party decor Archives - girl. Inspired.

DIY Snowflake Confetti and Winter Tablescape

December 7, 2017 by girlinspired 2 Comments

I’m OBSESSED! There is no end to the cool stuff that I can make in my craft room!! Today’s task? CONFETTI!!!! You guys! I made confetti in the shape of SNOWFLAKES! I am so excited. I tried out this new product called Party Foil – and it’s fantastic. I used it to make both 3D and teeny tiny snowflake confetti for my winter tablescape. Turned out so pretty and, once again, I’m blown away by the capabilities of my Cricut Maker machine.

I did these projects using my iPhone and the Cricut app. I will caution you to leave enough time to cut out these puppies – it took a couple hours to cut all the confetti and snowflakes. I didn’t have to babysit the machine for a second and there was not a single glitch – I just set it and walked away for a good long while as it did its job. This is the magic of the Maker and the nifty app where you set the material type – see that “Party Foil” setting? It adjust the machine so that it knows exactly how to cut out the party foil in intricate little pieces for perfect snowflakes!

Here is the set of snowflakes cut file I used for the confetti – I sized down and up to get a variety of sizes and duplicated the image to cover a 12×12 sheet.

LOOK HOW TINY THESE ARE!!!!!!!!!

I used several different 3D snowflake images to cut the larger snowflakes for my tablescape! They didn’t take nearly as long to cut and the edges came out perfect – I really expected to have to go in and trim some of the intricate cuts and struggle with weeding, but NO! Not a one!

I can’t stop thinking of all the different confetti I want to make! Why? Because who doesn’t love confetti? And beautiful tablescapes for parties or just to make everyone smile?! How will you dress of your table this holiday season?

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

DIY Party Banner

September 15, 2016 by girlinspired 1 Comment

Before the summer completely leaves us, I wanted to share the step-by-step to create a DIY party banner using chipboard pieces and patterned paper. Although this banner was for summertime, you can follow these steps to make a festive banner for absolutely ANY occasion! The process is simple and fun – you can be as creative or as quick as you’d like. My ten-year-old made most of this banner herself so feel free to incorporate this activity into kid craft time!

You need just a few supplies (affiliate links provided below):

Chipboard Pennant (other varieties such as this or this)
Patterned Cardstock (I like the foil embossed like this one).
hole punch
Matte Mod Podge
Sponge brush
waxed paper
letters (chipboard, stickers, etc.)
stickers, bows, clips, flowers, ribbon, etc. to accessorize

Be sure that you have enough pieces of chipboard to spell out the phrase that you want to display (remember spaces and possibly a blank one at the beginning and end). Trace the shape onto the wrong side of the patterned cardstock. Be sure that the shape of the chipboard is in alignment with any pattern direction on the paper. Cut out the shapes, one for each side of each piece of chipboard.

Punch holes in each sheet of cardstock before adhering to the chipboard or you’ll have trouble finding where to punch those holes. Use an even layer of Mod Podge to paste each paper shape onto the chipboard. Set the drying chipboard onto waxed paper to prevent sticking. After the glue is completely dry, coat the outside of each banner piece with another layer of Mod Podge. It’s probably best to do one side at a time.

When all your pieces are completely dried, it’s time to lay them out and add letters and accessories. Decorate to your heart’s content!

Finally, string up the banner on ribbon, twine, or jute string. That’s all there is to it! Here’s a quick video showing the steps and some additional detail pictures:

I love that you could even flip the banner around and add a different phrase to the other side – I’m planning on adding “Lemonade” to this one for our stand next summer. I also have “CELEBRATE” hanging up in my office – it’s so cheery and fun to display even when I’m not hanging it up for a party!

Have fun making your perfect party banner!

Princess Crowns Tutorial

July 8, 2013 by girlinspired 50 Comments

One of my most favorite DIY projects EVER are the lace princess crowns I made for the girls’ birthday parties. I was pretty pleased with myself last year when I made the first set of crowns, adding color and glitter to the ideas I’d seen online. Since then, I’ve made several more crowns and after Addison’s Princess and the Popstar party a couple weeks ago, I have some updates to my original tutorial to share.

Choosing Synthetic laces vs. cotton lace – the synthetic laces seem to hold their intricate detail/shape better than the soft cotton laces, such as the vintage trims I used in the past. Look for wider designs with a lot of variation in the trim for taller crowns.

