Parties to Pretties – A Booth of Smiles!
I know that photo booths aren’t foreign to anyone these days – they are almost a staple at weddings and/or the local bar. You can’t go wrong with some silly props ( and creepy masks ), bright colors, good friends, and lots of smiles!!
Booth Picture by : Candice Lake / Balloon Picture by : Geronimo Balloons / 01. Pink Hat Prop / 02. Confetti Garland / 03. Mod Cloth Dress / 04. Pig Mask / 05. Glitter Boots / 06. Chalkboard Speech Bubble
DIY CMYK Lanterns
March is a big birthday month for us and my husband, is having his birthday this weekend. Instead of a traditional dude birthday, I wanted something bright. I was refilling my printer ink and noticed how cool the CMYK colors really are together. I’m also a bit of a design nerd, so a little light bulb went off in my head. I’ve wanted to make something with tissue squares ever since I found them at the craft store, so I grabbed some of my white lanterns and started gluing. This is something you can do in mere moments and is a great way to customize your party.
Click through for all the instructions.
DIY Confetti Tablecloth
I have confetti on the brain. I can’t help it. It is just so fun and makes me smile. Another one of my favorite things? Vintage tablecloths. I had a great thrift store that used to get the best and brightest mid-century styles, but I think someone else caught on and now it’s all dried up. I still keep checking weekly, but for now I will just settle on making my own. I have two boys, so tablecloths are both heaven sent and a necessity. Now, since I can buy plain white tablecloths, my supply will be unlimited. Let the fun begin!
You will need: a tablecloth (Target has nice thick white ones), craft paint, circle punch, cardstock, freezer paper, tape and a paint brush.
Wash and dry your tablecloth. While you are doing this, clear a space larger than the size of the tablecloth on a hard floor and tape lengths of freezer paper shiny side up. Overlap the edges a little. I popped my tablecloth right from the dryer down, eliminating any ironing. Win! Tape each corner of the tablecloth down, no need to be perfect, it just needs to stay put while painting.
Cut your cardstock into four pieces. Punch the center out of each card with your circle punch, I used a 2.75 inch punch. Make a bunch of these, you will go through about 4 for each color, depending on how careful you are.
Start painting, one color at a time. I used a different plate for each color. For each dot, place your template down and hold with one hand. Take your brush and work from the paper, like a stencil and paint your dot. It’s pretty fast, but be careful not to get the brush under the dot. If anything goes wonky, just carefully paint the edge smooth, and start with a new card, easy peasy. Go to town and think “scattered” like confetti!
I had to add more colors after dinner time. This really goes fast, and is an easy way to update an existing tablecloth. I plan on making more confetti tablecloths from home decor fabric and old floral ones that need some love.
Just add cake and turn every day into a celebration.
DIY Surprise Lantern
by Hank + Hunt
I was organizing my party box the other day, looking over my assortment to plan the decorations for my sis-n-law’s baby shower next month. I noticed a few of my paper lanterns had a few tears in them. I didn’t want to just throw them away, and since I am still crazy about fringe, I decided to cover them with the stuff. They reminded me of little round pinatas and it got me thinking…what if I filled that little hole on the bottom? We’d have a refillable pinata, that’s what! Fill. Pull. Party. Repeat.
Materials Needed: small paper lanterns, crepe paper sheets, scissors, double stick tape, twine and freezer paper.
Cut 4-6 strips of crepe paper, 1.5 inches wide. Cut the fringe on one side, about every .25 inch, don’t go all the way through, leave a small whole strip to keep the fringe attached together.
Insert the wire form to open your lantern. Put strips of tape around the bottom of the lantern, like rays of light from the bottom. Make them pretty long, and cover the whole lantern, top to bottom, for quicker results. I figured this out after I did one and it was much easier.
Unwrap the fringed strips and start wrapping from the bottom around. Be sure to press the strip down firmly to secure it to the lantern (and to ensure the tape is adhered well.) Work your way around the lantern in a spiral, adding tape or more strips as needed, until you reach the top. Add a piece of tape to the end to finish. Fluff the fringe a bit, and you have one spunky little lantern.
Take a 4- 5 inch square piece of freezer paper and cut a circle. Tape a piece of twine to the dull side. Cut two slits on opposite sides of the circle, this will allow the circle to sit flat in the lantern around the wire form. Insert the circle, twine side down, through the bottom of the lantern. Flatten with a wooden spoon from the top. You just want to make sure there are no big open holes where the “plug” doesn’t sit flush so the confetti will stay in.
If you have any extra fringed pieces left, cut them up for confetti and add store bought confetti for sparkle. Fill your lantern with a good sized handful.
Hang. Pull. Party. Repeat. I did a few test runs with these and they really do work great. No one will feel left out because you can just refill these babies and pull again! What trouble you could get into with these. Hide a prize in a whole cluster and have your guest’s pick which one has the prize? We already know Ms. A is expecting a boy, but wouldn’t this have been fun with an all white lantern and pink or blue confetti to do a gender reveal? Fun! Someone has got to do that and send me the pictures with the looks of surprise on their faces!
2011 Year in Review | Oct-Dec
Here is the last post looking back at 2011. It is sort of therapeutic looking back through everything. I had a realization earlier this year. I was sitting on the floor of my apartment late at night listening to the radio while I was making a pinata, and I was so happy. I know making pinatas isn’t fulfilling for everyone but I was so happy because I was making things. I feel so grateful I’ve found what I love to do. Thank you for all your support in 2011! I’m beyond excited for 2012. (You can see all the 2011 Year in Review posts right here.)
Paul launched his new painting site.
Macaron Research in the Tuileries
Caramel Apple Kit by Kimberley
We featured this gorgeous Anniversary Party
Repackaged Candy Favors by Joke
Envelope Templates by Amanda
Alphabet Pasta Pie Topper by Chiara
Glittered Flatware DIY by Jenny
Two free printable Advent calendar designs here and here by Amanda
Watercolor Confetti by Joke
We shared the Watercolor wedding invitations we made.
A Progressive Dinner around Paris
Genius Candy Lights by Brittany
Mini Present Garland by Jenny
Falling Snowflake Garlands by Chiara
Oh Happy Day is a party and lifestyle blog based in San Francisco. We just moved back after spending a year in Paris, France. We love to throw parties and make things!
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