Sarah Hearts

I hope you had a great weekend and that your Monday is off to a great start. Today I thought I would start sharing some photos I snapped on my iPhone using Instagram. For those of you who are unfamiliar Instragram, it’s an iPhone app that allows you to take square photos, add filters and such, and then publish them within their own social network, or share them via Facebook, Twitter, and more. If you have an iPhone, you can follow me (@sarahkhandjian). If you don’t, that’s ok, I will be sharing some of my Instagram photos o a weekly basis. I hope you enjoy seeing what else I’m up to outside of the blog.

Photo above: One of the many crape myrtle trees in our backyard. The leave are starting to sprout and show a glimmer of spring.

Kevin installed a new faucet in our guest bathroom. We had a ugly, never-looked-clean, retro faucet before.

I was inspired by this so I added a little washi tape to my keyboard. I love it.

We tried a new restaurant with our good friends, Eileen and Jared. For those of you local, it’s Truffles Grill in Winter Park. Food was good, the super fruit cooler I had was delicious.

Darcy found a new cozy spot to lay—under the dining room table.

Myself and a couple friends want to host a shower for our friend. I made this card to let her know.

{Photos by me. Taken on my iPhone}

Today’s DIY tutorial is inspired by my friends. Recently, a few of them asked if I know how to make fabric roses. I’ve seen them everywhere but hadn’t tried making these before. These little rosettes are popping up in weddings, hair accessories, bags and jewelry. I decided to give it a try and they are much easier to make than they may seem. You only need a few types of craft supplies and the possibilities are endless. They can be embellished with pearl beads or feathers and would make the cutest bridal hairpiece.

1. For a 2″ rose, start with a 3″ x 22″ strip of fabric. I’m using unbleached cotton muslin.

2. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise. Then tie a loose knot at one end.

3. Tuck the short end into the knot.

4. Take the longer end and fold it downward. Then began wrapping it around the knot.

5. Keep folding the fabric downward as you wrap it around the knot. Repeat this until you get to the end. Trim the end of the fabric if it is fraying.

6. Once you are done, flip it over and using hot glue, adhere a round piece of fabric to the back. This will help it stay together.

7. Use the hot glue in between some layers to help it stay flat.

Then you’re done! You can add other details, such as pearls, beads, feathers, and lace and use them how you wish.

For some DIY inspiration and supplies (including high heat glue guns) check out Factory Direct Craft.

Today’s wedding board is for my new friend, Haley. We met last month in our connect group. Connect groups are Summit Church‘s lingo for small groups. Kevin and I are hosting a group in our home of young married couples. It’s been a lot of fun! We meet once a week and we’ve been getting to know each other and discussing how we can love people more like Jesus.

Haley and her fiancé Kevin are getting married this October in Kevin’s parents backyard. They are looking for several ways to make their wedding “rustic/vintage/outdoor/understated beauty” says Haley, while on a budget. I put together the board above to provide a few ideas. One of the cool things about being in a connect group is the community you form. We are all pitching in to help make Haley and Kevin’s big day even more special. During the upcoming weeks, I will be posting new tutorials of decorations and such that we’re making for their wedding. I’m really excited!

1. Haley’s aunt is making her dress (she’s a seamstress, how awesome is that?) and this is her inspiration.Gown by Allure Bridals.
2. There are a lot of tree in the yard so we may make tissue paper pom poms to hang from them. Image by Nessa K Photography.
3. Burlap is cheap and looks so lovely as table runners. I also love these simple floweral arrangements. Image by Vitalic Photography.
4. Fabric Rose Wreath by FaSewLaStiches is a great source of inspiration. Fabric roses would make great boutonnières. A wreath, like the one shown, would look cute hanging on a tree or gate in the yard.
5. Babies breath is such a beautiful, delicate flower and it’s so cheap! I think bouquets of only babies breath are gorgeous! Image by Tiffany Bolk Photography.
6. I posted a tutorial for washi tape cupcake flags earlier this year. I never thought to write on them! They make such cute markers. They could be used to label desserts, as shown above, or placed in little tiny pots with herbs as place cards (that could also double as guest gifts!).  Image above by Nessa K Photography.

