Don’t you love making a cute project that brightens up your home? These DIY Dixie Cup String Party Lights are so bright and happy! Make some to liven up a Spring party, use on your mantel this Summer, lighten up your porch or use in a kids room. There are so many possibilities!

Free Printable Scallop String Light Template

If you don’t have a craft cutting machine, don’t despair! I have created a free template! Just download this file and then print it out. Cut it out on card stock paper and trace the template onto scrapbook paper. I covered a new set of string lights with my NEW paper line – Groovy Darlin’ which is available at JoAnn Stores right now!!

My friend Brenda at Pebbles in My Pocket created lights like these for our Pebbles booth in January and as soon as I saw them I was in love! I love the little scallops at the bottom. I used my new Patio Party line of papers – which are FULL of bright happy colors and pretty patterns. I think they are the perfect papers to use with this project! You can buy them through Brenda’s Pebbles in My Pocket store online. And they are on sale right now.

Here’s how to make DIY Dixie Cup String Party Lights:

Supplies DIY Dixie Cup String Party Lights:

Coordinating scrapbook paper (I used my new Pebbles Patio Party line)

Scallop Cover Cut File

(just download this file to your computer and use it with your craft cutting machine)

Adhesive or a glue gun

Dixie Cups

String Lights (I used these battery-operated ones)

xacto knife

Craft Cutting Machine (optional. If you want to make the scallop ones I used they are a shape through the Cricut online store. But if you don’t have a craft cutting machine, you can trace your cups onto the back of your scrapbook paper with a pencil and roll the dixie cup as you trace until you have a shape that will cover the cup. Then just cut it out!)

Scissors

Directions DIY Dixie Cup String Party Lights:

Cut out the scallop cupcake liners on your craft cutting machine. Here is the link to the Scallop Cut File.

If you don’t have a craft cutting machine, you can trace your cups onto the back of your scrapbook paper with a pencil and roll the dixie cup as you trace until you have a shape that will cover the cup. Then just cut it out!

Cut an X into the bottom of each cup.

Turn each dixie cup over and cut a small X into the center of each cut cup with an xacto knife.

Cover the dixie cups with paper covers.

Put a dab of glue on the edge of the bottom of a cup, line up the edge of the paper cover and wrap it around the edge of the bottom of the cup until the back edge overlaps the front edge. Put a line of glue along the back edge of the wrapper and hold down until dry.

String the dixie cups onto the string lights.

If your cups fall off the string, just put a dap of glue or hot glue at the edge of the X and the lights to keep them attached.

Enjoy your new DIY Dixie Cup Party String Lights!

And I have the PERFECT thing that will look SO cute with your new dixie cup string lights, this spiffed up lightbox with paper flowers and a spray painted stand!

Seriously though, how CUTE are these together?? I want to throw a party JUST to show off these colorful projects I made!! You can get the paper for both of these projects here. 

What projects are YOU working on for Spring? 

Share them with ME in the comments!!!! 

Have a beautiful day! 

xoxo

I am a designer with Pebbles Inc. and American Crafts. I love working with them and it’s a dream come true!! 

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3-Ingredient Gingerbread Sugar Scrub

Are you looking for a neighbor or teacher gift? What about a homemade stocking stuffer? I have a gift idea that is great for anyone on your list! Homemade sugar scrub! I use it in the shower to exfoliate and moisturize my skin all year round. One of my most popular posts is my 3-Ingredient Sugar Scrub. I’s so popular because DIY sugar scrub is so easy and fast to make, plus it makes a wonderful gift! In that post I used lemon oil and it does smell heavenly. So I thought it would be fun to make a holiday sugar scrub recipe and what’s better during the holidays than the small of gingerbread?

3-Ingredients and 5 Minutes to Make!

This is such an easy gift to give! You only need: coconut oil, cinnamon oil and brown sugar! I did add a few drops of nutmeg oil to mine but that is an optional ingredient! In 5 minutes you will have a handmade gift to hand out to anyone on your list. I make up a few extras to have on hand in case anyone unexpected drops by!

Gingerbread Party Favors

One of our favorite holiday traditions is our annual gingerbread party! I have my kids and their friends over and everyone decorates gingerbread houses! This year I thought it would be awesome to make little gingerbread sugar scrub favors to send home with everyone! I used small mason jars as containers. These containers would also be a great size for stocking stuffers!

What Makes Gingerbread Sugar Scrub Different From Regular Sugar Scrub

The main difference in this gingerbread sugar scrub is I switched out white sugar for brown sugar. The brown sugar gives the smell of cookies and a different texture. So combining brown sugar with cinnamon oil makes this scrub smell so sweet and heavenly!

