4th of July Party Printables

Looking for an easy to way to spruce up your picnic table for your 4th of July festivities?  Check out these free downloadable 4th of July printables:

These adorable patriotic cupcakes toppers are from Get Party Chic.  Go HERE to download the free file.  To make: print from home on cardstock paper, cut or use a 2-inch paper punch, then glue a toothpick to the back.  Use them to decorate cupcakes or to hold your grilled (veggie?) burgers together.  So cute!

These printable food flags and “celebrate!” cupcake toppers were designed by Kim for D.I.Y. Louisville and will look festive next to your delicious desserts.  Print the free files HERE and HERE.   To make:  Print from home on cardstock paper.  Fold in half and glue around a toothpick or lollipop stick.

Enjoy your 4th of July festivities, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer Giveaway!

Welcome to the KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer Giveaway!

You will have the chance to win a beautiful KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer ($230 ARV) sponsored by myself and a group of other awesome bloggers. Will you be the lucky winner?

About the KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer: The tilt-head feature and generous 4-1/2-quart capacity make the KitchenAid Stand Mixer the ultimate in user-friendly design. Features 10 speeds and KitchenAid's unique planetary mixing action, driven by a powerful 275-watt motor. Rugged all-metal construction ensures long life and quiet operation, and rubber feet anchor it securely while in use. This mixer has a 4-1/2-quart stainless steel bowl.

Special thanks to our co-hosts: Oh My Gosh Beck!, Searching 4 Savings, A Few Short Cuts and Mommies with Cents.

Giveaway is open to the US only and ends July 17th at 11:59 PM EST. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Firmoo Giveaway

It’s no secret that I love my Firmoo glasses, and I tell just about anyone who will listen about the fun and affordable frames that Firmoo sells.  So affordable in fact, that Firmoo offers a First Pair Free Program requiring you to pay only shipping for your first pair of glasses.  Awesome, right?

Also awesome, is Firmoo’s offer for 5 D.I.Y. Louisville readers to win a $20 E-voucher that can be used on any Classic Series frames (not including shipping).  If 50 contestants or more enter, a grand prize winner will be selected to win a pair of Classic Series frames and free shipping.  So, spread the word because the more folks that enter this awesome giveaway, the bigger the prize.  And we all love big prizes, right?

To enter, visit Firmoo and tell me in the comments which Classic Series frame you would like to win.  Follow the selections on the Rafflecopter form for more chances to enter.  I know you’ll love Firmoo glasses as much as I do!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Free Blogger Meet-Up Printables

Emily of The Em Dash designed all of the adorable nametags and signs used throughout the Louisville Blogger Meet and Greet, and she would like to share them with you as a free printable. 

She’s awesome like that. 

Basically, we had so much fun organizing and attending our event that we would like to give you a few tools to make planning your own blogger event as fun and stress-free as possible.  Cool?

Click the link below each picture for the printable PDF.

Blog Name Badges (prints six on a sheet)

Blank Blogger/Business Cards (prints 10 on a sheet)

Business Card Sign (prints as a tent card)

Binder Ring Card (prints as a tent card) Here’s an explanation of binder ring card holder.

Enjoy!  If you use these for your blogger event (or any other event – I’m not picky), please share a link with me.  I would love to see pictures!

~julee~

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Louisville Bloggers Meet and Greet: Recap

Put together an assortment of bloggers, yummy refreshments, and awesome swag bags and you’ve pretty much got all the makings for a fantastic blogger meet up.  At least, this was my experience last week when I partnered with my friends Emily of The Em Dash and Amanda of The Hanger to host the first Louisville Bloggers Meet and Greet.

Our event was held at a local boutique,  The Hanger, which was the perfect spot for an intimate gathering.  Amanda, owner and fellow blogger, generously rearranged her shop to accommodate our group and contributed wine and door prizes for the guests.  The girl is a rock star.

