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    Retro Florals Backdrop

    Brittany
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    Retro Florals Backdrop

    Floral Backdrops from the Archives

    We love our floral backdrops! This isn’t the first time we’ve dabbled in a floral backdrop. Remember our peonies, hibiscus/tropical leaves, daisies, tulips and poppies? Well, we though it was high time to revisit backdrops, this time in the form of my favorite phone case of all time: Retro Florals!

    retro floral case

    Retro Florals Backdrop

    The best thing about this backdrop, besides being absolutely adorable, is that it’s incredibly quick and easy. It’s the perfect backdrop for a spring birthday, baby or bridal shower, or just because you’re in need of some extra color. Just grab your cricut maker (or a pair of scissors), some paper and something to stick it to the wall and you’re all set!

    How to Make a Retro Florals Backdrop

    1. First, download the Retro Florals Backdrop template found here.
    2. Next, upload your template into the cricut design space. If you don’t have a cricut maker, you can just print the template out and use scissors to cut them out.
    3. Now all you have to do is get cutting! Cut out as many as you need to fill your wall, in a variety of colors. If you’re stumped on colors, you can use our photos (and phone case!) as a guide.
    4. To stick them to the wall, use either tape that won’t remove the paint or poster putty. Tip: We would recommend putting the design on the wall as you go. That way you can keep track of what colors you need to cut out next.
    5. When you’re happy with the amount of retro florals you’ve added to your wall, you can stand back and admire. You’re done!

    Casetify-Inspired Fabrics

    The fun doesn’t stop with this backdrop. You may have noticed the dress we made out of custom retro florals fabric! Well, we have a whole host of other fabrics for you to choose from that are largely inspired by our Casetify collections. Click here to peruse the options!

    More Inspiration

    Need more colorful crafts to fill your home this spring? You’ll probably love our new papier-mâché vase! Interested in more paper flower projects? Head to this post, where we’ve compiled all of our paper flower tutorials. Wanting to start a garden of real flowers this year? Head over to Lars’ Gardening Essentials for some tips!

    Floral Favor Boxes

    Brittany
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    Floral Favor Boxes

    Floral Favor Boxes

    We love these floral favor boxes. They’re the perfect thing for so many occasions! Does someone you know have a spring birthday? Instant party favors. Of course, they’d also make adorable additions to a floral tea party, bridal shower, or wedding. There aren’t a lot of situations where these sweet little boxes could go wrong!

    Instructions

    Prepping the Box

    1. To create a closed bottom on one end of the tube, make four evenly spaced slits at the bottom of one end, about 1″ deep. This will give you four flaps. Fold the flaps under the tube and glue them together.
    2. Fill the tube with candy or a small gift.

    Finishing Touches

    1. Lay the tube on one end of the strip (the long side of the tube should be parallel with the short side of the strip). Position the tube so about one inch of crepe paper will hang below the closed bottom. Roll the strip around the tube. Tuck the overhanging crepe paper at the bottom and glue it under the tube.
    2. Tie a piece of twine around the crepe at the top of the tube and cinch it. Slip in a paper leaf before tying it off. Flatten the crepe paper at the top and fold it in half vertically. Cut a leaf shape through all the layers down to just above the twine to make petals.
    3. Unfold the crepe paper. Separate the petals and gently stretch the center of each to make a cupped shape.

    We hope you enjoyed this tutorial, courtesy of Jodi Levine. We would highly recommend checking out her new ebook, Toilet Tube Treasury, where you can find other clever ways to repurpose toilet tubes!

    More Inspiration

    What did you think of Jodi’s toilet tube tutorial on floral favor boxes? We loved it! If you did, too, we’re guessing you’ll also be interested in some of our paper flower tutorials. Have you seen our new paper orchid tutorial? Also try our DIY Paper Hollyhocks, or these Poppies, Peonies, and Posies. Have a spring or summer wedding coming up? Here, here and here are some beautiful bouquets to choose from. You can also check out this holiday flower roundup if you’re interested!

