Chloe Makes

Oh yes, I bet that tittle got you really excited… well I really am that sad that seeing creative was of using glassware is worthy of a blog post! It’s not just the containers though.. it’s the new ways they are used. All of us probably throw away empty jars and bottles that could be turned it something really pretty with a bit of thrifty inspiration :-)

DIY bubble favours – Found **here** on Elephant Shoe, complete with printables!

Soy candle table decorations – Click **here** on The Pretty Pauper for the instructions of how to hand make these pretty soy candles yourself.

Easy butterfly table centre – Another brilliant project from Sweet Paul. You can see just how easy it is **here**.

Recipe kit wedding favours – Spotted **here** on Sunset.com this is a great gift idea.

Any other exciting ideas to throw at me and really make my day?!

Chloe x

Good morning,

Some early results coming through from my reader survey are that you’d like some DIY wedding decoration ideas and projects…?(PS. if you haven’t filled in the survey yet please please do it now as it’s only open for a few more days! **click here**)… One of my favourite decorations are tissue paper pom poms. They’re simple to make yourself, cost-effective and they add a really fun, crafty touch to just about anything!

Image credits – cake table, place settings, head table backdrop, sweetie / dessert table, marquee decorations, chair ends, cake toppers and hanging tent pom poms.

I set out to make a whole wall of them for a wedding fair a few weeks ago, I made 25 or so then pottled off to set up my stand the day before the fair and realised I’d totally under estimated the size of my wall. I needed at least 30 more and had one evening to do it in. Luckily we were having a family dinner so I got the gang involved… even the boys got the hang of it pretty quickly and it soon got competitive! We had to shut the dogs in the kitchen to stop them playing with them and the pugs just stared through the glass door praying for a opportune moment to run in and pounce on these big fluffy paper pretties :-)

You can vary the size of them to make all sorts of decorations, here’s just a few ideas to get you started…

- hang from the ceiling
- nestle them amongst your table flowers
- decorate the altar
- use them as place settings for your guests
- make mini versions for cake toppers
- string together to make a garland
- stick lots together to form a photo booth backdrop
- decorate your pew / chair row ends in the ceremony
- even add them in your wedding bouquet

To make them you will need…

Tissue paper, scissors and some string/ thread or wool

Instructions!

Step 1 – open out your tissue paper and cut to size. I cut the standard packs in half which resulted in fairly large pom poms. Obviously if you wanted to make smaller ones then start off which much smaller pieces! If you’re making a pom pom to sit on a flat surface e.g. a photo booth, a place setting or stuck on a wall then you’ll need at least 5 layers of tissue paper. If you want a round shape to hang from the ceiling or make little cake toppers you’ll need 10 layers for a decent pom pom.

I made flat ones so the first step is to layer up 5 sheets and cut to size…

Step 2 – Keeping the layers together concertina fold the tissue down the longest side in roughly 1 inch folds…

Step 3 –  Now tie a small length of string or thread around the centre (you can fold width ways to find the centre as a guide). Tie fairly tightly but not quite enough to start scrunching the centre if that makes sense?

Step 4 – Cut around both ends to form a petal shape, you can do rounded ends like I have here or pointed ones, whichever you prefer…

Step 5 – Loosely fan out the side then carefully pull up each layer to the centre, scrunching the paper slightly as you go…

Step 6 – Continue to ruffle up the layers on each side to form your pom pom. As I mentioned earlier if you are making a round pom pom then ruffle up each quarter separately, I made mine to sit flat so effectively only had half a pom pom (2 quarters)… I hope I’ve explained that right?!

And there it is! Once you’ve done one you’ll get the hang of it super quick so I thoroughly recommend a pom pom making party with unsuspecting family and friends ;-)

Here’s my finished wall incase you haven’t seen it too…

Happy pom poming,

Chloe x

Usually I post recipes here on a Friday afternoon but I have a special request for you coming up later so I’ve swapped the posts over. Plus this looks so delicious that it will give you more time to pop into the supermarket at some point today so you can join me in making it tonight ;-)

Ingredients for your shopping list..
2 cloves garlic
1 leek, thinly sliced
1/2 of an onion, chopped
16 ounces pasta
11 ounces feta cheese
Good handful of cheddar cheese, grated
Handful of fresh spinach, chopped
160ml milk
Handful of sun dried tomatoes, chopped
80ml double cream
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon plus 3 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon plain flour
1 teaspoon Greek oregano (not Mexican oregano)
1/2 teaspoon Rosemary
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Click here for the recipe and more pictures from Adventures in Cooking and enjoy!

