Shower Flower Arrangements

I'm wrapping up the stuff I did for Julie's Sprinkle Shower. Last on the agenda was flowers.

You saw how I painted my “bud-vases” here, but then I did more to them.

The inspirational picture had sequins in the water. They were another attempt at incorporating sprinkles.

I bought a pack of pink and purple sequins and evenly distributed them into the jars.

When I filled them with water, half stayed on the bottom and the other half floated. 

Since the bottom of the jar was painted, it allowed you to still notice the sequins at the bottom.

But once you add the flowers, it kind of goes away. 

I found the perfect flowers (in my price range) that were a pink/purple color and there were lots of them!

I didn’t want to do anything permanent to the jars in regards to the sequins, otherwise, I could have glued them onto the side.  

I wasn’t going to stuff the vases too full, but the flowers kind of flopped.

I then used floral wire to wrap them together in a bunch.

Flowers at a party are always cheerful. Flowers in the house are always a good idea in general. 

Now I am enjoying the flowers on my mantle.

 

UpCycle

Babyfood Jars Turned into Vases

I'm still detailing all the projects we did for Julie's Sprinkle Shower; and this one is going to talk about the vases I used.

I’ve been saving my baby food jars ever since Little JCrew started eating. He obviously doesn’t eat out of them now, but I have them just waiting to be repurposed. 

When it came time to plan Julies shower, I saw a picture that was my inspiration.

I immediately thought of my baby food jars being bud vases.

I then remembered another picture I pinned that had baby food jars painted on the bottom third or fourth of the jar.

This project took me five days to complete. It wouldn’t be that long for a normal person, but I had to pace myself. I did a step each night of the work week.

Day 1 = Get the sticky residue off the jars.

I used vegetable oil to get the label residue off the jars. It worked great.

Day 2 = Wash the jars.

With all the vegetable oil on there, I knew the paint wouldn’t stick.

Day 3 = Tape the jars.

I used regular masking tape to mark where I wanted to paint. I didn't have painter's tape on hand.

Day 4 = Turn the jars upside-down.

Yes, this really was a step. 

Day 5 = Paint the jars and peel tape off.

I used the leftover paint from Mr. Brigglesworth’s crib. I’ve heard tips on removing tape before the paint dries so that it won’t bleed under the tape. I was nervous about this step. But I did it and the lines were perfect!

They were then ready to be used as bud vases for the sprinkle shower.

Next up on their agenda… treasure jars for the boys. Little JCrew had one started by his Poppi that he put knick-knacks in (like a golf tee, quarter, rock, etc.)

I also cleaned and painted some other left over jars I had. The plan was to use them for storing crayons. But the paint job didn't go so well.

I tried painting the inside of the jars first.

Then I painted the outside after having difficulty on the inside. The paint on the inside was globby, but I left it to dry.

The next day, I discovered the paint peeling. I don't think I used the right kind of paint. Or I may have forgotten to clean the jars after using the vegetable oil.

Just wanted to show an attempted project that failed. Maybe I will try again one day. Maybe the simple fix is to clean the jars like I did before. Or maybe I was trying to be too resourceful using the paint I had on hand, and it wasn't meant to be put on glass.

(Ironic: I got the Parenting magazine in the mail last night and it showed babyfood jars been repurposed. They tinted the glass by coating the inside of the jar and putting it in the oven. I'll have to give that a try and let you know.)

Oh, well. I still have all the other vases from the shower and they are not peeling.

Who knows what they’ll be used for next. Maybe some will still stay bud vases for all those flowers the boys will be picking for me from the yard. ;)

Sprinkled Tablecloth and Furniture Shuffle

Picking back up on the details of Julie's Sprinkle Shower.

When you throw a party, it’s almost guaranteed you’ll be moving furniture around to accommodate guests. I am nowhere near the frequent party-host Heidi Klum is, so my house is not staged to host parties every weekend. 

