As I previously mentioned, Boyfriend let me have a creative go at decorating his house for entertaining this last weekend. I not only got to add some flair to the inside of his house, but he let me decorate his porch as well -- isn't he swell? First impressions are important, are they not? I had purchased some striped ribbon and it put me in mind of nautical things, so I set out to create a welcoming home front.
What better way to make people feel welcome than by telling them they are? Here's how I did it.
Burlap has a great rustic look to it. It also happens to get everywhere when you work with it, so be warned. I first cut a cardboard triangle and used it to trace and cut bunting from the burlap.
I made sure to leave extra room at the top of each triangle as I was planning to wrap it around twine for the finished product.
I used leftover house paint from Boyfriend's recent move (this is a $3 trial size from Home Depot) to paint letters on each burlap triangle. (Do you like my art placemat? A paper bag from Trader Joe's is reusable after all!)
While the letters were drying, I glued ribbon at the top of the triangle, but still left some burlap to curl over the twine.
I knotted the twine between each triangle, then curled the top over the twine, and glued it to the back of the bunting.
All that was left to do was to hang it out front.
But I wasn't done! Underneath the porch I strung a ribbon garland -- a slightly sticky, but easy project.
I cut the ribbons into roughly 4 inch pieces.
Once I had a nice pile of all my different color ribbons, I cut a triangle from the bottom of each piece (the little details make it prettier). Then I glued the ribbons over a long piece of twine and it was done! I'll be honest, the gluing process took me awhile and I was peeling glue off my hands like a kindergartner during art class. But the effect was worth the loss of my fingerprints.
To secure the twine I used these Command hooks that you can pick up from Target.
The icing on the cake was this find of $9 candle holders. When I saw these at West Elm, I couldn't resist. Grabbing my ever useful twine, I hung three lanterns on each side of the porch. As soon as it was dusk, the candles were lit, creating a warm, friendly glow. It was practically magic.
I know the picture isn't the best, but you get the jist. A hand painted welcome sign, a nautical ribbon garland, and charming hanging candle lanterns definitely gave our dinner guests a very warm welcome.
What better way to make people feel welcome than by telling them they are? Here's how I did it.
Burlap has a great rustic look to it. It also happens to get everywhere when you work with it, so be warned. I first cut a cardboard triangle and used it to trace and cut bunting from the burlap.
I made sure to leave extra room at the top of each triangle as I was planning to wrap it around twine for the finished product.
I used leftover house paint from Boyfriend's recent move (this is a $3 trial size from Home Depot) to paint letters on each burlap triangle. (Do you like my art placemat? A paper bag from Trader Joe's is reusable after all!)
While the letters were drying, I glued ribbon at the top of the triangle, but still left some burlap to curl over the twine.
I knotted the twine between each triangle, then curled the top over the twine, and glued it to the back of the bunting.
But I wasn't done! Underneath the porch I strung a ribbon garland -- a slightly sticky, but easy project.
I cut the ribbons into roughly 4 inch pieces.
Once I had a nice pile of all my different color ribbons, I cut a triangle from the bottom of each piece (the little details make it prettier). Then I glued the ribbons over a long piece of twine and it was done! I'll be honest, the gluing process took me awhile and I was peeling glue off my hands like a kindergartner during art class. But the effect was worth the loss of my fingerprints.
To secure the twine I used these Command hooks that you can pick up from Target.
The icing on the cake was this find of $9 candle holders. When I saw these at West Elm, I couldn't resist. Grabbing my ever useful twine, I hung three lanterns on each side of the porch. As soon as it was dusk, the candles were lit, creating a warm, friendly glow. It was practically magic.
I know the picture isn't the best, but you get the jist. A hand painted welcome sign, a nautical ribbon garland, and charming hanging candle lanterns definitely gave our dinner guests a very warm welcome.
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