What Are The Benefits of Cinnamon Oil?

Did you now that Cinnamon oil is rich in anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and antioxidant properties, cinnamon oil can effectively fight against the microbes contributing to skin problems. Cinnamon Oil can be used on your face too! Cinnamon oil can enhance skin health by reducing inflammation, redness, and swelling while also eliminating harmful bacteria, preventing acne, and soothing infections.

How Do You Use Sugar Scrub?

If you have never used sugar scrub, you are in for a treat! You only need a small amount of scrub. I put directions in the printable tag – but basically you take 1 Tablespoon and rub it between your hands, warming up the coconut oil in the scrub. Then rub it on your face and/or body. Massage it into the skin. The brown sugar exfoliates dead skin cells. The coconut oil moisturizes skin and the cinnamon has so many benefits and smells so good! It will keep your skin moisturized all year round. My kids love making it and using it too! It is a great teen craft!

Free Cinnamon Sugar Scrub Printable Tags

I made up some FREE tags that you can attach to your homemade sugar scrub. The tags have instructions on them. You can put the person’s name on the line above the gingerbread man and your name on the line below! So easy! I love a practical gift idea! To print, just click on the link below that says “print out Your Free Gingerbread Sugar Scrub Tags”. Right Click on the link and save it to your computer. Then click on the file and print it out.

Print Out Your Free Gingerbread Sugar Scrub Tags

Gingerbread Sugar Scrub Instructions

Print

Gingerbread Sugar Scrub Recipe

Keyword friend gift, gingerbread scrub, gingerbread sugar scrub, brown sugar scrub, body scrub, handmade gift, stocking stuffer, handmade gift, holiday gift idea, neighbor gift, stocking stuffer, teen craft, teen gift

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut oil
• 3 cups brown sugar
• 15-20 drops cinnamon essential oil
• 5 drops nutmeg essential oil (optional)

Instructions

• In a large bowl, add coconut oil.
• Ddd brown sugar and stir.

  Note: You can also microwave the mixture for 30 seconds to soften the coconut oil if you want. If you do this you might need to add more brown sugar.
• Add 15-20 drops of cinnamon oil. You can also add 5 drops of nutmeg oil if you want. Stir until mixture.is the consistency of sand. Add more sugar if it seems too wet and more coconut oil if it seems to dry.
• Print off gift tags, fill jars with mixture, add the tag and some ribbon!

More Amazing DIY Gift Ideas

The DIY Mommy

How to make Personalized Socks with a Cricut

Need a fun & cheeky DIY gift idea? Learn how to make personalized socks with a Cricut for a unique gift this season. This is a great project for a beginner Cricut user, and it’s so affordable!

Happy Happy Nester

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar

If you’re trying to figure out what to give to your friends and neighbors this year, why not try my Double Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar DIY? Who can resist homemade chocolate chip cookies? This jar of yumminess includes all the ingredients except for three things. Plus, these cookies are hands down delicious!

My 100 Year Old Home

DIY Cocktail Napkins

We all know that a good party starts with great drinks. Today I am sharing easy DIY cocktail napkins to give as a gift. Try pairing it with a pair of martini glasses, cranberries, and a colorful bottle of Tanquerey gin.

More Sugar Scrub Recipes

And if you like this gingerbread sugar scrub recipe, be sure to check out these easy sugar scrubs!

3-Ingredient Sugar Scrub

This sugar scrub recipe is my top post right now because it is SO easy to make and you can switch out the smell and make ANY kind of sugar scrub so easily!

Limoncello Sugar Scrub and Free Printable Tags

Lemon Sugar Scrub is consistently a favorite. I added a twist on the basic sugar scrub recipe on this one. It’s not just for Mother’s Day. Print out the label and put it on a jar for a fragrant gift that can be used all year!

3-Ingredient Peppermint Sugar Scrub

My personal favorite this time of year. It’s so yummy!

Have a Creative Day!

xoxox

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Bleach Dye Clothes

If you’re kids are on Tik Tok, they’ve probably seen the big trend of bleach dying clothes. It’s so easy to do and there are so many beautiful patterns and designs you can create.

Please note —

• Do not bleach dye indoors. Bleach can be very dangerous, even fatal if swallowed. An adult must be present.
• Always work outdoors in a well-ventilated area but NOT in windy conditions.
• Never mix bleach with other cleaners, acids or compounds.
• Always wear protective gloves when using bleach
• Use only in well-ventilated areas with plenty of fresh air
• Store bleach in a well-ventilated area away from children
• Leaving bleach on clothing can result in holes and damage to fibers.

