My Creative Blog:
Entertaining

A few weekends ago, my younger sister, Chrissie, my mom and I had the pleasure of throwing my older sister a baby shower. She is due on May 16th and I can NOT wait to lay eyes on that sweet little baby girl. My big sis does not like surprises, so she knew about the whole thing. We kind of went with a"sugar and spice" theme, although not everything fit into that box.

The shower was held at The Lucky Cupcake Company in Plumsteadville. This little shop is just too cute, and they serve some delicious cupcakes! Actually, the owner, Joanne, was recently on the show Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. We were even more excited to throw the shower here because her whole store is decked out in our shower colors- pink and gray. Score one for us! That means less decorating.: )

She even had a sign that fit the theme perfectly!

I haven't yet shared my love for Produce Junction on this blog, but now is the time! I seriouly love this place for fresh flowers. I got two dozen pink antique-looking roses for $6.50, big white carnations and some other purple flower things (I am sooo not a florist, as you can tell). All for about $10! These made about 8 arrangements, which were absolutely beautiful.

We purchased simple mason jars at Giant and then worked the flowers into them until they looked pretty. The plates, silverware, cups and napkins came from Dollar General. I was really impressed with their huge selection and really cute designs.

Joanne from the Lucky Cupcake made us a 5 dozen cookies in different varieties for our cookie bar favors. She made sugar cookies shaped as onesies (for the sugar part) and chocolate chip and oatmeal spice cookies (for the spice part) and each guest took a bag and filled it with their choice of cookies.

Chrissie had two friends with her that helped us out with the cute frames. I explained to them how to easily decoupage the scrapbooking paper to the frames (tutorial on that to come late- so easy!). We made one to hold the cookie bar favor instrucations and one for the scrapbook instructions. My sister took them home and will be able to put them in the nursery! Adorable and easy.

We bought the favor bags from Michael's, as well as the labels. Once home I printed the labels that said"Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice- Baby W 5-16-11". Then I folded the top part of the bag, punched holes in the front flap (so they could open them and put the cookies in) and threaded a ribbon through the holes and tied them in a knot.

We requested Joanne to make her pink champagne cupcakes-which actually have champagne and real sliced strawberries in them!- and they were to die for. She also included some vanilla buttercream cupcakes as well.

Our friend, Stephie, made my sister this diaper cake. The top held some of the sweetest little white shoes I have ever seen.

Loved all the details!

Some of you may know that the Lucky Cupcake store is now in the space where the Dream Dinners strore my mom and I started was. This pendant light used to have the DD logo on it, but Joanne had it changed to include her logo. So resourceful!

My best friend and awesome party-throwing partner!

And how could I not include a picture of my beautiful niece, Leah. I just love that face. Everyone went so well and I think Rachel had a great time. Time to come out, Baby W!: )
And now for the $10 Chubby's Gift Card Winner:

Congratulations, Chrissie Duncan ! (I promise this is not rigged!: ) She wrote: My fav kind of icecream is PB Cup Perfection…Coldstone.: ) Or anything that is edible.
Have a great Monday!

Well, I'm not sure how this could possibly be true, but my little girl turned three a few weeks ago.

I'll leave all the sappy stuff to my personal blog, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of the details of the party. Campbell is really into Angelina Ballerina and, a few weeks before her birthday, decided she wanted to have an Angelina birthday party. I scoured the internet and could not find really cute Angelina party supplies, so I decided to be creative and make some of my own and decorate the way I wanted to.

First off, Kevin and I created a"party room" in our basement. We decided to use the area of the basement that normally houses our ping pong and air hockey tables. We just moved those aside and got to work. The color scheme was pink, silver and white. We created a fun entrance to the party room, but hanging a streamer garland across the doorway and then hung regular streamers from the garland so the kiddos had to walk through to see the rest of the room.

