Make your own Dino cake using Stamps, with Video

I'm happy to be sharing how I made this adorable Dino cake using Lawn Fawn stamps, dies, and twine. You can view the video below for the details!! I hope you enjoy it! 

I hope you loved this idea! I think that lots of Lawn Fawn stamps would be perfect for creating cute scenes on top of cakes! Give it a try! 

Crafty Weekend Fun

If you follow me on Instagram (@unifyhandmade) you may have already seen two of the cards I’m showing here on my blog today. I made these cards for fun, and I like having lots of them on hand and ready to go for myself and for my family and friends as well. The last stash I had collected was running very low, and lately I’ve been trying to make at least one card a day—for fun, to keep my stash alive, hehe. I think making one card a day is an easy goal—and it’ll certainly be a fun one. It seems as though I’ve haven’t been making as many cards as I used to these past couple of months. But now I’d like to ensure I put time aside to create at least one card a day. I think I’ve said this in the past a few times, but this time around I’m really going to make time for all of my stamps, dies, and other craft tools. I can’t let them just sit there collecting dust. They’re all too cute and fun not to use!

I do get my crafty fix when I’m working all day on the papercrafts I sell in my shop—and that’s such a blessing it itself. Maybe that’s why I didn’t even realize that I wasn’t making enough cards for fun because I have fun everyday just working on orders, too. Once in a while when I’m working I’ll glance over at my stamp stash and realize they’re being neglected but I always tell myself, “Oh the weekend, I’ll make as many cards for fun as I can” or, “I’ll make one card tonight before bed”. Usually I’ll post a light night card on my Instagram, hehe.

This weekend I also went to Lawn Fawn’s 4^th birthday party at, Stamp Fever, in Orange, CA. It’s a cute little craft shop filled with all the things to fulfil your crafting needs—plus the staff there is super nice! If they don’t have something you need, they’ll simply order it for you. Kelly Marie, and Mike, (two out of the three LF owners) were there greeting everyone, and doing fun make-n-takes. It was really fun to be in a fun crafty environment with friends. I even took my boyfriend, Gabriel, and I made him do a make-n-take with, Nancy, hehe.

While I was at Stamp Fever I picked up a few new stamp sets, and dies. I’ll probably be sharing those on my blog soon. I love supporting small business so I tried to spend as much as I could without going overboard at Stamp Fever—actually I think I did go a little overboard but it’s ok! Haha.

Tomorrow I have a new video on the Lawn Fawn blog so I hope you stop by their page to view it. I’ll probably share it here on my blog as well.

I hope you have a great day! 

Watercoloring with Distress Ink

I made a card over the weekend using this fun watercoloring with distress ink technique; and, I had a few questions on Instagram as to how I created the background so I thought it would be fun to create a quick tutorial. This is a technique I learned from watching Kristina Werner’s Youtube videos. I love watching her videos because I get to see all the new products and even learn a few tips and tricks along the way. I’d definitely recommend subscribing to her channel—it’s so fun! Click here for her Youtube Channel.

What I’m using (I purchased all of these items at Joanns & Michaels but you can also find them online:

-Distress Watercolor Cardstock

-Mini Mister

-Worn Lipstick Distress Ink

-Picked Raspberry Distress Ink

-Wild Honey Distress Ink

-The back of a shipping label (most crafters use the craft mat but wax paper would also work, too)

What I love about this distress watercolor cardstock is that it’s already at an A2 size, so I don’t have to do any cutting and measuring—it’s just ready to go. Not only that, there are also two textured sides to this cardstock. One side is smooth and the other is like a traditionally textured watercoloring paper. This card is thick and while it does warp when wet—it also flattens again once it’s dry. Yay!

Step 1: I’m using the back of a shipping label for this project, Kristina uses the craft mat (you can purchase online or at Michaels) but you can also use wax paper. You basically need something slick that won’t absorb the water or ink. So, after placing the backing of a shipping label onto my work surface I grabbed the distress ink colors I wanted to use for this card. I’m using: Worn lipstick, picked raspberry, and wild honey. Next, I removed the cap of the ink pad and apply ink to the slick surface, and repeated that with each color. 

