GREAT CINCO DE MAYO FONT: CARMEN FIESTA

I just finished painting so I'm glad this weekend is Cinco de Mayo. It's time to celebrate! I have been painting the main living area of the house, it was dark and dismal. Now with a fresh coat of creamy white paint, it's bright and airy and finally done. I've been painting bits and pieces as it is sunny  but I finally had to break down and focus to get the last bits of the hallway done. So if you have been wondering where my posts have been...there is only so much time in the day. I've been dying to redecorate and now I finally get to do the fun part. That being said, I'm scooting out early. Before I go, just in case you were looking for a great font for those papel picado banners, check out Carmen Fiesta by Andreu Balius. Want to make an easy banner? A Silhouette Portrait takes any font you have and will cut it out, you could use this font to make a fun papel picado.

These fun terminals on the capital letters would make a great place card. It doesn't have to be a fiesta, these letters just scream summer to me.

Check out my font loving pals:

ALEXANDRA  {THE AERIALIST PRESS}

ALISON {ALISON OWEN DESIGN}

JEN {BLUSH PRINTABLES}

STEPH {BUBBLEROCK}

SOFIA {BRANCOPRATA}

CATHERINE {DESIGN EDITOR}

CHELSEY {CHELSEYEMERY}

ALLIE {HONEY BEE INVITES}

LAUREN {LAUREN ELISE CRAFTED}

JENNA + ELIZABETH {LITTLE BIT HEART}

LAUREN {PALM PAPERS}

KERRY {SUPER SWOON}

VICKI {VICKI.DESIGNER}

WENDY{WESWEN DESIGN}

FOLLOW #FONTFRIDAY on Twitter!

On another note, don't paint ceilings. I know it seems easy but trust me. That is one DIY I will NEVER do again. Ever.

A HORSE CAKE STAND TAKES THE CAKE

I am always looking for new and fabulous cake stands. I have to restrain myself from buying them all. I have more stands than the average party blogger should even own. This does not keep me from trying to find the latest and greatest. I give you the coolest cake stand ever. Yep, I'm calling this one. You could use this for epic desserts or for a catchall tray in your foyer. Either way, this handsome stallion of a cake plate is rarin' to go. Sorry for the horse puns, but do you blame me? This is amazing. I'm always telling you the importance of having basic white serveware and this is the reason why. Your standard collection will blend in while this amazing stand shines in all it's glory. That one diamond, in a fun and quirky manner, quietly shouts 'I am awesome, check out what I put my cupcakes on'. Guests will oooh and ahhh. I guarantee it. IMM Living is a beautiful and fun brand of ceramic goodies, this horse head Takes the Cake Plate is one of my favorites. I encourage you to check them out and find some fun little finds for yourself! I tracked down the cake plate and you can buy it here.

I like to share my secret sources, so I will always let you know where I find goodies. Looking for something for your next party? Ask me. Got something quirky that you need to track down? Let's make a post of it and submit your query. I'm on the hunt and I bet I can find it. If I can't, we might just have to make it. Win win.

HOW TO MAKE EASY GEOMETRIC CAKE TOPPERS

Quick, easy and fun, these geometric cake toppers are number one on my current favorite DIY list. How simple to just find some great shapes and hot glue them to decorate a cake, no baking skills required. Check out the full DIY for this geometric cake topper over on Julep, Minted's blog. I dare you do use these for a BBQ, a shower or a birthday. Want more? What if you took these wood shapes and made a garland? All you would need to do is hot glue it to a strand of twine. Easy.

HOW TO MAKE PARTY TOPIARIES

What is a party topiary? Just a fun take on traditional hanging decorations. Pop a few honeycomb balls on a stick and call it awesome. These couldn't be easier to make and just bring a ball of fun to the party. Think of all the different combinations you could make. Don't forget that you have a variety of sizes to choose from and can even make shapes - a geometric topiary would be so fun!! Pop on over to Minted's blog Julep and check out the full tutorial HERE.

A little hint, unless you have these sticks stuck in the ground for your perfect garden party, you are going to need a base. Check out the quick and easy DIY to put the dowels in a base and make these cuties over on Minted's blog Julep HERE.

BLOGGING TIPS: EASY IMAGE PINNING WITH BING

When I am searching for inspiration or new products to use in my DIYs, I like to do image searches. Rounding up the products and pinning them helps me organize my ideas visually to plan a project or just to save things I like that I can use for inspiration later. Have you noticed that you pin alot of the same things? I sure do, I usually end up pinning similar things and start to see a trend. Unfortunately, I just can't pin everything I really like. I have to admit that I have missed pinning some great stuff simply because of the time it takes to track down the source, go to the website and then walk through the pinning process. This not only means I miss inspiration because I am in a hurry, but many times I miss the links to products I need to source for a DIY. I have been almost to tears trying to find the perfect cake plate I just saw, where was it at again? I swore I would remember.

Enter awesome new tool. Last fall, I particpated in a focus group of lifestyle and design bloggers at Bing here in Seattle. We talked with Bing about our needs as bloggers and how we use search engines. What happened? The Bing image search has a great new feature, 'Pin to Pinterest'. Get this, you can pin right from the image search. Gone are the days of clicking through, just pin it and be done with it. The pin credits the original, high resolution source, hello blogger heaven. Paired with the already amazing search engine tool (did you know you can filter by site and picture orientation?) my image hunts are going to be so much easier and faster.

In theory, this is going to help me be much more productive. The less I click over to a site when I am searching for something, the less I will be distracted by the content. Honestly, who hasn't wasted a few hours reading and browsing around looking at things you weren't looking for. Not that I don't get inspiration from that, but it will save me a ton of time and keep me from doing it every time. I'll be able to whip out Cinco de Mayo inspiration and products in a blink of the eye, adding more original pins to my boards, which is always a good thing. In short, I am loving the 'Pin to Pinterest' feature on Bing, both personally and for the blog.

This post is sponsored by BING. All opinions are my own.