I’m sure every blog you read has done a round-up like this, but sometimes you just can’t help be get in the festive spirit. I love 4th of July for the BBQs, time by the pool and, of course, the fireworks. But the red, white and blue look can go a little corny sometimes. Here are my favorite ways to keep your patriotic design classy. Now go put on your cut-offs and drink a PBR.
notecard / room / twine / outfit / menu / table setting / clutch / invitation
Hope you’re getting a little bit of this this memorial day. Sadly, the weather is overcast today so I’ll just day dream about the hammock instead.
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day so, to help get you in the mood, here are some funny, silly and adorable cards.
And if they don’t get you in the Valentine’s Day mood, they will at least make you hungry with all of their food references!
wanna fork / brad pitt / spaghetti / stud muffin / cake / nerd / checking you out
Happy New Year, Design Bright readers! There’s lot to enjoy about a new year; here’s some pretty to get you started.
2013 / colorful / gold card / scrolls / confetti / line drawing
Sorry for being MIA the last week. We’ve been spending the week with out of town family and my most adorable niece and nephew. You can’t miss a day with them–they seem to grow and change every day!
The holiday season is just about officially over, so we’re wrapping it up with custom hand-made kraft paper with accents of white, gold and green. This is the gift wrap that I created for our holiday and had so much fun doing it. I used only elements we had in the house, creating patterns with gold pens and stamps, washi tape and accents with green ribbon.
My favorite is the gold bow pattern and will definitely be re-used in future design projects.
Filed under DIY and Crafts, Holidays
I have felt quite effected by last week’s tragedy in Connecticut and I’ve been trying to find a way to help. I know money is always useful, but I sometimes worry where money really goes when its donated. I found an amazing cause that is easy and nearly free to do and I have a feeling will make a big impact.
Here’s a note from an organizer of “Snowflakes for Sandy Hook.”
If you’d like to help the students of Sandy Hook elementary in some small way, here’s something you can do. When school resumes for Sandy Hook, it will be in a new building. Parent-volunteers are working to ensure that the students are welcomed back by a winter wonderland with the entire school decorated with as many unique snowflakes as possible. We encourage senders to be as creative as possible, remembering that no two snowflakes are alike. Please make and send snowflakes by January 12, 2013 to the Connecticut PTSA address at the end of this email. Connecticut PTSA 60 Connolly Parkway Building 12, Suite 103 Hamden, CT 06514.
I spent my afternoon accessing my inner child, folding, cutting and coloring and I’ll be sending my creations to Connecticut. I hope you do too. Here’s some gorgeous snowflakes if you need a little inspiration.
As we count down to the holidays, I wanted to share with you our holiday card! With all the fabulous wedding pictures, I couldn’t not design something with the photos to send to our friends and family.
Photo by Ken Kienow / Design by Bright Room Studio
Filed under Bright Room Studio, Holidays, My Life
Yesterday, I shared my DIY wedding invitation 3D star ornament and promised to show you how to make the tassel today. A tassel made of string or ribbon is super easy and a great extra embellishment for ornaments, gift wrapping or a garland.
The supply list is much shorter today! You’ll need:
* String, twine, ribbon or even tissue paper would work
* An additional ribbon or string for the top
* Scissors
* Glue
* An object that is a bit wider than the length you want your final tassel to be. I just cut down a piece of cardboard. For those with great dexterity could even use your fingers.
To start, wrap your string around the cardboard. The more you wrap, the thicker the tassel. I wrapped it around about 15 times for this look.
Slip the string off the cardboard carefully so you have a nice loop of twine. Cut two more small pieces of twine. Threat one through the loop of string. This will be how you attach it to your ornament. Tie the other about 1/4 inch down from the top. Tie nice and tight.
Now cut the bottom of your loop to create the bottom fo your tassel. You may need to trim up the bottom to make it nice and uniform.
To finish the look, I wrapped a bit of ribbon around the top, attaching it with glue.
Attach your tassel to your ornament, trim off the excess string from your loop and tuck the knot inside of the tassel.
See? Easy! There might be a tassel on every gift I wrap this year!
Filed under DIY and Crafts, Holidays
I’m too excited about this DIY project to wait until tomorrow to share it! You lucky readers get a double feature today!
I’ve seen ideas of putting pieces of your wedding invitation in an ornament before, but I wanted to do something that better commemorated our wedding this year. So I decided to turn my wedding extras into a sweet and special holiday ornament.
Today I’m going to show you how to make the 3D star and tomorrow I’ll share the tutorial on making the tassel.
For the 3D star, you’ll need the following supplies:
* Scissors
* Mod Podge and brush
* Straight Edge
* Pencil
* Wedding Invitation (or any other kind of paper you want your star to be made out of. Maybe sheet music from your first dance?)
* Star stencil (I just made mine in Illustrator and printed it out. You could also probably find a star in Google Images and cut it out)
* String (I used the twine that was used on our invitations and other wedding decor)
* Scoring Tool (if you have a tool made for scoring, great! I just used the corner of a ruler and it worked just fine)
First, figure out what part of your paper you want shown, trace the star and cut it out. Using your straight edge and scoring tool, score lines as shown as below. I’ve highlighted the lines in orange so you can see a little better.
Now, fold along those scored lines, both directions. You’ll be encouraging the 3D shape by making the points fold outward and the sections below each point inward.
Do the same with a second star so you have a front and a back to your 3D star.
Using your Mod Podge, glue a loop of string to the inside of one of the stars at whichever point you’d like to have at the top. This will be the string to hang it from your tree or mantel.
You’re now ready to glue the two 3D stars together. Use the Mod Podge to glue the edges together, and then coat all sides of the star with a layer of Mod Podge. This will give you star a nice hard coating. It can be a little tricky to get the thing edges to stick together, so it might take a couple of coats.
Hang your gorgeous 3D star to dry, embellish as you wish and then display! I love the idea of using other items from your wedding to spice up the wedding a little more. Edge the star with ribbon you used on the programs, add another smaller star made from your save the date, or even a small photo. The possibilities are endless!
Check back tomorrow for a tutorial on making the twine tassel on my ornaments!
Filed under DIY and Crafts, Holidays
Cotton has been a trend in the wedding decor world, but there’s something so wintery and rustic about the little balls of fluff that I think it would make for fantastic holiday decor. Anyone know where you get these pretty cotton blossoms?
Filed under Accessories, Holidays
Design Bright 