    Bird gift topper

    Brittany
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    9
    Bird gift topper

    Gift topper idea

    One of my favorite ways to jazz up a gift is to keep some bright wrapping papers in my arsenal and then add on a cute gift topper. That could be a pretty ribbon or gift tag. Here, I took a more artistic approach and cut out a bird out of black paper and added in some cute details with paint. It’s simple yet striking, no?! It’s a fun little project for feeling like you’re reaching your creative quota for one day.

    Solid colored wrapping papers

    It all starts with some awesome solid colored wrapping papers in great colors. Here are some great options that you can find in a bundle if you’re looking to add to your gift wrap station. Here’s another brand in really great color options.

    GIFT-TOPPERBird gift topper

    Hopefully you already have everything you’ll need for this one since it’s so simple, but if not, here’s what you’ll need!

    Materials:

    Instructions

    1. Start by cutting out the shape of the bird with scissors or on your craft machine*
    2. Paint decorations on the bird with white paint or marker (marker is easier to control if you don’t have much experience with painting)
    3. Affix a paper adhesive mount to the back of the wing for the frontal wing and to the front of the bottom of the wing for the back wing.
    4. Cut out the flag for the bird and if you’ve cut it out on black paper (like we did) paint it peach.
    5. Write in your gift tags on the flag part.
    6. Gift it away!

    PAPER-BIRD-GIFT-TOPPER

    Of course, you can get into the spirit of decoration and go wild painting and I say have fun with it! This project is one that is meant for getting out your creativity.

    Here are some more gift topper ideas:

    Prize ribbon Gift topper
    3D paper flower gift topper
    Tissue paper flower gift topper

    Show us your projects on Instagram by using the hashtag #LarsMakes

    Photography and crafting by Ashley Isenhour

    Friendship Bracelet Inspired Balloon Garland

    Brittany
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    Friendship Bracelet Inspired Balloon Garland

    how to make a flower balloon garland

    Friendship Bracelet Inspired Balloon Garland

    This year, we turned to our friend Wendy who has the most charming old white house (we’ve talked about her before here), which is a dreamy setting for her preschool.  We had aspirations of flowers and we wanted it to be BIG.  That’s when our friends at Anagram stepped in and gave us a hand with some of their balloons. My favorites are the purple/pink ombre ones, how about you? We knew with Wendy’s house and Anagram’s balloons we could pull off something really fun.how to make a flower balloon garland

    Midsummer decor idea

    Now, Wendy used to live in Sweden, so she was very eager to hop on the idea of Midsummer balloons. Did I also mention that Wendy is a BIG time lover of balloons!  Match made!  With the idea of greenery (read more about Sweden’s Midsummer traditions HERE) and flowers abounding, we got to work making some flowers out of balloons.

    Beaded Flower bracelets

    We were reminded of these popular bracelets that our friends at HonestlyWTF made and knew what we had to do. With some extra white balloons, we were able to make a chain and string the flowers together making the perfect balloon friendship bracelet.how to make a flower balloon garland

    Here’s how to make them!

    Materials: 

    Make a flower balloon: 

    1. Start by using a gold/yellow balloon for the center.
    2. Blow up 6 “petals” to go around the center. Use packing tape to secure together and to the center.
    3. Blow up 5 white balloons for the garlands. Use balloon tape to hold them together. Use packing tape to secure if necessary.
    4. To adhere the garlands to your structure, use gaffer tape.

    Tip: We found that packing tape is AMAZING for balloon to balloon adhesion and gaffer tape is great for balloon to other surfaces.

    how to make a flower balloon garland

    Recycling foil balloons

    Did we mention recycling?  Yes!  Anagram foil balloons can be used year after year. Or you can gift them to friends like we did to give them a second life. It turned out so cute and we can’t wait for her kids to see!  how to make a flower balloon garland

    This post is sponsored by Anagram but all opinions are my own! 