Then, we hung pink and white balloons, as well as, paper stars that I had cut out of stock paper and embellished with glitter paint, from the ceiling. This was actually really easy, but a little time consuming. We used large plastic pink tablecloths to cover the far wall, and to create a backdrop for pictures and a few of the games. The round tablecloth on the floor helped the kids easily sit in a circle for the"Pass the Ballet Slipper" game, and was a convenient spot for them to eat lunch and not make a mess all over our carpet!

I made the favor bags using regular old paper bags and a tag that I created on Picnik. I punched holes in the tops of the bags and threaded sparkly ribbon through to close them. These are so simple and cheap, but looked adorable!

I found an awesome tutorial on DIY printable cupcake toppers, which, again I embellished with some silver glitter paint.

The very simple menu consisted of pigs in a blanket, mac & cheese, carrots, fruit salad, cheese puffs (Campbell's request), and snickerdoodle trail mix. The star on the far left was an indestructable pinata that none of the kids could open. Kevin ended up breaking it over his knee.

One of the games was"Pin the Mouse Ears on Campbellina". I mounted an 11x14 picture of Campbell on poster board. Then I framed the picture with a pink polka-dot ribbon.

I made sure to take a picture of each guest with Campbell for a sweet thankyou card we sent after the party.

I just had to include a picture of the pretty ballerina herself!

And this is the best picture of the day, taken by Monica. Jane B., you need to frame this!

Happy 3rd birthday, sweetie! We love you.


For my rookie post, I thought I’d stick with something I know and love… community. Community to me is all about relationships, REAL relationships… Remember how in college (yes, think way back) there was a group of friends that you always did fun stuff with on the weekends? Movies, Concerts, Cow Tipping (okay we tried it once just to say we had.)? Well, why do we so often assume that once we’re married and have kiddos, that we have to give up on regularly getting together with friends and we don’t make time for fun, non-kid activities? Don’t get me wrong, I love all the kid-friendly stuff we do with other families, but come on, how awesome does a night out with people you love, doing something out of the norm, and filled with adult conversation sound? To me it sounds heavenly and that’s why we started Group Dates a few years ago. Had Jess and I known we’d be blogging about it, we might have coined a trendier name, but for now - Group Date it is…

Group Date:

What? A once a month (ok maybe we’re slightly inconsistent, but once a month's the goal) couples date with friends.

Where? Anywhere! One couple is assigned to plan the date- the more fun and creative the better. Get us out of the suburban Applebee’s and a Movie routine!

The Real Housewives of Bucks County are going to help you start your own Group Dates (umm, so open to a cooler name for these.) Each month we’ll give you an idea for a new outing that you can invite your posse to. Here are just a few ideas to get you thinking…

Rock it Out…

I recently took my daughter to a birthday party here, and while watching the kids climb like crazy and have a blast, we decided this would be a perfect group date! Our competetive group of men will love creating challenges and showing off, and the girls, well… we're just thankful we're already married before we allow our husbands to see us strapped into the completely unflattering waist harnesses. We think this is a great group date because it's active, it's throwback-to-your-childhood type fun, and it's super affordable.

Doylestown Rock Gym We also usually like to plan an activity and then follow it up with dinner so there's time to talk and see what's going on in eachother's lives. There are so many great restaurants in Doylestown, but for this date you'd want to choose something that's on the caual side. Our guys love Smokin' Lil's and its casual atmosphere would be perfect for some hungry mountain climbers!

Just a Taste…

For those with slightly more sophisticated tastes, a group wine tasting makes a great Group Date. There are so many vineyards in Bucks County that we'll do a future feature on all the places to visit, but we took our posse to Sand Castle Winery in December and had a fun time tasting, learning, and most likely making our host crazy with our lack of wine knowledge! We know a wine tasting isn't for everyone, but if it fits in with your group of friends, it can be a fun way to learn something new.

