Aren’t these just absolutely adorable?!? I love the color, the font, the patterns…and the margarita looks pretty tasty, too.  And you can make your own Cinco de Mayo Party Circles from a FREE download from Kim at The TomKat Studio!  Enjoy!

She also has some cute links and Cinco de Mayo party inspiration at the blog post – check it out!

Cinco de Mayo Party Circles – Tomkat Studio

{image via The TomKat Studio}

In case you’ve been living under a rock and don’t read Young House Love (or follow them on Twitter or Facebook) then you might have missed their post on the FABULOUS website/blog by the name of Knock Off Wood: How to Build Knock-Out Knock-Off Furniture.  Hey…there might be one or two of you that are coming to my little ‘ol website and haven’t browsed theirs recently…right?

So anyway, on to the furniture plans!  I love these…the carpentry obsessed blogger behind Knock Off Wood is Ana from Alaska, who posts plans, step-by-step instructions and even videos to copy or be inspired by your favorite catalog store’s more expensive furniture pieces.  Plus she’s a mama to a toddler.  Impressive, Ana…impressive!  Here she is in action, oh, just working on a kitchen island.  No big deal…

For instance…have you ever been shocked (like I have) at how expensive a simple bookcase could be?  But they look so easy to build!  And Ana says that they are – this Cameron 3-Shelf Bookcase is in her ‘Fast’ category…but it is on ‘Special’ for $239 EACH at Pottery Barn Kids if you’d like to just buy your own.  No thanks!

{image via Pottery Barn Kids}

And her plans are very nicely illustrated using Sketchup – and did I mention that they’re FREE?  Click here for the plans to make your own ‘Inspired by the Cameron’ bookshelf.

{Image via Knock Off Wood}

And for you more advanced woodworkers, how about your own tiered bookcase, like the Apex from West Elm?  She has a plan for that.  But if you want to buy it, it costs $449 online.

{Image via West Elm}

You can find anything on her site…from coffee tables to beds to picture frames to…

…PLAY KITCHENS!  I was sooo excited to see these EASY plans to make fridges, ovens and sinks for little girls.  Her 3 year old’s room is seriously decked out!  Maybe if I start now I can get something done before Harper’s 2nd birthday (it’s in August, hehe!).

Or you could buy this set from Land of Nod for $448, plus tax and shipping…I do love the chalkboard paint, though!

Or this retro set from Pottery Barn Kids for $699…

And how cute is this ‘Town’ plan?  I need to get Glenn to get building…or have him show me how to use his tools a little better than my current skills.

Thanks for the inspiration, Ana!  And for making building things so simple for rest of us!

{images linked to sources and via Knock Off Wood}

I’m probably going to be regurgitating a lot of crafty finds that I come across online for you all over the next few days and/or weeks…I’m very busy with a couple of new clients (woo hoo!) and with getting ready for the Christmas fairs around here, so I’m looking for inspiration like crazy!  Plus with “the economy how it is” (aren’t you sick of that saying??) I’m sure people are looking for ways to save pennies and a good way to do that is to hand make your gifts!  So my newest crafty find that I’m loving are these adorable ‘Tiny Hot Cocoa Packets’ by LollyChops, that I found through a link from the fabulous Kim of The TomKat Studio on her Facebook page!  Thanks, Kim!

Aren’t they adorable?  The crafty mind behind LollyChops gives you step-by-step instructions for making the mix, how to add it to and make little baggies to put it in, and how to package it up nice and pretty!  And lucky for us, the PDF template is available to download so you can make your own teeny tiny packaging!  And they really are teeny tiny: about 2″ wide x 4″ tall and the baggie holds 10 tablespoons of mix, which is enough for about 3 mugs of cocoa.  I made one this morning from the PDF.  So cute!  Click –> here <– to download the file.  I’ll post the link again at the end if you want to read the rest of the post first.

Here are the directions on how to make the actual cocoa mix.  Yum.  And nice and simple.  And chocolatey.

It takes some nonfat dry milk powder, sugar, unsweetened cocoa, mini chocolate chips (or you can substitute crushed candy cane, mini marshmallows or dark chocolate flakes), powdered nondairy creamer and a little salt, all in one big bag or container.  You put a little bit of it into a baggie, and then put the baggie into the teeny tiny template that you print out, cut, fold and tie with a ribbon.  Easy peasy.  This is what page 2 of the PDF looks like and the photo above is what you get with page 1.  Handy, right?

She also gives you some instructions on making a little sandwich baggie to fill with cocoa mix that will fit inside of the packaging.  I attempted a baggie and it will work, I just don’t have all of the ingredients to make the cocoa mix!  Yet…

First you cut the top off of a sandwich baggie.

