Jen Bowles Design

Ebby's Colorful Sweet 16 Party: The Photo Booth

 

With all the fab colors we used for Ebby's birthday party, the idea of making a rainbow crepe paper streamer photo backdrop (as seen on...Pinterest) was pretty much irresistable. 

We are fortunate to have a random metal arched arbor positioned perfectly in the backyard for just such occassions.  On the morning of the party I gathered the approx.  274 rolls of crepe paper streamers from my studio, recruited Ebby and went to work.  Our tools?  A pair of scissors and a stapler.  Oh, and a step stool.  After about 20 minutes of cutting and stapling and the addition of a few props, this is what we had:

J

Come party time, the picture taking commenced...

At times, it was a bit windy...

 

This actually turned out to be one of my favorite shots

 

A few more guests...

More group shots:

Of course we couldn't really expect them to stay serious for long...

I tried to get a few pictures of each guest individually with Ebby (except for her one friend who had to work and arrived later).  It started off well...

Then we attempted to add bubbles...

Excuse me, what?

Royal Baby pose...

The return of the bubble assault...

Colorful rainbow photo backdrop = Sweet Success

To see more photos of Ebby's Colorful Sweet 16 party and see how I made the oversized birthday numbers, visit my previous post here.

Next time:  the (DIY) piñata!

Thanks for stopping by,

Ebby's Colorful Sweet 16 Party: The Decorations

It's official.  I am the parent of a 16 year old.  A permit-ted by the Massachusetts RMV to drive 16 year old no less.  And that's all she wants to do...but that's a story for another day.

This past Saturday we had Ebby's Sweet 16 Party.  Nothing crazy, a small scale gathering at home this year.  When we were brainstorming a theme a few months ago I asked Ebby what her favorite colors were.  Basically, all of them.  So that's what we ran with, a colorful, rainbow-inspired Sweet 16 party.  For a crafty peep, a colorful/rainbow-inspired theme is a goldmine for decoration inspiration.

I started with a Pinterest board (see it here: Rainbow Sweet 16) and added my own twist to several of the ideas.  What ideas?  Well, let's take a look...

At the front of the house, my Girl (aka tattered vintage dressform) got dressed up in a rainbow tulle skirt I made by gathering strips of tulle and sewing them on a wide grosgrain ribbon.

She also got a tissue paper flower pin ~ so fetching!  Ebby agreed...

 

Ebby is sporting white taped knuckles that spell out the word 'fate', inspired by Charlie on Lost

 

Also at the front of the house, I made these decorated plant stakes.  The one on the right is totally leaning in to being a party decoration...

The plant stakes were made by:

1.  spray painting a section of cheap (Dollar Tree) foam core

2. cutting out decorative squares

3. using a combination of handwriting with a marker and glitter, glue and a stamp, writing 'Sweet 16'

4. cutting several lengths of ribbon and tulle in different colors

5. tying ribbon around bamboo poles

6. using clear packing tape, affixing foam core squares to bamboo poles

A close-up picture would've been good there...

Most of the party activities were outdoors, but we did have a few indoor decorations including this Sweet Sixteen banner handcrafted by Bubbe the Beautiful:

These gift bags acted as  decorations until we were ready to use them (hello there Lulie Wallace flower painting):

Moving outside, we were oh-so-fortunate to have a sunny, not too humid day after an up and down week. 

The Wish Wheel was one of my favorites:

That's an old bike wheel (rescued from the trash) spray painted white with lots of glitterly clothespins.  Inspiration struck when it was time to write out the instructions for the Wish Wheel...

I used my set of vintage alphabet stamps in a rainbow of colors to stamp out 'WRITE A WISH' on top of a piece of white cardstock.  The rest of the instrux were typed on the computer and printed out.  The trickiest part was getting the sheet of cardstock into the vintage typewriter ~ it's in $5 at a yard sale condition...

Here's a peek at {most} of the Wish Wheel table:

Just a bit washed out in the bright sunshine (thank you iPhone...)

For this party, I finally mastered the art of the tissue paper pom pom.  Yay me!

We used fishing line to hang a bunch from the patio umbrella:

I even used a few as flowers in my sprayed painted tin can vases:

They looked lovely with the rainbow banner hung from the food table...

I even managed to whip up a few '16' paper pinwheels to put in the vases, despite an uncooperative glue gun.

My favorite decoration of the whole party was the photo booth we created by hanging crepe paper streamers from a metal arched arbor.  So. Many. Pretty. Colors...

And my favorite decoration in the photo booth set-up (aside from Ebby of course...) was definitely the oversized '16' numbers:

I had way too much fun making those numbers:

1. Using cheap (Dollar Tree) foam core, sketch and cut out your oversized number(s)

2. Gather pretty much all the cupcake liners you have in the house--hoarding comes in handy here, I only had to buy 2 colors that I didn't have on hand!

3.  Starting with first color, fold cupcake liner in half horizontally.  Place a dab of hot glue on one side of the fold to secure then fold in half vertically.  Cupcake liner should now look like a fan with a rounded edge.  Using hot glue, attach fold liner to the foam core. 

4. Repeat 200+ times, switching colors as desired, until numbers are covered

Caution:  you may love these decorations so  much that you move them to your living room when the party's over.

Not that I did that...ok, fine, I totally did!

Up next:  the colorful Photo Booth

Thanks for stopping by,

SEWN: New online class from Mary Ann Moss

This looks like fun!

SEWN from MAM on Vimeo.

Registration begins on June 15th, more info here.

Thanks for stopping by,

Fabric Patchwork Art Journal

Back in February I started the Brave Girls Soul Restoration online class and I'm happy to say that while I haven't completed all the projects, I'm still plugging along.

