Party Inspiration

Easy Fabric Fringe Garland

April 15, 2013 by Sharon Garofalow 4 Comments

I think with Earth Day coming up, these reusable fabric fringe garlands are the perfect thing to make. I first used these garlands at Lauren’s For, Like, Ever themed wedding shower.

You just need fabric (if you want really long garlands, you will need to make sure that you have continuous yardage of fabric – or you can always tack shorter ones together.) a rotary cutter (and straight edge and craft mat to go along with it) and scissors.

First cut strips in the fabric. Cut them as wide or as skinny as you want.

Without unfolding your fabric, start making your fringe cuts. Remember not to cut all the way through!

And that is all you have to do. Besides hang it on the way. The one shown above was a brand new one cut from fabric. It lays pretty flat but still has a cute fringe look.

One of the cool things about these is that depending on how you store them, they have a bit of a different look. If you keep them folded nice and smooth after use, they will remain pretty flat. However, if you store them like I did above, they come out kind of crinkled and with a whole new look.

This is the perfect simple party craft. It is totally one of those crafts that you can do on the couch while you are catching up on Red Widow (OMG! Do you guys love that show? I’m totally addicted but can’t watch it at night time because it is too intense for me!).

I will be saving these reusable fabric fringe garlands for years. They are so easy to store and I can hang them in a ton of different ways to get different looks.

And since I’m totally type A, I think I will use these for my son’s teacher’s birthday. Next year. I don’t even know who his teacher is yet since this year isn’t over. Which also means I have not officially been elected room mom. But it’s always good to have a plan. (Crazy, much?)

Do you prefer to reuse party items or make new things each time? Do you celebrate Earth Day?

Filed Under: Craft Ideas, Holidays, Party Inspiration, Party Planning, Tutorials Tagged With: black and white, coral, earth day, fringe, garland, leopard, Party Decor, Reusable, teal, turquoise

Land of Nod is Super Rad

March 27, 2013 by Sharon Garofalow 4 Comments

*Hey you guys. This post contains affiliate links. Read on to find out what that means!

Um, you guys. Land of Nod is rad. Did you know that? They have never been on my radar (not that I know everything about everything but I like to think I know cool kids stuff). Well, I take that back. I feel like I remember looking at a catalogue around the time I was registering at Crate and Barrel for my wedding (owned by the same company). That was 10 years ago. It did not leave a big impression on me. That was partially because I wasn’t even thinking of kids yet, but also the items just weren’t my style. And so I never thought about them again. I guess my sister-in-law (who started this blog with me) liked them because I found this post way back in 2008! But then I started seeing them pinning some pretty cool party inspiration for their Alt Summit party. I was excited to see what they were about. And when I went to said party, I was blown away! They were cool! They were out of catalogues but I made sure to go online as soon as I got back from that trip. Land of Nod is RAD!

We are on the verge of buying my son a bed. Which really makes me want to redecorate his whole room. Here are the dream items I picked out from the site to make over his room. How awesome are those wipe off award ribbons for the wall? And that tiger king print? LOVE! I didn’t pick out a comforter because I really want to make one. I’ve always wanted to scan his drawings and have them made in to fabric. Cool, right? I’m going to be sharing some of my Land of Nod faves each month. There is SO much great stuff on the site. And even those of us without a million dollars can find things in our price ranges. There are also unique gift ideas!

Bed . Trundle . “O” pillow . Boombox Pillow . Stripey Sheets . Blue Pattern Rug . Elephant Hooks . Bucket Caddies . Wall Shelves . Treasure Box . Monster Wall Decal . Wipe Off Ribbons . Tiger Print

One thing I would like to add is that I signed up for their affiliate program. What that means is that I am going to put a button on my sidebar that will take you right over to their site. Also, the links in this post are hooked up through their affiliate program. So if you were to purchase something, I would get a very tiny percentage. It just makes sense. I’m super excited about them and want you all to check out the awesomeness anyway so there might as well be some reward if you love it too! I may or may not let you know about special sales they are having if it is something I think you would want to know about. I didn’t want to just put up a button and not tell you the whole story. That’s not how I roll. I have nothing to hide.

