Pinterest Party Planning

How did anyone ever plan a party without Pinterest? I know that it can be done but with all the great ideas out there, it sure helps get the plan together faster!

For the Couple's Shower we hosted this past weekend, Pinterest was my best friend. We wanted a fun and colorful but still rustic theme for the shower. Something not too girly and a little touch of masculine so the guys would feel at home. We decided on a color scheme of turquoise, green and coral and a camping/picnic-y feel with the decor. Here are a few projects that I found on Pinterest to help pull our party together-

I saw Jenn's adorable scrappy garland and knew that I wanted to make one but didn't know where until planning the party. It was just the rustic pop of color we needed over the photo booth and around the s'mores table.

Jenn has a great tutorial that I followed. I got a little carried away at cutting fabric and had enough to make two! I used different shades of muslin, a plaid shirt and green t-shirt from the thrift store, and a coral dish towel to get the look I was going for.

To showcase some snapshots of the two of them, I created a picture collage frame (like Kirsten's) out of an old frame I picked up at a flea market.I painted the frame a pretty mint color and then strung twine around the nails that were already in place around the frame. We attached the photos with mini clothespins.

Fossil.Life.Style has a tutorial for these cute twiggy candle holders.

I first tried to do this project without reading the tutorial and used hot glue (because hot glue is supposed to work on everything, right?) to adhere the sticks to the glass candle holders. I would get half way around the holder and the sticks would all fall off- dried glue and all. Then I read the tutorial and found out that E6000 is the trick. It was a little bit of a pain because E6000 doesn't dry quickly and the sticks slid all over the place but now that it s dry- these sticks aren't going anywhere!!

For Emily's guest book, I found a large, unfinished, wooden "M" at Canton a month or so ago, and I painted each side with a flat white paint. We had her guests sign on the back with colorful sharpies. The front is left white and she can put it up in her house like this pin from the Handmade Home suggests.

The guests also added funny memories in to the buckets for "things Clint should know about Emily" and "things Emily should know about Clint". I found this pin and thought all of their friends would enjoy sharing a few secrets. Emily said they had a great time reading through all the slips of paper that night after the shower.

I knew from the beginning I wanted a ton of fresh flowers around the space. For a bright pop of color, I decided to use this inspiration and create paint-dipped mason jars. I mixed up a coral and mint color and swirled the bottoms of the jars in the paint. I made sure to get it somewhat thick so the paint would run after I turned it upside down to dry. These are so easy and inexpensive and really add a pop to what would normally just be a clear vase.

These jars have been on my Pinterest for forever! I love the floating candles and raffia. If you do this- be sure to buy the heart shaped floating candles from Hobby Lobby. The larger round ones I think are too big to fit through the jar.

My favorite project of the night- Wine Bottle Tiki Torches (I got this amazing idea here with this great tutorial). I have an huge supply of empty wine bottles and I now have a use for them! Everyone loved them and I plan on making a few more as gifts and for our lake house. The cost per bottle runs about $6 so not a bad investment if you are looking to get rid of a few pesky mosquitoes!

I'm happy to finally cross a few projects off my to-do Pinterest list! It feels good to get some things done!! do you have any fun summer projects on your to-do list?



Linking Up with: Link Up With Me, Liz Marie

Pinterest Challenge- Ruffled Lampshade

Yay! Another project has been crossed off of my to-list and moved from my DIY Pinterest Board to my DONE! Board!! Today I am linking up with the Winter Pinterest Challenge hosted by Young House Love, Bower Power, The Great Indoors and Hi Sugarplum.

 

I have been wanting to liven up our bedside lamps in our master bedroom for a while now. I fell in love with a couple of ideas but none seemed to work out.

BEFORE

This ruffled burlap lamp shade caught my eye just a couple of weeks ago and I knew it would be the perfect project for this challenge.

Tatertots & Jello

Terra, from Mama Says Sew, gave a great tutorial on Tatertots &Jello that was easy to follow and I was able to complete it mostly in one night (had I not had to make a run to Hobby Lobby for some more burlap!)

I had everything on hand for this project. I started with my old lampshade, 1.5 yards of burlap (I really needed about 2 yards), glue gun and glue sticks and a pair of scissors.

I started by wrapping my lamp shade in burlap. It is by no means perfectly wrapped- I should have given myself a little more wiggle room on the top, bottom and sides but it all gets covered up in the end so it didn't really matter.