I made toothpicks with our silhouettes and ages on them for our birthday party. I thought they would be a fun way to incorportate the party colors and theme while being functional. We only served appetizers and finger foods so they ended up being very practical.

They were very easy to make and only require a few supplies. Now I want to make them every time I serve an appetizer! I also think they would be really cute as cupcake “flags.” You can download the Word or Pages template I made and make your own. Here’s a little tutorial on how to make them.

1. You will need the following supplies:
- Toothpick topper template for Word
- 8.5″ x 11″ sheet(s) of colored cardstock (each page makes 8 toothpick toppers. Simply multiply this times the number of toothpicks you want)
- a 1.5″ circle paper punch (I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby for a while back, you can get a similar one at Michaels or JoAnns)
- PVA glue (other glues will work, but PVA is the best for bonding paper because it doesn’t wrinkle and is super strong, you can purchase it at your local art supply store or here)
- Paint brush to apply glue
- 4″ skewers (if you making cupcake toppers, I would recommend using toothpicks)

2. Customize the template then print the file on cardstock. Once the desired amount of “toppers” are printed, cut the “toppers” into 4 rows of 4. This is going to allow you to punch them out. The use the circle paper punch to punch out each topper. Sorry I forgot to snap a photo of this step. I found it easiest to turn the paper punch upside-down so you can use the printed lines of the circle to help you align the paper punch.

After you punched out all the circles, use the paint brush to apply PVA glue to the back side of one of the paper toppers. I made the toppers have our silhouette on one side and our respective ages on the other side.

3. Place one toothpick or skewer in the center of the glued topper. You may want to pick it up and check that it will be displayed correctly (for example, if you typed a number or date, you don’t want it to appear upside-down).

4. Take another paper topper and firmly press it onto the glued topper. I found it helpful to pick it up and use my fingers to help align the edges of the two circles. Repeat steps 2-4 and until you’ve made all the toothpicks you want! Super easy and so cute!

How would you use these? As cupcake toppers or toothpicks for small bites?

I have been on a blogging hiatus this past week. And if you were just asking yourself, “Yeah, where have you been, Sarah?” here all the details. Well, most of them.

Kevin and I spent the 4th of July holiday visiting my family in Miami. I will share our 4th of July picnic menu with you later this week. We had a great time visiting family and friends.

Last Wednesday was my 25th birthday! Yes, I turned a quarter of a century old. Nothing much has changed and it doesn’t feel different. I am proud to say that I can now rent a car with paying all those extra fees for being under 25. So that’s a plus.

Then on Saturday it was Kevin’s 26th Birthday! You may remember that we were planning a little birthday shindig (the mint and yellow party board may jog your memory).  I made paper straws with custom little flags on them. If you would like to make some for your party or wedding, you can find the tutorial here. I also made little toothpicks with our silhouettes and ages on them. They were so easy to make! I will post a tutorial and a printable template later this week if you would like to make them.

About an hour before the party I whipped up a bunch of paper garland. This was also easy, inexpensive, and so cute! I still haven’t taken the decorations down because they are just so charming.

I spent almost the entire day Saturday cooking small bites and sweets for the party. Here’s what I made:

Black bean and pineapple salsa with tortilla chips
Almond stuffed dates wrapped in bacon
Herbed garlic pinwheel pastries
Antipasto skewers with pesto dip
Carrots, snap peas, and cucumbers with feta dip
Turkey burger sliders with all the fixings

Red velvet cake (My favorite cake and I used my favorite recipe via Bakerella)
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting (I used a Martha Stewart recipe. Loved the cake, didn’t love the frosting. Do you have a creamy chocolate frosting recipe?)
Chocolate brownies

Everyone brought drinks but I did make a delicious peach sangria with prosecco and peach brandy

We put my camera on a tripod and made a little photo booth. It was so  much fun! Next time I will encourage more people to use it. Perhaps by making some props. We moved one of our tv’s to the den and placed it in front of the “photo booth” so people could use it was a view finder. I am going to do a little more research and see if we can have it preview the images as well. Anyone have an expreience with this?

