Well, I can’t take credit for this ADORABLE party theme, but I can take credit for helping with a few of our DIY Projects. Throughout my time in Hawaii, we did a lot of party-planning! What is cuter than an UNO themed birthday party. In case you don’t speak Spanish, UNO means ONE. (No, this wasn’t a Mexican theme — even though there was a pinata!) Here are a few of the projects we put together for Jake’s Uno Birthday Party!

We put together treat bags that were filled with M&Ms in red, green, blue and yellow colors. Evelyn found these adorable mini Uno cards that we added to each bag, as well.

Even Jake helped fill the goody bags!

We created an UNO pinata. This was by far the most tedious task. We covered a rectangle shaped box with tissue paper puffs. Think back to elementary school – you probably did some kind of project with tissue paper puffs. Basically, you cut the tissue into small 1×1 squares, then take the eraser side of a pencil, cover with the tissue square, dip in Elmers glue and stick it on the box. Simple, but long tedious process. To make sure the pinata looked like an UNO card, we traced the outline on the box. This was a pull-string pinata, so the bottom of the box was preferated with scissors and strings were tied to the inside of the box. Pretty simple!

Next up – We created an UNO cake as a decoration for the party. Each layer of the cake is a styrofoam cylinder. We then hot glue gunned the Uno cards around the outside of each layer. We finished off the top of the cake with birthday party blowers. The metallic ribbon added a little pizazz to the cake. Oh, and we used our favorite little mini uno cards to create a nice little border on the bottom layer. Perfecto!

Pom-Pom Tissue balls were also a fun, easy project! I had never made these before and they were pretty simple. The instructions are pretty simple. You take maybe 5 or so sheets of tissue paper about 15×15 in size (the bigger the tissue square, the bigger your pom pom), then you create a fan with the tissue. On each side of the tissue fan, round the edge so it has a nice decorative look. Fold the fan in half and use a pipe cleaner to secure the tissue in place at the crease. Then, peel back each piece of tissue and a circular pom pom will start taking shape. Feel free to fluff it up to best position the tissue paper.

We also made a card box for Jake. This is pretty much a covered and embellished box! Easy peasy.

More Eye Candy for YOU! This is part 2 of Kim’s Family Brag Book. Again, it was absolutely a pleasure designing this beautiful album! Kim, I hope you and your family cherish the brag book for years to come!

Also, I had to include a few detailed shots of how awesome the texture is of these fabulous Basically Bare album. With the kraft envelopes, I was able to add in the extra photos that were not on a page. I simply hole-punched the photo and tied a ribbon on it. This made it look like a little tag that you could pull out of each envelope. Most pages I covered with patterned paper, but I occassionally let the fun brown, kraft paper shine through.

PS – We are having a sale on Etsy - 10% off this week only! (Oh, and the last few 2012 calendars are still just $30 – score!!)

I can’t wait to show off this adorable album. I absolutely loved working with Kim on this project. She is such a sweetheart. She’s currently away home in the Coast Guard. When she ordered this custom brag book for her parents for Christmas, I knew it needed to be extra special. Using a Basically Bare mixed media album, we put together photos of the family together – including the pups! This is just the first part… more photos coming on Monday!

Have I mentioned how incredibly IN LOVE I am with Basically Bare products? I’ve had so much fun creating and designing albums with these little mixed media beauties over the last few months. I can’t wait to see their new products coming out at the big Craft & Hobby Association Show in Anaheim. It’s less than a month away… eekkk! Can’t wait!

In the meantime, I have these adorable kraft envelope mixed media albums for just $6 on our shop! What a bargain!

Here’s a little “before” and “after” of what this album can look like… Check back tomorrow to see the full “Family” album that I designed over the holidays!

Have you seen this super fun mixed media album from Basically Bare? I’ve primarily used this album for custom orders, but I do have a handful in stock for my crafty chicks out there.

Here are the details:  This Basically Bare alterable album is perfect for paper artisans looking for a unique “bare” album to get started. This album measures 4×9 and is spiral bound. This mini album includes 10 pages of different paper items.

Page 1: Chipboard
Page 2: Cardboard (one side is bright white)
Page 3: Kraft Envelope
Page 4: Acylic (with a fun tab)
Page 5: Canvas
Page 6 & 7: (2) Mini Kraft Paper Envelopes
Page 8: Cardboard (one side is bright white, also includes a fun tab)
Page 9: Chipboard

It’s definitely my new favorite mixed media album. Super high quality!! It is just $9 and can be purchased on our online shop.

I have a few upcoming blog posts including a tutorial on this mixed media album coming soon. Stay tuned! 

Learn how to create an embellished Acrylic Mini Book! We are excited to share a step-by-step to design your own mini shadowbox!

Click here for a PDF of the Acrylic Mini Book Tutorial!

Also, just for fun — here are some detail shots of the Acrylic Mini Book!

Be sure to email photos of your project to info (at) embellishcreativedesigns (dot) com for an opportunity to be featured on the blog (AND win free goodies!). Have fun creating!

This clear acrylic mini album is the perfect coaster-size album to embellish with your favorite snapshots, quotes and journals.

Maya Road’s acrylic square scroll coaster album includes four 4″ x 4″ pages. The pages hold together with a silver chain. Each acrylic page is ready for you to unleash your creativity.

Dig out your photos and paper crafting supplies to take album from plain jane to an embellished piece of art.

If you are looking for some inspiration to get started, check out Embellish DIY kits packed with tons of the paper and embellishments!

Here’s a sneak peek of the “before” and “after” shots.

Here’s a detail shot of the “after”!

Check back tomorrow for a downloadable tutorial on how to create this adorable acrylic mini album!

Learn how to create an embellished Chipboard Mini Album! We are excited to share a step-by-step to design your own mini shadowbox!

Click here for a PDF of the Chipboard Mini Album tutorial!

Also, just for fun — here are some detail shots of the Chipboard Mini Album!

Be sure to email photos of your project to info (at) embellishcreativedesigns (dot) com for an opportunity to be featured on the blog (AND win free goodies!). Have fun creating!

Here’s a sneak peek of the “before” and “after” shots.

Here’s a detail shot of the “after”!

Check back on the blog on Friday for a how-to tutorial to create this fun mini album!

What’s new at the Embellish shop? A Mini Shadowbox! This mini shadowbox DIY project is the perfect afternoon handmade craft . The shadowbox project is complete with step-by-step instructions to create a beautiful shadowbox.

Dust off your favorite photos, embellishments, trinkets and patterned paper. Maya Road’s shadowbox is 6″ x 6″ in size and includes 6 chipboard ATC cards to easily decorate and insert into the shadowbox. This shadowbox can be painted or covered in paper. This empty shadowbox is ready to be embellished. If you are looking for some inspiration to get started, check out Embellish DIY kits packed with tons of the paper and embellishments!

Here’s a sneak peek of the “before” and “after” shots. Check back on Thursday for a tutorial on how to create the “after” shadowbox!

Here’s a detail shot of the “after”!