Thursday, August 13, 2009

A Cute Giveaway Takes Me Down Memory Lane....*sigh*

So, before I start tearing up from nostalgia, let me first introduce this adorable giveaway at:


They are giving away a sweet collage of the winner's choice soon, and so I clicked through to see what was being offered. I saw this little guy and thought about the first time I saw my little guy.

You see, I'm a big girl. I'm over 6 ft tall and Polynesian, so suffice it to say that I'm no toothpick. When I had my first baby, he was also a big boy at 9 lbs 5 oz with a head the size of a kindergartner! LOL! He was so big the nurses didn't even bother with newborn diapers, they went straight to #1's! All the nurses kept coming in and telling me what a BIG BIG boy I had and they couldn't get over it. I looked at him and told him (and the nurses listening) that they didn't know what they were talking about. Sure, he might be big compared to all the little baby birdies that they have in the nursery, but he's just my tiny little baby elephant and I am his Momma elephant! (Cue "Baby Mine" lullaby from Dumbo! haha!)

So, seeing this elephant and bird together completely took me back to one of the first times I saw my boy. *sigh* Time for kisses and cuddles!

DIY My Little Pony Canvas Bags with a 3D Tail!

Hey all! I'm still pretty new to blogging, so please excuse some of the sideways pictures and the lack of all the pics of the "ingredients" before I got started. I'll get better as I do this more! haha!

Anyhow, this is how I made over a dozen super cute My Little Pony canvas bags for my niece's guests to paint at her My Little Pony birthday party. Total cost per pre-painted bag, around $1.25, if you already have glue and the main tools.

First, you'll need:
*Canvas Bags (I got mine at Michaels for about $1)
*1 fine tip Sharpie
*1 pair of Scissors
*A little bit of masking tape, just to hold things in place
*Print an image of a pony from the internet
*Hot glue gun and same size glue (don't make my mistake and get regular glue for a mini gun! ARGH!)
*Little wig headbands in varying shades (purchased at the Dollar Tree, LOVE IT!)
*A light box. If you don't have one, you can probably use a window, but you can also hack something together, like I did below.


Glass brownie pan + hanging work light = LIGHT BOX!

Turn on your "light box" and tape the printed pony to the glass. Then overlay your canvas bag and tape that as well. Or just hold it firmly in place, like I did! =) Start tracing your image. Do NOT trace the tail. It would be better if you could erase the tail from your image before you print it, as I lost at least two bags when I absentmindedly drew in the tail! TWICE! Geez....

If this were turned the right way, you poor souls wouldn't have a kinked neck. Sorry folks. Here I have finished tracing and have successfully managed NOT to draw in the tail! YAY!

These are the Dollar Tree play wig things I got. As long as you get colorful curly play hair, you can substitute anything.

You don't need much hair, I quartered each wig to get 12 bags out of the 3 bands. I cut the hair WITH the cloth so that I didn't have a million strays running around. Once you get a firm grip towards the end, glue the heck out of the last inch and then wait until the glue is warm to the touch but is still workable and squish/roll it together so it looks like this:

Then cut off the end bit of material.

Here you'll make a small incision (NOT TOO LARGE!) and poke the tail through, starting from the right side and ending on the wrong side. Then tie a knot and glue that little guy in place within an inch of its life! Make sure you're gluing on the inside of the bag at this point!

Then, on the outside, place a dab of glue near the tail in the direction you want the tail to go. I wanted a perky tail, so I angled it a little higher than the incision. Twist the hair and then press the tail in the glue.

Fluff out the tail and voilĂ ! There you are!

A cute little craft station bag for the girls to paint and decorate! It can also double as a party favor bag! FUN!

These were a BIG hit! Paint, glitter, sequins and rhinestones go a long way in making little girls happy!

To see more fun DIY projects, follow this link!