Out Of The Paper Box: Recycled Sofia Dress

If there is one thing you should have learned about me is, I love learning new ways to crafts. So when I got a sewing machine, I had big plans. One being my making the kids costumes just like my mom made for me. Now I am still a novice so when Little Miss wanted to be Sofia the First , I had a big job on my hands and not enough experience to make a dress from scratch. Luckily, I found a regal purple dress that just needs some changes to make it work. I took it apart to put it back together but I think it came out pretty awesome. 

 Happy Halloween!!!

Out Of The Paper Box: Teachers Kits

School is back in, yay!!!!!!  I am sure I am not the only parent celebrating. Since Little Miss PaperCuts school is private, the parents are expected to put in a certain number of volunteer hours. This little project covered mines for the first semester.  The administrator requested I make a gift of for the returning teachers.  This adorable survival kit was a huge hit with the teachers. Thanks Dollar Tree for making it happen at an affordable rate. Even the personalized coffee mugs are from the Dollar Tree, with vinyl names attached. Now I need a nap. 

Out Of the Paper Box: Fun w/ Chalk!

For father's day this year, the Little Mister and Little Miss PaperCuts wanted to do some special. We had the grand idea to draw a huge chalk drawing on the ground and jump into the drawing. It was so fun and the results were really cool. We framed this and put it on Mr PaperCuts desk at work.

Happy Father's Day!!!!!

Stepping out of the "paper" box: On to the box

I saw this tutorial all over the internet so I had to try it out.  It was super easy. 

1. Take an empty box, I have a ton diaper boxes so  I used those. 
2. Get some cool fabric.  I just loved this chevron pattern. I used green also to tie into the room.
3. Grab some adhesive. I used a combination of fabric take (amazing stuff) and spray glue. 
4. Then simply cut your fabric to fit around the box, line the edges with fabric tape, spray the sides with glue and smooth on. 

Easy peasy. I, also, lined the inside of the box since he would be using it was a toy box. I love how it came out.

Re-Crafting: Centerpieces to Wedding Flowers

I’m all for saving money, reducing my foot print, recycling crafts whatever you want to call it.  Since I had an abundances of flowers left over from the bridal shower, I offered to re-craft the flowers into bouquets and boutonnieres for her bridal party. These were the original flowers.

 Some were skeptical, heck I was a bit skeptical but with the help of bouquet holders I was able to take the silk flowers from the shower and make these. I must say they came out quite lovely and saved us a hefty chunk of change. 

So what did we learn from this?  Before you go out spend unnecessary money only to discard something off to the side after your event, see if you can re-craft it!!!

Stepping out of the "paper" box: Favors and Centerpieces

Since I have been heavily involved in wedding planning it only appropriate that the next edition of ‘Out of the paper box’ be wedding related. Deciding on the perfect favors for a Bridal shower is always a challenge. There is so much to choose from one can suffer from sensory over load.  And to find something that matched the brides color scheme will just drive you mad. Thank god for crafts, it makes anything possible. Votive candles seemed like a good choice of favors since it could used over and over again but nothing fit our theme.  Luckily I had vision and a glue gun.  Taking some fancy ribbon and a jewel will take simple votive and make it some sophisticated and chic, not to mention save you a ton of money. 

Bonus, this edition also has a second tip!!  During a random night trip to Michaels, I found a major score…. Hurricane vases 2 for $4!!!  I felt like a thief walking out the door with 8 vases for less than $20. Now to put them to good use, I realized with a little sprucing up they would be perfect centerpieces for a bridal shower.  I took the pattern used on the bridal shower invitation and printed out on vellum paper.  Glued it to the outside of each vase and wrapped the ends with ribbon to give it a finished look. Volia high end vases for $2!  I filled each vase with some silk flowers and had the perfect centerpieces for the bridal shower.

