DIY: Sparkly Baby Rhinestone Converse

After my post a few weeks ago about the Converse I decorated for my niece, I got a request to make another pair.  Yay!  Here's a little picture tutorial.  You can check out my post from Tuesday, January 28, 2014 "Pink Rhinestone Converse Baby Shoes" for the written step-by-step on how to make these cute little shoes.

 

There were a few differences between these shoes and the last pair I did. 

1. These shoes were a Converse All-Star size 4 and they were soft bottoms. They were only $20.00.  I was told the baby wore a size 10.  So, I ordered an "Infant Size 10" online and got a pair of gigantic shoes.  I could almost fit them. I'm not sure what kind of infants Converse had in mind when they made those shoes. :-|  So, I went to the store and saw that Converse baby shoes run from 0-4.  And, they are soft soles.  Although, the 4's do come in hard bottoms sometimes.   Either way, the rhinestone application was still the same for the hard vs. soft bottoms.  I just want everyone to be aware that, to Converse, an "infant" is the size of a 7 years old. So, keep that in mind when you order. :-)

2. This time around I put the E-6000 glue into a plastic applicator with a tip on it.  This made glue application much easier and a lot less messy.  You can purchase the tubes in bulk from a craft store (approx.. 8 per package) for about $3.00.

3. This time I switched out the laces for pink ribbon.  If you look at the picture of all the items I used to make the shoes, you'll notice two different ribbons than the ribbon in the finished product.  That's because those ribbons, while adorable, were too thick to put through those teeny tiny grommets.   So, my suggestion is you use thin, wireless ribbon for your shoe laces if you plan to trade them out.

4.  This time it only took me about an hour to complete the shoes.  I think it was because the shoes were teeny weeny and because I used that plastic applicator for the glue.

Enjoy!

Party Favors - Birthday Cigars

Cigars are a great party favor when you have men at your party.  Plus, a lot of ladies love them too. 

The Task: Make an alternative party favor for my "Fabulous" birthday party.  The first favor was a fabulous feather boa.  

The Ingredients: good, not-too-expensive cigars, clear zip bags for each cigar (the shop will give you these for free if you just ask), card stock, scissors, computer, printer, some type of computer program that allows you to do graphics (I used Microsoft Word), stapler, glue stick

The Purchase Locations: A Cigar shop in Downtown LA (referred by a friend who frequents the place, so the owner gave me a good deal), an office supply store

The Cost: Approx. $6.00

It only took me: about 20 minutes

How to:
1. Make a template for the cigar wrapper in your graphics program.  Create a 3 x 1/2 inch long rectangle.  Then, place a 1 inch oval in the center of the rectangle.  Add whatever graphics you choose to the center of the oval. (I added a star, my initials and the year).  Copy and paste as many wrappers as you can to each sheet of card stock. 

2. Print out the wrappers, cut each one out, then wrap each one around the center of the cigar.  Add a little bit of glue to the end of the wrapper to seal it around the cigar.

3. Place the wrapped cigar into the zip bag and seal the bag.

4. Make a template for the "Thank You for Coming" tag in your graphics program.  Create a 2x3 inch rectangle. Add whatever graphics you choose to the bottom of the rectangle.  (I added a star graphic and a "Thank You for Coming" phrase).  Copy and paste as many rectangles as you can to each sheet of card stock. 

5. Print out the "Thank You for Coming" tags, cut each one out, then fold each one in half and staple it over the top of the sealed cigar zip bag.

DIY: "Birthday Cake" Cake Pop Stand

I really like Cake Pops.  And, I think they make great party favors.  Also, they are less messy than a cake.  So, for my birthday, instead of a birthday cake - I made this...

 

 
The Task: Make a cake pop stand in the shape of a birthday cake to hold my cake pop party favors at my birthday party.

The Ingredients: 1 pack of plastic gift wrap (3 sheets), ribbon, flat head sewing pins, party hat, toothpicks, 3 floral styrofoam rings of various sizes, hot glue gun 

The Purchase Locations: Michael's Arts & Crafts (for the ribbon...always hit the clearance bin first; the larger foam ring), Dollar Tree (everything else!)

The Cost: Approx. $10.00

It only took me: about 30 minutes

How to:

1.  Cover each foam ring with a piece of plastic gift wrap.  I pinned the wrap to the bottom of each ring with sewing pins. 

2.  Wrap a ribbon around each ring.  I used sewing pins to hold the ribbon in place.

3.  Push 4 toothpicks halfway into the top of the largest foam ring.  Place the toothpicks around the ring a few inches apart for each other.

4. Place the middle sized ring on top of the larger ring and push it down over the tooth picks.  This makes the stand secure. 

5.  Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the smallest foam ring. 

6.  Glue the party hat to the top tier.   

7. Get/Make some cakepops and gently push them into the tiers. 

This was the best picture I got of the final project...'cause the cake pops went FAST! 

This stand can be used over and over again!  Just separate the rings, remove the ribbon, remove the gift wrap and start over with new ribbon and wrap.