Dinner for Two

 Hubby and I finally got an evening to ourselves.  I was planning on making a nice dinner for two.

Instead I raided my décor collection to make a nice table arrangement.

Hubby got home just in time to watch me take pictures of the table, and help me throw dinner together.

Oh well, at least the table looked nice!

Craftastrophe: Craft Table Clean Up

I’m going to show you all something, but you have to promise not to judge me.

You promise?

Ok…here it is…

My craft table.  The Craftastrophe.

I have no excuse; it’s been like this since we moved into the house.  But I’ve fixed it!  Yay!!  It only took moving the whole darn thing to motivate me.

When this side of the basement was the “family room”, Hubby hung black sheets on the cement walls to make it look more finished.  He was nice enough to leave them for me when we switched sides.

The move forced me to go thru EVERYTHING!  It took about a week…I have that much stuff…

Now I have everything put away,

And organized!!

I’ve decided that I’m not allowed to buy more paper for a while.

I really want to make all the boxes cute and matchy, but just having boxes is a nice start.

It may not be cute or stylish…

But see this…

That’s a clear craft table people! 

That's mission accomplished in my book!

Linky Party
Cherished Bliss
Nutmeg Place
Ginger Snap Crafts
Uncommon
52 Mantels
Vinatage Gwen
Sugar and Dots

Monthly Milestones

I am in love with all the fun ways to take monthly pictures of a baby.  I am determined to do this with Little Miss, for at least the first year.  So far I have been successful, but then again, she’s only one month old.

 

Here are a few of ideas that I fell in love with on Pinterest.

The multiple blanket idea from Young House Love

This idea of hanging of all but the current onsie is super cute.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the original source of this picture.

I love the idea from Erica’s Bloggity Blog, to use the same onsie as Little Miss grows.

Using a calendar every month, like Under the Sycamore, is also a great idea!

The winning idea is another idea with a MIA original source.

I’m going to try and also incorporate the blanket idea, by using a different blanket in the laundry basket every month.

Wish me luck on actually following thru on this every month!

Baptism Luncheon Decor

Thank you to everyone who is visiting from Pinterest!  I haven't posted to Crafty Kate in quite a while.  Please visit me over at https://twitchetts.blogspot.com


Want to know how I made the streamer, cupcake stand, and flower clip from Tuesday's baptism luncheon food table?  Well, you’re in luck!

Now, none of these projects are hard.  In fact, you can probably figure them all out on your own.  But I’m going to share anyways.  I’m just that helpful!

For the streamers, I bought fabric squares and cut them into strips.

 

 

Then I tied the strips around a piece of string.

Done.  Yep, that was it!  My biggest tip, make sure you buy enough fabric.  I wanted the streamer to stretch across the length of the table, so I should have bought twice as much fabric.  Lesson learned.

The cupcake stand was made from hard Square Plastic Plates and a couple candle holders from Hobby Lobby.

I just used a bead of glue around the top of the candle holder and attached it to the bottom of the plate.  I didn’t attach the levels together.  This makes them easier to store, and also makes it so I have stand alone cake stands!

The flower in the middle of the table was just three flowers wrapped around a clothes pin.  I just wanted something quick and easy.  It wasn’t something that needed to last forever, just for the length of the lunch.  I probably should have shortened the stems first, so I didn’t have to twist them so much.

Hope these tips help you if you want to try making any of these items.


Linky Party!
Two Yellow Birds
52 Mantels
The Crafty Blog Stalker
Domesblissity
Katie's Nesting Spot
Somewhat Simple
A Little Knick Knack
The Shabby Nest
One Artsy Mama
Craftionary
2805
Happy Hour Projects
French Country Cottage
Family Ever After
Be Different Act Normal
Six Sisters' Stuff
Get Schooled Saturday

Baptism Luncheon Food Table

Thank you to everyone who is visiting from Pinterest!  I haven't posted to Crafty Kate in quite a while.  Please visit me over at https://twitchetts.blogspot.com


I was so excited to do a fun food table for Little Miss’s baptism.  It was the first time I could do something “girlie”.  Of course I spent a month cruising Pinterest for ideas.  I must admit, I love the way it turned out!

I knew that planning a luncheon with a newborn would be challenging, so I kept the food simple.  Build your own sandwiches with potato salad, pasta salad, and melons.

I got a little fancier with the drinks.  (Or at least I made them look fancier)  They were just strawberry Kool-Aide with kiwi slices and lemonade with strawberries slices.  Both tasted delicious.

I found a couple of easy and yummy dessert recipes on pinterest.  The cookies are from Cherished Bliss and the cupcakes are from Polish the Stars.
Both desserts were huge hits! 