Step 2: Once I have all of my colors smudged on the slick surface I misted the ink with water, using my mini mister. Adding water is the fun part for me, haha.

Step 3: Simply take your watercolor cardstock and smear it onto the ink and water mixture.

Step 4: Once you lift it you’ll notice a pool of ink at the bottom of the paper—simply dab that onto a piece of paper towel and set it aside to dry. It’s so simple! I love this technique.

Once it’s dry you can simply adhere it to your A2 size card base and decorate it any way you’d like to. You can use white embossing powder to create a simple card with a sweet sentiment or you can add images to it like I did with my card. The fun possibilities are endless. I hope you enjoyed this mini tutorial and if you have any other tutorials you’d like for me to create feel free to ask! 

Easy Easter Treats, Part 2, Rice Krispies Easter Bunnies

Its Monday once again and now Easter is even closer—but not to worry I have a really easy, yet super tasty treat that you can make for your friends and family for this special holiday (or even just for yourself, hehe). I went to Michaels and found that they have this really cute bunny shaped cookie cutter and it was only $0.99. I thought it would be perfect for creating Easter bunny themed treats.  The pink ribbon used for the bow is also from Michaels—you can find a wide variety of colors to choose from in their ribbon section.

What you’ll need:

Ingredients

3 tbsp. Butter

10oz. Marshmallows

6 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal

Cooking spray

Neon food coloring (optional)

Tools

Rubber spatula

Large bowl

Medium sauce pan

Wax paper

Cookie cutter 

Step 1: First thing is you’ll want to take your cooking spray and spray every single tool you’re going to use because this recipe can get pretty sticky and messy. Apply cooking spray to your sauce pan, bowl, cake sheet pan (or whatever you use), the spatula, cookie cutter, etc.

Step 2: Put your sauce pan on the stove and turn on the heat to low, add the butter and let it melt. Once the butter has melted add all of the marshmallows and stir frequently until they’re completely melted. It’s going to smell so good at this point! Once it’s been melted you can take it off the heat, and add the food coloring—but adding the coloring is completely optional.

 Step 3: Simply add the sauce into the bowl that has been pre-sprayed and mix all of the ingredients together.

Step 4: Add it to your baking dish. I placed wax paper on the bottom of the pan; namely, because I didn’t want a sticky mess on that pan. Then I spread out the mixture, covered it with another piece of wax paper and flattened it with another baking dish to make it evenly flat. Once that has been done, simply set is aside for about 20-30 minutes so it can cool down.

Step 5: Once it’s cool, you can begin cutting out your shapes with the pre-sprayed bunny shaped cookie cutter. I’ve seen man recipes that place the rice krispies in the refrigerator first but if you plan on cutting them with a cookie cutter I’d recommend simply letting them cool at room temperate. Once they’ve been cut, then you can place them in the fridge—if you like. 

 Step 6: Add some cute ribbon and you’re finished! If you’re making them the night before simply place them into an air tight container and place them in the fridge. On the day you plan on serving them take them out of the fridge to let them return to room temperature. Tip: This recipe will only last up to a week in the fridge.

Aren't they adorable?! They tasted so amazing, too. I almost couldn't stop eating the left overs but I HAD to, hehe. I hope you give these bunnies a try Easter. You and all of your loved ones will definitely enjoy them! 

East Easter Bunny Snow Globe DIY, with Video

Happy Friday everyone! I wanted to continue with my ‘Easy’ Easter series, and today I’m share how I went about making a cute bunny snow globe. This project would be awesome as a centerpiece at your celebration, perfect as a gift, or even something to put in your office. I seriously had so much fun making this that I’m thinking of making more just for fun with other Easter themed items, too. I’ve created a video this time—so that you can see exactly how I made it. It’s so easy and fun!

