Guest Designer Lala-Palooza : Havana Nights Party Centerpiece

I am thrilled and honored to be a Guest Designer for Alex today at You Had Me @ Craft.  Let me tell you that from the day I found Alex, I have been hooked.  I read her blog often and check it several times a week.  She is such an inspiration to me.  The best part is she's Cuban just like me!!!!  I love my heritage and my Latin flavor and am thrilled to share it with someone as special as Alex is.

My project is a centerpiece for a Havana Nights Surprise birthday party for my cousin who turned 40 last month.  This was a fun and easy centerpiece to make and I am blessed to have a secret weapon - my BFF, Marisol!  She is the Martha Stewart in my life and she makes all things possible with a little glue. :)

Materials:

• straw hats (I purchased them on ebay for next to nothing)
• Plant of choice - we used Lavender Flower Spikes because the leaves look like areca palms...and they were only $2 at Lowe's.  
• Linen paper for the guayabera shirts (I'll show you how to fold them)
• Cuttlebug embossing folders (small strip sized ones)
• Bamboo skewers
• burlap bags - we had them ordered at a Cuban store here in Miami.  They were even personalized.  We paid $6 for a package of 12.  One package says Sugar and the other says Coffee. 
• Cigar boxes - we went to a local cigar shop and had them donate them.  We don't smoke, but it was a good theme. We will also put Dominoes down on the tables for interest and will be wrapping small espresso cups and saucers with coffee candy inside them in cellophane paper as favors.  Fun!
• Paper bags (lunch size 5 3/8" x 3 1/8")
• jute twine
• Ziploc Bags 
• Glue Gun

Step one was to make sure that the pots were placed into Ziploc bags so the moisture wouldn't destroy the paper bag.

Place the plant inside the paper bag and wrap a piece of jute twine around it .
 

UPDATE: Click HERE to watch a tutorial on how to make this shirt