Ok, in anticipation of Amelia's 1st birthday next month (and Braden's 4th in March) I thought I'd post a blog about some fun DIY stuff you can do for your kid's birthday. Now, there is nothing wrong with grabbing a pack of streamers and balloons from Party City and giving kids store bought favor bags, heck – I'm guilty, but I can tell you that I get no greater satisfaction than making stuff for my kids' parties.
So, to start with, let's focus on invitations. I've gone both ways (store bought and hand made) and love them both. If you want to do store bought, try www.vistaprint.com. They have great stationary and a great price! I've never been dissatisfied with their products or service. Do it yourself invites, to me, are some of the most time consuming things about DIY birthdays. Last year for Braden's train party I did handmade golden tickets and it almost did me in. Just some helpful hints on invites though. Try to include a picture of your child, and if the party is a theme party, try to get a pic of the child doing something related to the theme. For Braden's train party we had a pic of him riding Thomas with his train hat on. Tip 2 – clip art is your best friend. Use the search option in word clip art and you will be surprised at how many cute things you can come up with. Tip 3 – a screenprint software is your best friend. I use FastStone (and LOVE IT!), but there are lots of free screenprint services out there. It will allow you to copy parts of your computer screen and use in whatever invite your're creating. So, get the scissors and glue and enjoy!
Moving on to décor. Now, this can go as overboard as you'd like, but I'll throw some ideas out there. I made a huge banner for Amelia's birthday this year (think door size) and it was cheap and not too hard. I got a piece of fleece fabric from the leftover bin at Hobby Lobby for next to nothing and used that as my background. I then used Word to print out gigantic letters in stencil font on pink and blue paper. I spelled out 'HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY AMELIA". I cut out the letters and glued the "HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMELIA" with hot glue to my banner. I then found some ballerinas that I liked and printed them out and glued velcro to both the ballerinas and the "1st". This was I can reuse the banner each year and just change out the birthday and the theme.
Other really cute, easy, inexpensive décor for a girly party are tissue balls. Basically all you need is tissue paper, tape or thin wire, and fishing wire or string. Take 8-10 pieces of tissue paper and place them on top of each other (looks really cute to alternate 2 or 3 colors and/or get some with polka dots). Then fold the tissue paper over 2 inches. Turn over and repeat (think like you're making a fan) until it is entirely folded. Once folded fold in half lengthwise and unfold. Wrap wire or tape around the crease. Then you can cut (either a rounded end or a pointed end) each end about half an inch (should look live a V or a half circle). Then you just fan the ball out and hang it up. The great thing about this is that kids LOVE them and you can hang them up in your room once the party is over. For any of you who are particularly brave, I've heard of folks lighting them on fire (outside of course) and letting the wind take them away. I would however not suggest this for a kid's party.
Now, I am not one to attempt baking and decorating, so we'll move right on to the party favors. I am just as guilty as the next parent of buying overpriced party favors at Party City, but with these simple ideas, you don't have to!
The delivery bag – you can have this double as an activity for the kids, too. Just set out brown bags and have kids decorate their own and then stuff them during the party. Another cute idea is to use the favor as the bag. For Braden's first birthday we had a construction birthday so I had kid size construction hats for all of the kids. I found some stick on letters and personalized each hat and filled the hat with candy and toys. Also, always be on the lookout in the Target $1 section. Every so often (around back to school time) they'll put out both ziploc and paper bags with Disney characters (Princess, Cars, Toy Story, etc) on them and at just $1 for 25 you can't beat that if it goes with your theme!
Now, we've got a delivery system, what do I put in it? The first idea is super simple and cheap! All you need is a computer, color printer, and some small to medium address labels and you can make your own stickers. Let's say your theme is Disney Cars. Go to www.google.com and google 'free disney car clip art'. It should bring back some sites that you can go to that offer free, downloadable clip art. So, find the ones you like, download them, and go to Word and create some labels. You can add words or just leave the clip art as your sticker. Then print out on your label paper and let the kids enjoy. I've found that file folder labels are just about the perfect size.
Now, to go along with your stickers, you can also make a personalized sticker book. Take one of your clip art designs and just enlarge it to be about 2-3 inches tall. Go back to Word and create another label that is a postcard label. Then you can insert your clip art along with "Child's Name's Sticker Book". Print out for each child and then cut out the 4x6 label. Add some blank 4x6 index cards behind it and hole punch in the upper left corner. Add a keyring to hold them all together and Voila (if you've got a laminator at home, laminate the top page, but this step isn't necessary).
Another idea is to print your own color pages to send home with the kiddos. Head back over to google and search for "my theme color pages" and you will inevitably get several results (unless you are having some sort of crazy party like rattlesnake catching or something like that) so all you have to do is choose the one or ones you like best and print. All kids love to color! And remember, at back to school time, crayons go on sale for 25 cents a piece so that could round out your favor basket.
A take home outfit is always fun, too. One year I had a luau and my mom hand made Hawaiian outfits for all 20 of us. I've also made tutus for all of Amelia's little friends (which requires no sewing), so if you'd like to know how to make a tutu, feel free to ask me.
Now, I could go on and on about this (I did after all make 25 individual tutus for cupcakes for my daughter's birthday this year), but I think I've given you all enough to get started. Google, word, and a printer are your best friends when it comes to a kid's birthday party – well, that and a lot of time and dedication =) I promise to post pics of Amelia's birthday next month so you can see all of my creations.
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