    Summer Paper Flower Wedding Bouquet Kit

    Brittany
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    2
    Summer Paper Flower Wedding Bouquet Kit

    A couple years ago, we posted a number of DIY paper flower wedding bouquets. Some of our past ones include this colorful Cinco de Mayo bouquet, a stunning white peony bouquet, and the royal wedding inspired bouquet. It was time for another wedding bouquet, as well as a kit! That’s right, you can buy all the materials in one place–our shop!

    close up of a paper bouquet made of dahlias, roses, shamrocks, Mexican jasmine, and foliage.

    Wedding flowers are usually HUGELY expensive. They are gorgeous and undoubtedly worth the money if you can afford it. HOWEVER, not everyone has the cash for lavish floral decor, accessories, and bouquets. Then, at the end of the big day, most of the flowers get tossed and the ones you keep fade away much too quickly. I have even heard brides talk about coming home from a honeymoon to wilting flowers and feeling all the wedding and honeymoon hype slump down into post-wedding blues. How sad!

    close up of a paper bouquet made of dahlias, roses, shamrocks, Mexican jasmine, and foliage.A bride in a white dress against a pink background holds a paper bouquet made of dahlias, roses, shamrocks, Mexican jasmine, and foliage.

    But why not make something that will be just as beautiful and will last so much longer? Our paper flower wedding bouquet kit is unique, breathtaking, and won’t wilt. Honestly, if you keep it away from water and out of flames, this baby should last forever!

    close up of a paper bouquet made of dahlias, roses, shamrocks, Mexican jasmine, and foliage.

    Make Your Own Paper Wedding Bouquet

    We have the perfect paper wedding bouquet kit ready for anyone who wants to make their own flowers. To help you get started, we gathered the materials for you (including a lovely ribbon to tie everything together!) so that there’s one less thing to think about as you plan your wedding.

    close up of a paper bouquet made of dahlias, roses, shamrocks, Mexican jasmine, and foliage.

    We understand that it’s not easy to find the right materials in the correct colors and amounts. It turns out that lots of these materials (I’m looking at you, crepe paper) only come in bulk! Getting started and gathering the materials is probably the hardest part, so we took care of that for you! By buying our kit, you’ll save a lot of time, headache, and money, as well as templates and instructional videos.

    A bride in a white dress against a pink background holds a paper bouquet made of dahlias, roses, shamrocks, Mexican jasmine, and foliage.

    If you’re not confident about how your paper flower wedding bouquet will turn out, ask a friend and/or family member for help and have a bouquet-making party! The point is, enjoy your time planning while making something meaningful for your special day. This bouquet will become such a meaningful memento of your wedding and the memory of making it will be even more meaningful!

    Look for this kit in our shop to make your own, and tag us with #LarsPaperFlowers

     

    DIY Doily Honeycomb Decorations

    Brittany
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    4
    DIY Doily Honeycomb Decorations

    DIY Paper Doily Honeycomb Decorations

    You might recall that we made these custom Honeycomb Christmas decorations from templates that we designed, but we wanted it to be a bit easier. Turns out, doilies are great because the shape is created for you and all you have to do is cut them down the middle and assemble. Plus, the doilies create that beautiful lace effect.

    The More You Know

    I had to do a bit of digging to find out more about what a doily is and why we have them. Turns out, the term doily came from the last name “Doily”, a London firm of linen merchants who made fringed napkins in the 1700’s. Then, from 1711, a doily was a small  ornamental napkin used at dessert. THEN, they were placed on the backs of chairs to protect them from the oil that men used on their hair. Nowadays, some people use them to protect surfaces of tables from decorative objects.

    Ok, so now that we know the history of doilies, let’s get to learning how to make these honeycomb decorations. I’m thinking they would be lovely to give as a Valentine or adorn a branch tree (you know we love a decorative tree!) or taking the place of a wreath.

    Here’s how to make it!

