DIY Super size bunting and PARTY banner

 

 

Little Miss Moo's party decorations.......

If you have ever hired a local hall for your child's birthday party, you'll know what I am talking about.......

....How do you decorate a space that big???

Of course you can get some decorations from a party shop....

.....but I must admit: I kind of find them a bit tacky, and would regret spending my money on them.....

...So I've decided to make my own!

Inspired by the print technique I used on Little Miss Moo's party bags on Wednesday ...I wanted to make some super sized bunting and a timeless message , with a personal touch .

....something we can get out for every birthday for years to come....

Keeping the decorations in theme with the party bags I made, I decided to use the same printing technique on some pastel craft paper to make some super size bunting to decorate the hall where we are having Little Miss Moo's Party next Sunday...

So for this Saturday DIY tutorial, I will show you what I did...

SUPER SIZE BUNTING

 

 diy TUTORIAL....

we'll start with

.....The print:

 

I used the same method and pattern as I did when I made Little Miss Moo's PARTY BAGS

And I also used the same paint colours, as I saved the mix in a jam jar....

 I got a pack of pastel A3 craft paper for £5 from Hobby craft...

I already had the paint rollers and tray...

....and of course the lace cut paper.

Little miss Moo loves to help out, and this is  a fool proof project...perfect for the kids to get involved with...

 Amazed at the results...

Let dry. 

Using pastel coloured paper gives some lovely variations with this simple technique.... 

 

 Cut your A3 printed paper into squares....

 

 Using a triangular template...mark the corners of the triangle on the back of your paper...like in the picture above....

 Fold the square like this to make a triangle...

 ......I also chose some additional and complimentary patterned craft paper, that I got from Dunelm Mills, that I also folded into triangular shapes...

 

All in all I folded 48 squares of paper for this project....

........ When  I had folded all my paper squares...

  

 .......I laid them out and played around with the successions of the colours and prints....

 

Now all you've got to do is attach you paper triangles  to some string to finish your bunting....

...You will need:

double sided tape, string and scissors....

Put a strip of double-sided tape inside the folded paper triangles, as shown in the pictures below...

   

Then peel off the back of your double sided tape and stick down the sides of the paper triangle....

                 

Now you are ready to add the string...

Place it in the fold at the top, then fold over and stick in place....

 The tape will not only stick your triangle shape in place, but also hold the string in place, so your bunting doesn't slide around on the string....

MAKING THE....

 ...Banner

simply write out YOUR WORD (it doesn't have to be PARTY....)

 on the back of your craft paper.... 

 

 Write it out mirrored, so that the word comes out right when you turn the paper over...

 

 Cut out your letters

....PARTY!!!

...........You could make the letters double sided by duplicating the letters on the back, but I just added a strip of paper at the top on the back of the letters, glued it on using the double sided tape...

 

...then added the string in a similar fashion as with the bunting above... 

 Spell the word out backwards when attaching to the string....starting with the last letter of the word ....

 

From 53 bits of square paper I got 4 chains of supersize bunting.... 

and It cost me less than £10....

....I am going to make a nice box to keep them in, so they can be easily stored way, and keep for a long time...

 

Both me and Little miss Moo love the super sized paper bunting we've made for her party....

 

For the purposes of showing you all the end result, I decorated our garden for these photos, but I think the bunting and PARTY banner will look great in the local community hall for Little Miss Moo's party.... 

....I will try to get some pictures of the decorated hall next Sunday.....

Thanks for looking,
..... please let me know what you think ....I love hearing from you all...

xxx
June

DIY Party Bags.......

  Little Miss Moo's Party bags....

 

This week I am in full preparation mode for Little Miss Moo's imminent birthday party....

I have , amongst other things, been jazzing up some plain paper party bags , to fill with cake and goodies for all her little friends to take home after the Party.....

This is a very simple DIY...

You will need: 

Some plain paper bags...

Poster paint

lace cut paper (or other pattern)

Paint brush

Paint roller and tray

Kitchen Paper towel

 

Lay your party bags out on a flat, wipeable  surface....

(it is an advantage to be able to wipe clean your work surface in between printing when doing this)

 

Choose a nice colour...

...if mixing your colour up, mix up quite a lot and keep it in an old jam-jar..

Apply the paint to the roller...(if you do this using your paintbrush, it is easier to achieve an even application)....then roller off any excess paint in the tray....

Laying your lace cut paper (or whatever pattern you've got) over the paper bags, carefully roller the paint onto the bags...

......take it slow: you don't want your pattern to move whilst doing this....

Then carefully peel the lace cut paper off to reveal a lovely pattern..

Make sure you blot the lace cut paper using some kitchen towels every now and then...You don't want the paint to bleed over your lovely pattern...

When You have done one side of all your party bags, leave to dry fully....

.....and make sure you take care of your lace cut paper pattern ,by blotting it and letting it dry flat....

 

If you decide, like me, to use more than one colour (pink for the girls, blue for the boys), it is quite useful to have another, new  lace cut paper pattern to use.....(I got these from Hobby Craft).

So whilst I'm waiting for my girlie paper bags to dry, I move on to the boys' bags: 

 Same process as before...

When you are satisfied the first side is fully dried, fold the bottoms of the bags over.....

  

 

 ....so you now can print the other side of the bags...

 

When you have finished printing both sides of the bags, leave them to dry.....

 

 ....And there you have your funky patterned party bags...

 

......a little bit of effort goes a long way....don't you think?

It probably cost me the same to make these as it would have to buy ready made party bags, but I think these turned out beautiful ....and they are all unique!!

