Owl-Themed Birthday Table & Food

This is the last post about my daughter's owl-themed 1st birthday party...I've shared lots of little projects that I made to set the theme, but I wanted to show the table decor, cake, food, and even a few of the birthday girl!

The table~I covered it with a pink disposable plastic tablecloth and then put chocolate brown burlap scrunched up on top. I spray painted the pine cones pink. The party was in early September and I was going for a full-on Fall feeling!

The cake turned out great! I didn't make it--I bought it!

Pink punch: Raspberry sherbet, ginger ale, & pineapple juice. Simple & yummy.

Happy Birthday!

I made a big crockpot of chili and a baked potato bar. I must say, the food was good!

One last little trick I learned on Pinterest...I wrapped the water bottles with patterned Duck (duct) Tape! They looked so cute!

Yummy Party Favors

Since the guests at my daughter's first birthday party were mostly adults, I had to forgo the little favor bags filled with cheap plastic dollar-spot toys we usually give out. (Hey, the 5 & under crowd love those!)
So I opted to make some cute snack food items for them to take home. I had them ready to go on trays and brought them out at the end of the party.



I made the Fall Snack Mix that my family loves and packaged it in these little boxes I found at Hobby Lobby. (They are like mini collapsible popcorn boxes) They were too plain looking, so of course I had to decorate them. I used a scalloped circle punch on some scrapbook paper, stamped a "1" on it, and stapled on a loop of ribbon and a felt flower. I put the boxes inside a cellophane bag & tied it with a tulle bow.





I also made these jumbo marshmallows by pushing a lollipop stick into them & dipping them in chocolate & adding shaped sprinkles. I let them dry & then packaged them up!
I bought these polka-dot paper sacks (also at Hobby Lobby) and made a digital scrapbook image on CropMom with my daughter's photo on it. I printed them on cardstock, cut them out & adhered them to the bags for everyone to take their favors home in.


It WAS a hoot and I think everyone enjoyed the favors!

12 Month Photo Banner & High Chair Banner

Continuing on with my daughter's birthday party DIY decorations...

I couldn't find a cute fabric banner that matched her party theme, so I decided to make it. I bought pieces of felt (they're cheap-usually 4/$1-and also sturdy) and cut them into 12 triangles-one for each month of my daughter's 1st year. I hot glued on ric-rac around the edges. I then hot glued the triangles to a pink & white nylon clothesline I bought at the dollar store a while back. I tied a tulle bow in between each triangle. That part was ready to go...





I hopped on the computer & found a favorite photo of my daughter from each month of her first year and printed them. I used a circle cutter to crop them. Then I ran into some trouble...I though that "Zots" glue dots would hold the photos to the felt, but alas, they would NOT stay for long! So I ended up using velco tabs-one on the back of the photo & one on the front of the felt triangle to stick them together. After the party, I removed the photos and now I'm able to use the banner for other occasions, so it worked out!
Note: I ran out of time (and energy!) but you could also number each photo or title them "1 Month", etc. I opted to just tell my guests. :)

Here it is, on the mantel:



I made another, smaller banner to go around her high chair. I measured first to make sure how many triangles would fit, and made the banner in the same way. I cut out a number "1" and glued it to the front. I used velcro circle tabs to attach the banner to her tray.



I think she liked it!

Semi-Homemade Party Decorations

For my daughter's owl-themed first birthday party last month, I bought some inexpensive party decorations & modified them to fit the theme of the party. I found this set of 3 paper lanterns at Hobby Lobby and cut scrapbook paper into wings, a brow, a beak, and circles around large googly eyes to make the largest one an owl. I used removable adhesive so that after the party, I simply removed the owl parts & I can reuse the lanterns for other occasions.






I found the table centerpiece (in the top picture) in the clearance section for $1. The colors were right but it had a toile scene on it, so I covered the scene with some scrapbook paper and owls that I cut out from an extra party invitation.


Here it is on one of the guest tables:

These decorations turned out much cheaper--but just as cute--as if I had bought them pre-made!

DIY Balloon Wreath

I've seen many versions of this type of wreath lately and since my son's birthday was last month, I decided I needed to make one before his party! I plan to use it for all of our family birthdays. I can change out the "M" if I want, although our last name also starts with "M", so it will work either way.

There are many tutorials out there, but here's my (fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants) version:



Supplies:
Straw wreath (or foam)
Floral pins (I bought the 1 lb. bag & will be using them for the rest of my life!)
Balloons (I bought 2 bags of 72 each & used about 3/4 of them)
Ribbon (wider makes it easier)
Fuzzy pipe cleaners (Optional)
Large painted wooden letter (Optional)



I used the straw wreath I bought at a thrift store a while back for 30 cents! I wish it was actually a little larger in size, but hey...you can't really argue with 30 cents. I left the plastic wrap on the straw to keep it contained.

Here's where I went wrong. Instead of first wrapping the entire wreath with ribbon, I started by pinning on balloons. See, I thought I was going to put balloons around the entire wreath, thus not needing any ribbon. Well, once I started out I decided that it would look better with about 3/4 of the wreath covered with balloons. So I wrapped the ribbon on the remaining part of the wreath & tried to cover the ends with balloons.




Carrying on...I thought it looked kind of plain, so I wrapped some colorful pipe cleaners around a pen to make them spirals, grouped them & glued them on. I then painted the whimsical wooden "M". I painted the edges yellow to try to make the letter stand out better. (Still wish it stood out more.) Then I tried hot gluing the letter to the balloons. Note to self: (and to you): Hot glue does not stick to balloons. At least it didn't for me. I tried another type of glue with no luck. I finally tied the letter on with a piece of red pipe cleaner. At least this way it's removable & I can use other letters or numbers if I want. So that ended up working out.




Here's how it turned out:

Mason's Annual Handprint~Year 4

Each year around Mason's birthday, I paint his hand & have him put it on a small canvas. I love this tradition that has become a collection of artwork to show how much he's grown over the year. Here are links to past year's posts about his handprint art:

2009
2008

Painting for Sydney

I decided to practice my new hobby of painting by making a birthday gift. Sydney is my good friend Heather's daughter. Mason and I went to her birthday party last Sat. (& had a great time! I forgot my camera though) She's redoing her bedroom in these bright colors with a tropical theme. I'm happy with how it turned out, especially for it being my 3rd painting. I know I'll improve the more I practice & it's pretty fun to do. I also used a staple gun for the first time! (to attach the ribbon) I used acrylics on an 11x14 canvas.







P.S. She loved it!

Today is my Birthday...

I just love this birthday card I received from my parents!(It's a Shoebox by Hallmark, to give proper credit)