Celebrate Mom This Mother’s Day With A Sweet DIY Paper Cake

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Being a mom is one of the hardest, and most rewarding jobs in the world. Between the three of us, we have 8 children, ranging from 9-years-old to 2-years-old. Nothing could have prepared us for the ups and downs of motherhood (and all the priceless memories in between), but one thing’s for sure – we had the best mom growing up. She was the greatest example for us to learn what it means to be a mother, and how impactful a mother’s love can be. Our mom, without a doubt, takes the cake as the best mom (and now Nani to 8 grandkids) ever!

This year, we’re treating our mom to a sweet slice of cake, a beautiful DIY layered cake. This cake won’t cause any cavities
though, because it’s inedible. It’s made of paper, and decorated with the best, most colorful paper, ASTROBRIGHTS®  Papers.

We like to do most everything as a family, so we didn’t just stop at just one cake. Our mom gets the grand, three-layer cake, and we made three additional “baby cakes” to celebrate our own motherhood. Just like our personalities, they are all vibrant, but different and one-of-a-kind. All the how-to details for the 3-tier cake is available at Astrobrights.com. It’s worth checking out!

We hope you COLORIZE your Mother’s Day as you celebrate your own Mom, you, or any special Mother’s in your life, this year.

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Materials:

  • Astrobrights Papers, see colors below
  • Scissors
  • Paper mache boxes (found here or here)
  • Glue dots, mini and regular
  • Glue stick
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Hot glue gun and hot glue

Directions:

Step 1: Determine the colors of the cakes.  For the three-tier cake, we used Rocket Red™, Gamma Green™, Solar White (found in the Spectrum Pack) and Terra Green™ cardstock. You can use the text weight instead of the cardstock weight, but we found that the cardstock weight was more durable when opening and closing the box. For the middle layer, we printed a free watercolor printable on the Solar White paper. To get the size you need, re-size as needed in Microsoft Word.

For the black and white baby cake, we used Eclipse Black™ and Solar White. For the confetti and rainbow baby cake, we used Plasma Pink™, Pulsar Pink™, Solar Yellow™, Cosmic Orange™, Blast-Off Blue™, Lunar Blue™Stardust™ White, Terrestrial Teal™, and Terra Green™. For the mama bear cake, we used Fireball Fuchsia™ for the melted frosting on top, and we painted Stardust™ White with gold leaf paper for the base of the cake. Follow directions on the gold leaf packaging to add this fun touch of glam to any paper.

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Step 2: Measure the size of the box, as well as the lid.

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Step 3: Cut the paper according to box measurements. Important note: add 1-2 cm. to the lid width measurements, because you will want it a bit higher than the actual lid to cover the edges of the lid.

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Step 4: Add glue dots to the edges and corners of the paper, and begin to wrap the box with paper. It’s best to leave the lid trim for last, so you can make sure the entire rim of the box is covered.

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Step 5: Cut any embellishments, or designs you choose to add. Our cakes are pretty and somewhat simple, which best suits us. The embellishments worth noting are the DIY paper flowers, the Boy Mom topper (and the classic white “pleats” on the cake), the mama bear and rainbow.

To make the flowers, first print flower petals from a template you can find online. Trace onto Rocket Red paper, and then cut. We used a Poppy flower template through our Silhouette Cameo software. But, most petals you find online will work. Next, cut a small triangle on the bottom, center of the petal. This is where you need your hot glue gun. Press hot glue on one side, and gently place the bottom side of the other piece of the petal on top. Continue to do this until you have four petals. Now, just glue each petal on top of each other. Once you have the petals, begin to create the center. We free-handed one small circle in Terra Green, one mini circle in Gamma Green and then leaves in both greens. For extra texture, cut slits in the larger Terra Green circle. Glue that textured circle in the middle of the flower, and then glue the mini Gamma Green circle in the center. Finally, glue the leaves on the bottom of the flower. You can place these all over the cake, or use a couple – it’s up to you!

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To make the bear, trace and cut the image of a bear onto card stock paper. For the words, you can use an electronic cutting machine to cut the words Mama Bear inside the bear. If you don’t have a cutting machine, you can use an X-acto knife to cut the words, or use a Sharpie to write them.

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To create the rainbow, free hand one small arch (the last layer of the rainbow) with a pencil on the bottom of Astrobrights cardstock paper, and then cut five additional arches, each other larger in size than the one before it. Glue each layer on top of each other, beginning with the largest. Next, free hand cut clouds, and glue them to the end of each rainbow.

