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Vintage Train Birthday – Boy Party Themes
Thomas has a lot to answer for. I dare say the happy little steam engine has inspired a love affair with trains for more than one little boy.
If your toddler has requested a party of the choo choo variety and you would rather it was more train, less Thomas then look no further. I’ve put together a Vintage train/travel birthday party that honours the humble steam engine.
The decor focuses on travel as well as trains so you can mix these cute suitcases with a string of bunting made from maps.
I love the train track washi tape which could be used for sealing your invitation envelopes or decorating party favour bags.
Speaking of which these wooden train whistles would make great favours or prizes. There are many about but this particular one has a chart that explains exactly what each sound combination means which is sure to fascinate older children.
Suppliers:
Kids Mini Suitcase Set from Thats 2 Cute // Printable Choo Choo Train Invitation from Bonjour Berry // Map Bunting from Not On the High Street // Wooden Train Whistle with Blast Chart from Amazon // Train Track Washi Tape from CraftyJapan // Vintage train candy by VintageConfections // Platform Sign from Vintage Junky // Railway Cake Pan from Williams Sonoma // Boys Vintage Style Knickers Outfit from Amazon // Train Cookies from Stephanie J’s Creations
3 Ways to Pimp Up Your Cupcakes in 3 minutes
Today I wan’t to show you how you can add a bit of sparkle to your cupcakes. All you need is a sheet of glitter paper, a toothpick, a glue stick, some sticky tape and string. Apart from the glitter paper your likely to have all the other items at home already. And if you have girls aged 4-16 at home then it’s highly likely you have a hefty supply of glitter paper too.
1. Glittery Bunting Cupcake
1. On the back of your glitter paper draw four or five rectangles that are 1cm wide by 3 cm long and cut them out.
2. Lay your rectangles down with the white side up and cover each one in glue (you can also you glue tape or double sided tape).
3. Place a piece of string across the middle and then fold the rectangles in half over the string.
4. Take your scissors and snip into the ends of each bunting flag to create a triangle shape. Cut your string to length and tie each end onto a toothpick. Put the toothpicks in your cupcake and test the length of your bunting. If you have too many flags you can always cut one off and re-tie your string.
2. Glittery Cupcake Wrappers
Download this cupcake wrapper template and cut out the shape. You can use it to trace onto any type of paper you like. For this tutorial I have traced the shape onto the back of the piece of glitter paper. Cut out your glitter paper and follow the instructions here for assembling your cupcake wrapper.
3. Glittery Cloud Cupcake Topper
This is super simple but really, really cute. Draw a cloud on the back of your glitter paper and cut it out. If you want your cupcake topper to be double sided then trace the cloud onto the paper and cutout a second cloud to make the back.
Grab a toothpick and use double sided tape to stick your clouds to the toothpick.
There you have it. Three very simple ways to dress up your cupcakes. You could use any kind of paper you like. I think neon would also be fun.
Printable Party Packs – Making Cupcake Wrappers
Last week I mentioned that I would be adding more printable party packs to my store and I showed you how to hang paper bunting. It’s worth looking at just to see the adorable Miss Violet dressed up in her mermaid costume.
This week I’m going to show you how easy it is to make your own cupcake wrappers and give you a few tips for making them just that extra bit more special.
When you buy your printable party pack you will get two different designs on one A4 sheet of paper as shown above. I printed them on my favourite paper – Canon 170gsm matte photo paper. You don’t need to use this paper specifically but I think a paper that is between 150-200gsm will work best as it will hold it’s shape well.
Cut out the cupcake shapes using ordinary scissors.
Using this shape will give you a flat topped cupcake wrapper just like the ones seen here. If you have a pair of scalloped scissors cut across the top (the longest edge) to create a pattern.
The resulting pattern depends in which way you hold the scissors. One way will give you a wave pattern as seen on the starfish wrapper above and the other will give you a scalloped edge as seen on the green wrapper. Its worth doing a test run on a scrap piece of paper first to see which way is which before you start cutting.
Flip your cupcake wrappers over and stick a piece of double sided tape to one of the short edges.
Get your cupcakes out and remove the paper liner if they have one. Hold one edge of your wrapper against the cupcake and circle it around until the other edge meets. There will be an overlap depending on the size if your cupcakes. If you wish you can trim off some of the extra length but it is not essential to do so. Stick the double sided tape in place.
