DIY Summer Flower Garland

Brittany

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July 31, 2020

Collaboration leads to inspiration

The inspiration for this particular garland came from two places: our wrapping paper products designed for Alexis Mattox Design, and a collab we did Chatbooks! The floral patterns we did with AMD were just so fun and punchy that we had to make a garland inspired by the wrapping paper. Chatbooks used some of those same wrapping paper designs as covers for their books. After seeing that, it occurred to me that I wanted to see these colors and flowers everywhere. Cue the crafting!

This DIY Summer Flower Garland is the perfect decoration for all your summer soirees. And is pretty enough to keep up all year long! You’ll be happy to hear that the materials were pretty cheap too. It’s made with crepe paper and cardstock, and is totally customizable. You can change the colors by simply using a different color paper. If you do play with a new color scheme, send me pictures!! Color is my favorite.

Where to put your paper flower garland

The fun part about a garland is that it can go anywhere. Wreaths go on the front door, flower vases on tables, but garlands? They do it all. In our Flower & Leaf Garden E-Book, we put garlands over the backs of chairs, as table runners, wound around a staircase handle, hung over doorways, or delicately draped on walls. If you’re planning a wedding, think of how fun it would be to make a DIY Summer Flower Garland with friends! It would be beautiful hung over a trellis or fireplace or as a photo-wall backdrop.

This project is great to work on with friends or alone! Heck, you could probably collab with a friend from afar! Mail each other your pieces to create one big DIY Summer Flower Garland! If crafting is your cathartic alone time, this garland is perfect for you. Spread out over a few days, and soak up that creative time. Summer days are meant for crafting, am I right?

More paper garlands for every season

You can download the templates for each of these garlands (and more!) individually here or all of them together for a discount!

DIY Summer Flower Garland

Materials:

Crepe paper in green, cornflower blue, orange, white, and yellow
Cardstock in blue, pink, yellow, and white
Acrylic paint in coral, yellow, and blue
Wire flower stamens in red
22 gauge cloth covered floral wire in 18″ lengths
Spool of 24 gauge florist wire
Hot glue gun
scissors
Templates

Instructions:

Full instructions can be found here!

Once you’ve created all the individual flowers, begin to hot glue the elements onto the green floral wire. Mix in plenty of green crepe paper leaves. We made our garland about 6 feet long.

Photography by Anna Killian | Crafting by Ashley Isenhour and Rebecca Hansen

Dyed Watermelon Blanket for National Picnic Month

Brittany

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July 21, 2020

9

Dyed Watermelon Blanket for National Picnic Month

National Picnic Month + Watermelon Day

August is National Picnic Month, and Watermelon day happens to be in August too! August 3rd is the day to whip out those blankets, slice up some fruit, and head outdoors. Having an adorable (and on-theme) picnic blanket is the cherry-on-top for the perfect picnic.

This fabric stated out as a tablecloth that we turned into a cozy picnic blanket! If you’re reminded of the Harry Styles video, just know this was our idea first 😉 It was planned with friends and family in mind, all having a good time out in the summer sun.

This DIY watermelon picnic blanket is also the perfect size for social-distancing. Picnicking is one of the few acceptable social activities in big cities, and the perimeter of the blanket is a subtle reminder to stay 6 feet apart even while getting closer together. Just add some delicious food (like this watermelon limeade), outdoor games, and fun activities and you’re set!

Watermelon Sugar High

If you just can’t get enough of all things watermelon sugar, let me point you in the right direction. Obviously, there’s the song of the summer by Harry Styles for all you fangirls. We have a super cute tutorial on watermelon friendship bracelets, and I am hoping to cover my arms in them like sleeves. Feel free to send me one! If you love the idea of a picnic but hate the “outside” part, try this watermelon tablecloth instead. This one is all paper, and easy enough that you could make it a family craft. If you’re still not satisfied, check out this roundup post with a bunch of cute watermelon ideas! We’ve got everything from doormats to lemonade.

DIY WATERMELON PICNIC BLANKET TUTORIAL:

See how to make the DIY watermelon picnic blanket below!