Upon arrival, bloggers were asked to sign in and grab a name badge to introduce themselves and their blogs.  Emily designed these adorable badges as well as all of the graphics used for the event.  (Emily shares her free blogger meetup printables HERE.)

Before the event, we sent a Facebook message to the guests to bring business cards to share if they had them.  It’s a great icebreaker to introduce yourself and hand over a card, and it’s a nice way to put faces with blog names.  We supplied business card key rings for everyone to keep track of the cards they collected, and had a prize for the blogger who collected the most cards at the end of the evening.  We also provided blank cards that could be used by those that needed them.

We displayed these #loublogs hashtag signs throughout the venue to easily share pictures and updates of the evening on social media.

I can’t resist an excuse to create a photo booth; I’m completely predictable like that.  Mustaches for everyone! You can download free photo booth props here.

Our swag bag sponsors were amazing!  Every sponsor is a local, small business.  Gigantic thanks to:  LindsayLou Jewelry, Revelry Gallery, Miss Happy Pink, Good Garbage, Craft E Magee, The Hanger, Em Dash Designs, MoMo’s Creations, and Heine Brothers Coffee.

Hosting a social gathering with local bloggers has been a vision of mine for a while now, and I could not have pulled off this wonderful event were it not for my amazing co-hosts and all of the bloggers who attended.  It was a wonderful evening, and I am so happy to have made friends with ladies who are sharing amazing talent and insight through their blogs.  In addition to the bloggers already mentioned, I would also like to extend a special thanks to these Louisville Bloggers for making this event a success:

Erica – Blooming In First

Sarah – The Mint Julio

Dorothy – The Louisville St. Louisian

Christine – Bluegrass Blogger

Amber – The Pretty Gritty

Carrie – My Ordinary Fairytale

Christine – A Daisy On My Toe

Niki – The Hillville

Mary Margaret – Fly Away Fox

Kristen – K D Illustration

Therese – Get Party Chic

Kirsten – The Dupont Diaries

If you would like to learn more about Louisville Bloggers, you can follow the Facebook page here.  If you are a Louisville blogger and would like to join our group, you can send a request here.

Have you organized or attended a blogger event in your city?  I would love to hear your experiences!

~julee~

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Crafting on WDRB: Tissue Paper Flower Favors

I had a great time this week demonstrating the tissue paper flower party favors on WDRB in the Morning.  If you weren’t able to watch the live segment, you can check out the video below.

Thanks so much for tuning in!  Craft E Magee and I will be back on the air on Wednesday, July 3rd with some fun last minute 4th of July crafts. 

As always, you can watch all of my WDRB segment videos on my YouTube channel.

~julee~

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Make It: Tissue Paper Flower Favors Tutorial

I love these tissue flowers from Martha Stewart, but I wanted to give them a bright summer spin.  I think these will be the perfect party favors for a colorful wedding or wedding shower.  They are easy and quite addictive to make.

Summer Tissue Paper Flower Favors Tutorial

1) Supplies needed:  Tissue paper, Martha Stewart template, pencil, scissors, ribbon.  2) Fold two sheets of tissue paper into 4ths and trace the template at the corner fold.  3) Cut the flower shape from the tissue.  4) Open the flower.  5) Rotate the top sheet of tissue so that the petals sit staggered.  6) Choose your center color and wrap your favor it in.  Place your wrapped favor in the center of the flower, and fold up the edges.  7) Tie a ribbon around the base.  8)  Fluff out the petals to create a pretty flower.

I loved playing with the colored paper to create different flowers.  I used yellow petals and a black center for a black-eyed Susan, white petals and a yellow center for a daisy, and blue with a yellow center.  So many pretty combinations!

Happy flower making, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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Easy Business Card Organizer

I’ve started to accumulate quite a few business cards from fellow bloggers and crafters, and I needed an easy way to keep them all together.  Enter:  the simple binder clip.  By punching a hole in the top corner of business cards, they easily slip onto a binder clip. Voila!  Easy solution for keeping all those cards in one easily accessible place.