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To stand the bear and the rainbow on the cake, use small wooden toothpicks (with square ends, not pointed) to create mini DIY easels. Dab hot glue on the ends of the wooden toothpicks to keep them in place on top of the cake. You will need 2 toothpicks per “cake topper.”

Finally, to make the black and white cake, cut small pieces of Solar White paper (2 inches wide by the length of the mache box), and glue one end of them on the box one by one (sliding each one under the one before it) until the entire box is covered. Because we only glued one end of the white paper on the cake, it left the other end open, which created a  beautiful pleat effect. As for the Boy Mom words, we used an electronic cutting machine to cut the words (you could easily cut the letters with stencils, or use sticker letters) and glued the back of the letters to two black and white straws. We punctured two small holes in the top of the mache box to stick the straws inside. Voila!

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Step 6: Fill with gifts, and give to Mom (or yourself).

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Our family of cakes will make for one sweet Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day to all you amazing, hard-working moms out there!

This post is in partnership with Astrobrights. We were crafting with and coloring on Astrobrights paper long before this post. It’s always been a fave product of ours. Thank you for supporting the brands that support j. sorelle. Astrobrights was one of the first, so we are very grateful. 

Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means j. sorelle receives a small commission from the sale of certain items; however, the price is the same for you, whether it’s an affiliate link or not. 

You’re My Jam, Valentine

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This Valentine idea is a non-candy, peanut, gluten, and dairy-free option. Hooray. Plus, it’s fun, gender-neutral, and it’s got rhythm. Jessica’s son loves music, so he wanted to share some of his faves with his friends this Valentine’s Day. Not many classics made his list – Everything is Awesome, I like to Move It and I’m in Love with a Monster made his top 3.

Jenna had a good point when she asked if anyone actually uses CDs anymore; however, our kids still listen to CDs in the car. So, with some leftover CDs, colorful paper from Astrobrights, a camera and computer, we went to work.

Materials:

Directions:

Take a photo of your child with headphones. This part was fun. Edit the photo with the free and amazing editing software, PicMonkey. We made the image into a circle in this software, and added the words, You’re My Jam. Print and cut the photos.

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Burn the CDs.

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Make DIY cd sleeves with paper by following this tutorial. It’s super easy, y’all {we didn’t use the template – just looked at the photos}.

Insert the CD into the sleeve, close and glue the photo of your child onto the CD holder.

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Don’t forget to check out some of our past Valentines.

Ryan Gosling on your underwear. Yes, please.

You’re a Cutie Valentine.

Got some fuzzy feelings this Valentine’s Day. We’ve got some DIY emoji’s for that.

DIY heart magnets that are as good as gold.

You’ve been hit by Cupid’s pencil arrow.

Wear your heart around your neck.

We love you like Hot Chocolate loves Marshmallows.

 

 

DIY Paper Stars and Fans to Decorate for the 4th of July

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We had a blast at our #Colorize picnic with ASTROBRIGHTS® Papers, and really want you to have some red, white and blue fun under a willow tree, too, so here’s a couple DIY tutorials from the July 4th picnic. They are big impact, little effort, which means you have to do it.

Thanks to our friend and photographer, Meredith Moran Photography, for playing with us, and capturing great moments.

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DIY 3D Paper Stars

Materials Needed:

Directions:

  1. Cut out 4 stars the same size.
  2. Fold each star in half.
  3. Add glue dots or dabs of glue to one folded side on the top, middle and bottom.
  4. Stack another folded star on top, and press to secure.
  5. Repeat step 4 until all stars form one, large 3D star.
  6. Punch a small hole on top of the star.
  7. Push red and white striped twine through the hole and make a hoop, then hang.

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DIY Paper Fan

Materials Needed:

  • Double-sided tape
  • Hot glue gun
  • Paper
  • Cut out shape of U.S.A

Directions:

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  1. Cut out all your paper squares. For the large fan, we used 6, 8×8 inch paper squares. For the smaller ones, we cut 4, 6×6 and 3, 4×4 squares. Fold the paper like a paper fan.
  2. Use double-sided tape to tape the edges of the fans together.
  3. Once all the squares are glued you will have a long stretch of ‘fanned’ or accordion paper.
  4. Glue the first and last piece of the paper together so it forms a circle.
  5. Press the circle down so it creates a fan. Add a large dab of hot glue to the middle of the fan, and press down for several minutes until it dries. Make sure the glue touches all parts of the paper.
  6. Use your Silhouette or print and hand-cut a cut out of the U.S.A. Use your hot glue gun to glue the U.S.A. outline in the middle of the fan.

