02.11
2011

Pink Overload and a Paper Fan Medallion Tutorial
I have never decorated for Valentine’s Day before. I am not sure if it is because I have Lillie now or maybe it was getting the Silhouette Machine for my birthday, but for some reason I thought it would  be fun to do this year. I didn’t want to spend much money and I wanted to use mostly black and white with a little hint of pink. I did pretty good on the first part. I spent about $14 dollars on supplies – I bought six frames from the dollar store ($6) and then used a half can of spray paint ($3) to cover four of them in a soft white and kept the two black ones as is, and then bought some patterned paper (I already had the black and cream cardstock) at the craft store ($5). And then I spent another $28 on a whole bunch of tulips and a little rose bush from Trader Joe’s. Everything else I either already had or was free. The second part, I didn’t do quite so well on. Somehow my plan for just a hint of pink went awry and I ended up with WAY more pink than I meant – whoops! Oh well, Lillie keeps telling me it is pretty so at least she likes it – I think poor Jon wants to gag! Haha!
I really love how the tulips look and am relatively happy with how the two urns with the branches or “dead trees”, as the males in our family call them, look with the black and white paper ornaments hanging from them. The mantel, though, turned out WAY more “crafty” looking than I like and I kind of cringe when I look at it. Seeing how it will only be up for four or five days, though, I think I will survive. Plus, every time we walk in that room Lillie points to the L-O-V-E banner and squeals “I made that!”, which makes me smile every time. If I ever decorate for Valentine’s again, though, I think I will go with something more simple on the mantel – maybe just the vases with some flowers. 
I do love the pink tulips in this bucket! 
 ( I don’t like how it looks sitting on the little plate but it helps to keep the bucket more stable on the ottoman in hopes that Lillie won’t knock it over…so far so good, for now, anyway…..)
I

 

I used the gift card that came with my machine to download several designs off of Silhouettes website such as the Love Birds one and the keys both shown below. I also used some of my own designs (like the girl holding the heart) and framed those as well.

 
My favorite thing to do with the Silhouette right now is to cut out frosted vinyl. On each of my little cupcake stands I put the letters L, O, V and E.  You can also etch the designs on but I like this option better because I can just peel the letters off and do something new once Valentine’s Day is over with.
I also used it to put this image on my vase!
 

And we have the je t’aime pillows out. 

As much as I don’t like the mantel I do like how the branches turned out. I think it’s because the simple black and cream theme was what I originally had intended on doing and just somehow I got way off track!

Here is how to make the little fan medallion things. I saw this in a Martha Stewart magazine years ago and have made them several times. One year I used them to top all of my Christmas presents with. They are really easy.  (Sorry for the horrible photos, they were taken late at night when the lighting was awful and therefore are really bad!)
1) First cut your paper. You can use cardstock but regular weight paper is actually much easier to work with. I cut my 8.5″ by 11″ sheets in half and my 12″ by 12″ sheets into thirds.

2) Next fold over a small part.

3) Then fold it back again accordion style.

4) Do that until you have the whole thing folded.

5) Now pinch it together and fold it over one way (I don’ have a weird disease – my fingers are just covered in paint).

6) Then bend it back the other way.

7) Then I use double sided tape (you could also use glue) to pinch two ends together. 

8) Make sure it is stuck together good.

9) Now do the same the on the other side and you are good to go!

Then you just use a glue gun to glue on an image or a button or whatever you want to embellish it with.
I hope you all have a most wonderful weekend! I am almost done with the projects in Lillie’s room and then it is on to the nursery! I know it will seem hard to believe after seeing this post but I don’t plan on using a single drop of pink! I will show you some of my inspiration in my next post.

P.S. Linking up to Wendy’s Frugal Friday! 


Finally - The Ruffled Lampshade Tutorial, Some More Pictures of Lillie's Room and a Giveaway at Forty Toes
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51 thoughts on “Pink Overload and a Paper Fan Medallion Tutorial”

  1. John might want to gag, but I think the pink is very pretty. Everything looks beautiful and I love those silhouettes. I so wish we had a Trader Joe's here 🙂

    -Rene

  3. I LOVE pink tulips and are so excited that they are back in season. Your decorations are beautiful, but one thing that caught my eye is the light fixture over your table! LOVE IT!

    BTW, I featured your je t'aime pillow on my blog on the 7th. Stop by if you get a chance!

  7. You can never have too much pink, and you paired it perfectly so that its not really an overload. I love this! Such a beautiful space! The tulips are perfect in that bucket! I love the pink rose ball on the mantel! Oh such an inspiration today! Thank you!

  8. Okay Jenni SERIOUSLY???????????????? When do you do it???????????????????? Remember you got to sleep! You are making a baby! I LOVE it all and just think your house is GORGEOUS! ;)Now I want one of those machines.

