This colorful patterned tablecloth from Target has been waiting for a party and it’s my favorite! Simple flowers brightened up the place.

It’s no party without snacks! I made sure to include cupcakes since I hadn’t made any in a while. These Brown Butter Peach Cupcakes were perfect for a summer celebration. Also, these confetti brownies were chocolate gooey goodness. Those sugar cookies were what we used to DIY.

Plenty of La Croix to cleanse the palate! Thank you to Amy for bringing a yummy bottle of rose that we happily finished.

We made two crafts at the party: flooded sugar cookies and a macramé wall hanging. Here are some shots from the cookie action.

I’ve been wanting to try macramé for a long time! I found the jersey yarn macramé wall hanging kit from Wool and the Gang. They had lots of fun colors for our project. (FYI: the yarn is made from recycled factory cut-offs so the color options change frequently. If you see a color you like, grab it quickly!)

The macramé wall hanging was quite the craft. It was definitely a lot harder and more time-consuming than I thought it would be. Now we understand the time and effort behind all those beautiful macramé hangings on Instagram and Pinterest!

We all spaced out on the floor since the yarn needed to be long. If I had gotten photos of us at work, you would see us intensely concentrating on our craft. None of us finished but hopefully we’ll have finished products in the future!

Jack supervising/”helping” our macrame making.

Here’s macramé progress! I definitely put a lot of “character” in at the beginning.

Have you ever tried macramé? What did you make?

Want more patterns? Check out my Pattern board on Pinterest.

Keep up with my daily adventures. You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, or Snapchat (@wanderlustanita). You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

I’m on a mission to throw 12 celebrations in 2016. This is #7 of 12. See all of #Celebrations2016 here!

The post Pattern Play DIY Macramé Party appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

• Pepperoni
• Brazos: Canadian bacon, pepperoni, onions, green peppers, jalapenos and feta cheese
• MoPac: Canadian bacon, pepperoni, sausage, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, olives
• Downtown Special: pepperoni, sausage, black olives and mushrooms

The post DIY Pizza Greeting Cards + Pizza Giveaway appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

This past weekend, I had the joy of helping with my friend Sarah’s baby shower! (You might remember Sarah from her wedding reception I helped with two years ago.) Sarah’s sister Rachel was the organizer of the whole event and she did a stellar job. The baby shower featured an amazing bagel bar, girly florals, DIY, and lots of fun!

First, the food! A fellow foodie, Sarah made it very clear that she wanted great food at the shower. Rachel, their family members, and some friends prepared all the delicious food. The amazing bagel bar spread had options for all tastes – from lox and capers to Nutella and banana. There was also chicken salad, pea pesto salad, herb and goat cheese frittata, sausage and potato and mushroom frittata, almond lemon cake, and mimosas.

For the décor, I kept it simple with these girly floral hoops. If you’re looking for something different than flowers in a vase, this project is doable in about an hour.

Here’s some info on how to make the floral hoops.

• Those white hoops are small hula hoops from the Dollar Store with two coats of white spray paint. Yes, only $2 plus the white spray paint that I already had. I went this route for the hoop thickness and color. The only problem I had was if I weren’t careful, the paint would scratch off when it touched hard surfaces. You can also get metal hoops in varying sizes (ones I saw at Hobby Lobby were thinner, silver and ranged from $1-5 each) or wood embroidery hoops from a craft store.
• Buy floral wire (thin green wire), wire cutters, greenery, and a mix of coordinating flowers. For the greenery and flowers, I got eight stems of greenery for $2 each at Central Market and two prepared bouquets from Whole Foods for $9 each. I got the bouquets because Central Market didn’t have the flowers I wanted, but the bouquets were good because I didn’t need to think about what flowers would go together and they were cheaper than piecing bouquets together myself.
• Sketch out your loop design or lay out your flowers to get a feel for the desired finished look. For my hoops, I knew I wanted the greenery to open out on the ends and for the big Gerbera daisies to be the focal point. The roses and berries were complementary.
• Start with the greenery and wire each piece strategically onto the hoop, layering on top of each other. I started wiring the outer pieces and moved in to the center with the flowers. You may need to use glue dots to help hold pieces in place. I used it in two spots to cover up the white hoop with leaves.
• Stick the hoops to the wall with plastic hooks with adhesive on the back and glue dots or hang them with clear fishing line.
• Altogether, this project cost $38 plus the white spray paint, floral wire and wire cutters that I already had. Your big cost will be the flowers and depends on the kind of flower. A $4 carnation bunch from HEB could look just as nice. My flowers were from Central Market and Whole Foods. I also hear Trader Joe’s has a good flower selection. You could also make this with fake flowers, which cost an average $3-5 per stem at a craft store.