Continue

Paris-Inspired Design: A Bastille Day Bash

Brittany

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July 13, 2020

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Paris-Inspired Design: A Bastille Day Bash

How to visit Paris without leaving home

Bastille Day is akin to the USA’s Independence Day in that it marks an important historical turn towards democracy. The bastille building itself was an armory that citizens of Paris stormed and set political prisoners free on July 14, 1789. Modernly, people celebrate in different ways all over the country! My favorite tradition takes place each year in the gardens of the President’s residence, the Palais de l’Elysee. The President hosts a picnic!! Isn’t that amazing? Take your own trip to France tomorrow by celebrating Bastille Day!

Cue the inspiration for my Bastille Day celebration: I’m throwing myself a picnic. Make your picnic simple and clever with these printable placemats!

Our Paris cake toppers from illustrator Jessie Kenelos Weiner, author of Paris in Stride are available for FREE! Download your own and make breakfast extra sweet tomorrow morning. Plus, you can count this as tomorrow’s homeschool geography lesson 😉

How to celebrate like a Parisienne

Lars girls love garden parties and all things French, so this particular celebration is downright delightful. I whole-heartedly suggest you decorate with some adorable France printables, as they are an easy way to play with the stylish theme: Paris-inspired design. Take color cues from there! The tricolore of red, white, and blue is simple and classic – just like French design. Don your best Breton striped top (blue and white of course), chic trousers/skirt, and a pop of color in the form of red lipstick. Stay up late and light off fireworks to celebrate the end of the day.

Print off our Paris crown and invitation suite here for your next party. Whether you are celebrating Bastille Day, a garden party, a birthday party, or anything else – this party is sure to be tres chic.

How to decorate and dress like a Parisienne

I can’t write about Paris without mentioning how much I adore the style and design identity of this city. With each encounter, I feel creatively inspired. You got your first taste of this with our tips on how to recreate the iconic style of Monet’s French home. And everyone knows Paris has the best fashion. They even have a best baby’s clothes! As I figured when I visited while pregnant with Jasper. Here are a few of my favorite tips and tricks for incorporating Paris-inspired design in your home and wardrobe.

1. Don’t overdo it

You’ve probably heard this quote from Coco Chanel: “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take at least one thing off.” I’m pretty sure she is talking about accessories here… Still, the advice stands – Paris-inspired design/fashion tends to be somewhat minimal. The pieces themselves can be extravagant and ornate, but use a light hand when decorating and accessorizing.

2. Mix the classic with the eclectic

Part of what makes Paris so magical is its history. There’s just so much that has happened in that ancient city, and all of it feels magical. Select pieces that reflect the growth of the city! Ornate mirrors and crown moldings look fantastic juxtaposed with chic European modernism. Picture a chunky strand of gems or pearls atop a simple black suit jacket. Or fabulous shoes beneath a pair of pleated shorts. Invest in a few significant Paris-inspired pieces, then really showcase them.

3. Embrace romance

The feel of Paris is really worth celebrating and if you’ve been, you know that feeling is one of romance. It’s almost as if some city official found a way to transform Edith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose into a scent and then pipe it through every vent in the city. If you’ll take a moment to recall the romantic moments of your life, I’m sure you’ll discover what I have: it’s all about the details. The same idea goes for creating a romantic feel for a space or look! Pick one romantic touch, like long-stemmed candles, your grandmother’s hand-embroidered pillows, ornate frames surrounding photographs from memories you love, sheer curtains, or a touch of crystal. Little details like these can make even the coldest rooms come alive.

Paris-inspired Decor

France-inspired art prints to hang on your walls

We firmly believe anyone can pull off a beret, and this print from Monica Dorazewski agrees! Or for a more subtle reference to the city of love, transport your self to the Palais-Royal with this Stripes is Rhythm print from Jaqueline Diedam.

Fill your home with the art of French artist Julie Marabelle. We carry some of her stunning papercut art in the Lars Print Shop and they have added a touch of a French garden to my bedroom. You can read more about her life in France here.

Other fun French items

Everything you need for Paris-inspired design filling your home. If you are planning a trip to France, our favorite guides are Paris in Stride which you can read more about here. As well as Paris by Design by my good friend Eva Jorgensen. You can also find our guide to small shops in Paris here. As well as our itinerary from our last visit to France, here!

Enjoy!

3 Pipe Cleaner Crowns (+ a Birthday Party Sale!)

Brittany

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June 8, 2020

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3 Pipe Cleaner Crowns (+ a Birthday Party Sale!)

