graduation candy bark

ahhh! 

i can hear the pomp and circumstance now.

graduation season is upon us.

and so are those expensive grad gifts.

what's a poor person like me to do 

who knows so many graduates?

 hmmmm...

hey i think i know!

 with all that hard work, 

i think those graduates need a graduation treat don't you?

let's do it with this:

mini m&m's, mini reese's cups, 

chocolate squares, s'more marshmallows, 

candiquik (or almond bark) and red icing.

first let's get the candy ready.

break the chocolate square with your fingers, 

not a knife or it will crack everywhere.

once you break the square, 

you can trim it off a little.

here's an awful pic (sorry!)

to show you what i mean. lol

no worries about the edges being perfect-

they'll be hidden as you'll see in a minute.

so each triangle gets a mini m&m.

i chose blue to match the graduate's school colors.

next comes the marshmallow prep.

now get all that stuff ready to go.

then melt your chocolate and 

put it on parchment paper.

then grab those "embellishments" along 

with sprinkles to match the school colors.

then finish off the grad hats.

i just added the tassel with a 

toothpick dipped in chocolate that i melted for the base.

next, do this but do it better than lamo me! 

ugh. i failed piping school many a time.

i need to graduate from piping school already...

anyway, there ya have it.

wanna diploma and a hat to go along with it?

marshmallow diplomas and reese's grad hats 

may just be the motivation for kids to finish school.

ok so maybe not 

but it sure would work for me! lol

p.s. for all you bloggers out there,

what's up with this?

5271 views in one day?!

there's noooo way this could be true?! 

i don't even social media. 

and yeah, i meant that as a verb.

oh well...

diy wool ball glittered letter pillows

pom poms.

pillows.

pretty.

these are the ingredients for 

a quick and easy diy craft to get this:

all it takes is this:

pillows form target's dollar spot, 

wool felt balls from jo ann's or michael's,

and this glittered letter craft kit.

i found the kit at home goods,

aka one of my ultimate fave stores,

for only $4.99.

i was just standing in line to pay for miscellaneous other things that i did not need, when i saw this in the aisle staring at me.

this is what was inside:

i'm keeping the black pillow case for something else later, 

 probably a halloween pillow or something 

and used my pink and orange target pillows instead.

on the back of the kit are the 

easy to follow directions.

i kinda didn't listen to the IMPORTANT part of the directions cuz i got too impatient...

which is why the "s" my sparkle 

didn't sparkle as well as i wanted. 

oh well, live and learn.

they still came out good enough i think.

and especially when i added the balls.

i originally thought to sew them all individually 

but due to laziness, i ended up 

hot gluing them instead,

hoping it would work.

and lo and behold it did!

i put the wool balls in a scatter fashion 

for the sparkle pillow and placed them 

as sun rays for the shine pillow.

so there you have it.

they remind me of candy.

which makes me think, 

i haven't made candy in awhile...hmmm?

diy birthday cake candle centerpiece

if you frequent this blog,

you may have noticed i took a week off.

well actually i took a week off from blogging 

but my crafty hands haven't stopped.

last week i put together a 60th birthday party 

for my friend's mom's friend.

so today i'm gonna show you 

one of the things i made for it.

those are birthday cake candle centerpieces.

lemme show you how to make one 

even if they look like wedding cakes 

but hey, the hostess wanted 

a diamond theme so i went for it. :>P

keep in mind you can always make it 

look more like a birthday cake if you 

choose a colorful ribbon,

but anyway, here goes.

most of the supplies you can get from dollar tree 

which makes it fantastic since centerpieces 

for parties always call for a bunch

and not to mention can cost a bunch.

at first i was gonna make my usual tute 

for these but dang there are so many pics 

i decided to combine them together:

1. glue the candle plate to the candle stick with E-6000.

2. outline your white styrofoam on white cardstock making a circle and cut out.

3. glue the circle to the top of a 3 layer stack of white styrofoam.

4. outline your green styrofoam on white cardstock making a circle and cut out.

5. glue the circle to the top of 1 green styrofoam circle.

6. cut ribbon strips for each layer.

7. hot glue your strip around the layers.

8. glue the green stack on top of the white stack as shown.

9. glue your candle stick to the top.

10. grab some sparkly ribbon or yarn.

11. glue to edge of candle plate.

12. embellish with flowers and a sign if you want to get the final centerpiece,

which costs about $6 each.

right before the party, 

turn your candlestick so the light 

comes on and wait for the oohs and aahs :)

wanna see the rest of the party?

and here's a a closeup of the treats i made too:

so do you think i took a week off?

yeah me neither,

shine on :)

flower cookie grass bags (mother's day treats)

motherhood.

the easiest, hardest, 

beautiful, horrible, 

joyful, awful, 

blissful, stressful, 

happy tears, sad tears, 

heart filled, heart wrenching, 

best, best.

job ever.

ever. ever.

every mom deserves a cookie.

never mind.

make that 5 cookies. 

at least.

wrapped in a cute package.

printable here

those flower cookies i made here 

in case you missed that post.

make some labels on a simple word document 

in whatever font you like.

now deliver to all those 

cookie deserving moms out there.

or make them for any

cookie deserving sweeties you got.

just don't forget yourself!

and give yourself a long overdue mom raise 

while you're at it.

happy cookie lovin' mother's day 

to all the moms on heaven 

(hi mom!)

and earth :)

btw i'm taking tomorrow off ;)

diy cinco de mayo mini pinata donkeys

hola amigas!

happy cinco de mayo!

today is not really a tute 

i made up from my head,

but rather a hobby lobby craft that 

was really fun and not to mention 

too cute when finished.

enjoy the pics while munching on a taco 

and sipping your margarita!

yes i know it would be waaay cheaper 

to make my own fringe but this one is 

already adhesive and waaay too easy to use to pass up.

which 

one

do 

you like?

the donkeys or shaggy dogs?

LOL 

if you celebrate cinco de mayo,
have a wonderful mexican food eating holiday everyone!