Our DIY craft was decorating onesies and bibs for the future babe. Everyone did a great job with these! The drying racks came in very handy.

We also had guests fill out two different cards – one of baby predictions (things like height, weight) and another of wishes for the baby (things like “I hope you learn ___”). Sarah’s friend Cristina put these cute cards together and created this impressive diaper cake.

Cristina also created this pretty birthdate calendar that we all put our birthdate predictions on. I’ve guessed Baby Girl will be an early bird! It’ll be fun to see if anyone guessed correctly.

We played Pictionary using words associated with babies, like spit up and breast pump, but with a room full of moms, this game was a piece of cake!

There was gift opening that resulted in a lot of agreeing nods when another box of baby bottles appeared and oos and ahhs when adorable watermelon outfits and hand-knitted blankets were unwrapped.

Guests didn’t leave empty-handed. These bags of popcorn (choice of Dill Pickle, Cheddar, or Caramel) from Austin company Cornucopia were the perfect size. I added the printed labels to the bag for a personalized touch.

It was a wonderful afternoon celebrating Sarah and her babe. We can’t wait to meet the sweet little girl!

Have you ever been to a baby shower? What was your favorite part?

I’m on a mission to throw 12 celebrations in 2016. This is #6 of 12. See all of #Celebrations2016 here!

The post A Foodie and Simple Baby Shower appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Eating sweets from @briberybakery, @traderjoestexas, and @uppercrust_atx before taking a @britandco watercolor class at @atasteofkoko’s cozy home. #crafty #diy #watercolor #brunch #austinbloggers #britco #painting #paint #lindaeatsworld #macarons #thatsdarling

A photo posted by Linda Nguyen (@curiousnotions) on Feb 28, 2016 at 8:51am PST

Watercolor & brunch with these lovely ladies! @daniaustin @sushigirl_atx @wanderlustanita @curiousnotions @kathyphantastic

A photo posted by JANE KO, Food & Travel Blogger (@atasteofkoko) on Feb 28, 2016 at 9:45am PST

What a fun morning of brunching and water coloring with @atasteofkoko, @kathyphantastic, @curiousnotions, @wanderlustanita & @daniaustin! #diy #britandco #wearecrafty #craft

A photo posted by Amy drohen (@sushigirl_atx) on Feb 28, 2016 at 11:24am PST

 

Fun and relaxing watercoloring morning! We took the @britandco online illustration class and it resulted in these cute foxes.

A photo posted by Anita Cheung (@wanderlustanita) on Feb 28, 2016 at 10:26am PST

The post DIY Watercolor Party appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

My friend Sarah and I hosted a sweet, little Valentine’s Day Party with some of our favorite gal pals this past weekend. We threw together this fun party in a little more than a week! Sarah and I had been emailing back and forth about DIY projects we wanted to do, and the look and feel of our ideas seemed perfectly made for a Valentine’s get-together. Take a look!

Valentine’s is a very versatile party theme. You can do up the room with hearts or use a classic black and white base with splashes of girly pink or red. Sarah’s open, minimalistic kitchen was the perfect setting for the latter. A few pops of color here and there with flowers, a heart garland and a table runner tied in the Valentine’s theme.

Sarah made this excellent strawberry shrub with red wine vinegar for our drinks. One or two tablespoons of the mixture was topped off with Topo Chico or cava.

Getting some fun #diy #valentinesday ideas with @wanderlustanita, @kathyphantastic, @mjsoko & @pbchipses. Pop tarts, chocolate dipped Rice Krispie hearts, Herb infused syrup cocktails/mocktails, flower pepper shakers and more!

A photo posted by Amy drohen (@sushigirl_atx) on Feb 13, 2016 at 1:04pm PST

For our DIY snacks, we decorated rice krispies and made pastry tarts. For the pastry tarts, we used pre-made puff pastry and a selection of jams, including a homemade jam by Amy’s mother-in-law! With a little mix of lemon juice, powdered sugar and food coloring; Sarah made a icing and we topped the treats with sprinkles.

For the rice krispies, I pre-made the rice krispies with my favorite Smitten Kitchen recipe. We used a heart cookie cutter to get our shapes, and then we drizzled chocolate and finished them off with sprinkles.

