Maybe it’s not having a patio in the backyard or the fact that our patio table rotted over the winter and we “donated” it to the neighborhood clean up instead of bringing it to the house when we moved. Or the fact that the only way I can leisurely enjoy an evening meal out doors is on folding chairs with paper plates in laps. But, I have been dreaming of romantic summer night dinners with Chinese lanterns hanging from a pergola.
I decided a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to decorate some rice paper Chinese lanterns with the My Mind’s Eye Indie Chic collections. The papers are fabulously relaxed summer papers with a cool “Moroccan” summer feel to them. And, they are perfect for patio décor.
Back up a bit… while talking with my Sister-in-law a couple of weeks ago to find out what I could do to help her get ready for my niece’s upcoming “landmark” birthday party, I asked her if I could do a trial run of the lanterns to add to the decorations. I knew the Miss Caroline – Dolled Up collection would match her color scheme perfectly. My niece was thrilled with the lanterns and even asked if she got to keep them and, of course, she did!
Here is how they turned out:
I tied some shimmery bridal “fabric” around the center, clustered the flowers around and added some Teresa Collins “bling” to make them even more feminine. (My sister-in-law bought the gorgeous fabric to drape behind them. The whole food table was gorgeous!)
It was great to have a trial run to learn from and tweak slightly. Here’s how the Indie Chic lanterns turned out. Aren’t they beautiful? (I just love this collection)
For the Indie Chic lanterns, I mixed things up a bit:
- I decided these lanterns didn’t need the bling (shocking, I know *wink*). Instead of dangling the crystals from the bottom, I cut the shimmery “bridal” fabric and tied it to the bar a the bottom.
- Instead of clustering the flowers in the center, I swept them across the lanterns in a gorgeous diagonal line. I made sure one of the lanterns was angled a different way.
- I also tied the lanterns together in a lantern “bouquet” and dangled them from the chandelier over my kitchen table. There are so many cute ways you can display these lanterns (on a curtain rod (like we did for the Baptism, from a chandelier, an outdoor pergola, tree or from the ceiling in a bedroom – use your imagination).
- Indie Chic has gorgeous buttons, chipboard and brads. They make fabulous centers to the flowers, so I mixed them up in the centers of the flowers and used the flower centers as “buds” on the lanterns.
As always, I’ve created instructions for you. You can download them here: Download 2012_06_29_MME_Chinese Lanterns
I’ll upload the segment here when it is available.
I had such a fun time creating these. I have another niece that wants me to make some for her in the future and I look forward to making them for her.
Have a fabulous day!
