Real Parties: Red and Aqua for Gingerbread 2011!

Looking for the red and aqua gingerbread house decorating party?  It's been moved (along with the rest of the blog) over to Tikkido.com.  

Featured on Amy Atlas! Gingerbread 2011

We're delighted to have our annual gingerbread house decorating party featured on the Amy Atlas blog this morning!

We'll have the full post with tons of pictures and all the details tomorrow!

In the meantime, do you remember last year's Swedish themed gingerbread house decorating party?

And the Sugar Plum Fairy birthday party, where all the kids decorated gingerbread houses as an activity?

Feel free to browse those to get your gingerbread fix until the full post of this year's party tomorrow!

DIY Project: Potsherds for an Archaeological Dig

Looking for the potsherds tutorial for the Archaeology/Egyptology party?  It (and the rest of blog!) has moved over to Tikkido.com.

Recipe: How to Make Marzipan (and Marzipan Pyramids)

Looking for the Marzipan pyramids tutorial?  The whole blog, along with this post, have moved to Tikkido.com!  Head over there for all the photos and details.

DIY Project: How to Make a Full-Sized Sarcophagus Prop

Looking for the tutorial on how to make an Egyptian sarcophagus?  It's moved to its new home over on Tikkido.com!

Christmas Recipe: White Chocolate Peppermint Bars (No Bake!)

Looking for the no-bake white chocolate peppermint bars recipe?  It's moved to its new home at Tikkido.com!

DIY Project: A Present Chain Advent Calendar

Looking for the post about the present chain advent calendar?  It's moved to its new home at Tikkido.com!

Advent Calendar Present Garland

How to Do Your Own Glitter Tattoos

Looking for the DIY glitter tattoo tutorial?  It's been moved to its new home at Tikkido.com!

Eye of Horus Glitter Tattoo

Real Parties: An Egyptology/Archaeology Excursion (Part 3, the Fun!)

Looking for the Egyptology party post, part 3?  It's at its new home on Tikkido.com!

Real Parties: An Egyptology/Archaeology Excursion (Part 2, the Desserts!)

Looking for the post on the Egyptology birthday party desserts?  It's at its new home at Tikkido.com!

Real Parties: An Egyptology/Archaeology Excursion (Part 1)

Looking for part 1 of the Egyptology party and all the fun details?  It's moved to its new home over at Tikkido.com.

Featured on Amy Atlas! Our Egyptology Party

All of the blog content is now over at Tikkido.com!  Come visit and see what I've been up to lately.

DIY Project: How to Make Twisted Fabric Roses

Looking for the twisted fabric flower tutorial?  It's been moved (along with the rest of the blog) to Tikkido.com!

DIY Project: How to Make a Great Gnome (or Santa!) Beard

Looking for the Gnome beards tutorial?  It's moved over to our new home at Tikkido.com!

DIY Project: Easy No-Sew Personalized Napkins

Looking for this?  The blog has moved to Tikkido.com!  Find the full tutorial and all the photos there.  And lots more, too!

DIY Project: How to Make Toadstool Colored Pencils

Looking for the tutorial on how to make these charming toadstool colored pencil favors?  The DIY has moved (along with all the other content on the blog) to its new home at Tikkido.  Here's the direct link.

DIY Project: Toadstool Stools

Painting circles is hard.  At least circles that look like actual circles, not the lumpy freehand amoebas that look more like my two-year-old's drawing efforts.  When I decided to paint unfinished wooden stools to resemble classic red and white toadstools, I knew I needed a crutch to get those circles just right.

I bought the unfinished footstools from my local Michael's and Joann Fabrics, strategically buying them one at a time with my 50% off coupon one week.

Then a coat of primer, and I was ready for the design.   To get those perfect circles, I simply traced around round cookie cutters with a pencil.

A jar or a glass would work equally well.  After that, all you need is a little red and white paint and you'll have a whimsical toadstool stool, a pint sized seat just the right size to go around a coffee table, and utterly adorable in a child's bedroom after the party.

DIY Project: How to Make your Own Custom Glass Plates

Looking for the customized glass plates tutorial?  It's moved to our new home on the web at Tikkido.com!  Here's the link to the full tutorial and all the pictures.

DIY Project: Felt Gnome Hats

looking for the gnome hats tutorial?  They've moved to their new home at Tikkido.com.

Real Parties: A Fall Gnome Birthday Party

Are you looking for the Gnome birthday party?  The blog has moved!  This post is now available at Tikkido.com.  And check out all the new content while you're there!

Featured on the Amy Atlas Blog! A Sweet Fall Gnome Birthday

What a great delight and honor to be featured on the Amy Atlas blog today!  I had so much fun designing this Gnome party for my friend's daughter.

Come back tomorrow for all the details--and later this week, of course, many tutorials!

Sneak Party Peek

I'm furiously working on the last-minute details for my daughter's 8th birthday this Saturday, but I have a ton of exciting stuff coming up!  Here's a little sneak peek at the invitation:

Can you guess what the theme is this year?

DIY Project: How to Make a Large Glittery Letter Decoration

Looking for the large, glittery letter tutorial?  It's at its new home on the Tikkido.com blog.

DIY Project: How to Make an Easy Circle Garland

Looking for the simple glittery circle garland tutorial?  Check it out in all its glory at its new home on the Tikkido.com blog!

