Tinkerbell Party + DIY Ideas

I am really excited to show you Cati's beautiful birthday party from yesterday.  I was pleasantly surprised how this party came together on a budget.  I was forced to get creative and it turned out better than I had hoped.

D.I.Y. Burlap Bags + Mason Jar Favors

Hey sweet friends!  

Ready for more tablescape fun?

Today I have a simple tutorial to make burlap bags to cover mason jars along with some wood circle tags.

I have seen photos of pretty flower arrangements wrapped in burlap and I loved the idea for little favors for my table.  But I imagined me wasting more burlap then necessary and got very sad. I remembered I still had some burlap garland lying around from another project and found it to be the perfect solution.

And it ended up being crazy easy!

Here is what you need to make these...

Burlap Garland (found in the wreath section of a craft store)

Mason jars (size optional)

Twine

Natural Wood Circle tags (Or buy those unfinished wooden tags like these)

glue gun

scissors

 

First, I laid a mason jar on the strip of burlap to size the bag.

Then I folded the burlap over until it was slightly higher then my jar and cut.

I did this for all of them at the same time and just used the first piece to measure the rest.

To make the bags, I went for my glue gun.  I actually glued both sides at the bottom first so I knew how to line up the sides. This stuff can shift on you pretty easy.

Like this.

Then I glued the rest of the way up on each side being careful that it adhered because it is so thinly woven. 

Trim the top to make it straight and cut loose fibers.

Now you have a bag!

I placed my mason jar inside all snug and cute!

Next...Wood Circle Tags.  

I made these from a branch from my yard during the fall and had a bunch left over.  I simply sawed off the circles and drilled holes in each one.  I used alphabet stamps for the names of each guest at my table.

(that's me!)

Using twine, I threaded the two ends through the backside of the tag to the front leaving a circle of twine in the back to put around my bag covered jar.

After slipping it over the top, I pulled the two pieces to tighten it and tied a bow.

You end up with really sweet and pretty favors. 

(I added tulips which are my favorite flower)

And of course, you can use the bags in other ways... 

Fill them with goodies and tie them off with ribbon, twine, a clothespin, or unique clip.  

Package a small, handmade gift. 

Make a longer bag to present a pretty bouquet of flowers. 

Wrap it around a candle or potted plant. 

Gift some organic, whole bean coffee or scented soaps.
May Day flower gifts

So many uses! 

Obviously, they are porous so use them wisely (like don't pour ground coffee in there...hahaha!) 

But I think they are so fabulously versatile.

  Pretty easy bags for a pretty presentation. 

What do you think?

Love and hugs to each and every one of you!

♥

Coffee Filter Flowers and Video Tutorial

Hello sweet friends!

It has been inexcusably long since I have posted.  I know.  But I do have legitimate reasoning.

The kiddos got sick.

The kiddos got ME sick.

Been preparing for an upcoming gala next weekend.

I have had 101 appointments and hence...no access to blog land. 

We actually have been going through a lot of personal stuff with our oldest daughter.  I promise, nothing alarming or worrisome.  But she has been having behavioral problems and struggling in school.  So I have been determined to get to the bottom of it and I think we are on our way to a solution.  It has taken all my time and energy which I have no doubt all of you are amazingly understanding about.

But GOOD NEWS...I am going to be sharing all the elements of this DIY Tablescape I have been working on.  I think you will like some of the ideas I have come up with. The gala theme this year is "A Knight in the Garden." Garden?  Flowers?  I am so in.

Do you remember last year's table?  Here are some photos to jog your memory...

1. family nest centerpiece

2. twig and paper leaf place cards

3. napkin ring wraps

4. bird house with bird magnet favors

5. diy fabric square chargers

So here we go with the first part of  Gala Tablescape 2012...

My idea was to have a bunch of flowers...I mean A LOT...all over my table.  I was going to make a runner, inspired by this, but my table is round so I figured I could just arrange a bunch in the center with some candle light. I realized coffee filters could be my solution.

I think I am the last person to get on the coffee filter flower train.  I have always admired them but to be honest, my crafty self can NOT pull it off. I tried all the different methods I have seen (rolling them with masking tape, roses) but for some reason, I am missing some coffee filter flower making gene.  So while failing miserably trying this...quite by accident...I came up with my own way of making them. 

And it's easy! 

Everyone chic scream for easy!

First I dyed them.  

I experimented with tea, food coloring, washable markers, and watered down acrylic paint.  They all work great but I had the most fun with food coloring.  I found I had a lot of leeway with it. You can even use kool aid too!  I just soaked them for about 10 minutes and dried them in individual layers.

The soft colors of these are so lovely.  

Here they are folded twice into cones and cut with a scalloped edge all ready to make the flowers.