    DIY Honeycomb Valentine ornament

    Materials:

    • See above for where to get the doilies
    • Glue gun
    • Scissors or paper cutter

    Instructions: 

    1. Measure a line down the middle of the doily to create an axis of symmetry
    2. Cut doilies in half. If your doilies are heart-shaped and have different colors on each side (ours are white on the back) keep the right-sided halves separated from the left-sided ones. You will alternate gluing left and right sides of the heart.
    3. Glue a line down the middle of one half-doily (starting at the axis and moving to the edge.
    4. Place another doily on top. For heart-shaped doilies or ones with different colors on each side, glue the same colors together. The contrasting color/blank side will now be facing up.
    5. Glue two lines down the sides of the doily on the top of the stack.
    6. Place another doily on top, again gluing the same colors together.
    7. Carefully separate the layers where glue may have escaped to lower layers through the holes in the doily.
    8. Repeat steps 4-8 until the stack is tall enough to open up and wrap back around so that the first and last layers meet. This will be about 50 layers or 25 whole doilies.
    9. While pressing down the layers of doilies, glue a line down the spine of the stack and even it out with the warm tip of the glue gun. Make sure that all the layers are adhered together with this glue.
    10. Glue a loop of ribbon to the top of the spine.
    11. Fan open the ornament, carefully separating any layers that may still be stuck together, and glue the first and last layers together. You’re finished!

    How to make a circle doily honeycomb decoration

    And the tutorial is a bit different if you’re doing a heart. Here’s how to make it:

    Would love to see how you put them to use. What will you do with them? Tag us when you make yours with #LarsLovesLove #LarsMakes.

    Like these? You’ll also love these:

    Honeycomb Ornaments
    Lunch sack honeycomb decorations
    Printable honeycomb cards

    DIY Summer Flower Garland

    Brittany
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    DIY Summer Flower Garland

    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.

    DIY summer flower garland

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

    In the Mood For: The Royal Wedding Anniversary

    Brittany
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    In the Mood For: The Royal Wedding Anniversary

    More than knowing how to throw a party, they know how to show love and respect for one another and people around the world. Aside from all of the drama, Harry and Meghan have been busy running their non-profit organization, Archewell. I did a little digging and learned that they chose this name because the Greek word “arche” means “source of action” (Archie = Arche). Aside from that, Meghan recently teamed up with Save the Children and did a fantastic story-time segment available on instagram. We are donating the proceeds from our Picture Hope coloring book to the same organization! That makes us just like Meghan, right?

    Okay. Now that I’ve talked about how wonderful Harry and Meghan are for humanitarian reasons, I can talk about what we all guiltily came here for: FASHION. 

    Since joining the royal family, Meghan has become an icon. And in the months since Megxit, she has stepped up her wardrobe in a big way. I’ve been feeling a little tired of my same two house dresses and have spent a fair bit of time looking at pictures of Meghan and Kate for fashion inspiration. You’ll love what I found!! The mix of classic elegance with modern, playful touches is perfect. Truthfully, that’s what I hope Lars makes you, dear reader, think of. I’d like to think Meghan is a Lars girl. 😉 

    Two years ago, we wrote about the wedding and made a mood board! If you want to see their wedding style synthesized, try this out! You probably have one friend who is a big time fan of all things royal (mine is named Dana). Send her something from our Royal Weddings collection!  

    (I won’t tell if you make a purchase for yourself.)

    royal wedding stationary to celebrate the royal family

    Keep on scrolling down to see some pieces that are a perfect fit for a royal-loving Lars girl. When you’re ready, head to our instagram today to vote on your favorite royal wedding fashion items. Which wedding was your favorite, Meghan’s or Kate’s? 

    Now that’s the tea – don’t spill.

