Yesterday was our six-week-old grandbaby, Ashley’s, shower.  Since the invitation had a princess theme to it, I wanted to keep with that theme.  Purple is my daughter-in-law’s favorite color, so that always makes it easier to create something.

My studio looks like a bomb went off in it, as I haven’t cleaned up from last week’s Sizzix Big Shot classes.  But that turned out to be a good thing, as I had the aluminium roof flashing scraps on the table. 

My daughter had printed an extra black & white photo of Ashley, when she was nine days old, and had given it to me.  I measured how big the crown needed to be and sketched it on paper.  Then I laid the crown paper pattern on the roof flashing and cut it out with scissors.  I made sure to round any corners, so no one would cut themselves.  Then I put it through the embossing folder.  Next, I punched holes at the three points for the "jewels", punched holes to make a band on the crown and added a little bit of bling to the edges.  I slightly bent it to give it a curve and adhered it to Ashley’s head.  Surprisingly, this turned out on the first try!  This was so much fun to figure out how to make and to actually see it completed!  Most important, I wasn’t late for the baby shower!

Supplies Used:  113439 Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, 115963 Finial Press Embossing Folder, 101227 1/16" Circle Handheld Punch, 116631 Paper Piercing Tool, 105826 Mat Pack, 101055 Crystal Effects, 108797 Chunky Essentials Glitter (white), 104430 Dimensionals,109111 Circle Ice Rhinestone Brads (lilac), 109113 Square Ice Rhinestone Brads (lilac), 113463 Top Note Die Cut, 101614 Lavender Lace Cardstock, 108692 Basic Gray Cardstock.

Here are the other projects from the February 25 and 26 Sizzix Big Shot Class.

Featuring:  115970 Flower Folds Die Cut, 117335 Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder

Featuring:  115958 Lattice Die Cut, 114507 Beautiful Butterflies Die Cut

Featuring:  115958 Lattice Die Cut, 114507 Beautiful Butterflies Die Cut, 115965 Fancy Favor  Die Cut

Featuring:  115970 Flower Folds Die Cut, 115963 Finial Press Embossing Folder

Featuring:  115970 Flower Folds Die Cut

 The votive candle holder and the embossed flower were made with aluminum roof flashing, available from hardware stores.

This was a fun class using the Sizzix Big Shot Die Cut machine on cardstock, fabric and roof flashing!

One of the projects at my February 25 and 26 Big Shot classes was making fabric pins.  Here is an assortment of the different styles of pins that were made.

Featuring these Sizzix Big Shot Die Cuts:  114520 Flower Daisies #2, 115970 Flower Folds, 114527 Flowers Layers #3

I love being able to dig into my stamping and scrapping supplies and find ways to make my decorating projects unique.  While shopping for treasures, I tend to pick up frames and pack them away until I need them.  Here are some frames that I have been working on lately. 

This frame was black, so I painted it a beige color.  Then I lightly sanded it to make it look distressed.  I cut around the images of my daughter and son-in-law and mounted it to a piece of  #118401 Welcome Neighbor Designer Series Paper.  I punched the sides of the paper with the #117649 Pinking Hearts Border punch.

I couldn’t find a photo of my newest grandbaby, Ashley, that fit perfectly in this shabby ol’ frame.  First, I put her picture on Whisper White cardstock, but it just looked washed out with the white frame next to it.  I used the #113439 Big Shot Die-Cut Machine with the #114521 Oval Scallop Frame, using the #116478 Groom Specialty Paper (black stripes).  I love how it looks now!  The black oval frame draws your eyes to the beautiful baby!

This was originally a bright white frame.  I lightly sanded it and painted it a mustard yellow color and sanded it again to shabby it up.  It was still too plain, so I added a piece of #112454 Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware with the word "cherish" from the #115108 Warm Words stamp set.  This is my son and daughter-in-law’s first family picture at Ashley’s baptism. 

On November 14, my daughter hosted a baby shower for my daughter-in-law.  She did 99% of the work herself, but would ask me for input and ideas.  We both like making decorations ourselves vs. buying the cheezy stuff the stores sell.  The baby’s nursery is done is green and brown.  My son and daughter-in-law aren’t finding out the sex of the baby before it is born in early January.  So the colors for the shower were the same as the baby’s nursery. 

Sorry, but I didn’t get a formal invitation because my daughter ran short.  But the invitation was in the shape of a baby’s onsie–very cute.

The Sizzix Big Shot Flower Folds die cut got used for a lot of the decorations.  This was the sign on the front door.

This is the diaper cake.  You roll the diapers and secure with a rubber band.  The wide ribbon hides the rubber bands.  After the shower, the diaper cake can be taken apart and the diapers can be used.

I’ll be honest here.  This diaper baby freaked me out!  You roll diapers for the head, arms and legs.  Stuff the clothes with towels or blankets.  Add a hat, mittens and booties to cover the diapers.  A nuk in the mouth and we placed it in a doll carrier.  So many people attending the shower thought this was a real baby when they glanced at it.  It was only when they got close that we’d hear a gasp!

For the three table decorations, I used my wire card tree to feature two-sided baby pictures of my son and daughter-in-law.  I used the Sizzix Big Shot Scallop Square and Scallop Circle die cuts.  I stamped baby words and punched them out with the Modern Label punch.  Tied some ribbon at the base and it was done.  I love how these personalized the shower, gave people something to talk about and helped people visualize what the new baby may look like.

I made a 5"x5" baby card using the nursery colors.  This was easy using the Sizzix Big Shot Scallop Circle die cut, Swirly Sizzlits decorative strip die, Sizzix Texturz Plates Backgrounds I, Eyelet Border Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch and 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 5/16" chocolate chip jumbo brads and 1/4" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon.

These sugar cookies are so darn cute!  My daughter found the cookie cutter on Ebay.  She made the cookies from scratch and then made the homemade frosting.  It didn’t take her very long to decorate them.  Me?  I would never have attempted this complicated project.  Many people at the shower thought she bought these!  Now, that’s a compliment!

What do you do with your retired Stampin’ Up! ribbon?  My daughter decided to make a taggie blanket.  It was fun to see all the different colors, sizes and textures of the ribbon.  I know the new baby will love playing with this.

These are just a few of the personalized decorations at the baby shower!  Over 22 adults attended and 5 children.  It was a fun shower! 

Tags: Big Shot, Decorating, Gift Item, Stamping