Pink Rhinestone Converse Baby Shoes

One night when I couldn't sleep, I made these shoes for my niecy-poo Zylyn.  Probably not the best way to combat insomnia.  But, it was fun. :-)

The Task: Add some pink, sparkly love to the Converse I bought for my niece. 

The Ingredients: shoes, approx. 200 small pink crystal rhinestones (1/4 cm), E6000 glue, a q-tip, Craft Tack, alcohol, a shoe box top

The Purchase Locations: Michael's Arts & Crafts, Downtown LA (for the crystals and shoes), 99 cents only store (for the q-tip and alcohol)

The Cost: Approx. $35.00

It only took me: about two hours

How to:

1.  Where ever you plan to place rhinestones, wipe the area with alcohol.

2. Place a bit of craft tack on the end of a q-tip to create a tool that will allow you to pick up the rhinestones easily.

3. Dump the rhinestones into a shoe box top. I like to lay them out so all the flat sides are down.  This makes them easy to pick up and attach to the shoe.

4. Apply a short, thin line of E6000 glue to the top part of the rubber on the shoe.  Add rhinestones in a line on top of the glue.

5. Repeat step 4 until the entire rubber area (and any other area you want to decorate) is covered in rhinestones.

6. Wipe the rhinestone areas with alcohol after you're done to remove any excess glue from the rhinestones.

OPTION:  You can replace the shoe string with colorful ribbons.

TIPS: Although it is tempting, don't add too much glue at one time.  The glue dries pretty quickly.      

T-Shirt & Wine Glass Party Favors

If you live in LA, you know that pole dance fitness classes and parties have been popular for a while.  This particular party was held at Allure Dance & Fitness Studio (http://www.alluredancestudio.com/). 

When coming up with party favor ideas, I always think of what my dad tells me whenever I want to get him a gift.  He always says,"Don't buy me any junk." Because of this, I am a big fan of giving guests party favors that they can actually use.  So, the favors I came up with for this party were favors that the guests could not only use, but that they could use during the party.

Guests were given their favors as soon as they arrived at the party.

The party consisted of a 30-minute reception period that Allure calls "Mingle Time".  During this time, guests were invited to enjoy wine in their "Keep Calm and Drink Wine" wine glass favor. 

There is also certain attire required for such parties.  So, tank tops were decorated with a "Keep Calm and Dance On" logo.  Guests were encouraged to wear their shirts during the party.

The stencils for the t-shirts and the glasses were made using a friend's Cricut machine (www.cricut.com) that she forgot she had.  This machine is the best for cutting out perfect stencils in seconds.

The image was applied to the t-shirt using my same friend's at-home screen printing machine (they run about $100.00), which she also stumbled upon as she went through her craft closet.    She had so many cool crafting things I didn't want to leave her house.  I was there for two days straight...going craft crazy.  It was great.

The image on the wine glass was applied using glass frosting paint.  This paint was so cool.  I never even knew it existed.  You can get it from just about any craft store.  It makes the glass look frosted by just painting on the glass surface, letting it dry for a few minutes, then rinsing the glass with cold water.  I wanted to frost all the glasses in the house after I discovered this stuff. 

I added my signature touch - a pink rhinestone - on top of all the crowns on the tank tops and the wine glasses.  I used E-6000 glue to make sure the stones wouldn't fall off.      

Finally, I tied each shirt with a pink bow and tucked them into the wine glasses so they could be properly presented to each guest.

NOTE: Applying the stencils to the glass was pretty tough.  I had to apply each word separately (and evenly), and adhere it to the glass with pieces of tape. Then, I had issues with the stencil slipping 'cause the paint was making the glass slick.  So, if you do decide to stencil glass, keep the stencil simple.  Don't try to get fancy and stencil a whole sentence AND an image like I did.  It's no joke.

Tutu from Jurnee's Terrible Tu-Tu's 2nd Birthday Party

I really enjoy making tutus. They're cute and colorful and glittery.  And, what little girl doesn't feel like a princess in a tutu?

This tutu was inspired by my dear grandmother, Gaynelle (aka my Good Ole Gran).  Gran would sew dresses for me when I was a kid.  And, she would always sew a little bell under each of my dresses.  I would run and jump and skip around because I LOVED to hear the little bell jingle.  So, I put a few bells in Jurnee's tutu.  At the party, Jurnee's grandmother kept noticing she was skipping and jumping much more than usual.  We eventually realized that it was the bells.  Every time she moved, she heard the bells and loved them as much as I did when I was her age. :-)

The Task: Create a tutu fit for a princess for little Jurnee's 2nd birthday party.  The theme was Terrible Tu-Tu's .  The colors were pink, green and blue.  [There are a few ways to make tutus.  I like them to be really full, so I chose this method.]

