How to Make DIY Icing Decorations (When You Have No Cake Decorating Skills)

Last week my superhero-loving son had a birthday.   He wanted a batman cake.  After spending a month's blogging salary on his party, I wasn't about to dish out even more on a cake.  I searched and searched for a way to make him a DIY batman cake.

Ohhhh emmmm gee I found the answer at Brass Tacks and Basics!  If you have a printer or a coloring book page you can do this. I promise you - you can do it!   If I can do it, you can do definitely do it and you don't have to do Batman you can pick any design you want.   I may be able to make a mean burlap banner or flip a thrift store dresser, but decorating cakes isn't part of my wheelhouse, I assure you! (Just look at the white icing job...whatevs).

Are you ready to have your mind blown?  Start by making a box cake. Hahha...told you!  Then get out your store-bought icing to ice the cake like you normally would (told you, again!).   Now you're going work on making the DIY icing decorations.  In my case, I was making a big batman logo for the center of the cake.  You can make these any size and any color.  But first things first...

Make a batch of butter cream icing. The recipe I used was from Taste of Home and it froze nicely which is key.

DIY Personalized Superhero Cape Party Favor Tags

I am in full on Super hero birthday planning mode. My little guy turns three this week and he loves nothing more than super heroes!    We are have the party at a moon bounce house so there's not much I need to do in the way of decorations or food, but I did want to add a little DIY superhero flare where I could!

Personally, I prefer to give party favors other than candy and treats. Is that just me? This year I bought water bottles at the dollar store for a buck each.  I quickly personalized them with each child's initial in the Super Man logo style and then added the super hero cape tags.

I found a whole group of Super Hero cape tags on Pinterest originally posted on Cuor Home, although unfortunately I can't find the direct link to them now.  This made the project super easy although I did want to personalize them a little and PicMonkey made doing that super easy!

DIY Mason Jar and Wood Box Flower Center Piece

A few months back I made this wood box using some scrap wood I had lying around.  It was similar to pallet wood.  Just a few even cuts, wood glue, some screws and paint and I had myself a long narrow wood box.  (Read the full tutorial to make the wood box here).

Construction & Work Zone Birthday Party Ideas

My little man is counting down the minutes until his third birthday. It's not for two months.  That must feel like a lifetime for a two year old.  He's been counting for months and months and months.  He's essentially been counting since his second birthday....which is where we're going to take a trip down memory lane to because way back then I wasn't such a great blogger.  Two It Yourself was just getting off the ground and I never thought to share all the amazing (I'm bias, yes) work zone party ideas I came up with for his party.

I spent weeks prepping for this party - everything from making each guest a Home Depot-style apron to ordering plastic construction hats and caution tape to figuring out the perfect construction birthday cake.  I have links to the majority of the tutorials so just click 'em as you see 'em!

Usually favors are handed out at the end of the party, but we did it a little bit differently.  Each guest joined Blake's Work Crew as they arrive -- with a construction hat and personalized tool belt.  I ordered the construction hats on Amazon and they can be found here.

I had left over drop cloth material from my upholstered headboard project so I made each of the 25 guests (What was I thinking with 25 1-5 year olds???) a tool belt complete with a personal Home Depot-inspired logo.  Aren't they just adorable!!

Same {DIY} Serving Tray, Different Looks for Every Season or Holiday

Months ago I bought this white serving tray at Joann Fabrics.  To be honest I can't even remember what I paid for it.    I know it was cheap (probably on clearance) for something like six or seven bucks.   The problem (or what I previously considered the 'problem') is it's white...plain boring white.  Actually the boringness (is that a word??) of this white tray is what I have decided makes it totally awesome because it can take on so many different looks. Like...one for every season, holiday or mood I'm in.

You won't believe how simple it is to update this tray and give it a whole new look for just a few cents.  This would work for any size tray, but definitely works best if the tray is square.  My tray is 13 x 13".

All you're going to do use a piece of festive 12x12" scrapbook paper and place it in the center of the tray.  All of the craft stores have TONS of scrapbook paper and they always have lots of holiday options around the holidays.  If you can get your hands on Martha Stewart's Variety Pack of Holiday that would be a great start! 

