Bridal Shower String Art

Straight out of the “that was easy” DIY vault comes another piece of string art. This one was made for my sister in law Julie’s bridal shower that we held last Sunday.

This project was altogether cost effective; in fact it was free. I had all of the supplies around the house: the wood and ceiling paint were left over from our kitchen renovation, the string from our wedding, and the nails courtesy of Ben’s tool box. The total assembly was about an hour aside from the time it took for the paint to dry (I left it over night).

This project would work well with any graphic shape, monogram, or number for a birthday or shower. As a large-scale piece it adds a fun pop of colour and could also be used to hold escort or gift cards.

I used the heart on the welcome table to greet guests in the front entrance. 

More details from Julie’s shower to come!

DIY cake toppers

I plan on doing some baking (of the cake variety) for a special birthday and a wedding shower in the next few months and I wanted a fun way to jazz them up a bit. I love the idea of reusable cake toppers paired with or in lieu of traditional candles; however, every option I found came with a price tag. In the interest of keeping it simple (& cheap), I printed out two of my favourite words in Arial Bold font on regular computer paper, cut them out with scissors and used the cutouts as tracers on the back of some sparkle cardstock I had left over from this project.

Once the letters were cut out (I found an exacto knife worked best to cut through the cardstock) I attached baking dowels to the backs with a hot glue gun.

That’s it. A simple + fun Saturday project in preparation for birthday and wedding season!

happy love. the best kind.

Faceted Vase DIY

As if there was any question, I am officially in full-on holiday mode (as of November 12, to be exact). This means there are decorations up in my house (for real) and that I'm lining up my holiday craft projects in an attempt to get organized before December 1. I love the idea of incorporating items you already own into holiday installations; it's cost effective and leaves you with minimal items to store.

The modern faceted vase tutorial on Oh Happy Day is this kind of project. I think it would be a perfect centerpiece for a holiday table or mantel decoration for New Years Eve, don't you?



(tutorial + photo courtesy of Oh Happy Day - photo by Kate Nicholson).

gift idea: for your favourite crafter

In the event you prescribe to the same let's-get-organized-sooner-rather-than-later school of thought as I do and/or you want to brighten the day of your favourite crafty friend and/or you’re looking for a few cost-effective and thoughtful gift ideas, you’ll be interested in the digital craft book A Hip Handmade Holiday.  Alison + Susan have compiled 18 original holiday craft ideas with tips, instructional videos, and printables.  Buy it here.  

Thanks to Natalie (of Nat the Fat Rat) who featured the book yesterday for the great gift idea. 

(image + digital craft book courtesy of the craft pack).

Halloween Cat Bunting

This week I was inspired by my new dress and Rubyellen's string lights and decided to create Halloween cat bunting for our entryway.  Even though I'm not a "cat person" this fun project is a homage to the year 6 years I went trick-or-treating as a black cat.  

supplies: 

- black felt

- string/ ribbon/ rik rak

- dressmakers pins

- fabric scissors 

- sewing machine

directions:
- create a template of the cat head. I drew mine free-hand but there are many clip art images online that would work, too.
- pin template to felt and cut out. Don't be too concerned about making each one perfect; felt holds its shape really well (& I'm partial to variations of the same template).
- sew to string/ ribbon
- hang!


Once I hung the bunting the cats looked lonely and needed something more so I sewed a string of triangle bunting out of the left over felt and hung them together. The result is more whimsical than spooky but that's fine by me. It was a cost effective project (less than $5 to complete) that I assembled in a couple hours. Bonus: it's a holiday decoration that will be easy to store!


Have you crafted anything for Halloween? 

wedding project [seven]: the L-O-V-E sign

As promised, here are the details of our LOVE sign, one of the most well-received (and well-photographed) elements of the reception. 

It must be noted that this project was a last minute a decision but a decision I am very glad I made. After seeing this tutorial, I became obsessed with incorporating Jordan's fabulous Marquee letters into the reception. "LOVE" was the opportune word. 

details: 

I assembled the supplies and enlisted the design talents of my friend Angie and the fabrication help of my amazing aunt Cath and creatively-inclined cousin Nico. We cut, scored, folded, and taped in the August sunshine, adapting Jordan's tutorial as we went based on the tools we had available. We ended up using the following supplies:

- a string of 25 globe lights

- poster board (x3)

- foam core board (x3)

- exacto knife/ steak knife/ scissors/ pen (for shaping the holes for the lights)

- duct tape

- scotch tape

- rulers

- cutting mat

- spray paint

Once I printed out Angie's template (which printed on 24 letter-sized pages) we taped the letters together and used them to trace onto the foam core board with pencil. There is a "front" and a "back" of the foam core board (one has a slight grid pattern). Once it's spray painted the grid pattern will still be visible; this may or may not be a big deal to you. Consider yourself warned. 

Once the letters were cut out with an array of cutting tools (we got creative) we were left with letters that had somewhat sloppy edges. This is OK as they'll be covered with the strips of poster board. 

Folding the poster board to wrap cleanly around the letters is the tricky part. We followed Jordan's steps which were very straightforward and logical (scoring is KEY). That being said, I recommend that you not attempt this project alone as the logistical/ mathematical/ fabrication part (this includes but is not limited to measuring, determining what part of the edging is the front vs. the back, scoring, folding, holding-in-place, and taping) is a feat in and of itself. Cath and I bounced ideas off of each other, laughed at each other's confusion, and - in the most general of terms - kept each other sane. I couldn't have done it without her.

