DIY Photo Lantern

I came across this craft around the holidays because I was trying to come up with a personalized gift to make my mom for Christmas.  As I was making it I realized that it would be such a great decoration idea for a wedding!  It was very simple and I think it turned out really great.

The first thing you need to do while shopping for your supplies is to get a lantern.  I found mine at Home Goods (one of my very favorite stores), and it was perfect!  It's important to get a lantern that you can put an LED light in.  You don't want to use an actual candle, because you don't want to start anything on fire (there will be paper inside the lantern).  The lantern I found was perfect because each of the outside glass pieces come out individually, and there was a built in LED light! 

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Lantern

Vellum Paper

Printer

Spray Adhesive

LED Tealight

DIRECTIONS:

1) Take the glass pieces outside of the lantern and measure them.  Your photo will need to be this size when printed on the vellum paper.

2) On your computer, find the photos you'd like to print and manipulate them so they are printed semi-transparent.  Make sure to print each picture on a separate piece of vellum paper so that it will fit on the glass pieces of the lantern.  Cut the photos to the sizes of the glass lantern pieces.

3) Spray the back of a piece of glass with the spray adhesive and apply the photo to it, so the photo will shine through the front.  Take a squeegee (or credit card like I did!) to ensure there are no bubbles.  Repeat this for all four sides and let dry (I dried them overnight).

4) Put the pieces of glass back into the lantern and turn on your LED light.

These pictures don't even do the lantern justice! Again, such and easy way to create something really personal without too much work! If you liked this DIY project check out some of our other popular ones like: Spagetti Tshirt Scarf or Paper Flowers or a String Lantern! Have a great time making these DIYers!

~Erin

1st Pictures

SHE'S CRAFTY: 5 MINUTE TSHIRT SCARF

 

So the neon wedding blog really inspired my outfit today! If you missed that blog click here to check it out!

 

Seriously this will take you five minutes to make. Grab an old t-shirt (large or x-large) the bigger it is the longer your scarf will be - mine was my husband's large t-shirt and I wrapped the scarf twice around my neck.  All you do is take the t-shirt, cut strips about an inch or inch and a half thick all the way up to the armpit of the shirt. Then take the strands and stretch them out - they will naturally curl under like the far right picture below. Then put all your strands together and your done!

 

If you want to hold the strands together you can take extra fabric and wrap it around all the strands. See picture below (you don't have to do that though; I left mine separate so that I can make them all different lengths (how they fall on your neck).

Can you tell how un-model-like I am :) The picture on the right was snapped just as I fell over!

Have fun with it! I know I did! :)

xoxo,

Melissa

SHE's Crafty: Paper Accents

This week's DIY project is something I made for my sister's baby shower.  She isn't finding out the sex of her baby, so I went with an assortment of colors to brighten up the room.  I think these decorations would also work for a wedding shower, rehearsal dinner or casual wedding.  I think the paper would also set the tone for the shower or wedding.  The photo above was what inspired me- found (of course) on Pinterest.  I like to call them paper rosettes.  They're very easy to make, and I think they turned out well!

MATERIALS NEEDED:
3 pieces of (the same) 12" x 12" scrapbook paper per rosette
Hot Glue Gun
One Hole Punch
String

DIRECTIONS:
1) Take the first piece of paper and begin folding like an accordion.  I made my folds about an inch wide.  Continue folding until you reach the end of the piece of paper.  Do this to all three pieces of paper.
2) When folded down, place your finger in the middle of one piece of paper and fold it up (see photo).  Do this to all three pieces of paper.  Set them next to each other as to form a circle.
3) Take the hot glue gun and glue the sides of two of the pieces of paper together.  Continue gluing the entire circle.
4) Punch one hole in the top of the rosette and hang the string through.  Then you can mount them wherever you'd like and at various different levels.

Aren't they cute?  Perfect for a shower!  Enjoy making them, I sure did!

~ Erin

Pumpkin Spice Latte
MORE PUMPKIN STUFF! 
I had seen this recipe for a pumpkin spice latte using a crockpot; and I've recently become obsessed with my crockpot so I was actually super excited. I was going to post how to make it and everything for you but... after making it... I was totally unimpressed. So I didn't give up, I used another pumpkin spice latte directions - no crockpot but same ingredients - and got way different results!

