happy sunday crafting

as mentioned, i will be hosting laura's wedding shower on sunday!  i love crafting and decorating and hosting, so i started today to ensure time for all my ideas.

kitchen shower invitation

it's super nice today, so while jack played out back, i began working on my garland.  i used a 2.5" circle punch to create the circles in all sorts of yellow, red, and orange.  jack helped, so i didn't grab pics of that step.  next, i used my xyron sticker maker to apply adhesive to half of the circles:

i think the colors look so fun!

next, i took my craft basket (i am using baskets/pans/anything to fit the project to carry crafts around so i can craft while jack's all over the place.  it's fun!) out back.  crafting in one of the two rooms i usually use wasn't an option this gorgeous sunday! 

i also grabbed a beverage :)

using 5-ply rafia from cost plus-world market (not sure how they are going about their name nowadays, but this is what i call them) in a nice orange and red, i afixed the circles to eachother.  and it turned out SO FUN:

right?  so bright and happy.

next, i worked on these paper chains from martha's craft dept.  i love paper chains and make them a lot.  i make them, but don't always hang them.... that might be why there aren't any postings of them :(.  i liked the idea of using the punch and chose one that was garden-y to bridge a gap between some table setting stuff i'm using and the polka dots on the invites and garland.  the chains seem out of place now, but there is a plan in place that ties everything together.  i used a different craft basket (pan) since i needed the stability and a nice place to store the scraps:

previous beverage's supporting cast

i cut out 2.5 inch strips, punched, then attached together

and my hard (not hard at. all.) work together for you to see!