Hair Accessory Fun (Spring 2016)

Getting Crafty


Remember this post where I shared a few photos from the workroom?  I used those flowers for my spring 'gardening', but not before putting a few aside for a different project.

I have this thing about hair accessories.  If I'm being honest, I don't really wear them that often, but I love them anyway.  Besides, they look really cute hanging up together in the closet ;)

Any time I begin a new project I tend to swipe one or two extra flowers to add to my accessory collection  and this 'gardening' session was no different

Keep reading to see my newest little cuties:

Pink Hydrangea

Red & Pink Asters

Pansies

I decided to add a little beading to the centers of these to dress things up a bit.  These ended up being my favorite this time as I didn't have a whole lot of blues yet.

Now I'm off to prep my treasure hunting address list for tomorrow ;)
I hope you enjoyed the post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2016

A Hand-Painted Gift Bag

Recently Baby Girl attended a birthday party for one of her school friends and needed a gift.  We decided to put together a jewelry making kit inside of a hand-painted reusable tote. 

Fun Fact:  Whenever I'm not sure what to give as a gift, I love to put together fun little kits.  Art supplies, jewelry making, bath and beauty, you name it!

Read on to see what went into this gift, as well as how easy it is to personalize your own gift bags.

Simple Supplies

Left:  A plain yellow reusable cloth tote.

Right:  Beads and elastic cording.  

*I really wanted to buy more beads, but Baby Girl insisted on adding a teddy bear instead :)

Step 1

I used a Sharpie to write Chloe's name on the bag.

Step 2

I added a couple of decorative flowers, again with the Sharpie.

Tip:  Keeping your design simple makes painting a whole lot easier.

Step 3

Prep your bag for painting by inserting a catalog, cardboard or pad of paper.  Not only does this help to smooth your painting surface, but it also prevents the paint from bleeding through the material.

(Thank you Cabela's!)

Step 4

I painted the leaves and petals in solid colors first, then added the contrasting details once the first layer of paint dried.

Step 5

After adding the tag and the bear the gift was done....or was it?  It seemed kind of plain looking....

....and when I hung it up safely in my closet (next to my hair clips) I realized why - It needed hair accessories!

So I got out a my glue gun and a couple of flowers and got (back) to work.

Doesn't that look so much better now?

The Finished Bag

I went ahead and took a proper photo of the bag, complete with hair accessories!
 Ahhhh, it looks soooooo much better!!!

I hope you enjoyed this how-to post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2015

Floral Headbands (Spring 2015)

It's time to welcome spring with a wearable flowers!

I decided to pull a few flowers from my supply closet and make up some headbands check them out:

 Pictured here are five of the flowers I used for this project: hot pink peonies, orange zinnias, yellow cosmos, purple daisies and white zinnias.  

(I also used a simple blue fabric cut-out flower shape that you will see in a bit)

 Headbands

I chose these ready-made stretchy head bands as the base for my floral embellishment.  I wanted something soft and stretchy, these were perfect!

 Making the flowers 'workable'

As with most faux florals, these had hard plastic centers.  The hard bits of plastic make the flowers look bulky and unnatural, so off they went.
 
After removing the plastic centers of the flowers I used my sewing machine to stitch the layers together.  This held the floral layers together while I attached it to the headband.

 Attaching the head bands.

I used my sewing machine to quickly attach the fabric flower to the headband.  This was  a lot faster and stronger than stitching by hand.

After everything was stitched in place, I used glue to attach various beads to the flower centers.  Not only is the beading pretty, but it also covers the machine stitching.

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I had a lovely little model help me with take photos of the finished headbands, take a look:

Yellow Cosmos accented with yellow beading on a yellow satin band.
White Zinnia accented with clear beading on a green satin band.

Blue tropical flower accented with navy/black beading on blue satin band.
Orange Zinnia accented with orange beading on an orange satin band.

Purple daisy accented with pearl beading on purple satin band.
Pink Peony accented with pearl beading on pink satin band.

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Like what you see?
These headbands are available now in the Jennifer Adams Flowers Etsy shop.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2015

Daddy-Daughter Dance (2015)

A few weeks ago Husby took Baby Girl to a Daddy-Daughter dance in our community.

Husby was happy to take Baby Girl on a date.
Baby Girl was happy to get dressed up and go on a date.
I was happy for another excuse to design some florals and take pictures ;)

Scroll on to see each item in greater detail.

Wrist Corsage

My little Baby Girl needed a tiny wrist corsage to match her dress.  Instead of using an actual wrist corsage wristlet, I attached this rose to one of her smaller hair elastics.  That way it was light weight and fit perfectly.  

