It’s a beautiful day for a new window display! We decided to get crafty and enlarge our San Francisco Skyline into full-sized window art. Throughout the process we learned first hand that paper cutting is a true test of patience and craftsmanship. First, we drew the skyline on 3 full sheets of pool colored text weight paper. Then with a ruler and craft knife, carefully followed the lines revealing our cityscape.

The bridges were definitely the most difficult, but they are the most iconic!

Double-sided tape did the trick – we hung the skyline so it greets the passers-by on Howard Street.

The final product! What do you think? We had so much fun paper cutting this skyline we also made an SFMade sign which Jon is holding here. Can you tell we’re getting excited for our big event tomorrow?

Our signature pink poms are featured in Martha Stewart Weddings Special Issue! Back when Eunice and Daniel got married they handmade each of these coffee filter poms and dyed them various shades of pink. They were a huge hit strung along the top of their reception tent, and since then we’ve found lots of ways to reuse them.

We keep them in the studio to brighten up our blank white walls. They are easy to store, too! Just re-fluff the paper filters each time you’ve got a new decor project and dust with some fresh paint or glitter.

The San Francisco Center for the Book is hosting an awesome Earth Day Extravaganza in celebration of this year’s Earth Day! On Saturday April 21st you can try your own hand at printmaking, bookbinding, and lots of other fun activities. The best part is that it’s totally FREE! Bring your friends, families and kids and be a part of something great.

The SFCB is located at 300 De Haro Street Suite 334, San Francisco, CA, 94103 (The entrance is on the 16th Street side of the building, under the red awning in the bright blue building).

Do you have extra yarn laying around from unfinished craft projects? Take a tip from Stewey who turns his yarn scraps into colorful coasters for the cast of Hello!Lucky. Knitting is a bit daunting for Stewey, so to get practice and keep things manageable he whips out these small practice squares. It’s a great way to use up extra yarn while preventing coffee and other drinks from making a mess on any pretty H!L stationery. And we love all the pops of color these sweet coasters bring to our desks!

For today’s Handmade Weddings DIY project we’re bringing you detailed instructions for our popular silk screened place mats! Whimsical and totally customizable, these kraft paper place mats work for both buffet-style or plated service. Place a charger and napkin on the mat (as shown) or have it double as a place card by writing guests’ names in the middle of the plate. If silk-screening feels out of your league, consider just photocopying them in black/white or on bright colored paper. The pattern is easy to make for a big wedding reception or even for a small dinner party.

Materials

• Custom screens
• One hundred fifty 12-×-18-inch sheets kraft paper, such as Borden & Riley #840 Kraft Pad

Tools
• Place Mat template
• Newsprint
• Set of 2 hinge clamps
• A wood board at least 1/2-inch thick and several inches wider and longer than the silk-screen frame
• Four 1/2-inch long screw
• Screwdriver
• A small prop, such as an art eraser
• 2-inch wide masking tape
• Water-based screen-printing ink in white
• Squeegee
• Chipboard or cardboard scraps

How to
1. Make your screens.
Send the Place Mat template files to a screen printer to have screens made, or make them with a home screen-making kit, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

2. Prepare your silk-screening station (figure 1), but do not outline your screen frame with a Sharpie.
Position your test paper; use a spare sheet from your kraft pad.

3. Make a test print. With the frame in the down position, squeeze or spoon a line of the printing ink
(approximately 1 tablespoon) along the top edge of the screen (figure 2). Take your squeegee and drag
the ink from the top edge toward you, across the design area, applying pressure as you pull (figure 3).
Carefully raise the frame to the up position and view the print. Make any adjustments to the placement
of the paper (moving your registration tape accordingly) and amount of ink. Using your spoon, scrape
excess ink from the squeegee back onto the top area of the screen, adding ink if necessary. Make
additional test prints until you are happy with the quality and placement of the print. Build up the
masking-tape marks with chipboard or cardboard scraps so that the paper won’t shift when you are
printing (figure 4).

4. Print the rest of your place mats. Lay them out to dry completely.

Happy crafting!

