Baby girl’s first birthday bash is right around the corner, which means that party preparations are in full swing. Planning Micah’s birthday party has meant designing a new party suite for this paper fanatic, and I’ve had a lot of fun planning the little details of her big day. It’s the little things that make an event special, you know.
I’ve been seeing these tissue paper pomander balls all over the blogosphere, and, with a little help from Martha, I turned out a slew of them this weekend. I love how whimsical and playful they are, and I can’t wait to decorate with them in a few weeks. If you’re looking for a fun way to add a little flair to your special event, make a few of these pom-poms. You’ll be surprised at how easy they are!
First, as the Pioneer Woman would say, the cast of characters. You’ll need eight sheets of tissue paper. I used 15×20 sheets for the large pom-poms, 10×15 sheets for the medium pom-poms, and 7.5×10 sheets for the small pom-poms. You’ll also need scissors and floral wire.
Stack all eight sheets of paper and fold it accordian-style. On the largest pomanders, I made 1-inch folds, but on the smallest ones, I used 1/2-inch folds. It’s really up to you. The smaller the folds, the harder it is to separate the layers later, so keep that in mind as you’re folding.
Secure your folded paper with about six inches of floral wire, twisting tightly to secure. I plan to suspend the pom-poms from fishing line, so I left enough wire to make a loop and hang, but do whatever you need. If you don’t have floral wire, just improvise and use some twist ties from the kitchen. That will work just fine.
Trim the ends of your paper with scissors. This is honestly the hardest part. I chose to round the ends, but the pomanders are also very pretty with pointed ends. Trim according to your preference.
After you’ve trimmed the ends, fan out the folded paper and carefully separate the layers of tissue paper. The paper is very delicate, so use a gentle hand when separating the paper. I found it easiest to alternate sides as I pulled the paper apart. After you’ve separated all the layers, fluff and shape the pomander until it looks good, then step back and admire your handiwork!
When you hang these with fishing line, they appear to float in midair, but they also look really cute when hung with ribbon. You can fill a clear glass vase with tiny pom-poms and use it as a centerpiece, or you can use medium-sized ones as napkin rings. The options are really limitless.
I’ve had fun with this little project, and I hope you have too! Happy crafting!
Until next time, grace and peace.
It seems that every time I vow to do better about blogging regularly, life comes along and shoves me right off track. This time, it’s taken a little while to pick myself, and my baby, up and recover my footing, but I’m back, and I hope to actually entertain you with some of the upcoming posts I mentioned a few weeks ago.
But before I do that, I wanted to share the unpleasant adventure we survived last week. Baby girl endured her first trip to the hospital. It was not pleasant, nor was it fun, and I do not wish it upon anyone. Did you know that hospital cribs look like tiny little baby jail cells?
Twas awful.
Micah caught a nasty little stomach bug {as did I} that threw her little system {and my grown up one} for a major loop last week. She threw up once on Friday and once on Saturday, but Sunday morning the floodgates opened and she couldn’t keep anything down. We stopped in at the hospital when she was so lethargic she couldn’t lift her head if she wanted.
If you know my baby, you know that she’s a bundle of energy. She does not like to be cuddled. She wants to be crawling around exploring her world and playing all. the. time. She hates being held like this:
But she was so out of it that she voluntarily laid her head down on her daddy’s chest while we were in the ER. If you ever go to the emergency room and they usher you to a room immediately, you know that it’s serious. My poor pitiful baby was very, very sick. She was severely dehydrated, and her blood sugar had dropped to 50. Once they got an IV in, she perked up a bit.
But she was still pretty puny. Monday she was able to keep down a bit of Gatorade, so they let us go home, but it soon became obvious that the virus was still ravaging her little tummy. Tuesday morning she couldn’t even keep down a teaspoon of Gatorade. A teaspoon! Do you know how minuscule a teaspoon is?
It was scary. Very, very scary, but thankfully, we finally got the vomiting under control and she’s back to normal now. And let me just say that she’s hungry. Very, very hungry. Which is good, since she lost a whole pound while she was sick. That’s a lot for such a tiny little girl.
Anyway, many of you knew all of this already, but I wanted to write and thank you for all of the prayers and kindness you showed us last week. We needed your help, and you provided in a very real way. We’re more grateful for your love and support than you’ll ever know.
Until next time, grace and peace.
Hi, everyone. Thanks for entering the first ever giveaway from Senojal Designs. I’m a little tardy in publishing the results and contacting the winners, but I hope you’ll forgive me.
I won’t keep you in suspense anymore. The two winners are Tiffani and Cate. Congratulations, y’all! I’ll be in touch soon with more details about your prize.
Thanks again for participating, and if you didn’t win this time, don’t let that keep you from playing in the future!
Until next time, grace and peace.
It’s birthday season in the Jones household. Mine came and went on Saturday, and, shockingly enough, baby girl’s first birthday is coming up next month. I didn’t eat any cake or blow out any candles on my birthday, but I did go out on a date with my hubby, and then we went to Best Buy and drooled over my new camera. OK, so it’s not mine yet. But I have ordered it. And it should arrive sometime in the next century.
The camera is definitely one of the best birthday presents ever. Four years ago, my sweet husband coerced our entire family into pooling their money and purchasing me a Canon Rebel XT. It has been good to me, but it’s time to upgrade, so I’ve sold it, and my parents and in-laws once again donated funds to make up the difference. Thanks, y’all!
I’m not the only one who likes presents, right? Let’s be honest. We all like gifts. And packages in the mail. And cards from friends and family. And freebies.
That’s why I’m giving away two sets of custom notecards from Senojal Designs. I’m celebrating my birthday by giving gifts to you!
To enter, simply click through to my etsy shop, browse through the custom notecards, and leave a comment on this post telling me which design is your favorite. It’s that simple! Please use your actual e-mail address on the comment form, otherwise I won’t be able to get in touch with you if you win.
Now for the nitty gritty details. One entry per person, please. Feel free to share some giveaway love and tweet, blog, or update your status with a link to this blog entry. The giveaway will be open from now until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, August 17. Two winners {selected by a random number generator} will each receive one set of 12 custom notecards from Senojal Designs.
Now, get to to commenting! And spread the birthday love!
Until next time, grace and peace.
Hi! Remember me? I’m the girl who used to write here. Life has been very busy lately, and I have been so busy living it that I haven’t had the time to sit down and write, but I have big plans for the future. I’ve had lots of post ideas rolling around in my head over the past few weeks, and I plan on rolling them out over the next several days.
Actually putting that in writing obligates me to follow through.
At least, that’s the plan.
But for now, I just wanted to pop in and say hi and let you know that I’m thinking about you. As the summer days wind down and fall approaches, life should slow down a bit, but things rarely happen as they should, do they?
Anyway, I’ll be back soon. I just wanted to say hi.
Until next time, grace and peace.
