July DIY!

Happy July!

I'm getting ready to host our annual 4th of July barbeque this week, which has been dramatically scaled back this year due to my grandma's health.  Still, it's going to be a fun day with yummy food and lots of fun.

I got it in my head that I wanted to put decorated lights around the patio.  I blame Pinterest.  I saw this and this and decided to mash them together to make crochet-paper-covered lights.  Cute idea, right?  I was planning to pull out our Christmas tree lights and make them all crochet-y and festive.

The basic concept is this: using scrapbook paper (or in my case, a scanned copy of some granny squares I made) and some cheap plastic cups you can make cute little lampshades for your patio/Christmas/fairy lights.   You cut one of the cups apart to use as a template, and then trace around it onto your paper.  I was able to get two cup covers out of each sheet of paper.  Then you can Outdoor Mod Podge them to waterproof them, or as I did, just tape them on because I hadn't fully committed to the project... Ooh, the embarrassing truth just slipped out there...

This is how far I got.

I couldn't bring myself to print out more than 3 pages of "granny paper" because it was so saturated with printer ink that it just looked like a waste of money to me.  I thought about getting color copies made, but they're a buck apiece, and I'm just too cheap to want to spend $50 for something that looks like I made it for free.  No thanks.  ($50 was determined by dividing my 100 lights by the 2 covers I would get from a $1 color copied paper.  I'd rather spend my $1 here... or here... Shameless plug!!!)

But I'd already made 4 covers, which now seemed like a huge waste of energy, until I thought "Duh, flip them back over!"  The lampshades were made from cups, so why couldn't I just use them as festive party cups?!  Done!  And while I was at it, why not make matching plates?  So I did.

I just cut out a circle that fit the bottom of my plate (disposable clear Chinet that I got on sale at Target), and then taped it the paper to the bottom of the plate!  I think this would look super cute for bringing cookies to a party, and who cares about the plate afterward.  I'm already thinking of doing this again in red and cream to use at Christmas.

So, I guess my total craft fail turned out okay after all.  Oh, Pinterest, I can never stay mad at you...

xoxo