Check out my video below with a step by step on how to make the flowers.  I needed both hands and I figured using my tripod for a picture tutorial would be more time consuming then just doing a video.  

I don't necessarily call this a vlog because  only my hands are in the video. But I guess it is.  I was probably sporting yoga pants, a hoodie, and working on day 2 of needing a shower.

I love being a mom. :)

Oh, and my voice sounds funny.  Kinda valley girlish.  Never knew that about me but whatever.

Or...WHAT-everrrr. ;)

Hope you like the step by step and let me know if you would want more vloggy tutes.

What do you think? Aren't they crazy easy for being so pretty?

BTW...if you want me to show you how to make these with a stem, I can do that too.

Here are a bunch as I was playing with as a practice run on my kitchen table (which is round like my gala table).  I think I am just going to have all the flowers loose to work as the centerpiece with those candlesticks in the middle to add height. Sorry you can't see a completed look but at least you see the flowers!


I will check in with you soon for another fun tutorial.  It's a favor and a place card in one. I'm just plain tickled I actually will be back soon! I hope you will be back too. :)

Blessings lovelies!

P.S.  I hope this will launch an upcoming 2x a month series called Tablescape Tuesday.
Details to come!

Pretty Lanterns: Diffuse Light with Lace & Fabric

 I feel like I am coming home after a really long trip...I've missed all of you so much! I realized I have not had a fun DIY in a while for you guys so I had to remedy that right away.  I am gearing up for the Christmas issue for Good Living Magazine so today's little project was one of the projects for it.

Lucky lovelies...you get a bit of Christmas fun a little early!  

Actually, this will be a warm up to November where I will begin sharing pretty packaging ideas throughout the month. I can't promise it daily but I will try to do a bunch for some fun wrapping inspiration!

But back to these pretty little lanterns!

I am excited about this one because I am also planning my table for the upcoming Christmas Tea at our church.  I think these lanterns in varying sizes would look lovely as a centerpiece.  These ones above were actually my little practice ones. :) My husband and I were at Lowe's this weekend and spotted a bunch of these lanterns on clearance at $1.08 a piece!  We literally filled up the cart with them and we bought over 20 of them. I know I will find just the perfect thing for them...oooh I can't wait!

I had this little project in mind for awhile now so I knew some spray paint love was in order. 

So I brightened them up a bit with white and found my happy place.

Sigh.  I just ♥ white spray paint.

Now for adding fabric to the removable glass panels. 

1.  I actually used craft lace and a sparkly organza material to cover the glass.
2. I used Mod Podge but I tend to be a bit heavy handed with it.
3. You can use a paint brush to spread it on.
4. But I prefer to get all messy and use my fingers.

After spreading the glue, smooth your fabric onto the glass.  Wait until they are completely dry before placing them back into your lantern.

BTW...You really don't have to be precise when you cut out the pieces of fabric.  Just lay the glass on top of the fabric and cut around it.  The edges are hidden on the inside.  

Be sure to place them inside with the fabric on the outside of the glass.

 They look so pretty with the tea lights in them!  

I love how the lace one is more see through but the organza diffuses the light with a soft glow.

I can't wait to do this for the Christmas Tea tablescape with the different sized lanterns.

Other Ideas: You could also use Vellum paper or the the plastic paper like I used for the lemonade mason jars at the girl's birthday party. Tissue paper would work too and look lovely with that diffused glow look to it.  Wrap lace around glass votives or even large vases and place larger candles in them. So, so, so pretty.  I might lace up every glass container I own!

I promise to be back soon...HUGS!

♥

P.S.  I almost forgot...today I am at my sweet friend Tonya's blog with a guest post sharing the story of my faith for her 31 days series. 15 years ago today I met my Savior...♥


linking to:
the 36th avenue
a crafty soiree
show and share with southern lovely
someday crafts: whatever goes wednesday

DIY Twig Votive

Here is a simple and quick project to tackle in an hour. I showed you a sneek peek of this in the post showing all my Fall projects around the home.  And this one is going to be a FOR SURE repeat project for me.  

I got inspired by these from Martha Stewart who made this twig vase.  But I thought this idea would be lovely to make a votive and have the candle light peeking through the twigs inside the glass.  So I grabbed some twigs from the backyard, some glass votives and a glue gun and got to work.

Seriously...this probably does not even need a tutorial. I mean, all you do is take some sticks and hot glue to glass. SIMPLE!  Do this all the way around and put them as close together as you can.

Fill in the gaps with thinner sticks to make it look fuller.  I like the look of different lengths at the top.
Gives it a more organic looky-loo to it.

Pop a tea light in there, wrap with twine and leaves...done!  A great idea is to recycle your glass candles or buy some glass votives and. vases from the dollar store for a little collection or tablescape.   

