Camo Paintball Party

It's hard to believe my "baby" turned 11 years old this month. To celebrate Ethan's special day, we gathered a group of his friends and geared up for a camo paintball party.                                            

Having a theme helped me organize my planning from the get-go and this simple party was no exception.  I found a great paintball inspired invitation on Etsy which Samantha at River Mamas Designs customized with our party details. After proofing it, she sent the final draft back to me to download and print.  The turn around time was super quick too - less than 48 hours! 

The festivities wouldn't have been complete without camo frosted cupcakes.  After lining my pans with red cupake papers, I baked two dozen vanilla cupcakes (using boxed cake mix).  You could always buy unfrosted cupcakes from your local bakery and frost them yourself.  For the camo frosting, I used ready-made whipped frosting - chocolate, green tinted and tan tinted.  Chill frosting before loading into piping bag.  Each color should be in a vertical line in bag which can be tricky to pull off.  This got really messy for me because my frosting didn't chill long enough so it was too soft.  Some of it ended up coming out the top of the bag and all over my hand!   

It worked okay but I want to try again to improve my technique.  Next time this is what I'm going to try - fill three individual disposable piping bags with each color then cut tip off.  Place large star tip (Wilton 2D or larger) into Wilton 16" featherweight bag then add all three piping bags into larger bag.  Don't forget to chill it before frosting!

For a fun party favor, I wanted something that looked like paint balls so I created gumball AMMO treats.  I purchased the square 6" tall tubes and black washi tape from inkscissorspaper.com.  They also have an Etsy store.  

Each tube holds 6 gumballs and I alternated red and orange. I found gumballs in bulk at Party City with every color imaginable.  After filling each tube, I taped down a piece of paper twine (with black washi tape) to one side of tube and brought tape over top of lid to close it off.  I pulled twine around to front of tube and tied on the tag.  These were BIG hit with all the boys!

So ready, aim, and fire - this camo paintball party was a BLAST! 

Valentine's Day Door Hanger

February is just around the corner and you know what that means... candies, flowers, and hearts, oh my!  I could definitely go for a chocolate treat right about now. (Honey, if you're reading this - you can't go wrong with the Godiva milk chocolate salted caramel bar - wink, wink).  Are you in the mood for love...I mean a lovely and simple craft project? Well, I've got a treat in mind for my readers that's pretty a-door-able.  I think so anyway.  Cue romantic music and flying cupids - scratch that.  You won't need any silly props or a bachelor handing out roses to create this Valentine's Day Door Hanger.      

SUPPLIES: 

> heart-shaped or envelope-shaped container or other Valentine hanger with handle (needs to have flat back)

> 2.5" wide ribbon for bow

> 36" of upholstery webbing 

> letters for "xoxo" or "love" 

> white craft paint

> hot glue gun

My inspiration for this project started with the metal heart-shaped container I had left over from last year.  It was okay on its own but it seemed too small and out of scale for my tall front door.  

I found upholstery webbing with red accent at my local Hobby Lobby store for less than $2 a yard.  This became the backdrop for my letters. 

First, I painted my letters white and allowed them to dry.  I hot glued the webbing to back of heart-shaped hanger.  I then attached letters to webbing with hot glue.

I filled container with foam, covered with moss and added a sweet little bird.  You may remember him from my tablescape in November and December.  Lastly, I attached a bow to handle and placed on the door hanger.