Paper Straw Easels

Paper straws as easels! The perfect place for your favorite sweet message and a great place card for your Valentine celebration.

I can't help it. I love all things Valentine. The burst of reds and pinks in the middle of dreary gray winter is perfect-o. Today we're going all out with striped fun and a quick, easy project made from the classic paper straw.

The mini easels are fabulous for a romantic message, your child's adorable valentine, or your party's place cards! You can whip these up in ten minutes, too, so no extra stressing involved (fist bump).

For each easel you need two straws, a small piece of thin wire, scissors, and a bit of glue.

You have two straws. Take the first and bend it in half. Flatten the straw a bit at the fold. At the point of the fold, make a small cut that goes not even halfway through the straw.

Cut the second straw in half. One piece will be used as the back leg of the easel. With the other small piece, bend it in half to use as the base for the front of the easel.

Take the long, bent straw and the back leg straw and feed a small piece of wire through the leg and one of the sides. This will give you some control of how your easel stands. Trim the wires right at the bottom of the straws and curl them over the bottom edge of the straw.

Stand the tripod easel. With the folded small piece. glue each end to the front of the easel so that it creates a v-shaped shelf in the front for your Valentine message!

We've made a set of these for a Galentine party for my oldest. The easels have enough celebration in them to set the whole tone of love and friendship for any kind of festivity!

Happy celebrating!

xoxo, MJ

Holidays, DIY 2MJ KocovskiFebruary 5, 2015Valentine's Day, place cards, party decor

Ali's Birthday Extravaganza: the place cards

We partnered with Tiny Prints to bring you these projects. We were compensated for this post, but all ideas and opinions are our own.

**Ths post is meant to reflect a celebration of life. We honor and remember all those who lost their lives in 9/11. We will never forget.

Kids aren't the only ones who deserve incredible birthday parties. All this week, my Endless Summer Project gals - Alexandra Hedin, Amy of This Heart of Mine, Jennifer of Classic Play, and Melissa of Lulu the Baker, and I have been throwing a glam-tastic party for Ali! She is the weeknight party girl so we had to go big. I mean, this girl is a big deal. Check out her TV spot, highlighting some of the details from the party.

We were inspired by a pink and gold party invitation from Tiny Prints to set the stage for a night of great music, delicious appetizers, cool decor, a cocktail to write home about, and, yes, you need to tune in tomorrow for the amazing cake.

I wanted to create some unique placecards to celebrate Ali. Building off her cherry skewers, these name kabobs make fantastic bling for just about any party.

These place cards are super easy to make, and you can pull them together while the crostini is in the oven and the cake is cooling.

When the party involves a sequined tablecloth, you have to go over the top. So, for the creating, you'll need:

Skewers (like the wooden ones you use for grilling)
Wooden beads of various sizes
Gold leaf paint
Hot glue gun
Gold scrapbook paper or small letters

Taking wooden beads from uncoated to gold leafed is more than kind of amazing. Instant sparkle. First paint your beads. I painted mine on the skewers so that I could easily cover all sides.

Next, the letters. I cut mine using a die cutting machine, but store bought letters work just as well! Cut out a thin strip of the paper, fold it in half lengthwise. This is the paper on which the letters will be mounted.

Glue it on to the center of the skewer. Then glue the very bottom of the letters to that piece. The scrapbook paper is heavy enough to allow the letters to stand on their own.

Add beads to either side, on the skewer. With end beads, squirt a small dab of hot glue into the center, to keep the row of beads secure.

These name skewers look great on top of chargers or cocktails! Or as an introduction to dessert like Ali has them. Also, I might make one for my desk at work. Just because.

And Amy is bringing the cake. It's pretty spectacular - champagne cake!

Happy birthday, dear Ali. Happy birthday to you!

xoxo, MJ

DIY, Grown-Up Goodness, DIY 2MJ KocovskiSeptember 11, 2014birthday, party, place cards, tiny prints, wooden beads