Tutorial: Hershey Kiss Labels February 20, 2012

 

 

I’ve had a few requests recently for Hershey Kiss labels. These are totally adorable so I’ve decided to offer them in a range of colors and themes. They are a simple way to totally personalize your shindig. Personalized Hershey kisses also make really cute party favors.

So, how easy are these to put together? All you’ll need is some bright white heavy paper. I personally like to use 110 lb card stock, a glue stick and a .75 inch circle punch. The first thing you’ll want to do is print out the PDF file that I’ll e-mail you and cut the circles into stripes, as shown in the below photo.

 

 

The important thing to remember is to hold your circle punch up side down when you punch out the labels. This way you will be able to see exactly what you are punching and make sure that your label is even on each side/nicely centered. The sheet that I e-mail you will have 99 labels so you’ll get plenty of practice… he he he 😉 Once you’ve punched all your labels, dab them with a bit of glue from a glue stick and attach to the chocolate kiss. Avoid the washable glue sticks because that glue doesn’t tend to hold up on the foil.

 

The circles measure .80″ and are designed to be cut out using a 3/4″ (.75″) circle punch. The punch can be found at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or your local craft or scrapbooking store. I used the EK Success Paper Shapers Medium Punch. Even though I recommend printing these on 110 lb bright white paper and then use a little glue to stick them on the kisses (a glue stick is perfect), you can use sticker paper. For instant stickers, simply purchase blank sheets of sticker paper found at office or craft supply store. If you don’t want to buy a whole packet of sticker paper, you can get these printed at Office Depot or Staples and request to have them print on sticker paper.

Check out some of the other Hershey Kiss labels currently available in my Etsy store. Just click on the photo to be taken to the listing. But, as always, if you do not see the color combination or style that you are looking for, please contact me as I am happy to take custom orders. apartystudio@gmail.com

You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook!

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Tutorial: Water Bottle Wrappers February 19, 2012

 

Having personalized water bottle wrappers at your party is one of the simplest and most fun ways to decorate and add a touch of whimsy. I get lots of requests for water bottle wrappers and they are one of the most fun things for me to design. I especially love adding personal touches such as nutritional facts on the side. How cute is this gold and lavender water bottle wrapper for a baby shower:

I have loads of different water bottle wrappers in my store– for lots of different occasions but if you don’t see exactly what you want then you could send me an e-mail because I love custom orders.

Putting these water bottle labels on your bottles, is really easy. Here’s what you do:

So, to put these together…

1. print out the water bottle wrappers that I will e-mail you. Use high quality print setting (choose quality over speed).
 Depending on the design you choose, there will probably be five on a sheet. Ideally, you should print on heavy bright white cardstock. I like to use 110 lb paper.

2. trim the paper.  I recommend using a paper slicer to cut the labels so that you have neat, straight edges. When you cut the labels, do not cut any of the sides i.e. make sure your rectangle’s length stays 8 1/2 inches.  If your printer didn’t print to the edges then trim only one side.

3.  peel the existing label off the water bottles (this will leave some stickiness on the plastic bottle which will help your new labels stick a bit better). For these bottles, I have used Nestle Pure Life Juniors. I think the little bottles are so cute! The water bottle labels work on the full size bottles of water too.

4. wrap the new labels around the bottle. I like to use a little bit of tape (the magic transparent tape) or use a couple dabs of a glue stick on just the paper that overlaps.

This is the tape I like to use:

DO NOT put these on cold/refrigerated bottles. The condensation will make the paper wet and ruin your lovely labels.

I also sometimes like to mix things up and use them on Frappucino bottles when I serve cold drinks, such a lemonade out of a pitcher. These need a bit of goo be gone to remove the residual stickiness from the Starbucks labels and I usually put them in the dishwasher too! Don’t they look super cute?

Here are some other water bottle wrappers available in my store. Simply click on any of the photos to the taken to the item listing 🙂

 

Don’t forget to like my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter or Pinterest! I love comments and feedback 🙂

 

Shaped rice krispies treats July 20, 2011

Check out these awesome party favors that Courtney gave out at her son’s Mickey Mouse themed second birthday party. How cute are these?

