Princess party background

This might be the last of princess-related posts for a while, but then again....you never know.

The backdrop I am about to show was something I saw multiple times on Pinterest. I didn't follow just one person's advice so I'm not giving credit but also not claiming this idea as my own.

My son, the Princess's daddy, bought the table skirting and a package of balloons at Party City. The balloons are attached to cardboard tubes used for pouring cement footings. I can't say more about that, I wasn't part of the process and didn't see the construction, only the end result. The spires are simply paper. Those posts are attached to the rafters to keep them in place from falling down as small guests run around.

The white area behind this is the basement wall. The streamers and valance (not sure what else to call it) are made from disposable plastic tablecloths, a total of six. They are on a curtain rod suspended from the ceiling.

The tablecloths are from a dollar store. Each one was 54" wide by 9 feet long.

I layered three together and held them in place using hair clips that I keep on hand for the Princess.

To make a casing for the curtain rod, I used staples. The depth of the stapler determined the size of the casing.

Having a cranky knee that doesn't like me kneeling on the floor, I laid this stapled trio of colors on my table and cut strips of all three layers from the bottom edge to 12 inches below the casing. I did have to keep moving this since my table is nowhere near that long, but the clips helped keep things together and it didn't have to be perfect and evenly cut. Each set of streamers was braided with two repeats and then stapled to hold the braid in place.

I had intended that the pink layer would be the "right" side but that isn't how I turned the casing. It would have been okay this way, but purple side does look neater.  These views are in my home, showing one set of three cloths used, roughly 54" wide.

Here is my favorite Princess waiting for her subjects...oops! I mean guests....to arrive.

It was a royally wonderful day.

A Mermaid for the Princess

We're a few days away from the Princess' birthday party.  Her Uncle B is giving her an Ariel doll and needed a mermaid card to go with it. I used the same Karen Burniston die set for the mermaid (die set # 1036), along with Tropical Scene #1038 for the tree, waves and sand dunes/landscape, and Sea Animals #1037 for the crab and turtle. The sun and clouds are from Lawn Fawn's Spring Showers die set.

I don't know why I avoided this type of die cutting for a while, but I did. Perhaps it is like anything else that goes in phases. I still like to color but these die sets are so cute, I can't resist them. 

For my little Princess

A Princess in my family will be having a birthday soon. This card was made using dies from Karen Burniston. I used Castle Pop Up, Princess and Mermaid, and Royalty die sets. The last one is for the "My Little Princess" wording.

 The script Happy Birthday is a die from Simon Says Stamp.

 Drawbridge up...

 Drawbridge down...

 Overhead view

 The princess was fun to assemble.

 This stamp was custom made from a company called Paper Angel.

Affirmation art and a shadow box

I was given a small black, boxy wall hanging with a quote about strength that now hangs near my bedroom mirror. It was a little lost by itself but I had plans that I've finally got to this past weekend. First is what I am calling Affirmation Art. The box plaque was originally green and gold and said "Lucky". Nothing wrong with that, but not something I would have bought. I won this in a gift basket. I base coated it black while figuring out what to do. These stickers came to mind. I cut a piece of black and white striped paper to fit the top/front surface of the plaque. If this idea hadn't worked, I could still cut the stickers out and reuse them. I don't need to worry about that, I like this. 

This shadow box is a Tim Holtz product for many years ago. Each element means something to me. The broken watch faces show either a time, date, or both that are significant. The dates on the pennies have significance too.

I used Scor Tape (a strong, two-sided tape) to hold the watch faces, pennies and key in place. I haven't hung this on the wall yet, it has been standing on a shelf until I am sure the tape is going to hold. It appears that it will.

The other crafts I'm currently working on are not near completion so it was nice to take an afternoon off to do these and have two things done that make me happy.