DIY Photobooth

Everyone loves a photo booth at a party but to get the professionals in it can cost hundreds. 

If you are looking for a cheap but very effective solution then I have it here - costing under £20!!!!!

What you will need:

3 rolls of wrapping paper

masking tape / bluetac

card (if you want to make a sign)

scissors / cutting machine e.g. Cricut

various props

blackboard & chalk

Step 1 - Create your background

When buying wrapping paper for your background you need to think of a couple of things:

•  If there a theme to the party, you should try and find wrap that matches the theme so that your photo booth doesn't look out of place
• You also need to think about the lighting of your venue. If it's a dark lit venue then you are likely to need a camera flash so don't pick a wrapping paper that is likely to reflect. I mostly got away with the one you see in the photos but there was times where the flash really caught the glitter and reflected back. Also avoid anything with foil as it's really reflective

Once you have your wrap, don't unroll it until the night as it could become damage. When you get to the venue, lay all 3 piece face down and line them up. Then take your masking tape and stick them together so that it becomes one big piece. You might not need 3 but I found this was about the right size for groups of 5/6 in a photo.

You will probably need help for the next bit as it's hard to do it by yourself. 

Ask a friend to hold the background up against the wall whist you stick the top of the background using either masking tape or bluetac. Then put some more at the bottom and along the sides if necessary.

Step 2 - Make your sign (optional)

To make the photos more a memento of the evening, I made a sign to stick on the background. This part was really simple, just cutting the letters out of card. I used my Cricut machine to get a really clean finish but scissors will work as well.

Step 3 - Buy some props

Obviously the more props you buy the more fun your guests will have but remember it will also make your booth more expensive. This is where my bargain hunting skills really came in handy as I scoured pound stores & discount shops. I was very lucky that Claire's accessories had a sale on where I could by 5 items for £3 - crazy bargain considering most items I bought were £5 each

Lay all the props out on a table next to your background so they are easy to get to. I also had a blackboard and chalk so the guests could write cheeky messages to the party host

Step 4 - Add people

Step 5 - Take your photos

you can leave it to your guest to take photos using their cameras & phones but I like to have my trusting Polaroid with me

Polaroid Z340

This polaroid is amazing - not only can you print your photos out straight away but it lets you pick and choose which to print so your not wasting paper. I'm not going to lie it's a bit temperamental so I won't leave it out for guests without instructions but I've taken it to lots of parties and weddings and it's always a big hit - people love getting a picture to take away on the night 

I've made an instruction guide to using it so if you want you could print this out and leave it next to your camera

I'll be back,

52 reasons why I love him...

My boyfriend and I have been together for 12 years and this year I wanted to make him a valentines gift that showed him how much I loved him...52 reasons to be precise!

What You Need:

pack of cards

2 sheets of 12x12 of sturdy paper/thin card (or 4 A4 sheets)

pen or printer

scissors or a cutting machine

ring-binder

hole punch

string/twine

PVA glue

Step 1 - Record your reasons

It took a wee while for me to get started but one I started writing things down it was easy to come up with my reasons of love. I tried to keep a mix of funny and serious (as my boyfriend is all about the jokes), taking inspiration from

• their quirks
• things they bring out in you
• physical attraction
• in jokes
• things they do for others

I used Wunderlist to keep track of my list as you can download the app on your phone and access online so whenever I got a spark of inspiration, I could add it to my list.

Step 2 - Print/write them down

I have a Cricut Explore which is what I used to cut out my cards and write on them but if you don't have one you can always print them out on your computer or just handwrite. 

I cut my pieces of card to 1.5" x 2.5" as this fitted pretty well on the playing cards and it you are using your Cricut, then make sure you attach the text to the rectangle images before cutting so that the text is aligned.

Step 3 - Punch those cards

This is a bit tricky as the hole punch is just smaller than your average pack of cards so you need to be pretty precise to make sure you don't cut over the edge of the card.

Step 4 - Bind your cards

Taking your ring-binder, cut/rip your rings out the middle. I used a pair of needle nose pliers to help push it off the card.

I then cut out a piece of the ring-binder card that was slightly bigger than the pack of cards to use as the background, hole punching it and then tying the rings onto it so they are secure.