I hid the kid toys to make the event feel “adult.” Pretty much all the guests have kids, and I figured it’d be a nice change of pace to be somewhere without the kids and their STUFF!

I moved the stroller, Little JCrew’s kitchen, his car, his cow-chair and the dog’s cage. All this stuff was piled into the master bedroom. No one would be going in there.

However, they did! We had a mishap right as people were arriving. One of the guest’s daughter broke the handle on the toilet! 

It was the screw that split and I couldn’t screw it back on. I tried to see if you could still flush it without the handle, but it was too hard.

I guess that would mean everyone would see my clean, but crowded bedroom on their way to use my bathroom. I can’t claim a perfect house, but I am proud the bathroom was clean!

While the bedroom had misplaced toys, the kitchen looked calm. I moved my nook table in front of the pantry door to serve as a drink stand.

I brought down a folding table from the attic to serve the food on. Since this table was not pretty by any means, it needed a table cloth. (As I transported the table, I discovered old chewing gum underneath! This was a hand-me-down table from the in-laws. Either Mr. JCrew or his brother did that when they were little!)

I originally liked this polka-dot painted table cloth.

But I wanted to be able to use the table cloth in the future. What if I wanted it all white again?

I had scrap pink and green fabric, so I cut out varying circle sizes.

I used a bowl, candle jar and the babyfood jar for templates.

I then tacked the circles onto the tablecloth.

I pinned them while the tablecloth was on the table so I knew where they were being placed.

Once pinned, I took a needle and thread to get them on the table cloth more securely. 

Like all my projects, the first pass takes a while as I learn a faster method. Too bad I didn’t think until my last circle and THEN I found a faster way. Instead of pulling the needle all the way through, I poked the needle point through, but then poked it back to the front side before pulling the thread through. Just like you do a safety-pin.

Yep; those are my knees under there.

The table got a face-mask that was good enough for the party.

Now the table is back up in the attic and the furniture is back to its normal layout. My tiny house felt so spacious with all the kid stuff out of the way. Reminds me what it will feel like once the boys are teenagers. I’m sure then, I’ll have something else taking up space.

Sequin Balloons

This week I am detailing the projects from Julie's Sprinkle Shower. You can see it here.

We found inspiration on Pinterest again.These balloons would be perfect for the Sprinkle Shower.

We had a couple of failed attempts trying to add sprinkles to our balloons. We cut circles out of paper and put them inside before we filled them with air, but you couldn’t distinguish the colors. And they all clumped together.

We tried again with the sequins, and the same problem happened, plus they were small.

We then were going to try gluing the sequins on the outside and use spray adhesive as our backup.

The sequins kind of worked.  I used foam glue I had on hand. It said it would work on any surface. I used a paint brush to glob on the glue and pressed them on the balloon. (I've tried to get the nozzle on the glue container to work, and each time I try, I fail.)

The first attempt at any project is a learning process. I first tried applying the sequins while the balloons were sitting there, in the air.

I then got into a fast rhythm of putting a balloon inbetween my legs and putting the sequins on quickly. 

I did all the white ones first, and then went back and did the pink balloons. I wanted to make sure I had enough sequins.

To fill the balloons, I actually bought a disposable helium tank! Party City had a sign in the window I saw as I drove by, so I checked it out. 

Of course you have to use helium quality balloons.

It could fill 30 9-inch balloons. It worked very easily.

However, I was disappointed with how long it lasted. Maybe I didn’t fill them enough. (I was scared of over-filling and POP!)

I filled the balloons while the boys napped at 11AM. The party started at 3PM. By the time the party started, one balloon was already drooping.

Drooping Balloons

By the end of the party (5PM) the table center-piece of balloons were drooping.

At least they held it together for the majority of the time.

Once Little JCrew saw the balloons, he had a ball taking the sequins off.

The balloons quickly went in the trash.

I think the balloons turned out great! I’m undecided if I will try the helium tank again.