A wine tasting tour would better fill a whole evening- pick a few vineyards and visit them all. Choose the families with the coolest swagger wagons and pile in together. Remember, REAL community… it doesn't matter if there are old sippy cups, or crushed golfish in the seats. Real Housewives of BC's December Group Date

Don’t let yourself be convinced that you don’t have time, or this is just a kid phase of your life and you’ll spend time with friends later in life. Make a commitment to increasing community and fostering the relationships with the people God has put in your life. Get out there and plan a Group date!

What are some dates your friends would enjoy?

After being inspired by Hayley, I hosted a Favorite Things party with 7 of my best girl friends last night. I asked each of them to find their favorite thing under $10 and wrap it up; one for each girl, as well as a favorite appetizer or dessert to share. We had so much fun that I completely forgot to take any pictures of my friends, but of course, we got a few of the goods!: )

Both of us had fun wrapping our gifts up pretty. I printed my adorable {free}tags from Jones Design Company and they were the perfect addition to my gift. Can you guess what our favorite things were based on the packages?

There was such a wide variety of favorite things, which made it that much more fun! Each girl wrote what she thought the other one brought and then we revealed our guesses just before we opened each gift. Some guesses were really accurate, and others were waaaaayyyy off. (Based on the packaging, I guessed that one of my friends brought trash cans, but really it was a tub of popcorn!) So what were our fav things? (Clockwise from top left corner.)
1. Homemade Iced Coffee with the fixin's & a Starbucks gift card. Jane used this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, and let me tell you: it was awesome! And that's coming from a non-coffee drinker.

2. Mrs. Meyer's Basil Hand Soap. If you guessed that this was mine, you were right! I've already gone on and on about my love for Mrs. Meyer's, so I'll stop now. 3. A thermal"sippy cup" for adults. Don't call it anything else or Jane might bite your head off. 4. Popcorn in a Christmas tin. Man, we used to get loads of these from my dad's co-workers etc. and so this brought back memories of eating more popcorn than is legally allowed. 5. J.Crew t-shirt and Land O' Lakes Mint Hot Cocoa. Yes, it's good to have friends with good taste, folks. 6. Spelt Flour. A bit unusual, but my friend Steph is unusually passionate about the stuff. 7. My sis made her famous Puppy Chow, because, duh, it's peanutbutter, chocolate and powdered sugar. Everyone's favorite mix! 8. Monica's gift was chocolate chip cookie dough and a pair of tight-fitting ankle socks. She actually buys the children's sizes because she's so particular about the fit. And you wouldn't believe how much cookie dough we consume in a year. It would probably break a record.
Of course, we had great food too! A yummy hot chocolate bar:

And I also made Cheddar Bacon Ranch Bread (aka Crack Bread) that is absolutely to die for. I'm sorry, but if you don't like this, your taste buds must not be functioning correctly. This has been my go-to appetizer lately. No joke- I've made this 3 times in the last 4 days, and it never fails to please.

I'm so thankful for good friends and sharing the little things that make us happy. I'm adding this to my list of annual traditions!

Before we get into today's post, we wanted to take a minute to stop and express our extreme sadness over what happened in Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday. We know that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and we pray that that is true for every person affected by this tragedy. Please keep those sweet children and their families in your prayers as you go through this holiday season and beyond. If you'd like to help in some way, you can donate here. Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close

to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few weeks ago we filled you in on one of our most-anticipated holiday traditions: a Favorite Things Party (we even explained what we do in a fun video which revealed that we really are dorks). To make it even easier for you to host your own, I created this adorable chalkboard-inspired printable invitation.

Well, because our girlfriends have such great taste, a recap of all the gifts is in order, don't you think?! You know Monica and I can't resist creating pretty things, and our gift packaging was no exception. Let's take a peek: Monica's Gift 

Monica used the fun wrapping accessories she talked about here. Each girl got a mason jar of"Melted North Pole Snow" and a striped paper bag with a super cute wood tag. I'm not going to tell you what her gift was yet, because she's going to show you later this week. It's a good one, friends. Definitely worth the wait.: ) Jessica's Gift

I wrapped my gifts using paper from Target (is there any other store?!), gray and white bakers twine and little paper tags that I hand-stamped with my mini alphabet stamps. Lest you think they were perfect, take a look at Monica's tag.

