NCAA March Madness :: Bracket Winner CROWN

2023 was a Bracket Buster year for our family.

By the time we reached the Final Four only one person had a team left  in our Bracket but we got together anyway for the Final Four games and presented the winner with a 

DIY Bracket Winner Crown.

The crown was easy to make and to get started I hand painted some white card stock.

Once the paint was dry I used a pencil eraser to dab dots of glue all over the paint.

The glue also needed to dry, which did not take as long as I thought it would. 

Next I drew a crown, cut it out and then drew the black basketball lines with a permanent marker.

A button from my stash was glued at the top and I punched a few glittery gold stars to add a bit of sparkle. The star shown in the middle front was later removed and the label shown at the top was added there instead. 

And last but not least….a Velcro closure in back for custom fitting. We gave the winner a fun basketball  game that straps on your head so the crown could be adjusted to fit with or without the hoop on her head. It was fun!

And last but not least, 

a homemade Chocolate Bundt Cake with an edible basketball on top

was my dessert contribution.

Our Bracket Party was not quite the same this year, with all but one of the family brackets busted so early, but getting together is always lots of fun!

Happy Tuesday!

Bride to Be CROWN

A crown or tiara is one of my favorite things to make for the guest of honor at special events. Recently I had a chance to make one for my niece to wear at her Bridal Shower.

I usually draw and cut several prototypes, as shown above, before I know exactly what I want a crown or tiara to look like and that I think will work. Two of the sample crowns were made from my sketch below.

This time I was having trouble deciding so I asked for Miss E's opinion and we both agreed on the tiara style. We had a winner! From there I traced and cut it out of some of my favorite opaque plastic and then added letters, jewels and glitter. I gathered some tulle on my sewing machine for the back and tied a long piece of satin ribbon into a bow but left the ends long. Once everything was ready I glued the parts to a white and silver metallic headband.

We set it at her place at the table along with a special Bridal Shower Face Mask. A special crown for the beautiful Bride to Be. 

For more Crown ideas you can go to:

Bridal Shower Crowns here 

or

All Crowns here.

Happy Friday!

A Royal Afternoon Tea ~ fit for a Queen!

I thought I would start by sharing 

Her Majesty's 

handmade Royal Crown.

My hope was to make this years crown look more like the Queen's Crown and thought one way to achieve that was by adding jewels. Once I had The Crown cut out and painted Miss E helped me with the jewel design. It took awhile to decide on the final layout but we were pleased with how it turned out. 

I also really wanted a Crown Cornice so I designed this simple one and hung it above the entry which made it very festive. Miss E was a big help again with the jewels, the painting and she also hung the tulle and the crown for me. 

This DIY Crown was going to be our centerpiece on the table however the glue was not cooperating. After several days of frustration I finally decided to move on without it but couldn't seem to let it go and tried one more time the morning of the party. It worked! Since I had already switched to a different centerpiece I used it on the entry table instead. 

And then there were these little mini handmade crowns. I added a bit of bling to some of them and left some plain. You will see more of these little crowns in my next post about our Royal Afternoon Tea party table and food. 

Have a great day!

80th Birthday Party ~ crafts, games, crown

Every party needs a few DIY crafts and mother's 80th Birthday Party was no exception. 

I like to make crowns for the guest of honor and they are usually made to coordinate with the theme of the party. Since this party had a wintery theme white seemed appropriate.

I thought a corsage would also be fun so I used a red and white tape measure to make a bow/flower and attached a pin to the back.

We played two games at the party. The first game was How Well Do You Know the Birthday Girl".  I wrote a question for each guest with corresponding number and wrapped it up in a party popper with a numbered piece of paper, a pencil and a few matching candies. The Birthday Girl received a special popper that included the list of all the questions, a pencil and candy. All the party poppers were handed out randomly except for the marked popper for the Birthday Girl. Each guest read their question out loud and they all recorded the best guest on the number paper. The Birthday Girl gave the answers to all the questions and the guest with the most correct answers won a prize. 

We also played a second game between the Main Course and Dessert called Left and Right. I handed out 3 wrapped gifts around the table and then read a story I wrote about "Mother Right". The gifts were passed right and left around the table according to the story. At the end, whoever was holding a package got to keep it. Both games were lots of fun.         

I wanted clay ornament place markers for our table so I experimented with two types of dough. I decided I liked the look of the salt dough the best so made one for each guest. I used assorted lace to emboss each ornament and individual letter stamps to make words.  Each ornament was unique. Miss E made all the embossed name cards and we tied them to the ornament. 

I found this great mug that I used as a planter for a Paper White to give to the Birthday Girl. 

These DIY String Trees were easy to make.

I used poster board to make cones and covered them in plastic wrap. Next I made a solution of cornstarch and water, dipped the string and wrapped it around the cones. Once they were dry I just slipped them off. It was super simple and I really liked how they looked on the table. 

Here's a sneak peak of our party table.

I will be back with one more post to wrap up the 80th birthday. 

Happy Saturday!

Run for the Roses { tea party crown }

It has become a tradition to give our mother a hand made, theme related crown at our annual mother ~ daughter tea party and this year was no exception.  

She was presented with a crown of hand folded red paper Roses. Although I forgot to count the total number of roses I attached, my guesstimate is about 40.  

