Kentucky Derby Table Toppers

It's Derby season here in Louisville, and life has been a little crazy lately. Sorry I have neglected my blog, but Derby season is our busiest time of the year. I co-own a jewelry company with my cousin, called Lulubelles, and we are working crazy hours to try to get all our jewelry made and out the door. Can't wait to see all the beautiful ladies wearing one of our handmade pieces.
Lucky for me, I have this lovely friend Melissa, who has an amazing blog,  and she had an idea to make a Derby craft together. She also needed help styling her fascinator, and outfit for Oaks, so I was so happy to help. It was a welcomed distraction ;). Styling is one of my favorite things to do! So we made a lunch date at my house, and knocked several projects out in a short amount of time. Multi-tasking at it's best. We had both picked up these plastic horses the other day at a local shop. We loved them because they looked vintage. They just needed an extra special touch. Melissa had the idea to put them on a box, which was perfect!
Here are the supplies you will need:
Plastic Horse
Scrapbook paper
Ribbon
Trim
Embellishments
Paint
Box
Mod Podge
Sponge brush
Paint Brush
Glue gun
Double sided tape
Tickets-found at a party supply store

The first thing that we did was cover the boxes. I chose a fun Dear Lizzy, modern chevron print. I love incorporating modern with vintage. We measured the box, and cut the paper to fit.

After that, we then Mod Podged the paper on to the box, so that it would stay on there securely.
I then painted the top a light aqua, no big surprise there ;)

Next I embellished the top with cute little pom poms. We then made little ribbons to put on the box out of paper. I embellished it with a little gold star, just for fun.

A lot of craft stores will already have embellishments made up, so all you have to do is glue them on. I love mixing patterns, I am not a matchy matchy kind of girl. And I think these papers and colors all coordinate nicely.
Next I had to make the first place ribbon for the larger horse. This is done by just using the accordion technique. You fold the paper back and forth. You will need two 1/2 inch strips. Then you use double sided tape to secure the ends together. Or you can make some like the ones I made in this blog post. 
I then glued some pretty pink vintage flowers in the center, added some pink tickets, and glued some vintage velvet ribbon the the back. Very easy, and it's a fun way to personalize it to your liking. I am so happy with the way they turned out, and the best part is that I made them with a dear friend. :) Melissa also has some other awesome Derby decoration ideas on her blog here.

Here is my friend Melissa, and the fascinator we designed for her Oaks outfit. I think it turned out nice, but I am not a professional, just happy to help a friend. She is going to look beautiful for Oaks, she is wearing a polka dot dress, that she made herself. Yep, you heard me right, she is a seamstress extraordinaire! I already told her I wanted to sew my Derby dress for next year, I have lots of ideas already going around through my head. I better get started on it in June!

I hope you feel inspired to make these fun little Derby table toppers. Maybe if you don't get them made in time for this year's Kentucky Derby, then you can have a triple crown party. Or I think these would be adorable if you are having a horse themed birthday party for a child. :)
Until next time,
XO~Gretchen