DIY Dollar Store Chalkboard Tray

For a recent dinner party I served a cheese tray. Instead of the usually guessing/sniffing/tasting game, I decided I would be nice to my guests and let them know what type of cheeses we had.  I made a chalkboard tray using a tray I bought at the dollar store and some chalkboard paint from the craft store.

The tutorial for this is stupid it's so easy...

Ok, so to make your DIY chalkboard cheese tray you need a platter (mine was plastic), chalkboard paint, and a foam brush.

Squeeze some of the paint right onto the tray (not too much because if it's too thick it won't dry very well) and use the foam brush to evenly spread it all over the tray.  I tried to brush all in the same direction. 

DIY Faux Chalkboard Menu Board

My husband and I recently hosted a small dinner party for about four other couples.   Since I wasn't doing much in the way of decorations - my house is already decked out for Christmas - I decided I would just do a few extra special party decorations.  I had been given a free trial upgrade by PicMonkey to use their Royale Package I decided to make a Faux Chalkboard Menu Board.  It came out awesome - despite my misspelling on Nutella (sorry 'bout that, 'Tella- I hope we can still be BFFs).   More on why I didn't fix it in a minute...but first how I made it using PicMonkey.

I started by "creating a design."  Since I was printing it at home and wanted it to be as large as possible, I selected the 8 x 10 canvas.   Using the chalkboard background in the 'School' theme, I was able to make the entire canvas a faux chalkboard.  Then I added an overlay at the top and made it transparent before adding my "Menu" text.

Then it was time to start adding my menu items.  I used all the different chalkboard-like fonts available on PicMonkey.  Some of them are part of the standard free package, and a few like Sketch Block and Stroke Dimension I could only gain access to because I had the free trial of PicMonkey's Royale (indicated by the little crown).  

Christmas Party Ideas {& Christmas Home Tour}

Alright alright, I'll do a Christmas home tour. You twisted my arm.  Not really...but I have been dragging my feet about putting a together a post wrapping up all my DIY Christmas decorations.  Since I hosted a little Christmas dinner party the other night, I thought combining the two would be a great way to take you on a little home tour - while also sharing some Christmas party ideas.

Let me start off by saying I love to decorate and plan parties and the Christmas season is my favorite, so you know I was totally in my element.  I'm sure I seem like a total over-the-top hostess, but I actually enjoy all the little details that go into make it something special and something to remember.  This year we kept it simple and small and only had three other couples (minus our combined 9.5 kids) for the dinner party.   Technically, I guess the.5 was there....

DIY Cheap Photo Cards for Christmas

I don't know about you, but I have noticed that with every year that goes by we get fewer and fewer Christmas cards.  I'm sure part of it is friends figure you keep up with photos and happenings on Facebook and the other part of it is expense.  Between the cost of Christmas photo cards and the postage to mail them, it's not cheap to send out dozens and dozens of photo cards.

Every year my list seems to grow, but this year I'll be trying to keep it to under 75 cards.  For that many photo cards, it can easily cost over $50 and that's not even including postage. This year I decided I would make my own cheap photo cards.  With all the online editing programs out there, it's actually really easy to do.

July 4th food ideas: Red, White & Chew Fruit Kabobs

Happy Birthday, USA! You know how to get your kids to eat their fruits and veggies? Put 'em on a stick...oh, and in the shape of a flag!

Check out these adorable American Flag fruit kabobs I made today (in about 15 minutes) for a July 4th picnic we're going to. They're pretty straight forward, but I do have a few tips.

You'll need:

12" wood skewers
3 pints of strawberries (tops cut straight off)
1 large container of blue berries
4 bananas (cut in large chunks)

2IY June 2013 in Review

It's July 1 so you know what that means? Yup, it's time to look back at some of the best and most popular 2IY projects from last month.

The stenciled lamp shade was far and away the most buzzed about projects in June.  The Ikea hack was also among the easiest.  I simply bought a gray shade, taped a stencil to it, and had at it with some white craft paint and a sponge pouncer.  The results were incredible - and the reaction slightly overwhelming.

Some of my personal favorites from last month were the Pottery Barn-inspired Stars and Stripes Burlap Bunting, the dowel and pot toilet paper holder, and the personalized "Home of the Brave" sign.  It's great to recreate someone else's idea and use it for inspiration, but when it's something that comes from my own brain cells firing - I get super excited. 

