Easter Bunny Bows

Happy Easter!

For most of you that know me (well), you know that I am NOT a crafty person. In fact, I would categorize myself as one of the least crafty people in the entire world. God gave me the gift of knowing how to cook and bake and that is IT.

So, for this Easter, I really, really wanted to do something crafty and fun, even possibly find a new hobby (one that doesn't require chocolate chips and butter--my waist line is suffering!). And folks, I think I did!
I was searching the web for cool Easter craft ideas (found thousands of great ones, but all were WAY out of my league) until I stumbled upon homemade hair bows. I was instantly in love with the idea and as I searched further, I found out just how easy it is to make your own! One of the ONLY craft tools I know how to use, fairly well, is a hot glue gun. When I found the blog Ten Cow Chick and saw how easy it was to make bows using simple tools like a hot glue gun, I knew I could do it!

And so I did and now I am hooked. I just want to make bows all the time. It's so much fun. I fear though that all the new recipes I want to try are going to be put on the back burner (no pun intended) for a while.
So here is the first bows I made, themed for Easter:

Aren't they super cute? My daughter LOVED them. I gave some to my 2 year old niece, Kayla as part of her Easter gift.

They were seriously quick and easy to make so I decided to make these butterfly bows as well, which I happen to love even more:

 SO stinkin' cute! I made them in a few different colors. The blue one is for my daughter, it matches her Easter dress.

Don't be surprised if you start seeing frequent hair bow posts from now on! I do have a fun Easter cupcake recipe to share as well so stay tuned :)

Homemade Valentine's Day Part 2

My kids really wanted to make a special heart-shaped candy box to put the truffles in that they helped me make for their dad. They love him so much and all wanted to make him something extra special this year instead of the homemade cards that they usually make him for Valentine's Day.

There are so many different ways to make a candy box. I was searching for a relatively easy design to use as a template, and during my search, I came across some of the most beautiful homemade boxes. The creations amazed me and made me wish I was half as crafty as those people are!
I decided that because my children were the ones that were actually going to be making the candy box, I would have them use more kid-friendly materials.

They started by cutting out some heart shaped templates out of paper. They needed one big heart for the bottom and top of the box and two smaller hearts for the inside of the box, one being slightly smaller then the other so when we attached the edges, the top and bottom would fit together.

Once that was done, they traced and cut out the hearts on red card stock, along with strips for the sides. I decided that because card stock is flimsy, to make the top and bottom of the box with two pieces of card stock each. That worked out a lot better.

Then the gluing began. First the hearts for the top and bottom were glued together, then the smaller hearts glued to the inside of the larger hearts. Then I carefully glued the side strips around the outer edges of the smaller hearts with a hot glue gun. That worked wonderfully!

Finally, my kids decorated the candy box. Billy did a wonderful job using the glue to make letters and everyone had fun sprinkling glitter. My kitchen was a disaster when they were finished! The mess was made with love though :)

My kids love their finished product and think daddy will love it too :) Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!