First I have to show you the shower location. The shelter at a local park provided the perfect setting. My house is WAAAAAY to small to host anything and not as pretty as this. The location itself was beautiful so even if all my crafts were epic failures (which they usually are) It would still look nice.
My first craft attempt was something I saw on Pinterest a while ago, yarn balloons. To make these hanging decorations, you wrap glue soaked yarn around a balloon and hang to dry. Once dry, pop the balloon and TA DA, you have something like this.
Easy, right? Well I know how my crafts usually turn out, a tad juvenile. I decide to do ONE first and see if it turned out and how much effort was actually involved. This was the trial balloon….
It turned out pretty good considering it was my first attempt. The biggest problem was that the balloon started to deflate before I popped it and the yarn was stuck to the balloon. I had to keep pulling the yarn away from the deflating balloon so it wouldn’t shrivel up as the balloon deflated.
Ok, so I could do this. I blew up a ton of balloons and devoted a beautiful Saturday to the task.
The balloons ready for assembly
The mess of assembly
Completed balloons hanging in the tree.
Success?
No. These balloons were a craft FAIL. The balloons started to deflate quickly, way before the glue had any time to dry. With the yarn glued to the balloon, they turned into shriveled masses that didn’t have a solid form. BOO.
Hubs and I have many guesses as to why they didn’t work. I inflated the balloons too many days in advance. The glue covered yarn stuck to the balloons. The glue/water mixture didn’t dry hard enough. It was too hot that day. I gave it a couple days of being frustrated before I decided to try again.
I read a great blog post that made two suggestions – add cornstarch to the glue/water mixture, rub the balloons with oil or Vaseline to keep the yarn from sticking as it dries. Ok, I’ll try again, inside this time and blowing up the balloons only right before adorning them. No pictures this time because I was FED UP. It worked though. I really think the Cornstarch was the key.
While looking on the internet for all of these craft ideas, I came across the idea for yarn letters. Considering I have so much yarn, it seemed like an easy enough project to compliment the balloons. Here are two that I completed.
If I didn’t have enough crafts to keep me busy, I decided to create mini chalkboards for additional decorations. I LOVE chalkboard spray paint. This craft was easy enough for a sunny afternoon.
Oh, did I mentioned that I also made a lemon blueberry white chocolate trifle for the shower? I forgot to take a picture as I was making it, but I got the recipe here. It turned out great – maybe a little too sweet for some (not for me though)
So how did it all turn out? You tell me. Lizard, one of Mandy’s BFF’s potted all of the daisies and handled table cloths and such. Monkers, of course, did all the food. I ordered some simple syrups from Etsy and had make-your-own champagne cocktails to drink, lavender, lemon ginger and orange. YUM
The lovely ladies
Caroline is not sure I did a good job, evident by her skeptical expression.
1 comment:
I am such a lucky girl! Thank you so much for all the time and effort you put in to this. I love you!!!
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