Haha. Oops, ran out of space, and then the dog licked the tag and smeared it.: ) Our Girlfriend's Gifts 

Before we open any gifts, we go around and guess what we think each girl brought. It's fun to see how well you know each other. It turns out that I don't know them very well I'm a bad guesser. Without further ado, here is our list of favorite things from our closest gal pals to you! 

1. Our most stylish friend, Jane (sorry everyone else!) brought homemade Candy Cane Sugar Scrub. I don't what recipe she used, but I found a recipe you can make for yourself here. She also gave us Eos Lip Balm, which is fabulous if you've never tried it. 2. My gift was so random. It included Brownie mix, because I'm obsessed with the batter. True story: I bought 6 boxes (one for each girl), but the night before the party I got hungry for brownie batter and used one of the boxes. My poor sister got jipped that night, but I made sure to buy another box for her later! Good thing she loves me anyway.;) I also gave Maybelline Illegal Length Mascara which I shared my love for back here. I totally dig that stuff. 3. My sister Chrissie's most favorite thing is getting a large Diet Coke from MacDonald's whenever she can, so we all got a gift card to Mickey D's, along with her favorite candy: Reese's. Her gift wins as most unhealthy, but also the most yummy!

4. Lindsey, our tell-it-like-it-is-friend (which we love, by the way!) gave us some pretty pink lace undies from Aerie and her most-used spice: Tony Chachare's Creole Seasoning. She promised us she'd give us her famous jambalaya recipe, as well. (I haven't forgotten, Lindsey! I'm coming after that recipe!) 5. Steph, our socially-conscious, health food-nut friend, (remember last year? She gave us Spelt flour. Hilarious) gave us her favorite bag from Worthwhile Wear, the company she and her husband started to help save women from human trafficking. Most meaningful gift for sure, but super cute and functional, too! 6. Jane, the sweet, sensitive and ultra-caring book junkie, gave us an Amazon gift card in a handmade card, which just made my day. I love downloading books to my kindle, and now I can do it without feeling guilty! 7. (Or 8, if you look at my picture above. I clearly can't count correctly) was Monica's gift, but like I said, you'll just have to wait to see that one!

Sadly, we didn't get a group shot of the seven of us, even after I made an announcement that no one could leave until we had done so. That's two years and counting that we have more pics of the presents, than of our friends. Boo for us. There's always next year, I guess!: ) So, if you came to our party, what would YOU bring?

Good morning! Welcome, Channel 69 viewers- we're so happy you decided to stop by today! We'll be posting again later today with all the details about how to make the Thanksgiving centerpieces and place cards we talked about on the show (and hopefully, post the video of our segments as well!) but for now, here's a little sneak peek:

See you this afternoon!

Grow old with me, the best is yet to be.
E.B. Browning

I have great parents. I mean, really great, Totally in love and fully committed to each other, God and their three daughters. Not only that, they are tons of fun.

In early September, my sisters and I threw a 40th wedding anniversary celebration for them and it was so much fun to plan! The party was held at the country club my parents belong to, Saucon Valley Country Club, which is absolutely breathtaking. My wedding reception was also there, and I have pics of my hubs and me in that very courtyard above in all of our wedding finery (do people say"finery" anymore, or have I been working with the elderly a bit too much lately?). They do a top-notch job on all their events, and this was no exception! My sisters took care of the order of events for the evening, which included a roast of my parents by one of my uncles (stinkin' hilarious, I tell you), a special song sung for them by David Felty, a family friend and broadway musician, and a dance to their wedding song played by Lou Lanza and his band. They got the hard part (at which they are amazing!), but I got to do the fun stuff: the decorations!

