simple Analogy

What Do You Do With a Broken Teacup?

My mom ordered a tea set from England for a friend's daughter who is graduating from high school.  I guess the English don't know how to package tea sets for shipping overseas very well, because the set arrived with several of the cups broken.  The company told her to just keep it, and they would send a replacement set.  This one arrived with several teacups busted as well.  Grrr!  Between the two sets, there were enough whole cups to make the set.  

So then the question was put to me, can you make anything out of these broken cups?  Why yes!  A flower arrangement.  I added floral foam and arranged the flowers so that they covered up the large chip in the rim of the cup. You'd never know!  Mom wrapped the package and set the broken-teacup-turned-floral-arrangement into the bow.  

Beautifully salvaged!

Texas Send Off

Another name for this post could be "How To Decorate Cheaply for a Texas Send Off:  Beg, Borrow, DIY, and Buy In That Particular Order".

The Event:  A church-wide dessert fellowship to say farewell to our associate pastor who will be taking a senior pastorate in Washington.

The Budget for Decorations:  $100

The Inspiration:

1.  Texas, Texas, Texas

2.  State art

3.  Bandannas and Texas wildflowers

4.  Paper fans 

The Result:

Ok, it goes without saying that Texans are proud of their state.  So this party pretty much had to be a Texas theme.  I went with red, white, and blue (Texas flag colors) and added some turquoise to lighten things up a bit.  I could have gone old-and-crusty-cowboy, but chose to go more whimsical-and-fun while still staying true to Texas.  The result was a fun mix...  

I was rushing from the soccer field to the church to decorate and totally forgot my good camera!  Ah well, iphone pics will do...

Bandanna banners (already on hand from my Western VBS last year) and paper fans (from Party City - love their new paper decorations wall) hung from the ceiling.

The focal wall with it's Texas state art, flag, and wildflowers.  I made the signs and Texas out of cardboard (supplied by a friend's husband for free) and a little paint!  The heart was made using this method and my husband's hands (because they are bigger than mine).  The flag was borrowed from the auditorium, and the wildflower star was borrowed from the church secretary.  Gingham "curtains" were leftover from VBS as well!

Cowboy hats (borrowed), Texas wildflower jars/wreaths (also already on hand from a previous church event), wooden craft stars and homemade paper confetti adorned the tables.

And if you look closely, you will see the ever so subtle Texas flag made using three colors of table covers.  It's so subtle that probably no one even notice, but I knew it was there and that's what counts!

For the pastor's young sons, a money tree... a limb off my mom's dead tree spray painted turquoise and planted in sand.  We used a combination of clothes pins and twine to attach the money to the tree.  I wish I would have taken a picture of it at the party.  It was blooming with money!  Their boys LOVE origami, so I had a few of their friends make some of their favorites to add to the table.  Thanks Laura, Emily, and Cassie!

Thank you to my decorating team - Sarah, Cassie, Rebekah, and Beth - and my tear down crew - my husband, Damon, Phil, Sarah, Clyde, Tracy, and all the others I didn't see because I was looking at the ceiling focusing on not making my husband fall off the scaffolding that I was pushing him around on while he took down stuff from the ceiling.  He's a good man!

Go Texas!

Chicken Wire Frame - The Spring Edition

You'll remember this from Christmas.  Move over pinecones - it's time for butterflies.  This board was revamped for spring using things I had on hand...  an old calendar provided the flowers and yellow butterfly, my purple butterfly watercolor painting fit right in with the scheme of things, and homemade purple t-shirt ribbon from the {PRESENT}ing party last fall was perfect for the fringe.

I love this board, because I can change out the colors/theme, and it's like having a whole new picture in the dining room.  In this case a whole new look for free!  Who DOESN'T love inexpensive decorating?

***What I didn't show you in the picture was my grubby fingerprints on the frame.  I probably should have dusted the frame BEFORE I took pictures.  CROP!  Keepin' it real - well, sort of!

Baby Shower Pennants

Did you guess pennants? 

One of our friends is having her first baby, so the craft day syndicate girls and I hosted a shower for her.  It's been a while, and we had so much fun putting things together.  We used her bedding as a jumping off point with the stars as a subtle side theme.

Michelle came up with the theme (picnic) and the food menu:  mini hotdogs (so cute - wish I'd have had more time to get a close up), peek-a-boo star PBJ, chips and dip, roasted veggie panini, fruit salad, rice krispie star pops, and lemonade.  Everything you'd find at a picnic!  And she made the guest book with a string of mini pennants running across the front.

Megan made the paninis and the cupcakes.  Love the star cookie toppers!

Beverly handled all the logistics:  scheduling, phone calls, facebooking.

I made the pennants and table runners.  Meg and I both shopped at our mom's for the fabrics.  The pennant triangles were 8" long and 6" wide sandwiched between the bias tape.  The table runners were all the leftover pennant fabrics cut into 10 1/2" widths and sewn together to look kind of like a rustic quilt.  I made one super long runner, and we cut them into the lengths needed for the tables.

Add a few picnic baskets around the room, mason jars tied with jute and filled with baby's breath to the tables, and best friends and you just about have our picnic themed baby shower in a nutshell.  We held it at our church.  I wanted to get a picture before the guests started arriving, but there were men on ladders installing speakers in the ceiling up until about ten minutes before the shower started.  Yeah, it cut it a little close, but in the end it all worked out. 

Just a note:  If at all possible, host baby showers with your best friends!  It's great!  

Research Happens

At the same time that the boys are in the middle of their yearly research papers (of which I am very much a part since I am their teacher), I'm in the middle of a research project of my own...

