Camping Out, a look inside the tent~

The invites went out, the guests arrived, the party was a hit!

Now here's a closer look at all the little details, the behind the scenes of Camp Jammer. I should mention that we didn't have a big budget for this shindig, but we always enjoy making, thifting, recycling whatever we can so the $0 small budget wasn't really a concern. The majority of the money was spent on food, as is usually the case. Speaking of food...

Mini bags of Better Made Chips proudly on display
(It's a Michigan "thing")

S'more Trail Mix Party Favors!
{Honey Graham cereal, mini marshmallows & chocolate chunks}

"Puffed" Pop Corn Movie Treats
"Camp Jammers' wants to Thank You for 'poppin' over"

Oh yes, a baking combination that is S'MORE right than you know!

And here's how you make it!

I made Old-Fashioned REAL lemonade
& pre-filled Mason Jars ready for the taking.
We also offered Water & a cooler full of Beer. 

-Roll cutlery in a napkin
-Take a plate
-Punch a hole in the side
-Attach napkin roll with ribbon
-Sit back & marvel at how smart people will think you are...

It wouldn't be REAL camping if Duct Tape wasn't involved somehow...

How could I NOT make this sign when I had giant
pieces of poster board lying around the house?!

Thread+needle+ballons=Easy Ballon Garland!

No Camp would be complete without a Swimmin' Hole

And don't forget about Arts & Crafts!
We prepped our collection of milk cartons with white spray paint,
cut a hole in the side, hot glued on popsicle stick shingles
& attached a twine loop to the top.
Then the kiddos got to paint their new bird house, it was a big hit!
We even included a bag of seed to take home :)

Sheet Fort:
Bags full of old sheets- check!
Rope & twine- check!
Ladder- check!
Clothespins- check!
Feeling like a kid again- Check!!

We topped of the festivities we a movie outside!
If you can get your hands on a white sheet
& a projector then you are good to go!

'J' even had his own little camping chair to sit in :)
And since it was HIS birthday we
watched his favorite movie, Cars

And last but not least, the Kiddie Camper Packs!

At "check-in" each Kiddie Camper recieved:
a personalized Camp shirt (tshirt was thrifted, then I jazzed them up)
a personalized water bottle (Michaels Crafts- $1)
a bubble wand/glow necklace for the older kids (Dollar Tree)
binoculars (Dollar Tree)
chalk (Target Dollar Spot)
snacks: AirHead, raisins, fruit snacks
Bandana (Handmade by my mum)

Here's what the back looked like:
"MALLOW out & have S'MORE fun!"
Camp Jammer, 2012

And there you have it. Well, you get the general idea at least.
We hope you enjoyed your stay at Camp Jammers, ya'll come back now ya hear!

Craft On! {Marital Mugs; Shower/Wedding gift}

It's that time of year again... Wedding Season! 

Our family friends are getting married today, & since they are such a fun couple I wanted to give them a fun little something for their special day. I saw this "pin" a while back & stored it in my memory bank (& since I'm running out of room in there I had to get rid of something...I don't need to remember long division anymore, right?)

And being that things have been pretty busy round these parts lately (as I'm sure you noticed with the lack of posts that have been going up...more on that in another post), I had to save it until the very last minute...late at night the eve of the wedding. It always make me mad when I do this because then I am rushing & my eyes don't focus as well because it's late & it's never as good as I know it could have been. Oh well. It's done. It took a few minutes to get the creative juices flowing, but I eventually found my groove. 

I decided to take the original idea- HIS & HERS mugs, & make them more of a symbol of their new adventure together... Mr & Mrs Mugs. I bought 2 white coffee mugs from Target (you could even check a thrift store or dollar store for some nice mugs!) & an Enamel paint from Michael's Craft Store in Licorice. The total was less than $10.

First I wiped the areas to be painted 

down with some Alcohol Prep Pads 

(hope no one gets injured anytime soon...

they came from the medicine cabinet...)

Then I hand painted each one, this took a few tries.

When I did a shitty job wasn't satisfied I wiped it off again

with an alcohol pad. I tried with water but it made it worse.

I let them dry over night, then followed the paint directions 

& set them in a cold oven, turned it to 350, let them bake for

30 mins, then let them cool in the oven. And...

TA-DA!! Mr. & Mrs. Mugs :)

On the back of His (Morning Beautiful) I wrote "Do you?"

& on Hers (Hello Handsome) it says "I do!"

