Thank you VTech for sponsoring this post. Check out the VTech VM342 Video Monitor with Wide-Angle Lens and Standard Lens to keep an eye on your little one!

I’m at the stage where most of my closest friends have had their babies, so when Jane, my frousin (friend AND cousin-in-law), announced that she was pregnant, I was elated! First because, obviously, we’d have a new baby doll to love and play with, and second because I knew I’d get to throw her a shower. (Little fact…I set up Jane and her husband Micah, my husband’s first cousin. Jane and I worked together at Parents magazine and now she’s the Editor-in-Chief of Junior Scholastic magazine.)

Jane is definitely not the traditional baby-blue booties or pale-pink pacifier type, so my co-hosts and I knew that we wanted a more modern baby shower experience for her. So we…

• …invited the men! Child-rearing is not just the momma’s job, so why shouldn’t the dudes get to enjoy the yummy party food and the shower of love?
• …colored it neon! For as long as I’ve known Jane, one of her defining characteristics is her impeccable taste and ahead-of-the-curve style. Baby blue and butter yellow (they’re having a boy!) was not going to fly, so we went with brights!
• …designed our own shower traditions!

When I had my son, I loved how my seasoned parent-friends gave me all of their favorite books, so on the invite we asked the guests to each bring an unwrapped book to start this little guy’s library. At the door, everyone placed their book in a cute little book caddy that Jane and Micah got to take home.

In addition to the classics that friends and family brought, we also wrote our own collective baby book for Baby SommBaum (a combo of their last names!). Here were the instructions at the book-writing station:

1. Pick a word from the bag.
2. Write and illustrate your page of the book using that word. You don’t have to draw the word, but the word must appear in the text.
3. ONE RULE! You can only look at the ONE PAGE preceding yours.
4. Write your name(s) on the top line.
5. Draw in the blank space.
6. Write text on the lines.

Friends mingled about and took turns illustrating and writing their pages. (I promise to do a post on the final board book once it’s done!)

And then of course, it was gift opening time! In between each gift, we went around the room and offered advice to the parents-to-be…either advice as a parent or advice from having parents (there were some childless friends in the room). It was a sweet, and often laughter-inducing, way to give our friends a personal intro into parenthood.

In addition to cuddly lovies, cute onesies, and awesome books, I got to give Jane and Micah a gift that kept me sane through my kids’ babyhood…a VTech VM342 Video Monitor with Wide-Angle Lens and Standard Lens.

This well-designed monitor doesn’t sacrifice style for functionality, and there is nothing more comforting than knowing you can always have eyes and ears on your little ones, even when you’re not in the room. Most VTech baby monitors come with up to 1,000 feet of range, so you can be downstairs in your kitchen blending carrots and mashing bananas, while still hearing, seeing, and even being able to talk back to your baby from right where you are. And that gift is priceless!

Now I’m ready for more shower action…wedding, baby, I’ll take whatever I can get!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

I can’t begin to count the number of parties that I have crafted in my lifetime. From the pretend ones I would throw for my dolls when I was young to the holiday and birthday parties I’ve styled for magazines to the celebrations that I throw IRL for my own kids…I lost count ages ago. And as any stylist, party planner, or home entertainer would tell you, we are always looking for new and different ways to make the personal, creative details shine like they haven’t before.

When Brother asked me to partner with them on the launch of the P-touch Embellish, their new ribbon and tape printer, I jumped in headfirst. I’m always eager to get my hands on a new tool that can add personal touches to parties, crafts, gift wrapping and more. For the P-touch Embellish launch event in New York City, I designed projects for a birthday party (my fave, of course), a bridal shower, a baby shower, gift-wrapping, general crafts, and a festive brunch.

I first saw the P-touch Embellish at the Creativation Show (the mecca of all things crafts) back in January, where I watched a demo of the ribbon printing at the Brother booth. This little machine that you can hold in your hands as you’re binge-watching your favorite shows can print 14 fonts, over 90 text borders, and over 400 little symbols to add detail, style, and personalization to your projects. There are 5 satin ribbons and 9 adorable patterned tapes to choose from, so to find one that matches your event is super easy. You can buy the P-touch Embellish machine, the ribbons, and 6 of the patterned tapes at Michaels.com and select Michaels stores; the other 3 patterned tapes are available at Brothermall.com

This carnival birthday party that I crafted got me excited because in addition to the personalized lollipop-favor ribbons and the custom-printed balloon strings, I used the P-touch Embellish to craft cute party activities…A Spinner Game, Fishing Game, and a Can Toss Game (see below for the how-to instructions).

Whether you are designing your daughter’s unicorn party favors, your bestie’s baby shower tablescape, or wrapping gifts at holiday time, the P-touch Embellish has everything you need (and then some) for those sweet, heartfelt, personalized touches.

“SPIN THE WHEEL” CARNIVAL GAME

What you’ll need:

• P-touch Embellish
• TZe tapes in Red Gingham, Mint Chevron, and Yellow with White Stars*
• 12-inch cardboard circle (I used a cake circle)
• 12-by-12-inch scrapbook paper
• Hot-glue gun
• Fidget spinner
• 3 beads
• Decorative rope
• 4-inch cardboard coaster
• Red wood star
• Red rope
• Scissors

1. Trace the cardboard circles onto the scrapbook papers and cut them out. Hot glue the paper to the cardboard.
2. Divide the circle into eight sections. Print the words “SPIN THE WHEEL” on 4-inch piece of the red gingham tape and adhere in between each pie slice. Print the prize or action words on the mint chevron tape and adhere in each slice.
3. Hot-glue 3 beads to the three points of the fidget spinner, and hot glue the cardboard coaster to the beads. Hot-glue the center of the fidget spinner to the center of the 12-inch game board.
4. Print arrows onto the yellow star tape and adhere to the small cardboard circle. Glue the red star in the center.
5. Hot-glue rope around the outer edge of the game board and create a loop at the top for hanging.

