Will You Be My Bridesmaid? Bridesmaid Proposal Boxes.

Will You Be My Bridesmaid? Bridesmaid Proposal Boxes.

When the time came around to ask my girls to stand beside me for the big day, I knew I wanted to make it extra special. This group of ladies has already stood by my side for close to 15 years, some even longer, so I wanted to show them just how much each of them means to me.

One quick browse on Pinterest and Instagram you will be inundated with bridesmaid “proposal” boxes.  There are companies out there who can put together the entire box for you, but I wanted to do them myself. I had a general idea of what I wanted to be included in the box, so the next step was to collect all the items and find a cute box to put it all into. Putting together these boxes can add up, especially when you have 7 bridesmaids, but hopefully there is a way to work it out to fit it within your budget, your girls will so appreciate this gesture. I shopped around for quite some time and I would say the boxes came together perfectly, and the best part: they all said YES! Read on below to see an in-depth look at what I included in the boxes and where and how I asked the girls to be in my wedding party.

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In order to customize each box, I got a personalized nail polish from Say it with Polish with each of the girls names printed on it. You should definitely check them out, their polishes are fully customizable and make for a cute addition to proposal boxes, etc.

Each polish is free of DBP, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, paraben, camphor and more. Say it with Polish polishes are Australian made and vegan friendly. Processing and shipping was really fast and each polish came beautifully packaged.

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I went for a bigger font for the main text and then did cursive writing for each of the bridesmaids’ names. You can fully customize the bottle with whatever font style and text you want, or, you can choose from a standard template on their site. I just love how these turned out, the colour is absolutely stunning and the polish is excellent quality!

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You can even get a little something for yourself!

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I’m a sucker for white polish for the spring/summer, and I just loved the cute saying on this bottle!

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I picked up some stemless wine glasses from my local dollar store and wrote the girls’ names in cursive writing in gold Sharpie. — I have a blog post on how to use these Sharpies on mugs, only difference this time, was that it was with glass! There are a lot of companies out there who will print things on glasses but they run about $15.00 and up, whereas DIY-ing it on your own costs under 5! It was fun to be able to use them when I popped some champagne to celebrate them saying yes.

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Each box also contained a card (boxset purchased from Homesense) with a personalized note inside. This is the part where you get personal and write a little (or if you’re me, a lot) about why that bridesmaid is special to you, maybe share a little memory, or your favourite thing about them. You can write as little or as much as you’d like, get creative, and dig into that big heart of yours!

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The first thing I bought months ahead of everything else when I decided to put the boxes together were these knot bracelets. I loved how dainty they were and the significance of the knot and that it would be something they could wear anytime. For my sister (my MOH) she received a rose gold knot bracelet part of Lauren Conrad’s collection for Kohl’s (I am obsessed with her whole line). The bracelets come in silver, gold, and rose gold and the price point is amazing, especially if you are buying a few of them. I was able to locate a link for them (find it below). Kohl’s typically has some sort of discount code so keep an eye open for those to save you some extra cash! For the rest of the girls they got a silver knot bracelet. I made a customized tag that I attached to each bracelet that read “I can’t tie the knot without you”.

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Shop the bracelets below!

I wanted to have bride tribe t-shirts for the whole crew so when I came across these ones from Walmart.ca . I added them to my cart right away. I tried to steer away for the most part on things labeled bridesmaid so that the girls could use it, or wear it again but I couldn’t resist including these in the box. It made it much easier and more cost-effective than ordering the t-shirt and having the font printed on it. I rolled them up and added it to the box, simple as that! These t-shirts can be worn again for bachelorettes, buck and doe’s, showers, or the morning of the wedding, it’s really up to you!

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I made a little “mark the date” card and bought cute little engagement ring stickers from Michaels to circle our wedding date.

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Walmart even had t-shirts for the bride, it’s hard to see in the picture but it has “BRIDE” written in gold.

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Now what’s a proposal box without some of the fun stuff, bubbly?! I got a 3 pack of these mini Henkell rosé bottles from my local LCBO (making them around $5 each). They fit in perfectly with the colour and theme of the box and who doesn’t love rosé?