    Everyday style inspired by the Royal Family

    How to plan your own royal wedding

    If you are day dreaming of your very own classic wedding, inspired by Meghan and Harry’s big day, we have all the resources to help you! We are in full support of you going all out for the classy, iconic wedding of this decade. Visions of pastel colors and big hats are dancing around our heads. If you can picture it too, keep reading! After all, your deserve to feel royal on your wedding day.

    paper wedding bouqet meghan markle's wedding bouqet from the royal wedding

    You can find the templates needed to make your own paper version of Meghan’s wedding bouquet in our new paper flower e-book.  Start the theme with your bridal shower, with the help of these printable invites the queen herself would approve of! Click here to see the royal wedding inspired tea party we held, for inspiration for your bridal shower or the reception itself!

    Explore the links below for fashion inspired by the personal styles of members of the royal family. Imagine your guests donning classy pastel attire for the garden wedding every one will be talking about. Below you’ll find dresses, spring blazers, heels, and even hats the royal family would love any excuse to wear

    Royal Wedding Fashion

    Royal Wedding Accessories

     

    This post is part of our “In the Mood For” series, where we highlight the taste of famous people and characters we love. Click these links to be inspired by kindred spirits like Anne of Green Gables or Jo March, or to learn how to re-create the iconic styles of real life heroes Iris Apfel or Alexander Girard. 

    Floral Wedding invitations with Mixbook

    Brittany
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    Floral Wedding invitations with Mixbook

    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!

    How to Make a Post-It Heart Piñata

    Brittany
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    10
    How to Make a Post-It Heart Piñata
    I’ve been wanting to play with post-its FOREVER and finally got the opportunity last week to make this post-it heart piñata.

    DIY post-it heart piñata

    Confession, they aren’t really post-its. I wanted a wider color palette, so I had to make them myself.

    Materials:

    • Post-its (or paper of your choice in post-it size. I used one to measure)
    • Scissors
    • Cardboard
    • String
    • Glue gun
    • Pencil

    Instructions:

    1. Draw a heart onto your cardboard (mine was 20″ down the middle and 30″ across the widest point)
    2. Cut out two hearts for the front and back of your piñata
    3. Cut strips of cardboard 5″ wide to go around the perimeter of the heart
    4. Curl the strips with a pencil so they are more pliable
    5. Glue the strips to the heart
    6. Fill your heart with fun favors or candies
    7. Glue the other side of the heart to the strips
    8. Apply the post-its or paper with the glue gun starting at the bottom and working your way up to get the layered effect. (I started with light colors on the bottom and worked up to darker colors).
    9. Punch two holes on either side of the arch of the heart
    10. Bring a string through and tie on top

    Done! Now you’ve got a post-it heart piñata for your celebration!

    For more pictures of the process, go to Brooklyn Bride.

    A HUGE thank you to Amanda Thomsen for taking time out of her day to come take the final shots with our super models, JJ and Cecilie.

    I have another project coming with post-its. Are you stoked?!

    More DIY piñata ideas

    Who doesn’t love piñatas? We always have fun making our own, plus you can create it in whatever shapes or colors you’d like! If you’re really into piñatas, check out the wedding cake. Another DIY piñata tutorial is this sunshine piñata that’s sure to put a smile on your face! For Christmas, check out this peppermint pig tradition that we turned into a piñata! For more DIY piñata ideas (for any occasion!), take a look through the archives here.

    Let us know how your piñata creations turn out with the hashtag #larsmakes on Instagram

     

    How to make an ombre wedding cake pinata

    Brittany
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    8
    How to make an ombre wedding cake pinata

    I have to say that this is one of my favorite shoots I’ve done. And there’s a lot more where these come from. ooOOOoo! I did this one for the Etsy wedding blog and talked about creating an interactive wedding favor, hence the fortune cookies inside with little love fortunes. I also thought a wedding cake would be a nice alternative to the couple who doesn’t really do wedding cakes or sugar. But let’s face, the real reason to have a pinata at a wedding is…who doesn’t want to hit stuff? I’m sure it would release a lot of tension for the couple as well as the wedding planners.

    Get the full instructions here.

    Thank you Amanda Thomsen for taking these beautiful photos!

    © 2020, The House that Lars Built. All rights reserved.