Foam Board Tools of the Trade

Here's some of tools we use over and over in making our foamcore party decorations.

X-Acto Blades

Breakaway Knives

Use sharp and fresh blades. Get good ones and change the blade often. A blade that appears

sharp and will cut your hand will often chew the edges of foamcore....can't figure that out but it's true.

Foam Board

Foamcore and Foamboard is the same thing. 3/16" works great for most applications and is sturdy and rigid and stays flat unless you get it wet. Then it bows. If that happens just add a bit of water to the reverse side and weight it down and it will flatten right out.

T-Square

A straight edge ruler is a must for cutting straight lines. Even after all this time I still don't try to cut a straight line without one. I also use a cork backed ruler that doesn't slide on the foamcore.

circle maker

Make the circle first with a pencil and then lightly cut around on the pencil line. Don't try to cut all the way thru on the first pass. On the second pass you just stay in the track you've made and focus on cutting the rest of the way thru.

Super 77 Spray Adhesive

This brand is the best. We've tried the others but we like this one by far the most. It's compatible with the foamcore. It doesn't warp it. You can glue photos or lightly mist a board with it and sprinkle glitter over it.

Hot Glue Gun

Don't get one of those mini ones. A regular sized one isn't expensive. Get the 10" glue sticks for it as well and it saves some time. Clear glue sticks have the least amount of actual glue in them. They bond just by melting. Milky white ones are good for most applications and the heavy duty tan ones will glue everything...including your gym shoes if you need to!

10" glue sticks

heavy duty glue sticks

One Shot Lettering enamel

lime green

hot pink

One Shot lettering enamel is the best paint there is. It truly covers in one shot and the colors are beautiful. They just came out with a new color called Sublime Green and it's the most gorgeous lime green ever. We also love the magenta that is like a hot pink color. The dark magenta is a great fushia pink. Try this paint and you'll love it. It's worth the extra price it is for the time it saves and it's slow drying qualities that allow you to drop glitter on it and have it stick very well.

Glitter

And last, but certainly not least....glitter. It should be at the top! We love it and use it every day. Nothing beats the sparkle. It's hard to work with those tiny 4 oz. jars. You need to drop a handful on your wet paint and do it over newspaper and then pour what doesn't stick right back into the jar. If you drop it onto spray paint you have to be really fast. It doesn't always stick too well...especially on those lovely Design Master spray colors which dry almost instantly. Some of the other sprays give you a longer working time but the One Shot lettering enamels can give you enough time to even answer the phone!

I hope these resources are helpful in getting the best results from your projects.

Past, Present & Future Candle Lightings

I think this is a lovely and fast way to do the candlelighting ceremony with just 3 candles and it covers everyone and doesn't hurt anyones feelings by being left out.

Here's some helpful inspiration from some centerpieces I've done and also some wording that I found that might be helpful to make it all come together.

FIRST CANDLE: The first candle represents the past. The people I have loved and lost in my lifetime and the relatives I was not lucky enough to have met. Mom, will you please come up and light this first candle in honor of those who are no longer with us. (Song: chorus of I Miss You by Miley Cyrus or Circle of Life)

SECOND CANDLE: The second candle represents the present. It is for the adults in my life....my parents, my grandparents, my aunts & uncles and special grownup friends. You help guide me, listen to me and just have fun. Dad, will you please come up and light candle number 2. (Song: chorus of I Learned From You by Billy Ray/Miley Cyrus or Raise Your Glass by Pink or It's a Beautiful Life)

THIRD CANDLE: This last candle represents the future. It is for all the special friends in my life and for our hopes and dreams for the future. Sister/Brother will you please come up and light this last candle for all my cousins and friends. You're the best. (Song: Chorus of We're the Kids of the Future or Whitney Houston's Greatest Love of All)

ENDING: Thank you all for coming to celebrate this special day with me. Now, let's blow out these candles and get this party started.

We can do one of our freestanding cutout

and glittered names. Simple and easy.

Or, we can add other elements with 

the cutout name....like these guitars.

Or, we can add themed items.

Each one is unique and different just as

people are. 

Email us and we can design one

that is created just for you.

marlyss@mac.com

Jungle Safari/Rainforest dangers

When I deliver a sign I snap a picture when it's all hung in place.

When I ship a sign...like this one was....I don't get that luxury.

This was a big sign. (4ft. x 8ft.) All the pieces were not glued on so that it could fold for compact and safe and most importantly... economical shipping costs.

"Rockin' Rainforest" was painted on and also the same for the "and". "Morgan" and "Shelby" were each one unit and needed to be glued on when it arrived. The advantage here is that the names can be used after the party for a bedroom wall design. The same for the animals.

But here's my big issue. I have to stand on my counter to take the picture. (In this picture I didn't crop out the rugs and chairs because it gives you scale and also shows that it was on the floor.) I have to hold the camera near the ceiling AND lean WAY FORWARD so it doesn't distort too much. There's been moments when I have thought .... please don't let me fall on the sign! I haven't yet. I'm careful how far I lean forward but it still makes me queasy.

