Envelope Liners // a DIY

Snail mail is kind of a lost art. But I love opening the mailbox and finding and hand written address on a pretty little envelope. Even sweeter? A fancy liner inside! I am getting ready for Ollie's first birthday (oh my) and so I thought I'd share how I made the liners for his invitation. 

You'll need: envelopes (mine are A2, 4 3/8" x 5 3/4"), decorative paper, A2 template from this kit, pencil, scissors, adhesive (glue, double sided tape, or tape runner)

First you'll need to trace the template along the backside of your paper. Make sure you trace in the right direction! I almost started tracing to the best fit but the realized if I'd done that, my monkeys woulda been a little wonky. Like, sideways and upside down. Ha! Good thing I caught myself. Anyways, I did have to make a couple crooked ones in order to get the amount I needed. But it totally worked out.

Once you have your liners traced, cut them out. 

Slip one into an envelope and use a small amount of glue (or double sided tape, or tape runner) just along the inside of the sticky seal. 

For the last step, fold down your envelope flap to give your liner a nice crease.

That's it! You're done! Now write a quick note and send your pretty snail mail to a friend. They'll be very happy to open the mailbox :) Don't have a template kit? This post is amazing. Disney was kind enough to add PDFs you can print and use for yourself. Yay!

My next step is to make the invites for a fun birthday at the wading pool! There will be cupcakes, water toys, and balloons. Hip hip!! I can't believe my little bambino is almost one year old. It's blowing my mind! 

xoxo

Joy

Painted Canvas DIY

Hello, Pinners! I'm so happy to have you here, thanks for coming to visit. This DIY has had tons of traffic and I'd just like to personally welcome you to HappyCandido. Stay for a bit and look around! There are a few more DIYs here!!

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I found this post from A Beautiful Mess almost a year ago and knew it was an idea I'd like to try out someday. Well, someday finally came and I did it! It took me a couple days from start to finish because, well, I'm running a small zoo. But if you started in the morning and had a fan to speed up dry time, you could do this project in one day! 

For my design, I knew I wanted to use arrows. I'm kind of into the whole tribal decor idea going on. I logged in to Pinterest for some inspiration and then hand drew my arrows. You could also trace a design!

I would advise being careful with step 4. My contact paper wasn't super sticky and, if I got carried away with the brush, it would peel up a bit. In the end, I didn't mind the sketchy edges but if you think you might, just be careful :)

Once your top coat has dried, peel the stickers off to reveal your two tone canvas. And that's it! Your artwork is ready for display! I'm super excited about my arrow canvas. It's messy and imperfect - which makes it perfect to me! There are so many possibilities for this technique. I'll have to be careful not to get too carried away. Ha! 

If you try this project, I'd love to see it! Leave a link in the comments and I'll be sure to take a look.
xoxo
Joy

LoveBug Bite

The Crafty LoveBug has bitten me! I am totally in the mood for hearts and glitter and hugs and kisses and cookies and frosting. Trouble is, our house still looks like this. So I must scratch this LoveBug Bite (if you will) with a little exploration through Pinterest. If I could get to my craft supplies..and had room to create anything...I'd surely make these:

Source: inspirationave.com via Joy on Pinterest

And bake these:

Source: keyingredient.com via Joy on Pinterest

And string these:

Source: sugarbeecrafts.com via Joy on Pinterest

Aah, that feels better. 

Have you been bitten by the Crafty LoveBug? What are you making?!

xoxo

Joy

5 Things You Should {NOT} Do When Cutting Your Own Bangs

You should not cut your bangs in your skivvies, 5 minutes before your friend is supposed to show up at your house. No matter how close you two are, you will be mortified if she knocks on the door and you're not only undressed, but also only half way through your trim.

You should not cut your bangs while wrinkling your forehead or raising your eyebrows. Especially if you are using your eyebrows as your length guide. Doing so will result in..well, you can probably guess.

You should not cut your bangs all at once, in one big swoop. Start at the center and work your way over to the sides. This way, you won't accidentally cut way. too. much.

You should not cut your bangs and then leave the texturing for later. Even heavy, blunt bangs need a little love from the texturing shears.

You should not cut your bangs and then panic. If you need to, get them wet and re-blowdry them. Now try again and blow them in a different direction. Okay, well.. Look on the bright side: in two weeks they'll be the perfect length.

Good Luck and Happy Trimming!

xoxo
Joy

Bahumbug!

