Party On – Page 4

Vincent’s third birthday is tomorrow! I cannot believe he is already three; time flies. We’re having a birthday for him on Saturday with friends and family, so I whipped up a simple, affordable and reusable party decoration.

To make this banner, you’ll need paper or cardstock in any color(s) that tickle your fancy, a circle cutter or punch, string, glue or Mod Podge, and an old paint brush.

I used a handy-dandy adjustable circle cutter made by Making Memories. I got this as a hand me down from a friend and never used it until now. The beauty of this tool is the ability to cut circles from 2 inches to 9 inches in diameter, all with one tool. I set the blade at three inches and started cutting. It takes a few tries to get it to cut nicely, but after that, its smooth sailing. The trick is to lightly run the blade around a few times, rather than one heavy round, which will tear the paper.

So, cut out tons of circles.

Then, fold in half, aligning the edges. If you used cardstock, you may want to run a bone folder along the crease to make it sharp.

Gather your glue, paint brush and string and get ready to assemble.

First, tie a loop in the string, to make it easy to hang. Do not cut your string yet, unless you have a specific size you need. Then, apply a thin layer of glue or Mod Podge to one side of the folded circle, adding a little more in the crease. Try to keep the glue thin so it won’t spill over the edges.

Place the string into the crease and fold the top over, pressing tight. To make sure your spacing is even, cut a piece of scrap paper to the desired width and place between each circle.

Continue gluing circles until the desired length has been reached. Cut the string, leave about 6 inches from the end of a circle. Make another loop for hanging. You’re ready to decorate.

I plan to hang these banners in the trees at the party, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek. So, for now, the banners are hanging from the ceiling in the boy’s room. The colors of the party happen to be the same colors we chose for the boy’s room.

Just a little note: if you are interested in this project, but don’t like the look of the half circles, you could do this with any shape. You will have to cut twice as many shapes, then follow every step except the folding. Instead, place another shape on the other side.

What are your favorite DIY party decorations? Cupcake toppers? Tissue paper pom poms? Do tell!

My sisters and I recently planned and threw a fiesta themed baby shower for the fourth sister we never had and her baby boy. I really love some of the details we added and wanted to share.

The first details are these cute and convenient napkin and utensil holders.

To make these, I printed two cute logos of a B with a baby bird perched on top per page. I printed these on plain ol’ white printer paper. Then I cut the printed pages at 5 1/2 inches. I folded the sides in to make a 5 1/2 inch tall by 3 inch wide pouch, securing with scotch tape. Then I folded the bottom up 1/2 inch and added another piece of tape. I folded our color coördinated napkins in half to fit the pouch. Add colorful utensils and pop into colorful metal buckets to make a cute accessory and a user-friendly buffet piece.

I also made cute, coordinating favor boxes filled with Jolly Rancher and Starburst candies. I printed simple 1 1/2 inch square stickers. Then we tied lime green, bright blue and dark blue ribbon to add more color.

We wanted to use decorations that were also useful, so we made a clothes line filled with adorable baby clothes. We bought miniature clothespins from Michael’s and they worked perfectly.

We also hung the handmade bird mobile as a party decoration.

My sister made a taco bar, including ground beef, spiced chicken, sautéed peppers, olives, lettuce, diced tomatoes, and cheese. We also had home-made guacamole, salsa and taco dip with chips. I saw an edible arrangements commercial and decided I would try to make a fruit bouquet. Two hours later, we had a beautiful arrangement:

We used cantaloupe, honey-dew, grapes, blueberries, pineapple, strawberries, and kiwi. We weighted down our bucket with rocks covered in aluminum foil (to keep things sanitary) then added a few bags of rice. We pushed our fruit onto wooden skewers and arranged them just like real flowers.

Do you have any tips to turn a good party into a great one? Or unique decoration ideas? Do tell, please!