Erica emailed us and asked us if we had a kid friendly version of our Paper Rose Corsage. Here is a simple corsage that is quick and easy to do with your kids and still beautiful. I think any mom would love getting these on Mother's Day from their child.



Supplies:
One or two green paper leaves. I wrinkled my leaf up, but that is optional
Ribbon-preferably ribbon with a little wire in it so it is easy to shape and mold
Four sheets of tissue paper 5 inches by 4 1/2 inches (or 5 x 5)
glue or tape
3 Green pipe cleaners 6 inches long


Make your tissue paper carnation. Fold all of your tissue paper like a fan or accordion.




Take one of the pipe cleaners and twist it around the center of your tissue paper.



Very gently separate the sheets of tissue paper. Fluff, puff, and mold it until you are happy with the look.



Next, glue or tape your leaf or leaves to a pipe cleaner.



Now, work on your ribbon. Just loop it a couple of times in a circle and tie in the middle with a pipe cleaner. Fluff and puff your ribbon too.



Layer all the pieces together. Put the leaf in back, then the carnation and then the ribbon. Twist all the pipe cleaner "stems" together to make one nice looking stem. Use a pencil to curl the bottom up to help finish it.

I packed up the kids and headed to Seattle this weekend to check out Seattle's first ever Cupcake Camp. YUMMO! I was completely blown away by all the cupcake talent we have in this area. This event was amazing and jam packed full of the best cupcakes ever made and they were free for tasting. I was in cupcake heaven!!

Here are a few shots of the competition table. Aren't these adorable? I wanted to try a few of these, but they were for the judges.









After checking out the competition cupcakes, we headed into the main room where we were able to taste any and all cupcakes. I discovered some new local bakeries that I will have to visit again soon.


Check out this cupcake spread.


I have to say that I was most excited about these bacon cupcakes. I've been wanting to try them out and see what all the fuss is about. Now, I know why they are making the news. They are yummy. Now that I've checked bacon cupcake off my list I am going to head over to Frost to pick up the bacon donut.



There were a few gluten free and vegan cupcakes and they were a huge hit. They were almost all gone by the time I got there and I was there when the event opened.



Look at this darling woman in a cupcake dress. She was so sweet and gracious. Everyone was snapping pictures of her and oohing and ahhing over her outfit. She just smiled and chatted with us.


Here are a few cute cupcakes that were hand delivered to our table. We were sitting down enjoying our feast of cupcakes and this sweet gal came over and insisted we didn't have enough. She shared her chocolate mint with us and boy am I glad she did. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. The lemon cupcakes were cute with little ribbon spirals on them.



I loved every minute of this event and I am crossing my fingers that they do it again next year. If you are lucky enough to have a cupcake camp in your city I recommend you go. Your tummy will thank you.

Tomorrow I restart my diet.

The winner of the little ones giveaway and a $20 gift certificate to their store is...

Lovely Lizzy

I just finished up another video tutorial for my favorite scrapbook store, Lasting Memories. We've shown a pictorial tutorial of this flower in the past, but sometimes it helps to see it as a video. Plus I've made new samples! Enjoy!

Oh, and if you're in the Seattle area, you have to check out this amazing class coming up this Saturday. You will not find a class of this caliber anywhere in Washington state. The teacher, Bethany Crowell, is so creative and I swear she's destined to be the next big scrapbooking celebrity! It's a mixed media album class, and you'll get to use paint, glitter, felt, fabric and sewing machine, handmade flowers, paper bags, and more to create this incredible album. The things you'll learn will be worth so much more than the $50 price tag--trust me. Check out some of the inside pages at the Lasting Memories blog. If you can't swing the class, at least stop by and say 'hi'--I'll be demonstrating three flowers from 11:00 to 3:00!

We are having fun making paper corsages over at Make and Takes today. Check it out!

Graduation season is almost upon us. So, we have a very fitting giveaway for you today. Your Memories Captured got started because one mom was frustrated with the lack of cute birthday invitation options for her son. The only cute ones were incredibly expensive and she thought she could do better. We are so glad! All of the designs can be completely customized and personalized.

I love these graduation announcements.


And seriously, how adorable is this birthday invitation?


So many cute options to choose from and one of you lucky readers will get to do just that. Your Memories Captured is giving away a $25 gift certificate! Visit the esty store or blog and find your favorite design. Then come back and tell us what it is. Your Memories Captured is also offering a special discount for our readers. If you put birdie20 in the message to seller you will get 20% off your order! The giveaway will end Sunday, April 18th at 11:59 PDT.