A special shout out to my sister-in-law who whipped up a delicious frosting, completely last minute!

The vases were empty Frappuccino bottles and a mason jar filled with flowers from Dollar Tree. 

The streamer was a fun project that I’ll post more about later this week.

The cupcake stand was a project that I whipped up.  It was super easy, but I'll share more on that later this week too.

The whole table came together really well.

Why can't sandwhich condiments be prettier colors?!? 

But I must admit, since I’m a procrastinator, I had lots of help getting everything set up.  And it was all done with a house full of hungry family.  So I have to thank everyone that helped.

It was a fun luncheon to celebrate such an important day in Little Miss’s young life!

Linky Party!!
Topsy Turvy
Craft and Tell
Craft-O-Maniac
DIY Home Sweet Home
Uncommonly Yours
Ladybug Blessings
Nutmeg Place
Alderberry Hill
Show and Share
Sugar and Dots
Live Laugh Rowe
52 Mantels
Seven Thirty Three
My Girlish Whims
DIY Dreamer
White Lights on Wednesday
Two Yellow Birds
The Crafty Blog Stalker
Domesblissity
Katie's Nesting Spot
Somewhat Simple
A Little Knick Knack
The Shabby Nest
One Artsy Mama
Craftionary
2805
Happy Hour Projects
French Country Cottage
Family Ever After
Be Different Act Normal
Six Sisters' Stuff
Get Schooled Saturday

A Few of My Favorite Things

I’m back!  I hope I didn’t lose anyone, but I’ve been busy working on the greatest thing I’ve ever made.

I call her Little Miss.

She took nine months to complete and is worth every sleepless night and swollen finger.

When I started this blog, I made the decision to keep my family life private.  So I won’t be using her name or putting her face on my blog. 

While I was prego, I realized that the baby market is crazy!  They have a gizmo or product for about every situation.  Some of these products probably aren’t worth the extra money.  But here are a few items that, over the past few weeks, I have decided are worth every penny. 

Munchkin Disposable Changing Pads

 These little bad boys have saved my cute changing table cover about a million times, not to mention they make great covers for those nasty public changing tables and the quick diaper change on someone’s living room floor.  They are a little large, so I cut them in half, giving me twice as many in each pack.

Bright Starts Lots of Links

Using these links, I have been able to transform anything into a hanging toy.  Little Miss is automatically happy when she sees something interesting hanging over her head.  Obviously, you don’t want to hang anything dangerous over a baby’s head, but seeing her favorite toy has kept her happy on multiple shopping trips.

Bright Starts Comfort and Harmony Portable Swing

Little Miss loves relaxing in her swing.  I’ve even finagled ours, with the above links, to hang some bright colored toys.  These toys keep her occupied for minutes! (This is like hours in newborn talk).

I’ve been working on several projects over the past few weeks; hopefully, I will be able to go back to posting on a fairly regular basis.  But if there is one thing I have learned, newborns do not know the meaning of sticking to a schedule.  So bare with me as I start this new chapter in the life of Crafty Kate.


Linky Party!
The Gunny Sack
Skip to my Lou
The Blackberry Vine

Crib Wall

I’ve been brainstorming what kind of decoration I want to put over the crib for a while.  I kept coming back to the 3D paper art that people have been doing lately.  Problem was everything I found was girlie…and mostly butterflies.  This is cute, but since we don’t know if Baby is a boy or a girl, butterflies didn’t seem like the right approach. 

Sunday morning, when I was debating if I should roll out of bed or snooze for a bit longer, the idea hit me…Stars!

I had seen several of these 3D stars around Christmas.  And when I went to Pinterest for a quick tutorial, I found this from Little Birdie Secrets.

I’m so happy that I decided to go back to Hobby Lobby and get that paper book for the Alphabet Wall, because I just used more sheets from the same book to create the stars.

I even got to use my Silhouette, because I finally got a new Silhouette Blade!

The trickiest part was figuring out how to attach them to the wall.  I ended up using big loops of tape on the backsides.  Super simple.

The project didn’t take long at all.  The most time consuming part was scoring the stars so that they folded easily. 

I even have a few extra stars that I might hang randomly in the room to pull it together.

Linky Party!!!

Blackberry Vine
The Gunny Sack
Skip to my Lou
Polly Want a Crafter
Craft-O-Maniac
C.R.A.F.T.
Uncommonly Yours
Ginger Snap Crafts
Show & Share
Sugar and Dots
Katie's Nesting Spot
52 Mantels
French Country Cottage