower wishes, printables

Neighborhood Art Show

I’ve always wanted to do an Art Show at my house. We have a unique neighborhood with a plethora of kids, so why not collect their art and display it for all to see? Made perfect sense to me! It was also a great way to teach the kids a few things: Follow through on an idea, work together as a community, feel proud of their creativity, and raise money for a good cause. All of the money they earned was used towards buying backpacks filled with school supplies for needy kids in our area.

Here is how you can make it happen:

1. Collect art. Send out an e-mail to the neighborhood moms asking them to please consider dropping off some of their kids’ art for this cool art show idea. I would suggest starting well in advance, maybe two weeks before the show. Make sure to tell them that it will be easy, just grab anything they have collecting in a pile (we all have piles, right?), or things that are framed already. We ended up with about 65% participation, which was great for our first try!

2. Label art. We used neon labels that we stuck on index cards, cut out, then taped at the bottom of each piece. Tape lightly on the back of the art so that you can peel them off easily when returning.

3. Hang art. I used large rolls of kraft paper to cover my walls (the paper covered up my own permanent art), then I rolled up pieces of scotch tape to adhere to the back of each peice. I also used clothespins and line to hang some of the art.

4. Make fliers. Deliver to neighbors and friends.

5. Make a cool sign. Buy balloons. We made the sign by cutting out letters from old paintings, gluing them to craft paper, then outlining the letters with a white pen.

6. Make treats. We all pitched in to make treats. One of my neighbors even set up a Pizza Frita station! Big hit.

7. Open the doors…let the Art Show begin! It was so much fun to have my house covered with beautiful, colorful art. Parents were proud, kids were proud, everyone was happy. It was awesome!

8. (Optional) Collect the money and donate to the charity of your choice. You can certainly have an art show that is free without linking to a charity. For us, though, it gave everyone a purpose. And the kids got to practice their “pitch” to each person who entered the show. Good life skill, I say!

We had a very successful Art Show. We earned $405 dollars which we used to buy 8 backpacks filled with school supplies for our local charity Person-to-Person. Eight very happy children were able to go to their first day of school with all of their supplies, ready to learn.

I’m so proud of our neighborhood, way to go!!

12 Sep 2012By: Barbara Rucci Category: Decorate, Featured, Giving, Inspire, My Home, Party, Summer, Teach Tags: Art Show, giving

Handmade Baby Shower Invitation

This week I’d been given the distinct honor of creating a baby shower invitation for my SIL, the esteemed Marysue Rucci of Simon & Schuster. Lucky me! After hours of late night thinking and scouring, I finally decided on a theme: Shabby Chic. I have had an obsession lately with rubber stamping, flag bunting, and washi tape. Combining these elements was soooo much fun. I knew the mommy-to-be would be decorating her baby girl’s room in yellows with a touch of pink, so the color choices had been made. Planning and execution were my biggest hurdles.

Here’s how it went down (I’ve included the bunting template for you)…

The type on this invitation was created entirely with custom made rubber stamps. The invitation copy was one rubber stamp. The envelope front and back were each a rubber stamp. And I even made a rubber stamp of just my SIL’s name so that I could create thank-you notes for her as a gift.

I designed the yellow flower cards and sent them out to be printed. I then used pink ink and stamped each card individually. It was quite a bit of work, I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. But I really wanted an authentic hand stamped look, and I’m a little bit crazy, so there you go!

To create the flags, I did some measuring. The card was 4.5″ wide, and the washi tape was 5/8″ wide, so I calculated fitting five flags across. I created a row of triangles, each triangle measuring the width of the tape. I used a faint line so that you wouldn’t see it if my cutting wasn’t up to snuff (hopefully you can see it in these photos!).

Next, I cut out the strips and laid them beneath the pre-cut pieces of string. (This photo above shows one, but I actually did several at a time).

Then I very carefully placed the tape over the paper, making sure that it fit perfectly over the triangle, and going over the top of the string. After I taped all five triangles, I pulled up the string from the table and flipped the tape over to the back.

IMPORTANT: When flipping the tape over the back, make sure that the string is secured just above the paper, not pushed over to the back. This will be crucial when cutting.

Time to cut the flags! This was really fun. I just followed the lines of the triangles underneath the tape. I clipped as close to the top edge as I could without cutting the string.

