Metallic silver garland + giveaway
It’s a new year and it’s also the week of our second birthday!

And in the party spirit we wanted to share with you a DIY garland that is made from simple polystyrene balls covered with items that you most certainly can find around your house. 
The idea behind it is that simple items such as string and even dried leaves can add wonderful texture to a garland, so you can make a really unusual but beautiful backdrop to any party!
Materials:
Polystyrene balls (I used 6cm, 4cm and 2cm)
Mod Podge
Small brush
Materials that can add texture (I used leaves, string, scrap paper squares and sequins)
Silver metallic spray paint
Fishing line
Blue tack (adhesive putty)
Bamboo skewers
Cardboard box
1. Pop the polystyrene balls through the skewers and brush them with mod podge. Carefully stick your chosen materials on the balls
2. Pierce the cardboard box with the skewers and let the balls dry for 4-5 hours
3. Leaving the skewers fixed on the cardboard box, use the metallic spray to coat them, rotating as necessary. You’ll need at least two coatings depending on the material. The string took the paint really well but the sequins needed 3 coats as they did not hold the paint as well. I left the paint to dry for at least 8 hours between coatings. I did this outside so no need to protect surfaces!
4. Once dry carefully remove the balls from the skewers and pass the fishing line through them. The fishing line should be stiff enough to allow you to push it through the the holes. You can use any type of string or thread and make the garland with the help of a long needle.
5. To secure the balls in place I used  adhesive putty to close the holes and gave a final metallic spray so that the putty blended in

And now our present to you!
Last year we celebrated our birthday with a cookbook giveaway. As we are getting really into our DIY projects as well as food ones – and people seem to like them – we have decided to give to one of our blog readers a kit to personalise a notebook. We chose each item carefully and a lot of love went into putting it together. It includes:
– Blank notebook
– Paper edger scissors
– Fabric scraps
– Tissue paper
– Stamp
– Rubber carving block (because we love stamps)
– Coloured string
To take part in this giveaway enter below until the 18th of January (12 AM London time). We’ll let you know on that date via Instagram and Facebook.
We hope the winner will be as happy as we are celebrating The Candid Kitchen’s second birthday!