 

Party favors

Courtney did an incredible job styling her son’s Mickey Mouse party. Her attention to detail is amazing! I’ll be posting more photos from the party tomorrow.

 

You can have a lot of fun making these treats with your kids. Here are directions, direct from the Kellogg’s website!

 

 

If you make these, I would love to see photos so please e-mail me and I’ll post the pictures on my blog!

 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 package (10 ounces) regular marshmallows (or you could use 4 cups of miniature marshmallows)

6 cups Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereal

18 wooden ice cream sticks or 6 inch lollipop sticks

1 ½ cups white chocolate morsels

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

multi-colored sprinkles

 

Directions

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add cereal. Stir until well coated.

 

2. Using buttered spatula or wax paper, evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Allow this to cool.

 

3. Use a cookie cutter to put the treat into the shape you desire then push one stick into the bottom of each bar/shape. The 5 inch Mickey Mouse icon cookie cutter is available online from Amazon.

Mickey Mouse cookie cutter

 

4. Melt your chocolate. In small microwave-safe bowl combine chocolate morsels and oil. Microwave on high for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.

 

5. Dip bars into chocolate.

 

6. Pour the sprinkles onto a plate. Dip the bar into the sprinkles whilst the chocolate is still wet.

 

7. Place on wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate is set.

 

8. Put the treat in a sandwich bag and tie with ribbon. Add a personalized party favor tag to give it a polished look!  I have lots of printable party favor labels in my Etsy store but if you don’t see what you are looking for, just e-mail me and I’ll be happy to create it for you.

 

 

TIPS

These are best served within a couple days of making the bars so I recommend making them the day before the party.

Do not use diet, reduced calorie or tub margarine.

 

 

Tutorial: Large Tissue Pom-Poms July 9, 2011

About a year ago I saw tissue pom-poms for the first time on the Martha Stewart website. Sometimes people call them paper flowers and you can totally see why. Don’t they look like enormous dahlias?  I thought they looked beautiful and are a great alternative to paper lanterns for party decorations. Isn’t this beautiful:

Martha Stewart

I have decided to make a more detailed tutorial because there are a couple tricks to getting perfect, full pom-pons. The two most important would be to use good quality tissue paper. I once helped a neighbor make large pom-pons and she’d brought her tissue paper at T J Maxx. It was very thin paper and the final pom-pons drooped. For these pom-poms, I used tissue paper from American Greetings and it worked great. Each pack contains 9 sheets. If you want even fuller pom-poms you will need to use 12 to 16 sheets all together.

You will need:

packets of tissue paper

alligator clips

monofilament (fishing line)

floral wire

scissors

supplies for the pom-poms

 

1. Carefully open the packet of tissue paper and unfold it. Keep the tissue paper stacked neatly. Use an alligator clip to keep the tissue paper stacked. This really helps to  keep the paper neat and in place. I like to put two alligator clips at the front of the paper (where I will be folding) and one on each side.

Attach alligator clip

2. Start folding the tissue paper. Use an accordion fold about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. The important part here is keeping the fold consistent.

Fold the tissue paper

Accordion fold

 

3. Keep folding until you reach the end of the paper. Now, you’ll have a rectangular accordion. The last fold may be a lot shorter than the rest of the folds and that is ok.

Final fold

4. Cut your floral wire so that it measures 18 inches. Fold it in half. The wire may not be completely straight and neat. Again, don’t worry about that, because no-one will see it when the pom-poms are finished. Now, you need to loop the floral wire around the middle of your tissue paper. I like to loop the wire twice and then twist it at the top.

Fold the floral wire in half

 

Twist the wire around the paper

5. The next step is to cut the ends of the tissue paper. You can either cut the ends into triangles (for a Dahlia look) or scalloped (for a softer look). It is very hard to cut through all the layers of tissue paper at once. What I do is cut in stages- I cut half of them and then do the other half, doing my best to get a clean cut. Use good quality, heavy, sharp scissors!