Next, I got out my exacto knife and a ruler. I made two teeny nicks on the edges of the card, using the ruler as a guide and a straight edge. This allowed me to slip in the string and hold it in place. I then tied the back, trimmed the string, and I was done!

Creating invitations by hand is one of my favorite things to do! Especially when it’s for someone I love so dearly.

16 Aug 2012By: Barbara Rucci Category: Create, Featured, Party, Stamping Tags: baby, Baby Shower, bunting, handmade, invitation, party, rubber stamps

Pujaki: Paper Chandelier

I’ve become a little obsessed with making a Pujaki. The word Pujaki is polish and translated it means “spiders of straw”. There is a strong folk arts & crafts tradition in Poland. In the winter, when much of the outdoor activities were suspended, Polish peasant families would spend their time preparing for on of their biggest holidays – Christmas. Made from colored paper and straw, the Pujaki would hang over the Christmas table and stay there through New Year’s when it was carried on visit’s to friends’ houses. It was a symbol of good luck for the coming year! I read about these on design sponge and also on decor8.

You can buy them online, like the one above, at the Polish Art Center. Or try your hand at making one, like Lena Corwin or The Small Object did here below.

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I think I will put this on my summer list! Although traditionally made from straw, I think I might try making mine from pipe cleaners. I’ll let you know how it goes!

25 May 2012By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, Featured, Party Tags: Arts + Crafts, Create, paper chandelier, Polish, Pujaki

Recycled Postcard Banner

My sweet neighbor, Georgy, turned 103 last week. Yep! She was born in 1909. We visited her in her house that she built with her husband in 1939. She lives alone, but is loved and taken care of by many. She still cleans her own house and takes walks up the street on nice days. She goes to bed at 5pm and reads, listens to the news and does crossword puzzles until 9 o’clock. She is not only wise and beautiful and inspiring…she is a legend.

We wanted to bring her something homemade. She didn’t want a fancy party or any “fuss”. The kids made her a pumpkin bread, and I thought I’d make her a colorful, happy banner. I decided to use my old holiday postcards. The idea was to use the colorful backside of the postcards for the front of the banner with the letters. And then, as a bonus, the back of the banner (which would have been the front of the postcards) would have the kids’ faces. A reversible banner!

Because I am an awful planner, I usually think of an idea the day of the event. I am then forced to use what I have, as I don’t have time to shop for any supplies. The upside to my disorganization is that most things that I make use materials that I have lying around. I do love the recycled aspect of crafts! Here’s how I made this banner:

Recycled Postcard Banner:

Supplies:
Recycled cards
Paper of some sort to cut out letters
Scissors
Exacto knife
Tape or glue
Hole punch
String

Start by cutting out triangles for the flags. Make one triangle, then use that as a template.

Next, cut out letters. I drew mine freehand, but you can use stencils. You’ll have to use an exacto knife to cut out the insides of the letters.

Arrange the flags in a nice, colorful pattern. Tape or glue on the letters. Punch holes in the corners.

When stringing the flags, I went back through the holes twice. This is not necessary, but it does give it extra stability.

Voila! Not hard to make, it took me about 90 minutes.

15 May 2012By: Barbara Rucci Category: Crafts, Create, DIY, Featured, Party, Recycled Tags: birthday party, bunting, craft, Create, flag banner, postcards

An ECHOage Birthday

To continue with my birthday theme this past week (streamers are still up), I wanted to share with you our secret to a happy birthday party.

For the past three years, we have celebrated the kids’ birthdays with ECHOage, an online birthday party service whereby your child choses a charity to donate to in lieu of gifts. When the e-vite goes out, guests RSVP and immediately can contribute to the charity that your child has chosen. At the end, when the party has been “closed out”, ECHOage sends half of the donated funds to the charity, and half to your child. Simple!

From my perspective, everyone wins! No more toys to unwrap (Lord knows we all have enough toys) or to buy, easy thank-you notes to write (you can have your child write one note, make copies, then just add in the givers name), your child learns the value of giving and receiving, we can help those in need, and…your child can go to the toy store (or Apple store, depending on age!) with money in hand and chose something they have always wanted.

I made this poster for the little guy for his party. We displayed it as a reminder of how much all of his friends helped.

Spread the love of ECHOage!