Happy Mother's Day + Spotlight on DK Designs on Etsy

Wedding season is in full swing and my Etsy shop is super busy with bridal shower tags, graduation party supplies and wedding favor labels. Between that, baseball season, the end of the school year and AWANA, it would be easy to come up with excuses instead of Mother's Day gifts.

But the more years I spend as a Mother myself, the more I realize the sacrifice many women in my life have made for their families. I've been looking for ways to express my gratitude and thought I'd share a few with you.

The first thing I thought of was corsages, but as you know their beauty fades. Recently I noticed a trend in polymer clay flowers in the Etsy Weddings Section. Genious, right? Gorgeous flowers that last forever, a keepsake of your special day.

So I began looking for a local maker as I was a bit pressed for time. I narrowed the search and found an Etsy seller in my own backyard, DK Designs.

I was ecstatic when Diane messaged me back saying she could work with my requests. I was looking for 3 delicate corsages in specific colors, and needed them quickly. Before I knew it, they arrived on my porch, carefully packaged in cute little gift boxes.

After I'd ordered these pretty little flowers I began to look through Diane's Etsy shop and noticed she has been featured on Martha Stewart. Naturally, I did the stalkery thing and found this video. I probably watched it years ago. Amazing, right?

The colors in each arrangement represent my children's birthstones. I can't wait to give them to special Mom's in my life as a token of my love and appreciation.

I'm also working on a few DIY clay projects (nothing Martha Stewart worthy, but fun) for my sister and friends that I hope to have time to share with you later this week. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I want to wish all of the Mom's out there a blessed Mother's Day!

Tutorial: Party Favor Seed Packets

They say necessity is the mother of invention. Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for a friend and I was in charge of the invitations, dessert, a corsage, a game and party favors. Since the new momma had already decorated the baby's room with butterflies and trees I decided to go with a sort of "nature" theme.

Here's what I came up with:

1. Dessert
I "ordered" cupcakes from a friend with little owls, butterflies and flowers.

2. Invitation
I created this flier to hang at church:

3. A Game
I don't know about you, but I've had enough of candy bar diaper games! Thank goodness, my sister had a great idea. She'd been to a wedding shower recently that had a game called "The Brides Purse." Each woman was given a list of items that might be in a brides purse. Points are designated for each item the participant has in their own purse. So I created the same idea, but called it "Momma's Purse." It was really hilarious to watch all the ladies digging through their purses for things like coupons, band aids, and crayons.

4. A "Corsage"
I had looked around at a few stores for the makings of a corsage or button for the new momma to wear, but everything seemed cheesy. I'm not gonna lie, my co-host actually bought one because she didn't think I'd be able to pull it off. It was this huge monstrosity with a stork on it and feathers shooting out from behind. Anyway, this is what I came up with:

5. A Little Extra Project-"Acts of Kindness"
I had another idea while working on these projects. During my internship to become a dietitian I worked for the Women, Infant, Children program (WIC) in Long Beach with a wonderful group of people right after the birth of my second child. I happened to be working there when they celebrated Mother's Day, and boy did they make a huge deal out of it. One thing that really stuck with me was a list they gave me of things you can do for a pregnant woman. It had wonderful ideas, and I've actually hung onto that paper for a long time now hoping it would be put to good use. I decided to create little "tickets" with these random acts of kindness and have each shower guest select one to bestow upon the guest of honor. I didn't snap a picture, but I think you can imagine long skinny strips of paper in a small bucket. The guest just went crazy over this idea.

6. Party Favor - Seed Packets
I've saved the best for last. My favorite project I worked on was making seed packet favors. I've made a template to share with all of you!

Envelope


The top pattern makes an envelope close to the size of an actual seed packet (2.5" x 3.5"), whereas the second is a slightly smaller version (~2"x3"). I used the smaller one for my project.

I printed the pattern on cardstock and cut it out. I then traced it onto double-sided scrapbooking paper and carefully cut each one out. Using a bone folder and ruler I made creasing lines where the envelope would be folded (2 vertical creases and 2 horizontal creases forming a rectangle in the inner corners).

The most challenging part of the project was finding strong enough adhesive since I was using very thick paper. Since my husband works for a sign company I ended up borrowing banner tape. I have bought some tacky glue to try as it is much easier to work with. I also want to experiment with other papers, such as old book pages. You'll likely see these in my etsy shop once perfected. Anyhow, here's how they turned out:

I used a simple tag punch with the scraps using the reverse side of each paper, punched a little hole in the corner and designed a little rectangle to place in the center of each. Tape runner worked fine for this portion of the project. On the back side I used trimmed return address labels to thank the guests for attending.

I used California native wildflowers as they are very easy to grow in Southern California. This tiny little packet only needs about 1/4 tsp of seeds.

The shower turned out to be a HUGE success. It is such a blessing to host for a dear friend. I know I gave her some great items to treasure.

I hope you'll enjoy doing this project yourself! Let me know if you have any questions, or ideas of your own!

-Melanie