Bunny Cakes

DIY Photo Cards from Instagram Picture

I just started using Instagram (I know I am way behind the curve).  What I like about Instagram is that it makes so-so pictures look good.  One of the pictures I recently transformed was taken of the boys at a charity walk.  I thought it would make the perfect picture to put on thank you cards to our donors, plus I thought it would be a nice picture to have printed.  The problem was I had no idea where to get a decent Instagram photo picture printed.  My sister got a bunch of her Instagram pix printed at PostalPix and we were both very disappointed with the quality.  I did some online research to see who printed the best Instagram pictures, but I couldn't find any articles which focused solely on prints or print quality--all the articles I found focused on the spectrum of different photo products available for Instagrams.  So I turned to mpix, a site a photog friend introduced me to years ago.  Mpix is known for their professional quality pictures and they haven't disappointed me in the past.  Unfortunately I couldn't get my Instagram pix printed in a square format, so I went with their die-cut wallet prints (roughly 3.25" x 2.275").  Their wallet prints come with nicely rounded corners and you can add a lustre coating for a small additional fee (which I always add).  I ordered both color and black & white instagram pix and was very happy with the quality of both pictures (taken with my iphone and altered via Instagram).  ***Update*** Mpix now offers 5x5 prints, so you can get your Instragram pictures printed out in the square format.  I have ordered some and the quality is great!

On to the DIY portion...good photo cards start with good pictures.  If you have that, then the rest is easy.  With the wallet-sized pictures from mpix you don't have to worry about trimming or cutting your pictures, they have taken care of that for you.  So really all you need is good card stock and some double sided tape.  I like to use Paper Source's 4-bar flat cards, which come in a variety of colors.  The cards I purchased have scalloped edges which cost $6.25 for 20 cards ($0.31 per card), but if you don't get scalloped edges it is $3.00 for 20 cards ($.15 per card).  I also purchase my envelopes from Paper source which cost $3.00 for 10 ($0.30 per envelope).  With the cost of the mpix prints ($.48 per print, including shipping) the total cost per thank you card card comes to $.90 - $1.09.  To get a nicely printed card from an online site would cost about 2.5 times more per card (if you're only getting 20 cards).

For my thank you cards I added a message to the back of the cards and mailed them in pink envelopes.

Here is the original Instagram picture...

If you know if any good places to get Instagram pictures printed in the square format, please share!

-K

Cardboard DIY Gift Tags

I get excited about wrapping presents.  I know most people dread it, but I think of it as an opportunity to get creative and make something look good.  Plus, it also makes the recipient feel special--at least I like to think it does.  After seeing Natalie Jost's DIY Stamped Hang Tag post, I knew I wanted to make some.  A baby shower gift gave me the motivation I needed to head to the craft room and get busy.  Instead of stamping on paper I stamped on cardboard.  Then after letting my designs dry I cut them out and punched a hole.  The trickiest part is finding out what color ink shows up best on the cardboard.  I found that either very bright or very dark colors work best, the medium shade colors get lost on the cardboard background.  Here are the results...

Here is the inspiration from Natalie's post...

-K

This Year's Valentine's Day Cards

Now that the boys are getting older (4th grade), they have a lot more opinions on what their Valentine's Day cards should be like.  When trying to come up with this year's theme we first decided on what to include with the cards.  After some searching we went with the classic novelty gift, a whoopee cushion.  From there we came up with a skunk theme and added our own version of Roses Are Red to our cards.  A flower lollipop completed them and added the obligatory sweet element.  

The cards were assembled by folding the whoopee cushions in half (use a craft glue dot to keep them folded), then we added a card on top, which read: Roses are Red, Flamingos are Pink, I Hope Your Valentine's Day Doesn't Stink.  Finally we placed the cut-out skunk on top and tied it up with the lollipop.  We later ended up having to drop the lollipop from our cards due to changes in the county v-day policy prohibiting candy, but they still turned out cute!

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

-K

Stylish Valentines

Check it out, our Zebra and Sweetheart Valentine's Day cards showed up on Stylelist, one of my favorite fashion & style sites!  I feel so honored and stylish!

-K

Valentine's Day Update

If you are a regular reader of our blog, then you will know Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays.  And you will also know I haven't posted in a long while.  One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to post more frequently, but as you can see the opposite has happened.  The truth is, I haven't been feeling well and have been utterly useless outside of my regular work hours.  Somehow I can keep it together for work, but as soon as I come home I am worthless.  For this reason I was planning on passing on personalizing Valentine's Day cards this year.  However, it only took one person to ask and I found myself opening up my etsy shop.  So if you are interested in getting your hands on a personalized version of our cards please check out our shop.  The personalized cards are $4.50 for a PDF file (with 6 cards) you can print as often as you want.  The non-personalized cards are free to download: Zebra cards, Sweetheart cards, Love is All You Need cards, Playbill Valentine's Day cards, Love Big cards & Penguin Treat Holder cards.