Then you fold the baggie in half (side to side, not bottom to top…), but not quite folded all of the way over…then tape.  See photo:

Now fold the opening down around itself, and scoop the cocoa mix into the opening by the tablespoon.  You’re only putting mix into one side of the bag.  You should be able to fit about 10 tablespoons into the baggie.  The instructions say that each cup of cocoa should take 3-4 tablespoons of mix…which will make 3 mugs of cocoa.  After you scoop your mix in, fold the top of the baggie back over itself to close…or tie with a twist-tie.

Now you can attach the baggie inside of your paper or cardstock packaging that you printed and folded.  Here is my attempt that I tried this morning.  I printed it onto white cardstock.  Sorry for the low-res photo…I took it with my webcam on my computer.    And don’t mind my messy office!

I would just tape the baggie inside of the little cardstock triangle by the top and bottom of the bag (LollyChops recommends taping the baggie mix to the bottom to avoid it sliding around).  Or tie your twist-tie in with the ribbon where you punched a hole in the cardstock.  Any other suggestions?

It’s also perfect size to add a trimmed-down business card to the bottom…except you can’t sell these exact templates (they’re for non-commercial use only), but if you just made your own packaging templates on the computer you could!  The full template size is 2 1/4″ x 10″, and each side of the template is 4″ tall…just add a blank (or add your info.) 2″ x 2″ square in the middle, which is the flat bottom, and add the name of the mix and instructions to either side.  You’ll see what I mean on the template…

Click –> here <– to download the file.

Do you know of any other cute handmade gift ideas floating around out there on the web?  I’d love to know your favorite resources!

I’m off to browse the rest of the LollyChops site…see ya’!

{all images, except my 2 webcam shots, via LollyChops}

Are you a stitcher?  Embroidery is becoming very popular and I’ve been noticing it more and more in home decor (and not just on throw pillows!).  Have you noticed this trend as much as I have?  Hanging an embroidery hoop is an easy way to fill an awkward space, and it is a great way to add some personalization to your decor.  I think the idea is just absolutely adorable, inexpensive to buy, and even more inexpensive and easy to DIY.  After seeing a lot of embroidery work, or embroidery hoop art around the web, a lot of the paths lead me here: Sublime Stitching.  I love their motto: “This ain’t your gramma’s embroidery!” They have the cutest (and edgiest) embroidery patterns, lots of how-to’s if you’re not sure how to get started with embroidery, and a shop for all of the tools you’d need to take up this easy-to-learn hobby.  I was clicking all around the site a few months ago, and I even bought one of their ‘Ultimate Embroidery Kits‘ with the intention of making some personalized art for my house, and a few Christmas gifts…well Christmas is only a month and a half away so we’ll have to see if I actually follow through. 

Not into stitching?  Try hanging an embroidery hoop stuffed (is that the right word?) with your favorite designer fabrics and you have an artful arrangement that makes you happy every time you see it.  I’m kicking myself for not buying a lot that I found on Etsy of various sizes of embroidery hoops…haven’t found another lot at such a value since!

I love this studio space, via Apartment Therapy.  The owner’s blog can be found here (called The Locker – she makes lovely fabric-and-paper cards in her Etsy shop).

Do you love the embroidery stitching look, but don’t want to stitch your own?  Well, fortunately there are a few sellers on Etsy that make them for you and they are amazing!  Here are a few that I’ve found that I’m sure you’ll love as much as I do.

This image above is via Green Wedding Shoes, and links to a post about giving these as a wedding gift, but the actual images are from an Etsy shop called Miniature Rhino where the owner will create a customized design for you!  How.  Stinkin’.  Sweet.

This is another piece from Miniature Rhino (I found the image at Lara Lewis’ blog here) but I don’t see it in the Miniature Rhino shop while I’m looking today.  Wouldn’t this be a great gift?  I’d keep checking her shop if you like it!  Stitching a constellation is a such a cute idea.

I really can’t get over this look – it’s like a parlor wall, where most people would arrange a huge wall of photos, but these hoops just make me smile!  I think a wall with both photos in frames and embroidery hoops would look amazing!  Image via Nea on Etsy. Below is a close-up of the little grey and green hoop on the bottom.

I love the grey and green branch.  This is Nea’s ‘Branch Wall Wear“.  I’ve had this one in my Etsy favorites for a while.

You can even put a chalkboard oilcloth in an embroidery hoop.  Love it!  Via Bliss in a Teacup on Etsy.

How about using fabric scraps in an embroidery hoop as a bulletin board?  Via Apartment Therapy.

Another example of mixing some cute patterns in an arrangement of hoops! Via Things I Like to Look At.

This is an image from the Etsy shop andwabisabi where you can buy this set of cross stitch patterns for $3.00, and you’ll get it practically immediately because it’s sent to your e-mail address as a PDF.  All you need is an embroidery hoop, some embroidery floss, a needle, a piece of fabric and a pattern, all of which can be attained very inexpensively and at any craft store or online shop like Sublime Stitching. I’m inspiring myself to pick my project back up and create some art for my wall!

