Bethany, my writer friend volunteers for The Reading Connection, a nonprofit helping at-risk children with reading. About a month ago, I helped her with floral arrangements for their gala & silent auction, Of Wine and Words.

Flower budget was $75 to decorate about 11 small tables. I didn’t think that would be enough, but it worked out. I bought 4 spring flower bunches from Costco for $62.96, twelve votive candles for $5.24, cake doily papers for $3.85. And I used supplies I and Bethany already had.

Since we didn’t have the money for vases, I decided to use food cans, wine botthes and glasses to put flowers. A few parents from my kids school collected wine bottles for me and Bethany gave me childrens book jackets and wine glasses. This set up was my initial idea, but had to make it smaller for the actual event.

I’ve seen felt roses on tree branches on OnePrettyThing.com and decided to make book paper flowers.

Originally wanted to use papers from old books I had. But, it was too crispy (?) and fragile. And, didn’t want to ruin nice books in my collection. So I ended up using Stampin’ Up! Specialty Designer Series Paper First Edition. I used Tim Holtz flower dies on Big Shot die-cutting machine to cut flowers.

Glue the petals togethers.

Bunch it together and distress it a bit.

Attach it to tree branch with hot glue. So easy and cheap to make.

I also made flowers with My Favorite Things Rolled Flower die.

Stick it in the wine bottles. Looks so gorgeous in person. =)

I used childrens book jackets to cover food cans and wine bottles.

Cheap way to make your own vases!

I only had about a week to plan everything and didn’t get a chance to collect enough food cans and wine bottles. So I also used vases that I had for my daughter’s first birthday party.

Cut thin strips of papers. Wrinkle it up to make fillers for wide vases and wine glasses.

Because I could not buy enough fresh flowers, I wanted to decorate the tables with other items like wine bottle corks, childrens mini board books, and toys.

I was not allowed to take photos at the event. Following photos were taken by Scavone Photography.

Alpha blocks to spell, “BID”.

These were for coffee/dessert tables.

For reception tables. Tall white vase is from the dessert table that I set up for my kids school auction.

Center piece.

I think it turned out okay. =)

While I was making tea cups with plastic Easter Eggs, I thought about how cute they would look on a carousel.

So I made one.

I bought Petal Cone Bigz L Die (Stampin’ Up!) a few weeks ago to make a roof for a merry-go-round.

I love how it turned out. I used 5 die cuts for the teacup carousel.

But, 3 or 4 die cuts look great, too.

Scalloped half-circle was a part of Petal Cone Bigz L Die.

Decorated with ribbons and buttons. Also to hold the shape.

The banner was a part of Petal Cone Bigz L Die, too.

I’ve seen many many people using paper doilies to make beautiful cards, and I finally got to use it on my project. I bought a white doily, but colored with yellow stamp ink pad. Learned this technique from Kathy.

For the carousel bottom, I used 4 Mini Milk Carton Bigz L Die (Stampin’ Up!) cuts.

Put cut Mini Milk Carton die cuts together. And glue them to the base I made.

You can download the PDF file for the base here. This is for 4 Mini Milk Carton Bigz L Die cuts.

I only had 7″ cookie sticks, so I made it longer by glueing them together with hot glue.

Originally wanted to make some triangle banners, but didn’t feel like cutting them, so I decided to thread some pom poms and pearls together.

I only had white pom poms, so colored them with ink pads.

Put holes on the edge of the roof to attach the pom poms. I think the triangle banner would’ve been quicker to make.

But I LOVE how pretty these pom poms look on the carousel!

THANK YOU for stopping by!

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Mmmm~~~ What is my daughter drinking?

No, she is not drinking Sake. ;P

She is pretending to drink a cup of coffee with the tea cups mommy made with plastic Easter eggs. =)

I used the rounder eggs to make mini Play-Doh cupcakes, and the pointy ones for the tea cups.

I used buttons to stabilize the bottom. I didn’t have the patience to wait for the craft glue to dry, so I ended up using hot glue.

For the tea cups handles, I used butterfly and heart punch outs, ribbons, and buttons.

(Shown Stampin’ Up! Heart to Heart Extra-Large punch, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, and Butterfly Extra-Large punch)

Originally, I just wanted to add the handles and no decoration on the cups. But, I ended up liking the ones without the handles. If I had planned it better, I should’ve put the art works first before adding the buttons on the bottom. I got hooked on drawing on the cups using permanent markers, Stickles, Dimensional Pearls, stickers, and Rub-ons. My son even helped me with the drawing! Perfect project for kids crafting!

Put two plastic eggs together, and…

Made a bird bath.