 This project has been an inspiration to me.....

...Pop back on Saturday when I will show you how I've themed Little Miss Moo's Super sized Hall decorations to match....

xxx

June

Happy monday....

 

......The sun is finally shining....

 

.....here's  hoping summer is on it's way....

....at last...

 

 

This week is going to be busy here at nostalgiecat...

 

...little Miss Moo's birthday is fast approaching (less that 2 weeks to go) , and we have a lot to do...

 

....buying birthday present, sorting out her big-girls room, ordering the cake and food for her party...

 

Oh yes: her party......

....we have hired the local hall, so that there'll be room for all her little friends from school....

...and an entertainer to keep them all happy!!

Other than that we are trying to keep it simple, so hopefully it wont be too stressful...

...if I can finish most of the preparations this week....

 

 

....So, my tasks this week is starting to rack up:

 

I will be making some party decorations.....(trying to decorate a big hall for a birthday party can be quite hard,  so I'll be supersizing some homemade decorations....for this weeks Saturday DIY tutorial)

...and some homemade party bags....

 

I am also going to try to get my posts ready for next week, as I am sure it'll be too hectic to blog then:

 

...my Mum and Dad is coming over from Norway for little Miss Moo's birthday, so I've got to give the house a good clean....

It'll also be my Dads birthday(the day before LMM) and It'll be fathersday here in the UK the following Sunday....

 

Yes....the more I can get done this week the better....

Definitely!!

 

 

So even though the sun is shining outside, I will be doing time indoors today....planning my posts for the next 2 weeks....

.....never mind...I think I'll go and have a quick coffee in the garden now...

 

...then I really should be getting on with it...

 

Have a great week everyone...

...thanks for stopping by...

xxx

June

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flower pressing; Modern style

...using a microwave oven....

 ....on Wednesday I showed you how to press flowers the traditional way, but if you are impatient like me, and don't want to wait 4 weeks for your results, the more modern technique of drying and pressing flowers in the microwave oven gives more instant results....

Today I'm going to show you how I did it...

 

 In an effort to get little Miss Moo out and about this half term, despite the dreadful weather, We've done a lot of flower picking this week...

.....making pretty wildflower posies and pressing flowers....

Little Miss Moo loves helping Mamma with her projects, so this really has been perfect for half term.....

The weather has not really been ideal for flower pressing ....ideally you should pick flowers when its nice and dry outside...just before midday, when the morning dew has evaporated, but the heat of the day has not yet started making the flowers wilt....

.....but we decided to not let the British weather hold us back....

 

As a rule pressing flowers will distort their colours:

white will become yellow or caramel brown,

purple will become navy,

pinks will go brown and

orange or red flowers will become maroon.

But this technique using microwave will reduce the colour distortion dramatically  compared to traditional flower pressing....

 

How to make a microwaveable flower press:

All you need is 2 pieces of cardboard/hardboard approximately 20x20 cm square, 5-6 rubber bands, some paper sheets for "filling" and 3 pieces of absorbent paper/ tissue paper to fold the flowers into.....

 

I used a cheap notebook that I cut up to fit in the microwave oven.
I used the papers inside for filling, and some sketching paper for the folds to put the flowers in...

......At first I used some tissue paper to fold the flowers into, but I found it hard to remove the finished pressed flowers from the tissue, so I decided to use folds of sketching paper instead...

 

 The preparation of the flowers remains the same as with traditional flower pressing.....

....make sure your flowers are clean and dry, trim any bulky leaves off your specimen, and dissect your flowers so that they lay as flat as possible in your press....

(see my post on traditional flower pressing)

Tip: Keep the flowers in the fridge while you prepare your press...

Lay one piece of cardboard down, and cover with 3 pieces of absorbent paper...layer your prepared flowers in a fold of paper, cover with 3 pieces of paper then the second piece of cardboard on top.........

You can do several folds of flowers in one parcel....just make sure they are all of a similar size and thickness....(because some flowers take longer than others)

....take care that the flowers inside your parcel doesn't slide around, but stay put where you folded them in....

...you don't want the flowers to lay on top of each other, as they will stick together when pressed... 

Wrap the rubber bands around to hold your parcel together... 

Place in the microwave on medium heat for 1 minute....allow to cool....

 check to see if the flowers are fully dry and flat...if not pop the parcel back in the microwave for another 30 secs-1 minute....keep repeating until you are satisfied the flowers are completely dry...

Take care not to overcook , as the flowers will burn...

You might have to experiment with the timing and settings on your microwave oven, as some are more powerful than others...

 

...remove very carefully from the paper fold, as your finished pressed flowers are very fragile....

 

Microwave flower pressing really preserves the colours and hues of the flowers and foliage.....

 

When you have pressed your flowers and they have cooled down... ....transfer them onto a sheet of paper, this way they are all displayed out so you can easily choose the best of the bunch....

Now you can get creative with your arrangements...

Framing your pressed flowers....

Get creative and play around with the arrangements, before going onto the next steps...

Cut a piece of paper to fit your frame, then lightly spay with adhesive...
 

 

Then carefully arrange your flowers how you want them....

 ...wait for your adhesive spray to fully dry, before putting them  in the frame...

I decided to do some simple arrangements in these two frames.... 

 

....in keeping the traditional feel of pressed flower displays...

 

....But let Little Miss Moo loose with the rest of  the flowers for a more abstract feel....

...she is so proud of her pressed flower picture....

Thanks for popping by....

xxx

June