1C9326E7-C34D-45A5-8981-79987A170A67Once I had all of my items picked out I was on the hunt for a box to put it all into. At first I thought I wanted just plain white photo boxes but I ended up finding these beautiful flotsl patterned ones at Michaels (okay, I had to go to a bunch of locations to find a complete set, but it was so worth it!) They ran about $3.00 a piece and were a better size than some of the ones that I found at the dollar store. I scooped up the crinkle paper at Michaels as well so that the contents of the box would sit in nicely.

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I was so excited putting these together and seeing the looks on the girls’ faces when I gave them their boxes was priceless.  I decided to plan a little girls’ trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake and we rented a beautiful Air B & B. I knew it would be the perfect time and place to pop the question to my girls. While we were out wining and dining in the morning, my exceptionally devoted  and patient fiancé set everything up in the beautiful English Garden of our Air B & B so that when we arrived back it was all a surprise (I know, I know, I’ve got myself a keeper!)

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I ordered this engagement ring balloon from a balloon store in town, but they sell them at all party stores and even on Amazon (more cost effective for the balloon than a party store, you just have to go get it filled!)

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My fiancé was even hiding out in the bushes with a camera like a true paparazzi snapping the most memorable pictures of their expressions! Sadly it was hard to get my girlfriends and my sister and sister-in-law altogether in NOTL without giving away the secret so I gifted the boxes to them right after.

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The moment they realized Ben was hiding in the bushes with a camera!

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All the planning around the boxes, the Air B and B, the set-up all came down to this moment. These expressions made everything SO worth it and even more memorable.

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I am so excited for the remaining 5 months of planning and celebrating with them all , and I am so lucky to have them as part of my bride tribe.

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SPOILER ALERT! We booked our plane tickets for June for the bachelorette and I could not be more excited. We are headed to San Diego, California! The fun just keeps on coming, and I hope you’ll continue to follow along with it all!

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Pastel Pink Candy Apples & Halloween Bar Cart

Pastel Pink Candy Apples & Halloween Bar Cart

What’s better than candy apples you ask? Pastel pink candy apples of course! You won’t feel as guilty indulging in these treats after all, they’re made of fruit so they’re partially good for you, right?! You will definitely want to add these to your Halloween desserts when you find out just how easy these are to make!

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Traditional candy apples are made up of a mixture of corn syrup, water and sugar that are boiled until they’re the perfect and sticky consistency for dipping. MAJOR TIME SAVING HACK: use candy melts (available at Michaels and Bulk Barn), melt them in the microwave or double- boiler on the stove, dip your apples, and VOILA! Just like that, in a few minutes you will have beautiful “candy” apples!

What you’ll need:

*Green Apples, plastic twigs (I got mine from Michaels), you could use real ones, or candy apple sticks

Candy Melts (in the colour of your choice) + any other sprinkles or toppings you want to put on your apples

Wax Paper (once your apples are dipped place them on wax paper for easy removal)

Cake stand or platter to display your beautiful apples!

 

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Every holiday or special occasion I style my bartcart, it is so much fun to do and you can really get as creative as you want with it!  This year I used the apples as the centerpiece and went from there with decorating the rest. I opted for a black and white theme which really made the pink apples pop!

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Here’s a look at my final styled bar-cart, how cute do the pop of pink apples look on here?!

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These 3- ingredient pumpkin bites were a huge hit! All you need is peanut butter, softened butter, icing sugar, and a little bit of food colouring! Top with a chocolate chip and use a toothpick to make the indents and you’re all set! IMG_2297IMG_2296IMG_2295

Here’s my second styling- I kept with the black and white theme and made a simple vanilla cake with Oreo (eyes) and a surprise purple colour inside!

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Talk Derby To Me- DIY Derby Party

Talk Derby To Me- DIY Derby Party

Anyone that knows me knows I am the biggest fan of themed parties so when a friend suggested doing a Kentucky Derby themed party I jumped at the idea. I also love to decorate and party plan, and so the fun began…

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If you are like me and have always wanted to attend the Kentucky Derby but just can’t fathom the cost, this was a great alternative and fun to see everyone dress up in their best Derby attire. If you aren’t one of the lucky ones that gets to attend the coveted Derby and rock a beautiful floral dress and elaborate hat/fascinator, why not try an at-home version instead?

The Attire:

What’s even more important than the race itself is all the beautiful fashion that comes with it. I have to say I’m guilty for following along every year on social media only to check out the derby style with the upmost envy!