The Ingredients: Three rolls of 6" tulle, plain and glitter (25 yards each), a colorful crochet headband, an 18 inch long strip of cardboard (you can cut this from a box), scissors, two rubber bands, tiny bells, thin ribbon, small rhinestones, E6000 glue and various trinkets to add to the waistband  [Important: The glitter on glitter tulle is not very secure.  So, make sure you cover your work area.]   

The Purchase Locations: Michael's Arts & Crafts (don't forget to print out your discount coupon before you go), the Craft Depot (Downtown LA), Dollar Tree

The Cost: Approx. $20.00 (NOTE: You can make this tutu for about $10.00 if you don't add the trinkets and don't use glitter tulle)

It only took me: about two hours

How to:

1. Remove the plastic rings on the end of each roll of tulle.  Then, take the cardboard roll out of the center of each of the rolls of tulle (be sure to keep the roll intact).  This takes some maneuvering, but it'll make your life a lot easier.  Trust me on this. 

2. Cut each roll of tulle in half (3 inches wide) so you end up with 6 rolls of tulle.

3.  Take one roll at a time and wrap it long ways around the 18 inch long strip of card board. When all of the tulle has been wrapped around the cardboard, place a rubber band around the top of the strip and one around the bottom of the strip.  This holds the tulle in place.  Cut the tulle at the top of the cardboard and cut it at the bottom.  Now you have several strips of 18 inch long pieces of tulle.  Repeat this step for each of the rolls of tulle.

4. Stretch the crochet headband around something solid (a piece of cardboard, a book, your knee, whatever) so you can start weaving the tulle through the headband. 

5. Take two pieces of tulle (one on top of the other) and fold them in half.  Push the looped part of the tulle through the base of the headband, then pull the two ends through the loop to create a knot.  Repeat this step above your first knot, two more times.  You'll end up with a row with three knots. 

6. Move over to the next open space on the base of the headband and repeat step 5 until all the tulle has been used.  You can use any color combination you choose.

7.  Take a few tiny bells and string a thin piece of ribbon through each one.  Tie each one around a loop in the crochet headband. 

8. Cut the stems off of the plastic flowers.  Place a bit of E6000 glue on the back of the flower to hold the flower together. 

9.  Glue trinkets to the center of each flower.  I put a "Happy Birthday" trinket on one flower, a J on the second flower (J for Jurnee), and two candles on the third flower (since she was turning 2 years old).

10.  Glue each flower to the top of the crochet headband. 

11.  Glue a few rhinestones on the tulle to add more sparkle. 

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, JURNEE!!  Thank you Gran for continuing to inspire me!   And, thank you to Just Add A Bow for their excellent video demonstration on how to make the tutu full and fluffy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35kRpNIXupw)

Baby Niko's Hello Kitty Shower

 

Here are some party favors and decorations I did for my friend Tia's baby shower.  Her baby luckily waited until her due date to make her debut.  So, we were able to have a super fun shower. :-)

Tia requested a Hello Kitty baby shower!  So, I went Hello Kitty crazy with the decorations and favors!  There wasn't much in the room that didn't have Hello Kitty on it.

The party was held at Tia's apartment.  There is a huge mirror in her living room.  So, I printed out some letters on transparent removable decal paper (available at any office supply store) to make a welcome sign for baby.

The water beads made their debut again in the centerpieces.  This time, I added some pink jewels to the vase and a waterproof light to make the centerpieces sparkle.  I also added little Hello Kitty trinkets to each centerpiece.

For the favors, I got some sheets of small dot stickers from an office supply store and printed the shower date, baby's name and a Hello Kitty logo on each dot.  I got some Hershey Kisses and placed a sticky dot on the bottom of each Kiss.  I filled little take-out containers with the Kisses and added a 'Thank You' label to the outside of each container.

Overall, it was a sweet shower for a sweet baby girl!

THE CARD BOOK - Greeting Card/Photo Album (a video demonstration of how ...

This is my latest creation....The Card Book.  

A lot of people have been asking, "What is it?".  So, I created a demonstration video so everyone can see how awesome it is.  :-)

The Card Book is a stylish, hand-crafted, fabric-covered greeting card/photo album. The string displays allow easy viewing of your cards.  The additional pockets in the front and back cover provide lots of extra storage room for more cards.  And, the clear plastic photo pockets allow you to display pictures and mementos from a special event OR you can use the pockets to store more cards. 

THE CARD BOOK is a great organizing tool for you AND makes a great gift for Birthdays, Weddings, Baby Showers, Retirement, Get Well, Graduations, Anniversaries and Holidays!
The current Limited Edition of THE CARD BOOK comes in 22 different styles and colors!

