Over the Holidays

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I pray that you all had a great holiday season and that you are ready to begin a new year filled with endless possibilities and great things to come! I have personally set a few goals for myself, but I never set too many because then I get overwhelmed and don't follow through with any of them:-( So this year I am starting with the potty training that I should have done about 5 months ago. My girls are now 27 months old, but they have been ready for quite some time. I on the other hand have been dreading the process and keep putting it off, but this is the year of no excuses for me, so we are in potty training boot camp as we speak! My health resolution is to continue with my healthier eating habits and to continue my exercise routine consistently. I always strive for a closer relationship with God, but this year, for my spiritual resolution I want to really grow and listen for my purpose in life and for what he would have me to do with it. My career resolution is to work hard and believe that my career in Event Decorating will prosper and come to life this year. My goals are all achievable and I know that with work and faith they will all become a way of life sooner than later. So now that I have bored you with my resolutions, I will show you a few things I have worked on around the house over the holidays.

I have been in, "completely change my house around" mode for while now, so every time I find something new to do with a room, I get all giddy and overly excited about it.....the little things in life make me happy:-) The first room I did was my bedroom. It is ABSOLUTELY freezing in there, so I had been wanting some longer drapes to help with the draft that comes in through our windows, as well as to add some privacy. I found some great panels at my favorite thrift store for get this....$12.95 for all four panels!!! I told you that it doesn't take much to make me happy, so I put them up and just draped the old ones back over top for now until I get new rods. I just love them! It makes me want to put a chandelier up now and create a whole romantic room theme or something.

Here are the before curtains. I liked them, but like I said not much privacy and it was cold! There are two windows, but I didn't get the before of the other one.


Then here is the after with my thrift store finds!
The other window.

Now I just need to get the proper rods and I'm all set! After putting up these curtains, I was inspired to add some crystal candle holders that were wedding gifts about 4 years ago, along with a beautiful vase (also a wedding gift) with a Stacey's Creations floral arrangement, and some votive candles. I already owned all these things, so this makeover cost me $12.95! Can't beat that, and even better, I now enjoy our bedroom and strive even harder to keep it clean and kid free:-)


After my bedroom makeover, I tackled the girls' playroom which I will post about later. I hope that you all have a great week and are inspired to do your own room redecorating!

Blessings
Stacey

Gift Wrapping Ideas

So I was looking for new ways to wrap Christmas gifts this year and I stumbled upon the blog Bugs and Fishes by Lupin. They have the cutest idea on there for taking traditional gift wrapping to something cute and original. Here is the link, if you want to visit all of their ideas.


Isnt that the cutest thing! Imagine the possibilities for this! You could create all kinds of colors and themes with this idea. I was so excited to try it out myself, so I downloaded the letter template (that they so graciously provided) on their site, and set out to create the cutest gift wrapping ever! Well, after cutting out one name, I realized how time consuming this was going to be, so I decided to reserve this project for another time. Instead I used glitter pens to apply the names directly on the wrapping paper and it came out just perfect. Sorry I don't have pics, as the gifts have already left my home, but it was very easy and you can get glitter pens at any caft store for very reasonable. So I hope this post inspired you to make your gift wrapping original this year, and if not.....who cares! It's Christmas and everyone is going to rip open those gifts and be excited no matter how they are wrapped. I pray blessings for each and every one this season and I will be back ready to begin a new and exciting year after the holday festivities. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Blessings:-)
Stacey

Chinese Auction Gift Basket Ideas

So the church Christmas Party was successful and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I think the Chinese auction was the hit of the party and I told you that I would share my baskets with you...sooooo here they are. It wasn't a huge crowd, so I went with only four baskets. I had them set up with the place cards that I made in my last post and little gift boxes to hold the raffle tickets.

The first one was a McCormick spice basket filled with 20 spices and seasonings that were graciously provided by my friend who happens to work for them and gets amazing deals! The spices were arranged in a beautiful holiday basket that I found at Michaels.

The second was a movie night basket that I actually found already assembled at Walmart that consisted of candy and snacks in a big popcorn bucket. I just added a better bow and attached a gift card to a local movie theater.

The third one was a Stacey's Creation towel cake that consist of two bath towels, two hand towels, two washcloths and a set of candles.

The last prize was a Stacey's Creations holiday floral arrangement (pictured above at the auction) with a gift card to a local restaurant attached.

I wasn't able to display them exactly as I had hoped due to space, but everyone seemed please and eager to win their favorite basket. Have you ever done a Chinese auction and have basket ideas to share? I would love to hear about them!

Blessings,
Stacey

Place Cards

This week I have been busy working on a Christmas party for my church. I decided that a Chinese auction might be fun, so I went for it. I have four great gift baskets assembled, which I will show and tell all about next week. Today, however, I wanted to show you an easy and affordable idea for place cards. I wanted the place cards to go in front of all the baskets to describe their contents. I didn't want to buy a kit or download any templates, so I decided to make them. Most of these materials you probably have laying around your own house. I only needed six place cards, so I didn't spend any money to make these, since I already had all the items. So here is how I did it.

You will need:
Card stock
Scrapbook paper
Scissors
Two sided tape, scrapbook adhesive, or glue
A computer and printer for your wording


First you will want to print out your wording in whatever font and size you wish and cut them out. I used the decorative scissors(aka pinket shears) to make my edges fun, but you can use whatever you like.

Next, Take a piece of card stock, fold it in half, then cut into two pieces down the folded line.


Next, take one of your card stock halves and adhere it with your glue or two sided tape on the blank side of your scrapbook paper (or the side that you don't want to use if it is two sided)


Cut out the scrapbook paper around the card stock

Now fold this in half, and attach your wording that you printed and cut out earlier with glue or two sided tape.

