Style Lush

Birthday Confetti

By Janet

Today is my birthday and I can think of no better way to celebrate than by sharing some DIY confetti projects. Okay, well I can maybe think of some better ways to celebrate--ways involving chamagne and thick slices of chocolate cake--but as far as partying on the Internet goes, DIY confetti it is! 

Let's face it: confetti is about the simplest project ever. You don't have to know any fancy crafting skills. You don't have to watch a tutorial on You Tube. You simply cut up some crepe paper with scissors or you go to town with a paper punch (or, easier yet, you open up the three-hole punch at your office that hasn't been emptied in three years). Voilà! Instant party! 

Watercolor Confetti from Oh Happy Day

Bowls of Confetti for Tossing

White Chocolate Confetti Popcorn

Confetti Shooters

Friends, go spread some confetti and drink some champagne! I'm sure you have something to celebrate!

Sweet Valentine's Day Printables

By Kate

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays, not only because of our tradition of homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast (though I'll admit, that helps), but because it's just plain fun to celebrate those you love and decorate the house with pink and red and hearts all over. (And bowls of candy. Those are fun, too.)

Here are some fun free Valentine's Day printables from around the web, many of which are making an appearance in my house this year. 

15 sweet prints, most of them available in a variety of colors from Sprik Space

DIY Valentine Treat bags, plus tutorial from Twig & Thistle

A classic lyric, modernized with pink chevrons, courtesy of Evelyn Kate Designs

Gift tags and a 5x7 print from Simple as That

Subway art in multiple colorways from The Bonjour Family

A modern twist on the Valentine's Day card, with customizable coupons from Love vs Design

An adorable set of 5 pink prints from Pizzazerie

{All photos credited to the individually linked blogs.}

Holiday Thank-Yous

By Janet

Have you sent thank you notes for all the lovely holiday gifts you received? Consider this a friendly reminder that thank you notes are due (or, if you ask Emily Post, long overdue--the standard is to acknowledge Christmas gifts before New Year's Day)! Don't fret, friends, better sent now than never. Here are some pretty cards to insipre you to get writing:

Merci Beaucoup Card, Yellow Owl Studios

Breanne Thank You Card, Rifle Paper Co.

Flowers Boxed Correspondence Set, Mr. Boddington's Studio

99 Thank Yous, Kate Spade

Happy Composing!

Pretty Paper Doilies

By Janet

Do you remember cutting and gluing doilies in elementary school to make Valentine's Day cards? It's been years since I've purchased a pack of doilies, but I suddenly have a renewed interest in making things pretty with a pack of delicate paper doilies. They are so inexpensive and they definitely don't need to have the third-grade cut-and-paste effect. In addition to Valentine cards, doilies can help make presents and weddings and notecards ever-so-lovely. For example:

See what I mean? I'll bet if you spent $2 on a pack, you'd find tons of pretty uses for the doilies. 

{Images via fromsoul, Martha Stewart, Papermash, Daydream Lily}

Favorite Calendars for 2012

By Blythe

These calendars are my favorites for 2012.  I have seen them in real life, touched their pretty pages, and entered my family members' birthdays on their dates.

PaperSource Art Gride Calendar

I feel about Paper Source stores like other people feel about the Nordstrom shoe department.  So many lovely things!  Not enough money to spend!  And for $24.95, this calendar is not cheap, but if I'm going to have to look at it every day for an entire year, I should love it.  And I do.  Pretty art, a simple calendar grid (including lined squares - when did those go out of vogue?), lots of space to write.  Perfect.

Handbags Page-A-Day Calendar

I love nice purses, and here's a way for me to enjoy 365 of them!

Moleskine Large Softcover Weekly Calendar + Notes

Every Moleskine person has her own preferred model.  Here's mine.  They are maddeningly difficult to find online (always sold out, for some reason), but I can usually locate one at my local independent bookstore.  I put my personal appointments on the calendar days, my to-do list and notes on the lined pages.  These things are beautifully made and just get better with age.

{photo credits: papersource.com, bn.com, amazon.com}

Bag of Birthday Tricks

By Jennie

After I showed you a new favorite (handmade!) card for 2012, I thought I'd share my tricks for remembering the birthdays of those you love this year. 

1. Write down ideas! 

Let's say your best friend has a September birthday. It's never too early! Start writing ideas down now. (The more time you have to think about it, the more thoughtful it can be.) I keep a notebook (like this one) in my purse and a Pinterest board for gift ideas to write down/pin ideas immediately as they come to me, even if I don't need to purchase something for a while. (Or, buy and wrap the gift now, set aside in a safe place, and wow the pants off whoever when you give them something they mentioned wanting nine months ago!)

2. Stock up on birthday cards.

It might be impossible to buy a gift for everyone you care about, but you can send a card. Stockpile cards throughout the year. Buy one every time you head to Target, splurge on a set from Etsy (love these), stick them in a shoebox as you collect them. Then, when you need to send one, you have a bunch to choose from. I also suggest doing this for stamps. Once a month, buy a sheet (might I recommend the "Celebrate" stamps), and keep the stamps in the same box.