Alternatively if you want a ring-binder front and back then you could just leave the rings in the binder and cut it so that the whole binder is just slightly larger than the deck of cards, like a mini hardback book

Step 5 - Glue in your love

Open up the rings and put all your playing cards in so that the backs of the cards are facing up. Then glue each of your reasons on the cards, using one of the jokers as the front page with your title on it. Careful not to glue your cards together though!!!!

I'll be back,

Paper Cut Christmas Gift Tags

I try to find a new way to wrap my Christmas presents every year and this year I has a new toy to play with - my Cricut Explore

Since it's the season of giving gifts I thought I would share my SVG file with you and instructions on how to add the lettering - hope you guys enjoy using it

Step 1 - Download the SVG file

Click on the image below and down load my christmas.svg file

Step 2 - Upload SVG to Cricut Design Space

Upload the christmas.svg file buy selecting the vector upload option and then choose the image to import

Step 3 - Add your text

Add text to your image

Turn it black and then move it so that the centre is touching to one of the lines on the line.

Once it is touching the line, ungroup the text

When the text is ungrouped you can move the letters individually. This means you can slightly turn the text so that it an all be moved to touch the line on the image.

Once you've finished moving all the text on one line, select each of the letters and click on "group" so they are linked back together.

Then select both the sentence and the image, before clicking the Weld button to link the test to the image. Repeat until you have added text to all the lines.

Step 4 - Link your star

There will be a gap between your text on the top line and one of the falling stars so link it up by adding a square and move it until it fits between the bottom of the letter and the star. Remember to weld the square to the image so that it stays in place when cutting.

Step 5 - cut out the image

Cutting out these tags with my Explore, I then glued them to the front of  my gifts, finishing it of by writing the recipients name on the tree with a gold pen.

I'll be back,

Easy Halloween Lantern

This lantern is super quick and easy to do
Perfect for those who need some last minute Halloween decorations

I opened my Cricut Craft Room today to find I had a new free cartridge - 3D lanterns and I love to try out anything new so I set to work straight away

Now I think this is how you are mean to use these images but my way is even quicker and lets you use real candles, rather than fake ones

Taken from Becky Baugh on Pinterest

What you will need:

Jam Jar

Black Card

Tissue Paper

Sellotape or Glue

Cricut with 3D lantern cartridge

Step 1:

Measure the circumference & height of your jam jar. Then take one of the lantern images and expand it in Cricut Craft Room until it is slightly larger than your jar (as you want it to overlap a little)

Step 2:

Take your black card and cut out the lantern image using your Cricut

Step 3:

Cut out a piece of tissue paper that is slightly smaller than the size of your cut of black card and stick it to the back so the tissue shines through

Step 4:

Wrap the card round the jar so the black card is on the outside and the tissue is against the jar, then tape the overlapping edges of black card together so that it forms a cylinder around the jar.

Step 5:

Drop your tea light inside and light it - making sure you keep the flame away from the paper!!!!

Easy peasy and super effective for any Halloween household!

I'll be back,

How to Craft the Perfect Hen Weekend!!!

When one of my best friends in the world asked me to be her bridesmaid, I knew I had to throw her a hen party she would never forget. Now Tatum has some pretty wicked hostessing skills so it was quite a daunting task but myself and her other bridesmaid put our thinking caps on and organised a weekend of vintage fun!

Tatum was extremely trusting in us and let us keep the whole thing a surprise from her. There aren't many people who would let their two mental mates organise a weekend to remember without knowing the details but there are a few things you need to remember to tell the bride and I'll cover those as we go!

Who's Invited

Now the first thing I wanted to do was get designing the invite but before you can start on this you need to know who you are inviting an a rough plan of action.

We let the bride tell us who she would like to invite and asked for contact details for each of the hens (it's handy to have an email address and mobile number) 

You also need to find out if she is wanting to split the party at all, e.g. just close friends for a party at night and then all family and friends during the day...

Coming up with a Plan

Now this is the tricky part - when you have so many options available to you, how do you possibly decide where to go and what to do!

We came up with our location based on the group of hens invited. Most of the hens stay in London or close by and a few of them had young children so we didn't want to go far away as it meant they probably wouldn't be able to join us - so with all the things London had to offer we decided this was our best option.

