{DIY} Damask Place Cards

I made some pretty place cards for my Easter table using my Letterpress machine and some new printing plates they sent me. Let me show you some fun little place cards you can make for your next dinner party or special occasion.

Here's what I used:

Letterpress Cutting machine

Damask print plate

Disc envelope dies

Bright Green Ink

Mini Fold Letterpress Paper

Lilac Construction paper

Using my disc envelope dies I cut out six of these shapes to write the names of my guests on. They looked like this after I cut them all out, 

Then using a green Sharpie, I wrote all the names of my guests on each one. 

I used the Damask printing plates, to print a background onto my place cards. I love this printing plate, I've been eyeing it for a while. It comes with a few other vintage printing plates included in the set like a crown, bird cage and old chair. So me! 

I used the bright green ink and put it on my printing plates before running them through the machine. 

Do this as many times as you need for your cards. I needed six, so I ran it through my machine and printed six of them. Here they are, aren't they pretty:

Attach the scalloped cards to the top of your place cards, using some small foam squares. You can buy these at any craft store. They will look like this, when you're done;

Then place them on top of your table for your guests, I choose to put them on top of some bright blue napkins. 

So pretty. They made my Easter table extra special this year. 

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April is printing plate month at Lifestyle Crafts. You can snag yourself some pretty printing plates too, and get them for 20% off using my code: WORLEYHOUSE at check out!

Go here to check out all the printing plates they have to offer. 

Linking with: Sundae Scoop, DIY Project Parade, Whatcha Got Weekend, Weekend Wrap Up Party, Get Your Craft On, Tuesday's Treasures, It's Overflowing

{DIY} Spring Banner

Today Lifestyle Crafts releases their 'Big Top' collection of dies. They generously sent me two new dies to use for projects. I love their pennets die and the carousel one. I decided to make a pretty Spring banner using the bunting dies.

For this project I also used the Nesting Circle dies, these cut perfect circles, and I love them! Along with some stickers and letter stickers.

Here's what I did for this project; first I cut my circles. Six of them, one for each letter. In three different colors.





Next, I cut my bunting from the dies and some yellow paper. I used some purple and green too to make the banner different colors.



Then I used some glue and attached the banners to the edges of two of my circles. I choose the first and last circles to attach them too.



I also used some pink rafia that I had left over to attach the circles to each other. Then I added the letters to spell the word "Spring." And, also some stickers to jazz it up.

I choose to hang it on our bookshelf in the middle of the living room. I love how it turned out, the perfect touch of Spring!

*****

Use my code to get an extra 20% off your purchase from Lifestyle Crafts. Check out their Big Top dies or snag something else you love! 

Linking With: Sundae Scoop, DIY Project Parade, Whatcha Got Weekend, Weekend Wrap Up Party, Get Your Craft On, Tuesday's Treasures, It's Overflowing

{Our Love Story} How We Met

On a cold rainy, wet day in January of 2005 I met my husband. Only I didn't know he would be my husband. At that time he was just another guy at church, that I'd met for the first time. As you may remember I wasn't looking for a relationship at all. You can read more about that here.

It was the Spring semester of my senior year of college. I'd just started a job at a local church in Minneapolis, I'd been there since the previous Fall. School had just started and I was just getting back into the swing of things at school and with my job. I was working for the youth pastor as his assistant in the youth department.

It was a Wednesday afternoon, I was busy preparing for our service that evening. Per usual I had a ton of things on my mind, and tons of things left to do. I'd get in "the zone" while working and not really notice much that was going on in the office around me. I just stayed in my little office working, and zipping back and forth to the youth room where service would be held to make sure everything was going smooth over there.

Later that afternoon in walked the junior high intern, with his friend. I was on my way, just grabbing some stuff before heading to the youth room. When he introduced me to his friend, it went something like this;

Intern: Andrea, this is my friend Orion. 


Me: Hello, nice to meet you. 


Me to the intern: I'm heading to the youth room, when you're done come on over and help set up chairs. See you in a few minutes. Bye.

Source: google.com via Andrea on Pinterest

So uneventful right?! Well, that one interaction led to a five month long getting to know each other, and friendship. Over the next few months Orion made the church is home church he attended while at school. He became apart of the youth leadership team. I started seeing him almost everyday at school. There were weekly visits to Chili's with the entire youth staff, where I found myself sitting next to and conversing with him more and more. 

Suddenly Orion was everywhere. At the chapel entrance when I came in with my friends, outside my apartment "he just happened to walk by." You get the idea.

I distinctively remember a youth retreat that Orion and I sat on a bus full of noisy teenagers and talked the entire ride to the Wisconsin Dells. That trip I really got to know him well, he made me laugh. He was a leader, and he was fun. 