DIY 4th of July decorations: Paper stars for planters or center pieces

I started decorating for pthe 4th of July around the 4th of June this year...of course, if you read 2IY regularly, you already know this.  We've got the "Land for the Free, Home of the Viscounts" wood sign and the Pottery Barn knockoff burlap stars and stripes banner.  Well, my latest project is these festive paper stars that are great for indoor planters or center pieces. 

They're really easy to make and you can mix and match the paper to create different looks with very few supplies.   Here's what you need... (as always, I've created the entire supply list for you in Amazon so you can order everything or just what you need and get it right to your door):

• Dowel (I used 1/4 x 48 found at AC Moore for about .79)
• Scrapbook paper of your choice 
• Hot glue gun
• Circle Paper Cutter (optional)
• Zig Zag scissors (optional)
• Jute rope or ribbon

Start by laying your paper so the short ends are at the top and bottom.  You can either use a full size piece of paper or you can cut it down to make smaller stars.  Mine are about 6 inches wide. 

4th of July burlap party banner decoration (Pottery Barn knockoff on the cheap)

There's not much that gets me more excited than pulling off a Pottery Barn knockoff on the cheap.  This Fourth of July Burlap Party Banner is so easy and inexpensive to make.(Of course, if you're drooling over it, but don't have the DIY motivation - no worries! It's now available in my Etsy shop in three different sizes).


Pottery Barn's version (on the right) is no longer available (all the more reason to DIY for this July 4th decoration), but when it was available it sold for a pretty penny.

I ordered two yards of burlap from Joann Fabrics website.  Honestly, it's just easier for me to order stuff online than it is to drag a 4 year old and a 2 year old to the fabric store.  Kill me now...Anyway, shipping was .10...yes, 10 cents and the burlap was on sale!

Aside from the burlap, you'll need freezer paper (look for it near the wax paper in the grocery store), a computer and printer and some rope, twine, or jute, and spray adhesive is optional.

Construction Birthday Party Ideas: DIY Tool Aprons as favors

For my truck and tool obsessed two year old son, we're having a construction themed birthday party.  Because I'm knee deep in drop cloth projects - hello upholstered headboard, no sew bed skirt, and window treatment - I came up with the idea to make little tool aprons for all the guests as party favors.  You know the kind all the Home Depot workers wear....they actually sell them there, but why not make your own?


They are really easy to make especially if you can use one of the hemmed edges of drop cloth.

Here's what you'll need to make DIY Tool Aprons:

• Drop Cloth
• Sewing Machine 
• Twine, hemp rope or some kind of string/yarn

Now, I apologize for not having exact dimensions for these aprons, but when you're making 20 of them, you just kind of eyeball it.  Plus, I have kids ranging from 2-6 years old at the party so I figured having aprons of different sizes would be a good thing.  So no worries if they're not all exact.

DIY tutorial: Transfer Ink to Wood or Fabric using wax paper and an inkjet printer

I'm getting a little out of control with the 2 year old birthday party preps for my son.  Let's just say I'm making drop cloth tool aprons for about 20 kids as party favors and I've decided it MUST have a Home Depot-like logo.  Why do I get these ideas in my head??? They won't stop nagging me until I finally get.it.right.

So...thank me now, or thank me later, (you're welcome) - I have finally figured out how to transfer ink to fabric (or wood) without buying expensive transfer paper.

DIY Utensil holder from small flower pots: They're cheap, cute, & customizable

A few weeks ago I hosted a Kids Easter Egg Hunt and Party for a bunch of our family friends.  I thought I'd make a set of DIY Utensil Holders to add a little cuteness to the table.  I bought small clay flower pots at the craft store and then spray painted them - inside and out.  WARNING: They require several coats of spray paint as the clay seems to soak up the paint.

Once they were dry I added a blue and white ribbon around the top (Tip: turn the pot upside down when tying the ribbon so it doesn't keep slipping down) and a little carrot to up the cuteness factor.  It worked...didn't it?

Why the carrot? Well it does scream Easter...but to be honest --  as I was starring out the window in deep thought, trying to figure out how I could embellish my utensil holder I found I was starring right at the answer -- a festive window gel cling (from the dollar store, of course). How perfect -- they're removable, sticky, and my kids had spared several of them from the nasty floor grime they seem to attract.