D.I.Y.--Last Minute Birthday Party Treats and Decor

The best things about hosting a last minute party is that it won’t cost you a pretty penny, and knowing that you don’t have stress out about all the planning and organizing that usually come along with hosting a party. The theme I used for my nieces ‘last minute’ 2^nd birthday was a ‘colorful’ theme. Using a ‘colorful’ theme means nothing has to match! I didn’t have to spend time looking for matching napkins, table cloths, and sweets. All I had to do was dip into my crafting closet and figure out what I had on hand that could be used. As a crafter/blogger I like to have certain things; such as, paper straws, tissue paper, cardstock, icing, box cake, sprinkles, and more, in stock for my photoshoots—and for this last minute party I was grateful to have stored a collection of these items. Although if you’re not a crafter or a blogger most of things I used for the party are very cheap and easy to find. Here are some pictures of the stuff I like to keep stocked in my crafty closet:

Tissue paper…because I never know when I’m gonna need a pom-pom, haha!

Craft punches

Glue

Twine

Paper straws

Mason jars

Cardstock

Cupcake wrappers

Kraft treat bags (for party favors)

…and the ingredients to make cupcakes, cakes, or cakepops

For the table setting I hung three pom-poms from the ceiling and tied a colorful handmade garland to each one. We also bought a small set of multi-colored balloons, a colorful $2.00 table cloth, and polka-dot napkins (all of these things were under $10.00). 

Here’s how I made the garland: I used my heart shaped craft punch to make a few hearts in a variety of colors. Next I folded them, applied glue, and adhered them the twine. Once they were done I attached them to the pom-poms I made. If you’ve never made a pom-pom before you can go ahead and give it a google—You’ll find tons of tutorials. 

For dinner we got pizza, fried chicken, and chips (all of her favorite things, lol)—all of which were under $25.00. 

As far as her birthday treats my little sister used the boxed cake, and icing container to make the cupcakes and cakepops. As you know one box makes 24 cupcakes—so she made all 24 of them, iced 12 and used the other 12 to make the cakepops! Clever. (You can view more of her work here on her FB fan page). 

Once dinner was done, we opened presents and sang happy birthday to my little niece Sammy; and, as you can see from the images she was not at all disappointed with the absence of a cake. She was perfectly happy with her cheap cupcakes, lol. 

…but she wasn’t happy when her grandma’ tried to smash a cupcake in her face! We had to distract her from crying by putting a cakepop in her hand, haha! 

She wasn’t fooled—she replied with, “get out!” (jk, I just wanted a reason to use this cute sad face pic, haha).

Well thanks for stopping by again! I hope you've enjoyed this D.I.Y. last minute party idea! I found out about this party the day of, but I was super happy with what my sisters and I were able to come up with in such a short amount of time. I think that was the fastest I’d ever made pom-poms, haha. Overall, baby Sammy was super excited when she walked through the door and saw all we had done for her—and that was worth everything! 

Cute Gift Card Holder Idea for Cricut Users and Paper Crafters

Hello! I’m excited to be showing everyone how I go about making my gift card holders. I’ve been working on a lot of birthday cards, toppers, and many other things. So, I thought I’d share this cute idea with all my Cricut/paper-crafting friends. If you don’t have a Cricut or some of the tools I have, don’t worry. If you’re like me you’ll find a way around not having some of these tools.

Moving forward, the Cricut cartridge I’ll be using for the envelope is, “Just Because” Cards; and the paper I’m using for the envelope and card holder insert is the 70lb Kraft paper—my favorite paper!

After you’ve powered up your Cricut set the size to 4 inches, and select the ‘Canoe’ envelope feature and hit cut. Once that has been cut out, raise the size from 4 to 4 ½” inches, then click your shift button, and click <Pickle’s>. Then click cut. Once you’ve cut those out remove them from your mat, and score the envelope.

Next, pick your pattern paper! I love flipping through the pages of my paper stacks.

Once you’ve selected the paper you would like to use go ahead and choose a base color as well. I’m choosing pink as my base color. Remember to cut the base color smaller than the size of the envelope, that way you have a border; and do the same for the patterned paper as well (Make it smaller then base paper).

Then what you can do is use a brown chalk or ink around the edges to give it a vintage look (Optional).

Next I cut out a pretty shape that will be one of the main parts of the ‘Happy Birthday' Message. I cut these using my Cuttlebug.

Then I add a cute flower stamp with a very light pink color—for added cuteness.

Next I used a ‘Happy Birthday’ stamp with dark pink ink on a scrap piece of paper that is the same color as the base piece of paper (pink). Then hand cut that out and glue it to the shape stamped with a flower pattern like so:

Then what I like to do is use foam tape to add a 3D effect:

Then from this point, you can add a pretty ribbon or a cute hand-stamped message.

Then once you’ve decided to use the ribbon or the stamp go ahead and glue the entire piece onto your Kraft envelope.

Lastly, go ahead and cut some corners onto the insert so you can easily secure the gift card, then you’re done!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial! I know I had tons of fun making this for my shop; and if you like this cute gift card holder but would rather not make it, feel free to stop by my shop and buy one!