Easy Ways To Personalize Christmas Card Envelopes

December 7, 2017

Can you wrap your head around the fact that Christmas is just over 2 weeks away? I sure can’t. Preparing for Christmas this year has been a whirlwind.

Since I know most of you are in the process of getting your cards ready to mail, I thought I’d share some fun and easy Christmas card envelope decorating ideas with you. Enjoy and be inspired!

Check out these creative ideas for personalizing Christmas envelopes and let me know which is your favorite!

CREATIVE IDEAS TO PERSONALIZE YOUR CHRISTMAS CARD ENVELOPES

PRETTY POSTAGE: There are some cool postage stamps available from the post office and just a few fancy ones will give your envelope a special touch. Buy holiday stamps in small denominations that equal the postage amount and pile them on the front of you envelope to make it festive.

Christmas Card Envelopes

WAX SEALS: I love the look of a stylish sticker to seal the flap of an envelope and a wax seal takes that look up a notch. A personalized wax seal also makes a great gift for a girlfriend or newlyweds.

PERSONALIZED STAMPS: Personalized stamps are an easy way to customize envelopes for home or business use. Paper Source has a great selection of personalized stamps in both everyday and seasonal designs. And when it comes to gift giving, a personalized stamp make a great gift too!

FABRIC ENVELOPES: If you want to put your crafting skills to work, try making a fabric envelope for your cards. Buy a fat quarter fabric bundle from JoAnn Fabric and use a paper envelope as a template to cut our the envelope shape. If you’re planning to mail ( versus hand deliver) your envelopes make sure to stitch the flap closed and ask the post office to hand cancel the postage instead of running it through their machines.

LINED ENVELOPES: You can add high style to plain envelopes by lining them with decorative paper, gift wrap or a paper doily that coordinates with the colors or style of your Christmas card.

STAMPED ENVELOPES: A super simple way to create stylish envelopes is by stamping a polka dot design on the inside flap. No stamp required, just use a pencil eraser and colorful ink to create your pattern.

WASHI TAPE ENVELOPES: One of my favorite crafting supplies is decorative washi tape. You can use it to UpStyle an envelope by lining the outer edge or I love the idea of using a strip of tape under the postage stamp.

As you can see from all of these ideas, it’s really easy to dress up your Christmas card envelopes. I’ll be working on my Christmas cards this weekend and will definitely be putting some of these ideas to use.

Spring Thyme | Recipes & Style Blog Hop

March 21, 2017

Spring is one of my favorite seasons. The weather is getting warmer, flowers are blooming and it’s almost time for picnics in the park and long evening walks. The coming of spring is such a mood booster for me and I’m just giddy that it is staying light outside until almost 9:00 o’clock.

Now that spring is here, I’m starting to see lots of spring blog tours popping up on the web. I don’t do much in the way of decorating for spring but I do love creating pretty seasonal tablescapes. And it just so happens that my friend Tamyra with Positively Southern is hosting a fun ‘Spring Thyme Recipe & Style’ blog hop and invited me join the fun.

There are a total of 9 bloggers on this tour and today is just part one of the blog hop. We’ll all be back next Tuesday (3/28) to share more spring style and recipe inspiration so mark your calendars.

If you’re coming over from Clutter Cafe, welcome. Lisa is one talented (and sweet) lady and a hard act to follow.

Whenever I plan a seasonal tablescape, I look for something to inspire the theme. Can you guess what my inspiration was for my spring Easter table? Rabbits of course! I spotted the rabbit beverage pitcher at HomeGoods and immediately knew I wanted to use it as a flower vase. #unexpecteddecor

Rabbit Pitcher (similar here )

Once I had the pitcher home, my color palette of green, pink and white fell into place and I went on the hunt for a green and white table runner. #fail.

After searching a few stores without any luck, I decided to make my own using inexpensive cotton fabric. The fabric is a soft green color with an all-over white lattice pattern. It’s exactly the design I wanted for my tablescape. Once I cut the fabric to size I used iron-on hem tape to finish the edges and had my runner done in about 10 minutes. And it cost me less than $10 to make the runner and 6 napkins. #score

Green and white fabric from Hobby Lobby

Flowers are always part of any tablescape I create so I surrounded the bunny pitcher with a mix of floral styles and colors. I combined hot pink orchids, white anemone, green hydrangea and pink peonies. The flowers are cascaded down the center of the table and add so much dimension to the centerpiece. Once I had the flowers in place, I tucked a few ceramic bunnies amongst the flowers to bring my Easter theme to life.

Noritake Ranier China // Bamboo Flatware // Green Ribbon

I opted not to use traditional placards on my table and instead did some hand-lettering on ombre tags I picked up at Michaels.