DIY Pipe Cleaner Crown

You know us, we take any opportunity to wear a crown. We have been watching the delicate gold crown trend with wide eyes, and even made our own version here when our team member Hailey got married! And we have an entire e-book full of printable crowns for every holiday! Today’s crown is kid-friendly and YOU-friendly, easy to make for any (every) occasion, and ready to be personalized.

Supplies:

Instructions:

Start by creating the base of your crown with 1 or multiple pipe cleaners. You can create a headband type form or a circle crown form.
Carefully shape the pipe cleaners to your desired shape. Be carefully not to make any sharp unwanted bends.
Create the pipe cleaner crown shape you want, using any of the photos above for reference.
Embellish your crown with gems, pom poms, and anything else your heart desires to add some sparkle!
Plan a birthday party to wear your crown to

Birthday party supplies on sale now

In honor of naming June Birthday Month, all of our birthday party printables are 15% off for the entire month of June! Stock up now for a year’s worth of family birthdays.

Shop more crowns, invitation suites, banners, and everything you need to make all your 2020 birthday parties special! And keep an eye out for even more birthday items joining our shop all throughout this month!

All of the items below are 15% off now

Cinco de Mayo Drive By Party

Brittany

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May 1, 2020

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Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday that commemorates the battle of Puebla. It’s not Mexico’s Independence Day but a common celebration in the United States. Our family visited the city of Puebla when we lived in Mexico City, and fell in love with its charm and history.

For Cinco de Mayo, we love inviting friends and family to a party. But with the quarantine this year we’re hosting a drive by fiesta. I loved Brittany’s papel picado idea and will use it as inspiration to decorate my door. The bright, festive, papel picado decorates the streets of Mexico for festivities, with that as our backdrop we’ll give our friends homemade bottled salsa, totopos (tortilla chips), and Mexican candy!

– Nadia @Casa_Palomí

DIY Cardboard Mariachi Instruments

We made some instruments out of cardboard and painted them. A sweet yet simple touch!

DIY Cardboard accordion

This is my favorite! I love how it turned out.

Materials:

Two rectangle boxes about 4 or 5″ by 8 or 9″
3 pieces of white office paper
House paint or acrylic
paint brushes
tape

Instructions:

Paint your cardboard boxes in the color of your choice. Once it’s dry, add on the black details of the keyboard.
Make an accordion fold in the office paper the tall way and glue the three pieces of paper together.
Add on a handle by cutting a 1″ strip and taping it to the side of the box.

DIY Cardboard Guitar

Materials:

cardboard
embroidery floss or string
scissors or craft knife
glue gun

Instructions

Cut out two layers of the guitar base, including the neck.
Cut out a circle in one of them.
Paint the two pieces and then glue and glue together.
Add on a 2″ strip for the bridge (where the strings are held at the bottom)
Add on the neck of the guitar
Glue the strings onto the bridge and up onto the neck.

DIY Cardboard trumpet

Materials:

Cardboard
paint

Instructions:

Draw a trumpet shape onto your cardboard.
Cut it out with your scissors or craft knife.
Paint the trumpet.

Voila!

DIY oversized papel picado

Now, for the ginormous papel picado. This one is giant impact! And requires very little money, just a bit of time.

Materials:

butcher paper
craft knife
scissors
masking tape
plates and cups for perfect circles

Instructions

Measure out the door you’d like to attach your papel picado to. A lot of party supply places or office supply places have butcher paper by the foot and it’s about 3′ wide. We did ours 12′ and then lined up three pieces together and taped them on the back.
Draw your design onto the paper. We used our own papel picado in our shop for reference. If you’re not confident with your drawing abilities, you can project the image onto the wall. Another trick is to divide up your image into a grid so you know where to apply the design.
Once it’s all drawn out, start cutting it out! We used bowls and cups to create the scalloped edges and circles. But we also liked it to not be perfect cut so we allowed for the handmade touch.
Apply it onto your garage door with some safe tape (like masking tape).

If you’re looking for colorful decor, look no further than our Fruit Tissue Honeycombs and classic Papel Picado Streamers. You might have seen a mini version of the streamers in our fiesta a few years ago, but we love bringing them back whenever we can! They’re a template that you can cut out on your craft cutting machine (AKA EASY) and can be made to any size to fit your Cinco de Mayo party! The Fruit Tissue Honeycombs are simple to make as well, and we think they add a fun vibe to the fiesta as a big pop of color and shape.

