Showing posts with label Very Hungry Caterpillar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Very Hungry Caterpillar. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday

Happy Wednesday!
(and please tell me I'm not the only one who has to say
WED-NES-DAY in their heads when they spell that)

Yesterday I shared details from one of the two party themes we had going on Saturday at our house, so today it's time to share party theme numero dos.

Mary Martin's party theme was the Very Hungry Caterpillar and I had so much fun putting her table together! Here are some pics, followed by details of where the items came from and instructions for anything I made-

1. I love using paper lanterns as party decor because they're inexpensive but they pack a big punch. The large orange lanterns are from the dollar spot at Target and the smaller red and green ones are from Big Lots.

2. I showed you how I made those topiaries in THIS post, and since I attached the fleece with tape, I can always start from scratch with another color for another party.

3. Since the theme for this party was a BOOK, I went straight to the source and copied a couple of pages out of it to make the paper food garland.
Here's a closer look-

since the Caterpillar eats his way through a lot of FOOD in the book, I thought it'd be cute to have the food strung on the FOOD table.
Makes sense, no?
I grabbed my kiddos board book, found the food page, stuck it in the copy machine,
and got this-

and since I DON'T like to waste paper, I cut off the bottom half of the paper, stuck it on top of the book , hit copy again...

and got this-

I cut each of the food pieces out, leaving a small white border around each one-

and then punched out a hole on top of the hole that was already present in the picture-

Using a tiny punch, I created small holes on each piece at the top and strung them together on some thin twine.
LOVED how this came together and plan to use this same idea again for future parties.
I also could have gone much BIGGER with this and used the regular-sized version of this book, but for this particular party, the small garland was perfect.
I even added a bit to the hutch in the dining room-


back to the table...

4. The butterfly in the center is made from a super-think felt and cost about $2 at Michael's. I used fishing line to hang it from the light fixture above the table.
That super cute two-tiered stand was a gift from my mum and came form Target.

5. On the table, I tied one end of the garland to the topiaries and attached the other end (using a small piece of scotch tape) to the turquoise cupcake stands in the center.  If you'll recall, those cupcake stands used to look like this-

(purchased on clearance from hob lob)
BUT, after a quick sanding and some spray paint, they looked 100% better.

6. For the table coverings, I used a 2-yard piece of thin linen in a light tan color (already had on hand), and layered a 1-yard piece of Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric I found on ebay (9.50 a yard). Since that's more than I usually spend on fabric, you can bet your sweet bippy I'll be looking for a cute project to use it in. LOVED how it looked on the table though.

7. I picked up that stuffed caterpillar at FAO Shwartz in NYC when the hubs and I were there on our anniversary 3 years ago.
8. The sillhouette of the child in the highchair is another from the cricut cartridge A Child's Year. Popped it into a frame I already had on hand from the hob lob.
9. The colorful boxes on the table covered with caterpillars, flys, and all sorts of cute bugs were purchased on clearance at the hob lob.
Here's a closer look-


Since I didn't use all of the paper food that I cut out on the garland, I scattered the rest of it around the table as a sort of 'food confetti'.

10. The Very Hungry Caterpillar plates and napkins were purchased at Target.
11. Green/white striped straws came from THIS etsy shop.
12. Vintage milk bottle holding the straws came from THIS etsy shop.
13. Glass jars holding forks, knives, and spoons all came from the thrift store.

14. Here's a look at the other side of the table, where I had a big copy of the book on display (thanks mom!) You can also see Eliza's Barbie table on the other side of the room-

and here's what it looks like when I stand on one of the dining room chairs, hold the camera above my head, and take a picture.

Here's the table all 'prettied up' with cupcakes (made by my Aunt C)

LOVE the cupcake caterpillar!
They were lime flavored, by the way, and were DEEElicious.

I also purchased a dress on etsy for MM to wear at the party-
(from THIS shop)

and here's my cutie in her dress,
holding a drumstick,
because as long as the 12-month old is semi-still for the picture taking,
it really doesn't matter what's in their hand.


I'm hoping that there were at least a few helpful tips in this post that can help you in the future. I've used the 'copy pages straight out of a book' method many, many times before to not only make garlands, but invitations and favors as well.
so.stinkin.simple.

until next time, friends!

I've linked this post to-
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Craftomaniac Monday at Craftomaniac
Creative Me Monday at The Southern Institute
Anything Related at All Thingz Related,
Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A 2 Z,
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts,
Weekend Wrap-up at Tatertots and Jello,
Friday Flair at Whipperberry,
Saturday Spotlight at Green Door Designs,
Tip Junkie handmade projects 
Visit thecsiproject.com

Monday, June 27, 2011

It's party time and a weekend recap

Happy Monday everyone!
Hope you had a great weekend!
We had absolutely beautiful weather, once again!
 Went to a birthday party, did a lil' shopping, and spent some time in my aunt and uncle's pool yesterday.
I.Love.Summer.

And speaking of summer, it's a season of the year when we're usually NOT celebrating birthdays at our house. In our family of 5, we have one birthday in February, one in March, and three in May. However, some unexpected circumstances arose and parties got postponed, and then postponed again, and so...this Saturday we will be celebrating the birthdays of 2 little girls at our house.
finally.

We've decided to have a very low-key party with our family and friends-
I didn't even send out invitations.
Can you believe it?
Nevermind that our only computer with a word processor is broken and I refuse to pay money for invites when I can make them myself. Just not with a broken computer...

You may recall I posted about the themes of their parties many moons ago, but here's a quick recap- 
Eliza is all about shoes and Barbie right now, so her party theme will be some of this:


with a little of this on the side-

by the way- this is THE most precious book about a little girl that loves to wear her mommas high-heels. You can find it on Amazon HERE if you know of a little girl who needs this.
Sweet story, gorgeous illustrations, perfect for my E.

Mary Martin's party theme is this:


We'll have a dessert table for each of them so that I can use all of this party stuff I bought back in March and April. And since Saturday happens to be the 2nd of July, you know I'll have to throw in some red, white, and blue decor as well. I'll be posting my projects all week long, with the grand finale being the party itself. Oh how I just LOVE crafting for a party. Here's a peak at what I'll be tackling first-

found these topiary things at the hob lob on friday and have a grand plan for them on MM's birthday table. Just need to do a little spray painting, and cover with some moss and felt.

found these on clearance at the hob lob.
also plan to spray paint and use on MM's table.
you won't even recognize them when I'm done.
promise.

here's some of that patriotic flair I talked about adding-
scored these at 40% off at hob lob, and since I own a small fortune of srapbook paper, I plan to make LOTS of these suckers. LOVE me some pinwheels.

this pennant banner is actually what I was working on the other night when my machine died. Still haven't heard the outcome. (it's still in the shop)
Here's hoping it's fixed and home soon so I can finish that baby and hang it up!

***
and for the grandmas-

O man picked out this lego for hubs for Father's Day and they spent all of Thursday afternoon putting it together.

of course, it made this little girl jealous that O was getting to play with Daddy and she was not...

speaking of that little girl, she now likes to help with the laundry.
She also likes to tell you what each piece of clothing is before she throws it in the dryer.
Laundry time is lasting a bit longer these days...

Today at the pool.
Oh how I love how well our kiddos sleep after they've been swimming all day...

and this little one?
well she's just cute.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...