Another modification we made had to do with the placement of the lights. The string of lights I ordered off of Amazon didn't come with the template that Jordan refers to; therefore, Cath and I divided the total number of lights [25] by the number of letters we had [4] and spaced them out accordingly (the "E" received two extra lights).

Once the letters were sprayed and the lights added it became an instant piece of art. Initially I planned on using the lights in the backyard but I've since decided to keep the letters intact for C Star Headquarters. I love this sign so much and I can't wait to experiment with this project again in the future. Anyone up for craft night?

up next:

Incredibly fun place card holders.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7... Go!

Ikea Campaign Chest DIY

There are many-an-Ikea-Hack floating around the Internet; you've no doubt come across them on Pinterest.  I'd like to suggest that this Campaign Chest DIY is one of the best.

Louisa of For Chic Sake has mapped out a brilliant DIY tutorial with easy to follow steps and links to all of the supplies she used. I've bookmarked this fuchsia beauty for a future project as it's a very cost effective way to give a tired chest of drawers a make over. 

Visit For Chic Sake for the details and links to many other project details. 

(images courtesy of For Chic Sake). 

wedding project [six]: string globes

This project has a back story. Last winter I had a great time collaborating and crafting from afar with my dear friend Nicole when her storefront (that would be my favourite Vancouver eco-boutique, body politic) needed a snowy-inspired window. I assembled a collection of cotton snowballs while Nicole tried her hand at mini string globes. I'm happy to report that our crafting resulted in a beautiful window display at bp (and I'm equally pleased to have received several pieces of pertinent advice from my creatively-inclined friend - Thanks Nicole!) 

Once I spotted these string globes I knew how I was going to incorporate them into our wedding: they were going to be the focal point over the dance floor. 

Cue bridesmaids, tacky glue, and mojitos.

details: 

Armed with this tutorial and Nicole's advice*, we assembled the supplies: 

- balloons

- white yarn

- Tacky Glue

- ice cream buckets

- warm water

- Vaseline 

- a shower curtain (used as a drop cloth)

I mixed the glue with warm water using the ratio of approximately 2/3 glue, 1/3 water. We blew up the balloons and covered (read: cov-ered) them in Vaseline. The yarn was then dipped into the glue-water mixture and covered until it was good and slimy. 

Here comes the messy part.

We experimented with holding the top of the balloon and the end of the string in one hand while wrapping string around the balloon with the other hand. We also tried tying the end of string TO the end of the balloon and then wrapping the string around the balloon. In any event, we determined that starting at knotted end of the balloon was the easiest. We also quickly learned that the string has to be wrapped quite tightly (the vaseline and glue will keep it in place provided it's tight enough). When we were satisfied with the string coverage we tied the end piece of string to the starting piece of string and/or the end of the balloon. 

On one occasion Angie's partially-covered balloon exploded in her face, causing Jenn to yell-scream bloody murder and vaseline and glue covered string to fly all over the wall, door, and ceiling. This was the most traumatic and the most hilarious thing to happen to us the entire weekend.  Note: vaseline is near impossible to wipe off the ceiling. 

To dry the globes, we arranged several hockey sticks (thanks, B) on chairs and hung the balloons by baker's twine, ensuring they didn't touch. Our string dripped quite a bit so I'd suggest putting a drop cloth or newspaper underneath. Before I packed them up to travel to Kelowna and again before they were hung at the reception the globes were sprayed with Tacky spray glue which really helped them keep their shape. 

The end result was a gorgeous little cluster cloud over our dance floor that reflected the light perfectly and added a fun element to the space. I'd love to try my hand at these again in the future, possibly on a smaller scale for Christmas ornaments. Big love and many thank you's to Angie, Jen, Jen, and Jenn for helping to assemble these tricky little buggers; to Mike and Amber for transporting them (only one popped!); and to my amazing all-male assembling crew of Brock, Sean, and Chris who teetered atop a ladder while this bridezilla glowing bride art directed from below. I must also thank Nicole for her seasoned advice and crafting encouragement. 

c's advice: 

The ratio of water to glue I used worked well; however, it is very important to ensure your string/ yarn is saturated before wrapping it around the balloon, otherwise as soon as the balloon is popped, the string goes limp. 

Let the string dry for longer than you think it will take the string to dry. I left mine for a couple of months (I wish I was joking).

Leave the balloons intact until they are ready to be hung. We didn't pop them until my assembly team had arranged them over the dance floor. 

*n's advice:

Use white string or yarn in lieu of a heavier string or twine as it's much easier to saturate the string if it's lighter in weight.  Otherwise, be prepared to let the string sit in the glue for a lot longer and give the globes a lot longer to dry. 

Cover all sides of the balloon (somewhat) evenly. It makes a more spherical final product. 

up next: 

Love, Love, Love.  The how-to behind the Marquee-inspired sign in the first photo. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... Go!

stamp happy {3}

I love using stamps, especially unexpectedly (the recipients of our wedding invitations can attest to this); therefore, I'm always on the hunt for new, clever/ funny/ awesome stamps to add to my collection. Ann Marie Loves Paper is right up my alley.

My favourites: noted (I say this several times a day), this is how we do it (for obvious reasons), and love it (which I say upwards of 100 times a day). There are many other gems in her shop, as well. See: here + here.

... and if you STILL haven't had enough, there's more stamp inspiration can be found in stamp happy instalments one and two.


Images courtesy of Anne-Marie Morris (etsy shop).