Give Old Clothes New Life by Bleach Dying Them

Bleach Dying clothes is a great way to take old clothes and give them a new look! Another idea is getting clothes from a thrift store and then bleach dying them.

Get a High-end Boutique Look for Less

Bleach dyed clothes are very trendy and you can find them in some high-end boutiques. But you can get the same look at home for virtually NO cost.

What Types of Clothes Do You Bleach Dye?

You can bleach dye almost any type of clothing. Shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, even jeans can be bleach dyed. Grab some old clothes and give it a try. You can also buy really inexpensive sweatshirts, shirts, sweatpants and tank tops on Amazon and bleach dye them.

How Long Does it Take to Bleach Dye Clothes?

It only takes a few minutes to bleach dye clothes. You spray the clothes with a bleach/water ratio and the amount of time depends on what level of fading you are looking for. If you want a subtle dye look, you leave the dye mixture on your clothes for 1-2 minutes. If you want a bigger contrast, leave the bleach dye mixture on your clothes longer.

Steps to Bleach Dye Clothes

Here is the easy process of how to bleach dye clothes.

Make the Bleach Dye

• You will need a spray bottle. You can find spray bottles at most grocery stores as well as dollar stores.
• We used the ratio of 1 parts bleach to 2 parts water.
• Shake to combine.

How to Bleach Dye Clothes

• Lay plastic garbage bags on your surface. We did this outside on our patio cement.
• Lay clothes on plastic bags.
• Put on protective gloves and goggles are recommended.
• Decide what pattern or design you want to create. (you can splatter the dye on the clothes in random patterns, or create a pattern by spraying lines or shapes on clothes. You can also roll clothes in a circle and add rubber bands to create a true tie-dye look).
• Start spraying the clothes with the spray bottle. You might want to start with a piece of fabric to experiment with before you start spraying clothes. Don’t leave on more than a few minutes – bleach breaks down the fibers in clothes and can result in holes.
• Leave spray solution on clothes until you achieve the level of bleaching you want.
• As soon as the bleach mixture bleaches the pattern to the level you want, rinse clothing in water, Then put the clothes in a washing machine and wash them to stop the dyeing process.

More Clothing Craft Ideas

How to Tie Dye Clothes

How to Upcycle Thrifted Jeans into Shorts

Tag me on Instagram at @tatertotsandjello and share crafts YOU are working on. I would love to see them!

Disclosure — tatertots and jello is not responsible for damage to clothing, furniture, applicances or medical injuries that might result.

xoxo

The post How to Bleach Dye Clothes – a Great Teen or Tween Craft! appeared first on Tatertots and Jello.

Embroider special words or sayings on a shirt for a one-of-a-kind statement piece. You can embroider any type of clothing – tank tops, shirts, sweatshirts, even shorts or pants! Give it a try! 

Embroidered Shirts are Cute!

Have you seen those shirts with the hand-embroidered words and/or images? Over a year ago I spotted a shirt idea in a boutique in Newport Beach. And it’s been on my mind ever since. So the other day I was feeling inspired and I made a couple of DIY embroidered shirts! It’s really easy. The trick it to have the supplies to be successful!

I have a new line out with American Crafts + Pebbles Inc. It’s called My Bright Life and I LOVE it so much!! One of my favorite elements about the line are the embroidery hoops elements. We have stickers that are embroidery hoops as well as some papers. I used the embroidery hoop paper as inspiration for the floral embellishments that I stitched on my shirt!!

Supplies you need to make a DIY Embroidered Shirt

Shirt(s)

Embroidery Hoop

Embroidery thread

Needles

Washable fabric pen or chalk

Here’s how to make DIY embroidery shirts!

Directions:

Decide on a shirt design

Print or sketch out the design you want for your shirt

Placement

Decide where you want your embroidery embellishment

Embroidery hoop

Secure your embroidery hoop to the shirt with the place you want your design in the center

White marker or chalk

Sketch your design on your shirt with your washable pen or chalk

Thread and needle

Thread your needle and start stitching

Back stitch

Use a back stitch to create your design (see the image below)

Tip for sketching your design

You can either free hand your design on your shirt, or another trick is to hold the shirt up to a window and slip the image you want to sketch under the shirt so that it shows through the shirt.

And don’t worry, if you TOTALLY mess up you can cut the stitches and start over. I used a stretchy cotton fabric for my shirts. A 100% cotton shirt will be the easiest to stitch on, but stretchy works too. You just need to be patient.

In about 20 minutes I was done.

And I love my shirts!!

The other design I created was a heart with a word in the middle.