It's so much easier to take a picture of a sign hanging in a party facility....no leaning forward there. But then I have to climb a ladder to hang it...so again my life is in peril. (lol) Who knew I had such a dangerous job???

White Wedding Guitar Centerpiece

Oooh...la...la.....these were so pretty. All white for wedding centerpieces.

Pearly white guitar...iridescent shred in the pole.....white gloss and clear iridescent poufs at the base...and a pretty bow.....so pretty.

I think these guitar centerpieces could work for a wedding or a Sweet 16 party or just an all white party.

We have lots of different all white or off-white guitars to pick from and make a nice variety at a wedding or shower or Sweet 16....maybe even a rehearsal dinner?

I heard from our last bride that the guests took them off the tables and were dancing with them. I'll bet that made for some fun photos. She did say they managed to keep a few and they are hanging on her wall with her wedding invitation.

MY FAVORITE THINGS: PART 1: My Keurig and K-Cap

2012 UPDATE to the older 2009 post:

I've found the K-Caps shown below crack and break too easily and too soon and they
don't replace the broken ones for you. So I've found a better option.

Try these: (click the picture for a link to Amazon or check out Cafe Cup.) They work great and are super easy to clean and re-use.

I really like my morning coffee. It has to be strong and tasty. Usually that means Starbucks French Roast or Serona or Komodo Dragon. It's usually a Decaf or a bit of both. (I'm going for the flavor. I'm already awake so I don't need the coffee to wake me up.) Those are my favorites. I'm so spoiled by making it exactly how I like it that I don't ever order coffee out...unless, of course, it's at Starbucks.

Stacey hooked us all on the Keurig coffeemaker. Each of our houses have one. The kids make hot chocolate with it or tea.

The hot water dispenser is great for adding hot water to Costco's hashbrown cartons that need to have water added and let sit for 10 minutes to turn into some outstanding hashbrowns.

I grind my own beans and refill the little Keurig cups with my own Starbucks coffee and put a handy little plastic K-Cap on it. (If you have a Keurig you might want to check out these K-Caps.)

I also have a favorite Panera coffee thermos with the perfectly designed drinking spout.

I'm very fussy about my morning coffee. It's a simple pleasure but such a pleasure it is.

Puzzle Boards for Candle Lighting Ceremonies

We enjoy making puzzle boards for Bar & Bat Mitzvah candle lighting ceremonies. They have 2 large 20" x 30" photos on them and they sit nicely on a standard easel.

The bottom photo that is revealed is usually the older photo...but not always. There's no rule about that.

The top photo is cut into as many pieces as needed. We've done 7. Mostly we do 13 or 14. Again, there is no rule.

We use a small ribbon tab (see the upper right corner) to help in removing the first piece. The rest of the pieces just follow. They don't fall off because there is a tiny bit of color matched velcro on each piece to hold it in place until it's time to be removed.

The pieces can be handed off to a sibling or a dj helper or set on a small table. We've also added a back pocket on the reverse side if requested for the pieces.

We like making them. Especially when we are given such excellent photos like this one of Nathan. Isn't he such a doll!

Cut-out foamcore names for parties

One thing Stacey and I make a bunch of is cut out names. We often make them 24" or 30" wide. That size works well for 30" x 40" foam board that folks buy themselves and use for their own Sign In Boards. (We cut our foamcore Sign In Boards 32" x 42". ) Or, they are often for candlelightings with a 36" base or welcome/placecard signs or candy shoppe signs. Some are for big D.J. signs.

We use a combination of paint, glitter, cracked ice mylar and foamcore, of course! I'm still-and-always on the prowl for the best font for the job. We made the jungle pattern letters ourselves for Morgan and they were over 2ft. The leafy ones in the Shelby font were some digital alphabets we found.

I just recently discovered the difference between purchasing an "alphabet" and purchasing a "font". In case you don't know the difference either, the alphabets are just individual letters or numbers that you need to use as a pictures and you need to import them in one letter at a time. You can't type in a line of words like I'm doing here.

Here's an UPDATE to this post I did in 2009. These are some recent cut out names we've done in 2011.  Check out our website  and look on the CUT-OUT NAMES page and you'll see all sorts of names and font styles.

We love making these names and adding embellishments if requested. Our goal is to do every name in the world....and we have a long way to go.....so give us a call or drop us an email.

Artsy Guitars

We've got some NEW ARTSY GUITARS in our repertoire of guitar styles. We offer photo realistic ones, plain white ones and these more artsy ones.

They can have the party theme name on them. They can have photos of the party person or famous rock musicians. They can be in the party colors and be made into centerpieces or added to Welcome signs or Placecard Displays or Sign In Boards.

