Friday, January 31, 2014

Guest Designer ~ Dawn Barrett, New Files, and Friday Freebie!!!

TGIF!!!!!!  I hope everyone is staying nice and warm (if you're in a cold place).  I'm looking forward to a snowstorm that should be coming through today.  I wouldn't mind having a nice blanket of snow that the girls can play in (while I cuddle up by the fire inside).  We'll see...we haven't gotten many big snows around here, yet (we're in Colorado, BTW).  

Anyway...I have an awesome Guest Designer for today.  Dawn Barrett from Sunnyside Up created these two adorable cards using the Birthday Critters Cutting Files.  I love the pattern on the elephant, and all of the details she added to both cards are just so cute!  You can find out all of the details for her projects on Dawn's Blog.  It would be wonderful if you could pop on over there to say hello and leave her some bloggy love. 



Before I get to this week's new files, I want to remind everyone that you still have a little time to enter a project into the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Love Challenge.  All you have to do is create something LOVE themed using PPPR files and link it up by Saturday night.  Then, you'll be entered to win a $20 Gift Certificate to the PPPR Store!!!!  WOWZA!  Don't miss out...we'd love to see your amazingness!



Okay...I've been working on some fun sets, but I'm not quite done with them. But, I did get one set of Valentine Titles done.  You can click on the photo to check these out in the PPPR Store.


There's also a new Friday Freebie in the store now.  This set will be available for FREE for one week, then it will move to the 99 Cent Downloads section of the store.  Click on the photo to go get it.


Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Design Team Day!!!

Hey, everyone!  Welcome to another Design Team Day here at Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons.  We have so many fun projects to share with you today, so let's get to it.  First, here's what I created:


If you follow PPPR on Facebook, you may have seen that I made some crafty resolutions for 2014.  One was to edit and print two months worth of photos each month, and another one was to create at least one scrapbook layout per month.  My plan is to create a one-page layout for the bigger events and topics and put the other photos for that event in pocket pages behind the layout. So, I've been able to stick with my resolution for one month, at least.  I used the fun Christmas Cookies Cutting Files for this layout.  I printed and cut the files because I need to make this process as simple and streamlined as possible, or I just won't stick with my resolution.  I'm so excited to actually have some photos in a book, and my family have really enjoyed looking through all of the photos I've printed so far.  Here's how the pages look in my scrapbook, if you are interested:




Here are the things I used to create the pages:



Okay, now, before I show you the amazing projects my DT created, I want to introduce you to the newest member of our team:  Leanne Garner from Created by Leanne.  She creates such fun and cute projects, and I'm so happy to have her on our team.  Welcome, Leanne!


Okay, here's what my amazing Design Team ladies created.  It would be so great if you could stop by their blogs and show them a little love. :)

Leanne ~ CreatedByLeanne


Nicole ~ teachdanz
Valentine Sweets & Center Panel Step Card Cutting Files


Brianna~ Happy Scrapper
Cupid  Kite & Clouds, and  Simple Banner Shapes Cutting Files


 Ana Maria ~ Shorty Creations
Wizard Academy and Happy Pills Cutting Files

Layered Labels 2 and  Safari Love Cutting Files

Just soooo adorable! Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I'll be back on Friday!  See you then!

Monday, January 27, 2014

A Magical Birthday Party

Today is my youngest daughter's 10th birthday, and we had a Harry Potter-themed birthday party for her this past weekend.  So, I thought I'd show you all of the party goodies I worked on to help make her day special.  I'll show you everything first (be prepared for LOTS of photos), then I'll post most of the items I used to create the goodies at the end of the post.


First, I created these invitations for her.  I decided to do one I could just print out, and I printed them on pre-cut photo paper to save some trimming time. Of course, I blocked out our personal info so I could post a pic here. :)


Then, I made a birthday banner for her:



I kept it pretty small so it would fit across our mantel.  Each banner piece is just 3 inches wide.

We had trouble finding a Harry Potter cake, so I decided to buy a premade one from a local grocery store and add some decorations myself:


Then, I worked on yummy snacks for the party. I can't take credit for these ideas...I found most of them on Pinterest somewhere.  But, I had a blast putting everything together. I labeled everything with some free journalling cards I found online that I folded over in half. I made these Chocolate Frogs with a mold I found on Amazon.com.


Store-bought lemon drops became magical by name:


These Snitch Truffles are actually doughnut holes with wings added:


Of course, some Jelly Bellys became Every Flavour Beans:


And, I made some Troll Boogers with some microwave popcorn and lime jello (I found the recipe online HERE).  It's hard to tell in the photo, but the popcorn is covered in a snotty green sticky slime...LOL! I put them in a trick-or-trick bucket we had stored with our Halloween decorations.


Of course, a Harry Potter party wouldn't be a party without some Butter Beer (it's really just root beer).


I also created some fun party favors for the kids to take home with them (along with some Harry Potter glasses I bought on Amazon. I cut all of the boxes by hand...can you believe that???  You can find the links for the boxes I used at the end of the post:




I used some old suitcases I have, an owl and scarf I found on Amazon.com, and some Harry Potter stuff we had around the house already to create this little table decoration.  My hubby also hung up an old Halloween costume he had to create a Dementor in our kitchen.  



Finally, here's a the party setup all together.  Luckily, we had a sorting hat already (can you tell we love Harry around here?).


Whew!  That's a bunch of decorations.  I can't forget to show you the card I made for her, too:


Thanks so much for stopping by today and reading my EXTRA LONG post.  As I promised, here are (most of) the items I used to create the invitations, decorations, and card: