Yes, I am an adult. And, yes, I love Halloween.

Admittedly, I am not much of a seasonal decorator, however, I do play hostess to an annual Halloween party where I try out crafty tricks and treats, one of my favorites being the graveyard of sandwiches.

The original idea called for an assortment of salad (chicken salad, tuna salad, etc) fillings, but we prefer roast beef and soft cheese (for veggie lovers I use marinated Portobello in lieu of meat). I also commissioned my neighbor to weld a brander, so I could toast cross markings into the sandwiches instead of decorating with condiments.

In pre-Paper Source days I used greens as the ground covering for these bites. This year, I decided to freshen up the party offerings. So, for this Halloween inspiration, I am giving you three additional ways to present spirited sandwiches.
Read the rest of this entry »

The mood at your next Halloween shindig won’t be “grave” when your guests see these hauntingly fun treat bags! Our Tombstone Place Cards, which are great for marking the seats of your un-dead guests, also work boo-tifully tucked into our small cellophane bags filled with treats as Halloween party favors!

–Annie
PS colors: peacock & paper bag
Latest fave: Spritzer Rubber Stamp Cleaner and Rubber Stamp Cleaning Pad

Materials needed:
How to PDF
Small Cellophane Bags Read the rest of this entry »

These fun square favor boxes – made using the Martha Stewart Scoring Board – are perfect for tucking in yummy Halloween treats!

Here are a few of my classic 1, 2, 3… steps for making these spooktacular little boxes using our Halloween Witches 12×12 Paper (or try the text weight wrapping paper if you have lots of favors to make).

Step 1: Trim your top and bottom papers to 8″ x 8″. To make these 4″ x 4″ x 2″ square boxes we used the witch 12″ x 12″ and black 8.5″ x 11″ cover papers. You can make different sized mini boxes – simply flip the little lid up on the scoring board for easy to follow measuring guides (see above). Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

When it comes to throwing a party, big or small, we hear from customers that one of the more challenging things is creating a theme. If you’re planning bridal shower or bachelorette party, you want it to be special for your guests and the bride-to-be. Lucky for you, we’ve pulled together some of our favorite themes and ideas into one great class, the Perfect Shower Invites Workshop. I like to think we’ve covered just about everything – from pretty luncheon invites, to an edgy martini girl’s night out bachelorette party, and a few other lovely party ideas tucked in between.

If you’ll be hosting or planning a bridal shower or bachelorette party anytime this year, this invites workshop is just what you need to get your ideas percolating and your DIY skills honed. So you can throw a party everyone will talk about for months to come! Space is limited to only six seats per store for this intimate creative experience. Sign up early!

WHAT: Perfect Shower Invites Workshop
WHERE: All Paper Source stores
WHEN: Thursday, February 25 from 6-8:30pm
HOW: Visit our workshop page to find your store & purchase your $35 ticket. (Save 10% when you sign up with a friend!)

–Linda
PS colors: chartreuse & pool
Latest fave: 2010 Paper Source Letterpress Calendar

Make this zero calorie dessert as a delicious party favor for your next dinner party, ladies lunch or tea. With scallop icing trim and chocolate curls, they are lovely to decorate a place setting or stack them on a cake platter for a centerpiece. Also wonderful as bridal shower favors or decorations.

Use our PDF template to cut out each cake shape for easy assembly, and choose any colored paper to create your own combination of “flavors”…red velvet…strawberry…dark chocolate!

Sweet!

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

Materials Needed:
How to PDF
8 1/2 x 11 Cover Paper (Superfine Soft White)
8 1/2 x 11 Text Paper (Shimmer Chocolate and Stardream Opal)
Xacto Knife or Scissors
Ruler
Cutting Mat (optional)
Bone Folder (optional)
Glue Stick
Scallop Scissors
Pencil

Getting Started:
Begin by printing the How to PDF and cutting out each cake part template. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m always challenging myself to find new ways to customize our favor boxes – they’re wonderful for so many occasions. Experimenting with our pillow favor box, I discovered that our ivory linen bookcloth worked perfectly for creating a Halloween mummy party favor. I love the color and texture, and tearing the bookcloth into strips makes it look like the real deal!

Create a bunch of these party favors to fill with yummy treats for your Halloween guests!

