Paper Fruit Pouches

These are really cute paper pouches to serve your guests in. A few simple folds of paper and you're ready to roll 'em out. For the how-to click here.

"For each cup, start with one sheet each of glassine and parchment paper. Cut whichever sheet will form the inside of the cup to 9 1/2 inches square; cut the other to 10 inches square. Center the small sheet on top of the large sheet, and attach in center with a piece of double-sided tape."

Rainbow Party Ideas

There goes the April Fool day with not much hype, in retrospect  I think I should have done some mischief on my blog or at least the facebook page, but since I'm such a great person instead I'm letting my virtuous side rule by bringing you a party theme idea. Rainbows! 

Who doesn't love rainbows? Except, perhaps the Grinch, but to be fair there are probably no rainbows on his side of grumpville. 

Sleighing on.

This is is a theme that is not gender specific and has a lot of potential to be explored. Here are a few ideas you can work with. 

Playdough party favours.

Rainbow of cakes

Rainbow coated cookies

Rainbor yarn decor

Rainbow candies.

rainbow cake. 

These are just a few things you can do. You can even bring back streamers into style by making streamer chandeliers or streamer canopy. You see, when colour is not a limitation the possibilities are unlimited!

Oh, and don't forget to put gold at the end of the rainbow!

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Paint Swatch Chandelier for any occasion

{Step 1} You’ll need a whole bunch of paint swatches in your desired colours (seriously, emphasis on the whole bunch part). I picked a variety of blush, pink and red hues so I could get a fancy ombre look to my chandelier but I can only imagine how many different looks you could go for with your own chandelier. Using a scalloped paper punch you’ll need to punch about 40 -60 swatches into little medallions. Keep the medallions divided by colours in little saucers or cups like below.

(Don't fret if you don't have the fancy paper cutter. The alternative is cutting circles with a zigzag scissor. Take 2-3 papers together and start cutting!)

{Step 2} I bought my lamp shade (my chandelier base) from Lowes for about 5 bucks. Using an Exacto knife and super sharp metal scissors I carefully cut apart the fabric lamp shade, peeling away the pieces until the metal parts were as exposed as possible. When picking out a lamp shade I tried to pick out one where the bottom diameter is much smaller than the top. This will make your layers of paint swatch medallions hang better and thus look much better when the final product is done.

{Step 3} Lay out your paint medallions, coloured side down, in the desired order. Tape down a long piece of coloured thread along the middle of the backs of each medallion. Then using a piece of tape, cut down the center width wise, tape together the edges where one medallion meets the next. Without this final piece of tape, the medallions with rotate on their piece of thread, thus showing the bar codes, text and colour names usually located on the backs of the paint swatches. If that doesn’t bother you then this step isn’t necessary! Repeat this step until all of your chandelier strands are strung and taped together.

{Step 4} Flip your lamp shade upside down and fasten it somewhere where it can hang freely (I tied mine to the latch that opens and closes our air vent in our ceiling). Start stringing on your strands along the perimeter of the bottom of the chandelier until the entire metal base is covered. Then start stringing strands along the widest ‘top’ of your chandelier so that the lowest part of your strand hits the mid point of the bottom layer. Continue this all the way around until the entire chandelier is covered. Add a ribbon to the metal pieces (where the light bulb would pop in) and voila! You’re ready to hang this beauty!

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Colourful party mobiles.

Materials:

Vellum paper, 56 sheets of paper,
a sewing machine, 
fishing weights (not pictured),
an exacto knife and straight edge (or a stack cutter,)
artist tape (for hanging)

 Cut the sheets of vellum into one inch strips. You can do this with an exacto knife or have it cut all at one time with a stack cutter. (If you decide to go the stack color route organizing the paper in the order you want it to hang in will save you some time.)Measure the height of the space where the mobiles will hang to figure out how long you want them. Keep in mind you'll want to keep the eyesight of the guests clear of any obstruction. Once you know the length of the mobiles, layout the different colors in the order you want. Repeat until it is close to the length of mobile you want. Then put it into a stack and it is ready to sew.

Leave a 12" tail of thread at the beginning and start to sew down the middle of the first strip. (I found it is easiest to put a piece of tape on the sewing machine at the end of the strip as a guide to mark where the vellum should be sewn.) Continue feeding each addition strip into the sewing machine.

Hang the mobiles at varying heights over the center of the table with artist tape.

If left by itself the bottom paper will curl up, add a simple fishing weight at the bottom to prevent this from happening and to add a nice polish to the project.

Use your imagination - or any color palette - to go with your event theme.

 

Wacky Alice in Wonderland DIY party.

Alright, let's fall down the rabbit hole and see how we can create our own little party without going overboard with our budget. Frankly, I'd prefer you go overboard, it will help my business. But in the instance that you can't here's is what I researched you can do. Think crazy. Mad. Hatter like. Thin of things you would not usually do. Put the chairs on the table! I'm kidding. Don't do that. Unless you want to.

When planning thing wonderland. Think colour. Think patterns. Think, not to think too much.

DIY Decor:

This bright and cheery tabletop would work perfectly for both small and large gatherings. It would be a great theme for any type of event from a wedding, birthday party or bridal shower. With multiple mixes of patterns and colors, the tea party can be both a casual or formal event depending on the food served. Creative details such as the stacked teacup centerpiece and monogrammed tea bags displaying each guest’s initials, provide the perfect, customized finishing touch!

Table:

Start by draping the table with a bold and bright floral table linen. For multiple tables, use the same patterned linen on each table or feel free to mix in other patterned linens to create an eclectic garden feel. Next, use colorful patterned kitchen aprons and tie them around each chair to create customized chair covers!

Centerpieces:

For the main centerpiece, take vintage teacups in any size, shape or pattern and simply glue them on top each other using a glue gun. You can make the centerpiece as tall or short as you would like, just make sure it’s sturdy, so that it does not topple over! To top off the teacup centerpiece add a ball of pretty pink garden roses and a single white butterfly.

On each side of the teacup centerpiece add small glass bud vases with seasonal garden flowers. To add an extra eclectic flair, find ceramic pots with a floral design and top them off with basic moss balls, which can be reused for future parties. Moss balls will save you time since you won’t to arrange flowers! The moss balls also serve as décor in your home after the event!

Table Settings:

Any vintage patterned dinnerware will suffice! It does not need to match the table linens or the aprons perfectly. Look at our table! We used over four different patterns but opted to keep the colors of the dinnerware and centerpieces in the same pink palette. Feel free to use anything from your grandmother’s old china, patterned melamine plates or even floral paper plates. It all depends on the time and the mood of the event.

Each guest received their own hot pink galvanized watering at their place setting, filled with ice and small bright blue bottles of champagne. This allowed guests to keep their champagne chilled on the hot summer day and also served as a party favor!

Paper Candy:

Personalized monogrammed tea bags with each guest’s initials on them were strategically placed at each setting in the teacups. This is a creative way to add a customized touch to the event while doubling as a place card. We also added a whimsical “Alice in Wonderland” flair to the table by placing playful blue and white menus to the side of each plate. Please see our paper candy section to purchase semi-custom menus and monograms similar to these

For this whimsical table we wanted to mesh the feeling of a sophisticated High Tea with a play off of the psychedelic era of Alice in Wonderland. By slyly incorporating the Cheshire Cat’s tail and blending ultra feminine and groovy fonts we married the two together to form a scrumptious blend of wonder!

For an extra special and personalized place card we made custom monogrammed tea bag tags for each of the guests! They were definitely impressed.