Celebrate at the Door: How to Make a Balloon Wreath

Festive, huh?  My kids feel pretty special knowing this is going up just for them during their birthday week.  I’m pretty sure they’ll be okay with it being up for their birthday month, since it’s inevitable that changing it back to seasonal décor won’t be a priority for me.  

This project couldn’t be any simpler to make and its final cost was around $25.  Here’s what you need:

•  18-in. straw wreath (leave the plastic on it to avoid mess)

• curly ribbon

• A ton of balloons!  (I think I started with 15 packs or so and each pack had 25 balloons in it.)

• floral pins  (2 packs)

Actually making the wreath is simple, but a bit of a time investment; I did it over 3 nights sitting in the floor watching tv.  My strategy was a bit random- I started using only 2 balloons per floral pin and then realized that was going to take forever and make the wreath a little thin.  So, I mixed it up.  Sometimes I did four, sometimes 3, occasionally 2.  Incorporate the curly ribbon every few pins too! 

Just keep picking it up to inspect it, and keep it balanced as you go.  Don’t forget to check out both the inside and outside of it.  Straw isn’t the next new decorating thing and there’s no reason to see it.  I also tried to make sure I wasn’t overusing any one color, but thinking about that too much started driving me crazy.  I ended up mixing my pile up really well and just grabbing the balloons at random.  

I’m really happy with the results!  If you’re hosting a shower you could customize the balloon colors to match.  I think it would be adorable for a baby shower in pastels.  Adding a cute sign to it would be cute too.  Maybe I’ll add that sometime.  

Do you do anything special for your entry around birthdays?

I'm linked up today with  Thrifty Decor Chick , Too Much Time on My Hands, Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie, Savvy, Home Stories A to Z,  Southern Style, My  Romantic Home, The Shabby Nest,, Finding Fabulous, Be Colorful Keeping it Simple and Between Naps on the Porch! 

Not So Glowing Review: Glow Stick Glow Jar Fail

Do not try this at home.  Well, not the way I did anyway. While on Pinterest, I saw this: 

Source

Awesome, right?  Kids would love it, right?  I saved 4 spaghetti sauce jars and a $1 pack of glow bracelets with this plan in mind.  I read the package of bracelets and there was nothing about the glow sauce being toxic, so I offered it up the next time we had friends over at night. 

The whole even took about 10 minutes start to finish and the kids were really excited about trying it.  We (the other mom and I) spread paper towels out on the table, had one pair of kitchen scissors, two 7 year olds and two 4 year olds.  After going over the possible mutations this stuff could cause, I showed them what we were going to do.

I activated one, cut the end, stuck it in the jar and shook/ sprinkled it around.  It looked pretty cool.  Then, I cut more bracelets for each of the kids to try and my friend and I each helped the kids as they went.  We were BUSY.  2 pairs of scissors for the adults would’ve been optimal.  Still, we were out of bracelets pretty quickly and other than a quick hazmat issue when someone’s cheek was splattered, it was painless.  

Painless, but still not a passing grade.

That’s because the jars looked a little bare once the splatter ran down the sides.  Perhaps it was because we used 16oz jars.  Perhaps it was due to only having one pack of about 15 bracelets.  Or, perhaps it’s because we didn’t have glitter.  I think each of those are contributing factors.  If I decide to try this again: 

1.  smaller jars
2. more bracelets 
3. add glitter 
4.  no water

No water?!  Well, I read a comment saying that you could add water and make glowing water.  3 of the 4 kids decided to try it and it just looked like bright Gatorade- wait- Gatorade is bright.  Oh, it just looked like Gatorade.  No worries; no one drank it.  I’m a pretty good mom like that. ;)

 

Oh well.  You win some, you lose some.  And sometimes you just put possibly toxic liquid on the table for a centerpiece.  The kids were happy and no one was upset when we threw them away.  Maybe it wasn’t such a fail after all. 

Have you tried this?  Ever had glow stick liquid too close to your skin?  I need to know if the sore on my son’s cheek is caused by this stuff.  Kidding, Mom, promise. :)

Men & Hats = Women & Shoes

I have two boys and a husband.  That means we could, at most, wear 4 hats at one time.  So, what do we do with the other 25+ hats that clutter my house?  I could tell the kids (and my husband) to keep them in their rooms, but that’s not practical.  The kids don’t think to grab a hat until I’m already at the door wondering why we can’t get anywhere on time.  I’m tired of the hat clutter.  I don’t need anything fancy, but functional is a must.

I don’t want to do one of the over-the-door things.  I think I’m going to come up with something with pegboard to hang near the garage door, but I don’t want to leave it the standard brown or white.  Maybe stripes to divide whose hats go where?  Just a fun color with hooks with hats without the color separation? 

Or, maybe I’ll use curtain rods, like this one. 

I haven’t made up my mind yet. Ah, yes, now you'll see why I have fickle in the title.  I’ll keep you posted.