I made the photo booth background quickly using this awesome tutorial via Sugar and Charm.

Thanks to all our friends who attended. It was a great birthday for both Kevin and I.

I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July! We spent the weekend in Miami and had a great time visiting family. I had been wanting to make new wreathes for the front doors since I still had the neutral holiday wreathes up. I brought some of my crafting supplies with me to Miami so my crafty mom could help me assemble the new wreathes. I used the same process as I did when I made the holiday wreathes.

I purchases the grapevine wreathes at Hobby Lobby for only $2 each! I used some existing felt scraps I had and a glue gun. The entire thing took less than an hour to make and looks so cute. I plan on making one with oranges and yellows for the fall. I think they would be so cute to use as a backdrop for a wedding ceremony or to hang on the church or reception venue’s door. They are the perfect blend of rustic country and crafty charm.

Click here for the tutorial on how to make the roses.

I have another patriotic post for you! Today I collected my favorite diy tutorials for creating cute 4th of July decorations. I can’t wait to make the sparkler holders. They are so clever and I love the details in the design.

We are heading down to Miami tomorrow and will be spending the 4th with my parents. We’re planning on having a picnic in the park while we watch fireworks. I’m thinking I will make some kinda of dessert in a jar. Maybe cheesecake with strawberries and blueberries? Do you have any 4th of July traditions? Any  decorations you always make?

1. Glitter star banner via Better Homes & Garden.
2. Festive cans via Martha Stewart.
3. Printable sparkler holders, matchbook wraps, and straw decorations via Twig and Thistle.
4. Printable party bunting and flags via Creature Comforts.
5. 4th of july banner via Country Living.

Update:: I made a video tutorial for this DIY. Check it out below!

Last night I download the July issue of Martha Stewart Living on my iPad. I didn’t get too far into the issue as I skimmed it’s pages until I fell asleep. They had a link to summer crafts and I was surprised to see several new cute tutorials. So today I decided to try one out and add my own twist. The results are above. All you need is paper plates and some cute tape and you have a great way to serve food for your fourth of July picnic or bar-b-que!

The following directions are based on the craft from Martha Stewart. The tutorial on her site said to hold the basket together with a rubber band. I think that would be cute, but I love love love washi tape so I decided to use that. You can use either method, if you find another way to hold the basket together, please let me know.

I can’t wait to serve appetizers and desserts in these! Or you can line them with wax paper and serve potato or pasta salad in them.

1. You will need the following supplies: white paper plates (1 plate per basket), scissors, paper edger scissors (I used my pinking shears), a ruler, pencil, washi tape or rubber bands, and 4 paper clips.

2. Using the paper edger scissors or pinking shears, trim about 1/4″ off of the circumference of the plate.

3. Flip the plate over so the front side is facing down. Use the pencil and ruler to make a 9-section grid. Try your best to make the center square in the center of the plate. If you want you can measure it.

4. Use the regular scissors to cut a slit along every other vertical line. Stop cutting where the vertical line intersects with the center square.

5. Fold one side at a time up to form the “basket”. Use one paper clip to hold each side together as you assemble the basket.

6. Use washi tape and wrap it around the basket and then remove the paper clips. If you are using rubber bands, simple wrap the rubber bands around the basket. And you’re done! Now fill them up with summer treats!

I have been planning on making a headboard for our guest room since we purchased our home last year. After diligently looking at thrift stores and garage sales I finally found one to use as my “base” for only $3! After asking you which fabric I should choose, I ended up choosing the Lovely Lattice pattern from Waverly. The fabric has a “lattice” print in cream on a grass green background. I purchased it from Fabric.com and purchased the foam from Jo-Ann Fabrics site (I found great coupons for both here). All my supplies arrived by the end of last week so it was time to get started!

If you would like to see how I upholstered the headboard or would like to make your on, here’s how!