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Fascinator: Obsessions Fashion, Dress: Banana Republic

The good news is, since you will be doing a DIY version your outfit really doesn’t have to break the bank! For the ladies, you’re more than likely to find a floral or flowy dress already in your closet! The Kentucky Derby is known for its over the top hats and fascinators so having one is a must!  Finding a big floppy hat or fascinator will really top off your look! A lot of my friends bought hats from the dollarstore and then glued on flowers and they looked amazing!  For the gentlemen, wear a pair khakis or pastel coloured pants and throw on fun colour/print shirt, a sports jacket and of course, a bowtie and straw fedora!IMG_5007

My favourite accessory store (Obsessions Fashion) gifted me with this beautiful white fascinator adorned with small feather details and stunning veil.

Sips/Snacks:

I kept the food to a minimum so the focus would be on the fun games and everyone socializing! Of course no Derby is complete without mint juleps. I made a large jug of it using (Powdered sugar, Bourbon whiskey, Water, and Mint leaves  ). Add some fun straws into mason jars or traditional julep silver cups to get the real experience! Next on the food table were mini pulled pork sliders, easy to pick up and eat. The pork was cooked in bourbon bbq sauce (bourbon whisky is the liquor of the South).

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Bourbon Barrel Stout and Bourbon Whisky straight from Kentucky were the perfect touch to the bar!

AG Macarons donated this beautiful assortment of colourful French macarons that matched perfectly with the décor on the table and were to die for!

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Now to the Cadillac of cakes…this 14k gold dipped cake from The Social Cupcake is seriously #cakegoals. When I was envisioning my Birthday cake this was exactly what I had in mind from top to bottom. I cannot thank the wonderful staff for making all my cake dreams come true, it made my Birthday extra special. I had also planned to have the cake match the photo booth wall.  The first tier was vanilla cake with classic buttercream icing and the second layer was red velvet with cream cheese icing. I still cannot get over every single detail of this cake and how intricate these flowers are (would you believe me if I told you they were edible, you better believe it!

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Décor:

Once I landed on doing a Kentucky Derby themed party I started to think of décor. After googling a few images right away tons of flowers popped up and the ideas starting flowing. Thanks to Bloomingful Flowers, guests were able to capture their Derby looks infront of this stunning customized 8 foot paper flower wall. Fill a box with lots of props and extra floppy hats, etc so the guests can get creative with their pictures and have something to remember 🙂

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 I picked up this fake grass from Homesense it was the perfect compliment to the floral backdrop!

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The illuminating circle lamp was the selfie light we didn’t know we needed in our lives.

The tissue paper flowers were so beautiful and exactly the look that I was going for a (indoor) garden party!

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I carried out the flower theme with the rest of the décor, adding it to the food table along with the entrance in the front foyer.

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The majority of the decor I found from Homesense or Winners. The white horse head (Winners), Green Leaf Balls (Homesense), Faux Flowers (Homesense), Stone Containers (Homesense), Plastic Trophies, Horses, Grass, , Mason Jars/Straws, Plastic White Fence (Dollarama), “Derby” Letters and Marquee Horseshoe (Michaels). IMG_4846

I used the hashtag “Talk Derby To Me” for the night because I love a good pun. This Lightbox by (My Cinema Lightbox) is a great decor piece that lets you get creative and express yourself with fun quotes or puns to really set the mood!  The adorable faux-fur wraps for the bottles I picked up from Winners.

Games:

No Derby party is complete without horse racing! I did a simple DIY version that had guests placing bets on toy horses to win the pot of money! I bought a green plastic tablecloth from Party City and then used green tape to outline the lines of the “track”. I made 6 starting positions where each of the players horses would start. For the horses, I picked up a package of toy horses from Dollarama and spray painted them gold. You will also need 6 dice.

Each player wagers $1 (or higher if you’re feeling lucky) and then each player rolls a dice to assign a horse. Next, roll all 6 of the dice, the number on the dice corresponds with which horse gets to move (i.e 662344- the “6” horse moves two spots, the “2” and “3” horse move 1 and the “4” horse moves two spots. First horse to cross the finish lines wins the pot!