For me it was the best prelude to what would come, our first date. 

{Giveaway} Benefit Cosmetics Goodie Bag

Hello! Happy Friday Everyone! Let's kick off Easter weekend with a fun giveaway for everyone! Last Saturday I attended a Benefit Cosmetics House Party at my friend Dana's house. It was a fun night of sharing stories and laughter with other ladies, and talking beauty. Each guest received these awesome goodies bags filled with fun cosmetics from Benefit.

Each one is filled with:

Pore Professional Pore Minimizer

Bad Lash Mascara

Foundation Samples

Coupons from Benefit 

Magnetic Frame for the fridge

What's more fun is that Dana sent me home with 2 goodies bags to giveaway here to 2 of my readers! Big thanks to Dana for helping host this fun giveaway. 

Enter this giveaway with 1 or all of the options below! This giveaway will run from today till Monday. Winners will be announced Monday afternoon. Be sure to stop by Dana's blog and thank her for being so awesome and generous! Thank you Dana! 

My Tips for Selling on Craigslist

I really started using Craigslist a lot when we moved from Minnesota to Arizona back in 2009. We had a few things we wanted to get rid of before the move, and when my garage sale was an epic fail I turned to Craigslist to sell the remaining things that didn't sell.

I've had great luck using Craiglist to sell a variety of items like; bedding, furniture, lamps, and my old Blackberry just to name a few. I thought it would be good to compile a list of some tips and tricks that have helped me along the way.

In no particular order; here's some thoughts.

Be realistic about your pricing
People use Craigslist the same way they would a garage sale or thrift store in the sense they are looking for a great deal! Do expect to charge full price for an item you bought 3 years ago. Unless something you're selling is brand new and still in the packaging you can but for the most part you're probably going to be selling gently used items and therefore your pricing needs to reflect this and be realistic.

Do your re search on pricing
I recently sold on Craigslist a lamp from IKEA. The lamp was a few years old, but my lamp had been sitting in storage for over 2 years. So it was in good condition, but not new. I searched IKEA.com to first see if it was an item still in stock, it was. I then looked at what they were selling for brand new and adjusted my pricing accordingly. I know that as a consumer I'm not going to pay the same price on Craigslist for an item I could buy brand new in the store for the same price. So do your research before you list items. This will alleviate issues with your buyers asking you all sorts of questions.

Be Detailed in Your Listings
I've learned over time that buyers want to know the whole enchalada! So do yourself a favor and include all the details! The more info you can give a potential buy up front the more likely they are to respond to your listing, and the less questions you'll have to answer back and forth with the buyer. Always be honest, does that dresser you're trying to sell have a huge scratch on the side of it? Be honest about it and tell them in the listing. The more upfront you are about the condition of the item the less likely you are to get a buyer who comes to look at your item and then sees damage and walks away. Also include if you've up cycled the item, disclose all this info from the get go. What are some details you might want to include?

Things like:
- dimensions
- condition of the item
- how old it is
- color
- if it's used or brand new
- does it come from a smoke/pet free home
- any accessories that may come with the item
- will you deliver the item
- payment options (cash, check, etc.)
- if the buyer needs to pick up the item or not
- is the item damaged, if so list the damage, scratch or dent

Include PHOTOS
You'd think this would go with out saying, but I've seen a lot of listings on Craigslist that don't have pictures. And guess what? I usually skip right past those. So do yourself a BIG favor and take photos of your listing! And use all the photo space they provide you. If they give you 4 photos take 4 great photos of your item and post ALL of them!

Safety Always
You always, always need to think about safety when selling and meeting people online. We live in an apartment and I always have my Husband go and meet the buyer. He's my "handler" as I like to call him! He meets the buyer and does the exchange of the item. A few times I've sold things (like big furniture) that required people to come into our home to move it. In these cases never do this alone, I always have my husband there. And if he hasn't been available I've asked a guy friend of ours and he brings his gun. (no, seriously) Don't ever take the chance of making a sale to someone alone or worse alone with your children in tow. Be safe about this.

If at first you don't succeed, try again.
There have been many times when I have listed items and they don't sell within the alloted time and my listing expires. Don't be discouraged, list it again. Here's the deal hundreds of people are listing items on Craigslist daily, and there's a great chance that your potential buyer out there missed your listing becuase they just didn't see it. Go back and review your listing making sure it's included a detailed description of the item, lots of photos and a fair price. All of my listings I've "relisted" have always sold the second time around if they didn't the first.

Pssst... Come back later this afternoon for a fun Friday giveaway!

