So this is going to be a long post, my longest by far. The great thing about a photography blog is that it is picture heavy and non-verbose. Well not today! For all of you who wonder why I don’t have time for facebook, you are about to discover the reason, well, part of the reason. I’m blog obsessed. Yep, crazy addicted to my little world of bloggers. I quietly take in all their creativity, ooh and ahh in my head over their latest project or thought, and file away their goodness for a coming day. Inspiration. It oozes out of them daily, and I’m addicted.
Photography is the creative outlet for my life, but I almost always dabble in something else crafty, and usually it needs to be very hands on. Getting my hands on a project, whether it be building a bench, sewing a dress, remodeling a room, it satisfies a different creative drive and I hope to start sharing more of my other world with you here. This past month, it was birthday party fun.
Inspired by so much of what I see in the sewing and crafting part of my blog world, I wanted to attempt a handmade party for my little girls three-year-old birthday party. She insisted that she wanted a “birdie party.” So I gathered some ideas over a few days and the pictures below are how it came out. Not exactly as I had pictured in my head and certainly not spectacular, but it was a quaint, sweet little party and I treasure the time I spent with my little girl while we prepared for it in the weeks prior.
And when she saw it, she said… “We made a party!” Which was enough, so sweet. Oh, and you can now check out her 3 year old photos here.
I would share the links as I go to the awesome tutorials for everything, but if I link it now, you will go to their site, be sucked in and never return to see my simple little party below. So since you’ve been warned, the links are at the bottom for any of you who just have to know where I spend some of my time
Let’s get started………
I started by designing the invitation and using it as the main inspiration for the rest of the party. If I could have designed the perfect fabric for a little girls birdie party, this would have been exactly what I pictured. I was thrilled to find it. I cut out the little birdies, sewed them to the brown paper and glued them to the front of the invitation, designed in photoshop with some free brushes.
For decorations, I used balloons of course. For some reason I love photos of balloons, so you’re getting those first! Your lucky your not getting 20 pictures of balloons.
Made party hats…. the birthday girl had a special hat, with a birdie sewn on it, just like the party invitation.
I cut up a couple flat bed sheets in party-themed colors, sewed buttons on the top for doorway streamers. I left my edges frayed to give the same appearance as on the invitation, so those went together quickly.
The bunting was made by my wonderful mother, who I adore. She’s the one who took the time to teach me most everything I know about sewing while growing up at home. And the one who continues to encourage my creative side. There are several bunting tutorials online, we used a combination of a few, but the main framework stemmed from Cicada Daydream.
I loved that with this one you could space them as needed, not to mention, I can pull out the colors that I need for next time and just add them in to a new color scheme with a fraction of the work. I used the edging of the bed sheets for the ribbon to string the bunting.
And finally a few more decorative items. The trees were made by printing out the PS Tree Brush in poster format, taped to foam board, marked and cut out. Then I wrapped fabric strips, from the remaining pieces of the door streamers, around, tucked and added a fabric birdie sewn on paper for stability. The picture here isn’t great, but these were actually really cute.
Custom cake and cupcakes from a local bakery. The cupcakes were fabulous, there was one left and I finished it before starting this post… (Update, that was last week, there is no way it would have lasted around here for 5 days!)
During the party, the girls and boys made bracelets. The girls made trim bracelets, the attachment hooks and little birdie charms were ready to go before the party. The boys added an army themed charm to their boyish brown snapping bracelets. Then we played a scavenger hunt/matching game where each child had to find the 5 matching cards to win a treat. This was suppose to be outside, but since it was pouring, we moved the game inside. I laminated the cards so that my girls can continue to play with them.
For the moms, we played Birthday Party Bingo. City Cradle Design had this great idea and I just customized it to fit our birdie party. The winner won a fabulous handmade clutch. Tutorial below from Noodlehead! Just realized I forgot to photograph it. Well, you can see a sample at the link below, trust me, it was fabulous!
And now for the handmade party favors. First up, the miniature memory game, from Dandee Designs. I made a girl version and a boy version, using the same graphic designs from the scavenger hunt.
The little girls received the ‘lil cutie pouches, also by Noodlehead. The birthday girl carefully tucked each little treasure into the pouches for her friends.
For the girls I could hardly choose between all the handmade items…the boys, well, I could hardly find a tutorial for a preschool boy handmade gift. So when I saw these, I was absolutely in love with them. Exactly what I had in mind. The perfect boy alternative to a purse with goodies. Thanks Jill!
Finally, the party dress for the birthday girl. Love the MADE blog, love the tutorials. This is the WARHOL dress. My husband is down one t-shirt, but it was worth it
Ok, and now for all the goodness you’ve been patiently waiting for! In order of their appearance…
Free Photoshop Brushes: Pumpkins and Posies
Party Hats: Combo of My Paper Creations & Cakewalk
Bunting: Cicada Daydream (There are several bunting tutorials online, we used a combination of a few, but the main framework stemmed from Cicada Daydream, she has several other tutorials to check out as well. While you are there, check out Cloud 9 Fabrics, just gorgeous. My favorite right now is Beyond the Sea, but I go back and forth!)
Cake & Cupcakes: Frosted Pink
Trim Bracelets: Happy Together Tutorial & DeStash Bin on Etsy for the Birdie Charms
Party Bingo: City Cradle Design (This will probably be a staple at future parties, such a good idea.)
Gathered Clutch: Noodlehead (I love this clutch and will be making a few more for gifts.)
Miniature Memory Game: Dandee (These are so fun, my daughter wants to play hers all the time. It will take up permanent residence in my purse for when we are out.)
‘Lil Cutie Pouches: Again, Noodlehead (So much goodness, sigh.)
Cozy Car Caddy: Homemade by Jill (Jill, the feedback on these was tremendous, they turned out so cute!)
The WARHOL Dress: MADE (I can’t wait to try out some other tutorials from here, love it.)
Thanks you crazy creative people, I was kept busy for a month!
by Jess
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