Paint and String Initials - more engagement party decorations

In my last post I showed you the jute wrapped initials we decorated for the engagement party. Today I have a variation on that idea.   By the time I got to the last of the decorations I had almost run out of jute so I needed a way to tie these initials into the theme that didn't need so much string. With all the curves on the ampersand it would have been a challenge to wrap the whole symbol with jute anyway, so running out was a stroke of luck! I decided to paint them red, white and blue, the theme colours for the party. It was quick and easy and with the exception of the blue paint, it used materials I already had on hand. Once the paint was dried, I selected areas of each letter/symbol to wrap with string and secured the beginning and end with hot glue. And all it needed was the addition of the roses and a bit of ribbon to tie it into the theme..... simple and effective. The roses are made from copy paper using Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die. We hired ......

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Jute Wrapped Initials

It's been a nearly 4 weeks since the Engagement Party and it's only during this past week that we've started taking down the decorations. They looked so wonderful that we left them up so we could enjoy them just a little longer. So today, before I pack away the last couple of things let me share another one with you. Our happy couple liked the idea of seeing their initials together in the monogrammed napkin rings so we carried it a little bit further and used it as part of the theme for the celebration. For this project, I started with some paper mache letters, a ball of jute and a hot glue gun. Once again, most of the supplies for this project came from my stash and the only cost was the paper mache letters. To get this project started, I used the hot glue gun to secure the first few centimetres of jute along the top edge of the T. You need a lot of jute for this project. This roll holds 180 metres and didn't want to see it all unravel on the studio floor. I......

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A Glowing Heart

Today's project is for the romantic at heart. Candle light is one of the most important ingredients of a romantic Valentine's dinner for two and what could be more appropriate than a heart of tealights. You can make this simple "heart wreath" in no time at all and all you need is a hot glue gun and some tea lights. I suggest you make this project on a sturdy surface that you can transport easily to the dinner table as the hot glue is not very strong. I've used a combination of 20 unscented Glimma tealights in red and scented Tindra tealights in shades of  ink from Ikea. Just lay the tealights out in a heart shape and play with the colour arrangement until you are happy. Take a sheet of paper larger than the heart and press it down over the top so that it leaves an outline of each tealight. Place the paper on a firm, portable surface and move each of the tealights into its position on the paper. Glue each tealight to the one next to it. Gently r......

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Red Roses for Valentine's Day - the Budget Version

What says Valentine's more than anything else? Well, there are hearts.... and of course, there are chocolates. But if there is any one thing that symbolises romance it would have to be red roses - the flower of love! Can't afford a dozen long stemmed roses this Valentine's Day? Well how about some artificial roses to dress up your dinner table instead. I picked up mine for just $2-50/bunch from Crazy Clarks.   To pad the bunches out I added some hessian (burlap) ribbon from Joann's and some red picks - mine are a combination of Christmas decorations and party picks from decorations that I'd stored away from parties past, but you can pick these up from your local party store for just a few dollars. Here's what I did. Firstly, I cut lengths of hessian ribbon, placed the ends together and threaded a length of 26 gauge wire along the edge. You want to make sure you're about a centimetre from the bottom edge so that it doesn't fray.  Pull th......

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The Art of the Heart

Inspiration for today's blog post has come from Linda Peterson over at the Friendly Plastic blog . Linda has compiled a wonderful and varied group of Friendly Plastic projects with the heart as the central theme: mixed media, jewellery, and card making all get a look in. Some are tutorials and some are just wonderful eye candy - I hope you'll check them all out. Linda's post got me looking through my own archives and I was surprised at how many heart-themed Friendly Plastic pieces of jewellery have appeared on my blog over the years. Take a look at some of the pieces I found. You can find links to all the eye candy below: Rainbow Hearts bracelet A Change of Heart Egyptian Lily Heart of Mine Dramatic Heart Aqua Hearts and Queen of Hearts 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printable pdfs ...

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Romantic Bunting

A few days ago I shared the monogrammed napkin rings for the engagement party and I'll have more table decorations for you in the next few days but today I'm turning my attention to decorating the party room. To tie the bride and groom's favourite colours of red and blue together, we used hessian/burlap and a white lacy edging. Continuing with that theme, we created some bunting to be hung across the doorways and over the gift table. It's a quick, easy and very inexpensive decorating idea. The total cost for 4 lengths of bunting was under $5 and all we needed was hessian/burlap, a stencil, paper doilies and acrylic paint. Using a template for the triangles makes it easy to get them all the same size and also helps you get the best economy from your hessian. I found it also helped me keep the weave of the fabric straight which will make the stencilling step much easier. Use a permanent marker to trace out one triangle for each letter or space that you will need. ......

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