We then emailed all the hens telling them the Hen Weekend would be in London and gave them a choice of two dates (which we had already cleared with the bride). We picked the date that most hens could make and then asked the others if there was anything they could do to wiggle plans around so that they could make it as well. In retrospect it is much easier to pick one date but if people come back saying no then it could be a lot of emailing back and forward to find another date. I would recommend getting the dates sorted at least 3 months in advance so you have plenty of time to sort final plans.

Then it's time to Google it up to the max and search for those perfect plans! We created a SECRET Pinterest board (the secret part is really important as you don't want the bride seeing it) and that way both bridesmaid could start planning possible ideas and then we Skyped to discuss everything we had come up with. Of course, if you live next to each other then why not meet up over a G&T to discuss and have some pre-hen night fun of your own!

Remember to think about what your bride would want, rather than yourself and also something that won't push all of your hens too far out their comfort zone!

We decided the best way to do it was split the weekend into 3 parts so that way if you could only make part of the weekend then you didn't need to pay for the whole thing. So we came up with a plan for Saturday afternoon, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. We also came up with a theme for each part as if you have a theme it's easier to come up with something to make your hens all look like they are out at a party together, rather than just a normal night out at a club.

As well as coming up with a plan you need to work out the rough cost for each part of the day. Now at this point you don't know who can attend each part so we gave a rough range - the lower price was if everyone came and the higher price was if half the group came. Remember to explain to people what is not covered in the cost you are quoting, e.g. booze in the club

And last but not least you need to give people an option for somewhere to stay. We booked an apartment for 4 people in the centre of town as it was free cancellation right up to two days before - that way we knew we had somewhere guaranteed but if we ended up having loads of people who wanted to stay then we could book somewhere bigger! As it turns out only 4 people wanted to stay but 7 people ended up not wanting to go home at the end of the night so remind people if they have to leave to get last trains etc they will miss the end of the evening!

The Invites

To make the invites I used a website called pic monkey. It has loads of backgrounds, cool shapes and funky fonts so you can knock up an invite in no time at all. 

I made a separate invite for each part of the weekend as they all had different themes but if you are sticking with the same theme then it's only down to how much information you can fit on the page!

Now normally you would post an invite out but I've always found a better way to do things for a hen weekend if to create a Facebook group (again please make sure it is SECRET so the bride doesn't see) and I then uploaded the invites as photos on the page. Now the only problem with this is you need to have all the hens as Facebook friends and it can be tricky to find them but if they are all friends with the bride already then you can search on her friends list - or send them a link to your Facebook profile page and get them to add you. Then once they become your friend you can send them an invite to your group page that you've created. A Facebook group is also great for asking your hens questions, like "does anyone have a food allergy" or "what's your favourite booze" and you can check how many people have seen your message which is handy if you have to chase people.

The Themes and What I Crafted for Them

Saturday Afternoon - Vintage 50s Housewife

We knew that the bride loves a bit of vintage so we thought we would start the day with a 50s housewife theme and that way we could make lots of housewife jokes and games as well.

We booked a canal boat called the Jenny Wren as they said we could bring our own food, booze and decorations which made it a good option to combine the price for lunch and a bit of fun for everyone at the same time.

 

Now the best advice I can give you is to find out what all your bridesmaid strengths are an play to those. The other bridesmaid Lindy is an amazing cook and great fun so she made all the food and organised the games. Where as I'm addicted to crafts and love spreadsheet so I made the decorations and pulled together the logistics of how it was going to work, who was coming to what and sorting out money.

I'll ask Lindy if she could share her wonderful recipes with us but in the mean time you are stuck with my crafts!

Bunting

Bunting is simple way to brighten up a room (or boat) and not to difficult to make.

1. I cut a triangle out of cardboard and then used that to stencil it onto the material, which I bought on ebay (5 fat quarters made 4 meters of bunting). 
2. Then take two triangles of the same material and lay them together so that the pattern side is in the middle. 
3. Stitch them together using a sewing machine and then flip them inside out
4. Take your ribbon, I got two from hobbycraft that said "congratulations" and "happily ever after", pinning your flags to the back of the ribbon and then stitch them on, removing the pins as you go

Put up some balloons as well to give it that extra festive feel!