I cut four inch strips of the remaining burlap and ironed them in half making two inch wide double strips.

Then I placed a inch or two of hot glue on the folded edge of the strip and glued it to the lampshade in a squiggle pattern.

I continued doing this with every strip (making sure each ruffle was a little different) all the way around the lampshade... until I ran out of burlap!!

This is where I had to make a run to Hobby Lobby. I think I might have ruffled a little tighter than my inspiration lampshade did meaning I used more of my fabric quicker. I used about four more strips, close to a half yard more, to finish it!

I started to worry that with the four extra inches added around the shade that it would somewhat dwarf my lamp but I love how the shade stands out!

It is so pretty and I love it both with the lamp off and on!!

 

I realize this has been done by quite a few bloggers in the past but it is new to me and I couldn't be happier with the new addition to our bedroom! I'm am starting another Anthropologie inspired lampshade project soon- be sure to stop back by and see how it turns out!!

Check out all the other Pinterest Challenge projects at Young House Love, Bower Power, The Great Indoors and Hi Sugarplum.

Also linking up to Remodelaholic, Chic on a Shoestring , Five Days Five Ways & The Shabby Nest .

Hold on to Your Fork

In my quest to finish a project for my "Pinterest Challenge" I decided to create a DONE! board on Pinterest to keep up with what I have finished! I had a few more than I thought! Some were recipes I had cooked, some were tips I had tried out, some were prints I had bought and a few were projects that I had finished.

One of my favorites was the "Hold on to Your Fork". There is such a sweet story behind this saying that I heard when I was a kid and have loved it ever since! I thought it would make a perfect addition to the gallery wall in my kitchen.

My Inspiration:

via jones design company

The colors weren't exactly what I was going for but here is my version:

I traced the border and fork and painted the canvas with craft paints and paint pens! I love the way it turned out!

- Hold on to your Fork
Consider the following true story about one dear woman who was a devoted member of her church for nearly 70 years. She’d been diagnosed with a terminal illness and given only days to live. As she was sharing some final moments and last words with loved ones, her Pastor was called to her bedside to discuss her final wishes. She told him which songs and scriptures she wanted at her service and what outfit she wanted to wear.

As the Pastor was leaving, the lady suddenly cried out, “Wait. There’s one more little thing. I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” The Pastor didn’t know what to say. “So that puzzles you, does it?” the lady said to the Pastor.

She went on to explain… “In over 70 years of attending community socials and family dinners, church functions and birthday parties, seems like after every meal some one would say, “hang on to your fork”. Each time I heard this I felt excited and happy because it meant something better was coming, like chocolate cake or pumpkin pie, something sweet and wonderful. I want my friends and family to remember me with a fork in my hand because I want them to know that I believe….”the best is yet to come”. And when anyone asks, ‘What’s with the fork?’ I want you to tell them: “the best is yet to come.’”

The Pastor became teary eyed as he kissed his dear friend good-bye. He realized that, though he had been trained in theological mysteries, she had a far better grasp on eternity. She had lived a fine, long life and she left this life knowing for sure, something better was yet to come.

At her funeral, many people attended because she was greatly admired in her community. As they approached her casket they all saw the fork and over and over again, the Pastor was asked, “What’s with the fork?” And over and over he smiled and said, “The best is yet to come.”-

Linking up to:  The Shabby Nest Bower Power , Young House Love ,  Making a House a Home 

L.O.V.E

So- I finished just my "Pinterest Challenge" Project. I didn't get too ambitious so don't get too excited.... My husband and I are leaving tomorrow for a trip to see my brother-in-law so I didn't have much time for all my projects between all the packing and planning.

My Inspiration:

via Design*Sponge

I loved the eclectic look of these prints. All I did was find four different fonts and printed out letters on basic copy paper from my home computer. I found four frames at my local thrift store. I spent about $2 on each frame and one even came with a free picture.

Isn't he a hottie! Anyway.... then I spray painted the frames because they were just a little too thrifty looking. and here is what I ended up with....

 

What do you think? LOVE it? : )

The frames cost $2.00 each, the spray paint I already had, and the letters were printed for free on my computer- under $10 and under 10 minutes!

The brassy lamp and green sideboard are some of my next projects! I'll let you know how those turn out!

Have a great Tuesday!

Linking up to: The Shabby Nest,  Bower Power , Young House Love , & Making a House a Home