I am always delighted to hear that someone was inspired by this little blog of mine. So when my friend, Sharon, told me that she was inspired by my “manicure in a jar” craft project I was thrilled. And when she showed me photos of her “Orange Lavender Hand Scrub” I was totally impressed! She is so creative… and a girl after my own heart; budgeting all along the way.

She needed 11 hostess gifts (Yes, ELEVEN!!) for several baby showers over the summer. Their baby is due in October. YAY!
Here’s how she did it.

To make the hand scrub, she used the juice of fresh oranges and drops of lavender oil along with olive oil, sugar, and a dash of water. She got the twine and jars (set of 12) at Ace hardware for only $10!! She designed the gift tags herself and using ‘antique looking’ card stock paper she printed them at home for free!

With a little bit of ingenuity and a few hours out of her weekend, she was able to create these adorable hostess gifts for about $4 each! Considering the fact that they’d probably retail for about $10-$15 each, I’d say she deserves a big high five!

Nice work, my friend!

I’d love to feature a project that you are proud of! Email me at emily@eclairecreations.com

It’s hard to believe that Crafty Chicks Night is a year old. What started out last summer simply as a way to spend more time with my friends has turned into a monthly ‘craft club’ of sorts and something I am really proud of.

As a way to celebrate CCN’s big 1^st birthday, I thought a little field trip would be fun. So on Wednesday, the Chicks spent the evening at Sips & Strokes.  Located just north of Atlanta, Sips & Strokes is a unique art studio where you are taught by an instructor and guided through the process of painting your very own original work of art.

And as the name suggests, you are encouraged to bring drinks to sip on while creating your masterpiece. Wine helps the creative process, apparently. I couldn’t agree more!

You can plan your trip to Sips and Strokes around the day of the week or around the project since each one is actually listed on the website. For our group, I chose a still life portrait of wine bottles as the project…pretty appropriate, I’d say! 

Now, I certainly didn’t doubt that this little outing would be fun. Honestly, any time spent with the Chicks is fun…however, I was a little skeptical about my painting abilities (I’ve been known to ruin a perfectly good blank canvas) and I was curious to see just how this project would turn out. Our instructor was awesome, though! She walked us through the entire process, step by step.  She was really reassuring and encouraged us to not over-think it (which we all know I’m really good at doing). With each step, our paintings came to life and you could see the trepidation in our eyes turn into excitement.  Who knew we all had such artistic abilities within?   

ready to get started!

basic outline

added background

added table top

colors and bottle labels

fun details and finishing touches

artistic sisters...who knew?!?

check out our masterpieces!

We were all really happy with our creations! And now, we each have very similar paintings, that we created together, to proudly display in our homes. To me, that’s really special.

One of the things we like most about our wedding venue is its location…tucked into the corner of a lake in the North Georgia Mountains, it is sure to offer a picturesque backdrop for our fall wedding.  

It is also pretty hard to find.

We knew right away that we would need to create a map and give clear directions to our guests, so they’d actually be able to find us! Since so many of the roads surrounding the lake are small and winding, we also thought it would be a good idea to have directional signs posted along the way to keep everyone heading in the right direction.  

Luckily, we knew we could call on our good buddy, Hoke, for help with the process. Not only are he and his wife, Katie, some of our most beloved friends, he’s also an extremely talented craftsman. Using reclaimed wood from 19^th century barns on his family’s land in South Georgia, he builds tables, desks and other pieces of accent furniture.

a Hoke Howard original

When we told him that we were thinking about making signs for the wedding, he offered to help…and he offered to let us use some of his lumber.

To us, this was the coolest thing ever. Being able to work with such old wood (circa 1840!) with such a rich history meant a lot to us. And, of course, being able to reuse antique heart of pine versus taking a trip to the lumber yard was pretty awesome, too.

The wood needed a good sanding and was then cut into 11×17 sized pieces. The signs were spray painted using stencils that we printed and cut out of cardstock. We’ll attach them to wooden stakes and will have them posted from the main highway all the way to the front gate.

stencils

ready for a paint job

this way to the photo booth!

our signs!