This fun theme gave me lots of opportunities to make all types of 

roses and as usual I had more ideas than time. However, Miss E and 

Mr. Wonderful chipped in behind the scenes and helped me with my to do list, which was very much appreciated, and by tea time the Southern Belles had arrived and we enjoyed a fun afternoon together.

To find out more about this tea party you can use the links below:

Run for the Roses ~ Rose Cake

Run for the Roses ~ tea party invitations

Run for the Roses ~ tea party decorations

Run for the Roses ~ tea party treats

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Breakfast at Tiffany's { Crown }

Each year I make a CROWN for our Tea Party Guest of Honor,

 our Mother.

Every crown is handmade ,  theme related and no two are alike.

I begin by sketching out my idea, then making a sample and finally I make the Crown that will be given to her. 

This year I thought it would be fun to make some simple tiara's to give to the other Tea Party guests so at the last minute I squeezed what should have been a quick and easy project onto my to do list. Unfortunately, in my rush, I forgot to put the paper lining on the backs of the tiara's before I glued them to the hair combs and as a result they did not stick well to the combs.  After trying one on I could tell that they would not work without the paper backing attached and by this point I had no time left to go back add it so, needless to say, I did not give out the tiara's. 

Usually on the back of each crown I attach a personalized label which includes the party information, however this crown was not as big as the others so I only had room for a small Tiffany & Co. label which I made to fit the space and then adhered it to the back. Also, since the crown was so little I attached it to a headband which worked really well.

Happy Friday!

more....50 and Fabulous! ~ Tropical Birthday Party ....................{ DIY Birthday CROWN }....................

I thought the Birthday Girl needed a special CROWN to wear for her BIG "FIVE~O" party so I made her one that coordinated with our theme. I used the same gold glitter paper I used for the pillow box and tags on the chocolates & champagne PINEAPPLE centerpiece and used the words from the napkin to make my graphic for the medallion. I also used the graphic on the tag and to make a sign which I will post this weekend.

Happy Friday!

tea party CROWN

It has become a tradition to give a theme related tea party crown to our guest of honor
~our Mother~
at our special mother/daughter events and this year was no exception.  

I made this crown with cotton lace and silk flowers with rhinestone buttons. I painted it Champagne Gold to match the brown paper and burlap I used on the table and for the invitations. I also like to make the crowns adjustable for a custom fit.

To see more of
"My Favorite Things" 
tea party
go here for party details
here for tea party food
here for hydrangea cupcakes
and
 here and here for invites.

Happy BLOGiversary!

Today I am celebrating my

"1"  Year 

blog 

ANNIVERSARY!!

Yes, I made a Party Hat for this special occasion. I couldn't decide between a festive hat or a beautiful crown so I went with both!  


It's hard to believe that it has already been a year since I started
 ~ the Grand Surprise ~ 
and began blogging. I had only really discovered the blogging world about a year earlier when I was taking art classes from a friend who had just started a blog to keep her students updated on upcoming schedules and events and also from links my mother had started sending me around the same time. I was fascinated by the photos, the stories and endless creativity and began toying with the idea of starting a blog of my own. After a lot of thought and hesitation I finally did it and now it has already been a year. I am still learning a lot, which is half the fun, and of course it wouldn't be any fun at all if nobody was stopping by to visit so a BIG thank you to my family, friends and everyone that checks out my posts. I love the comments, emails and encouragement from all of you.


So here are some FUN FACTS (aka: stats) from
the Grand Surprise 
over the past year:


Top 5 Posts
1. Slurpee Day!
2. s w e e t simplici"tea"!
3. waterfall skirt
4. DIY Waterfall
5. tea party food


Audience~Top 10 Countries 
1. United States
2. Malaysia
3. Canada
4. Russia
5. Australia
6. Germany
7. United Kingdom
8. Philippines
9. Italy
10. New Zealand


my 1st ever POST:
sNOw Kidding...

Total number of Posts:
172

It's been a busy, creative, inspiring year full of many
  Grand Surprises!
Thank~you for stopping by and sharing in my
 "1" year BLOGiversary CELEBRATION!
I hope you'll check back often!


Have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving Day fun

It was such a great holiday weekend full of Family, Friends, Food, Football and Fun, all of which we are so thankful for. 
Here are highlights from our

Thanksgiving Day 2011


Grandma brought a fun activity for us to work on while we waited for dinner....

Autumn Maple Leaf Crowns 
and 
Candle Rings!

She brought a box full of colorful fall leaves that she collected from their yard, scissors, an extra large needle and even a covering for the table

and then taught us step by step how to make crowns and candle rings!

 We had fun wearing our new crowns and I am still enjoying my new candle rings.

A perfect activity! 

And then there was this incredibly wonderful and fancy addition to our Thanksgiving menu, 

a Grand Surprise 

from our niece

who made 

not one

 but 

TWO

Butterscotch Crème Brûlée!!

Every bite was melt-in-your-mouth delicious! 

Since the crème brûlée was a surprise we also had our traditional desserts

2 Pumpkin Pies

&

2 Apple Pies

which we enjoyed as well. 

We love dessert

although

the turkey dinner was quite tasty too!