Jude, James, Alex and a whole band of kids just celebrated their big birthday number 2 and the theme for this years party was none-other than NEON! Eunice designed these awesome mod lettepress invitations, complete with custom liners and neon edging. The event was a huge success, stocked with tons of neon balloons, cardboard playpens, and delicious treats galore.

Ruby is holding down the fort.

Each honorary birthday boy/girl wore custom #2 tee shirts. And how adorable are Ella’s neon shorts? What a trend setter!

You can never underestimate the power of duct tape. These bright neon colors made the perfect assembly tool for the cardboard houses.

Party-goer Finn smiling bright inside the magic box. Definitely frame worthy!

 Sabrina and her twins looking stylish as always. Alex is rocking the sweet shades while James is practicing his fishing skills. The fun goes on…

What a spread! Even the quadruple layer cake (created by the multi-talented Anna Hurley) was neon!

Can Jude be any cuter? This photo of him and Eunice makes us totally melt.

You can have a chance to win this awesome plexi glass neon number 2 cake topper! Leave a comment below telling us your favorite detail of the neon party and we’ll randomly pick a winner this Friday, April 6th. Best of luck!

A winner has been chosen! Thanks for participating!

Photography by Modern Kids

It’s almost Easter and we are definitely feeling inspired by all the spring craft projects, delicious brunch recipes, and adorable bunny things popping up all over the place. Here are a few of our favorites from around the web. These bunny cookies created by Baked Ideas are unbelievable. Who knew easter cookies could turn into works of art! They also sell the cookie cutters so you can make these beauties at home. (via Design Sponge)

How adorable are these handmade woodland bunnies? (Especially their backsides!) Etsy seller Sleepyking knows how to keep things festive and rustic chic.

Neon dip-dyed eggs are a fresh take on an old tradition. Instructions can be found here.

We’re still swooning over these amazing glitter confetti eggs from Oh Happy Day. The full tutorial can be found here.

And don’t forget about the Paper Flower Wreath instructions we posted a few weeks ago! It’s the perfect project to spruce up your front door, just in time for Spring!

Think pink! We were thrilled to be part of Katie & Justin’s wedding, featured today on Green Wedding Shoes. We had so much fun designing this custom suite, which included a few of our current obsessions – neon and edging. We worked with the couple’s navy and fuchsia palate to create a modern yet elegant design (calligraphy by Michele Papineau).

The couple selected the Majestic Halls, located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Built in 1921 as the former Los Angeles Bank of America, the building retains many of its original historic and ornate details. Katie and Justin fell in love with these architectural elements that made the space feel unique to downtown Los Angeles.

Aren’t the flowers stunning? Katie and Justin wanted a pink ombre effect and The Little Branch executed their vision perfectly. Each table had various distressed bronze buckets filled with fuchsia, pink or blush flowers. The bride’s bouquet was comprised of a variety of deep pink flowers, including roses, and tied with a navy ribbon.

Katie’s dress was Halston Heritage, her shoes were RED Valentino and her stole was vintage, purchased from a local flea market. Justin’s suit was from Hugo Boss.

The ring pillow was made by Katie’s mom using our how to guide! We love the addition of the pom pom border.

In addition to the invitation suite, we also created matching day of materials: menus, place cards, table numbers and programs.

Congratulations Katie and Justin! To see more of this gorgeous wedding, please click here.

All photos by Erin Hearts Court. Wedding coordination by Kristeen LeBrot.

These photos from Nancy Liu Chin‘s Anatomy of Today’s Bride for Today’s Bride SF are to die for! We were approached by Nancy awhile ago in efforts to come up with a classic and whimsical invitation and day-of paper suite for her ultra-sweet photo shoot. It was a piece of cake once she shared her inspiration with us, and knowing which amazing vendors were also on board, we knew it would be a hit.

You can see our working files below. We were really into mismatched patterns and folded cards. If you look closely, the invitation reads Christian & Dior, tres chic!