Pretty mermaid cupcakes all ready to go.
How to Hang Paper Bunting
Firstly a big thank you to the gorgeous Miss Violet for being my mermaid model this week. Check out those baby blues. If they don’t melt your heart nothing will! Her little Mermaid costume was handmade by Lady Bee Crochet and I think she looks adorable in it.
Secondly, I will soon be releasing more party printable packs just like this mermaid one so I thought I would do a tutorial on how to hang paper bunting.
There are two methods that I use and you can choose one based on the materials you have at hand.
Regardless of which method you choose the first step is to print and cut your bunting triangles. I printed my bunting onto Canon 170gsm Matte Photo Paper.
I always change the settings on my printer so that it knows it is printing onto photo paper and I change the quality of the print to the highest level possible. You might also have a setting that lets you tell the printer if you are printing text, a photo or graphics. If you do its best to switch this over to graphics. That way you will get the best print result possible. There are three bunting flags per page so you will need to print 5 pages in total.
Cut your bunting triangles out and stack them in consecutive order so that they read Happy Birthday with a mermaid graphic at each end.
The Tape Method
Lay your triangles put on the floor/table in order and face down. The first time I did this I got it back to front and only realised after I had taped it all. Not good! You want to work backwards from left to right. So lay your mermaid graphic facedown, then the Y, followed by the A, D, H, T and so on.
Place your string along the top and tape down each triangle. This gives you an invisible string effect. You will see the string at each end but it will be barely visible between each of the flags.
The Thread Method
The other way to hang bunting is to treat it like a giant sewing project. Punch a hole in top corners of each bunting flag. You will need a one whole punch to be able to do this properly.
Get your string or ribbon and weave it through the holes you have just punched. If you want to make a feature of the string / ribbon you are using then you can thread it over the top of the bunting. If you would rather hide it then make sure you thread through the front, behind the back and then out through the other side.
For my mermaid bunting I decided to alternate. I thread my string behind the light blue flag and in front of the dark blue flag.
Clear adhesive hooks are great for securing your bunting if you dont have anything to tie the ends too. I think Violet looks pretty impressed with the whole effort, don’t you?
Shabby Chic Girls Tea Party – Birthday Party Themes
A tea party has all the elements of a great birthday bash and it’s always a huge hit with the kids, especially the girls. They get to dress up and pretend to be like Mum and Dad for the day. I love this theme because it’s simple and fun and it can easily be done on a budget.
Tea Party Food
The menu is straightforward, sandwiches and cakes! Tea sandwiches are perfect for little hands just be sure to fill them with age appropriate age foods. Instead of smoked salmon and cucumber try cream cheese and cucumber and don’t forget to throw in a few peanut butter sandwiches for good measure.
Cupcakes and petit fours work well served on tiered cardboard cake stands. Tea parties don’t tie you down to themed food so if your daughter likes butterflies give her butterfly cupcakes. If she likes flowers make floral cupcakes. It adds to the mix and match shabby chic style.
You don’t have to serve a separate birthday cake but if you decide to then I seriously suggest checking out this Pink & White Layered Sprinkle Cake with Macarons. Just looking at it I feel like a 6 year old girl all over again!
Tea Party Decorations
To decorate delve into your linen cupboard and find a lacy table cloth and fill vases full of fresh flowers. I love the fabric chair streamers shown below. If you have any old clothing, curtains or sheets you want to sacrifice you can use these or you might be able to find the perfect off cut in the bargain bin at your local fabric store.
Tea Party Fun
Girls love to dress up. Help them all to feel very posh by putting out a box full of dress up clothes, cheap costume jewelry, tiaras, and boas. You can find most of these items at a dollar shop or a second hand clothes store.
I have put together a little collection of my favourite tea party items for you:
1. Girly Bow Birthday Party Hat from Prop Shop Boutique // 2. Floral Paper plates from emerald+ella // 3. Tea Party Invitation by Bonjour Berry // 4. Fabric Chair Streamers by Gleneda Falstrom // 5. Pink & White Layered Sprinkle Cake with Macarons by Raspberry Cupcakes // 6. Butterfly Cupcakes from Martha Stewart // 7. Heart Petits Fours by i am baker.
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