DIY Painted Drawstring Valentine Bags

I have always had a thing for cute little muslin drawstring bags.  I have them in all different sizes, and love coming up with creative ways to use them!  They are perfect for party favors or for tucking small gifts inside.

Recently I was able to attend CHA for the first time (my dream come true!), and I was given a sample of muslin and burlap bags from SRM, a company that sells fabric bags, clear containers, and stickers.  I wanted to create some little valentine bags, and decided to get creative with some of the fun supplies that I was given from the awesome companies that I met with during the blogger networking party at CHA… more on that later this week!  I decided to stick with black, white, gold, and a little bit of red for my bags, but you can use any color and create any designs that you like!

DIY Painted Drawstring Valentine Gift Bags:

You'll Need:

• Muslin and/or burlap bags
• Paint (I used Plaid Folk Art Chalkboard Paint and gold paint- not pictured)
• Paintbrush
• Glitter (I used Tulip Fashion Glitter)
• Painter's tape
• Piece of cardboard (not pictured)

1.  Place a piece of cardboard inside the bag that you will be painting, so that the paint won't bleed through to the other side.  

Place the painter's tape on one side of your bag to create stripes.  Paint the area in between the painter's tape to create stripes on the bag.  I used chalkboard paint because I had originally wanted to write names on the outside of the bags on the chalkboard stripes, but then I changed my mind.  Let the paint dry completely.

2.  Once dry, slowly remove the painter's tape to reveal the painted stripes.  I love this part! ;)  For the next part, you can choose to draw a heart in the middle of your bag lightly with a pencil freehand (like I did), or trace around a heart shape if you're not quite sure of your drawing skills.  

3.  Carefully paint in your heart.  You have a few options here- you can paint with a metallic gold paint (or any other color) like I did on my first bag.  

You can also use an adhesive and glitter, like I did on my second bag with the red heart.  Tulip Fashion Glitter worked well, because it is meant to adhere to fabric and the glitter is supposed to stay on after multiple washing.  Just follow the directions on the box.

For my third bag I painted the whole thing black, and then painted in the word "love" with gold paint.  I LOVE the way this one turned out!  Next time if I were to paint the whole thing I would do it on the muslin, not the burlap, because it makes the burlap a little trickier to close at the top, but I just adore this look.  It's easier to close the other bags, too, if you leave the top drawstring section unpainted.

Now that I have my cute little bags, I just have to figure out what I'm going to be putting inside them!

For more Valentine's Day projects, check out my free printable pirate Valentines… just add gold chocolate coins!

Or for the man in your life, I share how to open up store bought fortune cookies, take out the old fortunes, print out new romantic fortunes, and put them back inside the cookie and seal it all back up without him having a CLUE!  Easy tutorial can be found here.

Spruce up your couch with this easy DIY heart pillow!  So easy to make, even for a beginning sewer!

What's your favorite Valentine's Day project or craft?  I'd love to hear, just leave me a comment below! Happy crafting!

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Jungle Safari Birthday Party

Last month I put together a very fun jungle safari birthday party for my little guy who just turned two years old.  I LOVE the way that everything came together, and I wanted to share some of the details and photos of the party with you!

This is part one of the jungle safari party, which will mostly cover decoration and food. You can find part 2 here, where I share the games and activities, outfits, the cake, and more fun details about the party, including free printable safari passess for the kids!

The African jungle safari party was soooo much fun.  I tend to go overboard on my parties, and love to DIY everything, which worked out really well for this theme.  My son loves animals, so my inspiration for the party was the jungle cruise at Disneyland.  I wanted the look of an old vintage safari camp, complete with wood crates, old signs, lanterns, etc.

One of my favorite elements of the party was the Safari Expedition Base Camp, which was the first thing that guests saw as they came in through the back yard.  This is where the little explorers were able to spend their tickets that they were given on supplies for their safari expedition.

