Pinkie, The Gilded Bad Boy

Hey there!

Glad you made it back here. :-)

I promised I would have a tutorial of sorts for the gold fringed piñata my friend nicknamed Pinkey. I'm not quite sure how she came up with that name but we are running with it!

Pinkey was found at Target in this fun state:

Pretty cute but he didn't quite fit in with the party decor of pink and peach.  I thought I could transform him into something a little grander than his current state.  It was time for a makeover!  I considered re-fringe-ing (yeah, totally made it up) this little guy in alternating pink and peach stripes or in a bunch of mini tissue paper flowers. But then I came across this project on Pinterest by Studio DIY for this awesome gilded piñata!  I kid you not, the angels sang and the sun came out.  It is that amazing!

I deviated from her tutorial somewhat.  I don't like to use spray paint.  I am such a klutz I'd most likely end up spraying myself in the eye which would lead to a visit to the emergency room costing me lots in insurance co-payments and lost time. So to make my life easier and ease my overactive imagination, I decided to use gold tissue paper and simply re-fringe this little guy.

Here he is in his nude stage:

Make sure you have the following supplies in hand:

Fringe scissors
Tissue paper
Glue (I swear by Tacky Glue)

I simply cut along the fold lines on the tissue paper and cut those in half then fringed.  Make sure that you have enough to finish the project otherwise you'll have to pause to cut some more. But if you're like me, that just means you get to watch another episode of Scandal while you fringe some more tissue.  ;-)

Make sure the fringe is long enough. You'll end up glueing the top portion of the fringe right above the previously placed fringe.  I regret I didn't take more detailed photos but I was in the flow and didn't think to photograph for a full tutorial.

Here is Pinkey in his new outfit:

Isn't he so adorable!  LOVE!

Here he is in all his gilded glory with flowers and a tassel tail:

And another view up high and away from curious little hands:

He is so cute isn't he?!  I fell in love with this little guy and briefly considered keeping him for myself. But sanity prevailed and Pinkey is in his new home where he is appreciated and left alone and not bothered by little hands curious to know whether he is full of candy or not.  Had he stayed in my home he surely would not have survived a week!

Thanks for checking in!

--Carolina

Sweet Communion Party Sources

Greetings,

I've found a few minutes so I can get this post out of my head! Who knew maintaining a blog that only a few people read (my husband and I count, right?) would be difficult?  Not because I don't want to, quite the contrary! But because my time is so limited and I haven't quite found the perfect balance between working full time, being a mom and wife, and feeding my need to be creative. If anyone out there has some advice on how to effectively deal with Mama Guilt, please let me know!

A couple of weeks ago I posted a Sweet Communion Party my friend Adris let me decorate.  As I mentioned before the budget was quite small and I wanted to keep decor costs down as much as possible. My go-to decor item is paper. In this case, the whole party was decorated using tissue paper. Tissue paper is your friend, people!  You can find it almost anywhere and in so many colors.  Plus there's the added bonus of not having to feel guilty about spending money on something that can be recycled either as decor for another event down the line or as current whimsical decor for your home.  You can simply toss it in the recycle trash bin once your party is over and know that it will be recycled.

Without further ado, let me share a few more photos of the event and the sources.

I found the gold dot burlap at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I don't recall the exact price but I used a 40% off coupon & purchased the rest of the bolt. It was quite a substantial discount given the yardage purchased. The burlap was used as table runners.  E wrapped this small piece around a potted tulip.  So pretty.

The soda bottle labels are from Pinhole Press. I loved the final product! Most of the guests took one home as a favor.  The water bottle labels were designed and printed by me.

The gold tissue paper fringed letter A is from Michael's.   I used Tacky Glue to adhere the fringed tissue paper to the particle board letter.  I really like this glue. It dries quickly and is very thick so a little goes a long way. Michael's and Walmart carry this glue.

The cake pops are from Starbucks. I had plans to make them but didn't have enough time in the end. Thank goodness Starbucks had enough in stock!  :-)   They are finished off with gold and peach ribbon. 

The fans were made using this tutorial from Oh Happy Day.  They were quite tedious but well worth the effort. I deviated from the tutorial in that I did not use the cardboard piece recommended for hanging. We opted to hang these directly onto the wall with generic washi tape.  The small white fans are from Michael's found in the dollar section.   The papel picado used over the tables was made using the same method.  Again, quite a tedious to-do but so worth it for the wow factor.

The tissue paper flowers were made using this tutorial by Design Every Day. These are easy to make and make a statement when done in a good color combination.  The centers were made with  fringed gold tissue paper.

All the tissue paper used in the decor was purchased at Target.  Each color was a different quality of tissue paper. The light turquoise and white tissue paper was stiff and was so nice to work with as it held its shape well.  The peach and pink tissue paper was soft and pliable, almost like a fabric. It did not hold the folds nearly as well as the stiffer variety. Lesson learned:  is the stiffer the paper the better.

Thanks for checking in and be sure to check in later for the pictorial how-to of the gilded piñata.

Best Wishes,
Carolina

Sweet Communion Party

Hello!

I am absolutely in denial that it is almost June.  JUNE!  It seems that time has passed me by.  The good thing is that I have photos of my recent activities to remind me that I have been a little creative and productive.

My dear friend A's daughter celebrated her First Holy Communion.   My mind went into overdrive the minute she mentioned she was planning a celebratory reception at her home.  We began to brainstorm themes and narrowed it down to a Fiesta Theme.  But rather than super bright traditional colors, we thought of pinks, peaches, and gold with white and light turquoise.  Given our limited (i.e., near non-existent) budget, I feel this party turned out quite lovely.

Thanks A for trusting me and for B & E for helping out the day of.  Wouldn't have been successful without your invaluable input and help.  We make a great team!

All paper decor handmade by me.  All photos by me.

I'll leave you with this gilded bad boy. He was the hit of the party!  ;-)

I'll be posting my sources shortly so be sure to check back in.

Thanks for stopping by!  

--Carolina 

Family Trip

Aloha!

We recently returned from a trip to Hawai'i and I can honestly say that 4 nights in paradise is just not enough. (Insert whine here.) Just as soon as we acclimated to the time difference it was time to go home.  Then we get home only to discover that Day Light Savings time was in effect making it that much harder to acclimate here.  Ay, ay, ay.

Ah, but the kids had a blast and that is the most important thing, right?

My youngest kept saying he wanted to go to Hawai'i even while we were in Hawai'i.  It took us a full day to understand that if he wasn't on a beach then he wasn't in Hawai'i!  And given the number of incredibly beautiful beaches, who could blame him for wanting to be on the beach day and night?!

I took so many photographs on the trip but sadly I didn't take my Yashica (film camera).  I'll share some of the trip photos in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime here are these:

Hiking With The Boys

A couple of weekends ago I went hiking with the boys at a local park near our home. The day was overcast with the occasional gust of wind but not cold. The boys had a great time and I got a much needed break from the bickering contest they were involved in that morning. The best part was they slept real well that night!

Thanks for stopping by!