ivyPINK

Halloween Boo Garland & Blitsy

A couple weeks ago I shared this sneak peek pic on Instagram (@ivyPINK)

that I was at the BLITSY headquarters working on a special project.

Have you guys heard of Blitsy?

Blitsy is an online Arts & crafts store based out of Chicago that offers products up to 70% off retail!

You guys know how much I LOVE GREAT deals & how much I LOVE craft supplies

& if that wasn't amazing enough.... BLITSY also accepts competitor coupons!!!!

Anyway we teamed up to create this super FUN Halloween DIY decor video,

visit this link to view all the products used for this video.

 

We made this project Halloween themed but it can be customized for ANY occasion

this would be so ADORBS for a little girls room!

I hope you guys enjoyed this how to!!!!

 

xoxo ivyPINK

 

DIY Marquee Lights

This is my first post about the DIY's the fiance & made I for our engagment party :)

First you'll need some paper mâché letters I found mine at Joanns

You'll need to cut out the front part of the letters

we just used an exacto

It should look like this when you are finished.

If you have any ripped edges or you'd like to even out an edge

just use a masking tape to smooth it out before you spray paint.

Next, space out where you want your lights to go

and use a hand drill to make your holes.

Here's a sample of what it looks like with the bulbs in place.

BTW, we bought the string lights at Target

Next spray paint your letters, we used a white base for ours

spray paint 2-3 coats & let it dry.

Once it's dried spray it with Krylons GLITTERBLAST

 (LOVE LOVE the Glitterblast!)  

Now add the bulbs & light up your Marquee Lights!!!! 

Ta-Da!

Hope you liked this DIY!

xoxo

 ivyPINK

 

Make n Takes fr. CHA

I just wanted to share some of my Favorite Make n Takes from the CHA show with you guys ;)

I've used this bag a bunch of times already that's why it looks a Lil dirty
This bag was from the Plaid booth they released a brand new Martha Stewart Crafts multi surface acrylic paint and also some Stencils & brushes ;)
This was so easy to make! Pretty much you just stippled the brushes with paint over the stencil & the paints are very pretty colors! I haven't unpacked yet but when I find the paints we got as samples I'll create something with it & share it w/ you guys ;) I loved all the colors & some of them are glittery & shimmery pretty much I'd like to collect them all ;) lol

This might be my most favorite make n take EVER actually it's a badge holder made with crystal beads but I'm actually thinking of taking it apart so I can create a necklace and/or matching bracelet I think I'll get more use of it in comparison to the badge holder. Although I did LOVE having a blingy badge holder ;) I do NOT know why I cannot remember this lady's booth name!

Shazam! Connie found my post & hooked it up with her info

Her companies name is Connie Crystal! <---- how easy is that to remember?

I can't help it sometimes my brain just farts :( lol 

PLEASE visit her site :)

Her crystals are gorgeous ultimate BLINGage PROMISE!  :)

Then over at Westcott, they had super fun make n takes like 4 of them going on all at the same time! ;)
I made this Velcro wallet (totally using it for my coupons lol) made out of 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of.....DUCT TAPE! How cool is that?!?! :) we also used regular duct tapes to make the pleats such a fun teen party favor craft & it only took less than 10 min to create ;)

Last one is this pretty fab journaling/photo insert pocket thing-of-a-jig fr. Heidi Swapps new line! ;) I love the super adorbs sequined heart & mini neon tapes ;)

I'm so glad Heidi's back I've always been a fan of hers ;)

That's all for now
I hope you guys have a fab weekend!
I'm actually really sick right now & I've just been in bed mostly that's why the blog has a new facelift heehee!

xoxo
ivyPINK

Cute Valentines Day Bag Toppers

My Bff's daughter is having a V-day party next week

and we are making treat bags for the kids

and I found a super cute critter "bag topper"

you can make using this Creatology Kit from Michaels :)

The animals & matching sentiments are so cute!

You can make 18 finished pieces out of 1 kit

The kit is $7.99 and is on sale this week for 40% off

 

I bought the glitter ribbon also from Michaels on sale for $1 

 I swear it made all the difference & added some bling factor of course :)

 

I just used a glue gun to adhere the glitter ribbon

& foam shapes to the clothespin.