3.  Write and send cards once a month. 

Birthday cards are much better received too early than too late. Sit down the first of each month and write out all the cards you want to send that month. Address them, stamp them, and send them all within the first few days. Voila, you're done for weeks!

4. Keep addresses updated and in one place. 

I use something like this, but you could use your phone's address book, a more traditional address book, or a Google Doc. When you sit down to write your cards, have whatever you use for addresses nearby. No searching out a random zip code or frantically texting someone to get their address. So much easier.

5. Keep birthdays in the same place. 

You can use all the things I mention above (Google Doc, address book, an app on your phone), or go old school and write down all the birthdays of those you love in one place (how cute is this book?) and reference that when you sit down once a month.  

***

I'd totally argue that birthdays aren't just for kids, and I promise that the smallest gesture (even just a birthday text, tweet, or Facebook message) won't go unnoticed. So, with these tips, vow to be better at remembering birthdays in 2012!

DIY Calendar Journal

By Janet

Looking for an inexpensive DIY holiday gift to give? How about this Vintage Postcard Calendar Journal? With just a fruit box, some vintage postcards, a package of index cards and a date stamp, you can create these fun calendar journals. 

It's a gift that just keeps getting better and better as each year passes and more entries are added. 

The simple instructions can be found here. 

{Image via Design Sponge}

Paper Crafts For Your Holiday

By Sara

As Leah mentioned yesterday, winter flower bulbs are a fantastic gift for just about anyone during the holiday season. I've gifted many different people with amaryllis or paperwhite bulbs and they are always happily received. This year, I spotted something equally lovely and much longer lasting:

This is a PAPER amaryllis kit from one of my very favorite paper stores: Paper Source. How adorable is this? I snapped up a couple to make and give to my grandmothers since they adore flowers but are getting awfully picky about any powerful scents. This is a fantastic alternative to live bulbs if your recipient is sensitive to smells. 

Paper Source also has paperwhite kits as well as a wide array of seasonal paper kits. I'm partial to the Poinsettia Wreath Kit:

And perhaps the Button Garland Kit is your style:

These kits are such a great way to add hand-crafted goodness to your home without having to come up with the idea on your own. Or, you know, spending hours pinning crafts on Pinterest that you might not actually get around to creating. 

All images courtesy of Paper Source.

Magazine Christmas Tree

By Janet

Last year, I completed exactly one holiday DIY project: a magazine Christmas tree. If you know me, you know I'm much more the sipping-eggnog type than the holiday-crafting type, so it was a small miracle that I even created the ONE magazine Christmas tree. It was a super simple project (although it took considerably longer than I imagined). This year, I plan to make another tree with the hopes that by 2016 I have a nice forest of magazine trees. 

Here are the instructions, if you are interested in turning your Pottery Barn catalogs into holiday decor, and here are 100 other creative ways to recycle old magazines. 

{Image: Martha Stewart}

Christmas Card Photos: Who's In Yours?

By Lauren

The holiday cards are rolling in at my house, and so far all but one feature at least one photo. We've been planning ours, too, playing with the various layouts available online and choosing just the right pictures from a recent session with our amazing photographer friend.

I've noticed a distinct trend among our friends and family, though: there are those who, consistently, only include photos of their child or children, and there are those who always include at least one family photo.

Source: tinyprints.com via laurenpetron on Pinterest

Source: tinyprints.com via laurenpetron on Pinterest

 

We fall into the family-photo camp.

I am woefully late to the Christmas card game, and have only been sending them out for three years. Before that, I just felt guilty as I received everyone else's thoughtful cards, but never could work up the energy to pull together a comprehensive list and start sending them ourselves. We weren't a card-sending family growing up, and by the time I started really feeling like I should send some cheer through the post, we had an enormous list of people to include. (I think we sent out about 150 cards last year. That's a lot, right?)

So far, we've done one child-only card, a family photo card last year, and we're planning a family photo card again this year. The child-only card happened sort of on accident, because we were including my son's birth announcement with our already-bought non-photo cards. (We'd bought really cute cards half off at Crane's after Christmas in 2008, and less than two weeks into 2009 found out I was pregnant. Rather than spend all that postage twice or let the Crane's cards go to waste, we just stuck the non-photo cards in with his photo birth announcement.) Now, I'm not going to turn my nose up at receiving pictures of anyone's adorable kids. Kids are cute! I have a strong preference, though, for receiving photos of the entire family, especially when we're talking about friends from school who live many states away, and whom I almost never get to see in person. I want to see what they look like! 

Now, maybe facebook and other social media sites have diminished my curiosity somewhat, because I often get to see friends' photos there. (Although I can think of at least one friend who only posts kid photos online, too.) Still, my preference remains. And I figure what's good for the goose is good for the gander: I'm not going to prefer seeing others' family photos without sending a family photo myself.

So I thought I'd ask you, dear Style Lush readers: Do you have a kid-only or family-photo preference when you receive cards? Do you send out a shot of the entire family, or just the wee ones? And, most importantly, what are the reasons for your preference and practice?