1. You will need:
- A flat headboard or a sheet of 1/2″ plywood cut to your desired headboard shape.
- Upholstery fabric (for a queen size headboard, I used about 3 years)
- 2″ sheet of foam (I purchased a roll and pieced it together)
- Batting (I purchased a large roll for $9.99 at Jo-Ann fabrics and only used less than half of it)
- Spray Adhesive
- Box cutter (if you have a small hand-held jig saw it would be  perfect for this step, but not necessary)
- Staple gun and staples
- Magic marker

2. Start by placing the foam on the ground. You may need to cut it so it will be large enough to cover the headboard. Make sure the foam is butting the other piece(s) so there are no gaps. Then place the headboard face down on the foam.

3. Using the magic marker, trace along the outline of the headboard. If you were to remove the headboard, you should see a marker path like mine above.

4. Using your box cutter or jig saw, cut along the marker path. It is easier if you remove the headboard while cutting the foam.

Flip the headboard face, or right side up. Using the spray adhesive, spray one side of the foam and adhere it to the right is of the headboard. Repeat until the entire headboard is covered in 2″ foam.

Place the batting on the floor. It should be large enough to cover the entire headboard with about 5″ extra on all sides. Cut a path through the  batting about 5″ from the edge of the headboard. Repeat this until you have trimmed all sides of the batting.

5. Use the staple gun to attach the batting to the headboard. Start in the center of the headboard and work towards the outside. While you staple, be sure to pull the batting taught. This will help secure the foam and ensure there are no wrinkles in the fabric later.

6. Repeat this process until the batting is stapled to the headboard on all sides.

7. Temporarily lift up the headboard and place the fabric, face down, on the ground. Then place the headboard face down on top of the fabric. Just like trimming the batting, trim the fabric to about 5″ all the way around the headboard.

8. Use the staple gun to attach the fabric to the headboard, the same way the batting was attached. Repeat this process all the way around. Be sure to start in the center of the headboard and pull the fabric tight as you staple. If your headboard is curly, you will need to fold the fabric slightly as you staple along the curved sides. If your headboard has any right angles, fold that the same way you would fold gift wrap on the package.

Let me know if you have any questions about this process if you are going to give it a try. This project took me about 3 hours to complete and cost me around $100 total. It’s an easy way to dress up a bedroom and create a unique piece of furniture.

For some great upholstered headboard ideas, visit moreheadboards.com. Happy DIY-ing!

Last week I shared a few ideas about how I would like to decorate our house for our big birthday party. I decided to stick with mint and bright yellow and pair it with a dark gray. I love this color palette! I also drew silhouettes of the Mr. and I for our invitations. I loved them so much I’m getting art prints made for our bedroom.

The party will be here before we know it, so I started making some decorations. The first thing I started with is making custom flags for paper straws. I was very easy to make and I love the way it looks. I even made a little tutorial so you can make them too. I’m loving little flags right now and these would be perfect for a wedding or a 4th of July party.

UPDATE: I made a free template for Word. All you need to do is type in the text boxes, choose your font color and print! I recommend printing it on smooth 8.5″ x 11″ card-stock. If you only want the text to appear on one side of the flag, delete every other column of text in Word.

Free Paper Straw Flag Template for Word

1. You will need paper straws (I purchased mine here), colored card-stock paper, the template above, and an desktop printer. You will also need narrow permanent double-sided tape.

2. Use a straight edge and x-acto blade or paper cutter to cut your soon-to-be-flags into strips.

3. You should have little strips of paper that look like mine above.

4. Use permanent (not removable) double-sided tape. Place this on the back side of the paper strip. I tried using a glue stick and they didn’t hold up. I also tried using removable double-sided tape and this also didn’t hold. PVA glue would probably be the best adhesive to use, but I was too impatient to wait for it to dry.

5. Wrap the paper strip around a straw. Then use small, sharp scissor to cut a triangle out of the end of the flag. This give it the oh-so-cute flag shape.

And that’s it! Easy, right? I can’t wait to make these for summer dinner parties and just about every occasion!