Happy organizing, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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Crafting on WDRB in the Morning

Every two-weeks my friend Liz (aka Craft E Magee) and I are invited to demonstrate crafts on our local WDRB in the Morning television show.  This week, I showed the co-host how to make the simple faux wood iPad cover.

You can watch all of my videos on my YouTube channel here, and see Craft E Magee’s segments here. 

Putting our crafts together for our segments is always so much fun.  We’ll be on-air making new crafts on June 19th if you’re in the local area and would like to tune in live.   Thanks for watching!

~julee~

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Hello, Friday

     

Hello Friday.  Hello Paris, Copenhagen, Estonia, Russia, Helsinki, Stockholm, and the most amazing vacation ever.  Hello jet-lag.  Hello reality and happily returning home to my own bed, a new job, and my beloved blog. 

Hello, you.  I hope you’ve had a wonderful few weeks.  Now, who’s ready for summer?

~julee~

 

P.S. – Follow me on Instagram @ jlair.

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D.I.Y. Louisville Upcoming Events

Summer is off to a great start with so many community happenings for crafty minded and local blogging folks.  Here are just a few upcoming events that D.I.Y. Louisville will be partnering with this month:

Louisville Bloggers Meet and Greet!  Louisville Bloggers are invited for a fun night out to meet fellow bloggers in our community.  Hosted by Em Dash Designs, The Hanger, and D.I.Y. Louisville.  June 13, 6pm, The Hanger.  RSVP HERE or email at diylouisville@gmail.com.

 

Etsy Craft Party with Block Party Handmade Boutique, Em Dash Designs, and D.I.Y. Louisville!  Keep Louisville DIY and join the global celebration of meeting and making at the local Etsy Craft Party 2013: Craft for the Community.  

The craft du jour will be terra cotta plant pots. Paint them. Decoupage them. Do with them what you will in a crafty way. Just show up. We'll supply the rest!

Some other surprises are also in store, not to mention snacks.

A $5 supply fee will be collected at the door. Capacity is limited, so sign up early!

For questions, e-mail emily@theemdash.com, info@blockpartyhandmade.com or diylouisville@gmail.com.

For more information on Etsy’s Craft Party, check out this article: https://www.etsy.com/craft-party.

RSVP at etsycraftparty-louisville.eventbrite.com.

Make and Take at New Albany Library!  FREE event!  Thursday, June 27th, 6:30pm.  RSVP by calling New Albany Reference Service Desk at (812) 949-3523.

I am excited to be out in the community meeting new friends and hope that you’ll join me at these events!

~julee~

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Make It: Faux Wood iPad Sleeve

Let’s face it, guys are hard to craft for.  I asked my husband what kinds of crafty things guys would like for Father’s Day, and he said something for electronic gadgets, and anything made with duct tape.  So I dug around a little bit and found this awesome faux wood contact paper that I purchased at the dollar store a while ago.  It’s not as sturdy as duct tape, but it looks a million times more cool.  Hence, an iPad sleeve made from faux wood contact paper.

DIY Faux Wood iPad Sleeve Tutorial

1) Supplies needed:  Heavy cardstock (2), felt (2), contact paper, spray adhesive, needle, embroidery floss, cutting tool (not shown).  2)  Cut the contact paper to the size of your device, adding a 1-inch margin on all sides.  Remove the contact paper backing and adhere it to the cardstock.  3)  Cut notches on each corner of the contact paper.  4)  Fold over the access.  5)  Spray your felt with the spray adhesive.  6)  Attach the pieces.  7)  Using a cutting tool or scissors, trim the access felt.  Repeat this process to make another identical panel.  8)  Use the needle and embroidery floss to attach three sides of the panels together. 

Happy Father’s Day crafting, DIY’ers!

~julee~

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