Tada! Now you have a beautiful, affordable place card that you can use for any event. If you want to make these fancier, you could attach jewels, buttons, glitter, sequins, or you could even use decorative wall paper instead of scrapbook paper. Hope this helps you create your perfect place card!

Blessings,
Stacey

Baby Shower Success!

Well the baby shower went great and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I was very happy with how it all turned out and best of all the mother and father of the new little one loved it as well. As I told you before the theme was "Christmas in Pink". I showed you the invites on an earlier post, now I will show you the rest of the decorations.All the gifts were put under the Christmas tree. The lights were dimmed with only the spot lights on and jazz Christmas music playing in the background. It was a great ambiance.



Beautiful snowflakes adorned the ugly window treatments.
Mini diaper cakes served as table centerpieces with the favors beside them. The favors consisted of mixed Hershey Kisses with personalized labels on the bottoms.

A diaper wreath made a beautiful focal point for the buffet table.
The head table was decorated with a medium sized diaper cake along with a baby bouquet and and two sock corsages for mommy and daddy to be.

Dessert consisted of a cupcake tower and an 8inch round cake to match. The flavors were strawberry cheesecake, lemon, and the cake was pineapple.
Once the shower began, all the guest made scrapbook pages for the new baby and put them into this lovely scrapbook. Its a great keepsake for the honorees, but it was also a lot of fun for the guests too. There were small children in attendance, so this was great to keep them entertained as well.

Well, the shower is over and now I am working away this week on a Christmas party for my church . Pics and ideas will be coming soon for that event!

Blessings,
Stacey

Baby shower games and gifts

Today I am finalizing the games for the baby shower. One game that I have decided on and will share with you is the "Candy Bar Game." There are many versions of this game, but the way I chose to play it is to list the clues and answers on a sheet of paper and give the guest 5mins to see who could get the most right. The person with the most right will win the prize (which I will show you how to make later). Here is the list of possible clues and answers. I chose to use only 10 of them, mostly because I had a hard time finding all of the coordinating candy, but you can use as many as you like. The left side is the clue, and the right side is the answer, which is also the name of the corresponding candy

Contractions/or 11 pound baby= Whoppers
Grandparents/or Epidual=Lifesavers
Boys' Names=Mike & Ike
Umbilical Cord=Twizzlers
Father=Sugar Daddy
Baby Fat=Chunky
Girl's Name=Baby Ruth
Use your Eyes=Look
Cover Baby's Face with These=Hershey's Kisses
Hospital Bills/ or College Fund= 100 Grand
Time Alone=Zero
Lull-a-Byes=Symphony
Diapers, Formula, Medicine:, or Hospital Bills= Payday
First Year of Parenthood= Rocky Road
Dirty Laundry/or Engorgemement: Mounds
Night of Conception=Skor
Sweet Infant=Sugar Babies
Breast Feeding=Milky Way
Poopie Diaper=Tootsie Roll
Contractions=Now & Later
Triplets=3 Muskateers
Teething=Crunch
Cool Mom=Peppermint Patty

The gift for this game will be all 10 of the candy bars that I used to play it with. I didn't want to just hand out the candy by itself, so I decided to make a candy bouquet. If you want to make one, here is how you do it.

Find a container, small basket, or a medium sized terracotta pot (which is what I will be using)


Next you will want to put a piece of floral foam into the container. Make sure it fits snug so that your bouquet doesn't fall out!




Next you will need some craft sticks and your candy. Make sure you get the wider craft sticks because they will offer more support for your candy.


Then hot glue your sticks onto the backs of your candy.


Next, insert your sticks and candy into the foam and play around with the arrangement until you are happy with it (make sure your glue is completely dry before you do this or your candy will fall off.....I added some ribbon and a bow to my container as I was waiting for the glue to dry).


Then you can add basket shred to help hide the foam if there is any showing. I added some Hersey Kisses on top of my shred as well. You could also add flowers or anything else creative you can think of.


If you like you can wrap it in cellophane and top it off with a bow. Now you have a beautiful gift that everyone will be dying to win that game for!



Blessings
Stacey

How to make a Christmas wreath

Today I was little tired of working on the baby shower, and wanted to do something different, so I decided to make Christmas wreaths for my front porch. I remember when I first started in DIY projects and crafts, and I had no idea of how to do anything, but I knew I wanted to learn. With that in mind, I decided to make this post a tutorial so that even those who have no clue where to begin can make the most beautiful wreath right along with me!

Ok, so fist I dug out some plain wreaths I got after Christmas last year at Michaels for $1.00. They are only about $3.00 regular price for one of this size, so don't fret if you have to go buy one. (Make sure you take your tag off, as I forgot to in this pic.)


Then you want to pull the branches out to make it look fuller....just like you would on an artificial Christmas tree.


Then I pulled out a bunch of holiday florals I had left over from a previous Christmas party, but you can use whatever type and colors you like.




Next you will need some floral wire which you can find in any craft store for about $3.00 (One package of floral wire goes a LONG way, so for the average project, one should be plenty!)


Use wire cutters or sharp scissors and cut off at least 12in of floral wire and secure your desired flower to your wreath.



Continue to do this until you achieve your desired look. You can add berries, bows, bulbs, or whatever floats your boat. Here's my finished product...I finished two before Sesame Street was even over! For those of you with no small children, that's about an hour:-)


Now to hang it, you can tie a pretty ribbon around the top and then attach it to a hook or a nail, or you can just use my favorite, the "Wreath Hanger". They cost about $2.00 and can be found in the floral section of any craft store.







I hope this helped you to get started making your prefect holiday wreath. If you would like to send pics of your finished project, please email them to StaceyHill@StaceysCreations.com. Here's to the beginning of a wonderful holiday season!

Blessings,

Stacey