Mother’s Day Card Crafting

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Victoria Vitale

With Mother’s Day around the corner, I thought I’d share a card I made for my mom last year. I tried to think outside of the box on this one, adding dimension with the twine and paper banner. When I was little, I spent a lot of time picking wildflowers from the front yard, making tiny bouquets for my mom. I wanted to remind her of those days with this card!

But do you want to know the secret “ingredient”? I stamped the wildflowers with BRUSSELS SPROUTS! It worked like magic. All I had to do was cut the sprouts in half and dab them in an ink pad. I stamped the yellow flowers first, and then the purple. Next, I adhered the twine with Elmer’s glue. The last step was to cut out a paper banner to write “happy mother’s day” on. I decided to make a matching envelope, so I added a white circular sticker and stamped a few more wildflowers on the label.

Who knew you could find a creative use for Brussels sprouts? I wonder what else is hiding in my refrigerator…

Birthday Cake Bunting

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Victoria Vitale

Recently, a couple of friends and I got together to whip up a mean birthday cake for a friend’s party. We made a chocolate-hazelnut-avocado vegan cake, and needless to say it was a show-stopper. Although, if my Italian grandmother were to have anything to say about baking (and cooking), it would be this: “If it doesn’t look good, it doesn’t matter what it tastes like.” Perhaps a bit severe, but I, too, believe that presentation is everything. That’s why crafting is so fun! I decided to make a paper bunting banner for this cake, well, just because. It was relatively easy to make, and I was really happy with how it turned out.

Materials:

Tape
String
Scissors
Colored paper
Letter stickers or stamps
Wooden barbecue skewers

How-To:

Decide what you want your banner to say, and cut out the correct number of triangles (I used 13 triangles to spell “Happy Birthday”). Then, cut two pieces of string about two feet long each.
Turn the triangles over, and place the string across the back of them. Lay down tiny pieces of tape to adhere the triangles to the string.
Flip the triangles right side up, and either add letter stickers or letter stamps to the triangles. Anne found these letter stickers from the dollar section of Target, and I love them.

Once the banner is made, find two wooden barbecue skewers (perhaps also from Target). Lay the skewers down on your work surface, pointy ends toward you. Gather the ends of the bunting string and either make a knot or a bow with the string around the top end of the skewers. It might help to also use tape to secure the string. Hold up the finished product to make sure that the bunting doesn’t hang too low, and make any adjustments needed. One the cake is made, stick the pointy ends of the skewers into the cake, and voila! Just be sure that there is a bit of space between the paper bunting and the birthday candles. That would really do you in in terms of presentation!

Make Your Own Scrabble

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Victoria Vitale

Who doesn’t love a good game of Scrabble? I sure do! I’ve taken Scrabble playing to a whole new level by making my own game board from scratch! That’s right. From decorative paper and cardboard. It was one of my most lengthy projects, but it was worth every minute.I took a few bookmaking classes during college, and applied what I learned to this project! Upon completing these classes, I somehow left with what were the makings for a clamshell box. Everything was pre-cut, and I knew I had to construct something on my own. Would I have the skills to do it all by myself? What would happen if I made a grave mathematical error? (These really do exist in bookmaking.)I decided to go for it. I purchased a Scrabble game from a tag sale for $1.50, and took the pieces I would need: wooden tiles and two tile holders. The tile pouch is courtesy of Anthropologie’s gift wrapping, and I found the cloth for the “board” while I was studying abroad in Ghana. My final detail went into wrapping the pencil in the same decorative paper as the rest of the box. I used spray glue to adhere the paper, which allowed the pencil and paper duo to be sharpened beautifully together.Have you ever made a game of your own? Leave a comment if you have any questions!