Now she can use it as a hair accessory as well ;)

Boutonniere

After 20 years, 2 proms, many high school dances and 1 wedding, somehow this was the first time I ever needed to pin a boutonniere on to Husby's shirt.  Who the heck did it for him all the other times?  His Mom?  I have no idea!

He was visibly nervous that I would poke him....I did not.  But I did get a few giggles out of the situation :D

Nosegay

When I told Baby Girl that I would make her a wrist corsage and a boutonniere for Daddy she said, "And I need flowers to hold too, Mommy."  No problem love :)  

I made this little nosegay for her to carry to the dance.

Roses From Daddy

These were wrapped up and ready to go ahead of time.  While I was helping Baby Girl with her shoes, Husby quietly slipped out of the garage.  That way he was able to knock on the front door and greet Baby Girl 'properly'.  Her face was priceless, especially when he gave her the roses.  Now she keeps them in a bud vase on a bookcase next to her bed.

This was such a fun evening for our family.  Not only did Husby and Baby Girl get some quality time together, but I got to spend time with her as I helped her to get ready :)

I hope you enjoyed the post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2015

My Life in Pictures (October 2014)

It may be a few days into November, but today I'm sharing my 'Week in Pictures' for the last week of October.  It was a busy week, but a lot of fun!  

Take a look:

 I found the time to sew on this years Halloween quilt patches.  

I made the time actually.  I was gathering all of the Halloween decor to pack away when I realized that I forgot to update the Halloween quilt...oops!  :D

 We carved pumpkins.

The pumpkin on the left belongs to the Little Man, the one on the Right is Baby Girl's.  She designed it herself with the nose on the side of the face.  I think it's important to honor the creativity of the artist, so there you have it; a very 'Picasso' like Jack-O-Lantern!  :D

 I made up a little bag of 'ice cubes' to go with Baby Girl's Elsa costume.

The faux ice cubes are acrylic table decorations made by Wilton, and I found three containers of these for $3 the last time I went treasure hunting.  Since Baby Girl wants a Frozen themed birthday party next year, I bought them and stashed them away.  Then I realized I could use some for the Elsa Halloween costume!

I layered a couple squares of tulle on the counter top, added a handful of 'ice' and tied with blue ribbon.  I made the ribbon in a long loop so Baby Girl could carry it on her wrist.  She loved it!

 Halloween Surprises

The Great Pumpkin left a couple of treats for the kiddos in our house on Halloween morning!  Little Man got a shirt and pants set and Baby Girl got a new Berenstain Bears book.  They each also got a few of M&Ms.

 Snowy Hair Clips

My two little Elsa girls (Baby Girl and my niece) enjoyed their custom made hair accessories.  My niece was able to come down from Chicago for Halloween, they loved Trick-Or-Treating together!

Lots of candy was collected!

And, we even squeezed in an anniversary celebration!

In honor of my anniversary I'll be posting soon with pictures of my wedding flowers.  Since they were made with artificial flowers (of course), I still have them ;)

Also coming this month: Thanksgiving Decor and Celebration

Hope you enjoyed the post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014

Upgrading a Store-Bought Halloween Costume: Queen Elsa (2014)

It's Halloween and pretty much every little girl wants to be Elsa this year.  Trouble is, Baby Girl thought she would be the only Elsa out and about on the search for treats.  So I explained that while she can't be the only Elsa, she can be a unique Elsa if we alter her dress a little bit.

It was super easy to take a pre-made Elsa costume and fix it up, take a look:

 

 The Original Dress

(Photo from Amazon)

 Foam Snowflakes

I found these treasure hunting a couple of weeks ago.  (Even though Baby Girl's next birthday is not until the end of next summer, she has decided that she will have a Frozen themed party. I don't know where she gets this tendency to plan so far ahead in advance...hee hee hee)  So when we came upon a sale with Frozen birthday decor, we snatched it up.  We got two big plastic bags full of Frozen themed items for $2 and these snowflakes were included.

The Finished Product

I used three colors of snowflakes; white, light blue and dark blue.  Making sure to distribute the colors evenly, I used a hot glue gun to attach them to the outer layer of tulle on the skirt.  I also positioned a larger light blue snowflake at the middle of the bodice and layered a smaller white snowflake on top.  I love how this sets off the design!

Upgrading this dress was really quick and easy to do.  I literally squeezed this project in between bath time and evening snack time while the kids played a bit.  So easy, that I added in the creation of a hair accessories as well....couldn't help myself....;)

A hair clip fit for a Snowy Queen

I layered a few of the foam snowflakes until I had an arrangement that I liked, then glued them together as one larger piece.  Then I took that piece and glued it to an alligator clip.  Again, quick and easy!  I made one for my niece too as she will also be Elsa this year ;)

So there you have it: a dress upgrade and two hair accessories in about 30 minutes!


