A Pink and Yellow Dinosaur Party (Part 3)

After months of planning and crafting, we finally had my daughters' birthday party last weekend. We have been crazy busy, so it has taken me awhile to post the decoration pictures-- but better late than never, right?

 To the left is a picture of the birthday banner I made for the girls. The letters were colored and printed with the computer. Then I cut the letters out and pasted them onto some cardstock (I  probably have 3-4 fat stacks on hand at all times). I added some dinosaurs and glittery gem stickers for embellishment. They are hard to see in the picture, but in person, the banner was appropriately sparkly. I bunched holes in the corners and strung the letters up for a fun, FREE, custom birthday banner.



To the right is a look at the table decorations, including the tablecloth that I made. Our table is just the right size for me to make super easy fabric tablecloths. Basically, I just pick out 2 yards of fabric from the bargain bin, sew up the edges and presto! Since we don't use a tablecloth any other time of the year, I usually keep them for drop-cloths to use under my daughters' chairs.

Also note the placemats I made. I colored designs of different dinosaurs (T-rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Pteranodon, and Apatosaurus), glued them to colorful paper, and laminated them. The lamination is neat because now the girls can color on them with any washable or dry erase marker, similar to one of Emily Green's Imagination Mats (e.g. Emily Green Hootie Do You Love Placemat). Unfortunately, my laminator tops out at legal-sized paper, but I am pretty sure I could get a bigger design done at Staples for a reasonable price.


This last picture shows the cakes laid out on the table as a center piece. I cannot claim credit for these beauties-- it's all Nana! And really, with talent like this in the family, I have zero desire to work on my own cake-decorating skills. I will stick to crafting, thanks!

So anyhow, this is the final post in a series that began two whole months ago. It's hard to believe that my babies are already 3 and 1. The party was fun, and all of the work was totally worth my 3 year old's excitement when she saw the decorations. She is already asking for next year's party!

A Pink and Yellow Dinosaur Party (Part 2)

The time draws near for my daughters' birthdays and their Pink and Yellow Dinosaur Party. Since their birthdays are exactly a week apart, we will have the family party on the Saturday between their birthdays. I'm not sure when we'll have the childcare party, but it will be somewhere in that week time frame as well.

Earlier, I decided that I would be making the following party items:

- Appliquéd pink dinosaur shirts for the birthday girls (done!)

- Big stuffed dinosaurs for their birthday presents (done!)

- A "Happy Birthday" banner 

- Placemats for the family party (done!)

- Dinosaur cupcake toppers (for the childcare party-- done!)

- Little stuffed dinosaurs for gift bags (for the childcare part-- done!)

- A tablecloth for the party (done!)

- Dinosaur-shaped crayons (done!)

So, I feel pretty happy that in the next two weeks, all I have left to do is make the party banner, food for the family dinner, and the cupcakes. I will post the table decorations (tablecloth/ place mats / party banner/ cupcake toppers) at a later date. Tonight, I mainly want to share the stuffed animals I made and show the finished treat bags for the childcare party. 

To the left, you can see how the plushies came out. I made the pattern myself, and there was definitely a learning curve. However, I was pretty happy with the results... I just hope the birthday girls like them! Both of the dinos were made from upcycled receiving blankets and fabric scraps I had lying around. I had to buy the ribbon and buttons (which are both sewn and hot-glued for added security), but the cost was pretty minimal compared to buying stuffed animals.

To the right, you can see an image of the completed treat bags. I just used some white, paper bags and ribbon (nothing fancy) since there was so much goodness inside. I really wanted the treat bags to be special since I am combining the parties and ultimately saving myself a fair amount of work. Each treat bag (these are for 2-4 year olds) has a dinosaur activity pad, a dinosaur crayon, a mini-brontosaur plushie, and a noise maker. The activity pad and the noisemaker are store bought, but I already had a lot of crafty stuff on my plate and though that these would be a little challenging to do on my own.

I am getting really excited for the parties, and I look forward to posting more soon!