Ceramic Bunny–Target Dollar Spot

Did you notice the floral placemats under each place setting? Well it’s actually scrapbook paper I had in my craft stash. Scrapbook paper is the perfect size for a placemat and the floral pattern and colors worked great with my table decor.

Ribbon // Floral Paper //Noritake Ranier China

Whenever you build a tablescape you should create layers with your decor. I used the mini cake stands to add height and placed a small dip bowl on top filled with chocolate eggs for added color.

The white dinner plates are my mom and dad’s wedding china and I love the pretty etched floral design around the edge. It coordinates perfectly with my paper placemats. The black and white place plates are from C. Wonder which is no longer in business. #imissthatstore

And if you hadn’t already guessed it, all the flowers except the tulips are silk.

Now that I’ve created my Easter table, I’m pretty sure the Easter bunny will be dropping off an Easter basket at my front door.

I hope my Spring Thyme tablescape has inspired you to add a little spring happy around your house. For more spring cheer, hop (no pun intended) over to Totally Tailgates and check out Heather’s spring inspiration.

And there’s a list of all the participating bloggers on the Spring Thyme Recipe & Style blog hop listed below so make sure to stop by and check them out.

A big shout out to Tamyra for hosting such a fun and fabulous blog hop.

Spring is definitely in the air and I’m ready to enjoy the season!

Viva La Vintage For Your Home
Swirls of Flavor
M. Jones Style
Clutter Cafe
ConfettiStyle {yours truly}
Totally Tailgates
Life at Lydia’s House
Positively Southern
LindaG Loving Home

Gift Wrap Inspiration: DIY Paper Gift Bags Using Wrapping Paper

February 20, 2017

If you know me, you know that I’d rather make my own gift bags versus buy them at the store. Handcrafted gift bags are easier to make than you might think and you probably already have the supplies on hand.

For my latest gift wrap project, I made some spring inspired gift bags using wrapping paper, ribbon and craft bags from Paper Mart. I created a variety of sizes and decorated each one differently to show you how easy it is to customize handmade gift bags. And I created a how-to guide that you can download (link at end of the post).

Once you’ve made your first handcrafted gift bag you’ll see how quick and easy it is to make a bag to fit any size gift or any gift occasion.

DIY GIFT BAGS

Blue/Blue Striped Wrapping Paper // ‘Periwinkle’ Floral Wrapping Paper // Mini Chevron Bags

You can see that I made different styles of ribbon handles for each bag. My favorite is the braided handle on the large striped bag.

To create the braid, I cut three equal lengths of ribbon and braided them together. Once the ends were inserted through the holes at the top of the bag, I tied them in a knot to secure the ends.

On the large floral bag below, I punched holes on the corners and in the center and tied ribbons through the holes. I used white hole reinforcements to protect the holes from tearing.

tip: Everyday office supplies can make great gift wrap embellishments.

Kiwi Satin Ribbon // Navy Satin Ribbon // Mini Chevron Bags

The mini chevron bags I taped to the front of my gift bags holds a kraft gift tag. The bags would also be great to hold sweet treats with an Easter gift.

Paper Mart sells the chevron bags in three sizes and 8 colors and I love using them in gift wrap projects.

Periwinkle Floral Wrapping Paper // Mini Chevron Bags // Similar Craft Flowers // Silver Glitter Gift Tags

I you want to embellish your bags even more, you can glue on fabric or paper flowers like I did.

Blue/Blue Striped Wrapping Paper // Kiwi Satin Ribbon // Navy Satin Ribbon

Periwinkle Floral Wrapping Paper // Mini Chevron Bags // White Gift Tags // Paper Hole Reinforcement

Paper Mart has one of the largest selections of satin ribbon on the market with over 50 colors and 10 widths to choose from. #oneofeachplease

Spring is gift giving season. Stock up on your favorite wrapping paper and ribbon so you can personalize your gifts with a handmade gift bag.

Download DIY Gift Bag Tutorial

♦♦♦

To see other projects I made using Paper Mart products, check out these posts…

Valentine’s Day Centerpiece

Creative Ways to Decorate With Wrapping Paper

Holiday Gift Wrap

This post is in partnership with Paper Mart. My love for wrapping paper and ribbon as well as all opinions of Paper Mart products are 100% my own.

Gift Wrap Inspiration: Pleated Paper Valentines Wrap

February 3, 2017

Whew! We made it to Friday. I have had a jammed packed week and I’m glad the weekend is upon us. Even though I have some work to catch up on this weekend, I also plan to enjoy some down time and watch all the festivities surrounding the Super Bowl. And yes I’ll be rooting on the Falcons!

I’ve got a fun and easy gift wrap inspiration post for your today, just in time for all your Valentine’s Day gift giving.