DIY Project: How to Make Planet Pops

Looking for the peanut butter planet pops recipe and tutorial?  Follow the link to its new home on Tikkido.com

DIY Project: How to Make Glitter Playdough

Looking for this?  The blog has moved to Tikkido.com!  Find the full tutorial over there, and join us for lots of creative new content.

DIY Project: Princess Leia Buns Star Wars Headband

Looking for the Princess Leia buns headband tutorial?  It's moved over to Tikkido.com (along with the rest of the blog).

Real Parties: Star Wars and Astronomy at Pottery Barn Kids

Looking for the Pottery Barn Kids Star Wars party post?  It's moved over to Tikkido.com.

Pretty Pretty Papel Picado--Mexican Paper Banners

Looking for the Papel Picado post and details?  It's moved over to Tikkido.com.

Trend Watch: Stunning Succulents

Looking for the succulents trend post?  It's moved over to Tikkido.com

How to Make Paper Flower Topiaries

Looking for the paper flower topiary tutorial?  It's available at its new home on Tikkido.com

Pottery Barn Kids Star Wars Event Tomorrow!

I've been invited to style an event for Pottery Barn Kids to help launch their Star Wars line for the holidays--what fun!  Here's a little sneak peek for you.

Planet and Shooting Star Cookies

I have a lot of work to do before the event tomorrow, but it's starting to come together.

If you're in the Phoenix area, come by the Chandler Fashion Center mall and join me at Pottery Barn Kids for a great sale, lots of Star Wars fun, and me!  You'll be able to pick me out of the crowd easily--I'm the one with the hot pink hair.

How to Make a Custom Paint By Numbers Canvas

Looking for the tutorial on howto make a customized paint-by-numbers project?  It's available at its new home on Tikkido.com

Pantone Color Report for Spring 2012

The Pantone color report for Spring 2012 is out!  I love these looks ahead at color and fashion trends.

Don't you think Swarovski's brand new color, Denim blue, would look marvelous with the Sodalite Blue?

I'm always happy to see pink in the forecast.  Hey, the Cabaret matches my hair color really well.  I'm a trendsetter!

And Swarovski's new Crystal Pink Color would look fabulous with the beachy blues and tans.

Are you planning a wedding or event with any of these colors?

Featured on Catch My Party: How to Make Flower-Shaped Mini Pies

Looking for the flower shaped lemon tartlets tutorial and recipe?  Head over to its new home at Tikkido.com!

How to Make Mirrored Cake Stands

Looking for this?  The blog has moved to Tikkido.com!  Find the full post over there and join us for all the fun new content.

How to Make Brush Embroidery Cookies

Looking for this?  The blog has moved to Tikkido.com!  Find the full tutorial (and so much more new content) over there.

How to Make a Paper Flower Backdrop: Let's Finish It!

And here we are, at the final part of our How to Make a Giant Paper Flower Backdrop tutorial.  In case you missed it, learn how to make all the other flowers for this backdrop in Part One and Part Two.

Paper Flower Dessert Table Backdrop

Today we'll learn how to make the last flower, what I call the Rolled Cone Flower.  As before, you'll need more of that roll of paper, scissors, and a glue gun.  Tape is handy for this one, too, but not necessary.

This is what I mean by Rolled Cone Flower:

These are incredibly easy, and you can make them very large.  This is good for two reasons.  First, because the large scale is dramatic.  Second, the larger your flowers are, the fewer you have to make!

First, cut your petals.  They should look like slightly tapered U shapes (narrower at the top of the U).  But don't knock yourself out worrying about getting it just right.  Rhatever you cut will be just fine.  Really.

Roll each petal into a cone, and secure with tape or hot glue.  Tape is faster, but the glue gun works just as well.

Arrange the cones so that they form a circle, with the points meeting in the middle.  I usually used six for each flower, but it really depends on the size of your petals.  Use as many as you need.  Glue together using the glue gun.

Make a fringe flower center, if desired, and glue to the center of the flower.

The only other element on the backdrop were the leaves.  These were insanely simple to make, and were great filler.  I used a lot of leaves.

The instructions for these are pretty darn obvious.  Cut out leaf shape.  Fold in half to give some dimension.  Voila, leaves!


You've done the grunt work--now let's see it all come together into a thing of beauty.  To make the paper flower backdrop, you'll need:

• your trusty glue gun
• your mountains of paper flowers
• a 4 x 8 sheet of foam insulation sheeting from your local Lowes or Home Depot

The foam insulating sheet is lightweight, easily can be cut to whatever size or shape you want, and is very inexpensive.  I think I paid about $6.50 for mine.

Now all you need to do is use your glue gun and start sticking on those flowers!

Use the leaves to fill in the cracks between the flowers.  A little bit of the Styrofoam will still be visible, but when you're doing a white-on-white background like this, it just looks like part of the design.  If you were to do this project in a different color (I'd love to try it with wrapping paper!) I'd paint or cover the Styrofoam first.

I hope you've enjoyed learning how I made the backdrop for the Secret Garden baby shower.  I can imagine a ton of other applications for this type of project.  The most incredible photobooth backdrop ever?  cover cardboard columns and arches to make an insanely beautiful focal point for a wedding ceremony?  Me, I'm planning to re-use the backdrop as an art piece in my bedroom, whenever I get around to re-painting the awful purple sponge painting left behind by the previous owners.