It's all about being personalized and unique and one-of-a kind.

I've got some great models to help show the size and scale. They really know how to get with the program without any prompting. They are ROCK STARS at heart!

Half in and Half out of winter

It's a funny month...March.

Still kind of winter and dibs and dabs of hints of fresh spring.

The thawing lake ice is always a happy sign of what's to come.

Half ice...winter....half moving water....spring and summer.

I always thought I should take a picture of it....now I did.

Rock Star Guitars...fancy and plain.

We love guitars over here.

Our kids love playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band and

we always have lots of our foamcore photo realistic guitars in the making to mail out for parties.

Folks are always emailing me with creative new thoughts and ways they plan to use the foamcore guitars we make and giving us new inspiration.

We now offer them from plain white unpainted ones for the hardcore do-it-yourselfer as well as complete centerpieces with all the components needed to make them a finished centerpiece for candle lightings, placecard tables, sign in boards and table centerpieces.

We especially liked this one for Jamie's candlelighting with just 3 candles for past, present and future.

A little this and a little that plus guitars

We've been doing a bit of everything lately. Always guitars but some new ideas with them and fun other themes added in.

Here's just a few bits of what's been going out.

Variety is fun but we sure do make a big mess with foamcore and glitter . What really makes the biggest mess is the styrofoam packing material. It sticks like glue to me and manages to get all over the stairs. Daisy, our calico cat, looks like she has been snowed on sometimes with all the little styro balls stuck on her fur.

Shippin' & Recyclin'

Yes, I sure do ship and I love to recycle.

Several times a week either Stacey or I visit FedEx with boxes of party decorations to go all over the United States. (I love that their doors have those stoppers on the bottom so I can prop them open.) I've also noticed that the older the gentleman is, the better the chance is...almost 100% of the time...that they will hold the doors open for me. Can't say the same is true of women....of any age. They seem too preoccupied to notice. Or maybe women don't hold doors for women?? Maybe we don't. Maybe we should. Maybe I should too the next time I'm not too preoccupied to notice.

I also love to recycle boxes. If you get a package from me you may think you're getting a big screen tv....or new cabinet....or, yes...once.....a toilet. That was a funny one....but it was such a nice and clean and perfectly sound box....I just had to use it as is. Often I reverse them and put the writing inside but sometimes they are just perfect the way they are.

No one has complained yet.

I also will say by the amount of big screen tv boxes I see, there might not be a recession going on. Or....maybe there is and people are just staying home and enjoying NetFlixs?

But I love those shipping boxes. I just wish people would pass on more bubble wrap to me.
I realllllly love that. You can never have too much bubble wrap...that's what I say.

Ratty and Tattered Denim

I'm not sure why I think these pants are so worthy of a photo and a blog page. I think it has to do with the people inside them that I love. They are confident in their style.

I also think it's so funny every time I see them. They amuse me to look at them and I enjoy the happiness they seem to feel while they are wearing them.

I love their commitment to comfort.

I wonder if someone hid their jeans....would they search all over for them frantically?

Don't Mess with Stacey

Yup...don't mess with Stacey.....she can kick your butt. And, she's got the karate trophies to prove it.

She also is very inventive on new ways to make shipping centerpieces safe and compact.

Here's an example of her latest good idea on basketball hoops for centerpieces. Not only do they travel very safely this way, they are super easy for the receiver to just flip down the hoop. It makes assembly so simple anyone could do it.

Perfect vacation and The Survivors Club

I love to read but don't have nearly enough time. If I could select a great vacation, one of them would be to lock myself in a plush hotel room with a stack of good books for a week. Room service would visit 3 times a day with delicious food that always included a dessert. My room would be stocked with popcorn and orange juice and starbucks coffee for in-between. I'd stay in my bathrobe for the entire week. My room would have a jacuzzi tub too so I could alternate between reading in bed and reading in the warm tub.

One of the books I would have loved to read during my fantasy vacation would have been "The Survivors Club" by Ben Sherwood. What a really good book. It's loaded with interesting stories about people who have survived very harsh circumstances and how they feel that good things emerge from the worst experiences. Also, he talks to many authorities on the subject and shares their data in an easy to understand format.

For instance he talks about DNA Resilience alleles and how some people has long ones (very good...but only 32% of us) or short ones (17%....you might be in trouble) or one of each...most people...51% of us. His writing styles makes this kind of technical information easy to grasp and fun to understand.

Like on page 271 on the Resilience Prescription: Optimism, identify a resilient role model, develop a moral compass, practice altruism, develop acceptance and flexibility, face your fears & learn to control negative emotions, build coping skills, establish a support network, stay physically fit and laugh as much as you can.

Or....page 315...."More than any other psychological strength, adaptability determines who gets into the Survivors Club."....moving with the flow of life instead of against it.

I'd recommend this book to anyone. And, if I get to take my fantasy vacation, I'll let you know all about it when I return.