Birthday Banners for Kid's Parties

Please forgive the HORRIBLE lighting in my basement studio.  My cousin (in-law, but who's counting) Jen has two adorable kids who are both having a birthday this fall!  James will be turning 4 in November and Olivia turns 2 today!  Happy Birthday Olivia!  Happy Birthday James! 

Jen and my cousin Ryan (her hubby) are two of my favorite people and given that they have lovely red-headed children, their family makes 4 of my favorite people!  Ryan and I lived together for a while before either of us were married, so I love the guy like a brother.  Then, he went and married Jen, who is just the sweetest!  Really, none of us could've picked a more perfect wife for him.  But, then they had kids with red hair!  I loved it on James, but only really appreciated it when my own little guy's hair started to get more red!  I don't get to see James or Olivia very much, as they live in a different state, but Jen always shares pictures with me, so I feel like I know them better.  When Jen asked me for ideas about non-commercial Toy Story type decorations, I was so excited.  (She'll totally back me up as I sent her about a million pages off Etsy!!)  I really wanted to make them something, so I was super excited when she asked me to make them each a banner!

They're having a Buzz Lightyear - Jesse themed party!  The James banner is made from paper, ribbon and tissue paper.  I got this awesome scrapbook paper that looks like sheet metal (my girlfriend Brigett's Cricut didn't love that paper, but it did a pretty great job of cutting everything out!) for the letters.  Then, on the rocket flames, I used several layers of tissue paper so it'll kind of flutter and look a bit more flame-y.  The Olivia banner is made from denim pockets, fabric, paper and bias tape.  I cut the cow print fabric in long strips, made them into bows and sewed them on the tape.  The pockets are just stitched together (and to the bias tape).  I glued the letters on.  The bandanas are stiched into the pockets.  I had some little cowgirl cutouts, but I couldn't figure out where to put them, so I left them off. 

I love taking commercial kid's party themes and making them a bit more homemade!  The colors and the textures are a good place to pull ideas from and it's just so much more fun to me than a bunch of pre-printed merchandise from China.  No offense China.  ;)

Hope you like them.  Jen liked the pictures (though she's so sweet, she'd never say she didn't like them) and I hope she loves them when she gets them in the mail!  Do you have a party you've thrown that mixed commercial and handmade?  I'd love to see them.  Throw me a link in the comments and I'll come visit you ;)  I know I'll love all your creativity!!

PS - To Ryan and Jen's baby on the way, I will still love you just as much with another hair color, I promise!

Handmade Gifts for a Bobby Birthday!

We went to a birthday party for my friend Nicole's oldest son Bobby.  He turned 7 and really likes science.  I've been trying to keep up my all-handmade gifts committment and though I don't always remember to take pictures, I have been pretty good about sticking to the commitment part.  For Bobby's love of science and learning, I thought he might like to do some screenprinting.  I got him two plain t-shirts.  I embellished one with this truck material I already had.  I left the other plain so he can design his own shirt.  I told Nicole they can come over sometime once he draws what he wants on his shirt and we'll screenprint it with the Yudu together.  I think he'll love it!

I just made a simple strip of the fabric in case he wants to screenprint his name across it or something else fun.  I made the bag of the same truck fabric as I don't like to use wrapping paper if I can avoid it.  It was also good practice for french seams.  Here's everything I included in the bag.

The party was at a local aquatic center.  It was so much fun!  Holden really enjoyed the water and the sand.  It was a great day for it!

Happy Birthday Bobby!  We had a great time at your party and we think you're a great kid!  I'm so glad we get to be friends with you and your family!

Super Mario Bros. Party Decorations on a Budget

My youngest son who is turning 6 really wants a Super Mario Bros. Birthday Party. I'm not a huge fan of commercial themed parties (I like simple classic party themes:) but it's not my party so I will do my best to do what I know my son will like.

I didn't find any Super Mario Bros. party decorations in my local stores. I searched the web and found various websites that carry the decorations, but they are pretty pricey. I ended up ordering 3 packages of dinner plates which cost $19.91 with shipping.

I purchased these plates online at Celebrate Express.

I found a Nintendo site with free downloads of iron on's and stickers. I printed several out and cut them out to add to party favor bags and two pinatas I made.

This is cut out from one of the plates.

I made two pinatas from cardboard boxes (one was the one my plates came in!) One pinata cost $19.99 + shipping from the Internet. I made 2 pinatas for about $7!

I used a circle punch and made circles with bright paper. I also used yellow streamers and glued them in a ruffle onto the box which I covered in yellow tissue paper.

I made a Happy Birthday banner using colorful card stock and the printouts from the Nintendo website. I cutout the circles using a 5" circle cutter. (I cut my finger length wise straight through the nail...it was horrible!) Ah well, the price we pay for motherhood!

I wish my son a very Happy 6th Birthday! I love you, Bryce!

Custom Bunting for a Cowboy, Cowgirl, or Farm Theme

Heather just finished this cute cow print banner and I took some photos of it for the Etsy shop and I wanted to share with ya'll also!