The welcome table housed an old window on which I wrote the guest's names and seating arrangements. I absolutely loved the way this turned out and added just the right touch of vintage. I also included three cute photos on canvas from different decades in their marriage, a guest book where each guest was encouraged to leave a note or a memory, their wedding album, and a bouquet of dried lavender.

I used this method for making the canvases and they turned out awesome. My only wish was that I used matte Mod Podge, instead of glossy, but I just didn't have time to run out and buy it. If you're going to attempt this, buy the matte kind!

The invitations were Tiffany blue and chocolate brown, so I wanted to use that color scheme in the centerpieces. My sister, Chrissie, and I toyed around with a bunch of different centerpiece ideas, but finally settled on using dried lavender from the Peace Valley Lavender Farm. We loved the subtle light blue color, the rustic, organic texture of the stalks and the smell, which was heavenly! We placed coffee beans in the bottom of simple vases, cut the stems of the lavender to the appropriate height and then placed the bouquet in the vase. Finally, I wrapped the vase with a brown grosgrain ribbon. We bought round mirror chargers form Michael's that reflected the light of the votive candles we placed around the vase. The centerpieces were very simple, but oh so pretty, and we were thrilled that we could incorporate a local Bucks County product into the decor!

Some of the fun details…

Mmmm…sangria. I prefer the white wine sangria, in case you were wondering.

We told our guests that they should expect heavy hors d' oeuvres, but we ended up having a pasta bar which was a blast and so delicious! Guests could choose their pasta, alfredo or marinara sauce and a variety of toppings like crabmeat, scallops, chicken, green peppers, onions, artichokes, olives and more. Perfect!

Because of all the miserable rain we had prior to the party, we weren't able to use the courtyard, so most of the party was held on the terrace where the band played and the guests danced.

Can't forget the cake!

All in all, it was a beautiful night of celebrating an inspiring couple. Here's to 40 more!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please don't forget to head over to Sew Dang Cute to place your vote for the best fabric project. We are only one step away from the final round, so we need every vote we can get!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Monday!

*Thanks to Steph and Ammon Perry,, for taking the photos for us!

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for reasons to have a party, so why not celebrate the return of school?! Whether or not your kids need some encouragement to get back in the swing of things, or you just can't wait to send your kids back to school (hooray for me time!), a party is definitely in order.
Back to School Breakfast Party You could plan a party just for your kids, or, if you're up for it, invite the neighbors, or the families whose kids ride on the bus with your own kids for a quick and easy breakfast before school, ala Katie Brown.
1. Set the table. Make going back to school something to look forward to with an awesome tablespread. I love the vibrant colors and cute centerpiece with apples, a clipboard and cute printable. So easy!

Source: 6dukes.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Go the extra mile for your kids with namecards at their seats, a little gift on their plate, and fun details like this lined-paper utensil holder. Adorable! And there's no way they won't feel special and loved after that!

Source: tipjunkie.com via Kim on Pinterest
2. Choose your menu wisely. Remember to pick food items that will give them energy to get them through until lunch.

Source: katiebrownblog.com via Jessica on Pinterest
A bagel buffet could include peanut butter and jelly, granola, raisins and banana, just to name a few.

Source: katiebrownblog.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Set out cereal in cute containers (you better believe sand pails and beach accessories are on sale now. Use them!)

Source: katiebrownblog.com via Stephanie on Pinterest
Fruit kabobs couldn't be easier and are so healthy!

3. Send them off with a treat and a little encouragement!
This is so cute and you can get the FREE Smartie Pants Printable to make it even easier.

Source: bethproudfoot.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Brown Baggin’ It

Source: onecharmingparty.com via Laura on Pinterest
There are a million ways you can spice up your kid's lunch bags to make them a little more fun. How about these adorable School Lunch Labels?

Source: littlelovely.typepad.com via The Paper Chick on Pinterest
Or these Back to School Lunch Printables by Little.Lovely.

