DIY Cupcake Stand

Do you ever have a picture in your head of what your craft should look like when it is done? I usually do, and sometimes I actually get close to that picture, and then there are other times where I  . . . well fail is the best word to put there.

This project is a shining example of this. I am actually going to show you my craft failure - so please be nice. This plate here was destined to be a super cute and fun cupcake stand. I had a matching one but smaller that I was going to use for the top.

Well I was baking it at the lowest temperature my oven would take so as to set the paint, and um let's just say that life intervened, or I forgot, got distracted, whatever. And now these super cute plates that I was really excited about looked like this one above - not so cute and fun anymore.

 

 I was really bummed out about this, but they were a total loss so in the trash they went. However, I was still going to do this project because I had already told my craft group that this is what we were going to do. So on to Target . . . again. This time i was wise and just bought the plates that already had a design on them. I really wanted to make this project as idiot proof as I could.

If you want to make one of these blue cupcake stands - not the burnt looking one (but I can tell you how to make one like that if you really want) what you need is:
2 plates - of different sizes  - target is where these beauties came from.(I think they look better this way, but you can use the same size)

Candle stick - dollar store
Some awesome glue E600 works good here.
light sand paper.

I sanded the bottom and middle of the plates I was going to use and then used my E6000 glue to attach my dollar store candle stick to them. And like 10 minutes later I had a beautiful blue cake stand!

I still sometimes wish that the other one had turned out, but I am not yet brave enough to try it again.

And besides this one works, so why mess with what is working?! Have any of  you had such a bad failure? please let me know that I am not the only one out there that does things like this!

No Sew Scarf

Okay, so I have some really awesome friends. The other day I was checking my email and my friend had sent me a link to make these scarves out of old t-shirts. She said that she thought I would like this. Umm, yep I loved it! I made one up yesterday. The link she sent can be found here. I also saw that Jessica from My World Made by Hand, just guest posted about this.

But these are super duper easy and here is my simple tutorial for them.

First off you start with a simple t-shirt. Conan had cleaned out his closet a few months back and had these t-shirts that he did not really care for, yet he had never worn. So I saved them thinking that they would be good for something  - and they were perfect for this project. This t-shirt is size XXL. (And do you see Ramon - from CARS in the corner of the picture? Thing #4 kept trying to sneak him into every picture I took.)

From this I used a paper plate and cut out circles - as many as I could get. I think that I got about 12. I did not cut any that had the design print on them, because I did not want that on my scarf.

From those circles I cut a spiral out of them. I did not get a picture of this, but I hope you get the idea. You cut your spiral about 2 inches in diameter until you get to the center. Here they are laying out flat.

I then took these and stretched them out a little bit to give them the ruffle look. Thing #4 thought this was great fun. After I stretched them out I glued them together with some fabric glue on one end. I glued two stacks of six together. I then took the 2 stacks and glued them together so that they both went different ways - kind of like a big huge bow tie. I really should have got a better picture of this. I am sorry if it is confusing.

I then wrapped a little piece of leftover fabric around the spot where I glued the 2 pieces. And that is pretty much it! Awesome huh?! You place this piece in the picture above in the back so that it is hiding under your hair.

 However, when I put this on, I decided to try wrapping it around my neck once and it was still super long and then it kept me a little bit warmer since the sun has not come out for 2 days here. But now I did not have to worry about that piece showing.

Here is what the end pieces look like. I love this scarf. I think it would be so much fun to make in bright colors to wear this spring! Conan was even impressed that I made this out of one of his old t-shirts.

I also made a new yellow flower to go with this olive green scarf. I had some leftover fabric from the bridesmaid dresses and so I used it and burned the edges, but instead of stacking them together like I usually do I folded them to create the puff flower. I really like the way it turned out.

 

And I found these great clip and pins together - they sure make these flowers a lot nicer to give as gifts, and to use for myself!

This craft cost me nothing, I had everything I needed to make it right here at my house! Isn't that the best! So go through your closet or your significant others and grab a few t-shirts or go and buy one, they are not too much, and you can make one of these for yourself!

Linking up to the parties in my tab at the top.

Time to Vote!

Time to vote for the One Month to Win it contest! It is supposed to be anonymous, so I cannot tell you which one is mine, but go and check them out here and vote for your favorite! There are some awesome projects that everyone came up with!