I'm in the planning stage of adding a little seating area in the nursery at church.  Since I don't have a pinterest account (dumb old pinterest requires a facebook/twitter account to join - I'm bitter) wanna see what I love? 

source

source

source

And pull it all together with this.

source

As you can see, this is World Market heavy!  I did all the research online to save myself time and gas then hit the brick and mortar store to "kick the tires" a little.  I could spend hours there just looking around.  So inspiring!  Of course my eyes are a little bit bigger than my budget, but hey - start with the main pieces (couch and chair) and add the rest as the budget allows.  That's my plan. 

If you sign up for their email you'll get a 10% off coupon!!!

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Oh, and just in case you need help with bibliography pages, try Bibme.  I'm tellin' ya - kid's these days have all the good stuff!

And This Is What I Did With My Pinecones...

Adorned my new chicken wire frame bulletin board.  LOVE IT!  (Staple chicken wire to the back of a frame with a staple gun, then put some wide foam tape over the jaggedy edges so they won't tear up your wall.)

Spruced up an old wreath whose berries are starting to loose their luster.  It'll make it through the season.

Really, I'd like to hang these all over my house, but that'll have to be next year!  It's time to bake and clean.

Fancy That

 
Fancies are like shadows...  You can't cage them, they're such wayward, dancing things.  But perhaps I'll learn the secret some day if I keep on trying.        - from Anne of Avonlea

My newest fancy...

 
 
 
I did not create my own succulent garden as I had planned.  When I saw this one at Lowe's and the $15 price tag, I knew I couldn't make it myself for cheaper than that, so I snatched it up.

I'm not much of a green thumb with indoor plants.  My bamboo is going strong after all these years which has given me hope that I can keep these alive.  That and that everything I've read about succulents say that they thrive on neglect.  That's the plant for me!

Pom Pom Week - Round Up

Now that you're equipped to make all these gorgeous tissue pom poms, you may need a few ideas of how to incorporate them into your decor, be it party or home.  By no means is this an exhaustive list, but here are a few of my favorite ideas.

 
1. Cup Cake Poms  2. Tree Pom Pom   3. Baby Room Poms  4. Pom Pom Napkin Ring  5. Girl's Room Ceiling Poms  6. Wallflowers  7. Car Garland  8. Valentine Pom Poms  9. Outdoor Porch Poms  10. Lanterns 'n Pom Poms  11. From the Rafters  12. Banners 'n Poms  13. Brunch Pom Poms  14. Multicolor Poms Poms  15.  May Day Poms  16. Barn Dance Poms  17. Hanging Pom Poms  18. Pom Pom Clusters  19. Pom Pom Garland  20. Monochromatic Table

Now that you've got visions of lovely pom poms dancing in your head, it's time to do something about it!  Go make some!!! 

***I'd love to hear what you're doing with pom poms.  Leave a comment (and links to your pictures if you have them) and share how you've used poms in the past or how you plan to use them in the near future! 

Pom Pom Week - Part 2

I promised specifics on pom poms...

First of all the tutorial for how to make pom poms is very easy to follow and will work for any size pom pom you make.  So we're not really going to get into how to fold and fluff the pom pom.  Instead, I'm going to give you exact details for varying the size, so that you don't have to figure it out on your own like I did.  I experimented with different sizes of tissue and differing numbers of layers for each pom.  Here's what I came up with-

We'll start with the large pom pom...

 
I used ten sheets of 18 x 26 inch tissue paper, the standard size sold at Target.  The tutorial says to use 8 sheets, but the eight sheet pom wasn't as full as I thought it should be.  (makes 1)

Next, the medium pom pom...

I used four 18 x 26 inch sheets.  Stack the four sheets.  Cut in half width-wise then stack them on top of each other.  This will give you eight sheets to use for one pom pom.  The pom will be half the size of the larger ones.

And last of all, the small pom pom...

 

I used one 18 x 26 inch sheets.  Cut the sheet into thirds width-wise.  Cut each third in half width-wise.  This will give you six small sheets to use for one pom pom.  The pom will be about the size of an orange.

After you have cut the tissue to the size you need, just follow the directions.

Now for dollars and cents... this is the really good part!  A pack of 20 sheets of 18 x 26 inch tissue paper at Target costs $1.99.  I'm basing my figures on that amount. 

Large pom pom = $1

Medium pom pom = $.40

Small pom pom = $.10

Bottom line...  These things are CHEAP!!!!!    

Now you're ready to tackle pom poms of all sizes!  Come back on Friday for a round up of pom pom ideas!

Pom Pom Week - Part 1

Let's talk pom poms this week.  The tissue paper kind.  Of course the pom pom phenomenon has been going on for quite a while.  I've seen them used everywhere!  From baby showers to weddings, from room decor to parties of all sorts.  They are beautiful, whimsical, easy to make, and cheap.  Perfect for DIY events!

I was asked to come up with a plan for decorating an event at church - a lunch celebrating our pastor's 30th anniversary of being in the ministry AND one of our member's 100th birthday.  Something indeed to celebrate!  I had a week to plan/gather and 5 hours to decorate the morning of the event.  That's cutting it close!  Tissue paper pom poms were a major part of my plan.

I began practicing making pom poms using Martha Stewart's tutorial.  I needed several different sizes and experimented with the right amount of paper and layers of tissue. I would need 7 large pom poms, 5 medium, and 30 small.  I'd need help!  My partner in crime called in sick on the day we planned to pom, so I called in the girls.  They are life savers, that group!  We got all the pom poms made in one night.

The large and medium poms were hung by from the ceiling above the head tables along with a few lanterns.  

The smaller poms were hung in arrangements of crepe myrtle branches (harvested from our back yard) anchored in sand.

The pom poms were a great way to add color and interest into the decor.  Stay tuned for specifics on sizes, layers, and cost!