UPDATE: Are you clicking through from Pinterest? I get a surprising amount of traffic from this one post! The good news is, your housewarming party is about to look super cute. And can I tempt you to hang around? You’ll not find many craft tutorials here, but you will find posts on simple hospitality, a Celtic blessing for a new home, and how hospitality helps me feel spiritually connected with the matriarchs of my family. Thanks for being here!
Friday night was something of a watershed moment for me. It’s not been an easy few months, but on Friday evening, looking around at the great people we’ve already met, I felt an great sense of peace and contentment. Not that it will be easy from now on. There’s the whole starting my own business thing to come that has me taking deep breaths. But it will be ok. We have friends, we’re building a community around us here. And that gives me strength and energy for the next challenge.
I spent hours on Thursday looking for decorating ideas for a houseparty but apparently most people just throw a barbeque in their garden. There was one fun bonfire & marshmallows idea from A Subtle Revelry but not having a back garden or a barbecue (yet – it’s a lack frequently mentioned by Rasmus) and it being very definitely still winter made that a little harder.
But then I came across these instructions for origami houses (walls tutorial here and roof tutorial here) via How About Orange‘s fun blog and inspiration hit! I had an old Europe roadmap book that we’d considered throwing away when we moved but I’d kept “just in case”. So it got attacked and it’s pretty blue pages turned into cute little houses. My friends Rakel and Melanie came around on Thursday afternoon to help me folding, and then we simply took a needle and white thread, and strung them up.
With the leftover paper scraps I punched out 2 inch circles and we again used a needle to thread them into long garlands. Tip: make sure you knot the end of the thread before starting or you might discover half way through that your paper circles are neatly falling off the other end as you thread each new one…!
Friday was spent baking and cooking for the party which was a lot of fun. The evening came and I switched into a party dress as people started arriving. We had such a fun evening and I am so grateful for this new community of friends we have met. And looking forward to many more parties in our lovely flat!!
