as promised, here's what i did to make my ruffled party streamers used for my mom's bday party on friday.
and sorry, i don't have a photo of them hanging up. wah wah.
but i decked out their whole house. like, if it stood still, i stuck something to it.
it wasn't a surprise party, so she kinda mentioned that she didn't want any of that ugly over-the-hill party junk you buy at the store... i wouldn't do that anyway.
but do nothing? yeah right.
so i made it girly. and colorful. and sparkly.
we had tie-died/marbled balloons, and pink ones with white polka dots,
and her name in glitter. twice.
gold, and black and white mixed it.
it turned out really cute, actually.
i had pinned the streamers over a year ago and was waiting for the perfect chance to use them.
it was originally from the awesome blog: made.
you can find the link to her whole her tutorial here, i won't list out the steps because i credit dana 1000%.
her directions were easy to follow and i've said this before, i own a sewing machine but i use the standard settings that it came with... and try not to touch much because i don't really know what i'm doing.
and she made it easy, even for sew dumb people like me!
so i ran to hobby lobby and bought a few rolls of their standard crepe paper for $1.29 a piece.
i got aqua, hot pink, red, blush pink, and yellow.
(then later i had to run to our standard party supply store for some other party stuff. mine's called fun services. they had every single color and shade of color under the rainbow and they were only $0.99. so if you don't like what hob lob has to offer, try elsewhere. and i'm sure online has em all, too.)
i chose hot pink and aqua first.
followed her directions, turning up my tension to 9 and my stitch length to a 5. those were both the highest settings for my machine.
she also suggested keeping your right hand on your thread at the top of your sewing machine, to keep an even tighter tension. and that helped. it made it even more ruffle-y.
this is how i kept it free flowing and tangle free... because this stuff is delicate and kinda high maintenance otherwise.
after you're finished, just roll it up and it's ready!
i did every 2-color combo and 3-color combo i could come up with.
(please don't mind my ugly dining table. it's been on the to-do list for a coat of high gloss black paint for oh, 3 years now. maybe this year's the year.)
and just went and went and went.
i was going to go until i ran out of crepe paper (which makes a ton)
but my sewing machine broke!!
i swear i offended it somehow and now it doesn't like me.
second time in 2 months.
so instead of paying over half of what a new one costs to get it fixed, AGAIN...
i just got a new one.
the first one served it's purpose well.
and if one day i feel like paying to get it fixed, well then, i'll have 2.
but seriously, they're cheap at walmart.
and they have a 4 year we'll-replace-it-if-you-break-it warranty for only $15, so i took it.
and knowing me, i'll be using it, too :)
if you take your streamers down and store them properly, these will last for multiple parties.
so i think all of our parties just got a whole lot more festive.
{i think they're perfect for cinco de mayo*}
hope you had a good weekend.
JILL
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