Source: tothemoonandback143.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest
And don't just stop at decorating their lunch bags. Actually pack healthy foods in a fun way for them, too. To the Moon and Back has tons of suggestions for Awesome School Lunch Ideas. And how great is that lunch box?

Source: itswrittenonthewalls.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Or simply add a little love note to your kids to tell them how proud you are of them and how much you love them. (Click on the links below each picture to be taken to the site for the free printables.)

Bring on the Dessert!

Spoil your kids with an after-school treat, or wait until after dinner to celebrate the first day of school. It only happens once a year, people, so bring out the big guns!: )

Source: bettycrocker.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: womansday.com via Erin on Pinterest
Mmm… cake pops.

Shawni, of the blog 71 Toes, has a Traditional First Day of School Cookie Chat after school where she sits down and talks with each of her five kids (yes, five!) about their first day. It's such a great idea to start this tradition when they are young so it's something they can look forward to each year, and a way you can easily connect with your kids. Because really, who doesn't love cookies?

Source: iammommy.typepad.com via Kiwi on Pinterest
According to the NY Times, these are the best chocolate chip cookies ever. Sadly, I can't vouch for the validity of this statement, but maybe one of you are willing to put that recipe to the test for an after-school cookie chat. (And please, by all means, feel free to send us a batch so we can"taste-test" these so-called best cookies ever.)

Let your kids know they're special with a little extra love this year.
Back to School never was sweeter!

Have you voted today? Please take a minute to do so- we will love you forever!

We party hard in the Mangin family… We I love themed parties and have for about 10 years… before all the party planning websites and pinterest existed, I actually had to be creative and come up with ideas on my own {gasp!} I used to go a little extreme with the parties, but the hubs made me scale back I learned a little self control. I never went nuts like ponies and millions of dollars, but party prep would take FOREVER and other wifey duties would be ignored. Right now I'm planning Kira's 4th birthday party. She's wants a DOLPHIN themed party… UGH. I just designed her semi-dolphiny, semi-nautical invitations. I'm going to go with an ocean/dolphin party. She's cool with it.

I thought it would be fun to pull up some old party pics and get the creative juices flowing. These pics weren't taken for a blog, so go easy on me!
Kitty Party Obsessed with cats, we did a kitty theme. Pink. Black. All things Cat.

Probably my favorite cake ever.

Pumpin Party I took the easy way out and went with the fall theme since it's a November birthday. Pumpkin Mini Golf

Bobbing for Apples

Garr… Pirate Party It's been done 100s of times, but he loved pirates! (Oh, my word… do you love that I accidently drew him a french mustache instead of a piratey one?)

Wish this picture was better, but we made two huge plywood boats so the kids could have cannonball wars and walk the plank!

So, no we're not fancy-schmancy, but my kids LOVE their theme parties, and their mommy does too! All our friends know how we roll and they're great sports… Minute to win it anyone?

Starwars Babyshower anyone?? Little fella was going to be named Lucas after Luke Skywalker!

Ok, looking back at these made me laugh and inspired me to get my butt in gear and get all dolphiny! Here's a few pins to get me going…

Source: newenglandfineliving.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest

Source: thesweetestoccasion.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
How do you partay?

Ok, this is the last thing I'll write about Charlie's 2nd birthday party- I promise!: ) We were super excited when we were asked to do a project using the new Tulip Tie Dye Kit. True story: when I first met Monica she wore a lot of tie dye t-shirts. For a Bucks County girl like me, that was really strange, but all that tie dye know-how came in pretty handy for this project!

This kit is really cool. Instead of the old-fashioned method, they provide you with five squeeze bottles so you can place the dye exactly where you want it. Of course, we didn't use it that way. We're rebels like that. We used a dropcloth for the pennant banner and the sign because we thought it would give this project an aged look, plus it's cheap! Lay down the plastic cover over the surface you're going to be working on.

Make sure you wear protective gear…

…and dress the part. You don't want to get this dye everywhere. (Not that we did, or anything Nope, not us. We're clean project-doers.)