Does this structure look familiar?  You might recognize it as my DIY Lemonade Stand made from 3 wood pallets that I created.  I gave it a little makeover- a new coat of tan paint, a new burlap awning (instead of the pink and white striped one), and some jungle safari accessories (like lanterns, binoculars. signs, magnifying glass, butterflies, snakes, etc.) all helped add to the theme.  Fun, right?

Supplies included cute DIY binoculars (tutorial here) that I made out of toilet paper rolls and duck tape (you can check out other ways I decorate for parties with duck tape here), safari expedition passes to go around their necks that I created, and little frogs and lizards and snakes.

The mosquito bites were free (see on the sign above?), which some of the adventurers weren't excited about!  After a little reassurance from me that it was just a joke, they were ready to move on to the rest of the party ;)

To add to the whole jungle atmosphere, I stuck lots of tall bamboo plants right into the grass for the party, and it made areas of the lawn look nice and lush.  I painted some of the David Tutera butterflies I had left over from my DIY mason jar lanterns and DIY candles (made in toilet paper rolls).  They were originally white with little pearls on them, so I took off all of the pearls, and painted each butterfly with bright colors of paint.  The butterflies already had clips attached to them, so it was easy to clip them right onto the bamboo and other areas of the party.  I love the color that they added!

The food tables were a lot of fun to set up.  I used a lot of burlap, nets, crates, wood bowls, and woven Pottery Barn boxes (not sure what they are made out of)- all natural, and brown and green.  

I used some old distressed wood that I had and stenciled the "Tyler's Safari" sign, the "Base Camp" sign, and a "Beware of Tigers" sign.  I also stenciled the above crate with the word "Fragile" that the cake went on later in the party.

I served nachos, salad, a lot of fruit (regular and dried), and had a candy area with green candy all in apothecary jars.

We have a bird of paradise tree and a palm tree in our front yard, so I cut off tons of huge, green leaves, and laid those out over parts of the food tables.  I also wrapped some Pottery Barn wheat grass that I had (the little square of grass in the back) with some of the leftover David Tutera burlap from my DIY mason jar lanterns.  

I found this amazing elephant dish at World Market, and had to have it- the perfect dish to hold peanuts!  

I created these "Do not feed the animals" bags to hold peanuts or candy by printing directly on the paper bags... tutorials and template coming soon!

If you follow me on Instagram (@makelifelovely) you might have seen the amazing globe that I scored for only $5.99 at Goodwill!  I bought the crates at Michael's and Jo-Anns, and found the ball of jute rope (that is actually a doorstop) at World Market.

I was so busy with the party that I missed getting some pictures, so you're only getting a little peek of some of the candy and treats that I served in jars and wood bowls.... "worms" (gummy worms) "sticks" (pretzels), animal crackers, "alligator eyes" (sour apple rings), Eiffel Bon Bons (left over from my World Market Lemonade Stand), dried papaya, "fried ants" (raisins), etc...  The kids LOVED this area of the party the most!!  All of the amazing apothecary jars are from World Market as well.

I got some incredibly cute little kraft colored bags from Wholeport that have a sealable top, and put zebra and leopard (or is it cheetah?) duck tape around it for instant little candy bags.  The kids filled them up with their favorite treats, and carried them around with them throughout the party.

No jungle safari party would be complete without monkey food, right?!

My little birthday boy.... what a cutie :)

Thanks for letting me share my son's jungle safari party with you!

Be sure to check out part two of this jungle safari party that shows you the outfits, the games and activities, the cake I made, and free printable safari passes you can use if you plan a jungle safari party!  What's your favorite birthday party theme?

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Linking Up Here: Tidy Mom, 30 Handmade Days, Whipperberry, Tatertots and Jello, A to Zebra Celebrations

DIY Mason Jar Lanterns

I love summer entertaining, so I created some beautiful mason jar lanterns to use for some of our summer parties.  These lanterns were so easy to make, thanks to the new David Tutera Casual Elegance line, available exclusively at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores.   The casual elegance line is designed and sold under bridal, but can be used for so much more!  I love how the David Tutera Casual Elegance line is the perfect combination of rustic, modern, and vintage, with its' burlap, lace, and Kraft paper elements.  So lovely!