For our other DIY, we made colorful pepper mills with dried flowers and peppercorn. Sarah first saw this DIY in the Near and Far cookbook. You can find a similar recipe here. We layered peppercorn with dried calendula, roses, hibiscus and lavender. It’s a pretty result that can be cracked onto yogurt or ice cream.

Finally, we also decorated cards for our valentines!

It was a fun time celebrating Valentine’s Day with some of my favorite gals!

#GalentinesDay crafting and baking with @WanderlustAnita and @SushiGirl_ATX pic.twitter.com/kW9EdGSaUP

— Kathy Phan (@kathyphan) February 14, 2016

I’m on a mission to throw 12 celebrations in 2016. This is #3 of 12. See all of #Celebrations2016 here!

The post Valentine’s Day DIY Party appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Valentine’s Day was a starting point for my love of letters and crafting. In third grade, my teacher had everyone bring in a creative Valentine’s box. Mine was a computer made out of two boxes and Valentine’s were slid into the floppy disk opening. (#nerdalert, anyone?) In the last couple of years, my valentines have included hand-drawn robots, anatomically correct hearts and various creations with paper hearts, glitter and glue in some form or fashion.

While I’m a tad late sending out my valentine’s cards this year (sorry, friends!), I did finally get them done! With the marbled paper I made for my DIY Marbling Party, I cut out pretty hearts and glued them into unique designs on blank craft note cards and envelopes. I also tried rectangles like the one below.

(Ok, I didn’t actually send JJ a valentine, but he totally deserves one. *wink*)

People have many thoughts about Valentine’s Day and I’ve heard them all this week. Some think it’s absolutely unnecessary while others love the opportunity to add a few hearts and guilt-free chocolate into their day. I’m a fan. While it gets slightly out of hand with giant teddy bears, big bouquets and thought-less gift-giving, I think it’s a nice reminder to stop and show appreciation for the people around you. I’m not great at consistently sharing my feelings verbally, but Valentine’s Day reminds me to take some time to create something unique and to write thoughtful words. It’s always fun getting snail mail, and sweet handwritten notes make it even better.

If you need some pointers on what to write, try these prompts to spur your thoughts.

• I think you are ______. (name some adjectives)
• I appreciate you most when you _______.
• My favorite memory of us is _______.
• I’m thankful for your _______. (name some talents)

Hope you are having a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Have you ever made homemade cards? Tell me about them!
What’s your favorite Valentine’s memory?

The post Happy Valentine’s Day // DIY Heart Cards appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Creativity is a hot topic right now. We’re all trying to find ways to do work we love, be more productive and innovative and live our best lives. I’ve found that it comes back to being creative. When we exercise our creativity, we allow new ideas to come to life and it enlightens parts of our brain that we may not use often. Some may argue that creativity is genetic, but putting yourself in a creative environment and putting effort in developing your creative skills proves it’s more about nurturing.

If you want to be more creative, first, you need to change your thinking. Think like a kid. What would you do if you couldn’t fail? Be positive. Worry less about perfectionism and more about discovering what is possible. Be open-minded to consider new ideas. Get curious. Be aware of fear (fear of failure or not doing something well enough) and don’t stop when that fear appears. Some of the ideas listed below may feel strange or silly when you’re first starting out. Keep at it and see where your creative routine can take you. Stay hungry.

Next, you need to find the time and be intentional about it. Try committing to one hour every week or twenty minutes every day, whatever your schedule allows or however long you feel you need. Put it on your calendar and don’t skip it! Be present during your creativity time.

Now you’re ready to exercise your creativity. Here are some ideas!

• Limit your tools. Make something with certain tools.
• Take photos. Capture the things that inspire you. Look for new perspectives and things you never noticed before.
• Use a new app. Try photo editing apps like Instagram.
• Doodle.
• Sign up for a class. Learn about something you have no or little skills to do. This can be art or cooking classes in your city. There are MANY online class options available, and they’re usually an hour long. I recommend Brit + Co or Skillshare.
• Make something with your hands. Explore Pinterest for a DIY project or new recipe to make. It can be as simple as a paper banner or as intricate as a wood-burned board. Check out my posts about DIY projects.
• Get moving! Go for a walk outside or go to a work-out class. Bring your camera to check two things off at once – a photo-taking walk!
• Keep a journal. Fill it with ideas, thoughts, and drawings. Write about interesting parts of your day.
• Watch TED talks.
• Brighten up your space. Surround yourself with things that you find inspiring, even if you don’t quite know why.
• Go to a busy place like a coffee shop. Feed off of the energy in the room.
• Watch and/or do stand-up comedy.
• Travel to a new city or country.
• Study a subject you’re interested in. Learn. Research. Read.
• Attend creative events. Museums. Something you wouldn’t usually go to.