And I want to try this using  mason jars and hang them!

Happy Crafting my precious friends!

P.S.  Sorry I have been so absent from this blog and from your blogs! And I have even dropped the ball returning emails.  PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I have been so busy with upcoming projects that I can't share with you JUST YET. Just know I appreciate every one of you and I will do my best  to visit you soon.

Pretty & Simple DIY: Flower Centerpieces from the Garden

Stir crazy.  That has been the girls and me.  It has been raining like crazy.  To be honest, the rain is my favorite weather.  I love thunderstorms and curling up with a good book and  a cup of tea in front of the window. Even in the summer!  But when it goes on too long...I get a little restless.

 So yesterday I was looking at all my flowers in the front yard drooping from being sopping wet (I really need to prune them back but it makes me sad every time I do it).  I love all the pink (two shades of pink actually...tee hee) and white. These flowers above are vincas which here in Florida are perennials. They re-seed fast and I got a bunch of them this year. But the blooms are fragile and fall off easily.   

My girls always pick them up off the ground to give their mommy flowers. I put them in this little shallow dish and treasure those flowers from their sweet little hearts. But then I got to thinking and had a little inspiration. What if I did the same thing but gave it more impact by putting several glass vessels together as a centerpiece? 

That might be really pretty and completely FREE!

So I scooped some up and hunted down some glass containers I have on hand.

I trimmed some of the stems for the really shallow dishes (most are votive candle holders) so they could float on the water.

It DOES look pretty! Almost elegant. 

And the clustered glasses together look even better!

This would be such a fast and easy idea for a spontaneous dinner party or get together. I like the idea of placing them on a coffee table with some candles for a pretty display. 

I love simple, pretty, and free!

What do you think?  What would YOU do?

PS.  I have more picnic party ideas coming soon!

Hugs and have a great weekend my sweet friends!

♥

My Pretty Tablescape

 Well here it is.  

I actually have to apologize...none of my photos really turned out and I was busy doing stuff until they turned the lights down so I could only get those orangey glowy type photos that never do the real life thing any justice.  So I de-colored this a bit so you could see it without thinking the table itself was aflame.

Yet you will have to contend with a blurry photo. 

Forgive me?

And forgive me for those water bottles in the pic...hope it does not ruin the aesthetic. 

I truly wish these photos did justice to how pretty it turned out.  It was so elegant.

Actually,  those pink roses cracked me up. I envisioned a symmetrical arrangement looking both understated and gorgeous.  Yet here was me...without my heels on yet...cutting the flowers at mach 2 speed and shoving them into this glass bowl thinking it needs one more...it needs one more.  So surprised one did not spontaneously shoot upward. Someone could have lost an eye.

To create a bigger centerpiece, I put this birdcage next to the branch and nest.  ( I took this shot during the morning set up). At the beginning of the night, I actually tried elevating the whole thing on an upside down tray with the fabric I used for both chargers and napkin wraps but I encountered an unexpected development when I snapped off some little branches off the big branch centerpiece!!!!!!  As I began hyperventilating, someone literally came out with a hot glue gun and some glue sticks for me.  A total God moment along with a joint effort to not have a table hostess laid out in cardiac arrest due to craft failure.

It must have been awesome seeing me kneeling in my black dress at the nearest outlet with a glue gun and my precious family nest and branch. But all was well and the idea of an elevated centerpiece was abandoned.

All around the table we had photos of our family and our parents.  Little conversation pieces to talk about our special family.

And as part of the centerpiece I included the family picture that I have here on this blog.

 Look at this cute couple.  

But seriously these two need to grab a few celery sticks instead of the cheese doodles.  I am detecting more chins then we thought we left with from home. 

Brandon was not necessarily pleased once he read this. :)

My BFF Kelly and me.

My guests LOVED their favors which was the one thing I worried about.  They did not know that but they probably do now since they now know about this here blog. I seriously had the best table everrrr! Seriously, y'all...I met some crafty soul sisters...yes , I mean you Shelya and Lauren!

Shelya is an amazing photographer and Lauren is HILARIOUS and kept cracking me up all night.  And she has a love of birds like I do...one we both can not explain but must feed on a regular basis in our decor.  Much to the apparent chagrin of our hubsters. And darn it all...I never got photos of them.  But seriously...love em! And they all have hearts for adoption!  Seriously...meant to be!  I will stop gushing over their coolness.

And the place setting which looks exactly like all the other photos this week.  Not that exciting.

Oh, and in case you were curious both the fabric houses art and the runner and napkin rings set did really well!  So happy people liked what I made.

 It was loads of fun and we actually bid on these freshwater pearl earrings and we got them!  

I absolutely love pearls and they are actually my birthstone. So excited!

Now this officially concludes all my tablescape posts.

~The End~

:)