Create a template for your pennant and trace it onto the dropcloth. We cut out about 10 triangles.

It was really easy to mix the dye because you just add water to the powder in the squeeze bottles provided. No mess…at least, at first.

We decided on dip-dying our pennants, so we poured the dye into bowls and dipped the tips into the dye. We held it there until it was sufficiently saturated, pulled it out and wrung it out a bit.

Then we laid them out to dry before we dipped the other ends. (Note the towel we destroyed in this process in the right hand corner.)

They got this great blue jean and weathered red color almost immediately and we were so excited! The colors were perfect for my All-American boy themed party.

For the sign, we measured a 2x3 piece of dropcloth and cut it out.

Monica used the traditional method of twisting and tying random sections with rubber bands,

and then dipping them in the dye. After the drop cloth was dyed, we wrapped it in a plastic bag and let it soak in over night (just follow the directions on the box and you can't mess up!)

The next day, we hot-glued rope to the backs of the pennants right along the seam of the dropcloth. That made it easy to glue on a straight line!

We left a lot of rope at either end so we could tie our pennant banner up when we hung it.

You're supposed to wash these after your done, but we didn't think they would get a lot of wear and tear, so we skipped this step. We just ironed it a bit before writing"Happy Birthday Charlie!" on it with sharpie.


We hung them up at the party and were thrilled with the way they look!

I have plans to hang the pennant banner in Charlie's new reading nook, but that will have to wait until after vacation next week.

This was a fun project (albeit, very messy!) For tons more tie dye inspiration and how-to's check out Tulip Tie Dye at these places:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ilovetocreate (@ilovetocreate) Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ilovetocreate and http://www.facebook.com/ILoveTulipFashionArt Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ilovetocreate When was the last time, you tie dyed? Did you ever consider trying it out for home decor?

* Tie Dye Kits are available at Walmart, Walmart Canada, Michaels, JoAnn, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, Hancock Fabrics, and Meijer. Tulip Tie Dye Kit contents and colors may vary by store. *Disclosure: I was provided with the Tulip Tie Dye Kit and Surface Cover for this project. I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with iLoveToCreate.com and Blueprint Social. All opinions and photographs are mine.

The other day I mentioned that my favorite decoration from Charlie's All-American boy party was this super easy paper table runner. It's almost laughable how easy this thing was to make, but I figured that some of you like a simple DIY as much as I do, right? In less than 15 minutes, you can make a completely custom table runner for any occasion- the possibilities are endless with this thing! Plus, a paper runner is perfect for something like a kid's birthday party or an outdoor BBQ because it adds some color to your table, but can be thrown out if it gets messy.

Last week I bought a huge roll of drawing paper from Ikea for $4.99. I measured 7 feet of paper, grabbed red and navy paint that I had on hand (I used regular latex paint, but you could easily use acrylic paint-actually that would be easier!), and then used a chalk line to create a straight line on either side of the paper for my stripes. We didn't worry at all about painting a crisp line, because I was going for a rustic feel (that's imperfect, in layman's terms: ).

I also bought a wooden star at Michael's for about 50 cents. Buying an actual stamp that was the right size would have been expensive, and I knew this would work just as well. I hot-glued a stone onto the back for a handle- it's all about using stuff you have! You can find these wooden things in any shape you want so making a runner that fits your theme is easy!

I painted one side of the star…

…and rocked the stamp all around to get full coverage…

…and when I lifted my stamp, this is what I had:

I love the wood grain affect this created!

That's it! I love my paper table runner, and the fact that it took me less than 15 minutes to make allowed me to not feel bad at all to throw it out without batting an eye!

I thought it would be fun to see some other paper table runners people have created around blogland. Some of these things put my little table runner to shame!: )

Pinwheel table runner from Green Wedding Shoes

Crepe Paper runner from Good Housekeeping

DIY Wrapping Paper Runner fromMartha Stewart Weddings
Cheap and cute- just my style!; ) Have a great weekend!