DIY Paper Flowers

On a snowy day here at Arrow Paper Party Rental I was surfing some Wedding Blogs and I came across True Event's blog about Paper Flower Napkin Rings. I liked the idea very much that I decided to make it my own and expand on the idea. It's very cheap and at the same time very easy to do. All you need is a ruler, tissue (which we sell here at Arrow Paper Party Rental or at our Norwich Arrow Party Store), florist wire and scissors. First I started off by making the paper flower napkin ring & then afterwards I expanded by making a paper flower bouquet for a centerpiece.

Here is how you make a Paper Flower Napkin Ring or Centerpiece:

1. Stack four sheets of tissue. Cut to 10x5 inch rectangle, cutting threw all the layers. Make a 3/8 inch wide accordion fold.

2. Fold an 18 inch or longer piece of floral wire in half, slip it over the center of the tissue and twist to secure. Trim ends of tissue (you can use either regular or scrapbooking scissors to get a different edge).

3. Separate layers, pulling towards the center one at a time.

4. Bend the wire into a loop to fit around a napkin and twist end around loop to secure. If you don't want to make a napkin ring and do a centerpiece instead, bend wire as desired.

New for 2010!!

The rental season has officially begun!!

Allison and I have all sorts of new things to tell you all about!

First, is our new rental consultant Luisa.

Luisa has worked here at Arrow for about 2 years now and since we renovated and brought the paper goods into the rental department she has been busy learning the products and computer system and is doing a greatEdit post job. And as an added bonus, she speaks Spanish to make ordering easy for all our non-English speaking customers.

Some other new things are:

Our new Fiesta High Peak tents!! Available in 20x20 and 20x40!!

The Tidewater tent!! Available in 44'x63' Perfect for a wedding of 100-120 people!

16oz Cobalt All purpose glass Rental Price $.65 each

Natural wood Folding Chairs $4 each

12" Triangle Plates $.75 each

Our rentals featured on Style me Pretty

Some of our rental items were recently featured for an inspiration board to reality photo shoot. The amazing talents of Gina Barber and culinary team from A Thyme to Cook and many other collaborators,  displayed our tableware for a photo shoot inspired by a Style Me Pretty follower. 

Check it out!

Love Is In The Air

Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is just a couple weeks away, February 14th and I absolutely love this time of the year, because I love to eat all the little candy hearts!!! Valentine's Day is a traditional day which loved ones express their love for one another by sending Valentine's Day cards, exchanging gifts, giving flowers, chocolates in red heart boxes and etc. When I was a little girl, it was always fun to give and receive the cute little Valentine's Day cards that we used to give out in elementary school. Now as I've gotten older, it's all about being romantic with your loved one. I always like to put thought into my gifts, because it isn't about the money but instead it's about the thought and love that I'm putting into it. I feel that there is more meaning into it.

Valentine's Day may not be a huge holiday to celebrate, but it's fun to be creative. If you wanted to make a romantic dessert for your sweetheart, you could rent fun plates. For example, our square plates that we rent would be great for presentation. Chocolate Covered Strawberries are very yummy and would look great on a 7 1/2 square plate. You could also put truffles or even make your own chocolates and present them on the plates. Or you could even rent our Six Tier Cake Stand. It maybe called a cake stand, but you don't have to use it as that. You can put cupcakes, cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, truffles and etc. on it. You can buy the chocolate, truffles and candy molds in our Party Stores in Groton and Norwich.

Another gift you don't see very often is balloons. I absolutely love balloons!!! They bring me back to my childhood and they are so much fun. Flowers are always nice to receive at Valentine's Day, but the price of them always goes up during this time. Instead, why don't you get someone special some balloons. It's something different and a lot cheaper on your pocket. We have a variety of balloons to pick from at both our Groton and Norwich Party Stores.

You can also dress up any boring table with some colorful linen. Plum, Cherry Red, Light Pink and Raspberry are some hot colors for Valentine's Day. We rent many different fabrics to pick from to make a table look very romantic. Add some beautiful flowers or even balloons and that someone special will be very surprised.

These are just a few ideas for this Valentine's Day Season, but whatever you do, we hope you have a very wonderful Happy Valentines Day!!!

1. Cupcake Stand: TheKnot.com

2. Tulips: Flickr

3. Red Shoes: Style Me Pretty

4. White Chocolate Covered Strawberries: The Crafty Cow

5. "Sweets for a Sweet" heart: Style Me Pretty

6. Truffles on Square Plate: Flickr

7. Balloons: Green Wedding Shoes

8. Table Setting w/Flowers: Style Me Pretty

9. Plum Polyester: Arrow Paper Party Rental

10. Light Pink Polyester: Arrow Paper Party Rental

11. Cherry Red Polyester: Arrow Paper Party Rental

12. Raspberry Polyester: Arrow Paper Party Rental

13. Love: For The Love of Food

We are renovating!

Winter is our down time in the rental business. So in order to keep up with the demand for newer and more fabulous items, we are remodeling our building to house these items. We are opening our 3 businesses into one great showroom. Our selection of paper goods has gotten smaller, but we still have our Groton and Norwich stores with a full selection of merchandise. We will still have balloons, invitations, and basic paper goods here in New London. The equipment rental is gaining a few extra feet of showroom space and the party rental office will now be located in the party store. We will keep everyone posted as this transition progresses. 

Our newest rental Item....

We are pleased to announce that we have recently purchases a sail cloth tent. It's 44'x63' in dimensions. It should be arriving shortly and ready to rent for the summer. 

A Chair Cover Dresses Up A Boring Chair

Image: Chair Cover Express

With Christmas right around the corner, I was trying to figure out what to blog about. I've had customers coming in and requesting to rent our samsonite chairs, but they want to blend the chair in with the rest of their furniture. What best way to do so is with a chair cover, it's a good way to dress up any party or event. You can cover a church hall metal folding chair to hotel banquet chair.

When thinking about renting a chair cover, many factors come into play, especially for hotel chairs. Hotel chairs come in all different sizes and forms. You can have your standard banquet chair that is rounded on the top or you can have a tall narrow banquet chair that is more boxy on the top. There are also hotel chairs that are larger, for example a cathedral chair. Hotel chair covers come in Polyester and you have the colors white, ivory, black, pink, red, navy, hunter, burgundy and royal blue to choose from. You can also rent them in Poly Satin and Spandex. They will vary in color and all covers are fitted around the chair.

Images: Chair Cover Express

Our folding chair covers fit samsonite chairs, wooded chairs and metal folding chairs. The covers come in polyester and you have the same selection of colors to pick from as the hotel chair covers. The folding chair covers are not fitted to the chair, but instead it hangs nicely around the chair.

Image: CV Imports

Our chair covers do not come with sash's, but it is always a nice added touch. You can rent sash's in Polyester, Iridescent Crush, Tissue Lame, Burlap, Poly Satin, Organza and Prints. Sash's come in a rainbow of colors. If you have any questions about the color, you can check out our swatch colors on our website or you can come into our store and check out our book of swatches.