DIY Cake Stand

As Maya's birthday party approaches I'm starting to get into frenzied party mode. It's the only party mode I know, unfortunately. We're going to do a "Night Owl" themed party, so aside from gathering everything and anything owl inspired, I am also thinking about the birthday cake. Something I have wanted for quite some time is a beautiful cake stand. I have been eyeing this one from Williams-Sonoma for a while. It's one of their less expensive ones, but at $50 is still out of my budget.  I decided to make one.
I went to my local thrift store and picked up a large round plate and a floral vase.

The vase was an awesome find. It was very unique, and at first I wasn't even sure it was a vase, but there was this sticker on the bottom.

The total cost for these, $1. I then glued them together with some heavy duty craft glue I had on hand, as you can see in the first picture. I chose to glue first, then paint, but I made sure the glue was completely dry, so the paint would stick.  I almost considered leaving the bottom pink and red, but I wanted to stand to be more versatile and classic. I used a satin white spray paint that I had left over from another project a few years back.
Finished project? A fabulous cake stand that would make the Williams-Sonoma one proud, and my wallet thrilled. :) I actually like it better then the $50 one.

Just make sure that when you put food on it that you put parchment or a paper doily down first, since spray paint isn't really food safe. :)

3rd Grade Career Day

I had the privilege of speaking at Maya's class this week for career day. I told them all about photography, the equipment needed, tools you use, and how much fun it is. :) I ended the presentation with a little mini photo shoot of the whole class. The pictures turned out fabulous, and I can't wait to share them with the class. I'm making storyboards that I'll have printed up at 5x7 for each kid to take home, and I'll make up a slideshow for the whole class to see. Fun stuff! Since I can't share all of the other kids pictures, here is Maya's storyboard. :)

Watermark added just for the blog, they'll get the real deal. :) The chalkboard is just a cheap $5 frame from wal-mart with a black matte posterboard cut to size. (I took the glass out, obviously) I wrote the teacher's name in white crayon so it wouldn't wipe off and then just used chalk for their names. Each kid wrote their name, then after their first picture, passed it on to the next kid. So much fun!

Maya's Backpack, a sewing adventure...

Living in a small town you really don't have a lot of choices for back to school. You can get a back pack at wal-mart, but there will be at least 3 other kids with the exact same one, never fails. Last year I ordered them online, but I waited to long this time and everyone was out of stock.  So this year I thought it would be fun (and economical) to make the kids backpacks. I'm not sure why I thought I could do it, since I had never even installed a zipper before, but apparently that didn't stop me. I did Maya's last weekend, but Xander is going to have to wait until this weekend. I used this pattern by Made by Rae. It's a really good pattern, but I made a lot of adjustments to it. First of all, it's for a todler backpack, so I made it bigger. Then I wanted a lot of pockets, so I had to add those in. Last, my local fabric store (aka True Value Hardware, or the little store with a little bit of everything under the sun) only had bias piping in navy blue. I bought one package for Xander's bag, but Maya didn't want that color, so I left it off. Turns out I should have just used it anyway, because the bag is a little shapeless without it. Oh well, she loves it. On to some pictures!

Here is a side view:

Here is an inside view. I wanted to show the pencil pocket I put in, but you can't see it very well.

All in all I spent $2 on her bag. The fabric is some that I bought a bolt of at a yard sale for $5 a few years ago. I bought it originally to make curtains for our dinning room with. I thought it looked cool, like a deconstructed damask, and the black and white would go great with the red walls. Hubby thought it looked like an anti-pattern and wouldn't let me use it. Stinker. So I had a bolt of lightweight canvas that I've been using for anything I can think of ever since. I worked perfectly for this bag, and I don't think I could have chosen a better fabric for the project. I only purchased a zipper and 1" D rings for the straps. Everything else I already had! Xander's bag will be a bit more expensive, since I'll be using the piping bias, it will be a whole $3, instead of $2.  It turned out to be an actually very easy project, and I can't wait to get to Xander's!

Preppy Punk

This is one of my all time favorite designs. It is pretty much my style, put on paper. I love the pink and turquoise with the grunge of a little bit of punk. This design is copyright by me, license available for purchase. Contact me for more info.

Happy Go Lucky

My personal personality reference. This kit is full of my favorite colors, and hand drawn designs. Copyright held by me, license available for purchase. Contact me for more info.

Independence Day Babies

Special thanks to Maya for letting me use her stuffed dog, butterscotch. She really didn't want to, especially after the babies wanted to eat it. This is my niece Clara and nephew Luke.

The Models

There is nothing my daughter Maya likes more then to dress up and have me take pictures of her. When her two cousins were down it was only natural for them to want to plan a photo shoot. Here are some of my favorites of Maya, Grace, and Katelyn.