So my post is late, only because I would never tell ya'll to make something and say it's good without making it and tasting it myself. So my first advice - keep that crockpot in the pantry, use it for some other delicious meal.

Ingredients
2 cups of milk
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
1 – 2 tablespoons sugar (or sugar substitute like stevia or splenda)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1-4 shots espresso or very strong coffee (If you get a bold or xbold coffee and use double amount of grounds per cup you'll get the coffee to be very "espresso like")
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I couldn't find pumpkin pie spice... so if you find it let me know where it is! BUT you can use 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg 1/8 a teaspoon of cloves 1/4 a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of ground ginger)
Whipped Cream (optional)

Directions
First brew the coffee - either espresso or just strong coffee. You do not have to buy espresso beans, buy a bold or xbold flavor that you would like to drink even after you make this drink! That way, no waste!

Then add milk - soy, 2%, skim, whatever kind you prefer - pumpkin puree, sugar, and the pumpkin spices in a small saucepan. Mix them together in a sauce pan. Heat the sauce pan about medium heat, so that it gets very hot, but not boiling.

Once it's very hot, remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.

 

Okay the pictures are kind of boring and not super helpful... so I just have one of the saucepan!

Transfer saucepan contents to blender or milk frother and blend/froth until the liquid becomes a little thicker or "frothy".

I'm not sure how big your mug is so you can pour about one cup or 3/4ths of the mug full with the pumpkin milk mixture and add your espresso (1 to 4 "shots"). If you don't like the taste of coffee that much, add more of the pumpkin milk mixture and less of the coffee, if you like it stronger, do the opposite! I added whipped cream and put a little bit of cinnamon on top.

This recipe makes two smaller mugs or one and a half bigger mugs. If you would like to make more just double or triple the recipe ingredients!

This would be a fun thing to have for a halloween get together or just a special treat when spending time with family and friends! Enjoy! I know I did!!

Did you notice the mug is a Coca Cola mug... what can I say SHE is from Atlanta!!! :)

Until Next Week!! ~ Melissa

SHE's Crafty: Photo Frame

I really love the idea of this week's DIY project. It's a way to display many of your photos at the same time! It's also great for your event and then to use at home when you're finished! This week's DIY project is this great homemade frame with clothespins.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

1. Hook Screws
2. Twine
3. Measuring Tape
4. Pencil
5. Scissors
6. Clothes pins
7. Frame- You can either buy a frame somewhere that doesn't have glass, or you can make one. If you'd like to make the frame yourself the materials you'll need are:

• 4 Pieces of Wood

• 4 Screws

• Pencil

• Measuring Tape

• Circular Saw

• Power Drill

(A husband or friend that is good with a circular saw is definitely a bonus for this project as well!)

DIRECTIONS:

FOR THE FRAME:

1. Decide how big you want the overall frame to be. Measure and mark two pieces of wood with the same size, and do the same with the other two.
2. Use the circular saw with a miter box to cut 45° angles in the wood pieces in a way that they will fit together to form the frame.
3. Put two corners together and use a 1/16” drill bit to drill a guide hole through both pieces of wood. Then screw in one screw to hold the pieces together.
4. Repeat step 3 until all corners are connected.

AFTER THE FRAME IS BUILT, OR IF YOU BOUGHT A FRAME:

1. Decide how many rows of photos you'd like to put on your frame. Use the measuring tape to measure evenly where the screws will hold the rows of twine.

2. Screw in the hook screws evenly.

3. Take twine and cut strips long enough to go across the frame. Slip one side of the twine through a hook on the left side of the frame and tie tightly. Then pull tight across the frame and tie the other side of the twine to the hook screw on the right side. Once both sides are tied, you can turn the hook screws in to tighten the twine if necessary.

4. Repeat step 3 until all rows of twine are installed.

5. Gather your favorite photos and hang them from the frame with the clothespins to display at your event!

I actually took pictures while doing measurements and placing the hook screws, but didn't have my memory card in my camera at the time, so I only have finished pictures. Hopefully the instructions were easy enough to follow without photos.

I loved the finished product of my photo frame and can't wait to use it at my best friend's engagement party coming up in a couple of weeks. It will be great to display in my house after the fact, too. It's nice to have these projects that can be used once your wedding is over, too. Enjoy! Let me know if you have any questions at erin@stellaharperevents.com.