What you’ll need:

-Mason Jar (with wide mouth lid—I bought mine from TheContainer Store)

-Easter theme mini animal or prop of your choice

-Distilled water

-Pure Glycerin (From your local drug store)

-Glitter of your choice (I purchase mine from Michaels)

-Glue gun

Now, sit back, relax and enjoy this video! 

I hope you had as much fun watching this video as I had making it. I think my new obsession is going to be making Mason jar snow globes. I can’t wait to think of a new one; and, I think using them in ways other than for Christmas is so fun! 

Easy Easter Treats

I’ve always kept my Easter posts’ pretty simple (here, and here), and this year I’d like to do a series of easy Easter ideas—I LOVE to make things for Easter and now that my schedule is always filled I thought it would be fun to gather a few easy recipes, and DIYs so I can share them with you all.

I was on Pinterest the other day, just roaming around and getting inspired, when I came across a picture of some strawberries stuffed with some sort of cream filling or whipped cream—I wasn’t sure what it was and the description didn’t have a link or any instructions on how to make them so I thought I’d just make these with what I thought they’d taste good with. I jumped on my computer and looked up ‘Philadelphia Cream Cheese frosting’, and realized it was a simple recipe, and I knew it would taste great with these mouthwatering strawberries.

Here’s what you’ll need

Makes enough to fill 12 large strawberries

1 ½ Cups of Powdered Sugar

¼ cup of Cream Cheese (Room temp.)

¼ cup Unsalted butter (Room temp.)

½ tsp. Vanilla extract

Step 1: Take the room temperate butter, cream cheese, and vanilla and add them to the mixing bowl (using a table top mixer or a hand mixer), and blend together. 

Step 2: Add your sugar and blend together until you get a frosting consistency with soft peaks. 

Step 3: Rinse your strawberries, dry them, and remove the tops and bottoms. Removing the bottoms will give them something to stand on. Next, take a melon baller or a small knife and remove the center of the strawberry. Repeat this process for all the strawberries. 

Step 4: Add the frosting to a piping bag, and fill the strawberries. 

Wasn't that easy? I can’t tell you enough how great these tasted. I just wish I would have made more of them because they were so tasty. This is definitely one item I’m going to make at our Easter celebration; and, now that I know how great they taste I’m going to be making tons of them. 

#Happy Birthday

My arsenal of handmade cards is getting pretty low now that I haven’t had any time to create for fun—plus my collection of handmade cards are always up for grabs and available to anyone in the house that needs a birthday card, or a thank you card, etc. and that’s my excuse to make personal crafting time mandatory, now. Sometimes I forget how making something new really makes me happy—not to say that crafting (for my job) in general doesn't make me happy but if you’re a crafter you can understand the excitement and joy that comes from creating something new and beautiful. Crafting for my shop is definitely satisfying and calming—which is why I have never given up on it, but I feel like those two types of crafting are different from each other in so many ways and I need to keep my personal crafting time from fading away. 

I began to notice that my style of cards was starting to become only CAS; namely, because they’re the fastest to create (and I’m always busy and rushing) but this time after finishing my orders for the day I stayed up really late to make this intricate design and I’m incredibly happy with the way it turned out. Yes, it was time consuming but I felt so happy once I was finished with. I used my Mama Elephant, femme frames dies, some new lawn fawn stamp sets, #awesome and it’s coordinating lawn cuts, year four stamps and matching lawn cuts, critters ever after, and bake me a cake. I also used their new paper lines, Let’s Polka and Hello Sunshine. For a little be of shimmer I used the wink of stella glitter pen (Clear), and my Copic markers to color in all of the images. 

For some extra cuteness I used the sky Lawn trimmings to make the cute bow. I also used some sequins by Pretty Pink Posh, I love Paulina’s sequins!

I hope you've enjoyed this card and I’m looking forward to making more cards, and few new tutorials and ideas, too.