Another Paper Source baby is on the way, and last week we celebrated new mom-to-be, Heather! Between the three of us we brainstormed all sorts of baby shower ideas, eventually landing on a “cute as a button” theme, which worked perfectly for a gender-neutral baby shower. Using our button inspiration, along with Heather’s nursery colors of light green and white, we created a simple, sweet space for all to enjoy.

Annie’s button baby banner, featured earlier this year, was a perfect fit for our shower theme. We hung two rows spelling out “cute as a button, cute as can be”, which was also used in our invitation.

One of the best ways to make a shower extra special is to add a personal touch. We knew early on that we wanted to incorporate gumballs into our design as a nod to Heather’s father who is in the candy business. Large glass jars filled with white gumballs made for perfectly sweet table centerpieces. Our tables were covered in solid wrapping paper in sage and pool, and button decorations made from circle cards and circle labels dotted the table tops.

We love doing spectacular gift baskets for baby shower gifts – the baskets are reusable for the nursery and you can fill them with all kinds of adorable goodies. Honoring Heather’s personality, we created two gift baskets – one for “practical baby” and one for “stylish baby”. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most stylish gals I have ever met is getting married in June, so it was not surprising to receive a gorgeous peacock-inspired wedding invitation, which set the tone for what is sure to be a beautiful night in the Virgin Islands. There was also no surprise in discovering that the blues and greens used in her wedding suite provided ample inspiration for this weekend’s bridal shower in her honor.

To keep with the bride’s theme, Lauren (hostess and maid of honor) used the Folk Ornament Printable Party Invitations, and tried something different with the Peacock Feather Rubber Stamp—by using food coloring and powdered sugar she created an elegant and edible glass plate design. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes a bride goes above and beyond to create something truly magical for her wedding. With the help of friends, family and her 5th grade class, Laura brought a theme with personal meaning to life. Here’s her real wedding story:

Jon and I had a long-distance romance between Seattle and Chicago, thanks to mutual friends who thought we would make the perfect match. The first time Jon came to visit he left behind a paper crane with a message written on the wings that summed up our wonderful weekend together. I left shortly after for a trip to Greece and took the crane along. While on the trip I decided to unfold the crane and discovered a secret message written on the inside as well! After 3 weeks of traveling, I came home to a mailbox full of letters; each letter contained a crane with sweet messages on the wings and secret ones inside. I knew he was a keeper!

We wanted to incorporate the cranes into our wedding because they were so special to us. With the help of a few friends, family, and the class of 5th graders I was teaching at the time, over 1300 cranes were folded. Most of the paper came from Paper Source, including the prints and solids. Our vision was to use about 1000+ of the cranes for a backdrop to be used during the ceremony. The cranes were attached to fishing line and each one was secured with a bead to hold its’ place on the line. My brothers constructed a wooden frame with lights to hang them from.

The result was breathtaking!

Read the rest of this entry »

In honor of Earth Day tomorrow, we came up with these adorable origami hearts made from our own catalogs. This recycled craft really says, “I heart the planet.” In just six simple steps you can fold old catalog and magazine pages, even shopping bags, into wonderful decorations. String a cluster of hearts from a tree branch, add them to gift wrapped packages, or send them in the mail with an earth-friendly greeting. When you learn how you can transform old materials, you’ll think twice before throwing anything away!

– Claudia
PS colors: curry & fuchsia
Latest fave: Mini Magnolia Paper Flower Kit

Materials Needed:
How to PDF
Old catalogs, magazines or shopping bags Read the rest of this entry »

I had friends over for dinner the other night and needed a quick and easy centerpiece. To update regular glass vases, I looked to my stash of wrapping paper. Inspired by Fabra’s idea of covering milk cartons with paper to make unique vases, I thought wrapping my vases in a colorful print could add interest to my table.

I took two of our India prints and wrapped the vases just like you would wrap a box using removable double-stick tape. For the larger vase, I added a band of satin ribbon to the top of the paper and left a portion of the glass vase exposed. It took less than 10 minutes to get everything together and instantly brightened up the table. The flowers have since been tossed, but the paper held up and the vases are waiting to be filled again with new blooms.

–Kristen
PS colors: lake & chocolate
Latest fave: Printable Labels

At Paper Source headquarters, here in Chicago, the winters are long and a bit bleak. So, a little color is always welcome. For one of the first birthdays of the year we created a colorful banner – Estela was so surprised to get her very own rainbow birthday banner!

This was created by simply printing individual letters onto 8.5 x 11 text weight paper. A skinny vertical font like Eccentric works great, and you’ll want to center your text and use a landscape page layout. For each sheet, run a strip of 1/4″ super tacky tape along one of the 8 1/2″ edges, roll to form a tube and adhere edges together. Once all the tubes (your letters and spaces) are formed, connect the sides of the tubes together with more tape. Punch 1/8″ holes on both ends and center to hang.

– Claudia
PS colors: curry & fuchsia
Latest fave: Mini Magnolia Paper Flower Kit

Here at the Charlotte store we were so inspired by this year’s Paper Wedding and the pictures of cakes featured on our sample invitation wall, we decided to put our culinary talents to the test and create a paper wedding cake! The best part — going shopping and finding all the “ingredients” right at Paper Source.

We stacked various sized square boxes to create our three cake layers, then covered them in fondant icing (warm white book cloth). We decorated the cake with three types of flowers (mini paper rosettes made from superfine soft white text paper, black text paper, and our new Black & White Paisley Fine Paper). We added piping (black 1/4″ satin ribbon), a border (strips of our new paisley fine paper) and more flowers. The cake topper was made from the lid of an oval craft box covered in fondant and adorned with streamers (strips of curled black text paper) and flowers.

Our customers love our paper cake creation and we have fun telling them, “at Paper Source, baking it was, well, a piece of cake!”

–Tiffany and Kristine, Paper Source Charlotte Store
PS colors: blossom & black
Latest fave: Peace Sign Rubber Stamp and Cupcake Kit

Welcome baby with a banner that’s cute as a button! You can easily customize the colors using any combination of our circle cards and labels. Further personalize by changing the message on the banner – use baby names or special greetings. Makes for great nursery décor too!

–Annie
PS colors: gravel & beet
Latest fave: Tree Trunk Tea Light and Japanese 8 1/4″ Scissors

Materials Needed:
Circle Cards (blossom, strawberry & poppy) Read the rest of this entry »

Brides are always looking for unique wedding ideas and we think we have just the thing! This wedding cake wish box is the perfect addition to a guest book table or to display on the way into the reception area. Guests can write well wishes onto small slips of paper, then open the lid of the wish box and drop them inside. What a treat it will be to open the wish box when you return from your honeymoon! A charming keepsake for you and your groom.

We used the three smallest Scallop Edge Kraft Boxes to make our wish box, which creates a cake that is about 9″ tall (excluding the ribbon loop) and 5 1/4″ in diameter. You can create a larger cake by stacking larger box sizes or even add more tiers. The boxes can be decorated in colors and patterns to match your wedding decor. A wish box also makes a wonderful bridal shower activity!

–Annie
PS colors: gravel & beet
Latest fave: Tree Trunk Tea Light and Japanese 8 1/4″ Scissors

Materials Needed:
How to PDF
Scallop Edge Kraft Box (extra small, small & medium)
7 Point Shape Hole Punch Read the rest of this entry »