DIY Project: How to Make Toadstool Colored Pencils

These fanciful colored pencils were a fun and incredibly easy favor to make for the gnome birthday party.

How to Make Whimsical Toadstool Colored Pencils

• a set of colored pencils
• glue (hot glue or wood glue)
• craft paint
• wooden furniture buttons

1) First, purchase a set of colored pencils.  I found these at the dollar store--only $1 per set, and pre-sharpened, even!  Buy craft paint to match each colored pencil.

2)  glue the unpainted wooden furniture buttons on the end of each pencil.  I found these at my local Michael's and Joann Fabrics in the section with wooden craft pieces.  They're designed for furniture building, to plug holes and mask screws, so they're probably available from hardware stores, too.  They already look like adorable little toadstools, and are the perfect size.

3)  Once the glue is dry and the toadstools are well attached to the pencils, paint the dome of each toadstool to match its pencil.

4)  Once the basic color of the toadstool is dry, paint tiny white polka-dots on the mushroom tops.

My girls have a rather large collection of craft paints already, so my only cost for this project was the $5 for the five sets of colored pencils from the dollar store.  These are so simple, but so utterly charming, and were a huge hit at the party.

DIY Project: Toadstool Stools

Painting circles is hard.  At least circles that look like actual circles, not the lumpy freehand amoebas that look more like my two-year-old's drawing efforts.  When I decided to paint unfinished wooden stools to resemble classic red and white toadstools, I knew I needed a crutch to get those circles just right.

I bought the unfinished footstools from my local Michael's and Joann Fabrics, strategically buying them one at a time with my 50% off coupon one week.

Then a coat of primer, and I was ready for the design.   To get those perfect circles, I simply traced around round cookie cutters with a pencil.

A jar or a glass would work equally well.  After that, all you need is a little red and white paint and you'll have a whimsical toadstool stool, a pint sized seat just the right size to go around a coffee table, and utterly adorable in a child's bedroom after the party.

DIY Project: How to Make your Own Custom Glass Plates

Looking for the customized glass plates tutorial?  It's moved to our new home on the web at Tikkido.com!  Here's the link to the full tutorial and all the pictures.

DIY Project: Felt Gnome Hats

Dydh da dhiworth Kernow!  (That means "hello from Cornwall" in the Cornish language.  We have a break between sightseeing, scrambling on the beach, and the festivities of the Lowender Peran festival, and I'm taking the time to write the first of the tutorials from the Gnome party.

A gnome-themed party needs gnome-themed hats, of course!

And happily, these darling hats are extremely easy to make.

How to Make Gnome Hats

• felt by the yard
• scissors
• measuring tape
• sewing machine, needle and thread, or glue

First, you need to cut the basic hat shape out of felt.  It will look like a triangle with a rounded bottom.   I measured the heads of my children and discovered that I wanted a roughly 20" circumfrence, so I cut my fabric 21" wide to allow for a seam allowance.  We have large heads in our family, so you may want to adjust the dimensions for your gnome.

Felt is great to work with.  Easy to cut into clean shapes, and no need to hem because it doesn't fray.  

Next, all you need to do is fold the felt triangle in half, and sew the straight edges together.

Turn the hat inside out, and voila, you have a gnome hat!  If sewing really isn't your thing, you could easily use fabric glue instead.  Or even staples.  Now that I think about it, staples would be awesome. 

I embellished the gnome hats for the gnome party by clipping on a simple flower hair clip.  Not only did it dress up the basic hat for the party, but it functioned as a favor the girls could enjoy after the celebration.

I'll be back with more tutorials as I can sneak more time from our anniversary trip fun!  Clearly we're having a great time, given the lack of posts this week.  ;-)

Real Parties: A Fall Gnome Birthday Party

Are you looking for the Gnome birthday party?  The blog has moved!  This post is now available at Tikkido.com.  And check out all the new content while you're there!

Featured on the Amy Atlas Blog! A Sweet Fall Gnome Birthday

What a great delight and honor to be featured on the Amy Atlas blog today!  I had so much fun designing this Gnome party for my friend's daughter.

Come back tomorrow for all the details--and later this week, of course, many tutorials!

Sneak Party Peek

I'm furiously working on the last-minute details for my daughter's 8th birthday this Saturday, but I have a ton of exciting stuff coming up!  Here's a little sneak peek at the invitation:

Can you guess what the theme is this year?

DIY Project: How to Make a Large Glittery Letter Decoration

Looking for the large, glittery letter tutorial?  It's at its new home on the Tikkido.com blog.

DIY Project: How to Make an Easy Circle Garland

Looking for the simple glittery circle garland tutorial?  Check it out in all its glory at its new home on the Tikkido.com blog!

DIY Project: How to Make Planet Pops

Looking for the peanut butter planet pops recipe and tutorial?  Follow the link to its new home on Tikkido.com

DIY Project: How to Make Glitter Playdough

Looking for this?  The blog has moved to Tikkido.com!  Find the full tutorial over there, and join us for lots of creative new content.

DIY Project: Princess Leia Buns Star Wars Headband

Looking for the Princess Leia buns headband tutorial?  It's moved over to Tikkido.com (along with the rest of the blog).