Sunday 6 November 2011

happy birthday logan. . .

this weekend i threw a birthday party for logan.
he is turning the big 2-5.
i knew i wanted to throw him a big party but
couldn't decide if i wanted to make all the food or
make all the decorations.
there was no way i was doing both.
i decided to make the decorations because i've never
done anything like that before, & i just wanted to see if i
could actually do it :)
i started with a DIY birthday banner:

i picked the color scheme and cut flag shapes from card stock.


i bought some cute letter stickers and used those to spell
out the 'happy birthday' message.


once i had my message all spelled out, i started sewing!
let me just tell you, i was terrified to try and sew the paper.
i didn't think to buy any extra just in case i messed up or anything, so i
basically had one shot to get it right.


sewing through the paper was actually SO simple and i was
pretty much thrilled with how easy it was.
i just lined up the flags & sewed right through the top of each one!
it was the perfect accent for the party & now i can have it
forever to use in the future:)


the next little DIY project i made was a little banner
that displayed some pics of logan when he was little.
i picked a few pictures and had them blown up to 8x11 size.
it was literally like 25 cents per picture which came to a grand
total of just over one dollar to have them blown up.
i used some twine and wooden close pins to hang the banner.
i attached each picture to a wooden pin and that was that!
nbd that the banner fell down like
every 12 minutes at the party.
for some reason i could NOT get those wooden pins to
stick to the wall.
whatevs.
it looked cute while it lasted.


logan loves pie so we decided to have an assortment of them at the party.
i wanted people to know the flavors of each pie, so i had logan
help me made these little flags to stick in each one.
logan helped by cutting the wooden sticks in half for me.
i figured it was a pretty "manly" job since it involved cutting.
he was glad he could help:)


perhaps the biggest project i decided to make were the pinatas.
i saw the idea on pinterest.
they didn't look too hard to make, so i figured i would
give it a shot.
all i can say is that if i didn't have help from the lovely ashley
these pinatas would have been a total disaster!
i decided to make an "L" first by myself to see if
making the 2 & the 5 would be worth it.
i cut out the shape in cardboard, taped it together,
wrapped it in crepe paper, & voila!
i didn't fill the L with candy or anything,
it just served as another decoration at the party.


making the "25" was a little more difficult.
ashley & i cut out the shapes from large sheets of
cardboard like i had done with the L.
we may or may not have seriously struggled when we were
trying to cut out the 5.
for some reason we couldn't visualize a giant 5 and literally
had to draw little 5's on scrap pieces until we got it right.
after the challenge of the 5 we got the letters all
cut out and taped together.


then came the crepe paper.
i bought colors that went with my scheme and we cut out
strips of each color.
then we made little cuts to the bottom of the strips
to give the pinata that awesome texture.


the tutorial i found on pinterest said that cutting and taping the
crepe paper onto the pinata took a lot longer than
cutting out the letters and taping them together.
we laughed at this and thought that taping paper in a pattern
onto each letter would be a breeze.
4.5 hours later we had only decorated the 2.


i couldn't believe how long it actually took to tape all the paper
on to the number.
we had to figure out how to make it work with the
curving of the letter, etc.
i took all my stuff home and finished the 5 the next day.
i also bought candy to stuff the pinatas with.
i bought exactly what i wanted to go inside the pinatas.
i figured i had spent so much time on them i was going to fill
them with whatever the heck i wanted to eat:)


when all was said and done, the pinatas turned out exactly
how i pictured them.
if i ever make any again there will definitely be some
tricks i learned along the way that will make the
process go A LOT faster the next time.




the pinatas were super fun at the party.
we destroyed them one at a time, & i may or may not
have shed a tear watching all my hard work be demolished.
everyone had fun taking a turn batting the big "25".


i would like to say the pinatas were just for the kids
to enjoy, but we had a fair share of our friends take a whack
at breaking each pinata.
i think they enjoyed it more than the kids.
tanya ended up breaking the pinata & i got a great shot
of her hitting it & all the candy flying out.
expert photographer right here.


i had so much fun making all of the decorations
for the party, and i loved being able to have all
our friends & family enjoy logan's special day.
we have such nice friends!
i know that logan loved having all his loved ones
come & enjoy some pinatas & pie with us.
i am lucky to be married to such a sweet person.
he treats me like gold & i couldn't ask for anything more:)

happy birthday log!
love you!



9 comments:

  1. amazing post! great decorations maren!! and i totally showed that pinata who was boss! ha

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  2. Happy birthday Logan! I can't believe you MADE pinatas! I wish I had done that for Fox's party!

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  3. That was such an awesome party! You did such an incredible job, everything looked so incredible. You are so talented, I still can't believe you made those cool pinatas and everything else. Thanks! Happy Birthday to a great guy!

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  4. maren your decorations were amazing! you are so creative! next time i plan a party i am hiring you girl! thanks for inviting us to your party! it was so good to see you as it always is :)

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  5. Definitely worth the time spent! I love to craft with you any time Maren! The party was AWESOME!!! Logan is a lucky man!

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  6. Nice. I wish we could have been there. Papa bear.

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  7. that looks so fun! Wow maren, I love the decorations and the hand-made pinata!!

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  8. I just now read your entry! What a great step by step to a perfect party! You are so talented, and nice to boot (thanks for the pinata leftovers in the lawn:) (mama bear)

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  9. You're so creative!!! I'm going to steal this idea for my husband's birthday. and the leaves!! so jealous. we don't have any seasons in south texas :(

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