Guacamole

 Can I just say that avocados are probably one of my most favorite things to eat. Yes they are high in fat, but that it what makes them taste so good. We used to live in Florida and had an avocado tree in our backyard - that right there was seriously the best!

With this warm weather starting to creep up on us - I say creep because it keeps getting cold again here - I was in the mood for a little guacamole the other day, and so I picked up some avocados at the store. However, they had to sit on my counter for a few days before they were ready to make anything with. So last night for dinner I had guacamole. And it was divine! It is very easy to make and customize to your liking.

Guacamole:
2 avocados
2 tomatoes
garlic powder
onion powder
cilantro
pinch of basil
salt
lemon juice

Smash up you avocados and add your seasoning. I really do not measure, but you could say I add about 1 Tbsp of each seasoning. I then taste it and add a little more of what I feel it is lacking. You are probably saying to yourself 'man she really sucks at giving good recipe directions' but hey this is how I cook. You probably only want 1 tsp of lemon juice, because you do not want it to over power the other flavors.

 You could leave yours plain like this and enjoy, but for some reason I just love tomatoes in mine. So I add them and last night I fried my own chips from tortillas - in olive oil of course then it is healthy right?! :) And it was super good!

There you have a simple side dish - or dinner in my case since Conan had to work last night - that everyone is sure to love!

Fantastic Friday #9

This has been a crazy busy week for me, but then again when is it not! But it is Friday again and that means time to showcase you and all of the things that you have been working on this week! At last weeks party there was so much inspiration, I loved looking through all of the linking and finding fun ideas that I will have to try later.

 One that really stood out to me was this beautiful bookcase by Liberty Original. This would pit perfectly in my girls room! And it sure beats the basket that we use right now! I especially love the accents that she added - just beautiful! You should check out her blog - I love looking at everything that she makes.

Grab a button to let everyone know that you have been featured here!

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Now onto our party for this week. Let's see what you all have been up to this week, and link your FANTASTIC creations up!

Rules:
*link up anything that you have made - sewn, cooked, crafted, etc. family friendly of course.
*must link to a blog post, not your home page, another linky party, etsy shop or giveaway.
*link back to this post so that others can join in on the fun. Grab a button or do a text link either one is fine with me.
*visit a few of the links and leave comments! I enjoy comments because it makes me feel like someone is actually reading what I write! ;)
*become a follower of Iron Violet Designs, the more the merrier!

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Let's get started:

Flower Chandelier

Okay, if you actually read anything that I put on here you know how much I love flowers. I just love them! And because I am in the process of creating (if that is what you want to call it) my girls room I saw this from Angie at the Country Chic Cottage and fell in love! I had seen it in the PB catalog and thought it would be fun to make, but she just makes it so simple that I had to do it!

I did a few things different so I will give you my simple tutorial so that you can make on for yourself!

I own a Big Shot by Sizzix - now I don't use it nearly often enough, but it sure came in handy here. And it is quite sturdy. Here is Thing #5 standing on it - this is what happens at my house when I turn around for more fabric.

I raided my stash of fabric for all the white remnants that I had. There were some with patterns and some plain. I cut them into roughly 3 inch squares. I then used my flower - build a flower die cut (well I only used on of the dies on the pad) and I proceeded to cut a ton of flowers out. This was actually not very hard, depending on the fabric I could cut 6-8 pieces at a time. And my girl wanted to help, so I let her. I ended up cutting about 300.

This is a small pile of them about 100 - and it took 20 minutes to do all of these.

I then took three different sized embroidery hoops and painted them white, tried to tie them together. This proved to be the hardest part of this whole project. But I finally got it done!

After that I sewed my flowers into one big row, one after another. I did not get a picture of this, but you can look at the chandy and see what I mean. I actually did this at several different times because my kids were home from school and at our house after school is chaotic.

The next part was easy, I just started gluing the flowers to the hoops and then cut them to the desired length I wanted. and then you end up with this beautiful thing!

I have it hanging in my living room right now because I just love the way it looks. I told my girl that I would move it to her room when I put her bed up there. Isn't that the prettiest thing you ever saw?! I just love it, it is so girly and fun. I am hoping that it will be one of those things that she does not grow too old for, and if by chance she does, then it will be mine!

Linking to the parties in my tab at the top.

Vote for me!

Okay, I would really love to win here and so I am going to tell all of you that you need to go HERE and vote for my king sized quilt! You can vote every 24 hours, so stop by today, tomorrow and the next day! So get to it and make my day! ;)