You Are My Fave

a holiday break is my fave

December 23, 2011 // 14 Comments

Dear readers, I’ll be taking a break for the next week to enjoy time with family. I hope your holidays are merry and bright.

YAMF elsewhere:
I’m embracing my growing bump by wearing horizontal stripes and a glitter belt
The best of the week includes a rad chalkboard platter
These are so much fun to admire
Wrap it pretty
Who doesn’t love sparkle?
Cute photo ideas for documenting your baby’s growth

image: Yan Photo

After the ball drops and the confetti is all tossed, send the party goers home with a surprise cone filled with treats and trinkets. Simply create a cone from heavy weight paper, fill up with a surprise, then wrap in crepe or tissue paper securing with ribbon. It could be kind of entertaining to fill them with new year’s resolutions you’ve come up with for your friends.

Psst, here’s a round-up of more sparkly NYE ideas

party hats and noisemakers are my fave

December 21, 2011 // 8 Comments

Fact is, I’m pretty rubbish at making paper cones without some type of template. So my fool proof method for cute party hats and noisemakers is: go to the dollar store, load your cart with the gaudiest paper hats and horns, cover them with pretty paper (Paper Source is my go-to), and go to town with the embellishments. It’s also a good idea to forgo the tablecloth on NYE and go with a pile of confetti instead. It’s not a good idea to see how many pigs in a blanket you can fit into your mouth at one time.

sparkly polka dots are my fave

December 20, 2011 // 9 Comments

Decorations that sparkle are a must for NYE festivities. It would be fun (although somewhat blinding) to have an entire room of disco ball polka dots.

To make your own sparkly polka dot wall you’ll need:
- silver party curtain or garland (it’s easiest if the material is sewn together on the top)
- card stock
- scissors + rubber cement
- adhesive

Cut as many circles as you need from card stock. Starting from the bottom of the circle, brush on rubber cement and adhere a line of the silver shreds cut down to size. Layer and glue shreds until the circle is covered. Trim any excess and attach to wall with tape or sticky tack. Kick back and listen to some ABBA.

confetti invitations are my fave

December 19, 2011 // 34 Comments

To finish up YAMF Project Holiday 2011, this week I’ll be sharing a few New Year’s Eve party ideas. Although I think it’s a bit of an overrated holiday, I always love an excuse to incorporate confetti. These invitations are super simple, I whipped them up in about 30 minutes. Disclosure: I’m in no way a graphic designer or any type of designer for that matter.

To make your own confetti invitations you’ll need:
- glassine envelopes (check Etsy or a paper supply store)
- printer
- confetti

Design your invitation text on the computer program of your choosing then print onto your envelopes. I do this by first printing the design on paper then aligning the envelope with the text, taping it on and running it through again. Fill envelopes with confetti and seal with tape. Rent a confetti cannon and when your invitees answer the door, shoot it off. They will love that.

marbleized christmas cards are my fave

December 16, 2011 // 22 Comments

Ta-da! The highly anticipated (by our moms) Blodgett family Christmas card. This year I marbleized the cards by following this tutorial, added happy holidays with a stamp from Ampersandity, then simply attached the photo with double stick tape. Done diggity done.

More holiday ideas:
Pretty ideas for your holiday table
Best projects (and printables!) of the week
Festive crafts to do with kids

And a few baby related things too:
It’s official, the bump has arrived
Guaranteed to be the cutest thing you see this week
I’ve ordered clothes from this store three times in the past week alone
Simply gorgeous family portraits

gifts with sparkle are my fave

December 15, 2011 // 14 Comments

Just a few ideas for how to add sparkle to your gifts so they stand out underneath the tree. Guaranteed a gift wrapped with something shiny will make the recipient convinced they like the gift more than they actually do. Heck, you could wrap a used band-aid in a box adorned with sequins and it would be a hit.

Hint: used glittered card stock found in the scrap booking section instead of messing with loose glitter and glue to create some of these looks.

images: Yan Photo

festive treat boxes are my fave

December 14, 2011 // 22 Comments

Aluminum foil or plastic wrap boxes are the perfect shape for a row of packaged treats.

To make your own you’ll need:
- empty aluminum foil boxes (buy them at the dollar store)
- wrapping paper
- tissue paper
- round metal brads
- twine

Cut off the sharp edge from the boxes so nobody gets hurt. Wrap all the way around with holiday paper and line the inside with tissue. Fill with treat of choice like tangerines, whoopie pies, or meringues. Line up one brad on the lid and another one on the front of the box and poke and attach. Tie closed with twine or hemp cord. Stuff yourself with any leftover treats before your family know they exist.

Thanks to Lexy for wrapping these so the corners laid flat.

images: Yan Photo

holiday garlands three ways are my fave

December 13, 2011 // 24 Comments

Just take a look at the half wall spreading Christmas cheer. It’s a real Buddy the Elf I tell you.

To make your own felt letter garland you’ll need:
- 1/2 yard white felt
- printed letter templates
- scissors
- hot glue
- needle and twine

Print off letter templates in the appropriate size (I used helvetica). Pin paper to felt and cut around to form letters. Cut felt squares slightly bigger than the letters. Hot glue the cut letters onto the cut squares. String with a needle and twine. Then sing We Wish You a Merry Christmas in the voice of the lead singer of Creed.

To make your own paper circle garland you’ll need:
- medium weight paper
- circle punch
- sewing machine

Punch out about 100 paper circles and make stacks of three. Run each stack of three through a sewing machine one after the other. Mark them way up and try to peddle them at the Anthropologie counter.

To make your own painted wooden bead garland you’ll need:
- wooden beads
- acrylic paint
- tape
- small paint brush
- hemp cord

Put tape around one half of the beads. Use brush and acrylics to paint the non-taped side (duh) of the beads. Let dry and take the tape off. String with hemp cord or similar material. Take extra beads and chuck them at the nearest person’s head then claim you have holiday spirit.

images by me

framed ornaments are my fave

December 12, 2011 // 8 Comments

The tree is not the only home for ornaments. Frame the festive up.

To make your own you’ll need:
- mini or flat clear ornaments (available at Hobby Lobby)
- acrylic paints
- shadowbox frame (this one is from IKEA)
- adhesive

Take topper off ornament and pour in a generous amount of paint. Swirl it around until it covers all sides. Set upside down on a paper plate and let dry overnight. Arrange in frame and adhere with tape or glue. Put on display then eat a Christmas cookie.

Take a peek at a few more painted ornaments I made over at Say Yes to Hoboken.

images: Yan Photo

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