Cut half the tissue paper

Cut ends into triangle

6. Start carefully separating each layer by gently pulling it upwards and out. Pull away from the center. Do this very slowly and gently because you do not want to rip the delicate tissue paper.

Separate the layers

Be very careful to not tear the paper

 

Pull layers away from the center

 

Continue separating layers

 

7. Once you’ve separated all the layers on one side, continue to do the other side.

Do the other side

completed pom-pom

8. Once the layers have all been separated, you have a completed pom-pom and you are ready to hang it. Cut your fishing line to whatever length you want and knot it on the floral wire that is in the center of your pom-pom. To hang these, you can tie the monofilament around a dress maker’s pin (sewing pins that have a flat top) and push these into the ceiling. This method leaves the tinniest hole that no-one is going to notice once the pin is removed. The great thing about using fishing wire to hang your pom-poms is that they look like they are floating. No-one will see the wire.

Tissue pom-poms

Of course, if you don’t have the time or the energy to make these yourself then you can order the pom-poms online from various Etsy sellers. They will ship the pom-pons to you, ready for you to separate the layers! This is a great option, especially if you are having a hard time finding tissue paper in the color you want or if you want a rainbow effect, such as the one below from PomLove.

Rainbow pom-pom

 

 

Pink and Yellow Birthday Cake June 5, 2011

Remember the post about the amazing Neapolitan cake by Sweetapolita?

I decided to make a similar cake for my daughter’s upcoming 4th birthday. I don’t bake. I don’t consider myself a baker. I don’t even make cupcakes or cookies. In fact, I think I failed the Wilton level one cake decoration class I took three years ago! So for me to undertake a cake-making project for this special event says a lot. I promised to share the results so here you are…

I used store bought cake mixes. Strawberry cake and yellow cake. The yellow cake wasn’t quite yellow enough for my liking so I added yellow food coloring. I let the layers cool then trimmed the top so that each layer was flat. I made sure to stack them in order: pink, yellow, pink, yellow. I put buttercream frosting between each layer and strawberry preserve.

Four layers stacked

 

Vanilla buttercream frosting

After I covered the cake with buttercream frosting (also store bought), I covered the entire cake with desiccated coconut. This covered all the imperfections in how I spread the buttercream frosting. I finished the cake with fresh strawberries and a 4 inch party circle, available in my Etsy store. After printing out the circle and cutting it, I stuck it to a 6 inch lollipop stick. Very quick and easy way to add a special touch to the cake!

I would have liked smaller strawberries around the base and if I had frosting left over then I’d have piped some on the rim, at the base of the cake, to help keep the strawberries in their place. Ok, the strawberries were big, but they were super sweet and super juicy!  We call our daughter Aubrie Strawberry so this cake was perfect!

Finished cake

Blowing out the candles

Pink and yellow layers

Slice of cake

 

Pretty...

I will confess that I ordered vanilla and chocolate cupcakes from a local bakery so there was a back-up plan!!! I ordered very plain cupcakes… white buttercream frosting and then added pink and yellow sprinkles.  Actually,
it was great to have cupcakes because the kids LOVED those and the adults got to enjoy the delicious cake!

Cupcakes

 

Cupcake with yellow sprinkles

Thank you to my friend Erin for loaning me the cake pans and the spatula! Couldn’t have done this cake without you! Also, Casey- thank you for the use of the cupcake stand (again)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tutorial: Ribbon Wand Party Favors June 2, 2011

Ribbon wands are really fun- my three year old loves moving the wand up and down and watching the ribbons twirl. She is completely fascinated by them and when ever her friends come over, they want to play with her collection of ribbon wands, too. So, here’s a tutorial. These are so easy to make! Of course, if you don’t feel too crafty then you can check out the ribbon wands in my Etsy store. I have some ready-made and ready to ship otherwise, you can order a custom set with any colors you choose!

