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Mar 29 2014

paper kites

Posted by hayley
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Flying kites is a favorite family activity around here.

paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

With spring weather knocking at our door and all the beautiful breezes it brings, I decided to incorporate paper kites into my springtime mantel decor. Here’s a quick photo walk-through of how to make your own.

Stick them in an indoor plant, use them as cupcake toppers, glue them to greeting cards, or give them to kids as imaginative playthings.

Begin by cutting different papers into the kite shapes. Click HERE for a 6.5″ template like mine.

make paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Use a glue stick to adhere the smallest triangles to the medium-sized diamond.

make paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Center that diamond on top of the larger kite shape and sew a straight line down the middle. If you aren’t a sewer, use a thin bead of hot glue down the center to achieve the same effect.

make paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Gently fold the smaller kite’s wings up at its mid-line.

make paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

To make the tail, wrap thin gauge wire around approximately 8″ of twine.

make paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Hot glue the tail to the back of the kite.

make paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

I cut tiny strips of scrap fabric and knotted them along the kite tails for added character.

make paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Use hot glue to attach a thin dowel to the bottom of the kite at an angle. (dowels can be found at craft stores or even the craft section of Walmart)

make paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

make paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Lastly, bend the tails to mimic the breeze. Let’s go fly a kite!

make paper kites  |  greyhouseharbor.com

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: diy, diy crafts, paper crafts, spring
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1 comment
Mar 20 2014

hello, spring

Posted by hayley
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Welcome to the first day of spring!

Everyone in Virginia tells me this was one of the coldest, longest winters in recent history. Seems like that’s true for a lot of the country. While my family enjoyed all the wonders of our first snowfall and bundling in new scarves, we’re more than anxious for the return of warm weather.

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

A new season is a great reason for fresh mantel decor! Dressing up our ledge might be my new creative outlet, but I’ve set some ground rules. Namely, a $20 budget. It’s easy to put together gorgeous decor when you’ve got unlimited funds. But, I find it more adventurous (and thrifty) to “shop” my home for things I can reuse, repurpose, or make from scratch.

In case you missed it, the paper feather garland tutorial can be found here.

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Hydrangea blues and sunny yellows having me dreaming of spring breezes, even though it’s been raining non-stop here.

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

I took this photo while sailing in the British Virgin Islands with Handsome after college. Love their cheerful exterior color schemes.

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

We made the mistake of buying Bug a kite this winter. A kite in the winter, you say? Well, it’s a fighter jet kite we brought home from our DC vacation. Of course he wanted to fly it immediately – in the snow. So, my spring mantel has a subtle flight theme because spring will bring better kite-flying weather.

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

spring mantel decor ideas  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Cost breakdown:
hydrangeas (50% off at Michaels) – $10.50 for 3
bird, nest & egg – $5
moss – $3
dowel for kites – $.30
terra cotta pots (used coupon) – $1 for 2
Total – $19.80
vase, river rock, frames, prints, colored paper, spraypaint, twine, candlesticks, faux greenery, & clothespins – on hand!

Tags: home decor, Mantel decor, our home, spring
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Mar 19 2014

make a paper feather garland

Posted by hayley
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 paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

If you like making things with paper (I do!) than you simply must check out the blog of Lia Griffith. She is an amazing paper artisan and has tons of free printables and tutorials. I mean… she made runway dresses out of paper – that’s legit.

When thinking about changing my mantel decor for spring, I was inspired by the paper feather garland tutorial she posted around the holidays. So, while all these photos are mine and my final product is a little different from hers, it would be impolite to not give credit where it is due. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?!

I’m apologizing in advance for the color in some of these photos. Working at 11:30pm under horrific builder-grade, ceiling mounted lighting isn’t exactly ideal for beautiful photography. But the kids were in bed and beggars can’t be choosers.

Ok. Grab some colorful paper! I used linen-textured scrapbook cardstock.

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Lia offers the feather template free HERE. She cuts them by hand, but I cheated worked smarter and let my trusty silhouette do the work.

 paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Use a sharp edge to score a line down the middles.

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Then fold gently along the score.

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

I chose not to “fringe” all my feathers… more like half. (See what I’m talking about with the photo colors – I promise that middle feather is yellow and not pale orange… geesh!)

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

To add dimension, I spraypainted the tips silver, blue and yellow.

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.compaper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.compaper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.compaper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.compaper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Since I can sew faster than I can tape 40 something feathers to the back of a string, I just ran the feathers through my machine with a straight stitch.

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

I didn’t line them up exactly and even had some going the opposite direction or at wonky angles. Totally crushing on the final look!

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Even if you don’t make one long enough to cover a mantel, 9 or 10 feathers strung together would be super cute hung on a child’s bedroom door. Tweet-tweet!

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

paper feather garland DIY  |  greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: diy, diy crafts, paper crafts, spring, tutorials
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I'm Hayley. Wife and mother by day, DIY enthusiast by night. Fueled by sweet tea and jelly beans, I own power tools and know how to use them. Consider yourself warned.

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