Pepper Design Blog

Christmas Cards by Tiny Prints

I can’t believe Christmas is just around the corner! I love this time of the year and even though it’s not yet Thanksgiving I’m making progress on crossing items off of my to-do-before-Christmas list. The goal is to have presents bought (not easy when you have 7 brothers between the hubby and myself) and the house decorated by the first week of December. I’m very much trying to avoid a 9 1/2 month pregnant me cruising down the aisles of Target before closing on Christmas Eve!

On one note, offering up our home in an open-house sort of fashion for family over the holidays made sense. We’re not planning on traveling (both of our families live a good 6 hour drive away) but we’d love to be surrounded by our loved ones during this special time. On another note, the realization that we are a home under construction with a babe shortly to follow while hosting three families is now catching up to me.

So! Back to knocking out those items on the list early. First up? Christmas cards.

I knew I wanted to invest in maternity photos and the fact that they will play double duty as our 2010 holiday card is even better. We shot family photos with the very talented Robert Goold here in San Diego just last week (a wonderful team to work with if you’re in the area!) and now I’m editing and pulling together my favorites. (Kevin insisted Bodie be included!)

I love love the contemporary Christmas designs offered by Tiny Prints this year. The graphic designer in me has a deep affection for beautiful fonts and I was all over the options in their Signature and Premium collections (the pop-up and tri-fold designs are very cool, too).

Ultimately, I was won over by this unique card shape and beautiful design layout (I love the colors!):

Loading, cropping and editing the images directly in Tiny Prints was super easy – and since I had created 8 different mock-ups (not unusual…) I was pleased to find an easy-to-sort folder to save my favorites for comparing.

One big item on the list complete – now I just have to figure out what neat & exciting gifts I can purchase for college-aged boys and if I can get a bulk discount .

Shabby Chic {Handmade Paper Rosettes}

I love when you find inspiration in the most unexpected of places… the other day I was thinking about those little accordion paper fans I used to make as a little girl by folding up 8 1/2×11 sheets of white printer paper. They might turn into turkey tails for Thanksgiving or maybe even folded hearts for Valentine’s Day.

I found this lovely inspiration board (below) at Paper Crave and it brought me right back to the 2nd grade. The grown-up version of paper accordions comes in the form of folded maps, book pages or antique wallpaper.

I really love the simple way these accordion paper poms fit into every type of party decor. I can imagine them delicately hung above a wedding reception dance floor, lined neatly over a bridal shower dessert buffet or in bright & bold hues for a child’s birthday party.

The rosette ‘table confetti’ is my favorite. And how pretty are the button and brooch centerpieces? A little pearl bead would be perfect.

Once Wed designed an entire grey, green & pink dinner party around this theme (see top top photo), and design*sponge shares it here. To make your own paper accordion rosette, Paper Source provides a free downloadable pdf. And finally, a super easy DIY awaits after the jump! Read more »

DIY New Year’s Eve *Crackers*

Here’s a neat idea for this New Year’s Eve. If you’re hosting a get-together or dinner party consider this thoughtful treat for your guests — a homemade party cracker! Danielle and Centsational Girl share how.

This decorative tube (an empty paper towel holder in this case) is usually filled with little knick knacks (paper crowns, fortune messages, small toys…) and is wrapped in bright shiny colors. Tradition holds that two people pull from each end of the cracker until it *pops*, emptying out the contents. Read more »