You will need: 

grosgrain ribbon in red, white and blue, cut into 36 inch strands

(the blue used in this tutorial is called Capri)

hot glue gun

12 inch wooden dowel rod

 

 

1. Put a little spot of hot glue on the end of the blue ribbon strand (approximately 1 inch from the tip of the ribbon).

Spot of hot glue

2. Place the red ribbon directly on top and press down firmly to adhere.

Start to stack ribbon

3. Put a little spot of hot glue on the end of the red ribbon strand (approximately 1 inch from the tip of the ribbon) and top with the white ribbon.

More glue

In this way, the red ribbon is sandwiched between the blue and the white ribbon.

4. Loop the ribbon as though you are going to tie it. Then, slide your dowel rod in the middle of the loop.

Loop ribbon for form a knot

Get ready to knot

5. Put a dab of hot glue on the dowel rod, approximately 1 inch from the tip.

Dab hot glue on dowel rod

6. Now tighten your ribbon loop so that it is knotted on the hot glue.

Tighten the loop/knot

 

Completed wand

 

Safety note: For children under the age of 4, I use ribbon that is 12 inches long. The long strands of ribbon could be a strangling hazard for little kids so make sure they are being supervised!

 

Dress by Mels Marvelous Designs

 

Pillowcase dress

Ribbon wands

Thank you to Mels Marvelous Designs for supply the beautiful patriotic pillowcase dress for this photo shoot! Check out her Etsy store!

Also, don’t forget to become a fan of A Party Studio on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/apartystudio

Tutorial: Hand-tied banner May 17, 2011

I love the look of the hand-tied banner and I love that it can be so versatile! You can print the letters on squares or circles, make these big or small to determine the length of your banner, use lots of ribbon colors, etc. The digital happy birthday banners in my shop are very popular and I think that is because they add a lot of impact to the party decorations.

Here is a step-by-step guide to show you how to put these banners together. For this tutorial I have used the banner from the Sailboat collection to spell out the name Asher. A name can be added to any of the digital collections for an additional $5 (up to 10 letters).  The grosgrain ribbon is orange, spring moss (green), blue and lemonade.

The first thing you’ll want to do is get your supplies together:

Paper slicer

Black card stock

3/8 inch grosgrain ribbon

Good quality scissors

Adhesive (photo splits)

Printed banner sheets

Cutting mat or ruler

Hole punch

If you want rounded corners then it helps to have a corner-round punch. This isn’t essential though. The banner looks great with 90 degree corners or you could always do the rounded corners by hand using your scissors.

Tools you'll need

Cut your grosgrain ribbon to 8 3/4 inches. If you plan on using the banner for years to come, then you’ll want to treat the ends of your ribbon to prevent them from fraying- either pick up some Fray Check at the craft store or burn the ends.

Cut the ribbon to 8 3/4 inches

When you print your banner sheets, it is important to have your printer set to high/good quality (not draft!) and also use bright white heavy paper. I like to use 110 lb card stock. This is available at office supply stores such as Staples or Office Depot.
Use your paper slicer to cut the printed sheets into squares.

Cut into squares

Square letters

Once you’ve cut all the letters into squares, you can round the corners. Of course, this is totally optional and depends on the look you are wanting!

Use punch to round the corners

Choose square or 90 degree corners

Rounded corners

The next step is to cut your black card stock into 5 1/2 inch squares. You’ll be backing the letter squares onto this card stock. It is important to back to the letter squares so that your banner will be sturdy. If you rounded the corners for your letter squares then you’ll want to do this again for the black card stock squares.

Black card stock squares

Apply adhesive to the back of the letter squares. When you stick the letter square on your black square, make sure it is in the center so that you have a nice even border all the way around.

Apply adhesive

Stick letter in the center

Back all the letters

Now you are ready to punch holes in the corners of the squares. Make sure the holes on each side are uniform- you want the holes to be the same distance from the top of the card stock and from the sides. I like to spend a couple minutes making a hole template.

Make hole template

Once you’ve made your template, you need to mark where your left and right holes are going to be located. Do this by marking the letter squares on each side as show in the photos.

