Category Archives: Holidays

DIY: Monster Cupcake Eyes for $1

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So, I really should have posted this before Halloween but these little guys are adorable for Monster birthday parties as well.  They are another one of those quick & easy crafts that pack so much cute for such a small investment.  How awesome would they look if you covered the top of the cupcake with the squiggly grass-like icing or solid “monster-colored” sprinkles?

Monster Cupcake Eyes from Dill Pickle Picnic

DPPPhoto-100Supplies Needed:

  • Googly Eyes (mine came from Dollar Tree)
  • Glue (or adhesive backed paper)
  • Optional: White cardstock or construction paper
  • Optional: Round Punch in same size as eyes

Instructions for Monster Eye Cupcake Toppers:

  1. Glue toothpick to the back of each eye.  I would recommend regular craft glue, or low temp hot glue.  Using a higher temperature hot glue tends to cause the thin plastic backing of the eye to bubble.
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  2. Optional Steps: I wasn’t really happy seeing the glued toothpick on the back of the eye.  To fix this I simply pulled out my 3/4 inch circle punch which is the same size as the googly eyes and punched circles out of some left over white label paper (you know the parts that are left on the side margins after you use the actual labels?).  Then I stuck those to the backs covering the glue/toothpick which also did a nice job of holding the toothpicks in place instead of glue.  You could also use white cardstock and just glue them in place as well.
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  3. Let dry completely & enjoy!

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The best thing about these is they could be used to create so many different type of critter cupcakes!  What creatures will you be creating with your googly eye cupcake toppers?

DIY: Fall Sunflower Cupcake Wraps for $1

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There is something about the cooler temperatures of fall that make me think of sunflowers and jewel tone colors.  Maybe it’s all the colors that nature surrounds us with this time of year.  So when I found these fun little yellow sunflower doilies at my local Dollar Tree, I dropped them in my cart not really knowing what I would do with them.  A few weeks later I needed to take muffins & mini muffins to a gathering and decided it was the perfect time to give those little doilies a new home.

Sunflower Muffin Wraps from Dill Pickle Picnic
This is the part where I admit this all happened last fall…but as I was running through the Dollar Tree in search of clear treat bags last week I once again saw these packages of cute little sunflower doilies and made a note to finally put this post together.  These are the types of craft projects I really enjoy….quick, easy, and quite a bit of fun for the buck.

It’s easy to make your own sunflower muffin or cupcake wraps:DPP-Fall-2013-01

Supplies Needed:  

  • Package of Sunflower (or any rounded shape doilies)
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Clear Tape

To Make Mini Size Muffin Wraps:

  1. Fold your doily in half
  2. Measure down from the outside 1.25 inches in several places and make a slight mark.
  3. Cut along the marked lines with your scissors.  On the sunflower doilies it was easy since the 1.25 inch mark ended up being in line with one of the rows of cutouts, so I could just cut along that row of details without needing to measure all the way across.
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  4. Cut the doilies along the folded lines on both ends.
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To Make Standard or Jumbo Size Cupcake Wraps:

  1. Lay your doilies out flat.
  2. Measure down from the outside 1.75 inches for standard or 2.5 inches for jumbo from the outer edge and make a slight mark. Do this around the entire circle.
  3. Using your scissors make a straight cut from the outside to the marked location for one of your marks.
    DPP-Fall-2013-06
  4. Cut along the marked lines with your scissors.  On the sunflower doilies it was easy since the 1.75 inch mark ended up being in line with one of the rows of cutouts, so I could just cut along that row of details without needing to measure all the way across.
    DPP-Fall-2013-07
  5. Wrap around the base of your cupcake/muffin and cut to size using a small piece of clear tape to adhere them together in the back.
  6. Serve & Enjoy!

With these smaller sunflower size doilies I was able to make 2 mini wraps per doily or 1 standard or jumbo wrap. Which means for $1.07 I could make 64 mini wraps or 32 standard or jumbo wraps.  I call that a fabulous fall deal 🙂

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What does fall make you think of?  Do you look for quick ways dress up your fall treats?  If so, please share….I’d love to hear how you quickly add a little fall to your goodies!

DIY: Valentine’s Bunting for Under $1

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Yesterday I used the larger stickers from my dollar spot container to make heart shaped cupcake toppers.  When I was finished I had a handful of the smaller stickers left over and knew I needed to do something with them!  A quick glance through the craft stash box yielded some red embroidery floss and I realized that a mini heart bunting could be really cute.

DPP: Valentine Bunting for $1

If you’d like to quickly make you own:




With my leftover stickers I was able to make over 6 feet of the bunting…which combined with the cupcake toppers is quite a bit of Valentine’s goodness for an expenditure of $1.07 (including tax)!   I’ve seen bags of rainbow foam heart stickers at my local dollar store this could be a fun birthday party decoration as well…one which your kiddos could help you assemble!

 

 

 

DIY: Valentines Cupcake Toppers for $1

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I’ve made these before…but when I ran across these cute heart stickers in the Target Dollar Spot I knew I had to repeat this Easter project.

In case you missed the Easter egg ones, the process is super cheap & easy.





And repeat until you end up with these cute little guys!

I picked up the container of stickers in the Target dollar section but I’ve also seen large bags of these in rainbow colors at my local dollar store in the craft section.  The fun thing about the Target container was that after making cupcake toppers with the larger stickers, I still had a large amount of the smaller ones left over.  This means I have another project lined up tomorrow with the leftovers and rumor has it I’ll give them both away next week 🙂

Anyone else out there throwing together last minute Valentines ideas?  I’d love to see them so share those links!

