Weekend Reads {8.23.13}

Hello There! Happy Friday my friends. I hope you all have had a good week. Mine has, once again, been incredibly busy. With early mornings, late nights and countless meetings in between, I'm excited for a day of peace and quiet tomorrow. I think I am taking a vow of relaxation for the day with no phone, lots of couch sitting and maybe actually reading all my September issues. I still haven't made it to them in three weeks!

With that being said, I may have to break my vow for a bit to celebrate the weekend with these fun confetti creations. To finish out confetti week, I've gathered up my five favorite confetti inspired posts. With everything from confetti popsicles to a confetti themed first birthday, I'm loving all the confetti inspiration out there. So much so that I'm even considering making my next birthday a nostalgic bash full of confetti, streamers, rice krispy treats, and board games.

I hope this week has provided you with as much fun as it has me. If you took anything away from it, I hope it's that confetti makes everything better!

Have a great weekend!

1. Confetti Popsicles by Icing Designs

2. Confetti 1st Birthday by Kara's Party Ideas

3. Confetti Mirror by Aunt Peaches

4. Confetti Tin Cans by At Home in Love

5. Confetti Popcorn by Key Ingredient

Indulge In {Chocolate Covered Confetti Rice Krispy Pops}

If you are having confetti week, you can't not have a confetti inspired treat. Confetti to me represents a true recurrence of nostalgic elements in parties. And, nothing screams nostalgic food to me more than homemade rice krispy treats. I remember making them from scratch with friends on long summer days in the kitchen. When I was young, they were the one treat I could make on my own making me feel like a real grown-up. I haven't had them in ages, but when it came to planning for this week, I wanted to make something that I felt represented "fun" as much as confetti does, but amp it up a notch. While rice krispy treats can be a bit messy to eat with your hands, skewering them and dipping in chocolate really helps to keep hands clean and mouths happy. I've never been more excited to share a recipe with you, so I hope you enjoy as much as I do! Here's the recipe...

:: Ingredients ::
3 Tablespoons Butter
1 Package Marshmallows
6 Cups Rice Krispies Cereal
1 Tub Melting Chocolate
Multi-Colored Sprinkles
Skewers

:: Directions ::
1. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
2. Stir in Rice Krispies. Mix until completely coated.
3. Using a spatula coated in melted butter, press into cake pan sprayed with non-stick spray. Let cool completely and cut into 2 x 3 rectangles.
4. Skewer rice krispies and dip into melted chocolate. Lay flat on wax paper, sprinkle with sprinkles immediately. Let chocolate harden and serve!

Have a tasty Thursday!

Party DIY {Confetti Thrower}

Does anybody watch Live with Kelly and Michael? Yes? Great! If you do, then you have seen the new toys they have when they do Travel Trivia. Each day, Kelly and Michael pick up these brown stick looking items and toss confetti into the crowd at the start of the segment. Ever since I saw them use it for the first time, I've been dying to make one of my own. Because, let's be honest, who doesn't want to own a confetti thrower? It's pretty awesome, and, if you ask me, makes a great addition to any gathering. Use them as you are making your grand entrance or exit from your wedding, as you are blowing out the candles on your birthday cake, or because you're happy it's Friday. The uses for a confetti thrower are really endless. They are simple to make and easily customizable to the theme of any event. All you need is a toilet paper roll, tissue paper, wrapping paper, scissors, glue, and some of your homemade confetti. That's it! From there all you need to do is cap, fill, wrap, and throw. Here's the step-by-step on making your own...

:: Supplies ::
Toilet Paper Roll
(2) 4x4 Squares Tissue Paper
Wrapping Paper of Choice
1/2 Cup Homemade Confetti
Scissors
Exacto Knife
Glue

:: Directions ::
1. Cut a single sheet of tissue paper into a 4x4 square. Cover one end of the tissue paper roll and glue down.
2. Via the open end of the tissue paper roll, fill the thrower with confetti.
3. Take the second square of tissue paper and cover the open end of the roll. Using the exacto knife, pierce a small "x" in the center of the tissue paper on one end only.
4. Wrap the thrower with wrapping paper of choice and glue to hold in place.
5. Toss confetti out of "x" end of thrower!

Party DIY {Cheery Confetti}

Welcome to the second day of confetti week. I mentioned yesterday how hard it's becoming to find good confetti. By that I mean confetti that is brightly colored, easy to toss, and doesn't rip just by looking at it. What I'm finding now a days is standard packs in basic colors that isn't very useable for any event. Well...today we are going to solve that problem. Recently I've found it much easier to make my own confetti. You can use a variety of materials in any color you desire to make confetti in any shape you desire. It may take a bit of time to make it in mass quantity, but trust me, you will be much happier with the outcome. I've found that using crepe paper streamers is what works best for me. The cost is low, it's easy to cut, and comes in every color imaginable. While my go to style is dot or strip confetti, you can also make confetti shapes by buying different shaped hole punches at your local craft store. Number and letters would be fun for a 1st Birthday or stars in red, white, and blue for Labor Day.  Whatever shape in whatever color you decide to make, DIY confetti always seems like the right answer to me. Here's the how to on my favorite dot and strip confetti.

:: Supplies ::
Crepe Paper Streamers
Single Hole Punch
Scissors

:: Directions ::

For Dot Confetti: Cut a strip of streamer 24 inches in length. Fold in half until you have a length of streamer 4 inches long. Using your single hole punch, punch holes around the perimeter and the inside of the streamer piece. Empty out the catcher on your single whole punch for the confetti. Repeat with remaining colors.

For Strip Confetti: Cut a strip of streamer 24 inches in length. Fold in half creating a 12 inch piece. Using your scissors, cut the uncreased side of the streamer into thin strips. Be careful not to cut the crease. Next, take your scissors and begin trimming small pieces off the bottom of the strips creating varying sized rectangles. The key to strip confetti is to not be uniform!

Have a celebratory Tuesday!