Cool Holiday DIY

{potato stamp: factorydirectcraft.com; paperchain: priscillabeau; magnetic advent calendar: twig and thistle; glass ornament: twig and thistle; paper garland: twig and thistle}

{ok, i fell a little in love with twig and thistle, a great gathering of unique inspiration}

The holidays are an especially fun time to make, bake and spend time with family and friends. I am always on the hunt for simple, fun and cool ideas. The paper chain is a wonderful holiday craft and is fun for small children and adults. I especially love this one shown, as each link is personalized with something to be thankful for. You can easily make a Christmas version of wishes, thoughts, lyrics, poems and of course, the words to The Night Before Christmas. May your month be merry and filled with wonderful moments, of new memories.

Deck the Halls

{holiday decor via hgtv}

Advent calendars are so much fun. The anticipation of opening one hidden treat every day, made morning so much fun, especially if you could break the law and enjoy a piece of candy! I also found this really fun paper chain. I know what we will be doing next weekend!

Holiday Craft Fun!

Hello everybody!

Now that the holiday season seems to be in full swing, I thought it would be fun to pass along a DIY ornament! Just a few simple steps for assembly. After printing out the image above, cut around the perimeter of the triangular shapes and (including the tabs). Then, with a craft knife, gently (and carefully) score the lines between each triangle, and where each tab abuts a triangle.

For the string to hang the ornament, first poke holes in the two white dots with a needle or thumbtack. Use a ballpoint pen to widen the holes, and then place each end of your string through one of the holes, tying a knot on the back side of the printout.

Apply glue or tape to each tab, and then fold up to reveal a wondrous winter octahedron ornament!

Fall Party Inspiration

Celebrate fall! Try these simple decorating ideas from Sunset magazine paired with the Oak table card from eInvite.com for a colorful and sophisticated fall party.

DIY Halloween Decorations!

Looking to adorn your home with some fun Halloween decorations? Check out this adorable DIY project from Merrilee’s blog, mer mag. So easy and quick to do, these paper faces are perfect for any Halloween party, or even just to hang-up for fun. I might even hang a few around here at the office! Be sure to check out Merrilee’s instructions here.

DIY Bridesmaid Card

This DIY bridsmaid card designed by RIFLE Design for Once Wed is so much fun. I would love to receive this in the mail!





Additional Photos and Instructions here.

DIY Flowers

{images of flower bundles fresh from the Boston Flower Market via Sprout}

{images of wedding flowers via mint design blog photos by ellie snow}

Weddings cost a bundle, plain and simple. There are ways a creative couple can use their creativity or the creativity of their closest friends and family to not only save the beans, but to create flower arrangements and pieces of the wedding together. Many florists will be willing to purchase flowers for you to DIY...just ask.

Our friend Cathy Walsh from Sprout here in town just did her first DIY flower sale. Today, while on mint design blog , I came across these colorful beauties in mason jars and thought of how fun it would be to make these with friends. Cathy will even give you a crash course in arranging! I think this is a great solution to saving a bundle and having time with family and friends.

A few bottles of wine for the workers, a couple rolls of ribbon, a few cases of mason jars, and fresh blooms from your local. For the worker bees that pull their weight, offering a little cheese and some olives would be the polite thing to do. There you have a memorable gathering of spirited revelers preparing for the wedding together. Back to basics with beans to spare.

I hope Cathy posts some images from her DIY bride. We will be looking forward to seeing them!

Rain Rain.. Stick Around for a While

I have to admit, I like the rain in small doses. For the past day it has been raining and it's supposed to rain for the remainder of the week. That's enabled me to spend some time working on various art projects and in the progress of getting supplies at my local art store, I stumbled across this crazy in-home screen printing machine, the Yudu. I have NO idea how well this thing works, but it looks appealing to me for the following reasons:

1. It has this emulsified sheet instead of all of the various liquid components usually involved in screenprinting.
2. It's ridiculously compact.
3. It looks ... almost ... clean!

Now, I know that screenprinting without ending up completely covered in various goo is a crime against art, but for those apartment-dwellers out there who can't devote an entire wing of their house to their various creative misadventures, it might be a really awesome solution.

Once I started thinking about screenprinting, I inevitably had to troll Etsy for interesting screenprinted stuff, and found this totally absurd, wonderful linotype (with screenprinted colors) of the 2005 World Beard and Moustache Champion (what can I say, I'm a sucker for the absurd).

Just look at this. It is glorious.

Key Details

Readily available at flea markets and antique shops, old keys are a great way to bring a bit of vintage flair to any party or wedding. Decorate invitations, boutonnieres, or even bride’s maids with antique keys. Hang them from your bouquet, give them away as favors, or dangle them from centerpieces and place cards. Keys are small enough to put almost anywhere but charming enough to make a statement. Best part is, they won’t break the bank either...except for maybe the ones at Tiffany's!

{Images Top L to R}
5 Porcelain Keys available at The Curiosity Shoppe
Acanthus Antiqued Brass Vintage Skeleton Key Necklace Collectibles by urbanheirlooms
Large Key invitation by Checkerboard Ltd. available at eInvite
Flea Market finds with Branch Floral as featured by 100 Layercake
Whiskey Brown Leather Saxony Clutch with Antique Skeleton Key by urbanheirlooms
Tiffany Keys available at Tiffany & Co.
Flea Market finds with Branch Floral as featured by 100 Layercake

Fontify It!

Thanks to Jaime at Design Milk, I came accross Fontifier.com! It's an awesome website where you can actually create a font using your own handwriting. Great for scrapbooking, address labels, letter writing or table cards, once you dowload your font you can use it for pretty much anything! Well worth the $9. Above is a preview of what my font would look like. I think it could use some tweaking, but thanks to the genius that is Fontifier, I can do so, free of charge before I purchase my font! Fabulous!

Wedding and Party DIY Ideas

There are so many ways to make a wedding or party more personal. I always find it impressive when someone takes the time to individually construct the favors, the flowers, or the decorations. I recall my fiance's cousin's wedding when each guest received one of the bride's amazing homemade cookies inside of a tiny box she constructed and adorned. While this might not always be easy, einvite offers templates for favors to print on cream or white cardstock, including the one shown below at einvite.com/favors. The individual terrariums (found on design*sponge) would be perfect for the green-thumbed crafter having a smaller wedding or event with a garden theme. Fiftyflowers.com offers mixes of coordinated wedding flowers at a low price to arrange yourself, and has all of the most popular blooms. Finally, the variation in color and size of the river stone "placecards" found on theknot.com makes for an interesting and fun display, and calls to mind the simple joy of bringing together all the different and unique folks you love on your big day.