to make the envelopes, a large doily was placed in the center of a full page from the mag, then spray painted gold to leave a fun doily image.

find 12 pages with as much white space as possible and use those for the main calendar sheets. find 12 more pages with fun colors and patterns to use as the background to your calendar sheets and cut those 1/2" to 1" bigger around the edges.

i used the glue dots glue lines for fast and simple assembly of calendar pages to the background

11 more and voila!

calendar favors for your guests...

{ bow jars }

our glass jars needed a little jazzing up, so sharon whipped up these adorable bows, clustered them around some vases and jars, then filled with things that all parties need.. candy, toys, confetti.. and more candy!

one. grab one page from your mag, a paper cutter.. or scissors if you have a steady hand:) and a piece of wire

two. cut 3 long strips, cut one of those strips in half

three. thread all pieces onto the wire, fold the two longer strips in half to create the loops in the bow

four. twist a little knot in the front of the bow to secure

finally wrap the rest of the wire around your jar to secure

repeat, repeat, repeat, and you'll have a fun display like ours below!

{ backdrop }

you can't have a party without pictures. so drape your prettiest sheet or curtain, grab some paper, and make a hanging HOORAY sign like ours!

you'll need your letters:

cut letters with an exacto knife (carefully people! i don't want to be responsible for anyone hurting themselves)

once your letters are cut, you'll need your fanned wheel as a backdrop

cut 2 sheets in half length wise

tape them into one long strip

and start folding your heart out

you'll end up with a fan like the image above on the left

pinch the ends together and secure with tape or glue to create the circle... i put a dot of hot glue in the center of the circle to keep that secure as well.

top your wheel with a letter and repeat!

[side note- find contrasting colors for your letters and wheels. it'll be so much easier to read!]

{ noisemakers }

what we did here was buy the cheesy noise makers you can get at any party store, ripped off the ugly metallic paper [i don't HATE metallic, i actually love it, just not when it comes from a big box party store] cut strips of paper, made fringe, then rolled it back up onto the noise maker part and secured with a glue dot! so cute and these seriously took 1 minute each.

oh, and if you're glittertastic (sharon) you can dip the ends lightly in glue then glitter to add a little glitz to your blower

{ accessories }

we couldn't skimp on the girls.. so everyone got a little paper accessory!

paper rectangles folded, bundled, then cinched in the center turned into a lovely little bow tie necklace

handcut hearts that got a little crumble were attached to a piece of twisted paper to make a headband

love love loved our accessories and so did our guests!

{ chandelier }

i have mixed feelings about this.. which i will wait to express later after you fall for how awesome this gem is.  basically you need to hire your little ones (if you have them) to punch little circles and tear little squares. you will need loads. or, this is a perfect task to complete while watching the real housewives marathon... not that i did that though.

after you have your circles and squares. break out the sewing machine and sew miles of circle-square-circle-square garland. go out and get yourself a circle made of sturdy/thick wire. i used something i believe is made with the intention of being used with floral wreaths? not completely sure, but after a coat of silver spray paint it was perfect. anyways... cut your miles into strings of garland that you will tie at one end to your circle.

make it as full or as skimpy as you'd like, hang, and admire

but don't, please don't, stick those hooks that they advertise on tv (the ones with the sticky back that supposedly don't leave marks on your walls? and SUPPOSEDLY hold like 15 pounds?!!) to the ceiling and string your chandelier from it... because it will fall before your photo shoot is over or your party has begun, then you will kind of cry a little. and it'll suck. but if you have an awesome photographer that catches a few amazing shots before the poor thing falls and every little strand gets tangled to its neighbor, then you'll kind of be okay with it... just my disclaimer:)

happy crafting! sharon and i really hope you enjoyed browsing through our projects and hope that you will get to try one, or a few, for yourself!

oh, and we'll be posting one last time tomorrow with a few more of our own shots, what was going through our crazy crafty heads when we were planning, and whatever else we want to say about our new years eve gone girls night out... bash. can you tell we're proud?

{xo, l}

ps- most images are again from up imagery!