Derby themed Bingo:

I printed off a number of bingo cards that had derby-themed sayings. This was simple to do since all I had to do was print and cut and have pens out for the players! I cut one card and placed all the sayings into a hat and pulled them from there.

Horseshoes:

Unfortunately with the cold weather we couldn’t do any outdoor games so I had to improvise with horseshoes by doing it indoors. I found a small plastic ring-toss game from the dollar store and spray painted it gold. It may not have been the best game of horseshoes but it did the trick and fit the theme, which was really what it was all about!

Bean-bag toss:

I picked up this game from Homesense for $29.00, quick and easy installation and safe to play indoors if you have the room to spread out the boards.

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Safe to say I got down and derby and horsed around all night!

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Sara

DIY Mermaid Costume

DIY Mermaid Costume

It’s no question that Halloween is one of my favourite holidays. As a little girl I always loved to get dressed in my costumes that my mom made, and so my story continues.

As you may have seen from my previous posts on my past DIY costumes, you will see I picked up my mom’s knack for creating handmade Halloween costumes. It is so rewarding when you get to put on the final creation and know it is uniquely yours.

For my costume last year I decided to create a mermaid. Countless Pinterest pins and scrolling through Instagram later I morphed all these ideas into one and made it my own.

First things first, the shell bra, because no mermaid costume is complete without one! Now I knew I wanted the shells, but didn’t want to wear just that. So, after finding some at the dollarstore I bedazzled the crap out of them, took them off their string and quick-stitched them onto a white tube-top.

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Now the skirt (or mermaid tail) of my costume had me thinking for a bit. I wanted something that I could easily move around in and wasn’t about to go buy one at the costume store. After all, that would defeat the purpose of my homemade halloween costumes! So, off to Value Village I went to try and find any sparkly or mermaid-like skirts to pull my costume together. While I wasn’t able to find a skirt that didn’t stop me from finding the most hideous dress with huge puffy sleeves (wish I had a before picture) and transforming it into a beautiful flowing skirt fit for mermaid. The colours of the fabric are what grabbed my attention. The sea green and blues in iridescent shades instantly had me sold.

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What’s a mermaid without a crown? I found a silver tiara at the dollarstore and transformed it into a crown fit for a queen of the sea! I cut pieces of silver branches that I also added to the seashell bra and built it up around the crown and topping it off with a giant starfish.

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I didn’t stop there. I wanted a prop and thought a trident would be the perfect finishing touch. I spray painted an old devil’s pitchfork and added some more seashells and sparkles (the more the better)

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For my makeup and hair I went with purples and blues and ran with those same colours for the tips of my hair. Using just coloured eyeshadow I was able to create this look and added some gems and small starfish with eyelash glue.

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No mermaid costume is complete without freshwater pearls!

Stay tuned for this year’s costume, I cannot wait to share it with you! Follow along on my Instagram (staffordable_blog) if you want to catch a glimpse!

Deep-Fried Oreo Recipe

Deep-Fried Oreo Recipe

Nothing like creating a fair food favourite right from the comfort of your own home!

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Follow the easy steps below to make this creation yourself.

What you will need:

1 cup of pancake mix

2/3 cup of milk

1 egg 2 tsps of vegetable oil

1 box of Oreo cookies

Vegetable oil for frying

Confectioner’s sugar (optional)

Prep:

  • Freeze your Oreo cookies for 1 hour
  • Fill a durable pot with 2-3 inches of cooking oil (on medium heat or to about 375°F)
  • Wisk pancake mix until smooth
  • Dip one cookie at a time in the batter (important step so your cookies don’t get soggy sitting in the mix) coating it well
  • Carefully drop your coated cookies in the hot oil flip once until each side is golden brown (it doesn’t take long!)
  • Remove cookies from hot oil with tongs (be careful) and place on a paper towel
  • Arrange on a platter and dust with confectioner’s sugar
  • Best enjoyed warm and maybe with a side of vanilla ice cream!

DIY- Sharpie Eyelash Nail Design

DIY- Sharpie Eyelash Nail Design

I’ve been seeing a lot of pictures and videos lately of Sharpie nail designs, so, I decided to put it to the test!

After a few failed attempts and a little research I was really happy with how they turned out!

How to:

Start off with whatever base coat you’d like. I went for a nude shade (Essence- available at Shoppers Drug Mart) so the black eyelashes would really pop!