Get yours today!  Available for purchase on AMAZON.  Just search 'mayscrafts'

Thank you Ed 'Jay' Jones for the music and Carmen Alexandra for the hand modeling. :-)

Under the Sea Decor - Jurnee's 1st Birthday Party

These decorations were originally intended for a baby shower for my friend's daughter, Jurnee.  However, on the day of the baby shower, Jurnee must have heard we were having a party for her, so she decided to be born that morning!!!  Thus, no shower.  So, we held on to the decorations and used them for her 1st Birthday party.  The theme was Under the Sea.  It was held at the neighborhood swimming pool where she was doing her favorite thing at the time...taking swimming lessons.

Balloons were key for this event. I made clusters of balloons with a mylar sea creature in the middle of each one and placed them around the room.  I filled a lot of balloons with helium and let them float to the ceiling to create the "under the sea" effect.  A roll of blue plastic table cloth to add to the ocean effect.  Pink fish net was a fun table runner.  I put sea shells under the fish net on the table so kids would not grab the shells and try to eat them.  I used little beads that swell when you add water and put them into little fish bowls.  I then added some little squeaky fish toys to the fish bowls.  These were the centerpieces.  NOTE: Water beads and kids do not mix. The kids were obsessed with the beads and wanted to play with them, try to eat them, throw them, squeeze them, etc. throughout the party.  In the future, I will only use fun beads for adults.  But, be warned...adults like to play with them too.  But, at least the adults know not to try and eat them :-)

Jurnee is turning two this week and I'm making a tutu for her Terrible Tu-Tu's 2nd Birthday Party.  Pictures coming soon...

The Jordyn P. Show

http://youtu.be/4BFpwP4XHoI

This little doll's name is Jordyn.  She's 5 years old.  And, she's one of the cutest and wisest kids I know.  She said she wanted her own TV show about happiness and fun.  So, my dear friends and I got together and made it happen for her.  The show is unscripted.  It's all Jordyn...and her BFF Clay.   Enjoy!

Thank you to Jay (for the original music), Carmen Alexandra (for dressing Jordyn), Indira (for your home, camera, lights and Clay), Jodie (for having Jordyn :-)), big sister Jenae for wrangling the kids, Makeeta (for designing the set), Marcell for helping where needed and everyone for your support!

More videos are on the way! If you have a question for Jordyn, you can email her at jordynphd@gmail.com or send her a tweet @jordynphd.   
     

Kenishia's Graduation Party Decor

As promised, here are some pictures of the décor from Kenishia's Graduation Party.  It was around Christmas time, so she wanted to include some holiday décor.  Her color scheme was Mardi Gras-inspired.  She had just graduated from culinary school and wanted to show off her skills, so her party was a Tasting Party.

So, I created a tasting menu for "Kenishia's Bistro", printed it out and put the menu in picture frames with colored paper as the background.

For centerpieces, I got small and large glass vases, stuffed the bottom with some fabric, filled each centerpiece with colorful ornaments and stuck a few sticks ting-ting (the swirly, sparkly, silver branches) in the vase.   Centerpieces were placed on table runners, surrounded by beads of various colors.

Happy Graduation, Chef Kenishia!

The Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest

The Task: My friends and I had a holiday party and an Ugly Christmas Sweater contest. My friend, Lisa Marie, gave me the idea of making a Christmas tree sweater.  BRILLIANCE! SHEER BRILLIANCE!, I said.  Well, not exactly.  But, I did get really, really excited at the idea of creating this little twinkling gem. 

The Ingredients: Two wire hangers (Sorry, Joan. They really come in handy when you're making arts and crafts.), a green sweater (the looser the stitching, the better), fun ornaments, plastic ball ornaments, candy canes, some ornaments shaped like gifts, tinsel, battery-operated lights, hot glue gun, a star, packing tape, two 3-4 inch strips of fabric, batteries for the light show

The Purchase Locations: Giant Dollar (a bootleg 99cents only store around my old neighborhood that I LOVE), Rite Aid (for the colored lights), The G-Dub (aka The Goodwill)

In the 99cents only stores defense, they did have lights, but they were too big to fit through the tiny holes in my sweater.

The Cost: Approx. $25.00

It took me: about 3 hours.  (I think it would have happened a lot quicker...and would have been a lot less painless...if I had a helper.  It's probably not the best idea to hot glue gun anything to a sweater while you're wearing it. :-)

How to:

1.  Bend two wire hangers into the shape of half-circles and tape them together into a circle with packing tape.

2. Stretch the bottom of the sweater over the circle hanger and glue the hanger into the bottom of the sweater. (This doesn't have to be too neat, 'cause you'll be covering this part with tinsel.) This creates the 'Christmas Tree' shape for your sweater.

