DIY Tissue Flowers

I recently helped to decorate our school's gym for a Father/Daughter Dance. As with any school function, there was a budget. So one of the most economical ways to decorate is with tissue paper. So, a group of us moms made over 60 of these large tissue flowers. I was asked by several people how we created them, so I am giving you a step by step how-to. :)
Supplies needed.
1. Tissue paper
2. Wire or pipe cleaners
3. Scissors
First, you will need to decide what color you want your flowers to be. Once, you have that decided you will need to gather 12 pieces of tissue paper. If you want your flowers to be multicolored, then choose 8 of one color, and 4 of another.

Then stack the tissue up evenly. You are then going to fold it back and forth, creating a fan pattern. Like this....

You will then end up with something that looks like this...

Place the wire, or pipe cleaner in the center.

Next, you will cut the edges to soften them, and help them look like petals.

You can round the edges, or cut them at an angle. Either way will work. 

The flower will then look like this.

Next, you will start to pull each of the pieces up one by one.

The end result will look like this....

This can be made smaller, by just cutting the sheets into smaller pieces. We ended up spraying some glitter on them for the dance. They were a big hit with all the little girls.

Hope you find this tutorial easy to follow. 

XO~Gretchen

DIY Valentine for Tweens

So this weekend my 11 year old son, Noah, and I worked on his class Valentines to hand out. We wanted to come up with something original, and fun. At his recent Christmas class party, we made a photo booth for the kids, and they loved all the props, so I thought it would be fun to make glasses, similar to the ones we used in the photo booth. The tough part was coming up with a clever little saying to attach to the glasses that would be gender friendly.
Supplies you will need....
1. Card stock- whatever colors you want. We chose bright florescent card stock.
2. Sticks-I found these in the candy making isle at Michaels. I think it would also be fun to use pixie sticks.
3. Embellishments-we added little sticker rhinestones to the glasses for the girls.
4. Washi tape-added this little detail on the tags
5. Scissors, glue stick, glue gun.

First, I traced out glasses on my card stock. I just did it free-handed. I could fit 7 per piece. Then I had my son, help cut them out.

You end up with something like this, once you get them all cut out.

Here are the various colors we chose.

Next we added some bling stickers to the glasses for the girls.

Fired up the old glue gun, and glued the sticks on the back.

Then I printed off my little tags. I made these on my computer. Just found a font I liked then made a sheet of them to print.

Used the handy glue stick, and rolled the tag around the stick.

I love using washi tape, and so I added this little flag detail on the end. You can find washi tape online, or at your local craft store. Beware, it's addictive!

All done, and ready to package up with some candy! 

Hope you found this to be an easy DIY craft to do with your tween. Other ways to use these would be in a photo booth, or a birthday party invite. Wouldn't it be cute to send these out, and say "hope to see you at my party" The options are endless. 

My middle son, Noah, who helped to create these for his class.

Hope you have a great Valentines Day!

XO~Gretchen

Looking to Spring

Yesterday the temperature reached in the mid 60's here and I certainly felt a little bit of Spring in the air. And, in my opinion, it can't get here soon enough. :) So, I starting looking for items online that I thought would help update my home for Spring. I wanted to share some of my favorites, so here they are......

1. Adorable flower hook from shop ruche  This would be great in a kitchen or bathroom.
2. All the trend, these hand painted wooden spoons from Etsy
3. I own this lovely vase from Anthropologie I put yellow roses in my vase this week.
4. These fun prints are available to download from Caravan Shoppe They have a great selection!
5. I just ordered a personalized KY print from this Etsy shop I can't wait to get it!
6. I also found this great chevron wall hook from Etsy Wouldn't this be great in a mudroom?
7. Since chevron continues to be in style, how about these hand towels from this Etsy shop
8. I love these bird book-ins from shop ruche And I love how they are styled with vintage books.
9. My new favorite candle from Anthropologie It reminds me of Summer(my favorite season)
10. These coasters are from my favorite line called Rifle Paper Co. available at shop ruche.
All these items are budget friendly, and I think would certainly add that touch of Spring we are longing for. Enjoy, can you tell I'm counting down the days until Spring?
XO~Gretchen

My vase from Anthropologie, I posted this photo on IG this week.