Taste of Home magazine gives a great tutorial of how to make a donut tree. These are great for brunches or a child's pajama party. A great idea that's going around right now are morning birthday party for smaller children who typically nap during the traditional birthday party hours.
Want to make a stand like this? Glue a heavier champagne glass or a candlestick to a glass plate. Make sure to use a strong CLEAR glue. :)
photo credit: Mara May
Create a unique topper to your next gift by using cupcake liners. Stack cupcake liners, pull them apart and either glue them all together in the center while stacking or connect together with a scrapbook brad.
You can't get much easier and inexpensive Valentine's Day treats!
All you need are candy sticks, candy canes, bags and ribbon.
There's still time to pick up some mini candy canes. A few stores still have some clearance. I just bought several boxes at CVS for 20 cents a box!
See the full how-to with great pictures over at Skip to my Lou.
photo credit: Better Homes and Gardens
Real Simple magazine recently showed this easy way to transport cupcakes.
Use a shirt box, cut one X per cupcake and push the corners down like pictured above.
This is great for many reasons... don't have a fancy cupcake carrier? don't want to lug one around? wonder if you leave it somewhere if you'll get it back?
The box carrier is great to take to a child's party or office potluck or maybe you're donating cupcakes to a good cause or maybe you're bringing them to a tailgate. It's lovely for the host not to have to worry about cleaning it and getting it back to you. Just toss it when they are done!
Also, these can be used for cupcake display. You can even cover the boxes with wrapping paper to match your decor. Place them on a table for a uniform, modern look.
Valentine's Day means getting ready for the parties. An easy way to give a bit of a sweet treat for little hands is the matchbox.
Cover a small matchbox with scrapbook paper and fill with mini treats. Great for when you only want to give them a taste of something sweet and I guarantee those of the toddler age will love opening and closing the box just as much as what's inside.
photo credit: Country Living
Add fun punches of color to your table by attaching ribbon to vases.
Match your ribbon to the colors of your flowers and hot glue on.
Well, the holidays are officially over and that means.... we're moving on to Valentine's Day! LOL You may have noticed that V-Day decor is already in the stores (can you believe it?)
Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays mostly because of the colors involved. I love red and the good thing is... a lot of the leftover Christmas decor can be repurposed for Valentine's Day.
If you're planning something special for Valentine's Day, want to give flowers, and plan on making your own arrangement, here's an easy way to create an interesting vase from Dollar Store items.
You'll need a tall vase and one candlestick and a clear, strong adhesive.
Simply glue the two together and you have a modern vase with a bit of a fancy flair. At $2 per vase, you can make a few and use them as gifts or one on either end of a buffet table, etc.
Sidenote: make sure the glue you use is clear. The glue may overflow and seep into the candlestick. Clear glue will go unnoticed.
Final product!
Photo credit: Better Homes and Gardens
Ever want dishes to match a special theme but either don't want to spend the money on a one time use or can't find what you're looking for in color or theme? Or maybe you're like me and don't have enough storage for another set of dishes.
Purchase clear dishes! Stack 2 and slide scrapbook paper in between. An easy way to dress up plates for any theme, any time. This is a great idea for children. Slip in character pictures or feature a different letter or color per day, etc.
It's not too early to begin thinking about New Year's Eve. These streamers are made from recycled metallic holiday wrapping paper. Get the how-to here with plenty of time to make these for the big evening.
OR... be on the lookout for decorative festive circles scatters when you're at the day after Christmas sales.
The Dollar Tree has some fabulous metallic garland that would be great for this. AND... it's already put together. Just hang vertically. :)
These would also be great to use as a backdrop for showers, birthdays, valentine's day, etc.