Disclosure: This post is brought to you in partnership with Tiny Prints and Mom It Forward. All opinions and ideas are completely my own.

Last week I told you about Tiny Prints and holiday card trends and tips, and that I was hosting a holiday party.

If you followed along with me on Instagram, I posted the question of what these rustic cut branches had to do with my party planning activities.

I wanted to great way showcase all of the lovely holiday card samples they sent me from the Tiny Prints 2013 Holiday Collection.

And, if you have been following along on my most recent posts, you know I’ve been a bit crazy with the nature crafting ideas. Yesterday, I turned some of the wood branches, that I sliced into 4-5″ tall segments, into a beautiful candle centerpiece.

Before I get to the party recap, I’ll show you how I used some of the wood branch pieces and made shiny metallic coated holiday card holders.

I used a power saw and power drill to make my card holder wood segments.

The rest of my supplies were: DecoArt Metallic Lustre, cosmetic sponge, decorative round spiral paper clips, and super glue.

As I mentioned, I started with a large wood branch that I found in the nature trail by my house and sliced it into segments with a power saw.

The wood was pretty dry, so I peeled away any of the bark that easily came off. Then, using my smallest drill bit and my power drill, I drilled a hole at the top center of each wood branch piece.

Then I used one of my favorite products of all time! DecoArt makes this lovely Metallic Lustre that is like a shiny paste. It comes in a variety of metallic colors and all you do is apply to your surface of choice and buff until shiny.

I used the Gold Rush Metallic Lustre and a cosmetic sponge to apply to the wood branches and buffed them until they shined.

I unwound each round paper clip, leaving only the center spiral intact. This is the part that holds the cards in place.

To secure the paper clip, I used a little dab of super glue on the end and placed into each hole that I had already drilled.

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Gorgeous, right?

The gold card holders matched the festive feeling and decorative card designs for my party.

And they looked really great spaced out on the table at dinner.

The stage was set!

It was time to enjoy a lovely dinner at Antonello Ristorante and for me to share the huge variety of beautiful holiday card samples I brought with me.

We talked about why we love to receive photo holiday cards from friends and family, and unique ideas on how to display and keep them.

I shared the rustic wood card holders—the gold gilded ones and a larger rustic log card holder I made with the same technique.

Others shared that they made flip books for their young kids to enjoy all year round, some put them in albums. The main consensus what that if you received a really beautiful card with personal photos of family and friends, they were usually saved in some way after the holidays.

The new clear card designs from the Tiny Prints collection were a huge hit. And being the social bloggers that we are, our smart phones were out and ready to share all night long. = )

It was a great night of looking at beautiful cards…

…and really enjoying each other’s company.

In the end, I made some new friends, reconnected with some old, and enjoyed a special Holiday inspired night spreading lots of #TinyPrintsCheer .

I want to give a special shout out and thanks to all of the bloggers who attended and shared their Friday night with me.

Thanks to Jessica from Chaos and Love, Wendy of Wendy Nielson-Writing a New Story, Megan of Mama Bub, Terri from Om Seeking Balance, Valerie from Sweeps 4 Bloggers, Melanie from LA Explorer, Wendy from Whimsy & Wise, Monika from Life with Love Bugs, and Ann from Ann about Town.

You ladies all made it a fabulous night filled with good food (don’t even get me started on the chocolate soufflé with the gelato in the middle), good conversation, and good company. Cheers to all of you!

And a special thanks to Ted Jung from D&E Photography for helping capture the memories we made that night!

I was one of five bloggers across the country hosting Tiny Prints live events, and I’m happy to say they all went off without a hitch. You can check out the other four fabulous recaps from Kris from Little Tech Girl , Rachel from Following In My Shoes;  April from April Go Lightly, and Krissy from B-Inspired Mama.

Also, you can follow Tiny Prints on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for more great holiday card ideas.

Cheers!

 

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