We're going to stage out a Cowboy party one of these days when the grass gets a little greener and we find someone with a barn and haystacks we can borrow. For now we have just been brainstorming some ideas. If you have any please leave us a comment. You craft bloggers have the best ideas around!

I hope the weather has been as good for you as it has been in Michigan for the last few days...

also we've chosen our Lucky Linky winner and will be posting later tonight!

Using Decorative Vinyl Decals on Buckets and Party Tubs

When you're having a party or event and you want to add some personalization to your decor try using decorative decals. There are so many stores that offer vinyl decals now and it's becoming more and more affordable. The Lucky Star Lane Etsy shop will carry a few items...ask if you need something specific cut.

Start with some decals and a few buckets or containers. I bought the big red tub at Lowe's for $4.73..it's made in USA and with recycled materials. The stainless steel bucket is also from Lowe's ($3.43). The white metal bucket is from JoAnn's ($1.99). The purple one ignore because the decals wouldn't stick to it. (It has a weird oily feeling).

Lay your decal where you want it to go and see if it looks okay. When you apply something flat to a curved surface it distorts a little on the ends. If it looks higher on the ends you can cut the letters apart and arrange them individually. Sometimes you just need to cut off the end letters and lower them.

Use painter's tape to arrange them where they need to go. Peel off the white backing and smooth them onto the surface. You can use a plastic tool or just my fingers worked well.

This one looked okay to me so I just applied it as is.

Once you peel the backing and stick it to the surface, peel back the clear part slowly. I used a little plastic scraping tool I had in my kitchen drawer but just rubbing it with my fingers also worked.

This one I also didn't need to adjust the letters so I just applied it as one piece.

I had these 1 inch dots cut and applied them in a random pattern on the bucket (these are like stickers..you just peel and stick).

I cut some in half where they would be on the edge of the bucket.






Here is how they turned out. Personalization is so much fun!

I want a rock star party bucket at my birthday party!

Embellishing Party Favor Boxes Made with Card Stock

Heather's friend, Bridgett, does die cuts and she sent these awesome purse boxes and star cups to see what could be done with them. I only had one template of the purse...so I traced it and cut it out with scissors (it looks like garbage compared to the die cut one but you can't tell in the picture.)
This one I embellished with three flowers punched with a simple flower punch that I bent a little for dimension. I glued a button in the middle.

This one I added a die cut letter, flower and button.

The ribbon attaches through two slits in the top.

I thought this one would be cool for an Oscar Party with the star and bling.

I love stars so this one is my favorite. It would be cute with some crinkle paper and a star shaped frosted cookie wrapped in cellophane as a party favor.

We'll soon be adding these dies cuts to the Etsy shop so check back!

Have a beautiful creative day...

Erin

Little Cowgirl Ruffle Flowers

If you haven't noticed, I'm on a serious recycled denim kick. I used to own a denim couch and I worked for the Gap for 5 years where my favorite thing was a freshly folded denim wall. I once folded denim for 10 hours straight when I helped open a store in downtown Chicago. I had to give up my store when Bryce was born, but it ended up closing a year later anyway. I loved that store! (It was in downtown East Lansing, MI. )

I have a lot of outdated jeans that are in such good condition. (does anyone remember long and leans?)

Heather has inspired me to try using jeans to craft. This is a banner that I recently made for a customer.

I added some ruffle flowers to the ends of the banner. They clip on so you could use them for something else if you want.

I was trying to achieve a cowgirl theme with the banner. Twine and star buttons seemed like a good choice!

Thanks for reading!

How to Make Recycled Denim Crayon Bags

Hello! It has been a snowy week here in Michigan. I shoveled the driveway and woke up the next day so sore I thought I was dying for sure! In between shoveling the snow, laundry loads and soccer games I've been working on a few projects. For this project you will need:

7" x 9" piece of denim (can be new or recycled)

thread and sewing machine (although you could hand stitch)

fabric scraps or embellishments

small elastic hair tie

button

iron

fabric glue or tacky glue

First you want to create your top seam by folding one of the long sides in about 1/3 inch, ironing it, and then folding it over one more time and ironing it. I stuck a few pins in and ran it through my sewing machine quickly. Next, you fold the fabric in half (the top seam stays on the left)and sew a seam starting at the top where the seamed sides meet and going straight down the side leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. Turn leaving the needle in the down position and do the bottom the same.

I pressed the seams and cut off the corner seam allowances as far as I could so the corners will look crisp when I flip it.


I flipped it and decided where to place the elastic and button. I hand sewed these in place using black thread. When I sewed the hair tie on, I only sewed through the two top layers of the top seam so you can't see the stitching on the outside.





I cut out a few pieces of fabric and used fabric glue to glue them on. The sock monkey is cut from a piece of Moda "Sock Monkey Yearbook" by Erin Michael laminated fabric so it won't fray. The black gingham fabric I was hoping will fray a little more over time.

I like these because I can throw them in my enormous mom purse and my boys will have them for when we're out and about at restaurants and sport events. The denim is sturdy which is great!

Have a great day! You can still link up projects to Lucky Linky until noon today.



I linked this at Blue Cricket Design