I made four mason jar lanterns (2 large and 2 medium), added handles to hang them, and then crafted some candles that I molded inside toilet paper rolls.  This made the perfect sized candles to fit inside the mason jar lanterns.  Here are the easy instructions...

Mason Jar Lantern:

Supplies:

• Mason jars
• Spray paint (in any color you like- optional)
• David Tutera Casual Elegance Stretch Lace Ribbon
• David Tutera Casual Elegance Windowpane Jute Ribbon
• Wire coat hanger
• Wire cutters
• Glue
• Foam brush
• Glue gun

Instructions:

1.  Decide if you would like your mason jar lantern to be clear or colored.  I made two of each.  If you would like clear, then skip to step 2.  If you would like a colored glass lantern, then spray a light, even coat of spray paint inside of your jar.  Make sure the inside is evenly coated, and let dry.  Apply a second coat.

2.  Attach the wire handle following the diagram above:
a.  Cut off the hook of the hanger with the wire cutters.
b.  Wrap the wire around the lip of the jar once as tight as you can, so that one end is short, and the other is long.
c.  Twist the two ends together, and wrap the short end around the long end.
d.  Pull the long end up to form a handle, and bring the handle back down towards the short end.  Place the wire underneath the wire loop that wraps around the jar, and then work the wire around to the other side to form a handle.
e.  Wrap the wire up and around the bottom of the handle, and then cut off the excess with the wire cutters.

3.  Cut a piece of the lace stretch ribbon long enough to wrap around the jar once, with a slight overlap. Using a foam brush, paint the liquid glue onto the glass, one section at a time.   Push down the lace ribbon onto the glue as you go, until the lace is wrapped all the way around the jar.  Let dry.

4.  Cut the bottom section of the jute ribbon off.  Carefully apply a thin strip of glue to the lace on the jar that is the width of the jute ribbon.  Use the end of the foam brush (so you don't burn your fingers) to push down the end of the jute ribbon to the strip of hot glue to secure it.  Wrap the jute around the jar, make another strip of glue at the end of the jute, and press down with the end of the foam brush to secure.  Let cool.

This next step is optional, but I'm going to show you how I made the perfect sized candles for these mason jars out of some old melted candles, wicks, a purple crayon, and some toilet paper rolls!  Curious?

DIY Candles Made in Toilet Paper Rolls:

1.  Make a cross out of blue tape like shown above.  Center an empty toilet paper roll onto the blue tape, and wrap the tape up around the roll tightly.  Wrap one more piece of blue tape around the roll to secure it.  Place on a level surface, with the blue tape end on the bottom.

2.  Melt the old candles down in an old pan that you will no longer want to make food with.  You can always buy one at a thrift store, too, to use specifically for crafts.  Make a double boiler by placing this craft pan into a slightly bigger pan with water in it.  Heat the water, which will melt the wax inside the smaller pot.  Stir.

3.  If you would like your candles to have some color, you can add a crayon to color the wax.  I used one purple crayon, and the candles were all a lovely light lavender color.  Once the wax is all melted, carefully pour the wax into the roll.  Let cool slightly, and then add the wicks to the wax, making sure that the wick is centered.  Let the candles cool and harden.

4.  Now comes the fun part!  Peel off the cardboard toilet paper roll, and you are left with your new beautiful candles!

To use your new lantern with these candles, place a candle centered inside your mason jar lantern.  I carefully poured sand about a quarter of the way up the jar to secure the candle, and then added some crushed shells that my daughter collected on the beach to the top of the sand.  Now your candle is ready to be lit!

I hung my lanterns from a tree with lantern hooks and some jute twine.  I also hung some of the beautiful David Tutera lace paper lanterns in the tree as well, with the David Tutera 48 Hour Lights in a Snap On a String hung inside the lanterns to give them an extra glow as the sun went down.