Let your base coat(s) fully dry before attempting to draw with your Sharpie.

Draw your design, let it dry. If you make a mistake you can typically correct it with a bit of nail polish remover if caught early enough. If that doesn’t work, you may have to start fresh.

Before putting on the clear top coat,  use a gentle mist of hair spray over your nail design (be careful not to spray too much as it will make the marker run as well!) Allow this to dry. TIP: if you skip this step your design will run the second you try putting on your top coat, or eventually rub off if you opt out of the top coat altogether. It’s an extremely important step for this to work–trust me, I learned the hard way!

You can now paint over the clear top coat!

And…voila!

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Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo Staffordable

DIY Sharpie Mugs & Catch-All Dishes

DIY Sharpie Mugs & Catch-All Dishes

When I say images of all these beautiful DIY mugs and dishes on Pinterest I just had to put it to the test myself! I love that you can get as creative and personal as you want with these. Oh and did I mention, I made each of these for under $5.00 each!

I decided to recreate a few mugs and a catch-all dish that I had seen online using oil-based Sharpies.

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The designs I opted for just so happened to tie in perfectly with it being Valentine’s Day!

What you will need: 

I wanted to draw my designs on bright white mugs and dishes so I went searching for just that. I found both the mug and tray for under $3.00 each at Dollarama!

BE SURE to by oil-based Sharpies otherwise your design will wash off in water. These are a little more expensive than your regular Sharpie but I bought mine from Michaels with a 40% off coupon so they came to around $3.00 each! The good thing about these is that one marker will last you through quite a lot of designs so paying that amount upfront isn’t so bad in the long run!

Steps:

  1. Allow your designs to dry overnight. This will ensure that your paint is completely dry!
  2. Stick them in a cold oven (this step is really important!) Let them heat up with the oven that you will put at 300 degrees.
  3. Bake for 20 minutes
  4. Remove your mugs/trays and allow to cool for 20 minutes (turning off the oven at this point)
  5. Once they are cooled entirely, place them back in the oven and repeat step 2 and 3.
  6. After 20 minutes turn off the oven and allow them to cool in there entirely.
  • You can spray your designs with a sealant when you’re done if you’d like, I opted out of this and they have been just fine. I hand wash my items only with soap and water.

Tip: Place your mugs or trays on a cookie sheet so that you don’t actually touch the paint and ruin it (I did this the first time, woops!) Once it starts to heat up it will be susceptible to smudging.

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For the gold heart-shaped mug: 

  • First, you will want to make a heart stencil out of paper that matches the size of your mug.

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  • Next, you can start tracing the gold dots around your stencil. The dots are denser closer to the stencil and began spreading them out more the further away I got.

 

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  • Next, remove your stencil and begin to cover the handle in gold dots. I was pretty sporadic with how I did these.

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  • On the other side of the mug I used another heart stencil and once again traced gold dots around it, having them more dense closer to the heart and further apart the more you move away. I wish I had made my heart stencil a little smaller only because it took up most of the mug (not a big deal, just something to keep in mind for next time!)
  • If you do happen to make a mistake you can simply take some water and mild soap and erase what you would like to correct. This is easier to do while the marker is still wet so catch it early if you can! For my mug and catch-all dish this came in handy, I think I re-did these ones each three times before I got it exactly how I wanted it!

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Here’s the finished product! I absolutely LOVE how this turned out. I really like the gold dot design, it just screams Kate Spade to me!

Eyelash & Lips Mug:

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This design was a little more free-hand. I pretty much just found an image I liked and went with that. I used a piece of tape straight across so that the eyelashes were at the same level and length. I used a black Sharpie for the eyelashes and just free-handed the lashes and used a red Sharpie for the lips, also free-handing. Just when I thought the gold heart mug was my favourite, I see the end product of this one and now I can’t decide!

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Love-Letter Catch-All Dish:

  • I just love catch-all dishes, so when I found this dish at Dollarama for $3.00 I knew exactly what I would do with it!
  • I had seen love-letters and envelope designs on catch-all dishes from West-Elm sold for over $20.00 and thought I could easily make my own for under $5.00 (and so I did!)

