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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Painted Paper Lanterns

Hello All! I hope you're having a good week! Today I'm sharing a bit of personal news because it informs my project today and the projects that will inevitably follow. First off -- no, I'm not pregnant. However, Handy Andy and I are going through training to become a host home for Safe Families for Children, and will also be getting our foster care license this year most likely. Instead of explaining to you what Safe Families is, I'll just make you go to the site to read up on it! :)

In short, Handy Andy and I are both passionate about providing a safe, loving environment to children in crisis situations, and this is the direction we are heading with the goal of hosting children beginning later this year/early 2013.

In addition to training, we are getting our house ready by transforming our guest room into a gender-neutral, age-neutral kids room [why yes, that is challenging -- any suggestions??]. At this point I've picked a green, blue and yellow color scheme. I'm also thinking about an alphabet/words theme, but I'm still pondering that one.

Anyway, for the first little decor project, I decided to use something I already had...


White paper lanterns! [sorry, I didn't take a before picture, so this is off the internet]

I got these probably over a year ago on clearance at Hobby Lobby, and I think my mom bought them for me...so they were actually free! I love the look of these paper lanterns, but I couldn't find a spot for these in our house before now.

Once I decided on the color theme for the room, I got inspired to give these lanterns a makeover and [eventually] hang them in the kids room. I took some tempera paint I had, brushes, and a few jar lids to trace, and here's what I ended up with:



There was no special trick to this, but I did have to watch how much paint I brushed on at one time because the paper is really thin and was pretty fragile when it got wet. The circles were kind of annoying to trace and paint, so I only did the big one with circles. They turned out so cute! And this little project was FREE! I can't wait to hang them up!

Also, I recently purchased some clearance fabric to make some curtains out of...which should definitely be an adventure. Stay tuned!

Have a good one!


P.S. Linking up here!

20 comments:

  1. That sounds awesome!

    Blue, green and yellow are great colors! I can't wait to see it all put together :)

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  2. What a wonderful idea to foster children! You are very brave :)

    And I love the lanterns.. very pretty. The colors are great!

    Ps.. love the new blog look!

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  3. I LOVE the circles!!! They look so perfect, so I bet it was time consuming, but totally worth it.

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  4. Wow! I LOVE these! So you just painted them with regular tempra paint? I clicked on your thumbnail over at "52 Mantles" link party expecting to see a complicated (but worth it) project. I have paper lanterns in the attic that I could use this technique on. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

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  5. stumbled onto your blog via the blog hop and just wanted to leave you a little blog luv! Def enjoyed reading this post!! new follower!

    http://infinitelifefitness.com
    http://mscomposure.blogspot.com

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  6. Like your blog theme!! Good luck with it. I'm your newest follower from Friday blog hop (early) and hope you'll come visit me and follow back!!

    http://mommieagain.com

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  7. Yay for starting the training & expanding your family! :]

    and these are really cute. i'm kind of motivated to start a board on pinterest to help inspire this room for/with you. :]

    (should i leave my website? ;))

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  8. These look great-so creative-following you from Kate's party-stop by for a visit!

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  9. Congrats on your new adventure! I know the program...you are going to be a great addition! Can't wait to see what else is in store for that room! Thanks for linking to the Stinky Linky Party!

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  10. These are pretty! Were they hard to paint? Thanks for sharing at Things I've Done Thursday!

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  11. That is such awesome news! I love the colors you decided on. I can't wait to see how it all comes out. Best of luck with everything! :)

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  12. What a great project! New blog hop follower! Happy to have found you! Have a great weekend! :) http://acostaeveli.blogspot.com/

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  13. I found your blog from Centsational Girl on the linky party. These lanterns are such a good idea! I might be attempting this for my wedding if its cheaper to buy white paper lanterns than buying the colored ones (: I am so happy for you guys to be helping kids in need!

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  14. That's so exciting and special, Liz!! I'm happy for you and Andy! I'll be praying that God prepares your heart emotionally as you embark on this journey!!

    I love the paper lanterns! Great idea!!

    If you go with the alphabet theme, you should check out the free printable alphabet letters on The Handmade Home. I LOVE them! SO cute and unique. Plus, they aren't overly kiddie, so they would be more age neutral (in my opinion!). If you want the link, let me know and I'll send it to you!

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  15. these turned out SO cute...I've never thought to paint those lanterns!

    Thanks so much for linking to "20 Below Thursday"! :)

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  16. I LOVE how these turned out! I've been wanting to re-do my little girls bedroom and I think I might try this out.

    Thanks for stopping by and linking up to the Mingle With Us Blog Hop. I'm following you back. :)

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  17. Adorable! I wonder how they look when they're lit.

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  18. These are adorable!! I love them! Thanks for sharing on SweetTalkin' Sunday!

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  20. You idea aboutpaper lanterns is awesome !! you are really a Genius.

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