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

Materials Needed:
Pillow Favor Box Luxe Fino White
8 1/2″ x 11″ Ivory Inkjet Linen Bookcloth
1 1/4″ Gravel Circle Labels
8 1/2″ x 11″ Red Text Weight Paper
1″ Circle Hole Punch
1/8″ Super Tacky Tape
Scissors
Glue Stick

Instructions:
1. Begin to assemble the pillow favor box Read the rest of this entry »

We welcome one of our newest crafting accessories: clear cellophane bags! Though the product itself is really basic (how exciting can clear bags be?), there are literally hundreds of ways you can fill and decorate these handy food-safe bags. Here a few easy gift wrapping ideas, perfect for the upcoming holiday season!

Halloween Goodie Bags
What you might need: Papaya #10 Folded Backing • Small Cellophane Bag • Bone Folder • Metal Ruler or Straightedge • Black 1/4″ Satin Ribbon • Scrap Paper • Skeleton Rubber Stamp • White Colorbox Inkpad • Opaque White Embossing Powder • Heat Embossing Tool • 1/8″ Hole Punch

1. To create the skeleton tag, cut a piece of scrap paper to your desired size (I cut a 1 1/2” x 6” piece, which folds in half to create a 1 1/2” x 3” tag). Stamp the skeleton with the White Colorbox Inkpad, sprinkle with Opaque White Embossing Powder, shake off the excess, then heat emboss. Punch a hole in the top corner of the tag to attach to the bag with ribbon.
2. The #10 folded backing becomes a colorful liner for the cellophane bag. To do this, use a bone folder to score the backing card 2″ from the bottom, then fold to make an “L” shape. Insert the backing into the bag – the short folded portion will line the inside bottom of the bag, and the long portion will line the inside back of the bag. Make sure to place the backing against the back seam of the cellophane bag so the seam doesn’t show from the front.
3. Fill the bag with goodies!
4. Fold the top pre-scored portion of the backing card down over the top of the bag to close. Use a 1/8″ hole punch to punch holes through the bag itself where it intersects with the pre-punched holes in the card.
5. Feed 1/4″ Satin Ribbon through the holes and knot in the front. Before tying a bow, string the skeleton tag through the ribbon to attach.

That’s it, so easy! If you’re making several goodie bags, remember that it’s always easiest to work assembly-line style. So score and fold all of your #10 folded backings first, then cut all of the ribbon, then create all of your tags, and so on.

Valentine Goodie Bags
This lovely bag doubles as a Valentine’s Day card and a special gift! Read the rest of this entry »

There’s nothing I love more than planning a good party. Coupled with my love of paper… well, you can imagine the trouble I get in working at Paper Source. This year one of my dearest friends announced that she was getting married, so naturally I planned the perfect bachelorette party (which doubled as a lingerie shower because she needed some fun things for her honeymoon!). Here’s how the mind of a party planner works:

The Theme: The best party planning advice I can give is to come up with a theme – it always makes for an event full of unexpected and fabulous details. A theme can be as simple as a color, a destination or an object. Use the theme to drive decorating decisions from invitations to favors to décor. For this shower I used our new fuchsia (it’s so hot and so very bachelorette) and polka dots as the base for all of my decorations.

The Invitation: Every great party starts with an equally great invitation – it sets the tone of the event. I printed the party details in a chocolate ink onto a fuchsia 5.5” square card then layered that onto a chocolate 6.25” square card. White and chocolate 1.25″ circle stickers served as festive polka dots. My finished invitation went inside fuchsia envelopes – I mean, who wouldn’t want to get that in the mail!

The Details: I live by the adage, “It’s the little things that count,” and parties too should be full of little details. I filled our classic square favor box with candy favors, banded it with a strip of fuchsia paper, and embellished with chocolate stickers and a tiny white bow. For a bachelorette party game we put together a simple (and slightly risqué) scavenger hunt. Instructions for the game were printed onto a white #10 card, which I trimmed slightly so it could be backed with a fuchsia #10 card to create a colorful border. Once again chocolate stickers (quite possibly the easiest way to decorate) are used for polka dots.

The Wow!: I know I just got done singing the praises of the details, but it’s also important to have a showpiece – think the tree at Christmas or the cake at a wedding. I picked up an old dress form at an antique store and dressed it in this stinkin’ adorable paper lingerie set. Despite its couture appearance, it couldn’t be simpler to create – make a form out of cardstock in the shape of lingerie, pleat tissue paper by folding over and under, then attach the tissue to your form. Accent with braided ¼” satin ribbon. I set the dress form behind the cocktails and it was indeed a show stopper.

Happy Planning!

–Ann
PS colors: moss & papaya
Latest fave: Fall Wreath Kit