See you back here at 12.30pm for my announcement / request :-)

Chloe x

Last week I got so carried away researching creative button hole ideas that we missed a DIY round-up… oops! I actually have a little question about these posts – would you prefer the three projects in one blog posts like this or for me to separate them out into three separate posts? Just curious… whatever works better for you ;-)

Ok, my top three crafty makes this week:

DIY chevron rubber stamp - Find out how to make your own **here** on A Beautiful Mess.

Fabric flower necklace - Featured on Pattern Runway **here**

Vintage china decorations – Spotted on Florence Finds **here** by Anna from Angel in the North.

Have a good day,

Chloe x

Afternoon lovelies!

Last week I spent the afternoon with award winning wedding hair stylist James White. We started with a soft curl for my ‘day look’ then transformed it in to a sleek evening look doing what James does best, a beautiful up-do!

Start by sectioning the hair into four. Zone 1 is the semi-circle on your crown, zone 2 is the back and zones 3 and 4 are the front side sections, from your ears (see pic below)! Then back comb zone 1 at the roots in small fine sections to give you plenty of height on the crown…

Grip away the top section for now and backcomb down the centre of zone 2. Now for the actual french roll! Take zone 2 as you would a low ponytail then twist up and grip in place down the pleat. Tuck the ends back into your roll to tidy…

Now unclip zone 1 and roll over to give you some height, grip in place and tuck the ends into your roll as before…

Now the hard work is done, honest! Grip both sides (zone 3 & 4) back up to the centre and tuck into your roll…

Spray with a little hair spray to hold and tease out a few sections at the front if you like some around your face!

Personalise with an accessory if you wish and add your sexiest frock :-)

To get in touch with James visit his website here – www.jameswhitehair.com! I’m just rather pleased to show you a few simple styles to experiment with :)

Chloe x

PS. I can’t tell you how hard it was to post this many photo’s of myself on the blog in one day! *cringing*

Morning.

Last week I had a fun afternoon with James White at his new hair studio. Aside from hanging out we wanted to do a DIY project together, which quickly turned into two hair styles :) So James taught me how to create a nice day look, then how to transform it into a sleek up-do for the evening (which will be blogged this afternoon) – ideal for a hen party, engagement shoot or a wedding.

So let me start by saying that I have the straightest hair ever. Literally if I curl it it’s back to poker straight in about an hour. My girl friends hate me for it but don’t you always want what you haven’t got?! Whilst they spend hours with the hair straighteners, I spend hours with the curling tongs ;-)

What really impressed me about the technique James showed me is that it was still curly that evening! Oh my I can’t tell you how this will revolutionise my hair styling options. Ok so here’s how we did it…

Start with clean dry hair and clip into five sections. Start at the top, pinning a section from the front to the back of your crown. Then pin the sections on each side from the back of your ear. Finally divide the back into two sections. This makes it easier to manage when you’re curling it all!

The best place to start curling is at the back. Take an inch section of hair at a time and start curling with a hot curling tong, working your way up in sections.

To make sure you curl all the way to the ends start by placing your tongs half way up your section and wrapping your hair around to get the ends in before rolling up. Hold for a few seconds then release your hair. This is the really clever bit… roll your hair back up in to the curl and pin in place to allow to cool… this is what will you a much longer lasting curl!

Once you’ve curled and pinned all the sections give it 5 mins, or longer… it’s a good time to do your make-up!

Unpin all the sections to release your curls…

Brush through to soften the curls then add a touch of serum to smooth the ends…

And your done! We did the up-do next (coming up later) which I took out before I left and even after another re-style I literally looked like this all evening… amazing :)

Thank you so much James. Genius.

Chloe x