Outdoor BBQ party - Decorate To Celebrate Design Team Challenge

MY STORY
     I love everything about summer...especially after a particularly gross Northeast winter, I love nothing more than sitting out in my backyard with friends and family and enjoying foods that only seem to taste good between June and September!

     For this outdoor BBQ party design team challenge for Decorate To Celebrate, I used my go-to washi tape supply.  Armed with some basic items from the party store and my stash, I think this is a fun and easy way to spice up your plain BBQ place settings.

     And washi tape is so amazing to use.  Very affordable and those rolls go a LONG WAY.  It is reposition able, but once you are set, it has great adhesion to almost any surface.

     Gotta go....time to put another shrimp on the barbie.....Happy Summer!

YOUR TURN

     I picked up some basic white plates, utensils, cups from my local party store.  I liked that the lip of the plates made for easy placement for the tape.  And sometimes you can get a deal on plain white.  While everyone else is buying themed paper goods, you can create your own.

    The plates:  My whole color scheme of greens and blues started with napkins I had purchased last year.  I loved them and knew I would put them to good use someday.  There really is nothing to applying the washi tape.  Just place, cut and you are good to go.  Experiment with different colors, widths, and designs to make them interesting.  No rules, whatever you feel like.  NOTE:  I would not use these plates for your big helping of BBQ ribs, but they are best for things like appetizers, fruit salads.

   The cups and utensils:  again the same principle. Just cut and place.  Really so easy, I kind of feel dumb even to try to explain it.  Trust me, anyone can do this.

   Napkin rings:  OK, so I save toilet roll holders.  I'm definitely not the most "green" person around, probably cheap is more like it.  I LOVE to re-purpose.  Just apply the washi tape as desired on the roll.  As you can see, you get slightly different looks if you place the tape longways or around.  No rules....have fun it's summer.

     To jazz them up a little bit I added some burlap scraps I had along with new stickers I just picked up at The Paper Source -- one of my most favorite retail haunts!

 
     Place cards:  Here are two quick and easy ideas for place card holders.  One is a mini frame (my fav clearance bin @ Michael's again).  Cover the cardboard template with tape and create the name on your computer, glue and done!  I also had place card holders left from a baby shower I had designed so just covered up the baby bits with tape,  Voila!

  I found two small milk bottles at Michael's, so thought they would be cute for little flower settings at each place.  Also, how much fun would it be to have a whole bunch of them centered on the table?  Totally reusable and all these ideas can be changed for any holiday or celebration just by changing out the colors.

Love these metallic placements from Party City!

     Enjoy all the beauty that summer brings!

Weekend Inspirations

     This past week has brought me so much inspiration for future projects that I needed to share with my friends.  So in between this Memorial Day's activities and remembrances, here are some ideas to help you get inspired as well!

CRAFTY GARDENING

     After a very LONG NY winter, I am so happy to get down 'n dirty in my garden.  Next to the smell of BBQ, I love having color in my garden again.  After a morning rainstorm, I snapped some pics of my new fav plants.  Think about doing this with your plants -- these simple photos can be used in scrapbook pages, created into greeting cards, printed and framed as gifts -- so many possibilities.  Also with free, easy to use photo editing software ( I like Picasa), you can manipulate your photos and come up with some one-of-a-kind photos.  So start planting!

Love the "1960s" effect on Picasa

Removing some of the color is fun

DADS 'N GRADS

     A crafty friend of mine, Gina Satrape, posted this photo on to Facebook and I thought this was such a great idea.  With graduations coming up, what a fun way to preserve this memory.  Great gift to the grad and maybe for their eventual first Christmas tree?  And don't stop with tassels.....what about the wrist bracelet you get at the hospital along with your new baby?  Or a copy of your kid's learning permit or first drivers license?  These glass ornaments are really inexpensive and this is another great way to get the "book" out of "scrapbook".

I'VE BEEN FRAMED!!!

     While once again strolling through the aisles of my local Michaels, I found two frames that just spoke to me.
      I love love love this collection of clipboard frames.  I know I have some around the house, but you can either buy this set or run out to Staples, etc.  They are adorable just as they are, but what about painting them for a nursery?  Or holiday colors?  Spray paint the clips?  Add other embellishments? Also, if you use positionable tape or glue, you can change out the photos.  I think these make a great vignette.
     I always make sure I stop by the clearance bin, and lucky me!  This shadowbox frame and print were adorable.....The frame itself was pretty, but I really liked the image inside.  How easy would this be to replicate?  Very!!!

YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS

     A big trend in home decor are marquee lights.  Geekalerts.com and houzz.com featured some on their pages recently.
     Sadly, I have run out of outlets in my home and I think if I set up one more surge protector I will affect the entire Northeast electric grid.  So how to do an "unplugged" version?  I picked up a couple of wood letters and really cool pearlized dimensional stickers.  And of course some more paint.   I'm thinking I can either use as they are, or get my helpful hubby to cut these wooden letters in half which I THINK will make it look even more authentic.

HOUZZ.com

 Geek Alerts

CONTEST ALERT

     While walking through this week's National Stationery Show in NYC, I visited the Scotch3M booth.  They have a great line of decorative tape.  And they are having a craft contest , open to all.  Look for the contest announcement in early June, but here is the webpage for more info when available.
     So you know I'm all about contests!!  I picked up some supplies along with my Scotch 3M tapes, can you guess what my theme is going to be?
ScotchBrand Make Amazing Contest link

GILDING THE LILY

    In a recent issue of Country Living Magazine, they had a very cool project idea for mason jars.  With just some glue and gilding papers (gold leaf papers), you can transform any glass jar into an antique looking piece.  Great for your table, parties, etc.  I'm going to try on one of my vintage mason jars, but this concept can be used on anything glass - candle holders, vases....endless opportunities! And thanks to the sheets, tools and adhesive from #MarthaStewartCrafts @ Michaels I'm good to go.
Country Living Magazine Mason Jars Crafts

Country Living Magazine

OLD SCHOOL READING

    I love my EReader, especially with traveling, but there still is nothing like a real book.  And The Huffington Post recently had some very creative ideas for bookmarks.  Some of them were crazy unique!  Check out the post: Huffington Post Books

     STAY TUNED FOR FUTURE BLOG TUTORIALS ON THE ABOVE PROJECTS !

    And most importantly this weekend, please take a moment to say "thank you for your service" to a military troop member, pray for all those currently serving, thank our veterans and a moment of silence for all lost soldiers.

Decorate To Celebrate Design Team Challenge - "Not Your Kid's Easter Basket!"

MY STORY

     In addition to being with family, nothing says Easter to me as much as yellow Peeps, jellybeans and solid chocolate bunnies.

     However, many of my friends are trying to shy away from the sweets whether for medical reasons or no appropriate points plus value on the Weight Watchers plan! :)

     I have come up with an alternative to the "sweet" Easter basket, although I do think this is still very sweet but kinder to your teeth and waistline.

     This basket was made for my friend who loves gardening and birds.

YOUR TURN

     When you start shopping for supplies, (I know me too I already have tons) I find it easier to have a theme or a color palette in mind.  For this basket, I concentrated on garden/birds and mostly the blue/green/cream family.  I gathered up what I thought looked good together and a bonus is that they were all on sale!  Oh happy day.

     
     Before you start gluing anything down, play around with your elements.  Similar to flower arranging, you want to create different heights, figure out your focal pieces, make sure it looks good from every angle, etc.  I added different size styrofoam at the bottom of the basket to create different planes.  

     Start adding your tallest elements....these old fashioned eggs come on wire sticks so some of them I cut so they were not all the same height (in addition to having different sizes of styrofoam).

    To keep with my bird/gardening theme, I loved these unfinished wood plant stakes.  Using spray ink, cover your plant stake.  Let dry between coats for a deeper color.  Also spray ink your little cut out bird (more  on him later).

     I also found pretty stickers and loved that the theme and the color were in line with my basket.  Adhere the sticker to your plant stake once it is dry.

     Once you have added all your elements use plastic grass and fill in all your holes.  I love the grass I found at Michaels...it was not as "plastic" as the drugstore type and came in a pretty cream color.

   I always get a little craft high when I find a product I had never heard of and can use in my project.  Waverly makes these soap petals.  So not only do they add a nice finishing touch around the basket, but they smell beautifully and my gardening friend can peel off a petal and wash her hands after a long day digging in the soil.

     Now back to our little bird friend.....adhere him to the front of your basket.

     And you are done!  These ideas can be used with any theme or for any occasion.  Think about Christmas for the holidays or soups and hot chocolate for the fall.  And when you hit the sales at the right time, you can create a custom gift to give (or keep for yourself!!) for not a lot of money.

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!"  Lucy Van Pelt, "Peanuts"