Hole template

Mark left hole mark

Move template to the right

Mark right hole

Punch holes

Now that all your holes are punch, you can start the fun part- pulling the ribbon between the holes of two adjoining letters and knotting the ribbon!

Thread ribbon through holes

Knot ribbon

When you knot the ribbon, make sure it is not too tight or that the letter square are overlapping. You need the knots to be somewhat loose so that you can fold your finished banner.

Continue to tie all the ribbon together.

Tie all the ribbon

When you get to the end letters (in this case, a sailboat and the letter R), you want your ribbon to be longer. The length of this ribbon will depend on what you’ll be tying the ribbon to. The banners I make have between 24 and 30 inches of ribbon at the ends.

End ribbon

Tie ribbon to the letter square

Et voila! Your banner is finished and ready to display!

Finished banner

When you are not using the banner, you can fold it (like an accordion) and use the long end ribbons to hold it together.

Fold banner when not in use

If you are feeling less than crafty then check out the ready-to-ship banners that I have in the store or contact me and I can print, cut, back, glue and hand-tie one of the digital banners for you!

Tutorial: How to line an alligator clip May 2, 2011

Once you know how to line an alligator clip, you can make hair bows and turn silk flowers into beautiful hair accessories! It is worth practicing this technique because it’ll open the door to making lots of different fun hair bows.

Lined alligator clips

You will need:

3/8 inch grosgrain ribbon (total of 4 ½ inches)

Fray Check

Scissors

Hot glue gun and mat

Double prong alligator clip

Everything you'll need

Instructions: 

Prepare your ribbon by cutting it to 4 ½ inches. Make sure your cut is straight across, not at an angle. Treat both ends of the ribbon with Fray Check to ensure it will not fray. Allow the Fray Check 10 minutes to dry.

Cut and treat ribbon

Spread hot glue onto the ribbon. Spread it along approximately 1 ¼” of the ribbon.

Apply hot glue

(Please note: Your ribbon glueing process starts on the inside of the upper part or lever of the clip, runs along the outside, over the grips end and finishes along the outside of the lower, flat half of your alligator clip.)
Take the part of the ribbon that you have just applied the hot glue and place it under the top of your alligator clip. You will need to use one hand to open the clip (squeeze the end) and use your other hand to firmly press the ribbon against the clip as shown in the photo.

Hold ribbon against clip

Apply some hot glue on the top of the alligator clip. Simply run it along from the gripper end to the tips.

Apply more glue

Spread glue

Pull your ribbon up and over onto the glue you’ve just applied and in this way covering the top half of the alligator clip. Smooth the ribbon over the glue and press firmly for a few seconds whilst the glue hardens to ensure that the ribbon adheres to the clip.

Fold ribbon

Press ribbon

Hold the clip in one hand and take the piece of ribbon and bend it back. This will make sure the ribbon is not in the way when you apply the hot glue on the edge of the clip’s grip.

Side view

Very carefully apply glue on the upper clip grip. The glue goes on the edge, as shown in the photograph. Be careful because you can easily apply too much glue. You just need a small amount.

Apply glue

Firmly press the ribbon against this blob of glue. Use your pointer finger to press the ribbon into the notch between the two clip grips. Hold the ribbon against the glue for about 10 seconds to ensure it sticks properly.

Press ribbon

Now, bend the ribbon back. Again, you want the ribbon to be out of the way when you apply the next blob of glue. Place a small dollop of glue on the other clip grip.

Apply more glue

Use your finger to firmly press the ribbon against the glue. The ribbon will ‘dip’ in the middle of the clip, between the two grippers.

Press firmly

Place the top of the alligator clip (the gripper end) against your glue mat so that the ribbon is laying flat. Spread hot glue on the last of the ribbon.

Spread glue

Take this piece of ribbon and place it on the back of the alligator clip. This completes the ‘lining’ of the clip.

