Dream House

How To: Origami Heart Garland

How gosh darn cute is this project?  It's a super easy handmade garland made with origami hearts.  I got the idea from this amazing wedding and just had to give it a shot!  The finished product looks something like this.

 

Here's how it's done.

Start with a quarter sheet of origami paper.  Full-size hearts are rather large and don't string together well.  So simply cut origami paper of your desired color scheme into quarters.

To make a heart:
Fold the square diagonally to create a triangle.  Make sure the color side faces out.


Next, fold both side corners to the top tip and crease.


Flip the diamond over and fold the top 2 layers of paper (before you hit the creased paper) down so that the top tip meets the bottom tip.  It kind of looks like a mini sailboat at this point.

To make the heart shape, fold the top tips in on themselves.  This is going to create the two humps of the heart.  Align the crease of the tip with the fold on the backside.  When the tip is aligned and folded in on itself, crease.

 

 

To finish your heart, simply fold back the very tips and sides to round it off a bit.  And you're done!















Make a bunch of the hearts in any color you want.  This part makes me super happy.  I used 45 hearts on my garland, but the amount you make is up to how long you want your garland to be and how much origami paper you have.

To make the garland, you're going to need some string/thread/ribbon/wire/twine/etc (I used silk cording I found in the beading section at Michael's), something with a sharp point to poke holes (I used my rotary cutter because I'm a college kid), and some clear nail polish.
Here's the deal with the nail polish: It's a super helpful trick for this project.  Coat the end of your string with it and let it dry before you start stringing your hearts together.  If you don't the string will quickly start to fray at the end and it will become nearly impossible to do all your threading.













To make the hearts into a garland, poke 2 small holes in the middle of each side of the heart.  Make sure your pokes are symmetrical.
 
Then, all you need to do is thread the string through from the back on one side, and then string it back through from the front in the other hole.  Make sure you keep consistent which side you string from the back.

 

If you want, you can knot the string at the front of the holes to keep the hearts in place, but this takes forever so I didn't do it.

Tip: This project gets tangled SUPER easily, so start with that in mind.

Once all your hearts are strung together, you're done!  Hang it somewhere where it will be well admired.  This garland makes a great party decoration, Valentine's Day festive touch, or a simple bit of happiness to add to your room or office.

24!

This weekend was full of celebrations in honor of Steph's birthday! Not only was it a time to celebrate the end of 23, which was a fantastic year, it was a celebration to the start of 24.  Which will clearly be a great year too- I mean, 24 is highly divisible and all.  Plus, the 19th of March (birthday) is also the last day of winter.  After the freezing weather we've had in PA, I'm more than happy to celebrate moving on to spring!

Friday consisted of being treated to a gorgeous dinner made by Chef Paco.  Not only did he manage to find and perfectly prepare tuna, but he also created an eggplant souffle, saffron risotto, parmigiana cream, and white chocolate bavarian mousse with 2 sauces! Wow.  The work he must have put into it was definitely a gift.

S and P

Saturday's fancy dinner party celebration was way crazier (and better documented).  There were new and old fancy dinner friends gathered for food, drink, and fun.

R and his girls

Cocktails and champagne were immediate poured...typical.  Followed shortly by the first of many courses- a classic grilled cheese.

Plated grilled cheese sandwiches

The remains...

The childhood favorite was followed up with an upscale, classy english cucumber sandwich, paired with a Pimp's Cup cocktail.  Perfect!

 There was jamon iberico too, which was clearly loved by all...

There were more delicacies throughout the night, accompanied by- what else- more drinks.  We danced the night away to keep our energy and appetites up!

The redhead twins

And cake! The pastry mistress of the group whipped up a three layer devils food chocolate cake, with layers of cognac-soaked cherries, and a caramel-ganache icing.

No words.

Top of the cake

Chocolate heaven. No doubt.

Overall, a magical and fun night! A great start to 24 to say the least.  The fun isn't over yet though- L's 21st birthday is coming up in just 10 days! Prepare for more insanity.

I believe there is leftover cake in the kitchen calling my name...

Sister Weekend

There is nothing better than a sister weekend.  SLR was spoiled this weekend and ended up in the same place - State College, PA!  Here are some of the highlights.

1. Eating.
Our first dinner was at Nola's Joint, Stephanie and Paco's favorite restaurant in State College.  Nola's is a chill Italian place with pizza and bread to die for!  Oh dear yum.

2. Painting!  

A sister tradition started back in our hometown in Michigan suburbia, we absolutely love painting pottery.  

These are the final products: we count them as successes!

3. Eating.

Woke up to apple wheat germ and pumpkin muffins - yum. 

4. Bread.

This is what bread from Gimelli Bakery does to us.

Oh god.  We didn't stand a chance.

4. Shopping - so that we could eat.

Grocery shopping for our dinner of filet au poive, roasted vegetables, and Gimelli bread. (Lauren fails for not taking pictures of the food.)

We haven't found anything that makes Stephanie happier than rainbow sprinkles.

5. Pancake-off!

...aka eating.  In honor of National Pancake Day, we held a pancake-off competition.  The judge was none other than trusty Paco.

French Press coffee :)

Bananas Foster pancakes

Raspberry White Chocolate pancakes

The judge.

For the record, Lauren won with her Orange Ginger pancakes.  Stephanie gets winning credit for her citrus coconut glaze to top them, however.  A good sister effort.

5. Oscar Party

Included: Lots of Italian friends, playing the game "Name something that wouldn't be good with caramelized onions on top" and making caramalized onions, and Stephanie and Pacs' homemade pizza!

6. Cute pictures.

And Lauren's personal fav:

A fantastic weekend was had by all!  Thanks so much, Stephanie, for hosting - you're the best seester ever and I can't wait for our next sister weekend!