I would love to hear what you think of Land of Nod. I’m smitten! Oh! And you should check out their blog too. So much great stuff!

*Not a sponsored post. I fell in love when I saw the site and even more when I saw the catalogue (you guys, it is so beautifully shot and styled!!). All opinions are mine!

Filed Under: Family Life, Home Decor, Oh you fancy huh, Party Inspiration, Things I Love, Toys Tagged With: cool kids items, home decor, kids rooms, toys

Egg Shaped Feather Craft Fail

March 18, 2013 by Sharon Garofalow 8 Comments

It started out as a good idea. I mean, an egg-shaped feather wreath sounds great for Easter, right? I made up a quick one to see if it as, indeed, cute. I showed my mom. She looked at me like I was crazy. So I blame her for the tutorial not working out. I thought it was cute enough to share with you so I decided to do the full tutorial the next day.

So I forgot how I did the first one. And the more I tried to figure it out the dumber it got. I had wire everywhere. It started scratching my table. I was bummed. On a side note, feathers are the pits. If you’ve ever bought them from the craft store you know that when you open up the bag, little tiny feather pieces float through the air. Straight up in to your nose. They litter your counter and as you go to wipe them up they just float away again.

But I kept going. Because in my head I knew it would end up cute. I had pictures of it all styled up in an Easter setting and just knew people would pin the crap out of it. But the feathers wouldn’t stay and the gold thread I used to tie the feather to the wire shape kept coming undone. What the!?!

This is the first one I made. Kinda cute, right? It’s ok, I can take it. It could be improved on.

So I failed this craft. One that I made up. I’m starting to learn that my crafts turn out a lot like my cooking. It can go very wrong, very quickly. So, if you like this idea, feel free to use it and make it even better. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go eat a jumbo sized box of Nerds. As an appetizer to dinner. Which may or may not include ice cream.

Filed Under: Craft Ideas, Holidays, Party Inspiration, Tutorials Tagged With: decor, egg shaped, feather, peach, wreath

Happy Cake Day Banner on YAMF

March 15, 2013 by Sharon Garofalow Leave a Comment

I have a really fun birthday banner up on You Are My Fave. Have you seen it? Fabric letters and napkin flowers make it fun and exciting. Go check it out!!

Filed Under: Craft Ideas, Guest Posts, Holidays, Party Inspiration, Party Planning, Tutorials Tagged With: banner, birthday, cake, craft, diy, flowers, garland, guest post, You Are My Fave

St. Patrick’s Day Picnic and Crafts with Solo Products

March 15, 2013 by Sharon Garofalow 2 Comments

Solo sent me some products and asked me to make some crafts with them for St. Patrick’s Day. I know these cup hats have been done before but how cute are they! I kept this first one really simple. At first, I had wanted to fringe the felt on the bottom but loved how they look like little top hats. And kids love them. Just look how excited my son is to wear it for a photo.

All you need is a cup, a little felt, some string or ribbon and a little hot glue. My glue gun had its way with my thumb during the making of this craft. I took some ibuprofen and I’m doing ok now. Use hot glue at your own risk!

I made a little girl’s version too. Because girl’s stuff is so cute.

And then I asked one of my favorite neighbors to wear it for me. She was WAY happier to help me with a photo than my son. And I didn’t even have to bribe her. How refreshing.

I am going to be leaving to go out of town on a mother/daughter trip early on St. Patrick’s Day, but if I was staying home, my family would totally be having a fun picnic at the park. It would include a scavenger hunt for treasure and other fun activities as well as yummy food. Or maybe we would just do a big charcuterie spread with meats and cheeses. I didn’t have a bunch of cheese on hand for the photo so I substituted the “cheese” banner. I created a Pinterest board for my St. Patrick’s Day picnic, check it out.

And while I was messing around with the Solo products, I realized that I could make a homemade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume for my son.

It is totally going to fall apart by the end of the day (the straps are made from flagging tape. Ribbon would hold up way better) but that will save me from having to store it…