DIY: Patriotic Napkin Wraps – Stars

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Keeping with the red,white, and blue theme this week…today I have one more fun napkin wrap template.

I also noticed recently that I always take photos of the napkin wrap templates using cloth napkins…but the 4th of July is a perfect opportunity to show they work great with paper napkins as well!

(click here to download MS Word template)

I love how this one looks with my dollar store napkins and plastic cutlery!  The great thing is the napkin wrap holds the bundle together so you could make them up ahead of time!  Total Cost $2.14

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The font used in the template above is Lobster 1.4, which is free to download from Pablo Impallari.

New to Napkin Wraps?  No worries, visit this post for step-by-step instructions on how to use my napkin wrap templates!

DIY: Patriotic Napkin Wraps – Flags

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I’ve been away and neglected this poor little blog for far too long….and since the 4th of July is just around the corner, this week it’s all about Patriotic crafts!  Let’s get things started with a new napkin wrap template!

(click here to download MS Word template)

The template above uses Monterey BT font which is free to download from SoFontes.

New to Napkin Wraps?  No worries, visit this post for step-by-step instructions on how to use my napkin wrap templates!

And now for a shameless plug….did you know I have an Etsy shop?  While it is 99% to blame for my lack of craft posts recently, I did take a break from custom orders to whip up a few sets of  red,white and blue cupcake flags and flagged straws!

DIY: Easter Napkin Wrap Round-Up

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Since Easter is just around the corner, I decided to create a one-stop post featuring all my previous year’s related napkin wraps!  Also, I’ll be adding links to the new ones I plan to post here later this week.  To access the post with printable template simply click on the napkin wrap images below:

All templates above use Monterey BT font which is free to download from SoFontes.  New to Napkin Wraps?  No worries, visit this post for step-by-step instructions on how to use my napkin wrap templates!

DIY: Easter Egg Cupcake Toppers for $1

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Today I have a super quick, super inexpensive, yet fun way to add a bit of Easter sparkle to cakes, cupcakes, sandwiches, or any yummy treat!

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Supplies Needed:
Easter Egg Food Toppers

  • Easter Egg Stickers – 2 for each topper to be made,  I picked up mine from the local dollar store. You can use other types of stickers just make sure they are symmetrical so they line up correctly when you reverse the one for the back.
  • Toothpicks

Instructions:

  1. Remove one sticker from the sheet and carefully adhere your toothpick to the stick back.  Make sure the toothpick is centered.Easter Egg Food Toppers
  2. Remove a second, same sized sticker and carefully line up the edges with the back of the first sticker.Easter Egg Food Toppers
  3. Press down around the edges to seal everything firmly.  Don’t worry if your edges don’t line up exactly, you can always trim with a pair of scissors if necessary.Easter Egg Food Toppers
  4. Repeat and Enjoy decorating your yummy treats!

Easter Egg Food Toppers

Cost Estimate: $1 & up

Stickers – $1.00 from local dollar store, but you could use stickers you already own just make sure they are symmetrical
Toothpicks – Free – On Hand

I love the little touch of shimmer these egg toppers add to even my breakfast doughnut, and for one measly dollar you can’t beat the price!  How will you dress up your yummy Easter treats?

oneprettything

DIY: Valentines Day Round-Up

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I hope each of you is having a wonderful Valentines Day!  Things have been very busy in our household this year, so I really haven’t crafted as much as normal.  However, that means I took a look back through the archives at the crafts from years past…and thought you might enjoy reviving some of these oldies but goodies as well!  Just click the link below the image to visit that tutorial.

DIY Large Matchbox Style Valentines (with template)

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Click to View Tutorial

DIY Valentine Napkin Wraps (with template)

Click to View Tutorial

Flower Power Decorated Dog Collar

Click to View Tutorial

Turn Dollar Store Candy into Cute Valentines

Click to View Tutorial

Semi-DIY: Valentines in a Snap for under $1

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It’s been way too long since I posted a fun crafty treat and I’ve really missed it (and you guys)! Today’s Semi-DIY project is a quick and cheap way to dress up a simple box of candy.  It would be great for adults and the kiddos alike.  See…cute right?
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Supplies Needed:

  • Boxes of Conversation Hearts Candy – I picked mine up at the local Dollar Tree
  • Double Sided Tape
  • Scrapbook paper
  • Stickers or other decorative items

Instructions:

  1. Cut your scrapbook paper to the height and circumference of your candy boxes.  For the boxes I used the dimensions of the paper should be 3.5 inches wide by 7.5 inches long.
  2. Add a piece of double-sided tape to one end of the paper, and attach it to the back of your box.
    DPP-2011ValSwap25
  3. Next, you will wrap the paper around the box and attach to the box with an additional piece of double-sided tape.  Do this underneath the overlaid section of the paper.
    DPP-2011ValSwap28
  4. Decorate with stickers and other assorted goodies.DPP-2011ValSwap30
  5. Give to someone special!

Costs:

One of the great things about this project is that in additon to be simple, it’s also quite thrifty.  If you have a stash of scrapbook paper & stickers like I do then it’s virtually free since you just need to buy the candy.  My boxes of candy were purchased from the Dollar Tree in a package of 4 for $1 and you could also pick up fun Valentines stickers there as well.

$1.07 for 4, so 26 cents each!  Can’t beat that!

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