The Frisky

 I am featured on THE FRISKY!! ;) 

 My Grey, Black and White Rosette flower was chosen as one of the TOP 10 FLIRTY HAIR CLIPS!!! Whoo Hoo!!!

Thank you so much THE FRISKY!!!

Good to know my stuff isn't just cute but is FLIRTY and FRISKY too! ;)
 

Eat, Drink and be Scary!

HALLOWEEN PARTY
These past two months of planning my Halloween Punpkin Carving/Birthday Party certainly paid off. 

What a fun party!

Almost everything was handmade by me.  It was a lot of work, but so worth it in the end. 

Halloween Candy Bar

Monster and Mummy Cupcakes... Yummy!!!

Appetizing Brain

Mummy Wraps

Liver & Heart

Boneyard Dirt Cake (what a HIT!!)

Boos

Recipes coming soon!!

Happy Birthday to ME!! ... and you!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY to ME!!!

In celebration of my 30th Birthday, I am giving all of you a gift of 30% off your purchases on

My Birthday October 23rd ONLY !!!

In order to take advantage of my special gift to you enter coupon code Happy30Bday. This will run from 12:00am-11:59pm October 23rd 2011. 

Hope you all have a wonderful day!!! 

DIY Halloween Costume Trophies

Ok so just like my problem finding awards for the winners at my Pumpkin Carving Party I also couldn't find any type of awards for the Costumes either.

So again I made my own.

I wanted them to look like trophies so I was trying to think of ways to make them on my own.

I thought of using candle sticks, which would work but they were all so expensive!

Then the idea came to me.

This whole project cost me $12.00

What you need:

Glass jars of various shapes and sizes, Spray paint, heavy duty glue that works on glass and the materials you are working with, Skeleton heads, wooden shapes, and craft paint.

Step 1:

Clean the jars with soap and water and then let them dry completely

Step 2:

Glue the lids to the jars and glue any jars on top of each other if you are stacking them.

Then glue the wooden shapes to the top that the heads will rest on.

Step 3:

Spray paint them all black. (sorry don't have a picture).

Step 4:

While the jars are drying start painting the heads.

I used a silver metalic paint mixed with some black to paint my heads.

I had to paint about 5 different coats to get them looking how I wanted to.

Step 5:

Print up labels to attach to the trophies.

I used Most Creative Costume, Scariest Costume, and Funniest Costume.

I tried looking for metallic labels everywhere with no luck so I went through all

my scrapbooking paper and found one that I liked. 

I cut the 12"x12" scrapbooking paper down to 81/2x11 so I could put

the paper through my printer.

Then I went onto word and typed up the wording using various fonts.

The fonts I used were Honey Bunches, Zombie Holocaust, and Circus.

Then I printed out the words on the paper and cut the paper to fit on the trophies.

(sorry no pictures for this part either).

Step 6:

I glued the labels onto the jars. 

Then I took black rhinestones and embellished around the label.

Step 7:

Then I glued the head on the top.

I am thrilled with how they came out!!

Can't wait for my party to give them out to the winners!!  ;)

This whole project including drying time took about 10 hours. 

If I didn't have to wait so long for the paint to dry on the heads it would've been much faster. 

Next year I will probablly just use spray paint instead of the acyrlic paint.

Let me know if you make them and please send me pictures!! 

All of my homemade HALLOWEEN party awards!!

DIY Pumpkin Carving Awards

I've been planning my Halloween Pumpkin Carving/Birthday Party for a couple months now.

I have looked all over for cute awards to give as gifts for the Pumpkin Carving winners.

After searching for over a month I finally decided to make my own.

Here's what you need:

fake pumpkins, black paint, black spray paint, wooden circle shapes (as base),

paint brush, and self adhesive black rhinestones, nail, hammer, screws, screwdriver (not pictured).

Step 1:

Use black paint to write the words on the pumpkins. 

I used Creative, Scariest, and Custest

Step 2:

Take circle base shapes and spray paint both sides black.  Let dry completely!

Step 3:

Once dry then take a nail and hammer a nail hole through the bottom.

Step 4:

Center the pumpkin on the top of the circle shape.

Then take your screwdriver and screw the circle base into the pumpkin to keep it in place.

Repeat for all your awards.

So cute!!

Super cheap too!  Only cost me $8.00

I bought the pumpkins for $1.00 each at Walmart and the wooden circle shapes at a craft store for a $1.00 each.  Everything else I had laying around the house.

For the creative one I was CREATIVE ;) and used rhinestones instead of the paint.

This was a lot of fun! 

Hope this helps you come up with ideas for your own Awards! 

 I'd love to see what you make!

Please post if you try this project!!  ;)

My 30th Birthday!!

Make sure to head over to Graceful by Anna's FB page on Friday night Oct 21st after 10:23pm for something very exciting happening on My 30th BIRTHDAY (October 23rd)!! You DO NOT want to miss this!!!

We are at 39 LIKES, Just 11 more to go til the GIVEAWAY game. Make sure to share with your friends and LIKE my Graceful by Anna FB page(not this status) to be able to join in the fun and win some of ...my items!! ;)

There is still time to take advantage of the FREE SHIPPING on all your purchases made now through October 24th for my Grand Opening of my Etsy Shop. Enter promo code NowOpentil1024 to get free shipping on your order!!

Thank you everyone for your love and support! I truly appreciate it!!

♥ Anna

DIY Crafting Supply Jars

If you're a crafter like me then I'm sure you have random baggies of beads, buttons, etc.  This is an inexpensive and easy way to make it all look cute, pretty and most importantly... ORGANIZED!

You all know I have an In-Home Daycare so I have baby food jars on hand, but for those of you that don't either ask a friend to save them up for you or you can buy them at your local Big Lots for

30-60 cents each.  Thats still much cheaper than buying individual containers!

Here's what you need:

Baby food jars, spray paint (the color of your choice) and stickers if you want to use them.

Step 1:

Empty out the contents of the jars and wash them with soap and water.  Dry them thoroughly.

Then take the lids and the spray paint outside and paint the tops only. 

Let them dry COMPLETELY. 

Step 2:

Then apply the stickers to label the contents of the jar. 

I left mine blank only because I can see what inside and didn't want to use up all my stickers, but it does make them look so much cuter!!  I may just have to go out and get more stickers to label them!

Just 2 easy steps!!

Now wasn't that simple!!  :)

My Etsy Shop is NOW OPEN!!

Graceful   By Anna

After 2 long months of working countless hours cutting and sewing away I finally opened my shop. YAY!!  I'm so excited to see how my business will grow. 

My Shop has already been featured on Mommy Wants to Read.  To read my interview click here.

I am also sponsoring my first giveaway with a Harvest Halloween Blog Hop.  

Its a simple and fun way to win an incredible Prize Package!!  ;) 

Click on the link at the top to visit my Shop. 

I am offering FREE SHIPPING for all purchases made thru October 24th.

Enter coupon code NowOpentil1024 to get your free shipping!

Take part in Giveaway games that will be happening over at my Facebook Page.

LIKE my page and you never know, you might just be that lucky winner!

My first custom order!!

I love a challenge!  If there is something you want to see me make message me.

I wanna know what you want and what is of interest to you.

I have tons of ideas and items I am creating but would love the extra input!

Thank you for all your love and support!  I truly appreciate it!

<3 Anna