Saturate the trim in fabric stiffener, swipe off excess with your fingers, lay the lace flat to dry in a straight line on waxed paper. Turn several times to ensure all of the holes in the lace are clear of excess stiffener.
This is an excellent summertime project (particularly here in the dry heat of CA – not sure how humidity effects drying time). I was able to add stiffener, dry out the lace, paint, and glitter the crowns all within about a half a day. When I made them previously in January, it took several days. After each step, I set the lace outside to dry – temperature was about 90 degrees that day.
Apply one coat of acrylic paint to both sides in the same color as the glitter you’d like to apply. Allow to dry.
To add glitter: choose a very fine glitter – this makes all the difference. This glitter from Martha Stewart Crafts worked a million times better than anything else I’ve tried.

Use a foam brush to apply a thin layer of Mod Podge over the painted lace. Sprinkle with glitter. Shake off excess glitter. Set out to dry (this doesn’t take long). Flip over. Apply a layer of glitter to the other side.

Immediately overlap and hot glue the ends of the lace together to form a circle. Use this tip to dry the crown into the perfect circular shape. Set outside to dry for several hours or overnight.
Store crowns the same way you dried them. I have mine all stacked on one take-out container after the next.

Super cute, right? I love these crowns!!! And I love knowing that I can make them in a snap in this hot weather! Have you made one yet?

For more details and pictured instructions, you can see my original tutorial here.

DIY Disco Ball Pinata

July 3, 2013 by girlinspired 9 Comments

No doubt that a DIY disco ball pinata is an essential at any dance/popstar super cool type party, right? I felt the same way when we went to the birthday party of our favorite preschool teacher’s little gal! Dorothy had a dance party with two awesome disco balls, so after scouting out the uber cool aunt that made the pinatas, I slid into the seat next to her to get the full scoop. She was so sweet to tell me how to make them and even sweeter to let me share her secrets with you! So, here you are – the DIY Disco Ball Pinata instructions.

You start with a cheapy beach ball from the drugstore and blow it up nice and full. Then, paper mache your heart out. I used strips of newspaper dipped in a flour, water, Mod Podge mixture (just dump a little of each in a bowl and mix it up – I think the ratio’s pretty flexible, but maybe a cup of water, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup Mod Podge). I did three layer of paper mache over the beach ball – letting each layer dry completely between. It held quite a bit of weight in toys/candy and the kids got several turns each before it finally came open, so don’t go too crazy with a million paper mache layers. Leave a hole for deflating and removing the beach ball and filling with goodies (if you dare let the kids break it open). Once the ball has been removed and you’ve filled the pinata, insert a hanging device – I lucked out by having a child’s skirt hanger – one of the kind with the circular hook at the top that goes over another hanger – know what I’m talking about? I gently bent the ends to get it in the hole and then that circular hook at the top was perfect for tying the rope to later to hang the whole thing. So, once you have your hanging device, lay a little plastic wrap over the opening and then add a few more layers of paper mache around the opening to seal it up.

Now, it’s ready to be transformed into a disco ball. The special trick is stainless steel-look contact paper – I used less than one roll and got the contact paper from Home Depot. I’m not going to lie – this is a total pain and took a solid four hours of continuous work with the help of two kids (who actually were quite a big help on this one!!) The back of the contact paper has gridlines which made it easy to cut 1″x 1″ squares – a zillion of them!

Balance the ball on its end and draw a horizontal line all the way around the center of the pinata. Begin in the center and peel and stick your contact paper squares all the way around. The contact paper has little brush strokes on it, so I rotated these every other square. With your first line in place, work up and down from the center until you cover the entire ball. And that’s it! When you finish, you’ll beg your child not to break the thing open, but seeing as how they helped you pick out and stuff all the toys and candy inside, they will say no, and you’ll cry a little. But it WILL be super cool and all the kids will love it, so there’s that.

It’s been over a week since the party and the shell is still sitting on my desk – can’t bring myself to toss all that flashy work!! Think you’ll make one?

For more paper mache pinata ideas, you might enjoy this tutorial for Flower Pinatas.

A Gymnastics Birthday Party

January 13, 2013 by girlinspired 14 Comments

Grace celebrated her fifth birthday last week and it was the first party that we’ve done for the girls away from home. I have had so much fun planning the girls’ birthday parties for the last seven years, so it was an adjustment (though not a surprise) when Grace asked that her party be at a local gymnastics center. She’s a no-muss, no-fuss, all-action, all-the-time kind of girl. She can skip the decorations and fluff – and that’s exactly what she told me. “Mommy, I want my birthday party at the gymnastics place, and I don’t want any decorations.” And it went on further….”I don’t want you to spend any time making decorations because I just want you to play with me.” Dagger to the heart.