MAGNETIC FISHING GAME

What you’ll need

• P-touch Embellish
• TZe tapes in Red Gingham, Mint Chevron, and Yellow with White Stars*
• Scrapbook paper
• Hot-glue gun
• 1/2-by-16-inch dowel
• Magnets
• Small washers
• Scissors

1. Using the continuous text function on the P-touch Embellish, print “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN” on a 30-inch piece of ribbon. Tie one end to the dowel and hot-glue a magnet onto the other end.
2. Cut out 6-8 fish from scrapbook paper. Hot-glue the washers as the eyes.
3. Print point values on the various patterned tapes and adhere them to the back of the fish.

KNOCK ‘EM DOWN TOSS GAME

What you’ll need

• P-touch Embellish
• TZe tapes in Red Gingham, Mint Chevron, and Yellow with White Stars*
• Scrapbook paper
• 6 empty cans
• Clear tape
• Scissors
• Ball

1. Cover each can in a 3-inch band of scrapbook paper.
2. Cut six 3/4-by-2-inch pieces of solid scrapbook paper.
3. Print out point values onto the various patterned tapes and adhere them to the small rectangles, and then to the cans.
4. Set up the game by stacking the cans.

Thanks to Brother for sponsoring this post and providing crafters with a new tool for our trade!

*TZe tape in Mint Chevron is available at Michaels.com; TZe tapes in Red Gingham and Yellow with White Stars are available at BrotherMall.com.

When you’re a crafter and you travel to a different country, naturally you check out the craft supplies there. And when that country is France, your expectations are high because of the elegance, style, and tradition of the handmade.

We discovered the store Cooleurs and there I fell in love with the products and kits made by Rico Designs. Check out their gorgeous style, photos, and craft supplies!

And don’t even get me started on these DMC animal embroidery hoops! These were designed by No Paris de Cosir (found on Instagram), and I can’t wait to design my own. J’aime!

Now what should I make first?

I’m always writing how-to text where I say “just pop into the backyard and grab a stick”…or a pinecone…or a bunch of leaves, but, my experience with nature crafting just isn’t like that IRL. I live in an urban setting where I have to walk a few blocks to get to a park, so for me to just “pop” outside and grab the perfect stick is really more of an excursion than a “pop.”

So while in rural France for a month (oh yeah, if you don’t follow along on Instagram, you may not know that I’m with my family in France for a month), I can literally pop, hop, or skip outside to get anything that I could possibly want, including these weeping willow vines, fresh cut lavender, a vast selection of wildflowers, and the most beautiful roses I’ve ever seen.

Sommer and I did some scavenging and, with no help from anything human-made, we made a crown and a necklace from everything in our glorious backyard. She became a serious gatherer of Mother Nature’s treasures, and she art-directed me as I put the pieces together.

Full disclosure, this project makes me yearn to have these free craft supplies at my fingertips at all times…instead of buying pinecones at Michaels, I’m loving the fact that there’s a much cheaper source out there!

It’s that time again! Whether your kids are the lucky ones with a few school days left, or the end is still weeks away – it’s not too early or late to think about teacher gifts. Apples will always be the original gift theme, but as crafters our favorite classic school motif is the pencil. The No.2 represents endless possibilities – not only with what it can make, but also what it can be made into. Here are 10 pencil presents that are on-point whether you want to give a stylish, sweet, or functional gift.

1. Design Mom transforms the basic school supply into three chic jewelry pieces (above), each with their own flair. The brooch highlights the honeycomb shape while the necklaces play with grown up rainbow patterns.

2.

Earn an easy A+++++ with this oversized pencil bank. Whether your teacher takes it home to save spare change or keeps it in school for contributions towards a class pet, it’s sure to collect as many smiles as it does coins. Damask Love shares the genius instructions.

3.

“Refreshing” will be the new word you associate with pencil pouches after making a pack of these cute gifts from Design Eat Repeat. Set your teacher up for a smooth transition from school to summer with sunny straws and lemonade mix.

4.

 A rainbow vase made from pencils will compliment whatever flowers fill it. Fab Furnish provides an easy pencil vase how-to.

5.

Give your teacher a colorful resting place for her morning beverage. This DIY eye-popping pencil coaster will provide an extra energy boost. (via Consumer Crafts)

6.

When stacked, a handful of gumballs becomes a clever graphic abstraction of a pencil. Though Kara’s  labels say “Back to School”, we think they’d make a perfect “School’s Out” treat too.

7.

Wrap all your teacher’s favorite treats in colored paper to create old school No.2s. Add Pink Pearl erasers for extra credit! Lily Shop shows you how.

8.

Lily Cupcake shows you how to turn an ordinary frame into a work of art that will give extra umph to whatever photo it holds.

9.

Sometimes a classic needs to be remixed. Pencil Stickers will let your teacher customize her writing implements to match her mood and make grading papers a little more enjoyable – ok tolerable.

10.

King Midas would definitely approve of this all gold pencil pendant from Lovely Indeed . It’s sure to inspire envy in the teacher’s lounge.