I'm a total Scrooge when it comes to Halloween. I wasn't even going to dress Ollie up but at the last minute (literally, 10pm last night) I got inspired + a dose of gumption and put together this little piece.

Oh my goodness, I'm soo glad I did! As you can tell by the clip, I'm giddy with pleasure at how cute I think my little kidlet is. There are a couple other mamas in the background so those aren't all my squeals..but excuse my crazy baby talk... Happy Halloween!! 

Old Baggage

Over the last year or so I've discovered a new love affair with vintage luggage.
(get it..old baggage?)
It seems as though I'm not the only one!
This week I read how to revamp tired luggage with pretty fabric - a DIY by Rachel
And was then inspired by Savannah's collaboration of repurposed ideas.
Can you see why I love it?
Here's what I did right away:

I've had these pretty pieces in our living room since we moved in.

They have our extra blankets and pillows in them!

I loved the idea of using stool legs to lift them off the floor...

Hmmm..I think I like it!
I'll leave it for a few days and, knowing me, might tweak it a little bit.
What do you think?
Do have something you like to collect?
I'm glad my collection can double as cute storage!

Oh, hey..do you see that muddy little piggy on the bottom shelf?
I painted that for Camillo for our first Valentine's Day!

Happy Weekend!!
xoxo
Joy

A new shirt for 99 cents

I've recently made a new hobby of goodwill shopping for 99 cent t-shirts.

Partly because they're less than a dollar but mostly because I love cutting 

them up and making them feel new.

You wanna try?

All you need is a t-shirt and a pair of scissors!

Start at about 2 inches from the shoulder seam and work your way across the neckline 

towards the other sleeve.

Be mindful of any text or design on front and back so as not to cut into them (unless you want to!)

See? A perfectly cozy T to wear to the around the house, to the gym, or even on your next
trip to goodwill!
The possibilities for these DIY shirts are endless, so have fun and experiment!
After all, if you end up with a doozy, it was only 99 cents worth!

xoxo
Joy

It's Friday!

Does anybody else's dining table look like this?

I'm knee deep in a project and it's barely 10 am.

Yahoo!

Now that I've started, I probably won't be able to stop until it's finished.

Hopefully you'll forgive me if I don't give a Favorites post today! 

I'll check in after a while and share the progress...

Do you guys have any weekend plans?

xoxo

Joy

DIY: Dressing up a used jar...

Ready for the easiest DIY you've ever seen?

It's a two stepper...

Step One:

Gather your preferred jar, glue gun, and twine

Step Two:

With a hot glue gun, apply glue in small spots as you wrap twine around the mouth of your jar. 

Seriously, that's its.

Fill with your buttons or other small collectables and viola!

xoxo
Joy

diy finished project...

i didn't forget!

here's the project we made together the other day...

i was hoping to get some baking done so i could style it up with cookies or something sweet.

well, i didn't get around to baking.

so here's my breakfast :)

now i want to find some more lovely dishes.

and then maybe i could host a party with my new serving plates!

and sweets instead of english muffins.

xoxo

joy

DIY - fancy plates

This project is so fun and easy!

And inexpensive!

All you need is:

a plate

candle stick

gorilla glue (or some other really strong adhesive)

q-tips

wet cloth

i get my pieces from goodwill!

this plate was about $2 and the candle stick was less.

test pieces to make sure the base is wide enough to support your platter piece.

you don't want something tall and skinny trying to hold a large, lopsided bowl.

get it?

if you're using gorilla glue, directions call for a damp surface.

a damp cloth works perfect.

when using any other adhesive, follow those directions accordingly.

apply a thin layer of glue to one of the surfaces.

sometimes, the rim on which you apply the glue is very narrow.

in this case, i have a large enough base to use a q-tip to spread it out, like so.

 

now center your candle stick to the back side of your plate.

usually i hold it there for a second to make sure it doesn't slip around.

if you can, carefully balance a book or other heavy object to keep your pieces firmly together.

i've used a bowl of dry rice before when my candle stick was too narrow to hold a whole book :)

let sit over night while glue dries and in the morning you'll have a fancy new serving dish!

and since i made my project today, too, you'll have to wait until morning to see my finished prize!

next time you're at goodwill, wander through the dish section.

you can find really really pretty plates, bowls, and all sorts of other things to create.

if you try this project, i'd love to see what you make!

xoxo

joy