I’ve had so many compliments on my DIY embroidered shirts!

Give it a try!! It’s fun to make with your teens and tweens!

And check out my Bright Life line. I love how happy it is. It’s also filled with other vintage images like pyrex bowls, beautiful florals AND lamas!! You can find the line at Pebbles in My Pocket online!!

Thanks to American Crafts for letting my dreams of being a designer come true. I love working with them!!

Have a CREATIVE day! 

xoxo

I am a designer with American Crafts. It’s a dream come true! 

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It’s almost Spring! We shared our Safe Puffy Slime recipe last Spring and we have made SO many batches of it! So this Spring we thought we would share some more FUN slime recipes!  Slime has been a great way for my kids to help with their anxiety. And my 10-year-old step-daughter loves slime too! We have been experimenting with some new slime ideas. Here’s another FAVORITE slime recipe – Kinetic Sand Slime. Have you heard of Kinetic Sand? It’s REALLY fun to play with all on it’s own.

The cool thing about kinetic sand is it will never dry out and you can create so many fun things with it. My kids love making buildings and sculptures. It has a really awesome texture. We thought it would be fun to combine two cool things we love to play with – kinetic sand + slime for a slime that is not as slime-y as normal slime, but has a sandy texture and the sand actually makes the slime smoother without the slime-y feeling. I know that probably doesn’t make sense, but make some and see what we mean!

Now there are a couple different ways to make this slime. You can make it with our Safe Puffy Slime recipe OR you can make it with clear slime. If you make it with clear slime the color or the sand shows through and my kids have assured me that using clear slime is the much cooler way to go. So for this tutorial I will be showing you how to make Kinetic Sand Slime with a Clear Glue base. Here’s a little video of us playing with it:

You can grab our Clear Glue tutorial here.

Try making some with your kids! Some people hate slime because it gets everywhere. I have found that as long as you have rules pertaining to slime there shouldn’t be problems. I have my kids use the slime on a hard surface that can be cleaned like a tray or table. I also have them play with their slime outside when the weather is good. I also make sure the slime is kept in air-tight containers that won’t spill. They love playing with it and it’s an inexpensive, soothing craft for them to make which brings out their creativity. So I say – go for it!

Have a Creative Day! 

xoxo

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3-Ingredient Butter Slime Tutorial

We have made probably 20 different types of slime. It’s so fun to make up new recipes. This is Ella’s favorite right now – Butter Slime! Why? Butter slime is fluffy and easy to play with but it has a softer, less sticky consistency. The secret ingredient?? CLAY! (this post contains some affiliate links)

3-Ingredient Butter Slime Tutorial

And let me tell you, we have tried all kinds of different kinds of clays. You need super soft fine clay to make this type of slime. We found Diaco is the brand that worked best. It’s light, fluffy clay and mixes well with the slime. You can order it to your house through Amazon. Also – order the gallon sized containers of glue too – it’s so much cheaper. We plan on making slime all summer. I also have a fun idea for your kids to store and transport their slime. That is coming up hopefully this week. Kids love to get together and play with slime. My tween and even my teenage daughter thinks playing with slime is fun. As a family with anxiety we find slime to be soothing

So here is a less slimey type of slime to make – Butter Slime. You can make Butter Slime with either white glue or clear glue. I ordered some clear glue on amazon and we don’t like it. So don’t buy the clear slime that is in the picture. Order Elmer’s Clear Glue if you want to make clear slime. Otherwise, you can use regular Elmer’s School Glue. We get our Sta Flo from Walmart. It’s cheap and it comes in a huge bottle. I think you can also get Sta Flo from Amazon too.

So make up your slime. You take 1.5 cups of white or clear glue and put it in a big bowl. Then add Sta Flo in Tablespoon increments until the slime starts to get clumpy. Then keep stirring until it sticks together. Take the slime out of the bowl and knead it until it is the right consistency. If it is still too sticky, put it back in the bowl and add another Tablespoon of Sta Flo. If it is too rigid, add a little water or a little more glue and knead it. Once we get it to the right consistency we like to lay it on a flat surface and  let it rest for about an hour.

Then you add the package of Daico clay. This clay comes in all kinds of colors, so you can make your Butter Slime any color you want! Here’s a video of Ella mixing the clay and the slime together. 

3-Ingredient Butter Slime Tutorial

I think you will love the consistency of Butter Slime. It’s so fluffy and soft. And it’s still fun to play with. It can be stretched and popped just like regular slime. I also love that isn’t as sticky so it doesn’t get all over everything LOL!