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Instagram media links to follow from this post:
@jsorelle3
@astrobrights
@meredithmoranphoto

4th of July Picnic with Astrobrights Papers

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Growing up with sisters, we shared many experiences together. We shared closets and fought about clothing daily. We shared cars as we made the 45-minute commute back and forth to school. We shared a bed every Christmas Eve before we awoke to presents under the tree. We lived and studied abroad in Florence, Italy. We were teammates on our High School tennis team. We stood next to each other at each other’s weddings.

But, our most recent endeavor is our most favorite. We became moms…together. Our children span from 6-years-old down to 7-months-old, and our children now have the amazing gift of growing up with their cousins.

Now, we text and talk in the wee hours of the morning as we breastfeed our babies. We share photos and videos as our kids take their first steps. We relate to being totally and utterly exhausted, yet blissfully happy when we see our children smile. And, we are overcome with joy when we see our children playing together.

Our children are blessed to spend every holiday together. Watching the fireworks together on July 4th is one of our favorites. So, when presented with an opportunity to plan a 4th of July picnic with ASTROBRIGHTS® Papers, a line of vibrant color paper, we were delighted to bring our families together to celebrate. Armed with a stack of red, white and blue paper, sharp scissors and a really big donut, an Independence Day picnic can be really fun, inexpensive and absolutely adorable.

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Here are some of the details we used to #Colorize our red, white and blue picnic!

INCORPORATE FUN FACTS

We wanted to educate our children, and talk about the history of our fine country. So, we incorporated facts about the U.S.A into our picnic. We used the round labels on top of the mason jars, and to seal our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The round labels with interesting facts are available for FREE. Click here for the free printable.

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LEARN ABOUT AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY AND ALL 50 STATES

We learned a little geography 101 prepping for this picnic. We wanted to incorporate the shape of good ‘ole U.S.A and all the states that make up this fine country in our picnic. So, we cut, and cut, and cut some more. You can find the shape of the U.S.A, as well as all 50 states for free online. Our Silhouette electronic cutter came to the rescue when our eyes were blurry at 1 a.m.

Who doesn’t love a gigantic donut?! Cut outs of the 50 states on toothpicks were positioned all over the donut. So, as the kids devoured, we talked about the shape of the states.

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We made DIY patriotic paper fans, both large and small, with ASTROBRIGHTS® Papers. Click here for the full tutorial. We used the fans to cover the wagon wheels, and decorate the wagon handle. Each fan represented the U.S.A with a cut out of the country in the center.

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All the picnic essentials were made of paper, of course. Follow this tutorial to make a DIY paper chip bag {we used 8×8 paper}. We sealed the chip bag with a cut out of the USA. The blueberries were propped up in a paper cone, and each child had their own brown paper bag with their name stamped at the bottom of it. Everyone was happy!

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A paper cut out of the U.S.A served as our sparklers sleeve, and the perfect decorative stakes around our picnic site. We covered match boxes with red, white and blue stars and stripes because you can’t light a sparkler without a flame, and a matchbox on July 4th isn’t a matchbox unless it’s red, white and blue.

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PLAN AN ACTIVITY

The most important part of our country’s Independence Day is to remember, honor and thank the men and women that serve our country. Their sacrifice is more than we can imagine, and our children may not know first-hand what it’s like to live in a military family, but they do need to understand that we always need to take the time to thank our military, no matter how big or small our thank you may be. With this free printable from Fleur de Lis, you can print these postcards, draw a photo on the back and mail them to someone in service. Or, they can be dropped off at a military establishment. Click here for the free printable.

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CELEBRATE WITH STARS & STRIPES

No 4th of July picnic is complete without our flag’s stars and stripes. We covered a Radio Flyer wagon with the American flag, then accessorized with paper.

We had the perfect setting under a large Willow tree, and our hanging stars made it all the more festive. The stars are easy to make. Learn how to make them here.

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We created DIY flags for the kids with a large USA on top and flowing strings of red and white paper stripes below. The kids loved to run around with their flag banners.

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May the stars and stripes forever fly, and may you have a wonderful, sparkling July 4th!

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You can find more inspiration and ideas to COLORIZE your life at COLORIZE.tumblr.com and the following social feeds.

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Thanks to Meredith Moran Photography for spending the evening with us and our crazy families to capture these photos.