Friday, March 28, 2008

"Crafting with Jenni B" Cupcake Girlfriends Party Time!

Hello, Virginia Living Television fans! My mom, Jana, made a special trip out to Virginia to be a guest on "Crafting with Jenni B." We were so glad to have her! We wanted to share with our viewers some of our favorite things to do together. One, of course, is crafting and the other is getting together with our girlfriends for a good time!

Cupcakes were our theme, as you can tell! We shared two crafts on the air and also wanted to provide some instructions in case you missed it!


Cupcake Party Aprons

Canvas Apron
Fabric Pen in Brown
Ruler
Double Stick Tape
Word Processor
Printer
Paper
Sponge Paintbrush
Acrylic Paint in Brown
Colorful fabric, ¼ yard
Ribbon and/or ric rac
Hot glue gun
Glue gun sticks
Scissors
Pencil
Bling to decorate with like buttons/rhinestones

One of the fun things about this apron is that it doesn’t have to be an apron at all. In fact, it doesn’t even need to be decorated with cupcakes. Use these same techniques on canvas totes & purses. Different colors & embellishments will bring out your creativity!

First, you’ll want to decide on your theme. Anyone that knows me also knows that I love cupcakes. So naturally, I went with a cupcake theme on this Crafting With Jenni B episode!

Decide which words or saying you’d like to print across the bottom. Print it out on your computer. I made my letters about 4” high. Cut them out and tape them together into a long strip if necessary. Make sure they’ll fit across the bottom of the apron! Find the center of the words by folding the strip in half from side to side.

Find the center of the apron by folding it in half from side to side and make a small crease in the fabric on the fold. This way you can line the wording up exactly in the center. Put your words behind the apron and secure with tape (double sided works easiest). Trace the letters in pencil before you fill them in with the fabric marker to ensure the wording looks how you’d like it to.

Make your cupcake for the apron next. Draw a pattern on some lined paper for the cupcake bottom. I just made a trapeze shape. Then make a pattern on some paper for the cupcake icing. Make it as big and as fluffy as you’d like!

When your patterns are made, take the cupcake cup and outline it on the apron making sure it’s centered (use the same technique as you did for the wording). Outline it with pencil before filling it in with the brown fabric marker. You can even apply acrylic paint with a sponge brush (just make sure you mix it with a medium so it can be washed – the medium can be found in the same section of the craft store as the acrylic paint).

Once the cup of the cupcake has dried, you’re ready to add the “icing”! Trace the icing pattern on to the fabric of your choice. I liked the bright green fabric with pink dots that resemble sprinkles. Cut out the fabric and place it on your cupcake cup to get the alignment correct. Apply it with fabric glue and let dry.

Now for the fun part – adding embellishments. I like coordinating ric rac and ribbon. All you need to do is use your glue gun to put small dots on the apron and then immediately place the ribbon over it. I actually placed a row of ric rac on the cupcake cup and added a flower button and a rhinestone. I put some rhinestones on some of the polka dots on the cupcake as well.

And you’re all done! Enjoy.


Cupcake Party Placemats

Large piece of paper or tissue paper
Pink scrapbook paper
Brown paper from a paper bag or packing material
Ruler
Hot glue/sticks
Double-stick tape
Ribbon or ric rac for embellishment
Pencil
Scissors

Draw a pattern for your cupcake bottom on the large piece of paper or tissue paper. Use a ruler as necessary. We made our bottoms about 8” high and 10” across at the widest point. Then draw a pattern for your icing.

Trace around the pattern for your icing and the cup and then cut them out. Make more than one if you’d like to! I got two cupcake tops from one piece of 12” x 12” scrapbook paper.

Next you’re going to add your embellishment to the cupcake bottom. We used a brown ribbon with a little bit of pink, but you could use ric rac as well. Just make sure it isn’t too bulky so your plate will lie flat when you put it on your placemat! Apply it with some hot glue or craft glue. You don’t have to go to the very top edge of the cupcake bottom because the cupcake top will cover it!

Place double-stick tape along the top edge of the front of the cupcake bottom. Press the cupcake top on.
You’re ready to use your placemat for your very own Girlfriends Party!