My nephew turns 6 today and over the weekend we celebrated his Around the World birthday party! You can purchase the complete party here on Etsy or the printable version here. Happy Birthday, Conor!
Check out all the fun details below…
Someone could not lay his hands off the petit ecoliers!
So when I started my Etsy shop, the party boxes were my main focus. I’ve been pleasantly surprised in the interest that my birthday time capsules have found. The idea came to me looking through ideas for Bridget’s First Birthday. It was a big hit! Guests wrote sweet notes that I think will be fun for her to look back on. After the party, I filled the box with momentos from the day: the tutu she wore, an invitation, birthday cards, etc. It’s definitely something I’m going to do every year to commemorate her birthdays.
Here are a few new capsules I’ve created for some awesome customers!
And coordinating notecards are now available so guests can leave comments in the capsule!
Here’s a how-to the pinwheels I made for Bridget’s party. I got my instructions from oncewed.com
What You’ll Need (for the pinwheels)
Pinwheel Instructions
1. Begin by measuring and cutting several 6? inch squares out of your paper.
2. Find the center of your one of the squares and mark it by poking a hole through it with your pushpin. (see figure 1)
3. Lay your paper pattern side down, and use your ruler to draw diagonal lines from each corner to make an “X”. (see figure 1)
4. Cut along the diagonal lines, from all four corners, stopping one inch before you meet the hole in the center of your paper. (see figure 2)
5. Use your pushpin to make a hole in the right hand corner of each side of the square, just to the left of the line you just cut. (see figure 3)
6. Use your punch to cut out a paper flower. Stick your round-headed pin through the center of the flower. (see figure 3) Note: I did not have a punch so I cut out tiny hearts.
7. One by one, bring each of the four pin-holed corners to the center and stick the flower and pin through each of the four holes. (see figure 4 and 5)
8. Next, put the pin through the hole in the center of the square and set aside.
9. Make a pilot hole, using your pushpin, 1/2 inch down from the end of the dowel.
10. Put a drop of hot glue on the hole, and quickly insert the pin that runs through the pinwheel center into the glue and dowel. (see figure 6 and 7) Be careful not to let the pinwheel paper touch the glue on the dowel while it’s drying. If it sticks, it can’t spin.
11. Arrange your completed pinwheels in a vase or container like flower stems.
So I was inspired by all of the neat party hats on Etsy when I thought – I could do that – and save some $$$. Here’s a how-to to make the hats I made for Bridget’s party.
Note: this could also make a really fun craft project with kids. Just construct the plain hats ahead of time, spread out a bunch of doo-dads and glue and glitter and what-not, and let the kids go to town. Maybe give out a prize for the craziest hat! I found the instructions for this project on www.ohhappyday.com.
Downloadable Hat Template Click here to download.
Heavy Paper (like poster board or cardstock) or Scrapbooking Paper (which I found worked better)
Crepe Paper (or you can also use tissue paper for the big flowers)
Ribbon
Pencil
String (or wire)
Scissors
X-acto Knife
On October 28th, our beautiful Bridget turned 1; on October 29th, we celebrated with a fabulous (if I don’t say so myself) vintage sunshine party.
I went DIY crazy for this one, and there are more posts to come with details on how to make some of the items you’ll see below.
The theme was vintage sunshine. What does this mean? I was inspired by the song I’ve been singing to my sweet girl since the day she came home: You are My Sunshine. Being a Fall baby, I didn’t want to go crazy with the summer sunshine thing, so I warmed it up a bit with vintage details. Think lots of lace, pastels, and soft details with a splash of hot pink.
I worked with The Paper Perfectionist and White Tulip (Etsy) on the invitations. Multiple stamps were used to add a vintage flair to the invitations, and I used a whimsical font in addressing them.
Love the Day (Etsy) did the graphic design on the favor tags, party rounds garland, outdoor signs, and the Happy Birthday sign. Everything else from the poms to the floral arrangements to the party hats and beyond, the one woman creative force at Better Together Events made with love for a certain very inspirational birthday girl. :)
Hand made Party Hats, Better Together Events
CD Holders and Labels, Better Together Events
Hand-Made Pinwheels that actually spun! Better Together Events
Poms Poms Everywhere! Poms by Better Together Events
Printables by Love The Day
Printables by Love The Day
Printables by Love The Day
Hand made Table Ribbon Garland, Better Together Events
High Chair Ribbon Garland, You are My Sunshine Sign, Better Together Events
Gift Table
Capsule Details, Better Together Events
Personalized First Birthday Ornament, Sunshine Ceramics Etsy
Water Bottle Printables, Love The Day
Rochester’s own Premier Pastry made the gorgeous cakes. Wegman’s catering took charge of the food platters.
Without giving TOO much away regarding Miss Bridget’s 1st Bday Extravaganza, I have been Etsy-ING up a storm and been SO VERY happy with all my purchases.
I’ve learned through my years of wedding and event planning that designing and implementing your vision requires delegating when necessary, and Etsy provides a great place to accomplish this. If you have a very specific idea in mind – odds are you won’t find exactly what you are looking for – but if you find the artisan that can most likely implement your design, that’s all you need.
I’m still a huge fan of DIY, and right now my dining room table is appropriately covered in ribbon scraps, card stock, tape, hot glue gun pieces, etc. And a lot of times I get inspired by what people are selling on Etsy.
Check out what I’m digging now…
Personalized First Birthday Ornament, $13, SunshineCeramics
Personalized Trick or Treat Bag, $8.95, SewBlessedStitches
Harry Potter Golden Snitch Locket, $16, Leslie Shields
You Are My Sunshine Personalized Dish, $25, SunshineCeramics
I’ll finish this post with a related pet peeve. A lot of times crafty people are falsely accused of “having too much free time on their hands.” Are people who jog for fun accused of this? How about people who bake? I get my crafts out at the end of a long day. It’s cathartic for me – I love being surrounded by bits of lace with scissors in one hand, glue pieces stuck to my fingers. My final products aren’t always so hot, but I’ve had fun doing something creative for someone I love. So just because you don’t like to craft, lay off the people who do. Yea we’re a little bit crazy about our hobby – but isn’t that the point??
I’ve been more than a little obsessed with first birthdays lately. My husband thinks I’ve gone utterly bananas. He just can’t quite understand why I needed to start compulsively planning Bridget’s 1st Birthday party 4 months in advance. I don’t have the heart to tell him that I’ve already been brainstorming a theme for her 2nd Birthday party. 
Anyway, in my internet window shopping, I’ve come across so many fabulous DIY projects to add some flair and pizazze to birthday parties. This is the first of many 1st Birthday spotlight posts….
I saw this one over at The Sweetest Occasion courtesy of a super talented DIY-er at Lucky Indeed. Essentially, all you need are a couple cereal boxes, masking tape, tissue paper, and an ample supply of creativity and candy, and you will have yourself a totally amazing pinata!
While the focus of my portfolio at Better Together Events tends to lean in the wedding direction, I do love assisting with and planning other parties and special events.
For example, check out the details from this Winnie the Pooh Themed birthday party of a cutie pie two-year old I assisted with last year:
I created these one of a kind invitations for his Mom.
The Front:
The Middle:
And here is the fun tablescape:
Birthday parties are lots of fun to plan because you can really step outside the box and have fun with themes and characters. More to come soon on other birthday parties I’ve helped with!