How about you?  What do you think of embroidery or embroidery hoop wall art?  I, for one, am loving it and the handmade look that I’m digging right now.

Can you believe it??  We’ve been counting the days around here!  Why am I so excited?  I am so excited because my sister-in-law has moved back here and she loves being (or in my case, attempting at being) crafty as much as I do…so we have been busy, busy, busy making lots of fun plans and dreaming big!  Plus Glenn and I love that we have a new couple to hang out with…   And Harper LOVES her Auntie Erin – and Glenn is having a ball hanging out with his oldest nephew.  So while Glenn and Christian were out fishing yesterday, Erin and I were busy cooking up some fun.  Literally cooking…well, we were baking!  Check it out…

We’ve been talking about joining forces to work on some fun projects, and what we’re starting with is (what else??) an Etsy shop!  Actually, it started with discussing having a booth at the local Christmas Bazaar, and I, of course, thought of my beloved Etsy.    Erin pulled out one of her many, many cookbooks (she is an amazing cook!) and the ideas just started flowing.  What we decided to start with were “Gifts in a Jar.”  You know, layer all of the ingredients for some goodies in a jar, and of course we had to make it look pretty!  It made me think of this Bakerella post that I saw a while back – she made ‘Cowgirl Cookies!‘ Aren’t they cute?

If you don’t know of Bakerella, then be sure to visit.  She.  Is.  Amazing.  We plan on making our own version of Cowgirl Cookies for the Christmas Bazaar – yee haw!! {Image via Bakerella}

Anyway, what was next?  We had to think of a cute name for our Etsy shop, right?  After throwing around a few ideas, and checking to see if they were already taken on Etsy, what we came up with was Lillie + James.  It comes from our kids – Harper Lillie and Christian James.  And we liked the way it sounded, and I liked the “+” sign.  We also bought some business cards and set up a Twitter account, ha!  Come visit us over at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LillieandJames

Here is what we made this weekend for our first test run – and yes, we tested the recipe and they are delicious – we made our own jars of “Peanut Butter Cup Bar Mix!”

Yum. You can check out the listing here.  And I think that our favorite part was the satisfaction of putting together something so cute!!  I already had the fabric (Holiday Magic Floral in Red by Studio E!) – we like that it is a holiday print, but not super-Christmas-y.  We’re planning on putting together 5 more recipes, so that means 5 more cute fabric prints!!  My favorite!!

And because I love you all, I photographed the process of putting them together.  Well, as much as I remembered to because we were having so much fun! Enjoy!!

Here is Erin tying the ribbons onto the tops of the jars. The thing about having a partner is they are the yin to your yang. I am not good at tying ribbon, wrapping packages, etc. I am a computer girl. I can set it up, design it, print it, punch it out and stick it on. She’s about the handmade skills. Go girl.

I did bake the test batch, though. And they were GOOD! Go me!

Yep, I just included a photo of my trash can. But each jar takes 8 peanut butter cups. Thank goodness for Halloween sales!

We both layered the ingredients in the jars, and while she was prettying up the top, I was printing and punching.

And whipping out my trusty hot glue gun to stick the labels on. Bakerella used double-stick tape, but she was also smart and bought smooth jars. We bought the only ones we saw where we happened to be shopping at the time. And they weren’t smooth, but we made it work!

I love my hot glue gun. I became attached when creating color/material boards in design school.

Is it straight??

Then we set up a cute little photo shoot…which took a few tries to get a good pic because it was dark by this time (ugh – Daylight Savings Time!). But we think it turned out pretty cute and we had a ball working together!!

Have a good week, and don’t forget to visit us over at Lillie + James! xo, L. (& E.)

I’m busy on client projects this morning, so I just wanted to post a quick little post offering a one-day-only giveaway!  And this isn’t a random.org givewaway where only one person wins, today EVERYBODY WINS!  Just leave a comment telling me which Print-At-Home PDF Halloween Party Set you’d like (by 8 AM PST tomorrow morning, October 29th I’m feeling generous so keep ‘em coming! I’d love to see my party set out there!! Happy Halloween!!) and I’ll e-mail it right over to you! Or you can buy it for $4 in my Etsy Shop. You choose, hehe…

Your choices are ‘Ghoulish Glam’

{Scrolling skulls, witches, spiders, bats, pumpkins and “Happy Halloween” graphics for grown-ups!}

Or ‘Little Monsters’!

{With cute little jack-o-lanterns, witches, monsters, aliens, spiders, skeletons, mummies, spiderwebs, and “Happy Halloween” graphics for the kiddies!}

And I’ll e-mail you the 5 page file that looks like this (without the watermarks, of course!):

My only request is that if you actually print it out and use it, then please send me pictures! Enjoy!! xo, L.