Better Together Events » birthday parties

DIY Pinwheels

Laura Linder — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:51:02 +0000

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)

Several sheets of 12? x 12? double sided scrapbook or decorative paper (a lighter weight paper, not stiff, heavy card stock)

Round-headed pins

12? wooden dowels

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

A push pin

Flower shaped craft punch

A pair of scissors

A ruler

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.

What it Costs

(to make 12 pinwheels)

4 sheets of paper @ $.50 each = $2.00

Package of 12 dowels = $2.00

Box of pins = $2

Total = $6

DIY Party Hats How To

Laura Linder — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:41:31 +0000

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

1. First you’ll want to pick some paper. I started with cardstock, but found through trial and error that scrapbooking paper was easier to mold together. Trace the following template onto your paper for however many hats you want, then cut them out. Use the x-acto knife to cut along the straight line (this is where the tab will fit through when you roll into a cone).

2. Put the tab into the slot. I struggled a little bit with this and found I needed to reinforce the inside of the cone with tape/glue.

3. Punch a hole in either side of the hat to put your ribbon through.

4. Push the ribbon through each hole and knot to secure.

Once you have your hat then it’s time for the fun part: Embellishment

Embellishment Instructions
Step 1. Cut a 1″ piece of Crepe or Tissue paper.
Step 2. Cut evenly spaced fringe on each side of the 1″ piece.
Step 3. Ruffle and scrunch with your fingers then unroll the fringe.
Step 4. Take the fringe doubling or tripling it up and then staple or glue it to the edge of your hat. (You can bend the fringe to cover the staple.)
Step 5. To make the fringey ball on top, take a section of fringe and roll it up. Then secure it tightly with string in the middle, leaving long tails of string.
Step 6. Separate each side of the fringe and poof it up until it is a little ball.
Step 7. Put the string through the hole at the top of the hat and secure the tails with a piece of tape on the inside.
Step 8. Et voila! You have a party hat!

Here are some more images of the finished product!

Our Biggest Little Event of the Year: Bridget Elizabeth’s Vintage Sunshine 1st Birthday Party

Laura Linder — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:17:45 +0000

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

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.

Friday Etsy Finds

Laura Linder — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:24:47 +0000

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??

1st Birthday Spotlight: DIY Pinata

Laura Linder — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:28:21 +0000

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!

Birthday Parties!

Laura Linder — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:56:00 +0000

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:

The Back:

This cake was homemade by the Bday Boy’s mom. She should go into business, right?
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!