Third "Princess" Edition: Stepping out of the "paper" box

So to end my Princess-themed posting, I promised I would give a tutorial on how to create the Princess-in-waiting hats. This is a really quick and easy  project to do at a party or on a lazy Saturday with your little Princess. *Please ignore the constantly changing colors, I didn’t have time recreate the project so I constructed this tutorial using the pictures I already had.

For this project you will need:  a cone hat, crown cut out, small strip of tulle, scissors and double sided tape or a stapler.

Step 1: Cut the tip off the top of your cone hat. Don’t make the hole to big or you will have a hard time keeping your tulle inside. Pull one end of your tulle thru the hole and tie a knot on the inside to keep it in place. I use tape to make the end of tulle easier to push thru the hole.

Step 2: Cut out your crown in any color you choose. You can also decorate it with glitter, stickers or jewels. Tape or staple the cut out on to the front of your hat.

And TA DA instant Princess Hat!!

Another Edition: Stepping of out of the "paper" box

We haven't had a "Stepping of the Paper Box" in a while so I thought it was time for one! I am sure a few of you were eagerly waiting :)

For this edition, I will continue with the "gift giving" theme and use our Duck themed baby shower as the muse. The client throwing Mrs B's baby shower wanted a creative way to not only present her gifts to Mrs B, but also be used part of the showers decor. A diaper cake fits that bill perfectly!

How cute is this Yellow and Pink Duck diaper cake doing double duty as the main centerpiece and holding a treasure chest of goodies for the expectant mom. What kind of gifts you ask, well here is the list:

- 2 Hooded Towels
- 1 Large Blanket
- 2 Burp Clothes
- 2 Pacifiers
- 6 Pairs of Socks
- 3 Pairs of Hand Mittens
- 6 Head Bands
- 24 Hair Bands
- 1 Bottle Cleaner
- 1 Thermometer
- 1 Bottle of A&D Ointment
- 1 Bottle of Butt Cream
- 1 Box of Disposable Diaper Bags
- 1 Rubber Duck
- 130 Newborn Diapers

Whew that’s a lot in one little cake huh! I hope Mrs B loves it as much as I loved making it. There is more to come for this Duckie Chic Baby Shower so stay tuned.

Second Edition: Stepping out of the "paper" box

For the second edition of our "Stepping out of the paper box", I wanted to show a simple way to package a gift and personalize it.

A close friend of mine, Mrs SK, just welcomed her first child into the world, Little Mr John.  Let me tell you, he is just the cutest thing you will ever see.  We wanted to get something special to welcome this little bundle of joy, so we brainstormed and came up with the perfect theme.  In my circle of friends we are all about themes. So since Mrs S is all about travel, we thought airplanes would be the perfect theme.  Once we bought our gifts, we needed the perfect way to package it and a simple gift bag would not do. Instead we bought an adorable tiny suitcase to pack all his airplane-themed gifts into.

Although the suitcase was adorable by itself, it wasn’t perfect.  So I decided to step out of the paper box.  I embellished the front of the suitcase with his name and, of course, a little airplane. I think it was the perfect way finish off this cute gift. Mrs SK was pleasantly pleased and I think I saw Little Mr John crack a little smile.

So the lesson for the week is “Don’t be afraid to step out the paper box when packaging a gift”. Sometimes a little creativity can take a simple gift to a whole other level.


Congratulations K Family on your beautiful baby boy!

Stepping out of the "paper" box

So even here are PaperCuts from time to time we step out the preverbal box or for us paper box.  So I thought you would like to see a non-paper project done for a wonderful friend's bridal shower.  We didn't want to do traditional decor of flowers on the table. So to "chic" it up we decided to add bridal mannequins to each table.

Each mannequin stood 8" tall and were done in various bridal styles. They came out beautifully and were a huge hit. The best part is they made wonderful shower game prizes since most of the guest wanted to take them home for their daughter or niece.  Even the bride took home her own 12" mannequin as a shower memorabilia. So never think you are stuck with just what the big box store has to offer, be sure to stop out of the box.