{Party Planning} My Ten Event Tips

I'm really close to showing you and revealing Ava's second birthday party with you! I love a good party, and I love to plan them too! I want to do a few posts on party planning, my take! The way I approach party planning, hopefully it will help you with your next event. Next, (in another post) I'll share my thoughts on kids' parties. Now, that I've planned Ava's birthdays I feel there are some things along the way I've learned about kids' parties and I want to share that with you.

I try to make sure that every event I plan, host or help out with has all of these in it. My ten event planning tips:

1. Never break the bank on an event.

You should never go into debt, or spend more on an event than you need to. First thing when planning an event; make your budget. Decide just how much you can spend on the event, and try to stick to this as much as possible.

2. Decide what you can and can't do.

Deciding what you can and can't do early on will help in the over all planning process. For Ava's 1st birthday I did everything from the decor, to the cake, to the desserts, and food I made it ALL. I stressed myself out a lot by taking everything on. I've decided early on this next time what things I could and wanted to DIY, and the rest I used vendors and help from generous family and friends.



3. Have a theme that runs throughout your event.

Have a central theme or idea that runs throughout your event. This does not have to be BIG, or cheesy it can be subtle but effective. Something that will tie everything together. Themes don't always have to be cartoon characters either, for example, a bold color, a patter, a symbol, etc. that you carry out in your decor, and invites.

4. Be creative in every detail.

Try to be as creative as possible, this gives events your signature and makes them memorable for your guests. Be creative in your menu choices, invites, and decorations. Don't be afraid to be daring and different. Maybe you don't consider yourself a creative person, start with the Internet them. There's tons of information and inspiration in blog land, Pinterest, Etsy, MarthaSetwart.com, etc. It's one of your best resources for creative inspiration.



5. Build a team to help you, never do it "all" alone.

Never do it all alone. Once you've planned a budget, get a team of people to help and delegate the tasks. This will help the event to be stress free. Planning a bridal shower, get the other bridesmaids to help, planning your child's birthday party, enlist your Hubby, family and friends to help. You get the idea.

6. Plan ahead.

Once you decide on a date & time for your event, plan ahead! Give your self plenty of time to accomplish all that you want to. The worst is being stressed out by an upcoming party because you didn't give yourself enough time to plan. Parties should be fun, not stressful.

7. Set the mood.

Make sure your guest feel comfortable, no matter the venue you choose. Simple candle light and music can go along way in this. The tone of your event will be set by the choice in invitations. They are your guests first "introduction" to what you're event will look like.



8. Guests=conversation.

If you're having a party or an event you want your guests to feel free to mingle and start conversation, even if they don't all know each other. If you know people are coming that don't know each other, make them feel comfortable by introducing them to each other. Get a conversation going, and then you can leave them to attend to other guests. If you're hosting a dinner party come up with some simple "starter" questions and put them on tables to get people talking.

9. Don't forget the children.

At any event there is bound to be children, so don't forget them. No parent wants to feel like they can't come because of their child. So make your events and parties kid friendly. Have some coloring books, or small toys on hand they can play with. And a few menu options "just for kids." I like to buy little coloring books, match box cars and other small toys for kids to play with. This is what I did before I had kids and toys in my home. I kept them all in a small basket for when friends with children came over.

10. Be thrifty.

Even though I always set a budget, I usually try to come under that budget by looking for deals and sales. Look around for the best deals on decor, menu items, favors, and invites. Don't just buy the first thing you see. It will take a little extra time, but it will save you money and help you stay on budget! I always compare prices when it comes to party planning. It has saved me a TON of money. There's tons of online retailers that offer great deals too on party stuff. And that, makes your event signature and fabulous!

30B430: Have A Garage Sale & Clear Out Clutter



I'm slowly making my way through my 30B430 list! I need to get myself in gear, because it seems as if the months keep flying by faster! Can't believe we're already in April! 

So, I'm back with another update. I had to update the list a bit because we've had some recent changes to life which drastically affected the list. You can see the updated list here.

#23: Have a garage sale & clear out clutter.

Here's the thing; I don't have a garage. So I turned to my next best thing Craigslist to sell some stuff that we no longer used or needed.

Yes, I sold these lamps. We decided to go another direction with our bedroom so I sold them on Craigslist. We also sold our bedding that we bought. I sold another lamp that we hadn't used in over two years and a dining table.

And slowly, I've been clearing out clutter and making trips to Goodwill. Finding more and more things that we don't use and donating them. Trying to simplify a bit and get rid of the clutter.

I always have great luck with Craigslist. I'm thinking about writing a post with some tips, would you be interested?

Anyway, cross another goal off the list!

Happy Monday!