Hope you enjoyed  the upgrade, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014

Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party 2014

It's time for a party, and you are all invited!

As I have mentioned before, Baby Girl decided upon Strawberry Shortcake for the theme of her birthday party this year.  Once a theme has been established, I like to figure out ways to communicate the theme without just going out and buying character items.  By using key colors (red, green and pink accents) and constructing much of the decor myself, I was able to create a themed party for  a low cost.  Here is the break down:

Strawberry Shortcake character cutouts:  Free from my stash
Strawberry decorations:  Made from scrapbooking materials I already had
Strawberry Shortcake Coloring Pages:  Made from Baby Girl's coloring book
Balloons:  $2
Plastic Table Coverings:  $2
Napkins:  $2
Plates/ Cups/ Flatware:  $7
'Confetti':  $1
Crepe Paper:  $1

That's an entire party decorated for $15!  A little creativity goes a long way :)


Come in now to see how I decorated and what was served for dessert!

Wall decor.

I used scrapbooking paper to make the paper strawberries and Baby Girl colored and cut out Strawberry shortcake characters from one of her coloring books.  You can read a more detailed post about that here.

The printed cutouts I got from the florist I used to work for.  We sold balloons there and each one came individually packaged in a paper wrap that had the balloon's picture on the front.  Normally the packaging would be tossed in the trash, but I got permission to keep the wrapping.  I have tons of these now for every occasion; birthday, holidays, characters, new baby, you name it.

I collected so many over the years that I had to figure out a way to organize them.  I ended up buying a binder for each category and filled it with plastic binder sleeves.  Each sleeve holds a different balloon design and the binders are labeled by category.  I keep them on the shelf with my scrapbooking supplies, but as you can see they can be used for many things!  Baby Girl like to go through the character binder and choose cut-outs for her art projects ;)

Another tip:  I also keep my stickers and small paper embellishments in the same binders, so everything is neatly together in one place.  Sometimes I like to scrapbook at Mamaw's house, and this makes things much more portable,  I just grab the binder I need and go!

A Photo 'Back-Drop'

After seeing the idea on Pinterest, I decided to start creating an area where guests could have their photo taken with the Birthday Girl.  Of course I always want photos of everyone, and this makes for an easy and cute solution.

Kitchen & Dining Tables

I used a simple green plastic table cloth to set the color statement that I wanted.  On top I scattered more of the paper strawberries and Strawberry Shortcake character cut outs.  For confetti we used red shiny sequins.  When we couldn't find any 'real' confetti that worked well with our theme, Baby Girl and I started going up and down different aisles of the store's craft section.  It was Baby Girl herself that spotted and suggested using the sequins! Ahhh, what a proud Mommy-Designer moment! ;)

I like using plastic table covers because of the color they add to the party, but I hate the way they slide around the table.  Last Christmas I was at my Grandma's house and noticed that she tied her table coverings to the table legs, so I totally copied the idea!  Not only does it stop the sliding, but it's cute too. Win-win!

(I also tape the paper decorations into place.  The only thing that is loose is the sequins....and I'll be finding those for months now every time I vacuum...)

'Strawberry' Balloons

I have a post coming soon where I'll explain how I made these :)

So it's the night before  the party and Baby Girl decides she needs a hair clip specially designed to coordinate....sure, Mommy's got time for that!  I ran out to the garage and hunted up a strawberry from my summer decorations, paired it with a white daisy and there you have it.  The perfect hair accessory for my princess!

The strawberry shortcake candle from one of our many treasure hunting excursions.  I had it burning with cupcake wax cubes in the scentsy warmers.  The whole house smelled yummy!

(I always have something that smells like cake or cupcakes for birthday parties.  I think walking inside to smell delicious treats helps to add excitement and set the mood)

Dinner & Drink Stations

For this party I had red plates, green napkins and white with red polka-dot napkins.  I like to unfold and lay out a few napkins as a way of adding color and extending the theme throughout the party.  Of course we scattered more of our red sequin 'confetti' throughout the kitchen.

Dessert Station

Strawberry shortcake (of course!) in a trifle bowl.  

A few red sprinkles on top add to the party look.

Devils food cupcakes with chocolate frosting.

A little red icing combined with red cupcake liners and these chocolate cupcakes fit right in with the overall decor.  I displayed them on the glass cupcake stand that my Brother-In-Law Todd gave me as a Christmas gift.

You can read more about this stand, and my other display pieces here

A miniature strawberry cake, just for the Birthday Girl!

A larger strawberry cake for the guests.

As you can see, I love making and serving yummy treats!  I have a post coming up soon where I'll go into more detail about these desserts.  I have a whole lot I want to share including baking tips and design ideas....stay tuned!


I hope you enjoyed our Strawberry Shortcake party, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2014