DIY: Balloon Flowers

I have a new found love. Making balloon flowers! They are so easy to make, are big decorations, and are super cheap. Talk about a great combo!

We used these flowers along with streamers at our spa day.

The first step in the process is to make 5 balloons that are about 6 inches big. This size will depend on your balloons. You want them all the same size. and 2 balloons that are about 4 inches. The 6 inch will be the petals and the 4 inch will be the middle. 

Tie the larger balloons into groups of 2 and 3. Tie the 2 smaller balloons together.

Take these two groups with larger balloons and twist them together. They won't lay flat until you add the middle. Just make sure that they are secure. You can change up the order of colors at this point. 

You then need to twist these two into the middle of the other balloons. 

You have to be a little determined at this point...the first one I made didn't look so hot. But they have looked better with time!

DIY: Burlap Banner

Back in my college days, we ordered t-shirts for an event in college. They came in a huge size that we did not order, so we took it on our own to make our own shirt. My friend and roomie had the idea of making a stencil and the spray painting the shirt. It worked! Well.

That was the idea that went into making the thank you sign for our wedding thank yous.

Super easy! And you could use any material to make the banner. Bright colors would be fun!

I printed out the letters on card stock and then used an xacto knife to cut out the letters.

I cut out what I wanted my pennants to look like. I use scrap paper for a lot of things! Gotta make my grandma proud.

I then took that and cut out my pennants from burlap. Pins would have helped, but I didn't have any handy at the time.

Once the pennants were cut out, I taped all around the outside of the back of my stencil. Make sure that you do this well to help keep it down during spray painting.

Turn it over and center it on the pennant. I will need to make sure this is pushed down better when I paint. Unless you want edges that aren't straight.

I laid them out on cardboard on our front porch. Didn't want to freeze too badly going outside!

I made sure that the letters were pushed down well and started spray painting. Make sure that you don't spray at an angle to try to keep from spraying up underneath the letters.

I then peeled the paper off and stitched through the top to have a way to hang them. The nice thing about burlap is that you can count the holes that you go through to get an even stitch. I used a dull needle with a big eye to make my job a little easier.

And here the banner as a whole.

This was the inspiration for our thank yous at our wedding. This sign is currently available on etsy.

Free Printable Paper Dolls

I remember the books full of paper dolls that I had when I was little! You can print out some free paper dolls. Get some good card stock and a fun time will ensue!

Thanks, Money Saving Mom!

Making a Siren Train!

I am very glad to have a husband that loves our niece and nephew...and the soon to come niece. I really don't know what I am going to do when the baby comes out as a boy. I am dead set that it is a girl!

We went and picked up the kids. On the way to our house, they enjoyed the hills. They put their hands up in the air and said "wee." Hopefully, their parents don't mind this too much. And of course everything on the road, no matter how flat it was, became a hill!

Gotta find those sunglasses. He lost them somewhere in the transition.

I had gotten a gingerbread train on sale after Christmas for $2. Cooper loves trains! So Scott and I set out to assembling it the night before so that the kids could decorate the train.

Cheesin' with their train. The decorating began. They did a great job of sticking the candy on. I gave it to them with icing on the back and then they stuck the candy on.  

Decorating!

 Cooper got icing on his fingers, so I told him to lick his fingers...and the eating began!

May as well just eat that leftover icing.

And of course, had to share!

Finished product. Very worth my $2.

Then there became a princess time.

I had a great time with these two little guys and can't wait til we get to have them over again!