I need you to understand how hard I work to make sure that my creative time doesn’t impede on quality time with my girls. I mostly craft after the kids are in bed or on the days that the girls spend playing over at Grammy’s house. On occasion, I’ll pull out a project in the daytime if the girls are all occupied upstairs playing together. So, when Grace threw this request at me, it really triggered my mom guilt/panic.

But, we went with it. I planned absolutely nothing for her party except for reserving the gym and inviting a few children. It was such a relief to celebrate the holidays without worrying about the looming birthday party that was upcoming.

I held off from the planning until four days before the party. I went to the craft store to get some fabric for another project and came across the cutest little mason jars. I hadn’t figured out the cupcakes for the party, so I jumped on the chance to make something cutesy and crafty without breaking the “no decorations” rule. Grace did specify “red” as her preferred party color, so that was helpful.

I also picked up some polka dotted oilcloth for the party table and some washi tape to stick on anything I could…..and then I found some great metallic dancewear fabric, knowing that there was no way Grace would turn down a new leotard. In fact, she kind of went crazy for it when I made it.

I made some little labels for the drink bottles with the guests’ names, and added a little clipart for labels to top the cupcake jars and treat bags. I cut out larger labels and added some die cut letters for a banner. And that’s about it.

The party was awesome and EASY!!! I spent very little on new supplies. I packed everything I needed into a single tupperware bin in about 15 minutes. I didn’t have to clean my house or panic about timing. We loaded the bin of supplies and the kids up in the car, went and picked up balloons and some pizza and we were party ready! And the only crafting time I put in was (when Grace wasn’t watching) at night and on my babysitting day. Everyone was happy and the birthday girl had a smashingly good time.

Forest Wonderland Baby Shower

November 7, 2012 by girlinspired 17 Comments

I have this incredible cousin. Her name is Melanie and we’ve been the best of friends since we were born (just two months apart). We know each other inside and out and grew up dreaming aloud of the day we would get married and have families. Big dreams we had of living all together in a two-story, pink house with our own little kiddies running around, the best of friends just like us. Over the past couple years, Mel and her husband, Mark, have prepared and planned for their first baby. The road has been rough and finally, they are just weeks away from meeting their long-wished-for little girl. It was such an honor to organize a baby shower to welcome my soon-to-be niece. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed creating the backdrop for such a special celebration. You can read more about Melanie’s journey through infertility and pregnancy on her blog, Unruffled Lanie.

The shower was held in Mel’s beautiful backyard. The decor was meant to be a reflection of the baby’s nursery decor, a forest wonderland of sorts with birds and owls and moss and toadstools, in pinks and greys, and whites.

Remember the vintage typewriter that I painted pink? Well, the whole rationale for bringing that beauty home was to set it on a secretary desk (which I also snatched from my antique guy and gave it the paint/distress treatment) to stage a “Wishes for the Baby” area for this shower. Guests were able to write wishes on little tags and then I bound all of them together on a jump ring for a cute, little keepsake!

Melanie’s best friends, Keri and Erin, prepared a complete Vegetarian brunch for the shower – everything looked outrageously beautiful all set out and it tasted wonderful. My sole contribution to the food table was a spread of lemon creme crepes, which my sweet mom made for me, so that I just had to fill them the morning of the shower. I had a little fun with the dessert table, making a swirled flower cake to accompany the most delicious chocolate, peanut butter cake made by Melanie’s friend, Kerry. For a little flare, I molded some cute owl pops and placed them in moss containers. And I did up just a few cupcakes, with toasted coconut nests and cute, royal icing baby birds (thank you for the idea, Martha). Oh, and some itty bitty eclairs, of course! To round out the custardy, chocolatey goodness on the table.

The most exciting part of planning this shower was creating the baby layette embellishment station. I sewed my little heart out making tiny dresses and pants, skirts and bibs, burp cloths and blankets, all in coordinating fabrics. I added a few store bought items, such as onesies and shoes to round out the collection (and because there were 35 people expected at the shower!!!) I provided all kinds of embellishments that coordinated with the layette items for the guests to decorate and personalize an outfit for the new baby. Buttons, appliques, ribbons, embroidery floss, everything that I could think of to make a fun activity that would leave the baby with a handmade piece from everyone. I hung a blank tag on each item so that the person embellishing it could leave a note for Mel and the baby.

Here’s a picture of my gorgeous cousin! Isn’t she radiant with her baby bump?

And the two of us – thanks for letting me play baby shower, Mel! I love you and can’t wait to meet that little princess!

DIY Snowflake Confetti and Winter Tablescape

DIY Party Banner

DIY Disco Ball Pinata

A Gymnastics Birthday Party

Forest Wonderland Baby Shower

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