Aren't they awesome?

I am beyond thrilled with how they turned out! They are rustic and charming and I absolutely love them. Now, I need to find a way to justify using them for other things…I wonder how our neighbors would feel if we posted one at the entrance of our neighborhood…

As previously mentioned, I am saying farewell to a few very good friends this month. As sad as it is for me to say goodbye, I am truly excited for the new chapters in their lives. As I strive to be the eternal optimist, I am remaining focused on all the positive aspects of these life changes. 

Speaking of…since Laura will be moving to Los Angeles and Amanda will be moving to sunny Florida, I now have two new vacation destinations! Hooray! 

Also, saying farewell means one thing: Going Away Parties! With summer in full swing, we’re having a few pool parties to wish these lovely ladies the best of luck in their new endeavors. And, I’m a busy bee working on some gifts for them. 

As I reflect on the amazing memories of time spent with my friends, two things were always constant: food and drink. Without a doubt, some of our best times have been on the patio of our favorite Cuban restaurant; feasting on fish tacos and sipping sangria…or crowded into our own kitchens; cooking dinner and enjoying a nice bottle of wine. 

So, I thought I would make them each a functional gift that they could use in their new homes and that would remind them of the wonderful times we enjoyed while they called Atlanta “home”. 

I went to a local flooring supply warehouse and bought some granite tiles. Then I picked up some Atlanta tourist maps, grabbed my trusted bottle of Mod Podge and went to work!

The end result: A set of decoupage coasters decorated with our favorite Atlanta neighborhoods.

Here’s how I did it.

my supplies

tear map to fit tiles - rough edges look best

cover tile with a good coat of Mod Podge

place map on tile and coat with Mod Podge

apply a coat of waterproof varnish

affix felt pads (to protect surfaces from rough tiles)

finished coasters

cheers!

As a way to be ‘green’ during the wedding festivities (while saving some ‘green’), we’re trying to limit the amount of flowers we order. We’ll have flowers, of course; for bouquets, centerpieces, etc. but I’m hoping to be as conservative as possible with the order. Since we’re having the rehearsal dinner and the reception at the same place, I thought about using the same flowers all weekend long, but that won’t work because we’re ordering the flowers early and they’ll need some time to open up so they’ll be pretty on the big day.

I was debating what I could do to dress up the rehearsal dinner a bit, without having to order more flowers, when I discovered Paper Platypus. Karen Block at Paper Platypus creates the most beautiful paper flowers and sells them in her Etsy store. You can buy assembled bouquets as well as DIY kits in a rainbow of colors and an assortment of styles. I stumbled upon her work via Everything Etsy – a really fun blog that I visit practically every day. Paper Platypus was one of the featured Etsy sellers and was offering a giveaway for a DIY Mum kit. I entered the giveaway and lo and behold, I won!

Some floral décor for the rehearsal dinner…for free?? What a deal!

The DIY kits come with step-by-step instructions, so assembly was really easy. And the flowers look great! I’ve actually had them in a vase on the coffee table and they are a really cute addition to the room. And, since they’ll never die, I won’t have the sad task of throwing them out. Genius! 

I haven’t yet decided if I want to keep them in a vase or remove the stem and have them scattered along the tables like in the photo below. What do you think?

With summer in full swing, I’m finding myself doing a lot of entertaining outdoors; dinners on the deck, grilling-out poolside with friends, etc. I have also been getting a lot of feedback (which I LOVE) and ideas for craft projects from the Chicks. A few of them mentioned wanting to decorate their decks, patios, porches, etc. So, for this month’s Crafty Chicks Night, I thought it would be fun to make something that would beautify our outdoor living spaces.

When I found images of fabric wrapped pots on the Free People blog I knew they’d be the perfect project!  AND….I was able to totally indulge at the fabric store, which was pretty amazing.  

The Chicks each brought a terra cotta pot and I provided the fabric, sponge brushes and Mod Podge. It was a fun and easy project and I was really impressed with how they turned out!

