Peonies

My favorite thing about our new place? Big, pink, floppy peonies. And lots of them. I'm thinking a peony party may be in order at my house next year.

Pom Pom Tutorial

1. I bought packs of tissue paper at Wal-mart/Target for 99 cents per pack. Eight sheets come in a pack. (Note: If you are looking for a larger variety of colors-your local party store is a good resource.)

2. Starting at one end, make 1 1/2-2 inch accordion folds down the entire length of the tissue paper square. (Crease the paper after each fold.) When you are done, it will look like this on the ends:

3. Wrap a piece of floral wire around the center to secure the tissue paper. It also helps to tie a long piece of clear thread to the wire for hanging purposes later.

4. Trim off both ends of the tissue paper like this:

5. When you pull it apart it will look like this:

6. Gently pull the tissue paper apart from the center, one layer at a time.

7. And, in the end you'll have one big, fluffy ball of goodness.

P.S. After I made mine, I located the original tutorial from Martha Stewart. You can find her instructions here.

Party Banner

We threw a surprise graduation party for my mother-in-law over the weekend. (She just graduated from nursing school- go Anna!) I was in charge of decorations and I used this easy template I found on Martha Stewart to make a pretty party banner. I think it would also be a nice addition to any birthday party, wedding or baby shower. Click here for the template and instructions.

Weekend Project

I have been somewhat lacking in the motivation/inspiration department. Hence the reason for my scarce appearance in the blogging world. Lately, I just haven't been feeling so much "hot diggity!"as I have "ho-hum" if you know what I mean. However, I'm happy to report that things are beginning to look up! The first day of spring is this Friday so I thought I'd celebrate early with a little spring project. I finally got my hands on some chalkboard paint and decided that my first project would be these windowsill spice pots. I'm hoping they will actually grow, if not, at least I have some cute containers to admire in my kitchen. :)

Word Book

This word book is so cute and so clever. I'm thinking I'd like to make one of my own.

(Party Perfect via Say Yes to Hoboken)

Photo Booth Valentine

Remember the photo booth I blogged about awhile back? I got the great idea from my friend Stephanie to use it to make a Valentine for Jared. I had actually handwritten several different sentiments on the white paper but it wasn't really readable when the pics were developed so I ended up scanning it into Photoshop and added the text/shapes that way. I hope you all have a Happy Valentines Day!

Mini Valentines

I love the idea of mini Valentines so I instantly fell in love with this "little" idea I spotted on Inchmark (a blog definitely worth bookmarking if you haven't already)- Valentines made out of matchboxes. Clever indeed.

Gift Tags

I know that Christmas has already come and gone. However, in an effort to complete any unfinished business in 2008 I think I need to confess my undying love for these clever gift tags before I ring in the New Year. And as if the cute idea weren't enough, you can download a template to make your very own right here. (Isn't the internet awesome?!)

(From Inchmark, yet another lovely blog.)

Pear Place Cards

For our little Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow...

Card Club

Who knew that a long label with a sweet sentiment, wrapped around the edge of a card could bring me so much joy? I'm not sure why, but it does. I made these cards for my little card group but I'm thinking I'll use this same design for some personalized stationary and give it as some sort of gift because I am really enjoying the look of that wrap-around label.

Party Hats

I made these little party hats for Spencer's 1st birthday. (I bought some cheap-o party hats at Target, glued different paper on top and embellished them with things I had on hand.) If you think Spencer is cute all by himself, just wait until you see him with yellow polka dots, ric-rac and a little tassel on top of his head. Pictures to come.

{Thanks to Jordan over at Oh Happy Day for the inspiration!}

Floating Apple Votives

Not practical at all, but pretty none-the-less.

{Via Martha... of course}

Sewing on Cards

Even though I don't necessarily intend to, all my cards end up looking very similar, with some type of flower and/or stitching detail. However, I think these ones turned out especially cute.

Birthday Card

I thought this was a very clever idea for a child's birthday card. I also think it would be fun to try to find enough items to make a similar card for an adult birthday.

{Inchmark via Design Mom.}

Flower Arrangement

Although I realize fresh flowers are a frivolous expense, it makes me very happy when I have an arrangement of them in my home. I don't buy them often, but occasionally Aldi has some decent options for only $2.99 for a small mixed arrangement or 1/2 dozen roses. I lucked out today with the plum-ish purple, lime green and white mixture because I think it goes well with my homemade vase- an empty formula can with a fresh coat of avocado green paint from my kitchen project and a coordinating grosgrain ribbon. (Really. Can anything be made worse by adding a pretty ribbon?) I have been saving my extra formula cans because I think little arrangements like these would make fun hostess, birthday, thank you or just because-types of gifts.

Mod Podge: A Beautiful Thing

I've been wanting to learn how to do this and also wondering if it was even possible. That is, mod podge fabric to furniture. If you want to learn too, click here for the tutorial from J. Caroline Creative.