Subject: Party Peek

Melissa,

Hi-eee! I am coming you from the front lines of Party Central! We are approximately 50 or so hours away from Suz's birthday party! Aren't you excited? Me too. You'll remember that I told you about the theme of the party and shared with you the invitation, so I have been making decorations to carry that theme through. For the food table, I made ten of these little pennants to divide and put into two vases flanking the food:

I love them! I bought three sheets of felt from Joann Fabrics (they were $.29/each) and wooden dowels that I cut in half. Then I used my rotary cutter and a straight edge and went to town making these little guys. No measuring, just a lot of angled cutting, because I like the look of homemade-ness and a little imperfection to make it seem more whimsical and fun. (You'll also notice that I'm giving you a sneak peek of the new fabric on my dining chairs!)

For the tea station, I whipped up these drink stirrers using wooden skewers that I trimmed down, ribbon from my stash and some hot glue:

I also created this party hat using Jordan's template and a sheet of scrapbook paper from Michael's:

I am IN LOVE with this hat (if it's possible to be in love with a party hat). I think it is so, so adorable and, while Suz will probably not allow me to actually put it on her (based on her reaction when I was measuring out the ribbon ties), it will still be really cute to look at. The only thing I didn't do was use heavy cardstock paper, but it seemed to work out okay, so no worries.

Finally, for the yard, I made Jordan's flag sculptures. Instead of hanging them to dry in the garage as recommended, I hung them along our fence in the backyard. We are planning to replace this fence sometime this spring, so I wasn't overly concerned with a little glue dripping on them. Here you go:

And a closer look:

Being outside and in the sun, they took about five hours to dry versus the recommended 12 hours in a garage, so I was grateful for that quick turnaround (being into instant gratification and all). My only other change was that when I got home I realized I did not have enough glue - I had purchased a 4-ounce bottle because I didn't want a ton left over, but when I mixed it with water it just seemed really watery and I was doubting whether it would give me the desired effect. So I mentally ran through my list of craft supplies that I could add to the mixture and realized Modge Podge might have the same properties as the Elmer's glue, so I mixed some of that in and it worked like a charm. Here is my finished result:

I know some of the flags look white...they're actually a creamy background with orange circle, but I realize it's hard to see. I used fabric quarters from Joann Fabrics for the pink and also the orange fabric I just mentioned, and then the yellow was part of my fabric stash. I am planning on putting these in the front yard to line the driveway and sidewalk as an alternative to balloons on the mailbox. Fingers crossed it's not a windy day!

My mom is coming bright and early tomorrow morning so we can get to work baking and cleaning in anticipation for the big day. I can't wait to report back to you on how it goes!

Have an awesome weekend!!
Kara