On the packaging they are suppose to look like this:

For the frog I just added lil eyelashes

and drew the eyes differently (made them bigger more cartoony)

 

Here's the lil lion (she's my favorite)

I just added a lil red bow on her head

 

I didn't add anything to the monkey

 

I hope you guys liked them :)

Are you making any vday treats this year?

xoxo ivyPINK

Nail Rack Success

Hi hi hi :) I just have a quick post.....

I received a couple emails this week

for sucess stories for the DIY Nail Rack

and I just wanted to share the pics with you guys :)

First up is my cute aunt who lives in Texas :)

(I've shared some of her manis here before)

She's a girly girl & loves floral this is how her rack turned out

Something I actually hadn't thought of

My aunt used wrapping paper to wrap her bars

in case you didn't have any tape & didn't want to go

out & purchase some she just used something she had on hand :)

Another great money saver since tape can run around $5-8

and I'm sure most of us already has a variety of wrapping paper at home.

This next rack is made by friend Julie

Long time polish fanatic, but 

the most recent person I introduced to nail stamping :)

I LOVE the zebra duct tape! Looks GREAT on white :)

For some reason I really like the white base better

than how the black looks I feel like it looks "cleaner"

If any of you made this DIY Nail Rack

share your pics with me I'd LOVE to see your finished projects :)

Have a wonderful Thursday

Thursday is one of my fave week nights cuz it's my TV night

I have shows on from 7pm-11pm lol :)

xoxo ivyPINK

Mani Monday & DIY Nail Rack

WOW this past week just zoomed by for me

I couldn't even keep my days straight!

Any how I hope you guys had a lovely weekend :)

My Mani this week is pretty much the same as last weeks

except I also used the snowflakes in the Konad M59 plate

I used Revlon Blue Lagoon, Zoya Ibiza & one of my fave

glitter polishes fr. China Glaze Snow Globe it REALLY

reminds me of snow it's just SO pretty :)

Now on to the "DIY" part :)

 I was searching online for a nail rack

because the drawers underneath my sink was just not

working out any more :(

I wanted something like THIS

but then I came across this DIY Rack YouTube video

(There's a TON of videos showing similar DIY's

BUT I loved this video the MOST because the directions was

 easy to understand & she showed the process fr start to finish)

I was totally inspired I pretty much had everything else

on hand already all I needed was the foam board

So, I went to the Dollar Tree & bought 3 for $1 each

I came home cut & taped the pieces

(took about...20-25 min)

I used this Mod tape fr Fancy That! in Black

because my bathroom color theme is Black/White/lavender

This is what it lookedlike when I finished hot gluing everything :)

I want to say it took me about an hour  or maybe a lil less

to complete everything :)

Here's what it looks like all filled up with pretty polishes :)

I'm kinda sad that it covers my butterfly decals :(

I haven't tried to remove it yet 

so I'm not sure if I can re stick it on again or not

BUT I'm happy with how it turned out

& how it looks in my bathroom :)

I made the shelves 1/2" wider than what was on the video

because I wanted 2 rows of polish instead of just 1

I'm contemplating on sticking another piece of foam 

in the center of each row for extra hold since

I still have some foam board left over anyway :)

For $3 I cant complain! I might have to make

another one for my scraproom to hold lil embellishments

or even ribbon rolls! The possibilities are endless Hahaha :)

Make it  great MONDAY!

xoxo ivyPINK

December Daily Day12-14

-December 12-

Highlight of my day was a super cute package I got my from

my friend Ivy so here's my LO

I will add the photo I took of the goodies she sent on the top

and the bottom is the cute card she made :)

I just slipped it in a page protector

-Day 13-

Oh I was craving some mint brownies so I made a batch

I really only make anything "minty" around this time of the year

maybe that can be my "holiday tradition" treat :)

The brown polka dot paper & tag is from the

Echo Park Dots & Stripes holiday line

-December 14-

Oh boy! Wednesday I addressed what felt like a gabajillion

holiday cards & I feel a lil guilty this year

because I did NOT make all my holiday cards :(

Anyone else feel this way when they send cards out?

So my LO pretty much talks about that :)

I used the pocket that Jenny made that was in the DD kit

she sent :) I love those KI keepsake holders!