Because I wrap a lot of gifts during the year, I am always experimenting with different ways to manipulate the paper to give my gifts some flair. For my Valentines wrap this year I decided to do a little pleat treatment with my paper.

It’s really easy to pleat gift wrap. To start, determine the amount of paper you’ll need to wrap your box and add about 8″. The extra paper will allow you to create multiple pleats in your paper and still be able to wrap your box. You’ll be creating your pleats horizontally across the width of the paper.

The first pleat I made was pretty deep (about 3 1/2″) and I’ll explain why in a minute.

Once you’ve made your first pleat, continue pleating your paper with small folds. You want to create enough pleats so they stand out on your gift.

Once all your pleats are made, turn your paper over and tape the pleats down on each edge of the paper. This will hold the pleats in place.

And now all you have to do is wrap your gift.

The reason I made the first pleat extra deep was to create a pocket that could hold a Valentine’s Day card. Pretty clever, right?!

The pocket can also hold money, a photo or a sweet treat like a chocolate heart.

You can find the free printableValentine’s Day cards I designed here.

I added bows and ribbon to complete my Valentines wrap and just love the way the packages look.

Pink Pom Pom Ribbon // White Ruffle Edge Ribbon

Similar Heart Gift Wrap // Similar Pink Damask Gift Wrap

I wrapped these Valentine’s Day gifts with extra love because they are headed off to my moms house.

*Affiliate links used for your shopping convenience. I may earn a small commission through these links at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting ConfettiStyle to keep great content coming!

7 Free Valentine’s Day Printables {designed just for you}!

January 31, 2017

The other day I was playing around (code for wasting time) on the computer and found myself designing the fun Valentine’s cards. I’m planning to use a couple of them in a gift wrap project that will be live on the blog Thursday, but I also wanted to share them with you. All of the cards are free downloads so you can print right from your computer.

And in true ‘ConfettiStyle’ style, I designed these cards in fun, bright colors so they will surely brighten someones day.

Attach a card to a gift, frame one or two, or use them as part of a scrapbook and paper crafts project. Whatever you do, have fun.

These Valentine’s Day printables are yours to enjoy!

♥♥♥

The pink heart card is perfect for anyone including teachers and everyone on your support team–hair stylist, nail technician.

Give the I Love You card to your significant other.

The poppy card has one of my favorite quotes on it and is ideal for a special friend.

This bold floral design is my favorite and would be great for mom or a special girlfriend.

Give this friendship card to all your girl or guy friends.

Be My Valentine is another great card for your hubby, wife or significant other.

Love Is A Word card is designed for anyone that brings meaning to your life.

♥♥♥

Download Valentine’s Day Cards

In case you missed it, you can find my Valentine’s Day Gift Guide here.

4th of July Decor Ideas to make in under an hour!

June 27, 2016

Decorating for a festive holiday can be fun and easy. Heres a round-up of simple but festive 4th of July decor that will take you less than an hour to create and don’t require any major crafting skills.

1) Scrap Fabric Flag–this fun twist of the American flag is made from scraps of ribbon, fabric and paint. Depending on where you want to hang it, you can make one in any size. I think one hanging on the front door or a couple of hanging for a deck railing would look great.

2) Make your own mini American flags using wood skewered and flag ribbon. These are great as a cake topper or to use in flower arrangements.

Flag ribbon is on sale for $2.00 per spool at Hobby Lobby.

3) This may not work for everyone depending on the temperature where you live but I love the look of the 4th of July candles. Just wrap red, white or blue pillar candles with decorative red/white/blue paper and you’re all set. After the 4th remove the paper and your candles are ready for the next project. p.s. scrapbook paper is 50% off this week at Hobby Lobby

4) Use that same decorative paper you used to wrap your candles and make your own paper pinwheels. These are so easy to make and are sure to bring back some great childhood memories. Find my tutorial here.

5) Turn inexpensive bandanas into a festive 4th of July flag banner. You can cut 3 to 4 triangle piece from a single bandana.

6) Another fun way to decorate with bandanas is using them as table linens. Line a handful up down the middle of the table for a quick and easy holiday runner.

7) Turn a watermelon into a stylish and fun 4th of July floral centerpiece. Punch small holes (about 1/2″ deep into the watermelon and insert flower stems. Once the party it over, cut watermelon open and scoop out some watermelon to enjoy.

So what plans do you have for the 4th and how are you decorating?

top image via Country Living

Coloring Books for Design Fanatics

May 23, 2016

via

Ok, its confession time. How many of you have coloring books?