Have a suggestion about how to exercise your creativity? Comment below!

The post 15 Ways to Be More Creative appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

The idea of Cake Party started as a random idea. I had found a beautiful cake recipe and posted it on Facebook with a quick caption along the lines of, wouldn’t it be heavenly if I had a cake potluck and everyone brought a cake like this? A lot of friends were very enthusiastic about this idea. Fast forward to my birthday party planning time and if you know me and my cake-loving ways, a cake potluck was the only party theme that seemed right. Here are all the details that made my Cake Party so much fun!

Everyone was encouraged to pull up their sleeves and try making a cake. Non-cake sweets and savory snacks were also appreciated. Behold, the sweet table, complete with DIY tissue paper and cardboard CAKE letters and a DIY tassel garland. Please give all your heart eyes to this beautiful sugar spread. We’ve got M&M fudge, saltine chocolate bark, pecan shortbread cheesecake with caramel, Japanese cheesecake, sesame peanut butter banana cake, red velvet cake, Chocolate stout and Irish whiskey and Irish cream cake, tres leches cupcakes, strawberry shortcake, pumpkin pie, and chocolate peppermint bundt. Whew!

Some friends decided to bring savory snacks to balance the sugar and to them, we will be forever grateful. For the savory snacks, we enjoyed fancy goat cheese and crackers and marcona almonds, chips with salsa and guacamole, and brie and bacon jam pastry on toast. My sweet guy, who would probably say cake is the last thing he would want to eat, made his favorite kale salad for the party. His cake label had a few people fooled/confused at first.

My friend Alicia recently started her own mixology company called a.k.a. mixologist and she brought infused liquors of strawberry daiquiri made with rum and a whiskey drink similar to an Old Fashioned. There’s a lot of science behind the process of creating these fresh and natural liquors that takes fancy machines and time, and all I know is, they were refreshing and smooth! You can learn all about it on her website.

There was a Decorate Your Own Cupcake area for a little DIY fun. It was cute watching friends try their hand at frosting and sprinkling.

My very talented friend Kathy graciously created pretty framed illustrations for the event. You can see the “Decorate your own cupcake” above and the party tagline below.

The result was the king of all sugar comas (similar to a previous dessert party), lots of laughs and community, and me going to bed with a smile on my face, thinking about all my sweet friends who made me feel so loved for my birthday. What an extra sweet way to celebrate a birthday!

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November is easily my favorite month of the year. It’s my birthday month, Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving month and officially THE start of pie season. With the help of Brit + Co and Mrs. Smith’s, I gathered some of my favorite crafty ladies to enjoy a mini Friendsgiving and a DIY pie dish party.

For the décor, I kept it simple with a fall theme of gold and burgundy. I re-used the votive holders from last year’s Friendsgiving and added flowers. Place cards with gold leaf stickers and gold lettering completed the look.

For our menu, we had a spread of favorite Thanksgiving dishes, including Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, and apple walnut salad. My friend Julie made a rich and appetizing pumpkin gooey cake dessert that was a hit! Also for dessert, Mrs. Smith’s provided tasty pumpkin and dutch apple pies that were easy as pie to prepare. They come frozen and they filled my house with the comforting smells of the holidays.

It looks like the apple pie craving was stronger than the pumpkin pie craving!

Perfectly timed for Thanksgiving, our pie dish DIY ensured we have something gorgeous and unique to display our pies in a few weeks. Similar to our other Brit + Co DIYs, this pie dish DIY was all about the pattern. We used porcelain pens to create our best designs.

Here are our beautiful final products!

Little nod to Adele

Thank you Mrs. Smith’s for sponsoring our party!

I hope you have a wonderful pie season and happy Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving!

What’s your favorite kind of pie?

Check out the other Brit + Co DIY parties I’ve hosted.

One of my goals this year is to throw 12 celebrations. This is #14. These are big and small parties for any occasion with the goal of planning and executing something fun. See all the celebrations here.

Disclosure: Brit + Co and Mrs. Smith’s provided me complimentary craft kits and complimentary pies. I was not required to review the kits or pies or write a blog post about the party, but I hope you find inspiration from it.

The post DIY Pie Dish with Brit + Co and Mrs. Smith’s appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Super guests! Find us on Instagram: @ybbalc7, @wanderlustanita, @kathyphantastic, and @pspapershoppe

The post DIY Herb Garden Party with Brit + Co and Lay’s Wavy appeared first on Fearless Captivations.