Pepper Design Blog

Bedtime Stories Baby Shower Part 2: Fabric & Ribbon Bunting

Back with a few more details from the Bedtime Stories baby shower that I shared last week. I’m all about handmade decorations so two of the little projects I worked on leading up to the shower included a set of fabric flags and a little ‘ribbon strand’ to hang onesies from (which was our shower craft project).

So I’m still not exactly sure what the major difference is between fabric bunting, pennants and flags are… but I’m pretty sure they’re all basically describing this:

We’ll call them flags today .

I made a no-sew version for Liv’s nursery out of left over fabric remnants from her room decor a while back and had used a fusible iron-on hem tape to put it all together.

But I was pretty sure there was an even easier no-sew way to make a really large set of flags for this party.

What ended up making the bunting so super simple was the basic stitch at the bottom of each to create the individual flags. No sewing machine, not even an iron!

I opted for a light weight quilting cotton from Joanns and raided the quilting squares remnant boxes that they usually have throughout their store. Each quilting square made roughly three flags (which started as diamonds… more on that soon) and I probably had somewhere around 40 when all were cut.

I split the 40ish flags between two long lengths of thin twine to make two different strands. I know I’ll use these for lots and lots of different types of parties (they’re just really fun to throw up and around whether they’re indoors or out) so I kept the colors soft and gender neutral.

One set was strung over our buffet in the dining room (above) and one was added to the fireplace mantle.

But back to putting these together…

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Super Simple Fabric Party Flags
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Materials: fabric remnants, scissors, needle & thread, twine (or ribbon or string), white glue (such as Elmer’s)

We first cut up the fabric remnants into large diamonds and folded the diamonds in half over the long length of twine.

To keep the sandwiched diamonds in place, we added a simple X stitch at the bottom corner of the triangle with a needle and thread.

I found thin twine at Joann’s and thought that it gave the flags a nice little shabby chic look. You could use ribbon though (like I did for the sturdier bunting for Liv’s nursery) or really any kind of string you have lying around.

When the flags were strung up we noticed that they started to slide back on top of each other, so as a last minute solution a little dot of Elmers glue was placed on each end of the flag where the fabric meets the twine. Held the flags in place like a charm!

My awesome group of lady friends came over one night to help me assemble all 40 flags which made the process quick and easy, and Liv’s babysitter saved the day when she helped me add dots of glue to the edges of each flag after we realized (last minute) that the flags tended to slide back on top of each other without the adhesive. I was plum out of time and it was super helpful (yay for naptimes).

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Ribbon Flags
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Materials: ribbon of varying widths and colors, fabric strips, twine, baby clothes pins (found at craft stores), onesies or other fun items to showcase

The second bunting-ish project was a ribbon strand that held various lengths of folded over and loosely knotted ribbon, fabric strips and finished onesies from the group craft project (more on that to come – such an easy and fun shower activity!).

This one was so easy to assemble and while I don’t have the best pictures of it, the project is a fun addition as a backdrop to any shower or birthday. I’ve seen these strands strung up behind dessert tables before (without onesies) to add a little color – beautiful! The only bummer is that it requires SO much ribbon. My little strand here was four or five ribbon spools from Joann’s and I’m glad I planned on mixing in the onesies because that’s what really filled the gaps.

The bonus is that the ribbon can be used again and again for all sorts of projects, or even as bunting for a future event.

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For the Bedtime Stories Part 1 post, jump out to this link. Hope to post one more segment soon with details about the iron-on/embroidery onesie craft project (and how easy they were to make as a group!) and my easy-to-assemble solution (without destroying your plates) for tiered food stands.

Bedtime Stories Baby Shower Part 1

Happy Friday! I’ve been meaning to post these pictures for a while but I’ve finally had time to sort and edit them during this mini vacation. Here’s a baby shower that friends and I threw for our good friend Diana and her little Noah – who’s due any day now.

The adorable invites were designed by Jennafer of Oh Creative One on Etsy. She contacted me to partner on the project and I love how they turned out! Jennafer was wonderful to work with and turned my broad ideas of a colorful starry sky, cute little owls and a bedtime story book into the perfect invite.

I’m not sure where the idea of a Bedtime Stories shower originated from but I loved that I could decorate with everything books. There was no intended color palette but much of the room ended up in shades of blue by the time decorating was finished.

The ‘sprinkle’ shower was held at night and on a weekday but it was an ideal time to gather the group together during the busy holiday season. Sometimes the best celebrations are the ones that include a glass of wine and yummy appetizers after a hard day’s work – that plus nannies for the evening!

I snapped most of these pics during the day, which means no food or people in these photos but hopefully a few clearer shots of the details.

Decor was simple with a few handmade details. I made two sets of fabric bunting (which I kept in soft, gender-neutral colors because I knew I would use them time and again for all sorts of parties), ribbon ‘flags’ on twine, plus a large pin board for little fabric onesies we all designed. Two friends helped me with cut-out stars which really helped to set the ‘bedtime’ tone.

It was a small shower with maybe a dozen or so of us celebrating the newest member to Diana’s family. We played silly games including one competition where we had to recreate belly bumps with small balloons. Hilarious! We ate delicious food provided by some of the guests (potluck style!), and we created customized little onesies and burp cloths out of fabric and embroidery thread.

Here are a few shots from the night of. A big thanks to the ladies that helped me pull this shower together, and a big welcome to baby Noah who will literally be here this week! (Diana’s due date was the 27th)

More details to come as I break down (and finish editing photos…) of a few of the easy decorations.

New Year’s Eve Celebration Inspiration for 2011

New Year’s Eve is just a few days away! Wow has this year flown by. But before reminiscing, I thought it might be fun to share a few favorite party, food and drink ideas for the upcoming holiday. Oh what pretty inspiration!

This shimmery silver and mocha dessert table (featured on HWTM) by Enchanted Events & Design is beautiful. I love the modern use of baby’s breath as a big, globe shaped centerpiece and the color palette is wintery and soft.

Check out this inspiration from The Celebration Shoppe, Martha Stewart and BHG. The beautiful glitter stars are a favorite this year and mixing blush pink into the mix makes for a sweet New Year’s Eve palette (check out those adorable DIY glitter ballet flats).

I love this silver glittery banner and the classic white tabletop by Caroline Anderson and Sofie Lawett via Olivet. I think both would be easy to recreate for the special holiday.

This bling bachelorette party featured over at Style Me Pretty is a bright and shimmery take on the holiday as well!

Whew! So much sparkle and glitter. Yay for New Year’s being just a couple days away! More shimmery inspiration from last year posted over here (featuring one of my favorite feathery parties by SMP with a green, pink & white tablescape) and here (for even more silver and green).