I have been looking forward to throwing this Kate Spade bridal shower for my baby sister for a while now. Although I was excited about the theme, I was also nervous because I had never made paper flowers before and I wasn't sure how everything would turn out. Well they took ALOT longer than I thought they would when I committed to creating this look, but they ended up turning out beautifully (more about that in a minute).
The color scheme was black and white stripes with pops of pinks and golds.
On the menu:
- Jalepeno chicken salad from Chicken Salad Chick
- Cheese tray with crackers
- Fruit tray
- Turkey/bacon rollups
- Strawberry cheesecake salad, individually served (I love mini desserts!)
- French Macarons: pink lemonade and strawberry
- Cupcakes
 |
| These treats from La Rue French Macarons were beautiful and delicious! She is my go-to macaron girl and she never disappoints! |
We had a great time showering the bride with love and gifts! Love you, Sis!
______________________________________________________________________
What I learned making paper flowers
1. They are tedious little boogers. I made 15 flowers and added up that I cut 442 petals out of 173 pieces of cardstock and it took over 24 hours of labor. But I'm sure the more I do them the faster I'll get.
 |
| They took a lot of late nights but it was definitely worth it! |
2. Use 65 lb cardstock. I knew that this is what was recommended but when I went to Michaels to buy paper they had a deal on some large packs of cardstock and I didn't pay attention to the weight. I ended up buying 110 lb. instead. While it worked out fine, it was more difficult to cut with my machine, and the petals didn't roll out as easily on the ends. If you were to look at them up close you'd see small creases because the paper was too thick to curl.
3. Cut with a Silhouette or Cricut if you have one. I thought it would be a pain to take that many pieces of paper off and on the cutting mat but it is soooo much easier than tracing and hand cutting.
4. Use the double cut feature if the paper is too thick and the machine is not cutting smoothly. I am a little embarrassed of how long it took me to find this feature.
6. I would recommend if you are serious about making these, or plan to make several of them, to order a template. They are relatively inexpensive, come with several different files (pdf, svg, png) AND tutorial videos, which I definitely took advantage of. I ordered mine from Catching ColorFlies on Etsy.
5. It took me a while to find the best way to hang them from a fabric backdrop. I had read somewhere to use those little round magnets but they seemed to sag too much. I played around with a few different ways but nothing was working. They needed to be hung from higher on the flower because if I hung them from the center they would sag and be facing toward the ground. So finally I tried gluing a longer strip of paper on the back of the flower and pinned it with a safety pin from the top of that strip. This worked out great! Here's a picture of what it looked like from the back:
I learned a ton this time around and I'm excited to try different styles next time!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Let's get social!
Labels: Let's Party, party planning, Party Planning Tips, Showers
