With only a few more weeks until the 4th of July, it’s time to start planning your celebrations.
Hi, it’s Tonya again and I’m sharing a simple do-it-yourself banner that’s perfect for hanging above your food station, on your mantel, or along the windows to decorate your home this 4th of July.
Supplies needed:
Summer is in the air! I don’t know about you, but we love to celebrate the warmer weather and the longer days by taking our meals outdoors.
Hi, it’s Tonya and I’m back with a fun outdoor dining craft project — DIY cutlery pockets out of burlap and lace.
I’m not a huge fan of plastic utensils and paper napkins. I prefer re-usable items for outdoor entertaining and picnics.
These fun burlap pockets are a great way to keep all of the items you need for a meal together. You could also include other items such as chopsticks, metal skewers for s’mores, and a straw depending on what you are serving. They are perfect for backyard barbecues, picnics, summer concerts in the park, and outdoor entertaining. The best part is that they take just minutes to whip up. Continue reading “Burlap & Lace DIY Cutlery Pockets”
Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner, which means is time to break out the maracas, whip up some guacamole, and celebrate!
Hi, it’s Tonya, and I’m back with a fun Cinco de Mayo craft that’s the perfect addition to your celebrations.
For most Americans, Cinco de Mayo is just a good excuse to eat nachos and have a margarita or two, but I decided to look it up to see what it’s really about. May 5th is NOT Mexico’s Independence Day, as some may think. Rather, it is a celebration of an unlikely victory against the French Army at The Battle of Puebla in 1862.
While Cinco de Mayo isn’t as important to Mexico as their Independence Day (September 16th), they do observe the holiday by celebrating with their families. Evidently it’s a bigger deal to Mexicans living in America, and cities across our country with large Mexican populations hold parties to celebrate with parades, food, dancing, music and more.
If you’re planning to celebrate Mexican cuisine, culture and music with our friendly neighbor to the south, these mini chili piñatas are the perfect addition to your festivities. Use them as place settings or scatter them on your table filled with fun treats. You can customize the contents for kids or adults. Continue reading “Cinco De Mayo Craft: Mini Chili Piñatas”
When you wander through craft store aisles, you are bound to come across an aisle dedicated to wood products. This is where you will find wooden letters in a variety of typefaces and sizes, some finished in white and black and some unfinished. Then, if we venture over to our favorite how-to inspiration board on Pinterest, you will see nurseries with babies’ names hung on the wall and family initials gracing bookshelves. But how do they make these letters and words?
Hi, it’s Tonya, and I’m sharing a few ideas for making DIY wood letters to decorate your home.
Decorative wooden letters are simple to make, and you will probably already have most of the supplies on hand.
As you can see from my list of supplies above, you can use almost anything to customize your wooden letters. For a child’s bedroom, you could use a poster of their favorite singer or actor or book pages (find old, torn books at a local thrift store). Book pages are fantastic if you are doing a themed room such as dinosaurs or fairies, and there is no shortage of books with beautiful images that people drop off at thrift stores, where you can pick them up for a dollar or two. Continue reading “DIY Decorative Wood Letters”
Candy bars are popular for birthday parties, whether they are a stand-alone bar, an accompaniment to a dessert table, or for a serve yourself topping station.
Hi, it’s Tonya, and I’m going to show you how to create quick and easy candy jars for just a couple of dollars that you can use for all of your parties.
These best part is that if you already have glue on hand, these candy jars cost just $2. That’s how much I spent on the candlestick and bowl at my local dollar store.
What you need:
Whether you are hosting a St. Patrick’s Day party or helping with a class party at your child’s school, you will want to put together fun party treats.
Hi, it’s Tonya, and I’ve got a simple St. Patrick’s Day party treat that kids are going to love.
What you need:
If you haven’t done it already, download the free ‘pot of gold’ printable and print it out. Continue reading “St. Patrick’s Day: Pot of Gold Party Treats”
I absolutely love Valentine’s Day. And although this is one holiday that we don’t decorate the house (some would be shocked to hear that), I do love placing little reminders around the house throughout the year that make me think of love, that remind me to take a time out and spend quality time with those who mean so much to me.
