pom pom garland

Every year I like to come up with a handmade garland for our tree and this year I wanted to make something really colorful, fun and kid friendly. I decided on a pom pom garland (but I didn't have the time to make my own pom poms or the budget to buy felt pom poms) so I grabbed lots of bags of colorful pom poms from the craft store and got to work!

Using a needle and thread I strung the pom poms onto the thread until I had a really, REALLY long garland.

(I knew the project was a success when I realized Lucy ran off with a stash of pom poms!)

The result is a really colorful (and funky) garland that compliments our collection of ornaments. Now its time to decorate...

Recycled Bunting Flags

Yesterday was my husband's birthday but in our house we celebrate birthdays for the WHOLE entire week! I decided that creating colorful bunting flags for our celebrations were a must and of course I had to make them out of recycled materials.

Do those business reply mail cards in magazines annoy you as much as me?!? Well, for months and months I have been saving every single card that falls out of a magazine with the plan to make something out of them- this flag project was perfect opportunity to put them to use.

I started by painting the cards with a quick coat of acrylic paint (on both sides).

While the paint was still wet, I added pattern by stamping and painting simple designs on the surface.

Once the paint was dry I cut the cards into triangles and small rectangles.

Then I sewed the flags together with a straight stitch, leaving a little extra room in between each flag.

I sewed 4 strands (measuring roughly 5 ft long)

and hung them all over the dining room.

They are so pretty and fun I might just have to keep them up year round!