I jumped on the coloring book craze when it first starting gaining popularity. As a creative, I’ve loved coloring my entire life and the idea of a coloring book for adults was so up my alley that I couldn’t resist. My first coloring book was this one filled with Beautiful Patterns just like the title says. I was drawn to the abstract and intricate designs which are perfect for someone like me that is a ‘coloring inside the lines’ kind of gal.

Since my first coloring book I’ve been gifted several others by family and friends and now switch back and forth between books so none of them gets neglected.

Recently I read that several of my favorite bloggers (and authors) are jumping on the coloring book wagon and developing home decor themed books. I can’t wait!

John and Sherry from Young House Love have their coloring book, Color At Home coming out in October and from the looks of the cover image, it is going to be a good one. The cover image resembles many of the beautiful rooms you see on Pinterest.

And Melissa, the blogger and author behind The Inspired Room blog has a coloring book coming out in July, aptly named The Inspired Room Coloring Book.

Melissa shared a few pages from her book on her blog and it is also looks like it’s going to be a fun book. I love that there will be room environments along with individual home decor items to color. I see a whole lot of #chinosierie inspiration in my future.

I don’t know who or why the adult coloring book trend started but I think it’s only going to get bigger and home decor coloring books take it to a new level. Being able to color design a room in any color combination you want can provide great visual inspiration for someone decorating a room in their home.

For those of you that can’t wait until the Color At Home and The Inspired Room Coloring Book come out, here are a couple other home decor related coloring books I found.

Color Me Cluttered–The title and cover image of this coloring book might scare off a lot of people but I’m really intrigued by the artwork and potential transformation that can happen after a few hours of coloring. And the minute I saw the image of the gift wrap, I was hooked.

Off the Bookshelf–This coloring book contains a range of images, many of bookshelves and home decor scenes and others more random. This book was also designed using a slightly heavier paper weight so you don’t have any color bleeding if you use markers to color your images. And I like that each page is perforated making it easy to tear out the pages and frame as artwork.

Now that I’ve got you itching to purchase a few coloring books, you’ll also need to buy some great pens or markers. I switch between using pencils and markers when I color. If I want more intense color on the image I go with markers and if I’m looking for a softer effect, I tend to choose colored pencils. Here are several brands that love and in most cases own myself so I can highly recommend these from personal experience.

No. 1 Prismacolor is definitely my favorite brand for markers and I also love their colored pencils. They sell a variety of styles at price points from affordable to expensive. The Premier 24 pk. Colored Pencil Set is a great value, includes enough colors so that you have lots of options to work with and the pencils are ideal for blending colors. There are larger sets available too.

No. 2 Tomboy Dual Brush Pen Art Markers are great because of the dual brush heads and because the pens are odorless, bendable and non-bleeding.

No. 3 I’ve owned a set of Uchida Le Plume II Double Ended Markers for many years and they still work like a charm. They’ve traveled with us when we moved for Seattle to Atlanta and I’ve only had a few dry up. The extra-fine tip is great for intricate designs and the pens are easy to handle and won’t cramp your hand.

No. 4 For those of you that might want to take your coloring on the road or in the air, here’s a great set of 48 Marco Affine Artist Quality Pencils that include the roll-up case. While I don’t own this exact set, I am considering purchasing a case to hold my pencils. I like this case but if you’re looking for a great deal, you’ll want to scoop this case up.

No. 5 The 72-piece Prismacolor Premier Double Ended Art Marker set is for the serious color artist and crafter because these markers are an investment. This is another set that I’ve owned for years and just love. These markers provide a very saturated color and work great for blending. I also love them because once applied, the color is consistent with no blending or start/stop lines.

Coloring books for adults is a pretty cool thing in my book. I’m a big fan and encourage you to give it a try is you haven’t already.

DIY Chinoiserie Playing Cards

May 20, 2016

You all know I’m having a love affair with all things blue and white chinoiserie. A couple of months ago I picked up a pack of blue and white scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby and have had so much fun crafting and creating with all the beautiful designs.

I’m also kind of addicted to custom monogram stickers from Zazzle. I’ve ordered several sets and I’m using them on everything from stationery to tabletop decor. This green and white design with navy monogram is my most recent purchase.

And my latest craft project was to transform one of the many basic decks of cards I own into something a little more stylish.

What started as this….

Got UpStyled into these…

It was really simple to make these cards and it only took a couple of supplies.

How to:

Step 1: Coat the back side of a piece of 12″ x 12″ decorative paper with Mod Podge. It will take several sheets to cover all the cards in the deck. You’ll notice that I used several different paper patterns to make my set.

Step 2: While wet, place the playing cards onto the Mod Podge surface with the number side facing up.

Step 3: Let the adhesive dry and then cut out each card.

Step 4: Flip the cards over to the decorative side and adhere monogram sticker in the center.

This is a fun project that would make a great gift so give it a try.