Hello sweet friends! It has been inexcusably long since I have posted. I know. But I do have legitimate reasoning. The kiddos got sick. The kiddos got ME sick. Been preparing for an upcoming gala next weekend. I have had 101 appointments and hence...no access to blog land. We actually have been going through a lot of personal stuff with our oldest daughter. I promise, nothing alarming or worrisome. But she has been having behavioral problems and struggling in school. So I have been determined to get to the bottom of it and I think we are on our way to a solution. It has taken all my time and energy which I have no doubt all of you are amazingly understanding about. But GOOD NEWS...I am going to be sharing all the elements of this DIY Tablescape I have been working on. I think you will like some of the ideas I have come up with. The gala theme this year is "A Knight in the Garden." Garden? Flowers? I am so in. Do you remember last year's table? Here are some photos to jog your memory... 1. family nest centerpiece 2. twig and paper leaf place cards 3. napkin ring wraps 4. bird house with bird magnet favors 5. diy fabric square chargers So here we go with the first part of Gala Tablescape 2012... My idea was to have a bunch of flowers...I mean A LOT...all over my table. I was going to make a runner, inspired by this, but my table is round so I figured I could just arrange a bunch in the center with some candle light. I realized coffee filters could be my solution. I think I am the last person to get on the coffee filter flower train. I have always admired them but to be honest, my crafty self can NOT pull it off. I tried all the different methods I have seen (rolling them with masking tape, roses) but for some reason, I am missing some coffee filter flower making gene. So while failing miserably trying this...quite by accident...I came up with my own way of making them. And it's easy! Everyone chic scream for easy! First I dyed them. I experimented with tea, food coloring, washable markers, and watered down acrylic paint. They all work great but I had the most fun with food coloring. I found I had a lot of leeway with it. You can even use kool aid too! I just soaked them for about 10 minutes and dried them in individual layers. The soft colors of these are so lovely. Here they are folded twice into cones and cut with a scalloped edge all ready to make the flowers. Check out my video below with a step by step on how to make the flowers. I needed both hands and I figured using my tripod for a picture tutorial would be more time consuming then just doing a video. I don't necessarily call this a vlog because only my hands are in the video. But I guess it is. I was probably sporting yoga pants, a hoodie, and working on day 2 of needing a shower. I love being a mom. :) Oh, and my voice sounds funny. Kinda valley girlish. Never knew that about me but whatever. Or...WHAT-everrrr. ;) Hope you like the step by step and let me know if you would want more vloggy tutes. What do you think? Aren't they crazy easy for being so pretty? BTW...if you want me to show you how to make these with a stem, I can do that too. Here are a bunch as I was playing with as a practice run on my kitchen table (which is round like my gala table). I think I am just going to have all the flowers loose to work as the centerpiece with those candlesticks in the middle to add height. Sorry you can't see a completed look but at least you see the flowers! I will check in with you soon for another fun tutorial. It's a favor and a place card in one. I'm just plain tickled I actually will be back soon! I hope you will be back too. :) Blessings lovelies! P.S. I hope this will launch an upcoming 2x a month series called Tablescape Tuesday. Details to come!