Cupcake Stands

I love these and you can use them over and over again for events.

1. buy your cupcake stand fittings - I got mine on ebay for a bargain
2. search round charity shops (or ebay) for different sized vintage plates - I used 3 sized plates:
• 1 dinner plate
• 1 side plate
• 2 saucers
3. You will also need a drill and diamond drill piece. Make sure you buy one that will make large enough holes for your cake stand fittings
4. Take your plates one buy one and drill a hole in the middle. Put a little bit of water on the plate/drill piece before you start and make sure the place you are drilling stays a little wet, to keep the drill cool. Also you will need to hold the drill at a slight angle to begin with and then once the hole has begun you can hold it more upright.
5. Once you have cleaned your plates you can construct your tower:
• Take one of the small saucers and place it upside down with the large dinner plate on top, then put the screw through both so its sticking up through the dinner plate
• Screw in one of the stems and then put the side plate on top (remember to put the washer on either side to help protect the plates)
• Screw in another stem and place your last saucer on top
• Screw in the top handle and you are done

You could even drill a hole in a tea cup and add that to the top before screwing in the handle!

Other Decorations

There are lots of other bits and pieces you need to get to make your table look pretty

• table cloths
• napkins
• plates
• cups
• cutlery
• fun times like mini windmills and cocktail umbrellas

Hen Goodie Bags

It's lovely to have a little gift for all then hens and bride to take home with them as a memento of the weekend so a little hen goodie bag is a great idea

How to make the bag

I have done these before with gift bags but that's only good if you are not going to be out and about all day. This time I thought I would try shopping tote bags as it would give people somewhere to put there bits and pieces in during the day

1. I bought a pack of canvas bags on ebay
2. Make a stencil using sticky back vinyl. I used my Cricut machine to cut it out but you can use a craft knife as well.
3. Stick the stencil onto the from of your bag
4. Colour it in with fabric paint or a fabric pen (fabric sharpie pens work well). Make sure you put a piece of cardboard or something inside the bag so it doesn't go through to the other side

What to fill it with

• Sunglasses - We wanted something all the hens could wear so we thought these vintage sunglasses would be a fun piece to add. We got the bride white ones so she stood out a bit more
• badges - these personalised badges are fab and a great memento for your hens. Also they came amazingly quick - this shop is the best
• bubbles - these are always fun at a party and I managed to find diamond ones which matched our brides surname
• Sweets - there will be some point over the weekend when someone gets the munchies so a little sweetie bag is always a handy thing to have.
• Details of the weekend plan - I made everyone a lanyard with the laminated invites and a little game for us all to play. Once we got off the boat we split into teams and all ran round Camden taking pictures of things that would help Tatum be the "perfect" housewife - the funnier the better

• last but not least, I engraved a compact mirror for everyone

How to engrave a mirror

1. Buy your compacts, some etching cream and sticky back vinyl
2. Again I used my Cricut machine to cut out the words I wanted to put on the mirror
3. Stick the vinyl to the mirror - making sure there are no air bubbles or bits sticking up
4. use a small paint brush to put your etching cream on top of the stencil
5. Leave for 10-15mins (don't think it takes this long but I like to make sure) and then wash it off when it's finished
6. Take the sticker of and give it one final rince - then leave it to dry

I found everything I needed on amazon and ebay so you don't even need to leave your house to get them but remember it will take a while to get things delivered and then you still need to make them so give yourself plenty of time.

Saturday Night - 1920s Party

We decided we wanted to do the next part in our apartment and then head out to a club but you can hire a cottage for the weekend and organise the whole party in there - we have some great ones in Scotland!!

Now you might be wondering why we didn't keep the same theme all day but 50s dresses are really hot with those underskirts and we didn't want people feeling roasting in the club so we asked everyone to wear a little black dress at night. The 1920's theme was a surprise to everyone and I had a crafty way to transform their outfits into 20s stunningness

1920s Headband Making

I searched online and found pictures of 1920s headbands that I thought wouldn't be too difficult to make, and then I made an inspiration board for the hens to use on the night.

