DECO MESH

Deco mesh is relatively new to the UK market. It has being around many years with crafters, but it's only recently it has really taken off as a popular item to have in the craft box. Especially for businesses like mine that create decorations and themed seasonal decor. 

Deco mesh is most widely recognised in the United states of America. It is an extremely popular material to have over in the USA, you can find it many craft stores. 

But for us UK citizens, we don't have this luxury, so for us it means we either have to import from america itself, or buy from a small stockist, that imports from america. Which means it can become extremely expensive for us small businesses trying to keep our heads afloat. 

Benefits of Deco Mesh 

1. The majority of deco mesh is waterproof, which makes it an amazing product for indoor and outdoor use. Please bare in mind their is several different types of deco mesh. deco mesh itself is plastic, and can be easily used on most things. But then there is poly deco mesh, poly burlap mesh, and the list goes on.
2. You can cut the mesh and create swirls, to create a feature within the decoration you are making, like the image above. You will need make sure you have a good pair of sharp scissors, if possible fabric scissors as they help to avoid fraying of the fabric.
3. I also have a new way of cutting the mesh and thats with a wood burning tool, this allows the material to bond back together, but please be aware this needs to be done in a ventilated area, and you will need something underneath the material that is fireproof to avoid any damage or worst case a fire. You cannot use a woodburning tool on some of the mesh, for example so the ones with metalic threads running through it will not work affectively. 
4. The colours and patterns you can use are endless, and each season more and more designs are coming out. 
5. The ways in which you use the deco mesh is endless aswell, there are so many different techniques to use with deco mesh, from the ruffle affect, swirls, wirls, but i am not a technical girl. I learn the ways of deco mesh but can never remember the technical terms. 
6. Deco mesh is amaxing for beginners to learn how to be creative with wreath and garland making, as your skills get better, you can advance to the tricker techniques. 
7. Deco mesh wreaths and garlands can last for many years, alsong as they are looked after, once they are out of storage you just need to plump them back up, and fiddle with the mesh to get it looking perfect again. 

Remember there are many different varieties of deco mesh, and the price can vary massively, the majority of the time, if its cheap you will find you have to put more work into getting it to do what you want it to do, it will more than likely fray easier, and in my experiencer you actually use more, because it is more transparent than the more expensive rolls. 

You will only figure this out with experience, and what you prefer to work with, some crafters I know hate deco mesh and cannot use it all. But for me I think it makes the decoration come to life. 

Home Decor

How to care for your beautiful pampas grass 

Beinga 90's girl, I was brought up with the whispers of the adults gossiping about the neighbour who had pampas grass in their front garden. It wasn't unitl I was in my teens I realised why. 

But in recent years pampas grass has become one of the faster growing trends for the home, salons, and even weddings, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere fast.

I totally get the attraction of how its come back on trend, but for me I love my colours, and like to have a statement piece in the room. Thats exactly how I came up with my beautiful vibrant pampas grass cloud, which hangs on my bedroom wall, its the first thing I see when I wake up, and the last thing at night. 

Pampas grass is not only beautiful, and on trend, but its also very environmentally friendly, it last for many years, aslong as its looked after properly, and it can be repurposed very easily.

Taking care of your pampas grass

GIVE IT A SHAKE 

• When your arrangement first arrives it will have being a little squashed from the packaging, I try my hardest to reduce as much as this as possible. But before you go any further, remove it from the packagin carefully, give it a good shake, (outside ideally). This is to make it as fluffy as possible

HAIRSPRAY (yes hairspray)

• I will have already sprayed your arrangement for you before packaging, to help with as much loss as possible. I reccomend about every 6 months or so, give your pampas grass a light spray with hairspray, ensuring to keep your distance from the pampas grass, (we don't want any hard clumps). It just helps to reduce the loss.

Where to hang or place your pampas grass.

• There is two fundamental rules about pampas grass, keep it away from directly sunlight especially the coloured arrangements, as this can bleach them, and lose colour.
• Also keep them away from moisture, as this can make the go moldy, which we don't want that. 
• also think about heat, don't place them directly over radiators or anywhere with direct heat, so if you are in a salon think about this with hairdryers, etc...
• think about high traffic areas, don't place it somewhere people or animals are going to continuiously brush past it, as this will cause shedding.

You do not need to water the pampas grass, as it is a dried product. 

Go and enjoy your beautiful arrangement, and remeber to always be bold and wild and stand out from the crowd.