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  • Using a couple pieces of Scotch tape helped me make the sharp straight lines that I filled in with a black Sharpie and finished off with a free-handed small red heart.
  • This tray is definitely multipurpose, I decided to use this dish as a serving dish for my Valentine’s Day desserts. I didn’t spray my mugs or dishes with any coating and the markers are non-toxic so they are okay to eat off of! 🙂

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Enjoy your DIY mugs and catch-all dishes!

xoxo Staffordable

MARBLE-ous nails!

MARBLE-ous nails!

This DIY nail art was so simple to do!

All you need are the two colour choices you’d like to go with for the marble effect, a clear top-coat and a toothpick, or another small tool.

I went with white as the base and a dark grey on top.

  1. Paint your nails with the base colour and choice and wait for them to dry entirely!
  2. Simply use a piece of saran-wrap and roll it into a small ball and dab it into the next colour (making sure you dab off the extra)
  3.  Finally, go in with a toothpick and draw random lines in the darker colour to finish off the look!

Seal the look with a clear top-coat and voila!

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When I was organizing my closet I came across this shirt that my nails matched perfectly, so of course I couldn’t resist taking a picture!

XOXO Staffordable

Mini Donuts!

Mini Donuts!

Who doesn’t love donuts? And who doesn’t love anything mini?

These sweet combination will be an absolute treat whether it’s for a party or just because!

I used the Wilton non-stick 12 cavity donut pan. I picked mine up from Michaels Canada and used a 40% off coupon! I’m always keeping my eye open for really good coupons, and typically every week Michaels has a 40% off one regular-priced item or sometimes even 50%. I wait to buy items such as these until a coupon becomes available!

The batter was really easy to make (I just went on Google and got a simple recipe and did the same for the icing.) I opted for a basic vanilla donut with vanilla icing that I died pink to get the desired effect and used large sprinkles. You can really get creative here and use any sort of flavours or colourings your little heart desires!

I was really pleased with how these turned out and how easy the pan was to use!

These were a huge hit and I keep getting requests to make more! I found that these were more popular compared to if I were to have made full-size donuts, these ones flew off the platter in minutes!

Here are some pictures of the adorable little yummies!

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OH BOY! DIY Baby Shower Cake + Cupcakes

OH BOY! DIY Baby Shower Cake + Cupcakes

OH BOY! Fondant Converse Shoe Cake + Baby Face Cupcakes!

When I was asked to make a cake and cupcakes for a baby shower I immediately jumped at the opportunity!

This was my first time making anything of this sort so it was really fun to be able to play around with a few things and get creative.

I had come across a few different cake and cupcake ideas on Pinterest so I decided to combine a few for my final products!

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Here’s a closer look at the baby face cupcakes. I used a round cookie cutter to make perfect shaped circles for the faces and blue fondant for the hat and soother. I used a small amount of fondant for the nose and then edible food markers and my gel food colous on a paint brush to get the desired effect on the faces. I LOVE how these turned out, so cute! 🙂

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For this specific design on the cupcake I iced the cupcake with a simple swirl and then made two different sized/coloured circles to go on top. I finished it off by writing on it with the edible markers. These are really great for writing as well as doing any small details!

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For the soother I used a heart shaped cookie cutter and added some extra fondant on the bottom and for the white portion. I used the other end of my paintbrush to add the holes (this really brought it to life!)

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THE CONVERSE ON THE CAKE…

BY FAR the hardest BUT BEST part of the entire cake…the handmade fondant converse shoes! These MADE the cake. Luckily I found a stencil online for this so it was just a matter of playing around with it for a bit and then adding in my own touches at the end. I made an edible glue out of water and gum paste to hold everything together. For the laces I struggled with using fondant so I opted for some yarn, which ended up turning out great! I used white fondant around the bottom of the shoes and used the edible marker to add the star and stripes.  I used a toothpick to add little details to the sides of the shoe. I made these a couple days ahead of making the cake and stored them in a container in the fridge. This was a great idea to have them done and out of the way so when I made my cake all I had to worry about was decorating it and not spending hours on these!

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Not bad for my first time molding fondant into shapes eh?!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…..

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Here’s the final product!!! I tinted the fondant that covered the whole cake in a light blue and then made three different colours/sizes of circles to go on the cake. I also used these colours as little rolled balls on the base of the cake, I think this really finished it off!