Birthday Nature Crafts

Once the Forest Fairy and Animal party theme was approved by my Birthday Girl, fun ideas were abundant. Simple, affordable, and quick ideas, however, weren’t as easy to come up with. Enter Pinterest, a world of nothing but cool ideas to browse.

I need to thank the creative Mom of Paint Cut Paste who inspired these no-sew Forest Animal Masks using felt and glue.

All this mask-making took was a mix of colorful felt squares from Michael's (about 39 cents each), some thin black elastic, and fabric glue (I used all-purpose Tacky Glue). Superhero masks littering our playroom served as starting patterns to provide the perfect size and placement of eye holes. Next I hand-sketched  animal shapes around those masks onto paper, playing around with them until they looked right.

"Easy Peasy!" as the dear Birthday Girl would say. Sadly, I didn't get any photos of her in these masks that day...  she was too busy changing into different fairy princess costumes during the party. Oh well, at least it wasn't Hello Kitty.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sara. I love you more than words can say.

 

My Super Boy's 5th Birthday

When William said he wanted to invite all of his preschool and neighborhood friends to his birthday party, I figured no problem.  How often do 95% of guests RSVP Yes? Well… apparently often because our guest list quickly grew to 26 kids!

Dressing up is one of his favorite pastimes and he requested a Superhero party so we decided that costumes would be the activity (decorating capes, belts, wrist cuffs and masks) and the party favors all in one.

Capes:  I found a polyester blend that was inexpensive, silky and flowing (but not too slippery), came in bright colors, and didn’t fray at the edges. No sewing required! Using an existing store bought cape, I made a pattern from newspaper. Then, with multiple folds and tolerance of some ragged edges, was able to cut four capes out at a time. Securing them in the front proved more challenging (snaps or little hooks work great but there is too much stitching involved, sticky Velcro won’t stay stuck, a glue gun would secure string but it might also create a rough surface against kids’ necks…. Hmmm. Finally, I remembered that snaps can be “installed” if you have the right tools and the Dritz Snap-A-Plier did the trick!)

Masks:  Stiffened felt is a godsend! All I did was make a little pattern then start folding and cutting. I was originally going to sew elastic on each one but when the headcount exceeded 25, I had to think of something easier. The same tool I used for installing snaps also punches holes in fabric so I could tie elastic cord on each side.

Superhero Cuffs:  Stick-on Velcro is my friend. I used rolls of 100% acetate firm ribbon, cut strips on a diagonal, and then used that sticky Velcro to make them stay put.

Belts:  Much to my surprise, the scraps left behind from the cape-cutting were just right for tie-on belts!

At the party, sticky felt (another good friend of mine) shapes gave the kids all kinds of ways to decorate their super-outfits however they liked! Stars, butterflies, smiley faces, and peace symbols were available pre-cut and I cut lightning bolts out myself from sheets of the sticky felt.

Big pictures of the Joker and the Riddler provided the perfect villans for "Blast the Bad Guy!"

We offered tattoos and face painting but the favorite activity was “Blast the Bad Guy!” The big refrigerator box we’ve been playing with for months became a target for bean bags thrown by super-kids. I had a couple coloring book pages enlarged then glued them to the cardboard and cut around them so they’d fall down when hit by a bean bag. The kids loved it and they got creative about shooting stomp rockets into it as well.  Stomp rocket play got a little crazy but as I look up, I keep telling myself, the bright green rocket sitting up on the skylight is proof that the party was a hit!

My Mom's dog (appropriately named Happy) was given lots of love at the party. The face painting almost turned to body painting but we managed to put it away before anyone got beyond their arms.

Celebration Season

‘Tis the season for celebrations around here. Sara’s birthday was last month, next was Easter, then Mother’s Day (lovely by the way, thank you sweet family), William’s birthday is next week and Father’s Day is just around the corner….and that’s not even mentioning the birthdays of our extended family members!  Thankfully, a busy atmosphere suits me this time of year. Even though we’ve had a soggy spring, the longer days, chirping birds, and green sprouting every which way bring a welcome burst of energy.

Sara’s only request for her 3^rd birthday was a Zoo cake—I made one last year too so perhaps she has decided it’s an essential piece of the annual celebration.  Using melted chocolate and stick pretzels I built “fences” for little animal figurines, Oreo thin crisps provided the path, and I used blue and green frosting for water and trees. (Our favorite fluffy and delicious frosting recipe comes from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World, a little book I recommend wholeheartedly.) M&Ms made a lovely trim around the edge and I also stuck a couple onto the tigers’ paws so it looked like they were playing with balls (Sara insisted those tigers were all hers).

Mom's Little Helpers







Happy, Beautiful Birthday Girl!

We have fallen into a routine of first having a small quiet family affair and saving the wild child frenzy for a few days later (ideal for our combination of personalities around here and the kids love the extended festivities) so Sara's kid-party was later in the week. After finding some charming and affordable finger puppets at IKEA, a theme started coming together.  The enormous refrigerator box that has been a rocket ship, restaurant, hideout, and countless other things over the past couple months officially became a puppet theater and I put on a short silly show for the kids. When I finished, the kids were clamoring to put on shows of their own. Their creative brains stayed focused on this for a long time.

For goodie bags, we made a little theater to go with their finger puppets. First we cut a "stage" hole in poster board then folded it in two places. Then my inventive artist Mother came up with the perfect finishing touch: a background made from a simple scene painted on two small squares of watercolor paper then taped on in a triangular shape. This construction created a wonderful slot for kids to put their finger puppets in and put on a little show of their own at home!

William’s 5^th birthday is around the corner and he requested a Superhero party with all of his preschool buddies (20 kids plus many siblings, GULP). Inspired by some brilliant blogging Mommies, (thank you Creative Kismet and icandy ladies), I am in the process of making capes, masks, belts, and superhero wrist bands for everyone….but unlike the Mommies who have conquered this theme, I do not sew… hmmmmm, this could be interesting. Please stay tuned.