August is going to be a hard month for me. Not because of the continued heat wave in the South. Not because I will say goodbye to summer without taking a single trip to the beach. But because in August, my sweet friend, Kathianne is moving to Dallas. In fact, she is one of three friends (two of whom are bridesmaids in my wedding) who will move from Atlanta by year’s end. But, that’s really hard for me to think about so I’m just taking each departure as they come.

Kathianne is an incredibly talented artist, an absolute ray of sunshine, and my crafty soul mate. We get together all the time to work on our individual projects and to collaborate on crafty endeavors. We also constantly send each other ideas and snippets of inspiration that we find online, in magazines, etc.

Since many state lines (and a time zone) will soon separate us, we know we will need to make an effort to continue to be each other’s muse. So, we decided upon journals, traveling notebooks if you will, that we can use to share concepts and photos of projects we’re working on as well as our ’to-be-made’ missions.

We decided to purchase rather ordinary-looking journals and decorate them together. This way they will always remind us of the times we have spent together indulging in creativity and up to our elbows in glitter, Mod Podge and glue.

a ribbon explosion

look at that focus!

these books are about to see some serious miles

Kathianne's journal

My journal (after some additional work)

ready to be filled with inspiration!

Watch out y’all, the Lone Star State is about to get a lot more crafty!

hunting and gathering

I won't lie, this made me extremely nervous.

pedestal tops

pedestal trunks

some sand paper, a good coat of Gorilla glue and, voila!

of course, I HAD to buy a cake to display the final product...hello dessert!

While we were at it, we made three extras that will be used to hold our large beverage dispensers (which will contain my cousin’s amazing rum punch – yum!)

Another afternoon of blog “research” and I serendipitously stumbled upon P is for Party.

(I like to call it research because it justifies the amount of time I spend indulging in other people’s blogs.)

Anyhoo…I stumbled upon P is for Party and promptly kissed all productivity goodbye.

Melanie Blodgett of You Are My Fave started P is for Party because she was noticing how many photos of events she was saving to her “inspiration folder” and felt she needed a better way to organize them.

I couldn’t agree with her more. I actually keep a flash drive with me to collect thoughts and ideas that I know I’ll be able to use one day. Both as an event planner and a bride-to-be, I love looking at wedding blogs because there are so many great DIY ideas that can easily translate to a birthday party or bridal/baby shower or housewarming celebration.

Here are some adorable ideas:

ribbon drink stirrers

cupcake wrapper party garland

a handy way to avoid "oops, which glass is mine?"

holiday ornament table decor

tin can hanging vase

tin can table markers

A big thank you to Melanie for creating a place to gather endless inspiration. I know I will be visiting P is for Party…E as in Everyday.

Tonight I participated in my very first sewing circle with my neighbor and friend, Kathy. She’s extremely talented and has a line of aprons that she sells in boutiques around Atlanta.

stitching with a friend

I wanted to spend some time with Kathy and I also wanted to keep the sewing momentum going. No real projects in mind, just wanted to break out the machine and work on something. So, I grabbed a bolt of fabric that Eric’s mom had given me and decided to make some party flags for the wedding and/or reception. I’m not sure if we’ll use them, but they could hang in the boathouse at the rehearsal dinner, or by the guest book area, or by the cake, anywhere, really… So, we’ll take them to the lake and see if we can find a use for them.  

In the meantime, it was fun to have a project to work on. And, I will say that having no real end result in mind surely takes the pressure off the sewing process.

I simply measured and cut 6” by 8” triangles from the fabric and roughly hemmed the edges (so they wouldn’t fray). Then I sewed them to some bias tape (that I chose to buy instead of make, thankyouverymuch…) and just like that, I had strands of party flags! 

cut triangles from reversible fabric

using a wide zigzag stitch, roughly hem edges

hemmed flags and bias tape

measuring 12" from the end, pin flags 2" apart

pin twelve flags to the bias tape leaving 12" from end

sew flags where pinned

party flags!!

They are really adorable and I don’t want to wait until October to use them…so, who wants to have a party??