  9. So beautiful!! I love it all, the pink tulips, the fun signs, all the little details. What a fun machine! I could use that to make some great things for the shop! (And myself! 😉
    Have a great weekend!!
    ~michelle~

  11. Gorgeous home!! Everything is so lovely to look at!
    Magazine worthy!
    I am having a giveaway if you would like to come
    over and have a peek!
    Pamela 🙂

  19. can you tell me more about the rolled paper/book pages fan on your sofa table? i really like how it looks with the black & white text and would love to know how you made it/where you got it.
    thanks!

  23. It's so beautiful! I love the pink and think it's just perfect. Your home is gorgeous and should be featured in a magazine. You are so talented, Jennifer. The pink tulips are beautiful. Believe it or not my husband's favorite flower is either a white or pink tulip so I'm off to look for some today. Love the Love banner that Lillie helped you make!

  25. Oh boy Jon would really gag over my dining room than, lol! Its all pink!:) Of couse I personally don't think that you have too much pink!! I like it! <3

  26. WOW! I love it all! Your photography is stunning and your composition and lighting is perfect! Love the valentines vignettes! So much talent! Have a wonderful weekend! Hugs lulu

  27. Your decor is so pretty, and not over the top! I LOVE the tulips, they are my favorite flower! You are definately getting some great use out of your silhouette machine! 🙂

  28. I think it looks beautiful and perfectly done! And these are the special things Lillie will remember about the holidays! I didn't decorate as much for Halloween this year and my 18 year old son said "gosh mom aren't you going to do more, you always do more," so they do remember! 😉 Needless to say I went all out at Christmastime and I have stuff out now for V'tine's Day!

    Happy Valentine's Day!

    Kat 🙂

  30. i hold my head in shame…i have had my silhouette since christmas and still haven't gotten it out of the box! ugh, never enough time!

    i love all of the things that you have done with yours, so glad you were able to get one for your birthday!

  33. Can I just say GORGEOUS? Okay, I will. lol The pink tulips with black and white is stunning. You have amazing taste. Your home is lovely.♥

  35. Thanks everyone! I know Jenn – I never sleep – argggh!!! I keep saying I am going to go to bed at a normal time but it never happens!

    Traveling Thrifter and Anonymous – my sister got those cupcake stands for me several years ago! I liked them when I first opened them but when I started using them I LOVED them! I think she got them from Pottery Barn but am not sure. I will ask her and if it wasn't PB will come back on here and post where they were from.

    Rebecca 222 – that was a gift from Jon's mom last Christmas. I know she got it on Etsy and I think it was from Simple Joys Paperie. They have beautiful things. There are also a bunch of tutorials on how to make them out there in blogland. I actually have been wanting to make one for months but haven't gotten around to it!

    Lu – Thank you so much. I struggle with the lighting in my home so much. I am always so jealous of your photography!

    Kat – it is so funny how they notice things like that, isn't it?

    Jenni – DON'T open it! Haha – I am wishing I hadn't. Now I am completely addicted to it. I need to stop playing around with it and get back to work on my spring Dear Lillie stuff. Instead I just keep thinking "one more project and then I will stop!" Haha!

  36. I just hopped over here from Urban Farmgirl and am so glad I did! Your home is beautiful and now I need to stick around and see more of the loveliness you add to it! Theresa xoxo

  37. LOVE tulips ~ one of my favorite flowers. Everything you've done is simply stunning. I love the little fan thingys…so neat, especially with something attached as a bit of extra decor.

    Thanks for sharing!
    Pat

  39. your space looks gorgeous with all the details!
    love that je t'aime pillow! i'll try to do one for my master bedroom, can i?! (sorry for using your idea!
    thanks for sharing that tutorial! very generous and handy!
    happy sunday!
    Rosa

  40. We all need a little pretty after the long winter we've had {so far} this year. Your Valentine decor is beautiful. No tulips at our Trader Joe's but I did pick up some lovely roses and jasmine plant 🙂

    Jo

  42. So beautiful… I always get so inspired reading your blog! Can you tell me exactly… what is a Silhouette machine?

  46. I think it ALL looks GREAT. I am not a fan of a real "crafty" look either but I think the mantle is perfect for Valentine's day. It is all beautiful!!!! When you have little ones…sometimes you need more whimsical decorations for the holidays. It has taken me many years to embrace that sometimes because I am a more simple, elegant and refined decorator.

    Now I am coveting a silhouette machine:)

  48. I am looking through all of your blogs tonight. Do you make and sell the je'taime pillow, the tan and white ones and the one with the flower?Hope you sell them in your shop. Did you buy your living room draperies or make them and what material is that? Love your dining room too. Can't wait to see what you will be making for fall. Donna

  49. We do make the Je T'aime pillow and it will be for sale in our shop when we reopen in two different sizes. The draperies are from J.C. Penney.

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