Collecting Wildflowers - Washi Tape Vases

Labour Day weekend is always bittersweet. There is nothing quite so lovely as a long and leisurely weekend... especially when we manage to escape the city... but Labour Day brings with it the unofficial end of summer. The days already are noticeably shorter, nights chilly enough to need a sweatshirt or that extra cover you've been kicking to the foot of the bed all summer long. But gardens, luckily, are still in full summer bloom. So why not bring a little of that summer beauty inside?

Having run away to the countryside for the weekend, the garden was full of all manner of wild and not-so-wild flowers. Perfect for an impromptu bouquet!

Grabbing a handful of washi tapes (what? you don't travel with tape?!)...

I wrapped the slim ones around the vase (this one an Ikea bargain), to make skinny stripes.

And filled it with flowers. Love how the washi tape stripes balance out the bounty of colourful flowers.

For the second arrangement, I applied the tapes closer together. Overlapping colour and patterns for a ribbon-like look.

Isn't the lace-like pattern on this tape so pretty? I thought orange was a nice change from my usual love-for-pink and perfect for our almost-Autumn season. The best part of this oh-so-simple DIY, is that you can easily change the tapes to match your mood, decor or the flowers!

Hope your long weekend was a leisurely one too. Once the flower-arranging was done, there was much relaxing with a good book and plenty of s'mores-by-the-campfire action.

Washi Tape in Chatelaine

It's always exciting to hear that Omiyage has been spotted in print. Sara let us know that our washi tape was in Chatelaine's BIG September issue. So fun! And how clever is this project? Create a botanical arrangement by attaching flowers to your wall with washi tape.

Have you used washi tape to create any unusual installations?

DIY: Pretty Paper Garland

Here's a take on a simple dot garland using upcycled packaging from mt tape. Don't know about you, but I'm rather enamoured with sewing paper bits together - it's fun and quick and there's no worry about seam allowances or finished products not fitting or...

If you've ever bought a 2 pack of patterned mt tape, you would have noticed the pretty backing paper. And, if you're anything like me, you'll stash it away somewhere until you are suddenly inspired to do something with it! Of course, you don't have to use mt packaging for this garland... any pretty paper that isn't too thin will do. Scrapbook paper would be great!

Grab your handy circle punch (or go wild, and try squares!) and punch away. Mine is a 1" punch, but you could use a bigger one.

Ahhh... confetti.

Figure out the order of your paper dots. Then use a sewing machine to stitch them together, feeding one dot at a time through the machine and leaving a small (or large space) between each one. Make sure you leave about 4-6" of thread at each end so you have space to hang your garland.

Use simple strips of washi tape to hang your garland on the wall - one looks good, but three is better!

Or, my favourite, wrap a short garland around a gift for a unique take on ribbon. Here, I've used a kraft bag, but this would look smashing on a wrapped box too!

Happy crafting!