Easy Paper Bunting

Need party decorations and short on time? I whipped this up in 30 minutes or less, for my cousin's baby shower. These are also really cute in a baby nursery.

Start with a selection of coordinating scrapbooking paper. For one-sided paper bunting flags, you can get two flags from one square sheet.

Create a pattern out of a piece of scrap cardboard. Draw a line down the center. Then measure an equal distance out from one end of the line and mark two points which will be the corners of your triangle. Draw lines to connect the points to the other end of your line. Cut out the triangle.

Place your triangle on the paper. You can position the base of the triangle against the edge of the paper. Use a roller cutter and mat to quickly cut the triangle out.

Flip your pattern piece and cut a second triangle from the same sheet. Repeat for all of your sheets of paper - you can cut 2 or 3 sheets at the same time to go faster. I used 6 sheets of paper for 12 total flags.

You need string and a sewing machine for this part.

Place your first flag pattern-side down. Using the widest zig-zag stitch and a length of about 3, stitch along the top edge of the triangle, keeping the string under the zig-zag so your stitches land on either side.

When you finish, the flag will look like this. Stitch the rest of the flags in a row, leaving a couple of inches between each flag.

When you are done, string them up and party on!

Custom Handmade Birthday Card

The local store didn't have any birthday cards for Grandpas, let alone 85th Birthday cards. So I made one!

You can make your own card like this, it's a super-easy project that can be done in 10 minutes or less.

Here's what you need:

- card stock, 8.5 inches x 5 inches makes a card 4.25 inches by 5 inches (for the card size, measure your envelope and subtract 1/4 inch from both dimensions)
- colorful striped scrapbook paper
- textured red card stock (for the numbers)
- thin ribbon
- hole punch
- glue stick
- sewing machine w/ color-coordinating thread
- scissors
- paper cutter

Instructions:

1. Cut the card with your paper cutter, fold it in half to make the card. Run the edge of a scissor blade along the outside of the crease, shaving off just a little to make a good folded edge.
2. Cut a piece of striped scrapbook paper, fitted to the size of the card but leaving 1/4" on each edge and 1" on the top edge.
3. Position the striped paper on the card and use a straight-stitch to sew it in place. If you use a fancy satin or metallic thread, use it in the top spool (the bobbin thread should be similar or coordinating but could be white or plain thread).
4. Cut out the numbers from the red card stock. You may want to draw the numbers on the back of the card stock in reverse first so you have a line to follow when you cut. Use a hole punch to cut out the centers of 6's, 8's or 9's.
5. Use a glue stick to paste the numbers onto the front of the card.
6. Punch two holes in either end of the front of the card on top. (You don't need to go through both layers of the card.)
7. Thread ribbon through and tie in a bow.

A-Z Bridal Shower Theme

More of an unusual post from me, but I had a fun experience so I thought I would share the ideas with others.  This concept can also be applied to a birthday party or Baby Shower.

I created an ABC themed bridal shower.  For the online RSVP system each guest was asked to pick a letter, once a letter was chosen it was taken out of the list.  The letter had to be used when picking out a gift.  Creativity was encouraged.  P for pretty panties, or C for Cherry Candy Cup.  I don't remember what I listed but I hope the point was obvious.

When the guest arrive they were reminded of their letter picks with a simple sheet reminder, and given a necklace with the alphabet letter on it.

This is the first game, that no one was allowed to say the groom's name, and if they did they had to give up their necklace to the person who was first to catch them.  It's a really fun game!

It being a tea party, I made these little place card holders to tell each person where to sit.  It's a great way to mix people up with new people and ensure conflicting people are at different tables.

Here is a fun game I hadn't seen before and it was a hit.  Our tea party was on the balcony of my place, so using the window (to limit my cleaning to some simple Windex), I placed a photo of the groom on the inside of the glass, and made a gift wrap over the outside of the window.  I let the bride open the gift, to see that I'm gifting her with his groom ha ha, bad joke.  Now the real fun begins.  It's a take on the rules of pin the tail on the donkey.  But you've got lipstick and need to draw the big kiss on the groom.

Oh by the way that's Avalyn, and she did pretty good with ~kissing~ the groom.

 

Other games we had were the popular wedding dress out of toliet paper, or guess the answers to the questions from the groom.  As each game ended, the winner could pick a letter from the bride's name, in which they got that prize bag.  Each prize inside was associated with the letter.  I remember that S was a Star-shaped pancake ring.  

Hope these give you some fun ideas to create your own themed shower party.

Queen's Party Hat - Happy Birthday Crystal

My friend Crystal wanted to go to Chucky-Cheese for her birthday, with Party Hats.  So I made her a special hat just for the birthday girl.

I was looking for some kind of "paper lace" that I read about in a book, and walking through a craft store I found the closest thing.  Paper doilies for a tea party. 

I cascaded it out like scales on a mermaid, pulling it out to give it some depth.  Next time I might buy white dollies and paint it sea green and aqua marina to really go for a mermaid look.

I couldn't use a store bought party hat as a base because it was just too small, so I used some scrapbook paper (in this case from a 8 bit video game theme).  It actually makes it pretty cool linning for the inside.

I used some ribbon instead of an elastic to let it stay on the head.  Unfortunatly I used some cheap ribbon so it wasn't very comfortable (lesson learned).  I also added some strings of pearls to make it more wild.