Easy No-Candy Valentines for Family Fun Magazine

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Easy No-Candy Valentines for Family Fun Magazine

If you're looking for some candy-free Valentines to send to your child's school, check out this DIY Valentines story that I did for Family Fun Magazine's current (February) issue! Each includes a little inexpensive gift found in the party favor section at Party City or  US Toy (perfect for a class because they are sold in bulk)!
I made the tags for the Valentine pictured above by splat painting card stock and running it through the printer (after it had fully dried). I attached the tags to these little paint sets from Party City.

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Watercolor Valentines That Anyone Can Make!

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Watercolor Valentines That Anyone Can Make!

As a painting major in art school I never quite felt like I got a handle on watercolors, working instead in oil or acrylic. Recently I was testing ideas for a handmade Valentines story and made some super simple watercolor cards and had a tiny breakthrough. Anyone could make these cards, simple painted hearts or stripes, but I finally practiced something that I remember a teacher telling me (and didn't listen to at the time). Let the watercolor do what it wants to do: pool up in some parts and remain dry brush-y (as the paint runs out off your brush) in others. 

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Pretty and Easy-to-Make Valentines Treats (using leftover Christmas candy!)

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Pretty and Easy-to-Make Valentines Treats (using leftover Christmas candy!)

Have any extra candy canes or peppermint candies leftover from Christmas? Use them to make homemade Valentine treats! Here in New York I find that I am permanently cold so any excuse to huddle around the oven is a good one! These DIY treats are from our book, Candy Aisle Crafts.
Give these candy cane hearts (above) to your Valentine in a little cellophane baggy or use them to top cupcakes.

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Last-Minute Christmas Candy Crafts

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Last-Minute Christmas Candy Crafts

Just a few days until Christmas! I'm sharing some quick ideas from our book, Candy Aisle Crafts, that utilize the candy canes and peppermint candy that we have around at this time of year. This HO HO HO cake topper can also be used on top of frosted brownies or cupcakes. 

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How to Turn Your Favorite Book into a Holiday Gift Kit!

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How to Turn Your Favorite Book into a Holiday Gift Kit!

Sometimes I want to give a special, not right-off-the-shelves gift but don't have time to handmake it, so I'll choose a great book and assemble a gift kit around it. These feel custom and personal, but are so easy to put together. I've gathered a few ideas here using some of my favorite books (and, er, my books too!).

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Easy Balloon Turkey Centerpiece Your Kids Will Love!

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Easy Balloon Turkey Centerpiece Your Kids Will Love!

These turkey balloons are an easy make-ahead centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table...kids or no kids! It's simple to put together once you've gathered the supplies so you can make a few for the mantle, the kid's table etc... 
 

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Last-Minute Halloween Balloon Decor

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Last-Minute Halloween Balloon Decor

Are any of you doing last-minute Halloween prep like me? If so, here are a few ideas for a craft that will get you a lot of decoration bang for your buck.These balloon projects are from a craft story that I did for Martha Stewart Living a few years ago, one of my favorites! For all of these, I decoupaged thin black construction paper on top of balloons.
Pumpkin instructions and a how-to video here.

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Weekend Project: Easy Coffee Filter Flower Straws

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Weekend Project: Easy Coffee Filter Flower Straws

I'm not ready to give up on summer! It will be lemonade and iced tea weather for quite a few more weeks so I'm sharing a fun way to dress up straws for all your alfresco entertaining (or for any occasion, like a baby or bridal shower!) from our new book Paper Goods Projects.

I have made a lot of paper flowers in my life and the are THE EASIEST...and fastest!! They take only a few second to make each once the filters are dyed and dried. The bigger step here is dyeing the coffee filters which also really easy (and fun!) but allow a few hours to let the filters dry. Dye as many as you can and use them for lots of flower projects! (We have a whole chapter of coffee filter projects in our book!)

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Behind-the-Scenes Of Our New Book: Fun Chapter Openers!

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Behind-the-Scenes Of Our New Book: Fun Chapter Openers!

One of my favorite parts of working on our two books, including our newest, Paper Goods Projects (coming out this Tuesday, August 11th...woohoo!), was collaborating with creative director/designer Robin Rosenthal on our photographic chapter openers. As I mentioned in this post, she knew that Amy and I wanted typography created out of the actual supermarket materials we used and crafted projects from the book and she conceived inspired chapter openers that did just that.  There are four chapters in Paper Good Projects: Coffee Filters & Cupcake Papers, Paper Plates, Bags & Doilies, Balloons, and Recycling Bin.

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DIY Lollipop Ideas...for Celebrating National Lollipop Day!

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DIY Lollipop Ideas...for Celebrating National Lollipop Day!

This Monday, July 20th, is National Lollipop Day! Yeah! To celebrate, we are sharing a roundup of our easy-to-make lollipops. They all involve melting store-bought candy which means they are easier than "from-scratch" candy-making. 

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Our New Book!

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Our New Book!

Amy and I are thrilled to announce that our second book, Paper Goods Projects, is coming out on August 11th and is available right now for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound! We are honored that our foreword was written by the brilliant Jordan Ferney, founder of the gorgeous blog Oh Happy Day and her fantastic party shop!

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Comic Book Birthday Party!

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Comic Book Birthday Party!

My son requested a comic-themed party for his ninth birthday. He loves Calvin and Hobbes, Big Nate, and Garfield and came up with his own list of fun activities based on these characters! For his cake, above, we made toppers by printing out some comics we found online, trimming and then taping them to skewers and toothpicks.

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Our Fun Website Redesign!

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Our Fun Website Redesign!

We are very excited to share the redesign of our website by brilliant designer and illustrator Robin Rosenthal. Robin, Amy Gropp Forbes (my photographer and book partner), and I collaborated to create this header design. It was so  much fun to play with all the materials that we used in our first book and mix in materials used in our second soon-to-be-released book. (More on that soon!)

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A Teeny-Tiny Summer Dinner That Your Kids Will Love!

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A Teeny-Tiny Summer Dinner That Your Kids Will Love!

Hooray for barbecue season! My boys love hamburgers (and I love playing with food) so, for fun, we had a TINY bbq dinner with miniature burgers, hot dogs, teensy baked potatoes and wild blueberry mini tarts. (The burger looks large in this photo but was quite small.) My sister-in-law, Kat, suggested the idea a few years ago and we had so much fun with it that we did it again. 

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Fish Pops for a Summer Party!

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Fish Pops for a Summer Party!

Is it safe to (finally) say that summer has arrived? I'm hoping so! It's time for sprinklers and pool parties! To celebrate, top a cake with these fish pops for an under-the-sea party. Here in Brooklyn we have a blowup pool in our small backyard and my husband and I squeeze right in there with the kids! The lollipops would make great party favors too.

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Paper Napkin Roses

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Paper Napkin Roses

It's finally spring here in Brooklyn. Hooray! We're looking forward to the blooming of our beautiful rose bush. It is glorious...for one week...so this year we are determined to seize that moment and have a gathering to show it off. I thought I'd use my stash of half-packs of different colored napkins to make some rose napkins tucked in glasses for a buffet. Both square dinner-sized and rectangular guest towel napkins work well to make roses...

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Sweet Kid-Made Gifts for Moms and Dads!

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Sweet Kid-Made Gifts for Moms and Dads!

A few years ago on Mother's Day, my husband and kids gave me what is perhaps my all-time favorite gift, a storybook they made in which I was "Superhero Mommy". This personalized story bookwould make an equally fantastic Father's Day gift or a gift for a grandparent or special friend! 

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