These mason jar lanterns and paper lanterns are the perfect look for a casual or elegant get together with friends or family, and a wonderful way to light up your outdoor space and add some atmosphere to your party.

I decorated the candles that I made with some pieces from the David Tutera Casual Elegance line to show you how easy it is to use these supplies to make a beautiful decoration.  All of the flowers and butterflies were premade, so all I did was just layer them with the lace and burlap pieces and attach to the candles.  So simple!

You can find the David Tutera Casual Elegance line on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest- be sure to follow for more inspiration and great ideas!

Happy crafting!

xo, Laura

If you liked this idea, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

P.S. If you'd like to check out some projects that other bloggers have made using these products, you can click on the links below to see them on their sites.


This post is brought to you by David Tutera Casual Elegance and Blueprint Social.  As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Linking Up Here: Tatertots and Jello, Sugar Bee Crafts, Ginger Snap Crafts, Lil' Luna, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue, House of Hepworths, Tidy Mom, Thirty Handmade Days, See Vanessa Craft, Craft-O-Maniac, Skip to My Lou

Surf and Turf Dinner Party + Rosemary Potato & Yogurt Dipping Sauce Recipe

One of my favorite things to do during the summertime is to entertain family and friends.  I love to play hostess and put together dinner parties and get togethers.  I have so much fun picking out the perfect dishes and dinnerware, decorations, and food for the party.

Recently I made a delicious surf and turf meal for my family and parents.  I used lots of fresh, natural ingredients, many of them freshly picked from the garden.  I knew I wanted the dinner to have a nautical theme, so I went to World Market and found the perfect dinnerware and entertaining pieces to use!  

I fell in love with so many items from their outdoor entertaining and outdoor dining collections, and found a way to incorporate many of them into my nautical surf and turf meal.  Be sure to check out their fun outdoor entertainment and outdoor dining items to find just the right products for your summer entertaining!

You might already know I have a slight obsession with anchors (and anything nautical, really), so World Market was THE place for me to shop for my dinner!

The anchor and crab Seascape Plates (pictured above) screamed out my name, so I bought a set of 8, as well as three of the matching anchor and crab Seascape Platters.

One of my favorite little nautical details was this Seahorse Spreader.  So cute!  And of course I had to have the matching Seahorse Servers, too, to serve with the Caesar salad.  You might also recognize the Lagoon dinnerware from my Coconut Macadamia Mango Crusted Mahi Mahi recipe.  I used the large Lagoon Platter for serving the garlic bread, and I used the large Lagoon Serving Bowl to serve the Caesar Salad in. I love the light aqua color, and the way that it almost looks like sea glass... beautiful!

Since no party is complete without World Market's delicious Italian Sodas, I picked up five different flavors for our dinner.  So refreshing!  I served them in the Galvanized Party Tub, which was the perfect size to hold all of our drinks.  I also picked up the Black Metal Party Tub Stand, which held the party tub really well so that I didn't have to use up my valuable table space for the drinks.

I've been looking for a few years (literally) now for the perfect drink dispenser for my parties, and I finally found this beautiful glass drink dispenser at World Market for only $19.99!  I bought two, and am absolutely in love with them. They have a few different styles of dispensers there, so be sure to check them out!  The hardest part will be deciding which one to buy!

To add to the nautical theme of my surf and turf dinner party, I included a net onto the table and used it as a runner.  On top of that, I used my DIY American Flag Garland that I made out of burlap and some spray paint. 

I love the color that it added to the table, and it matched perfectly with another favorite World Market find- the American Flag Pillow, perfect for the Fourth of July!  I picked up two of these adorable pillows. 

For our surf and turf dinner, I decided to go with shrimp and lobster tail and top sirloin steak. Yummmm!! We grilled the shrimp and steak, and boiled the lobster tail.

The meat and seafood tasted absolutely perfect! To go with main dishes, my mom and I made some delicious salads.