-K

Tissue Wrap + Ribbon Flag + Bakers Twine

My new wrapping accessorie is a ribbon flag.  It provide added cheer to any gift!  For a great wrapping combo use tissue paper (2 sheets), bakers twine and a ribbon flag.  It also go great with stamped cards.

-K

Angry Bird Birthday Party Invitations

This year when planning the boys' 9th birthday, I hit a brick wall--the boys.  They were adamantly against a theme.  "We're too old for a theme," they claimed. "You can never be too old for a theme," I countered, but they didn't budge.  I knew they would give in when tempted with an appropriate theme, but we hadn't yet found it.  Months went by.  My party planning needs were busily satisfied with my nephew's first birthday (robot party).  His party came and went.  A week till their birthday, still no theme.  This time I was distracted by a nasty toothache (and some painkillers).  Then finally it hit me, like a bomb from the sky dropped by an angry bird!  An Angry Birds party theme was agreeable to everyone, the boys were even excited by it.  I made quick work of the invitations, then we hand-delivered them to our guests (we had no time to waste).  Here is look at the final *Angry Bird Invitations* and address labels.

-K

Robot Party Invites

Baby O is turning one!  It is hard to believe that almost a full year has gone by since the lil' guy came into the world.  To celebrate his first birthday, A and I are planning a blue and orange *Robot Party*.  In addition to the robot theme, there is a sub-theme of blue and orange banners.  Allie actually sewed a bunch of banners to decorate for the party, they look so great.  For the invitations we designed a simple long card with a robot holding a balloon standing under a banner garland.  The back of the card is orange with white O's and 1's--this is a nod to bytes and bits, as well as, 'O' for Oliver and 1 for his soon-to-be age.  The cards were mailed out in silver envelopes from Paper Source with address labels bearing the banner (a prelude to the invitation).

-K

Teacher Appreciation Gift - Wild Thing Cookie Stack

It is that time of year, *Teacher Appreciation Week*--time to show your teachers how much you appreciate them.  I know managing my two boys can be rough at times, I can't imagine managing 25 kids and getting them to learn!  Don't let this week pass by without letting them know you appreciate them.  The class moms have really taken charge this year in both my sons' classes, but I still wanted to give a little something extra from our family to let them know we are thankful for all they do.  Usually I convey our message via song lyrics (examples here and here), but even after reviewing a ton of Beatle's songs I couldn't come up with anything new.  So I reused the lyrics from Wild Thing, but with a different spin: a Wild Thing theme.  After looking online at some Wild Thing parties for ideas, I was inspired by Caroline Armelle's invitations for her son's third birthday--loved the font she used (Kohicle 25).  I created a simple wrappers to decorate individually packaged Chocolate Chip Cookies.  The top cookie had a Wild Thing image with the message, 'Wild Thing, You Make My Heart Sing.'  The the other cookies had messages from the boys.

Finally, the cookies were stacked on top of a gift card and tied with baker's twine to create a sweet Teacher Appreciation gift.  For details on how to attach the bands check out here.  Download the Wild Thing Cookie Wrappers here: Wild_Thing_Cookie_Wrap.

 

-K

St. Patrick's Day Cards

Every year we usually send out a few St. Patrick's Day cards to our family.  This year I wanted to do something a little different than last year, but I didn't really come up with the design till after I had ordered my photos.  Since the design called for 3 pictures, it turned out that I didn't order enough...so I had to create two different kinds of cards.

The first card used #10 cards in chocolate and envelopes in paper bag from Paper Source.  I ordered 3 different pictures in wallet sizes from Mpix.com (Mpix will die cut your wallets so they end up with nicely rounded corners).  Then I applied the 3 different photos using double stick tape to the card stock.  To make sure your photos align nicely, use a clear ruler.  A St. Patty's Day message with applied with a rubber stamp and then the boys signed the cards.  Also, because the envelopes had the string and button closure, I had to have the post office hand cancel the cards (which looked really nice, so I was happy to have it done).

The other cards were very similar to last year's.  A photo decorated one side of the card and the other side had stamped St. Patty's Day motifs.  The scallopped cards are also from Paper Source.

-K