Then to really personalize it I wrote the 

wedding date on the base of the handle,

no excuses for ever forgetting it now! lol

True story, I have actually had to ask the Hubs "wait...when is our anniversary? Its the 4th, right?" The look in his eyes told me loud & clear that I was wrong, HAHA! I am not very good with dates, I suppose it may be another area that I toss out to make room for more craft idea storage...

I just noticed when I glanced at these pics again that I ASSUMED they were right handed...& now that I have permanently baked that assumption in the oven for 30 mins they will both end up being LEFT handed! Then these cups go from Marital mugs to Ego Boosting cups...

In case its early & you haven't had your coffee yet I'll paint you a picture...

The words will be facing THEM, not their spouse, so every time they pick up their mug for a sip of joe' they will see "Morning Beautiful" or "Hello Handsome"! LOL! Oh well, good thing I put the proposal on the back...which may now be the front....

Well, I better get my butt in gear, I have a wedding to get ready for!

Until next time, Craft On friends, Craft On!

Craft On! {Monogram Door Decor}

It took an extra amount of effort to get this post up, but I managed & here we are, reading it together (*imagine I'm sitting next to you....wait, that's creepy...never mind, forget I mentioned it...moving on...back to whatever we were talking about before this got weird...)

We're in the midst of a Front Porch Freshen-Up! A couple weekends ago we got to work- taking everything out, wiping & sanding down the trim & damaged areas, getting out the paint (that we bought a year ago for this project!) & gettin PUMPED for this make-over!! Annnndddd.......then we had to go to a family thing, put all the stuff back & haven't touched it since. This is becoming our M.O. with house projects, have I mentioned the year long kitchen remodel? Yea, still not finished...a year people...a FULL year.

So, to motivate us me I decided to whip up a little something special. A Fun, Frugal Monogram Decor for the Front Door (go on, say that 5 times fast, do it- I double dog dare ya)!!!

This entire project cost me less than $5!! You can get craft letters from most craft stores now, but I got mine at Joann Fabrics along with a small, wooden flower. I gave the flower a coat of white paint & painted "Welcome" on it. You could personalize it with your last name or a holiday greeting if you make a seasonal monogram. There are a LOT of possibilities. I grabbed a skien of yarn from my stash, a few colored felt sheets & my handy dandy Hot Glue Gun. Let's get started:

STEP 1: GET WRAPPIN'!

You will need: Cardboard letter, 1 skien of yarn,

Hot glue gun & clear packing tape

I cut 4.5" pieces of yarn to cover each 'end'

 (It took 15 for each end of my S)

covered the ends & secured with tape.

Then wrap yarn from one end to the other,

secure tails with a dab of hot glue.

STEP 2: FLOWER POWER!

Flower 1

You will need: Felt sheet(s), scissors & hot glue gun
Cut a strip of felt at 1.5" thick (the height will determine
the length/fullness of the petals, the length of felt strip
will determine how big/small your flower is)
Fold the strip in 1/2 & secure seam w/ dabs of hot glue.
Snip the strip from one end to the other (you can do this
on a diagonal or straight depending on the look you want)
Then roll up your strip, securing w/ hot glue as you go.

Flower 2

You will need: Felt sheet(s), scissors & hot glue gun
Cut a square from the felt
(bigger the square the bigger the flower)
Round off the corners to make a circle, then starting
at the outer edge, cut into a spiral. Slowly get wider
as you cut, leaving a 'bulb' in the middle.
Roll up your spiral, starting at the smallest end.
Stop rolling when you reach the 'bulb', secure at that spot
w/ a dab of hot glue. Then cover the base w/ hot glue
& fold the 'bulb' flap over to cover the base.

Flower 3

You will need: Felt sheet(s), scissors & hot glue gun
Cut 6 "flower" shapes from felt, you can make as many
scallops on the edge as you'd like.
STEP 1 requires 5 of the flower "petals".
Use a petal as the Base, fold petal #1 in half, matching
the middle point of the fold over the middle point of the base.
Secure the bottom 1/2 of #1 to the base w/ a dab of hot glue.
Fold #2, placing the top 1/2 of #2 over the bottom 1/2
of #1, secure to base w/ a dab of hot glue.
Continue w/ petals #3 & #4, tucking 1/2 of #4
under the exposed 1/2 of #1.

STEP 2
Take the final 'petal' & pinch in the middle,
place a blob of hot glue in the center of the
4 petals, place pinched tip in glue.
Then take a few small pieces of contrasting
felt (or small button/bead) & glue in the middle
(I apologize for the bad pics, it was late & I was tired! lol)

STEP 3: PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

And what do you have?

