Tissue Paper Wreath Finished...Now onto the Fabric Backdrop

I FINALLY finished making the tissue paper wreath. The photo above was taken when I had started. This took about 3 months for me to finish only because I took my time with it. It's an easy project, but I cannot for the life of me do repetitive tasks for long periods of time. I have to always move onto something else. I didn't realize it would end up looking so big, but I think it came out great and it should make some type of an impact at the party. It will be in the welcoming area on the sign-in table. Right now, I'm struggling with trying to make a nice looking black ribbon bow  to add on the top. I failed a couple of times already and they both look wilted, confused (with the ribbon pieces going everywhere) and pathetic. I'll post the photo of the finished wreath after the party in October. Hopefully, I'll have a wonderful looking ribbon bow tie. I'm also adding the letter, "M" to the middle of the wreath.

As for the fabric backdrop for the main table, I purchased the PVC pipes, connectors, and pink and white striped fabric. Instead of working on them right away, I left the pieces scattered in the storage closet, car trunk and in the garage. It has been more than a month now and every time I catch a glimpse of these items, I am immediately reminded that I have to eventually figure out how to successfully build this backdrop together. Let's just hope that I didn't waste my time with this idea.

While I was deciding today when I should actually start putting the PVC pipes together, an idea of adding another piece of fabric over the striped one came to me. I'm thinking of adding black sheer fabric on each end, then tying each side with pink ribbon (curtain tie). So the overall appearance of this fabric backdrop will look somewhat like a window, except you're looking out at pink and white striped design! I will also add a bunting banner that I designed towards the top.

Since I like to stress so much, I also decided to do all of the party decorations AND handle the party set-up on my own. For my son's 1st birthday, I hired a party planner and she was responsible for setting up the main table, balloons, and centerpieces. I am already regretting just a little bit for trying to tackle this without any professional help. Am I crazy? I think so. My daughter's 1st birthday party will be simple and I am hoping it is better this way in terms of bringing down the cost.

UPDATE! (08/31/10) - I went over to Amy Atlas and found this photo she posted of the tied curtain style I tried to explain from above! See photo below:

So I want to still use the pink and white striped fabric as the background and also add black sheer material on each side. The problem is, how do I hang this extra piece on the PVC pipes without it bending? By the way, I tested the weight of the fabric on the pipe and it's already slightly bending! Not only that, the whole stand is sort of swaying back and forth. Now, I'm too lazy to go back to Home Depot to buy thicker pipes, so I'm going to have to think about this more thoroughly.

Fabric Backdrop

I think I may have finally figured out a way to hang a fabric backdrop behind the head table. After searching and searching online, I discovered that using PVC pipes can do the job. I suppose I can always use this set-up for future parties as well. I am no handyman, but I'll check out Home Depot and see how "easy" this can be.

Here are some instructions on setting one up.

Pink and White Striped Background

For the past couple of weeks, I've been going back and forth in my head on whether to put up a pink and white striped or plain light pink fabric piece behind the head table at my daughter's birthday party. After seeing Amy Atlas' blog, she has now convinced me to definitely go for the striped version. It would match my invitation design anyway.

I'm also planning to put up paper bunting banners reading, "Happy Birthday" and "Madeline". I have so much to do!

Striped Paper Straws

I need an excuse to use these pink and white striped paper straws and they add a great vintage feel to any party! Oh, how I love the vintage look!

Project Wedding shows a cute way of using these straws. It's a good thing BevMo is in my area! I'm going to have to check them out and see what the costs are.

Update - I found some pricing information on straws that Peach and Pearl did. There's a contact on there that tells you where to buy these straws at a reasonable price!

Decorating with Stripes

At my daughter's birthday party, there will be a head table decorated with fruits, flowers, and traditional Korean rice cakes. At Korean 1st year birthday parties (also known as "dols"), the head table usually has a  background banner attached to the wall. I want to avoid doing this. I'd like to use fabric instead to cover the back wall by incorporating stripes or maybe using the same design as the table cover. After looking at this photo, it looks more Parisian to use black and white stripes on the wall.

The problem is, how do I hang the fabric on the wall without nailing it on?


Here's another photo of a table with green and white stripes found at Hostess with the Mostess. I keep getting drawn to striped patterns!

Macarons!

Don't these macarons look scrumptious? It would be great if I could have these at my daughter's birthday party. Apparently, Pierre Herme is known to sell the best macarons. I love their cute packaging boxes as well.

Free 4th of July Tags

SORRY, NOT AVAILABLE ANYMORE.

Following up from my previous post where you are able to download a free 4th of July invitation template, you can now download these festive party tags. These can be used as cupcake toppers, stickers and to help decorate party favors.

Download the file and color print on cardstock sheets. A 2" circle or scallop puncher is recommended and be sure to cut the sheet into strips for easy punching. You can color print these at home, but bringing the file to a commercial printer (Office Depot, Kinko's, etc.) will ensure better quality printing.

Happy crafting!