And the perfect centerpiece for your table? Try our Paper Wedding Bouquet, inspired by the colors of Cinco de Mayo! Make a large bouquet to sit in the middle of the table, or challenge your guests to create their own, and invent a new tradition this year making paper flowers.

Looking for more inspiration for your fiesta? Check out our previous post detailing our very own Lars Cinco de Mayo party we hosted in years past. We think we got everything: the streamers, the colors, and the food! We listed out our fiesta menu, and created a Cinco de Mayo party collection of things that we loved!

Last Minute Easter Printables

Brittany

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April 10, 2020

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Easter gift tags and cards

For the final touch even the Easter bunny himself would approve of, print off these cards and add them to baskets and gifts. You can make it simple, and add a punny carrot tag. Or add a handmade touch with our Danish Easter letters template.

Add a hair clip to these printable “Here’s to a good hare day” cards. Or sprinkle in happy compliments for an easter basket for a friend!

Sugar-free Easter egg fillers

During social distancing, I have been doing my best to fill Jasper’s easter basket with fun activities to keep his little hands busy. The last thing I need is a sugar frenzy! (for him, or for me when I sneak his cadbury eggs.) These coupons above were made to be printed off, and take the place of candy filling your eggs for the hunt. Your kids will be extra surprised this year when they find coupons to cash in for a movie night of their choice, family karaoke, and more fun! There are blank coupons provided you can fill in with your own activity ideas too! It’s truly the Easter gift that keeps on giving, to the whole family!

Easter coloring pages

Print off copies of our exclusive Easter coloring pages for the whole family to enjoy!

Easter activities

We could not be more excited about the addition of these whimsical Easter bunny and chick paper dolls to our shop this year! You can print off multiple outfits, and even a tablescape scene for the dolls to enjoy. Available in a colorful option OR a blank one to color in and make the fun last even longer!

The set above includes all our paper dolls sets and Easter coloring pages. Complete your fun-filled Easter basket with this activity set!

Explore our full Easter shop here and get all ready for Sunday!

Easter Shop Now Open!

Brittany

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April 1, 2020

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Easter Activity Pack

First up, our Springtime Activity Pack. This is intended to sit snuggle inside of an Easter basket for your craft child. It comes with a set of double sided origami paper, ten rolls of beautiful washi tape and an acrylic tape dispenser, a set of pastel rainbow pens, and a set of colorful glue sticks. SO fun!

Stay tuned for some origami Easter tutorials!

Easter basket stuffers for your child

Next up, the cutest accessories you ever did see! I mean, look at this adorable bunny visor!

And bunny socks for someone who is TOE-tally awesome?! I may make Jasper wear these! 😉

Easter Hair accessories

Now for the hair clips, which are my personal favorite.

Here’s to a good HARE day (comes with the card so it can go straight into the basket). A velvet bunny hair tie.

And some metallic gold bunny bobbi pins. These are my personal favorite.

As well as some bunny hair clips in blue and deep rose.

Toddler Easter basket stuffers

Now, for the babies! I LOVE this wooden egg set. One half of them come with magnets and reveal a little yolk inside. How sweet is that?!

Ok! Those are my faves from the bunch, but we have more! Head on over to the Lars Easter Shop to see them all!

Birthday Cake Topper with Brother

Brittany

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March 18, 2020

1

As you can probably tell by now, we can’t stop talking about how much we love National Craft Month. It’s the perfect time to celebrate your creativity and get to work crafting up all of the amazing things you’ve been thinking about. If you are feeling like you are in a bit of a craft funk we have teamed up with our friends at Brother to bring you a sweet yet impactful project to get you out of your slump and on your way to crafting town!

Using the Brother P-touch ELITE we created these colorful flag cake toppers inspired by our newest line from Abby Low found in the Lars Print Shop. You may know by now that we love celebrating and since we are already celebrating craft month we figured we may as well celebrate anyone and everyone out there with a March birthday with these adorable birthday flag cake toppers.