I bought along lost of props:

• glue gun
• scissors
• needle and thread
• elastic lace
• black felt
• feathers
• flat backed jewels and pearls - different sizes

Here are the instructions I gave the hens on making their head bands:

1. Hold the elastic around your head, stretching it a little bit and cut it with a slight overlap
2. Sew the ends together and then put the headband to one side
3. Cut out a basic shape from the felt and cover it in jewels on the front, with a few feathers glued to the back
4. Then take your basic shape and add a thick line of glue all the way along the back before sticking your headband to it. Make sure you stick the piece of your headband that has the stitching to hide it

There was too many hens to do everyones at the same time so the other bridesmaid played games with everyone while I manned the craft table and took a few people at a time

I also bought everyone a long set of 72inch flapper beads to finish off the look

You may notice the bride is wearing a hand made sash, if you would like one then contact me on craftalavista@gmail.com and we can discuss the best option to make it personalised to your bride.

Party Decorations

I found lots of 20s posters on Google and printed them out on A3 as well as putting up balloons. To finish it off I made some art deco bunting with my Cricut  - I'll put up the template for it soon!

And what did you do next...

I hear you asking what club we ended up going to - Bar Soho in Covent Garden is a fab dance club where we managed to get our own area that had a massive vintage style bed in it - perfect for photos and our own dancing space!

Sunday Afternoon - Commitment

We started of the Sunday but having a chilled out picnic in a local park so that everyone could recover. remember you might have a few hungover ladies on the second day so don't book anything too adventurous!!

Then our big surprise was - as Tatum was making a commitment to her husband to be, we took her to see The Commitments Musical

This is the perfect musical for a hen weekend - nothing to serious and lots of singing and dancing to be had! They even did an encore at the end when the cast just came out and played a few songs like you were watching a live band! AMAZING!

So I hope this has given you inspiration for planning your hen weekend and remember the most important thing is it's not how expensive you make it and all about those little personalised touches that everyone will remember - especially your wonderful bride to be!

I'll be back,

Pop Up Box Card Template

I have been waiting months now to tell my mum what I'd bought her for her birthday - now that a lot of time to think about how you are going to tell the person and what better way to let someone know you are taking them to see LADY GAGA than to make a pop up box card!!!!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

2 different types of coloured card

Strong glue (I used a hot glue gun for speed)

Cricut machine / another die cutter (unless you want to cut by hand)

Pop up box card template (links below)

The Templates

If you are using Cricut Craft room then you'll need the .ccr file

If you are using Design Space or any other die cutting machine that accepts .svg files them please use the two template below - one for basic box card and one for the happy birthday label

   

Step 1

Cut your card. If you don't have a Cricut then this is the shape you need (you can also work out the sizes from the cutting mat image I've put up in the template section as it has the sizes all round the edge)

Step 2

 Fold the top flaps out the way

Step 3

Then crease lines down the bottom half of the card so you create a box shape, also folding over the small flap on the edge

 Step 4

Glue on your 4 largest rectangles - putting the largest of the 4 next to the edge with the flap

Step 5

 Flip over the card and on the third section away from the flat - glue your birthday message, or any other message you want on the front of your card.

Step 6

 Take the two smallest rectangles and fold both ends over so that it fits inside one of the four sections of the card

Step 7

Glue down one of the folded sides of both rectangles on the second section away from the flap - giving a bit of room at the front and back of the section

Then place glue on the other sides of the folder rectangles and the flap and stick them all down so that the flap joins the card together in a square shape and the middle rectangles form 3 sections inside the box card.

Step 8

Take the pieces you want popping out of your card and glue them to the folded rectangle sections you made inside your card - this gives the box depth.

NOTE: Make sure out of all your large background rectangles, the largest of the 4 is at the back of your card, as this keeps this side of the card up whilst the others fall down.

I put in a photo of myself, my mum and Lady Gaga. I used my laminator to make the photos a bit stiffer so that they sat up straight inside the card.

Step 9

Close your card up and wait to see the surprised look on the recipients face!!! To do this you just new to put up all the flaps and then push it down to the side so that the box is folded in half along the creases you have already made

I'll be back,