That's all I have for now :)

Hows your DD coming along?

xoxo ivyPINK

December Daily Day 10

Here's the LO from Day 10

If I wait to show you the LO with pics

you wont see it till the end of the month... :)

So, last Saturday I was invited by my friend Krista 

who was invited by her friend Mini

who has a yearly tradition of making "Pasteles" every year

Pasteles is like puerto rican version of tamales

it's made with bananas & plantains

I've never tasted pasteles before BUT I LOVE tamales

so when I agreed to come to "pasteles making day"

I had no idea what to expect.....

when we got to mini's house this is the 1st sight we see

YES, that is a bathtub FILLED with bananas & plantains

(it helps to peel them when they are kept in warm water)

We we're the reliever of the 1st group to peel the bananas

which is harder than you think when they aren't ripe :)

This is ALL the people that attended this Pasteles Holiday tradition

Mini's family & friends we're so FUN to be around

6 hours later.......

Over 500 pasteles we're split amongst everyone

and they are so DELICIOUS!!!!

I'm so glad I got to experience & know all the hard work

that goes in to making these delicious treats!

Do you guys have any specialty treats you make every holiday?

xoxo ivyPINK

December Daily Day 11

Sorry I'm skipping a day

day 10 was SO much fun & I have lots of pics to choose from

I was hoping to get it printed today before I show you guys the LO

So here is Day 11 for now

This Sunday I went with my friend Krista to see her friend Tim

perform Holiday songs with the Chicago Gay Mens Chorus

I'm not really sure what I was expecting BUT I was blown away

with how amazing they were

the show was so cute & fun & they sounded AMAZING

there's about 150 members & the day that we attended 3/4 of them sang

the church we went to was FILLED with over 300 people

It was a great experience & if you live locally you should check out their show

the spring theme is That 80's show  FUN!

So here's the Layout I created... its a 2pager guys lol

The middle part has all the songs they sang (act 1 & act 2) and it flips

to this page.....

Where I'll add the photo & journal on the label below.

The "music sheet" paper is from Making Memories Vintage groove collection

I hope you guys have a great day! Day 10 & 12 coming soon :)

I wanted to share a video of the CGMC performance I found on youtube

 xoxo ivyPINK

Mint Brownie in a Jar

The holidays are around the corner and maybe you need a present

for your friends/co-workers or kids class?

I made these treats as presents for my co-workers last year

because i was looking for something in expensive to give

but also from the heart. I usually baked them treats

but I didn't want to make cake pops again like I usually do.

I had such great reviews and even emails asking for the recipe

so I thought I'd share them with you guys :)

NOW warning in advance this is not a "calorie friendly" treat

BUT if you love mint brownies like i do then it's definitely worth it :)

I should've written down the recipe but really it was an experiment

at the time BUT I did take pics with my phone :)

So, I'm going to tell you guys the steps by memory (eeps!)

First you'll need a brownie mix

and you can use any mix you want but I use this or this a LOT

and you'll also need 1 bag of Andes Creme de menthe baking chips

Mix your brownie as directed and add 2 cups of the mints

and then you'll need mint oreos or some candy cane joe joes

you'll also need some canning jars I used the small jelly ones

crush the oreos and place a couple spoon fulls at the bottom of the jar

add the brownie mix about 1/2 way in the jar

do not put more because you want space left on top

and bake as directed on the box

but check your jar and add/deduct a few minutes

if your batter is still sticking if you poke it

I just put the jars on a baking sheet and added water on the sheet

when you're finished it should look like this deliciousness

Once it cools down a little bit (you might get some deflation & that's OK)

You'll need some marshmallow fluff

just add a spoon full to cover the top

add more crushed oreos

drizzle some hot fudge

Then add some crushed candy canes (for color)but you don't have to if you don't want to

 & more andes mint baking chips

and it should look like this

and seal the yummy goodness

I decorated my jar a little bit

with some Making memories Fa la la paper & tape

I also added a little ribbon with a tag saying you can eat this alone

or like me, serve it with ice cream

and if you serve this with ice cream you can probably get a couple servings :)

I want to say this treat cost me all together about $2.50 or less per jar

and all my friends & co workers really loved it!

Enjoy & happy holidays!

xoxo ivyPINK