Mini Top Hat Headband

My sweet little girl is turning 5 in March and because I got an awesome new Canon camera for Christmas, I wanted to try my hand at photographing her. She is obsessed with rainbows right now, so I put together a rainbow outfit. The dress came from The Lucky Princess. Adding a mini top hat makes a cute photo prop and accessory. The bow is removable. You can also use it for a costume or just for your little girl to play dress-up with. I used tomato cans for the main

structure of the hat, so your husband will get a pot of chili out of the deal also!

You will need:

8 oz. can tomato sauce, emptied and rinsed

32 oz. tomato can lid, rinsed

1 piece of flexible felt, any color

Tulle

Feathers

Ribbon

wire

scissors

hot glue

Elmer's Glue

needle and thread
a rhinestone for the bow

a clip for the bow

glitter

3/8" or 1/2" elastic

1. Cut a square of felt and hot glue it around your lid. Be careful not to cut your fingers!

2. Cut a strip of felt for the can and hot glue.

3. I only glued the edges to the can so the glue wouldn't show through.

4. Glue the ends up under the can

5. Glue the ends up over the top.
6. Trace the outline of the can on the felt with pencil.

7. Cut out your circle

8. Hot glue your circle to the top of the "hat"

9. Start gluing your feathers around the top of the brim of the hat (lid). Overlap the feathers over the edge a little.

10. Wrap your tulle around the hat, gluing the ends

11. Glue the base to the top of the hat

12. Now it is time to make your bow. I used 9 different ribbons. Create three "x" shaped bows, the largest bottom bow you can do 6 total loops (3 per side). Stitch the center of each bow with a needle and thread.

13. Cut 4 ribbon strips that will be attached under the bow for extra detail.

14. Layer the stacked bows on top of the ribbon strips. Stick a piece of wire under the entire bow. I used floral wire.

15. Twist the wire under the bow tightly.

16. Stick a clip under the wire and glue.

17. Fluff all layers of the bow to separate the colors. I put a dot of glue towards the center wire to keep the layers apart, otherwise they will want to go back to overlapping each other. The finished bow:

18. Glue a rhinestone to the center of the bow.

19. Snip a small piece of elastic and glue it to the hat so you have something to attach your bow to the hat with.

20. Glue a long piece of elastic to the bottom of the hat towards the ends.

21. Coat the top with Elmer's glue and cover with glitter. You can also use rhinestones or mini flowers if desired.

22. Now you are ready to photograph your cutie. Some balloons and a cupcake make additional cute props. I would love to see what you come up with!

Lollipop Centerpiece

As I was playing Candyland with my daughter, I noticed how all the bright yummy colors really popped off the game board. I found inspiration for this craft in a simple activity. My daughter loved helping me with this one, but it was harder to keep the Skittles around.....

This Lollipop centerpiece can be used at a birthday party, summer barbecue, set on an entry table, or simply to add some color to your counter top. There are edible parts so it is a favorite for the kids.

You will need:

colored paper

glitter

Elmer's glue

small round tin (from Target $1 bins or the $1 store)

Popsicle sticks

glittery floral sprigs

Skittles

2 bouquets of Blow Pops (from Dollar Tree)

Cricut or die cutter

Use your Cricut or die cutter to cut three circles. I did a two 4" and four 3" circles. Or you could trace around a can and cut them out if you cannot get to a Cricut or die cutter.

Add Elmer's Glue to each of the circles. I did a peppermint type design on one and a swirl on the others.

Add your glitter, let dry

Glue two circles together, sandwiching the Popsicle stick in between

Pour Skittles into the tin. This will help everything stay up in the tin.

Add your sprigs

Cut the plastic off the top of the Blow Pops, keeping them together though (don't cut the portion that bands them)

Stick the Blow Pops in the tin next

Add your paper lollipops and you're done! (mine lasted about 5 minutes before suckers started to disappear) :)The addition of colorful napkins and plates will make your table pop with color.

Halloween Soaps

Here's a festive holiday accessory to add to your bathroom that is actually functional. I made two different soaps, a glycerin bar soap, and dressed up a pump of liquid soap.

For the bar soap you will need a block of glycerin soap, a soap mold (both found at Michael's), glitter, and any accessory you want in the soap.

Cut a little chunk of the soap. Place in a microwave safe bowl.

Heat up the glycerin in the microwave until it is all melted.

Pour mixture into soap mold. Working quickly, add glitter, food coloring, any accessory you want in the soap (like an eyeball), and some fragrance oil if desired. Swirl around ingredients until it looks the way you want. You will need to drape a knife across the eyeball if you use one, since it is made out of Styrofoam and will float...Pour the extra soap back into the container of glycerin.

Dress up those Bath and Body Works soaps as well with a few simple steps. You will need some cute Halloween/Gothic scrapbook paper, Halloween brads and/or buttons, and ribbon.

Cut out the paper to fit the front of the soap and glue on. You are ready to embellish. Buttons and brads can be placed randomly on the front of the soap pump. You can even layer a brad on top of a button to make them stand out. Ribbons are tied at the neck.

The finished products can be used in your bathroom or given away as gifts or party favors.