I have to say, Valentine’s Day is one of my all-time favorite holidays. Something about all the pink and red makes me giddy. Here are some sweet little Valentine’s Day favors – made with wax paper, and secured with mini crepe paper flowers on a toothpick.  And although I made them with Valentine’s Day in mind, they really could be used for any event, from a baby shower to a wedding. I love glassine bags, but figured I could do a more ‘cost-effective’ version with a roll of wax paper from the grocery store. They are simply folded, punched at the top, and threaded through with a toothpick to close them.

Materials needed: crepe paper, toothpicks, scissors, glue, wax paper, a hole punch (I found the smaller size works better with the toothpicks), and some green paper and white-ink pen for name tags.

Step 1: Cut out 5 or 6 crepe paper petals, about 1/2-inch wide by 1-inch height, and follow Jordan’s great tutorial for crepe paper flowers here (steps 1-9 of her Basic Rose Instructions). The only difference is that these flowers are miniature, and glued onto the end of a toothpick. (Lightly apply a dab of glue on each petal and twist it onto the toothpick, instead of using wire). Let dry.

Step 2: Tear off a 12-inch piece of wax paper. Fold it into thirds vertically. Then fold up from the bottom, 5 inches from the bottom. At this point, gently open the top of the ‘bag,’ in between the highest side of the wax paper. Fill with goodies (I used red jelly hearts), and then fold the top flap back down.

Step 3: Punch two holes, about 1 inch down, and 1 1/2 inches from each side. Be sure you are going through all layers of the wax paper. Insert your mini crepe paper flower toothpick through the two holes, so that the bag stays closed and the candy is secured inside. I cut out a little green leaf and printed each guests name on each leaf. I added this to the toothpick before I threaded it through the two holes.

Step 4: Put your treats in a bowl by the door, with a reminder for guests to take one as they leave.

P.S. These would also make super-cute cupcake toppers, don’t you think?!

I was organizing my party box the other day, looking over my assortment to plan the decorations for my sis-n-law’s baby shower next month. I noticed a few of my paper lanterns had a few tears in them.  I didn’t want to just throw them away, and since I am still crazy about fringe, I decided to cover them with the stuff. They reminded me of little round pinatas and it got me thinking…what if I filled that little hole on the bottom?  We’d have a refillable pinata, that’s what! Fill. Pull. Party. Repeat.

Materials Needed: small paper lanterns, crepe paper sheets, scissors, double stick tape, twine and freezer paper.

Cut 4-6 strips of crepe paper, 1.5 inches wide.  Cut the fringe on one side, about every .25 inch, don’t go all the way through, leave a small whole strip to keep the fringe attached together.

Insert the wire form to open your lantern.  Put strips of tape around the bottom  of the lantern, like rays of light from the bottom.  Make them pretty long, and cover the whole lantern, top to bottom, for quicker results. I figured this out after I did one and it was much easier.

Unwrap the fringed strips and start wrapping from the bottom around. Be sure to press the strip down firmly to secure it to the lantern (and to ensure the tape is adhered well.)  Work your way around the lantern in a spiral, adding tape or more strips as needed, until you reach the top. Add a piece of tape to the end to finish. Fluff the fringe a bit, and you have one spunky little lantern.

Take a 4- 5 inch square piece of freezer paper and cut a circle.  Tape a piece of twine to the dull side.  Cut two slits on opposite sides of the circle, this will allow the circle to sit flat in the lantern around the wire form.  Insert the circle, twine side down, through the bottom of the lantern.  Flatten with a wooden spoon from the top.  You just want to make sure there are no big open holes where the “plug” doesn’t sit flush so the confetti will stay in.

If you have any extra fringed pieces left, cut them up for confetti and add store bought confetti for sparkle. Fill your lantern with a good sized handful.

Hang. Pull. Party. Repeat. I did a few test runs with these and they really do work great.  No one will feel left out because you can just refill these babies and pull again! What trouble you could get into with these. Hide a prize in a whole cluster and have your guest’s pick which one has the prize? We already know Ms. A is expecting a boy, but wouldn’t this have been fun with an all white lantern and pink or blue confetti to do a gender reveal?  Fun!  Someone has got to do that and send me the pictures with the looks of surprise on their faces!