I made a Caesar salad, and my mom went out to the garden and picked fresh tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, and dill to make a tomato basil salad and a cucumber onion salad.  The salads tasted so fresh since the ingredients came straight from the garden!

One of my favorite side dishes I created for this meal were the Rosemary Potatoes with a Creamy Caper and Dill Dipping Sauce.  I love that I can smother my potatoes in a tangy, creamy dipping sauce without feeling guilty, since this sauce is made with a Greek yogurt base (instead of heavy mayonnaise) and various herbs and spices.  No guilt at all!

The many different flavors in the sauce all fuse into one, and are amazing with the potatoes, but could also easily be used as a sauce for the shrimp, lobster, or steak.  Here's the recipe so you can try making your own!

Rosemary Potatoes with a Creamy Caper & Dill Dipping Sauce:

For the potatoes:

• Red potatoes
• Olive oil
• Fresh rosemary, chopped 
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• Diced onions (optional)

For the dipping sauce:

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
• 1 Tbsp. capers, chopped (I used canned)
• 1/4 tsp. white pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
• 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2-3 Tbsp. red onion, chopped
• Sea salt, to taste

Mix up the dipping sauce first so that the flavors can meld together while the potatoes are cooking. 

If you aren't familiar with capers, they are a small round edible flower bud used in pickling and flavoring fish, seafood, salads, etc.  I bought a small jar of capers, as well as my white pepper, at World Market.  Their white pepper tastes great and is very strong, and is the perfect color to blend right into the creamy caper and dill yogurt dipping sauce.

Add all of the ingredients to the Greek yogurt, and stir well to mix in all of the ingredients thoroughly. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.

Now on to the potatoes!  Wash and slice each potato to about a 1/4" thickness.  Place in baking pan and drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil.  Add the chopped rosemary, sea salt, pepper, and diced onions (if using), and stir to mix.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Halfway through cooking, carefully add another 1/4 cup of olive oil to the potatoes. 

After 20 minutes, pull out a potato slice with a fork, and test for doneness.  If the potato is cooked, then you may either:

1. Remove the potatoes from the oven (and keep warm until ready to serve)  or 

2. Place them in a grilling basket for about 10 minutes away from direct heat on your grill.  This will allow the potatoes to have a slightly smoky, grilled flavor.  If you do the grilling option, make sure that the potatoes are away from direct heat, and be sure to check them regularly!  We also added a few large sprigs of rosemary and some large slices of red onion for extra flavor and color. 

To serve the dipping sauce, I used these lovely large natural baking shells that I bought from World Market.  They come all clean and ready for food to be placed, or even baked, inside of them.  The shells were the perfect size for individual portions of the sauce, and fit in perfectly with my nautical theme!

Good food, a loving family, great weather, and World Market!! The perfect combination for an amazing summer dinner party!

Oh, and a few books and someone to read them to you is crucial, too.  Just ask my daughter ;)

I hope you enjoyed all the fun details of our delicious summer dinner!  If you are doing any entertaining this summer, be sure to visit World Market (in store or on-line) and see all of the amazing entertaining items they sell.  

Cost Plus World Market has partnered up with Southwest Airlines to offer four Great Summer Getaways!  Enter for a chance to win a trip for 4 anywhere Southwest Airlines flies!

There are 4 weekly Grand Prize Packages that include airfare for 4 on Southwest Airlines, hotel accommodations, AND a $500 World Market Gift Card!  You can also earn bonus entries for liking their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr brand pages for more chances to win.

Be sure to enter the sweepstakes here!  And good luck!!  Wouldn't that be so cool if one of my readers won?  Fingers crossed for you!

Are you doing any entertaining this summer?  Any fun vacations planned?  I'd love to hear about it!

If you haven't already, I'd love for you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

I am a member of the World Market Trendsetter Tribe, and I was compensated for this post.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Linking Up Here:  Sugar Bee Crafts, Lolly Jane, SNAP!, Lil' Luna, Ginger Snap Crafts, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue, House of Hepworths