So many possibilities!

Save all the plastic Easter Eggs! =)

Two on the right are my favorites.

Oh my~! And what is this!!!

=)

Mini Play-Doh Cupcakes with Plastic Easter Egg Frostings and Tea Cups!

Happy Easter Everybody!

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Mmmm… Cupcakes~!

Don’t they look yummy!

I wasn’t sure if the cupcakes would look good together when I made too many different frosting. But, I think it came out okay. =)

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Cupcakes were made with mini Play-Dohs, and plastic Easter Eggs.

I only used the rounder half of plastic Easter Eggs. They fit nicely on mini Play-Dohs.

Tutorial for Play-Doh wrappers, click here. =)

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Yarn frosting!

Apply craft glue on the easter egg. Tie the knot, and attach to the egg. Hold the knot down with your finger(s), and wrap the yarn around the egg.

Make sure not to put glue on Play-Doh lid.

Here, I crocheted chain-stitch and wrapped it around the egg.

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These are with ribbons.

Twist the ribbon while you glue it around the egg. I used hot glue.

These are with baby washcloths.

Cut the strips of towel. Tie the end, twist and wrap around with hot glue.

Oh so pretty flowers!

I won’t lie. This took a long~ time to assemble.

Paper flower die cuts.

Paper flowers were cut with Itty Bitty Shapes Punch. This technique, I saw on Stampin’ Up! publication for demonstrators.

Oh so lovely~! =)

With pearl beads.

Buttons and beads.

Pom poms!

Assorted frosting tops. The one with yellow with orange sprinkles was made with Chenille pipe cleaners.

I made these paper cupcakes last year. You can see the tutorial here.

So many varieties!

Hmmm… What to do with the other halves?

Stay tuned!

=)

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A while ago, one of my blog readers asked me about baby shower decoration and made me think about diaper cakes. I was thinking, if I were to make a diaper cake, I would try to make a giant diaper house. Well, my 3-year-old daughter’s teacher is pregnant and her class moms were planning to throw her a baby shower today. The theme was books and music. And, I thought a mountain village with stairs of mini board books would be a fun idea.

I drew some sketches to plan a few weeks ago. But, wasn’t sure if it’ll work out. I bought a box of Kirkland brand diapers from Costco (size 1-2), but was afraid to open it up. If I couldn’t make the diaper cake, I couldn’t really give the opened and wrinkled diapers as a gift.

But, I’m happy with how it turned out. I wish I had a better removable adhesive and used Pampers diapers instead, but I think it still looks okay. =)

Rolled up the diaper starting from the top edge, wrapped a piece of paper (5.5 x1″) around, and used Scotch tape to close it.

Rubber bands to shape the diaper cake.

Put 4 rolled up diapers together to create a house. Wrapped a pattern papers (12″ x 3.5″) around it. Wrap it tight and use generous amount of scotch tape to close it.

Put a strip of paper (6″ x 1.25″, I think) over the top to make a handle for the book roof. Removable adhesive dots to secure the books.

Make a hole to put the diaper house in. I used cut up fabric, but it would be nice to use onesies or baby wash towels instead.

Lollipop sticks to secure the cake tiers.

I used 12×12 Nursery Suite Specialty Designer Series Papers to decorate the cake.

Foam boards (two layers) for the base.

Stairs for the books. Again, would have been nice to use baby wash towels to fill in the space.

Mftstamps.com flower die, Sizzix Garland die and flannels to make flowers to fill in the gap.

Love these colorful mini board books for the stairs!

Baby Tees wheel stamp for hanging onesies.

For the wishing well, put two tri-folded diapers together. Wrapped it around with twine. Insert lollipop sticks between the folds.

Rolled up dollar bills to fill inside the well. =)

For the well roof, cut a cardstock paper, score in the middle, punched two holes to put the lollipop sticks through. I used hot glue to attach the lollipop sticks. But, used removable adhesive dots to attach the paper to the board book. This way, book won’t be ruined by glue.

Pacifier for the pail. =)

This is my favorite part. It was inspired by Kodak March Photo Craft Contest. I need a new printer, and was trying to come up with creative ways to craft with photos. Heehee. It worked out nicely as it made more meaningful gift for my daughter’s teacher.

I was looking through my photos to find Bailey reading a book. But, found this one that I took 4 months ago.

Water bomb balloon and a white floral wire for the ballon.

Wish I had made it bigger. 128 diapers were used.

I did not attend the baby shower. But, one mom emailed me to let me know that the teacher loved it.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Lindsey, I liked your interpretation, “It takes a village to diaper a child!” Teehee. So true!

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