Birthdays are so very special and we tend to go bananas decorating and that’s part of the reason we love using the P-touch ELITE because of how easy it makes it to create personalized ribbon! Think up your birthday phrases and print them on ribbon (the P-touch Embellish ELITE prints on tape too!) so you can create the perfect phrases, specific for your birthday queen or king!

Here’s how you do it!

Directions:

Pick your color palette
Paint your skewers to the colors you have chosen. We painted three skewers of each color and used 21 skewers and six colors (the more the better in our opinion)
Set aside to dry.
Paint the wood beads in the same palette, three of each color in all six colors.
Set aside to dry.
Download the Ptouch Design&Print app to your phone!
Select “Create your own label”.
Select “text” and add in whatever you want the ribbon to say or even a graphic!
Once the text is in click “Done”.
Adjust the “Taper length” depending on how long your message is.
Scroll to the left to find “label alignment” and align your text to the right”
Once your text is in and the alignment is correct click “print”
Set your ribbon to the side and begin building your flag frame.
Attach a piece of wire around the dried painted skewer by wrapping it around the top.
Once the wire is attached, measure the length of the wire against the length of the ribbon and cute wire accordingly.
Using the glue stick apply glue to the back of the ribbon.
At the mid point on the ribbon place the skewer there and fold the ribbon in half so the wire is in in between the two halves.
Attach a painted wood bead to the top using a hot glue gun.
Place completed flag in cake!

We love using the Brother P-touch ELITE it is the perfect easy-to-use ribbon and tape printer that you can use to create any and all of the exciting crafts you have planned for this Craft Month! We can’t wait to see what you create!

The green polka-dot background is from our Lars Print Shop. Thank you @glweddingcakes for the lovely cake!

DIY Rainbow Lucky Charms Balloon Arch

Brittany

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March 17, 2020

1

In true Lars fashion, our balloon arch is BIG and COLORFUL, and made up of Anagram’s wonderful foil balloons. We said this before and we will say it again, we love these balloons because they are deflatable, and therefore reusable which we love, helps the environment and cuts cost since you can use them again!

How to make the balloon arch frame for under $10

We knew we wanted an arch that was much larger than anything we’ve ever done so we had to think BIG! For our pumpkin arch we made one small enough for our walkway and it worked so well. And this time we went double the size!

Here’s what we did to make the balloon arch frame:

We used three 10′ PVC pipes connected with their little connectors (all under $10!).
We pounded a piece of rebar on either side of the pole into the ground with a hammer and the pipe slid on nicely over the rebar.

Blowing up the Balloons for an arch

This is one of the questions we get over and over again “How far in advance can you blow up the balloons?” Well, it depends on the type of balloon and the weather and if it will be indoors or outdoors. To ensure freshness, I’d recommend 1-2 days. Anything over that is probably fine but you just never know. Some of the balloons even have tiny holes in them and you don’t know that until a few hours when it’s in the arch and starts to shrivel up.

It took us 5 people in one morning to blow up all the balloons for this arch. Mind you, we blew up waaaaay too many because we didn’t know exactly what shape we were going to build yet and we wanted to be sure. We used about 48 balloons here for this 30′ pole.

How to add on balloons to the pole

We know and love using balloon tape, but for something like this, we prefer to attach it to the pole directly with clear shipping tape. We take an 8″ piece and tie it around the end of the foil balloon and around the pole.

We added on more balloons to the base so that they acted more like clouds.

All the colors!

We must have a soft spot for holiday-themed balloons (You may remember seeing them from our favorite Jingle Bell Balloon post?) since we undertook creating this huge Rainbow Balloon Arch! Despite the helium shortage, we were able to use these reusable balloons to make our BIGGEST balloon arch yet, a full 30 feet because they are all air-filled! Perhaps the real treasure at the end of our rainbow was the rainbow itself! We couldn’t believe how great it turned out, with all our favorite colors. We used a mix of pastels and bright, saturated colors because we love the mix together!

The Lucky Charms!

We added a few smaller rainbow balloons in to make our arch extra charmed with flour-leaf clovers, an X to mark the spot, hearts, and rainbows! Because can you even have enough rainbows?! This arch is even luckier, since these balloons are made of foil we can make this arch again and again for holidays to come.

Like I said, we sure feel lucky to be able to share this Rainbow Balloon Arch with you and even luckier to work with wonderful sponsors like Anagram who made this arch possible!