3-Ingredient Butter Slime Tutorial

Here are a couple other slime ideas:

Safe Fairy Floam Slime 

3-Ingredient Puffy Slime 

Do you have any kids craft ideas? 

Share them with us in the comments!!

xoxo

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Pool Hair Don’t Care – Teen Tween Pool Bag Tutorial. I shared my daughter’s Mermaid Pool Bag in the previous post. I thought it would be easier to break the tutorial into two different DIY’s. For my younger TWEEN daughter I thought this phrase – Pool Hair Don’t Care was perfect. She is kind of a tomboy now and just starting to care about makeup and hair. It’s so cute to watch her!

Heat transfer is easy to use. The only trick with it is that you have to mirror your image before you cut it out. So remember to do that. There is a special setting on your Silhouette machine that mirrors your image and text. Then you cut it out!

Pool Hair Don’t Care – Teen Tween Pool Bag Tutorial

After you cut out the image and text, you peel off the outer heat transfer material, revealing the cut parts. And you iron the heat transfer material onto your bag. I also found these flip flops at Michaels for $1. And this pool float! Isn’t it adorable!!

Pool Hair Don’t Care – Teen Tween Pool Bag Tutorial

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Safe Fairy Floam Slime 

We might have a SLIGHT slime obsession happening at our house.  And I don’t think we are the only ones. My 12-year-old LOVES making and inventing new types of slime. As a family with anxiety, slime seems to be a soothing way to relieve stress. So I thought it might be fun to share our slime ideas with YOU!

This one is great for fairy lovers. It’s bright pink and has LOTS of mix ins, like glitter, sequins AND floam!!

Safe Fairy Floam Slime 

Have you heard of floam? They are these little foam balls and make slime so much fun! I searched around our town for floam balls and then my friend mentioned that FloraCraft makes them and I reached out to them. FloraCraft sent me a whole box of their slime ballz! And guess what?? I am giving away two packages too! Just comment at the end of the post to be entered to win!!

We love making puffy safe slime. I have a post on how to make it here. And all you basically do is add a few things to the basic puffy slime:

• coloring
• sequins
• glitter
• floam slime ballz 

PLUS the basics:

Then put them in a container and give them to all of your friends. My daughter was saying that trading slime is a big thing at her school. There are kids in her school who make slime and sell it there. Isn’t that funny?? Here are the basic instructions on how to make this fun Fairy Floam Slime:

Be sure to check out the original Safe Puffy Slime recipe to get the measurements.

We have a bunch of tips on how to make it on that post.

Do your kids love making SLIME?

What kind of slime is their favorite??

And leave a comment to be entered to win a bag of slime ballz floam balls to add to YOUR slime!!

Have a Creative Day!

xoxo

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It’s almost time for Spring Break!

Can you believe it?? We were hoping to go away for a little sun, but it looks like we will be staying around home for the week.

So when Michaels contacted me about the Cre8time blogger challenge – I was up for some creativity. They challenged us to spend a week, doing something creative each day. And, can I tell you that this has been so fun!! We have created so many things together and even baked. For me, creating really relaxes me and helps me focus.

This month is the month of creating — be sure to check out the Cre8time initiative.   A huge thanks to Michaels Arts and Crafts for supporting the Cre8time initiative and helping spread the joy of creating! And you an upload YOUR projects into their gallery to share it too!

Here are the very easy Wood and Ribbon Necklaces we made. They would be so fun to make with your kids this Spring Break!

Supplies: 

• Wood Beads (any size you like) I used the ones I had left over from my Chandelier project
• Paint
• Ribbon and/or t-shirt material cut into 2 inch strips
• Ribbon for embellishments
• Felted round beads (you can make your own or I bought a package at Michaels) 

You can easily make these into GUMBALL necklaces by substituting the wood beads for gumballs. Then use a skewer to poke a hold through the gumball and thread twine through the gumballs.

• Polyurethane spray 
• Skewers to string the beads on so you can paint them 

Directions: 

• Take your wood beads and string them on the bamboo or metal skewers. 
• Then paint them with a foam brush. 

• Let them dry. 
• String the beads on a ribbon or a length of 2-inch t-shirt material, knotting the beads on each side of each wood bead. 

I loved the ribbon sets that Michaels has on these cute birdcage cards. They are only $2 and have 5 different, coordinating ribbons. There are so many projects I can think of making with them.

We had a girl’s night making necklaces  — it was SO fun!! 

Get creative!

Share your crafts with the creative community. Get inspired by others’ easy-to-make projects!!

Have a Creative Day! 

xoxo

And another creative tutorial is coming up in a few hours. 

Thanks Michaels for the gift card to buy supplies for this fun project. 

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