Super Sweet Shoes {DIY}

 Over the weekend I was invited to a fun DIY "Sweet Shoes" themed party. Everyone was to bring a pair of shoes that you would decorate to look like a cake, or and ice cream cone. I decided I would go for shoes that I would actually wear and that would be a fun addition to my summer wardrobe. While searching, I came across these cute tennis shoes at Target in the kids section. Since I have small feet I can wear kids shoes and thought it would be fun to grab a pair for my daughter too.

Our host supplied all of the paint, glue, and beads for our projects as well as an amazing spread of sweet treats to eat while we crafted. I will share the details of those goodies in another post soon.

Using a small flat paint brush I used a tan color and painted little triangles randomly around the shoes. Then using white puffy paint and the applicator provided, added a shape that looked like ice cream to the tops of those triangles. Once the puffy paint dried I added a layer of pink acrylic paint to some of my "scoops" for some extra pops of color. To finish these off, I added a little hot pink seed bead with super glue to the tops of the ice cream cones to look like a cherry and to give a little texture to the design. *I didn't seal the design with any protectant, so we will just see how long these last.

My daughter loves her new shoes and couldn't wait to wear them out and show them off to her friends. I think mine are pretty darn cute too! Maybe I will grab some more shoes like this in different colors and see what other fun patterns we can make together. Fabric markers or Sharpees would be a fun way to decorate shoes too! Give it a try!

DFTBA,
PS

A little Note {Tutorial Tuesday...Kind of}

I have a project all ready for Tutorial Tuesday, the only problem is that it is still in my head. SO since I haven't had the time to get it all photographed, edited and written up I thought I would share a blast from my card making days. Before I entered the "Party World" I was a card designer, and right before I started creating party supplies I made a couple dozen videos called "Friday Card Flicks" that I would post to my blog "Paper Askew Studio". I would design a simple card that I could create in 5-7 minutes, then edit the video so that they would fit the length of a song I enjoyed at the time.  These videos were not an easy task and took a week to "produce" so to speak. Plus I started dabbling into 3D paper crafts and my Friday Card Flicks became a thing of the past.
Hope you enjoy this "kind of" tutorial...




Hugs,
Pam

12 Days of Christmas~ Day 1 {Yarn Snowflakes}

Welcome to day one of Party Starters 12 Days of Christmas Crafts and Party Favors For Kids series. Today I wanted to start our series with a cute craft I found over on Martha Stewart's craft blog. I had my 5 year old daughter, Aly help me make these yarn snowflake ornaments. These were a bit frustrating for her, but once we figured out which steps she could do herself and which ones I needed to help her with it became a fun project.

Here is what you need: 

• White School or Craft Glue
• a small bowl to pour some glue into
• white yarn
• scissors
• piece of 8 1/2" x 11" paper
• marker (any dark color)
• wax paper
• chunky glitter (optional)

Step one: 

Draw some snowflakes on your white paper. Aly started out drawing traditional shaped snowflakes, but after trying to lay pieces of yarn in these patterns it soon became messing and really just a nightmare. Obviously, Martha's people thought this through and have you design "loopy" snowflake images. 

Step two:

Pour a few tablespoons of white school glue into a small bowl. Place a piece of wax paper over your snowflake patterns. We taped ours down to the counter so that it wouldn't move on us. Without cutting your yarn, pull out a large piece so that it is easy to work with. Dip a 6 inch section in your glue then lay the glued piece of yarn onto your wax paper following the pattern. Dip more yarn in your glue as you go, then cut your yarn when you have finished your pattern. It was easiest for Aly to dip the yarn in the glue and I traced the pattern.

 Step three:

While your yarn is still wet this is when you will want to add glitter. This was a step that Aly found very enjoyable! She is the glitter master...watch out Purple Pug! Let your snowflakes dry for a few hours or if the glue is thick over night is best. You want these to be really stiff to hold their shape. 

Step four:

Use a pretty ribbon or piece of gold thread to make a hanger for our yarn snowflake ornament. 

Step five:

ENJOY decorating with these fun and unique sparkly snowflakes!

I really do think these look better with glitter on them, but of course that is optional. Aly was so proud hanging these up in our front window for everyone to see. SO cute!! They would make really cute gift packaging decorations too!

Make sure you stop back tomorrow for another fun holiday craft, this one is a sweet party favor!
Hugs,
Pam