Hi, it’s Tonya again, and today I’m sharing a quick DIY project with you, a string art heart.
What you need:
If you choose to paint your wood block, then do so now.
If you want to use card stock, measure and cut a piece to size, and then glue it onto the wood block. Ensure it is completely dry before moving onto the next step. Continue reading “Valentines Craft: DIY String Art Heart”
It’s almost time for the Super Bowl, and while we are all planning parties and food for the big game, let’s not forget a little something to keep the kids entertained too because nobody wants to be watching the game and hearing those two little words “I’m bored.”
Hi, it’s Tonya again, and I’ve got a fun craft project with activities that the kids are going to love on game day.
This DIY mini football piñata is quick and easy to make. It’s the perfect addition to your game day party and is bound to keep kids occupied. You can fill each with age appropriate items, and the kids can take them home at the end of the party.
What you need:
Begin by cutting out two football shapes from the cardboard along with 2.5″ inch strip (or two depending on how long your box is). Continue reading “DIY Football Piñata: Game Day Activity for Kids”
It’s that time of year for decorating the tree, making our loved ones smile and giving gifts to show how much we care.
Hi, it’s Tonya back with a quick and easy project that’s perfect for kids to make and gift this holiday season.
My daughter’s favorite holiday character is The Grinch. She sleeps with her stuffed Grinch doll over the holiday season, watches the movie over and over again, and of course we have to read the book too. So when I suggested she help me make Grinch themed ornaments, she was thrilled.
What you need:
To make these ornaments with the wood heart, follow these instructions.
The first step is to paint the wood heart. Marisol painted four coats of red glitter paint. She insisted on glitter paint, which is a little thinner; but if you use regular red acrylic, you will probably only need two coats Continue reading “The Grinch Decorations: DIY Holiday Ornaments”
With Halloween over, now is the perfect time to grab a few mini gourds or pumpkins on clearance, or give those that you may have used for Halloween decor a makeover for your Thanksgiving decor.
Hi, it’s Tonya back with a quick and easy autumn project that will make the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table or decor.
This easy project only takes about an hour, and is perfect for decorating your home in time for Thanksgiving. I picked up the three gourds above at Michael’s for about $3 ($1 each).
What you need:
Instructions: Continue reading “Easy Fall DIY Home Decor Project: Gourd Candles”
Catering to guests over the holiday season can become tricky with the number of people who have food allergies and are cutting certain ingredients out of their diets.
It’s Tonya here with a simple DIY Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer Recipe that is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving dinner party. The best part is, it can be made a day in advance, because we all know how important it is to be able to make as much as possible in advance when entertaining at home over the holidays.
Place it on a serving tray with a pot of fresh coffee and sugar packets, and serve with dessert, cookies or other festive Thanksgiving treats.
This pumpkin coffee creamer can be refrigerated for up to 4 days, just make sure you shake the bottle before use to ensure all of the ingredients are mixed together thoroughly. You can also use coconut milk in place of Almondmilk, but I normally use the vanilla Almondmilk for my coffee each day and wanted to give it a hint of pumpkin flavor for fall Continue reading “Homemade Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer Recipe”
Thank you so much to Jo-Lynne for the warm welcome.
In case you missed the introduction, I’m Tonya from Create-Celebrate-Explore and I will be sharing a variety of do-it-yourself projects, home decor and craft projects a couple of times a month. I hope you enjoy them.
My first project is a simple Halloween centerpiece idea that is sure to impress your guests (and family) this Halloween. The biggest thing I like to remind people is that you don’t need to spend a lot of money (or any at all really) to change up your decor each year. If you have a few basics, you can mix and match and use them both inside the home and outdoors. I tend to rotate items each year, use other everyday items from around the home and pick up a couple of thrift store finds that I can re-purpose. And that is exactly what you will see in this post.
Let’s start with the DIY component of the centerpiece Continue reading “Halloween Centerpiece Idea: Perfect for a Dinner Party”