3. Hot glue the tinsel around the sweater as if you are hanging tinsel on a Christmas tree. Start by gluing the tinsel around the bottom ring of the sweater, then work your way up.  When you get to the arms, you'll need to put the sweater on and place your arms over your head before you glue the tinsel. This is so you'll be able to simulate the full Christmas tree effect in the arm area.  This is the tricky part. Be careful when you glue the tinsel on while wearing the sweater.  Hot glue and skin don't go together.  If you don't have a helper, like me, just use a tiny bit of glue to hold the tinsel in place, then take the sweater off and go hot glue crazy. 

4. Take a strip of fabric and glue it on both ends (leaving a space in the middle to tuck the battery pack) underneath the sweater on one side.  Repeat on the opposite side.   

5.  Add batteries to the battery packs and add the packs to the fabric pockets.

6. Glue the gift ornaments along the front of the sweater.  I kept them on their strings 'cause it was easier that way.

7. Now comes the fun part (I'm kidding)...the lights! The lights need to be pushed through the sweater from the inside out.  I put a bit of glue around each bulb to hold it in place.  I strung the lights on the right side of the sweater up the front of the sweater and down the left sleeve.  And, I strung the lights on the left side of the sweater up the front of the sweater and down the right sleeve.

8. After the lights were all glued into place, I taped the wires down to the inside of the sweater with packing tape.  This was a good idea 'cause it made it easier to put the sweater on and take it off.  It kept me from snagging the loose wires and ripping the lights out of the sweater.

9. Hot glue the ornaments onto the outside of the sweater.  I glued the arm ornaments on while I was wearing the sweater so I could make the "tree" look as real as possible.  Remember, use the glue lightly...hot glue hurts.  You can add extra glue after you take the sweater off.  

10. Hang the candy canes on the tinsel. (I got the pre-wrapped ones so people could eat them if they wanted.  And, I put them on right before I joined the party so they wouldn't crack or fall off.)

Overall, the sweater was way more comfortable than I thought.  I was able to move around freely in it.  It did get a bit hot and I lost a few candy canes over the night.  But, it was no biggie.  I held my star throughout the night, so I could be ready to pose on cue.  (You could attach the star to your wrist with a string or rubber band, so you don't have to hold it).

As far as the contest,  we were havin' too much fun and never actually got around to it. But, I think I would have at least been in the running to win. :-)

The Wreath Project - Part Deux

The Task: I was helping my friend decorate for her graduation party. (She graduated from culinary school. Congrats Chef Kenishia!  Check her out at: http://sweetteaandbasil.com/)  Her color scheme was pink, green, purple and silver.  She wanted a wreath to hang at the entrance to the party.   I couldn't find a wreath that matched perfectly, so I made one. :-)

The Ingredients: A frisbee from the 99cents only store, string of Tinsel, plastic colorful ornaments, a sheet of fake snow (you know, the kind that goes around the bottom of the Christmas tree), some broken pieces of decorative glitter branches I used for other decorations (they're called Ting Ting :-)), some packing tape and my trusty glue gun.

The Purchase Locations: 99cents only store, Michael's Arts & Crafts (for the Ting Ting) [IMPORTANT: Don't ever go to Michael's without printing out the coupons before you go.  They almost always have a coupon that will allow you to get 50% off one item]

The Cost: Approx. $4.00

It only took me: about 10 minutes

How to:

1. I needed a ring to make the "wreath" shape. So, I got a fabric Frisbee, cut the fabric off of it and was left with a foam ring. 
2. Tape the fake snow around the foam ring.  This adds bulk to the ring so the wreath won't look scraggly.
3. Glue one end of the tinsel to the foam ring and wrap away until the tinsel covers the entire ring.
4. Glue the second end of the tinsel to the foam ring and spread the tinsel out so it covers all the fake snow. 
5. Glue the plastic ornaments to the tinsel.
6. Stick the broken ting ting in the tinsel in various places around the wreath.  You can glue them in if you want, so they won't fall out.

Holiday Creations - The Wreath Part 1

The Task: Create a little pink and sparkly wreath for my work anteroom 'cause I wasn't really feeling any holiday love coming from the room
The Ingredients: Foam Circle Plant Holder, String of Tinsel, Green Glitter Bells and my trusty glue gun (one of the greatest inventions EVER!)
The Purchase Locations: 99cents only store (one of the greatest stores EVER!)
The Cost: Approx. $3.00
It only took me: about 5 minutes

How to make this awesome lil wreath: 

1. Glue one end of the wreath to the foam circle.
2. Wrap, wrap, wrap the tinsel around the foam until the whole circle is covered with tinsel.
3. Make a small loop at the end of the tinsel before gluing the second end down to the foam to finish the wreath. (This will create a sparkling hanger hoop for the wreath).
4. Glue the green glitter bells strategically around the wreath.