wall decor ideaz

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valentine window garland

In an effort to get out of the post-holiday funk that's going on around here, I thought I'd jump right in an do a little Valentine's day decorating!  It's always nice to see some bright fun color added to our space in this cold cold time of winter. 

I picked up some pom poms in various sizes and threaded them on lengths of some transparent thread.  Just tied a knot in the bottom and threaded the pom poms on with a needle and tried to evenly space them.  Then I taped each strand to the trim at the top of the window (not fancy I know, but it works and it'll only be up for a little bit anyway). 

I think these would be fun to do in any window for any season, it's fun, modern looking, and adds a little extra special touch.  This would be a great project to try with an older child who is fairly comfortable with a needle!

Now the tricky part will be to keep the little hands and a wagging dog tail away from it...

Party Décor Centrepiece: Plush Flower Pots

What you’ll need:

1. Patterned fabric for the flower petals. I’m using yellow gingham.
2. White fabric for the flower centre.
3. A small clay pot
4. A 23 cm piece of dowel rod or bamboo
5. Florist tape
6. Fabric pen or pencil
7. Needle and thread
8. Scissors
9. Floral sponge (oasis)
10. Natural moss
11. Synthetic or bamboo fibre
12. Glue gun

How to do it:

A. The Flower Head

Using a saucer or round lid as a guide, draw and cut 5 circles from your patterned fabric. I used a 10cm diameter lid.

Draw and cut 2 more circles from the white fabric. Now you have 7 circles!

Do a running stitch around the edge of each circle as shown below

When you’ve gone all the way around, pull the thread slightly to get a small “pouch” and fill with the fibre.

Finish pulling the pouch closed and secure with a couple of stitches. 

Repeat for all the other 6 circles.

Now to assemble the flower head. Starting with the petals (patterned fabric), stitch them side by side until you have all the 5 petal joined up.

Using your glue gun, now glue the flower centres (white balls) in the gaps to get the flower head you see above.

B.  The Flower Stalk and Pot

Cover you rod or bamboo stick with the florist tape. 

Stick your floral oasis into your clay pot and using the glue gun, glue the stalk in the centre.

Using the glue gun again (I just want to kiss the person who invented this!!) glue some moss to hide the floral oasis.  

Finally, carefully pull apart a couple of petals on the flower head, apply some hot glue and secure it to the stalk. 

Embellish the vase to your liking. I used ribbon and a fabric-covered button to match.

And there you have it, a cute little Flower Pot that would brighten up any party scene!!

Have fun crafting and partying!! :)

Do-It-Yourself Tissue Paper Pomanders

Many of you still ask me about those infamous orange pomanders I made for my ceremony. Today I am going to share how to make them, but be warned that this is a labor of love :)

What you will need:
- 18 gauge wire
- tissue paper
- scissors
- 5″ Styrofoam balls
- Hot glue

Step One
For the ribbon handle, I cut 10″” of wire, folded in half, and then I twisted around the ribbon (see picture below). I suggest using a skewer to poke a hole on the styrofoam ball before placing the wire with hot glue.

Step Two
How to make the little pom poms:
I followed instructions from the Martha Stewart website..

- Cut your tissue into 10×5 inches rectangles.
- Accordion fold the shorter side, approximately 3/8″ – 1/2″ per fold.
- Fold the wire over the middle and twist.
- Cut wire approximately 1/2? from edge.
- Round the corners of the tissue paper.
- Begin pulling the layers away from each other and toward the middle of the wire.

1.Cut your paper into 10×5 pieces. (approx. 2 hours with a paper cutter)
2.Cut your wire. I used 4″” pieces. (approx. 3 hours)
3. Fold your paper. Use approx. 3/8″” accordion folds. Wrap a piece of wire around the middle and twist the ends together. (approx. 13 hours)
4.Puff flowers. Gently pull apart the pieces of tissue and make it pretty.

Step three
Continuing from the last image above, I left an extra 1/2″” of wire from the pom poms in order to attach them onto the ball, seen on the picture above. I also used hot glue to secure them in place.

I used different shades of orange paper to give them more depth. I attached the pom poms tightly together, but you can use less flowers if you would like.

You can also make wreaths doing the same process! Styrofoam wreaths can also be found at any craft store.

How much paper do I need?

Each 20″x30″ sheet of tissue paper makes 6 10″x5″ strips (same measurements as in Martha Stewart website). Four strips of 10×5 makes one flower. I used about 40 (I think) for each pomander.
4 strips of 5×10= 1 flower
4 sheets 20×30=6 flowers
Each pomander, about 40 flowers = 28 sheets of paper (20×30)
10 pomanders =280 sheets

How to make paper floofs for your party.

You'll need 20x30 standard tissue paper, wire,  scissors and fishing line to hang your poofs when you're done.

You can do these in several colors or stick with one, I think it looks lovely either way. For Logan's birthday I used orange because I ordered about 400 sheets of tissue paper to make the poofs for the Mighty Haus launch. That is, in case you're wondering, a metric shit ton of tissue paper. So orange it is! Well was! And if we have another party anytime soon, guess what? Orange!

I use 8-10 sheets of paper stacked nice and neat. Fold the paper like an accordian or a fan making the folds about 1-2 inches wide.

When you've folded the entire sheet, find the middle of the strip, take a piece of wire (about 4-6 inches long) and wrap it around the middle of your tissue strip twisting it and making a loop (to hang your fishing line from after you fluff the thing up).

Now cut the ends. You can do a scalloped edge or a pointy end that I prefer.

Open the strip like a fan and start opening the paper on one side of the wire, gently pulling apart the layers (I open half on each side to keep them rounded.) To keep your poofs from becoming half pom-poms, make sure you pull the first layers of the poofs up toward the middle as much as possible. It will make it easier to make them round later.

Continue pulling apart until you have one half of the poof open. Flip to the other side, fan it out and repeat the process.

Sierra Nevada is optional.

When you're done find the wire loop you made and give it a little shake like a cheerleader. Even though you were never a cheerleader and didn't want to be. This will make them poofy.

I am very particular about how my poofs are fluffed so I have to do them myself. It takes a little trial and error but you'll come up with the way that's easiest for you to do it.

Good luck!

Knitted Eames Wire Chair

Knitted Eames Wire Chair – an interesting styling concept that incorporates two contrasting materials, yarn and metal. Why haven’t I thought of this before?

Nail Art

When we saw these nails spotted at Lollapalooza a couple of weeks ago, we literally stopped in our tracks. This technique of using a variety of colors and linear tribal patterns instantly won over our prior skepticism of nail art. Inspired, we went on a mission to find the best nail art pens to doodle on our own nails.

You’ll need:

• nail polish
• top coat
• Sally Hansen Nail Art pen

Start by painting two coats of polish on your nails. Let the polish dry completely.