I Voted! printables and embroidery pattern

Brittany

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March 11, 2020

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I Voted! printables and embroidery pattern

Embroidered “I Voted” Pattern

As you know, we’re getting more and more into embroidery (Celebrity crush dolls anyone?!) and the idea of making something that will last a little bit longer than a throw away sticker is really appealing. In this way, it acts more as a patch than a pin. We couldn’t be more proud to let people know that we voted so might as well keep it up all year long!

How to embroider an “I voted” pin

Materials: see above

Instructions:

Print out the “I Voted” embroidery pattern. Use a sharp pencil to poke through the paper on the felt along the lines of the type (you can also use embroidery transfer paper).
After poking through with a pencil, remove the paper and lightly connect the dots to create lines.
Trace around the pattern pieces and cut out pieces following instructions on pattern.
Once pieces are cut embroider the type with a satin stitch on the smaller pink circle.
Once that is done, center it on the background felt color and pin them together.
To connect the back and front, whip stitch the edge of the front circle to the back circle following white stitching.
Attach last circle to back to create backing.
Using hot glue attach the broach piece with hot glue.
Wear around to let everyone know you voted!

If you are printing stickers use the instructions on the sticker paper to create your stickers!

“I voted” printable stickers

Make your own “I voted” stickers by downloading our set of 5. There’s an option for “I absentee voted” and even one in Spanish. You can find the full set here.

We can’t wait to see you wearing these around! Will you be printing yours off as a sticker or embroidering them? Be sure to tag us with #larsmakes so we can see them!

Easter Egg Wreath Workshop!!!

Brittany

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March 6, 2020

0

Easter is April 12th this year, but we are already feeling the need to stock up on Cadbury Eggs, and more than anything we are ready for that Spring weather!

Eggs, and weather aside we have decorations on our minds and we think this year is the perfect year to resurrect our Rainbow Easter Egg Wreath. So, this is exactly what we will be doing!

Here’s how it works!

Sign up! We are offering only 20 seats, be sure to sign up quick so you don’t miss your spot!
Mark your calendar for Thursday March 19th at 6:30 pm MST
Come the night of the 19th ready to craft your art out!
Hang your rainbow easter egg wreath on your door and nom on Cadbury Eggs while we wait for the warm weather to join us!

Details:

The cost of the workshop starts at $55 dollars during early bird registrations (which is going on RIGHT NOW! Sign up and get the best possible price!) and will climb in $10 dollar increments, last minute booking will cost $75 and is contingent on the amount of seats still available.
All materials provided! Tools such as wire cutters, hot glue guns, paints, and scissors will be provided for use at the workshop.
- You will leave with:
  - Book of instructions for the Rainbow Easter Egg Wreath
  - 12” Wire wreath form
  - Wire
  - Floral tape
  - Crepe paper
  - Eggs
We will get you all of the crafting knowledge you need to successfully create your wreath in hopes that you will finish while at Lars. However, If you do not finish you will be set to finish your masterpiece from the comfort of your own home with the instruction book provided!
Light snacks will be served!

We can’t wait to see you! Be sure to sign up now so you don’t miss your seat! We are so excited to see you on the 19th! It’s going to be one heck of a good time!!!

Floral Wedding invitations with Mixbook

Brittany

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February 24, 2020

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The House That Lars Built x Mixbook Wedding Collection

Hailey created her bridal shower invitations with the Save the Date Invitations in the wedding suite. The original suite was designed by us, and customized by Hailey to fit the theme of her wedding.

Gold Leaf Floral wedding stationery

The wedding suite was inspired by whimsical florals (available in two colors, blue/green and pink). Hailey customized her bridal shower invitations with the Double Round edging on the corners, to keep in line with her Art Deco wedding theme. The wedding suite also features an option for real metallic foil, which Hailey selected as well to complement the gold and and metallic accents of her wedding.

Here are some of the options that Mixbook provides:

The foils come in gold, rose gold, and silver, and they look absolutely stunning in person. We are so excited for Hailey, and delighted that she was able to use our designs for her bridal shower! If you’re looking for extra added elegance, Mixbook also has an option for a Pearl Finish on the wedding suite. Head over to Mixbook to check it all out!

This post is sponsored by Mixbook. We love our sponsors who allow us to make awesome original content for you!