Journaling is a big part of the class.  We aren't art journaling per se, Melody Ross includes a plethora of art technique videos in the curriculum that you can use to enhance your projects.  A plain black art journal was just not going to do.

Hello, patchwork!

Here's the scoop...

I cut and ripped pieces of assorted fabrics and used Mod Podge to attach them to the journal.  Yep, rocket science right there ;-).

It is important to coat both side of the fabric with the Mod Podge ~ and a final coat over the top helps seal everything in.

The back cover

I did want to add a little something in addition to the fabric pieces so I freehand stitched the word 'restore' onto a piece of plain canvas cloth. 

I like to challenge myself:  I don't write the word on the fabric ahead of time and I don't know (yet) how to use my free motion embroidery foot on my sewing machine so I just kind of wing it with the regular foot.

I was relatively happy with how this turned out, I don't even mind the wonkiness of the uneven zigzag stitch when I went to attach the word to the backing fabric.

This was my second attempt at freehand sewing a word on the sewing machine.  Here's my first attempt:

(I like this one even better...)

I put this word on a drawstring bag a made out  of a vintage pillowcase.  This bag is to hold my Truth cards from the class:

Back to the journal, I'm contemplating putting a flower on it...

Hmmm, we'll see.

Thanks for stopping by,

#BostonStrong, #BostonProud

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino have announced the formation of The One Fund Boston, Inc. to help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15, 2013.

To make a donation to One Fund Boston, click here.

Charming Charleston, SC: Spring Window Boxes

Last week I was lucky enough to visit Charleston, SC with my mom (along with a special guest appearance by My Cousin Laura).  The plan was to escape the cold, gray days of early Spring in  New England and enjoy the bursting colors and warm temperatures of early Spring in Charleston.

So, part of that plan worked out.

While the sun did shine for most of the the 3 days we were in town, it was accompanied by cool temperatures (low 50s) and often gusty breezes.  However, Charleston's beauty did not disappoint. 

One of my favorite things to photograph in Charleston is the wonderful window boxes in the historic downtown area.  Here are some of my favorites...

Soon enough it will be time to plant my window boxes here in Massachusetts ~ and I'll have no shortage of inspiration!  Now if only some of that elusive Southern warmth could make it here...

Paper Mache Winged Heart Plaque

 

I had such good intentions of crafting Valentine gifts this year.  Then I got a late start and then the Blizzard of 2013/Nemo hit and we didn't have power for 5 days.  Before the lights (and heat) went out, I started making some paper mache hearts and a few other shapes.  Eventually, my work turned into this: Want to make one of your own?  Read on...

Pinned It, Made It: Teacup Suet Feeder

A few months ago, I pinned this adorable teacup repurposed as a suet feeder for birds:

Source: tuinieren.nl via Jen on Pinterest

 

I actually made a whole bunch before Christmas and gave them as  gifts.  I did however hold a few back for myself.  They've been sitting in the garage, me too lazy to get a piece of ribbon to hang them with. 

The meteorological arrival of Spring on March 1st seemed to coincide with the arrival of a whole bunch of hungry birds so I figured I'd better fill the birdfeeder and finally, hang the teacup suet feeder.

Perhaps the reason I kept putting off going to this garden bed was the fact that it looked like this:Thanks to Nemo, we have countless limbs and branches down around the yard.  Apparently it is also time to take down my mini picket fence... I stood the birdbath up, filled the bird feeder, and finally, hung the teacup.

By the time I got back in the house, at least 10 birds (mostly chickadees, a woodpecker or two) swooped in for some grub.  At the birdfeeder.

All day yesterday, the birds ignored my teacup suet.  I was bracing myself for another #PinterestFail.  All was redeemed this morning when I saw several birds taking a turn in the teacup.  Maybe tomorrow I'll bust out my real camera with the zoom lens and try to get a picture...

Hurray Pinterest, hurray birds and hurray Spring!

Polar Bear Collage

One of my favorite pieces of art that I've made and is actually on display in my house is a collage hanging in our Hall of Woof:

The main image is a vintage flash card and the rest of the collage is comprised of various paper scraps, some old (like 1880s old), some new scrapbooking paper.  Maybe part of the reason I like it so much is because I see it about 20 times a day ~ it's hanging opposite the bathroom door so every time you come out of the bathroom you see it...

As part of my efforts to create more art this year, I'm also trying to figure out which medium to work in.  Making more of these collages seemed like a good start.

 

Wes Welker, Polar Bear

 

Inspired by a small (4x4) collage by Sarah Ahearn that I purchased a few years ago and have in my studio, I created this polar bear scrap collage.

The central image was cut out of a children's dictionary from the 1970s.  Again, I used new and vintage paper scraps including bits of a nautical chart and the No. 83 (Wes Welker's number) from an 1880s ledger I bought years ago at the Metrolina Flea Market in Charlotte.  I miss that place...

I cut out the text from the original illustration and used it in the collage.  I painted the sides of the canvas and used a white pen to draw a few snowflakes.

My boys love animals and are currently into bears of all kinds so I hung this in their room. 

Art = Love.

Thanks for stopping by,

Hey Cupcake!

I haven't yet made the time to sit down and formally write out a list of resolutions or goals for 2013, but I do have a few floating around my head.

Go to more museums.

Eat more fruits and vegetables, less processed food.

Make more art.

My first piece of the year is a mixed media Cupcake collage.  Ok, it's mostly a painting, but I did add cut out book text and glitter, so technically:  mixed media.  Right??

I'm just going to go with it...

It's fun to play around with black gesso, love the outline effect. 

 

Maybe 2013 will {finally} be the year that I paint the kitchen cabinets white, create a mosaic on our home's foundation walls using rocks and shells, and master the scroll saw. 

Maybe not.

Making more art, though?  I'm pretty sure I can do that.

Thanks for stopping by,