A welcome sign that is sure to put a
smile on your visitors faces :)

Hopefully soon I will be able to post pics of my new door decor on our freshly painted door in our newly updated front porch!!! One can only hope, OR one can get off ones ass & just get the thing done already...either way

I hope you have fun with it & Keep On Craftin' On!

I Linked up with The Six Sisters!

Craft On! Toddler gift- Part 3; {DIY Baby Legs}

Since the weather in these here parts is pretty Hot/Cold lately(literally, one day will be in the 70s, the next in the 40s) I wanted to give a fun gift that could work for both! *Lightbulb moment* BABY LEGS! In case you aren't familiar Baby Legs are a big thing in the kiddy world lately. From infant to toddler, they have several uses. Easy diaper changes without having to remove pants, protecting little knees as they learn to crawl & of course as a fun accessory to skirts or shorts :) 

But instead of buying a $15-$20 pair of trendy 'Baby Legs' I opted for some good old fashion DIY ones instead :) I found a great selection of knee high socks at Target, 2 for $5!! I have seen several different tutorials out there that give several different looks. I choose to do one with more of a bottom 'cuff'. (*this is not my design/pattern, but I looked at SO many before doing this project that I'm not certain who to give credit to...)

First I cut above & below the heal & also above the toes

Toss the heals & toes in the trash, turn the smaller pieces wrong sides together
& slip them over the socks. I sewed the edges together using a zigzag stitch
then trimmed any excess material off. Be sure to try & keep the 3 layers
together while sewing, they curl up like a mo' fo'

Ta-Da! Super FUNctional DIY 'Baby Legs'!
(well, Toddler Legs ;)

Of course I couldn't stop there, so I whipped up
a sweet little double strand headband :)

Put it all together & what do you get?
A Super Cute Spring Outfit!

Ready & waiting for the Birthday Girl

Don't think this is just for girls, though. You can find Knee High socks all over the place, even at some Dollar Stores. Just get some solid color/boyish patterns & you can make them for a little fella too! And if you want to make some for an infant or new crawler, just shorten the length of the leg before adding the cuff.

There you have it, a versatile, comfy spring outfit complete with 2 pair of custom leggings for $15!

In case you missed it, heres Part 1- Color Coins & Part 2- Travel Coloring Case :)

Craft On! DIY Toddler gift- Part 2; {Travel Color Case}

Once again, Big Ups to Pinterest for getting my creative juices flowin'. I came across this Tutorial on Handmade by Stacy Vaughn for a dvd Coloring Case! I immediately knew I would be making lots of these in my future. But I wanted to gear them more toward young toddlers, something to keep in the diaper bag/car for some Fun on the go. And as luck would have it we have a SURPLUS of old dvds in the Black Hole Basement. I picked up some fabric squares for less then $1.50 each at Walmart, a pack of Scrapbook paper & I was ready to go.

1st I took out the cover sleeve,
measured it on my decorative paper
& cut it out

Next I cut out the dvd place holder on a self-healing mat.
Be sure to slip the mat in between the plastic sleeve and hard case,
you want to keep the sleeve whole to slip the paper into.
(This proved to be harder than you imagine. Some cases
cut easier than others. Some just suck in general)

Then I took a piece of thin card board,
cut out a slightly larger piece of fabric
& glued it on with craft glue.
I cut 2 smaller strips of fabric, ran a bead of glue along the edge
& folded it over slightly to give the top a finished edge
 then glued them on to create 2 pockets.
The last part of this step is hot gluing the fabric board
into the case to cover the hole.
*Don't forget to measure your cardboard!! LOL!

I used a piece of SUPER fancy tape to affix a piece of
thin scrap cardboard to the backside
of the cover paper to help add some support where
I cut the giant hole.

I added some pieces of Construction Paper
that I cut to fit, a box of crayons & some stickers

 Slipped in the cover paper to make it all purdy

And there you have it- A cute Travel Coloring Case! I have done this also with larger Crayola Twist-Up Crayons, but it was with a single pocket & it was a snug fit. I really like the way it came out the the double pockets, high five to me!

This has moved to the top of my Go To Toddler Gift List. The only thing I needed to buy was a small piece of fabric & piece of decorative paper, everything else I already had. Next time I think I will cut out the 1st letter of the kiddo's name in the fabric and glue it to the cover paper, add a little personal touch :)

I can't wait to give this to the Birthday Girl this weekend :)
Check back tomorrow for Part 3 of her gift- DIY Baby Legs!
And if you missed Part 1 (Color Coins) Click here!