Press firmly

It is a good idea to now open the clip. You can remove any stray blobs of hot glue using your finger. You want to make sure that there isn’t any hot glue seeping through the gap of the two prongs because this could dry up and stick the clip together. That is why I like to always open the clip at the end and ensure there’s no unwanted glue on the inside!

Open clip and remove excess glue

Et voila! A gorgeous partially lined alligator clip!

And if you never master this technique, don’t worry… there are lots of Etsy shops selling handmade lined alligator clips. Check out these cute rainbow clip set from Mommy and Me Boutique!

Rainbow clippies

Set of clippies

Tips:

The first few clips you line may not look perfect. That is ok- don’t get rid of them because once you attach a bow or a flower to the clip, it’ll be covered and no-one will see any imperfections.

Lined alligator clips make the basis of any bow but they also look very pretty by themselves, especially if you use a patterned ribbon.

Tutorial: Personalized Candy Bar Wrapper April 25, 2011

Things you’ll need:

Print out wrapper*. Be sure to use bright white heavy paper

Bars of chocolate (1.55 oz)

Paper cutter

Adhesive such as a glue stick or photo tabs

Stylus (useful but not essential)

The things you'll need

*I can make personalized chocolate bar wrappers to match any of the invites in my Etsy store or I can make a design for you from scratch. You think of the theme and colors and I’ll create it! For this tutorial, I used the Sailboat wrapper.

Step 1: cut the paper on the grey line. Use a paper cutter to ensure a straight neat edge.

Cut the wrapper on grey line

Step 2: fold on the black line at the top of the illustration. Use the flat end of the stylus to sharpen the crease of the fold.

Fold on top black line

Use stylus to crease sharp crease

Step 3: fold on the bottom black line. These are the only two folds you’ll need to make. Again, use the stylus to get a nice crease.

Fold on bottom black line

Use stylus

Folded wrapper

Step 4: slip the chocolate bar behind the wrapper.

Insert bar

Insert bar to wrap

Step 5: turn the wrapper and the chocolate bar over so that you can apply adhesive to the back of the wrapper. I like to use a glue stick for this.

Turn over

Apply adhesive

Fold wrapper on itself

If you are using a glue stick then you’ll need to press very firmly for a few seconds to make sure it sticks.

Press firmly

Et voila! Cute personalized chocolate bar wrappers– the perfect party favor! These are a huge hit every time I throw a party- adults love them, as do the kids. Plus, the personalization mean that these wrappers make fabulous keepsakes. When you do these every birthday, you can create a fun way to track milestones.

Personalized chocolate bar

Custom party favor

Check out the other personalized chocolate wrappers that I have made in years past for my daughter’s birthday parties!

Easter Bow Baskets April 8, 2011

How gorgeous is this Easter bow basket? Wouldn’t a special little girl in your life love getting one of these? And putting this together is so much fun! I used silk flowers to decorate this basket. You can get super create though and use tulle, wide organza ribbon, stickers, felt cut outs, etc.

Easter bow basket

Top view

 

If you don’t celebrate Easter then you can easily transform the package into a spring time basket! Silk flower hair clips are perfect for that. I took this arrangement of silk flower clips and created a beautiful basket.

Silk flower hair clips

Springtime bow basket

Spring basket

The above basket is for a 13 month old little girl. So, she doesn’t have too much hair- yet. No hair? No problem! In the basket, I’ve included two crocheted hairbands- one white, one bright green- so that the mom can attach any of the flower clips to the hairband for her daughter. Then, when the little girl gets older, she can use the clips without the hairband. Years of use!!! Of course, I love pinwheels so I had to include a couple in the basket. These are mini-pinwheels on 6 inch lollipop sticks. And yes, they do in fact twirl!

 

If you don’t want a whole basket of bows or you already have a basket made up but want to add a little something special, what about this:

Hair bow wand

 

Hair bow

You can simply take Easter wands and attach the bows to the sticks. Wands are available at craft stores. The ones I used were purchased a couple weeks ago from Joann. I chose a butterfly one and also a flower one but they had ones with bunnies, chicks and Easter eggs.