Last month I was asked to teach a craft class at my church but had no idea what to make. My friend Megan, gave me this link for tile coasters and I was thrilled. They are so cute and so easy. And let's face it, me and easy are BFFs. You can make these coasters in about 5 minutes, they are cheap, and they make great gifts. Win-Win-Win.
So take a look at what you need:

I purchased the 4 x 4 agora almond tiles from Lowe's, but you could really do any 4 x 4 tile that is not glossy and isn't to dark for the stamp to show.

All you have to do is stamp any image of your choosing onto the tile with StazOn ink and then let it dry for a few minutes. Then lightly apply a coat of sealer. I chose a glossy finish for mine, but matte would work just as well. Take caution to spray at a far distance and spray lightly otherwise your stamp could run. After the first coat has dried completely I like to add a second coat of sealer.


For the bottom of the tiles you need to use squares of sticky back felt or you could also stick on the circles of felt that are used for the bottom of legs on chairs. This way your coasters won't scratch any surfaces. Tie them up with a ribbon and you have one adorable gift (for you or a friend!)

The Three Birdies love handmade stuff for babies, but let's be honest: sometimes we're too busy to make it ourselves! I'm so glad there are talented women out there who make quality baby items so I can cheat once in a while. Our sponsor Little Ones is one of those talented ladies! And she's offering a giveaway to one of our lucky readers to show off all the new spring and summer items she has in her store. Such as. . .the darling sun hat you saw above,

amazing bibs/burp cloths. . .


fancy bows and headbands. . .


gorgeous nursing covers. . .


and fun and functional pacifier clips.


If any of these items would come in hand for you, either for your own little one or as a gift, enter our Little Ones giveaway! Abbey is giving away a $20 gift certificate to her store. Just visit her Web site and leave us a comment with your favorite Little Ones item. Do it by April 13 at 11:59pm PT--we'll announce our winner April 14th. Little Ones is also offering a 20% off coupon to our readers through April! Just enter the code 'birdies'. As always, get free shipping on orders over $25.

Good luck!

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! We're enjoying spring break this week, so I apologize for the lack of posts. Too much fun going on with our kiddos! But I do have another flower video tutorial for you that I put together for Lasting Memories. These have to be my favorite flowers I've done a tutorial on so far. They're gorgeous! Also, if you're in the Seattle area, be sure to join us this Saturday for another live flower demo and make 'n take at Lasting Memories. And check out our other flower videos from the past few weeks, like the box-top, the fan-fold, the fabric rosette, the puff ball, and the six-petal rose. Enjoy!

We love our readers. No really--we LUUUUUUVE our readers! You all are the most talented, sweetest, helpful, etc. bunch of folks. For example, take Ashley from Cute as Fox. She saw that some of you wanted the pattern for the French Dress garland and she came to the rescue. Isn't she the best?

The talented Ashley made a very similar dress PDF file and a SVG for all you Cricut owners out there. AMAZING! So, if you are in the mood to make one, two, or three of these you can now use these patterns.

Please be sure to go visit Ashley and say "Thanks!" too. I know she will love it and while you are there, check out all of her really great creations.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Ribbon rosettes


Blanket Lollipops


Burp cloth and sock cupcakes


Well, was I right? I know...she has really cute stuff! Thanks, Ashley!

My wonderful cousin, Sydney shared a great recipe for granola bars with me. We love them! My husband hates how store bought granola bars are so dry, even if they are the supposedly chewy kind. I made these ones and he couldn't get enough. They are so easy to make and they are much cheaper than buying the boxed ones at the store. I am also happy that I can pronounce every ingredient in them as well (as opposed to the store ones)!

Granola Bars
2 c. oats
3/4 c. wheat germ*
3/4 c. sunflower seeds*
1 c. chopped nuts*
2/3 c. brown sugar
½ c. honey
4 T butter
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
8 oz dried fruit*

Toast oats, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, and nuts in the oven
Put brown sugar, honey, vanilla, butter, and salt into a saucepan and cook gently until butter and sugar are dissolved.

Combine all ingredients and toss together in a large bowl to coat evenly. Press firmly into a parchment lined baking dish. Turn out onto a cutting board and cut when mostly cool. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap or waxed paper and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

*many different combinations of ingredients will work—I’ve used puffed brown rice and puffed millet instead of wheat germ, various nuts and seeds, mini chocolate chips, coconut and dried pineapple, cranberries and pecans, etc. Whatever you can think of! You just need to have about the same ratio of dry to wet ingredients. Also note: If you use mini chocolate chips as any of the ingredients then you need to just press them into the top of the granola mixture after it is on the pan and cooled a bit.

I'm still doing video tutorials for our flower demos at Lasting Memories. Check out my latest installment--the box-top flower. Enjoy!