Visit Nancy’s Brown Bag to view Anatomy of Today’s Bride Part I and Part II, and watch the amazing video by Luke Goodman here!

Photography by Kevin Chin

Spring may be a time to get organized, but we think it’s a great time to bust out the dusty craft bins and get creative! There’s no better feeling than recycling something disposable and transforming it into something worth saving. We know you’re left with all those leftover holiday cards and wrapping papers, so this is the perfect opportunity to put them to good use! This lovely wreath from our book Handmade Weddings (published by Chronicle Books) uses a variety of found papers, including patterned paper scraps, kraft paper, glassine, tracing paper, and graph paper. This colorful wreath is perfect as a welcome sign at a wedding or party, or to adorn your front door as a welcome sign for Spring!

Materials

Makes 1 wreath

• 15 to 20 sheets assorted scarp papers e.g., construction paper, kraft paper, graph paper, tissue paper

• 30 to 40 colorful 1/4-inch brads

• Four 18-inch pieces floral wire (optional)

• One roll floral tape (optional)

• 1/4 yard scrap fabric

• 18-inch cardboard or particleboard wreath form

• Paper clip (optional)

• 1 to 2 pieces scrap cardboard or foam core

• 1 sheet text-weight paper (optional)

 Tools

• Paper Flower templates (available here)

• Pencil

• Scissors

• Small flower punches

• 1/8-inch hole punch

• Hot glue gun and glue sticks

• One 1 1/2-inch Styrofoam ball (optional)

• Inkjet printer, with extra ink cartridges (optional)

 How to

1. Make your flowers.

For flat flowers: Cut out the Paper Flower templates. Trace them onto patterned scrap paper, and cut out with scissors. Fold the flowers along the center axis of the petals to add dimension. You can also fringe the petals or crinkle flowers made of tissue to add depth. Punch small flower shapes for the flower centers. Stack several flower designs on top of each other, and punch a hole in the center. Insert a brad into the center and flatten the ends. Repeat to make as many flowers as desired.

 For cupped petal flowers: Cut out the Petal template. For each flower, trace the template four times onto graph paper or another text-weight paper. Cut the petals out. Slide a 6-inch length of floral wire into an unopened brad so that the brad grips firmly and the round end faces up. Fold the base of the petal into an M shape, position on the wire, and affix with a dab of hot glue. Place the next petal, and repeat until all four petals are in place. Wrap the petal bases with a strip of floral tape. Repeat to make as many flowers as desired.

 For tissue paper flowers: For each flower, cut four 1 1/2-×-4-inch strips of tracing paper or tissue paper. Place a piece of tissue, long side facing you, on your work surface. Center the Styrofoam ball on the paper, wrap the long ends up, and twist the ends to hold them in place. Trim the twisted ends with scissors and remove the ball, creating a cupped petal. Repeat to create four petals per flower. Slide a 6-inch length of floral wire into an unopened brad so that the brad grips firmly and the round end faces up. Position a petal on the wire, and tape it in place with a strip of floral tape, wrapping it around the wire a few times. Place the next petal and repeat until all four petals are in place. Repeat to make as many flowers as desired.

2. Prepare your wreath form. Cut your fabric into 3-inch-wide strips. Hot glue one end of a strip to the wreath form, and wrap it around the wreath until you run out of fabric. Glue the fabric end down and continue with a new strip until the wreath is completely covered. Avoid covering the hole in the wreath (for hanging). If desired, flatten a paper clip into an S shape and insert it into the hole, to be used as a hook when you are ready to hang your wreath.

3. Attach your flowers. Arrange your flowers in a wreath shape on your work surface. When you are happy with their placement, begin hot-gluing them to the form. To create depth, cut out several 1/2-inch squares of cardboard or foam core and affix these to the wreath form before gluing a flower on top, so that these flowers are slightly raised.

4. Add a sign (optional). If desired, lay out a sign such as “Welcome!” or your names and wedding date using a wordprocessing program and printing on text-weight paper, or write the sign by hand. Attach to the wreath using a dab of hot glue.