Makena's The Very Hungry Caterpillar 1st Birthday Party!

Hello again my crafty folks!

 Yes, yes this post is LONG overdue and I apologize for not sharing these projects & photos with you much sooner. As I previously mentioned my sweet girl turned one back in... oh my January and we celebrated her with a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed birthday party. I can't tell you how excited I was to plan this special day for her. Ok... a quick confession. I might've started the planning process over the summer of 2013, but shhh that's our secret. Honestly, I LOVE celebrating birthdays even before I had a baby. I believe birthdays are very special and should be well celebrated! For that reason, I knew my girls 1st was going to be extra extra special. I know that she will never remember the actual day and all the details I put into it, but I know in my heart that she felt the love that surrounded her that day. Seeing her face light up when everyone started singing happy birthday to her is a memory I will cherish forever. Tear. All the late night planning was oh so worth it and I will do again in a heartbeat. It's technically summer in a couple of days.... So you know what the means? I know call me crazy! :)

Although, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a well-known and popular children's book they don't have a lot of already made party supplies. I searched around online and found a few things here and there but none that I was super impressed by and especially not at the prices. For this reason, I decided to make most of the party decorations myself. 

First, the invitations.

When I first began brainstorming ideas for invitations I envisioned making a small booklet like the VHC book that summarized Makena's first year of life.  Months before her party I began teaching myself how to design using Photoshop Elements and let me tell you it was no easy task. I consider myself crafty, like paper, glue & scissors type crafty, not computer programs type crafty (if that makes any sense to you.) After many many hours, days, weeks of playing around on Photoshop I finally managed to design exactly what I wanted. I was so proud of myself and couldn't wait to take my file to the local print shop to have them printed. Unfortunately, my dreams were quickly shattered. I found out that each invitation was going to cost me around $4-$6 to print depending on the type of paper I chose. That meant $160-$240 dollars just on 50 invitations!! I briefly tried to justify the cost but knew there was no way I was going to pay that much on just invitations alone, so I quickly came up with a plan b. I googled VHC invitations I found many images with a caterpillar made out of circles. I wasn't overly excited with any of the ones I found so I thought why not combine my original idea with the caterpillar styled invite? Ta-da and here you have it folks...

Folded invitation

Full invitation unfolded

1st page

Pages 3 & 4

Back side

I used my beloved Cricut to cut all the circles in red, green & lime green cardstock and also to cut all the shapes on the caterpillars face. I designed the white circles on Photoshop Elements with VHC images I found online and took them to my local print shop to have them printed for guess how much? Free! Yes, I think the guy remembered how sad I was about the booklets and printed 50 sheets for free! I was blown away and so grateful! I was able to design 5 circles on one 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper and then I used my 3.5 inch circle punch to cut out each circle. I adhered all the white circles to the colored cardstock and then attached them with red & green mini brads to make a caterpillar. I also like adding a handmade stamp to my projects, so I choose a stamp from DCWV that I had in my stash.

The invitations fit perfectly in an A6 envelope that I purchased from Paper Source in the color Beet. I also found The Year of the Dragon mailing stamps (Makena was born during the year of the dragon) on the USPS website and had to have them. After all, it's all about the details right?


Welcome Sign

All that time I spent on Photoshop Elements (PSE) for the invitations paid off because I was able to design several paper crafts for the party. One of the many things I designed was this welcome sign. I used the same VHC images I found online and added text. The sign measures 10x10 inches and it hung perfectly on the front door.

Supplies:
-12x12 colored cardstock paper
-Paper glue
-Typed or handwritten message for sign
-Ribbon
-Hole punch

No Sew Fabric Pennant Banner

Ok. I do not sew. Well I have good intentions to sew. I got a sewing machine for Mother's Day. It's still in its box. 

I was happy to find many great no sew tutorials on good ol' Pinterest. I remember seeing seeing Beverly Fabrics sold VHC fabric. I purchased a 1/2 yard of each design and that was plenty enough to make the banner. Next, I made a triangle template out of recycled cardboard that measured 12 inches on the long sides and 8 inches on the top edge. I used my template to trace triangles onto my fabric and then cut the triangles using pinking shears also known as zig zag scissors (you can also use straight scissors for this too!) Once I had all my triangles cut I measured out 80 inches of red polka dot ribbon and hot glued the triangles to it. That's it! I can't tell you how easy & cheap this banner was to make and I loved the way it turned out.

Supplies:
-A piece of heavy cardboard for making template
-Fabric
-Hot glue gun
-Ribbon
-Sharp scissors

Centerpieces

I know I keep saying all the projects were simple and super easy to make but they really were! The centerpieces were no exception. First, I enlarged, printed, and fussy cut (a scrapbook term used for free hand cutting) VHC images on glossy cardstock. I then had my sweetie cut wooden dowel sticks in half and I painted them green with acrylic paint. I hot glued the VHC images to the tops of the dowel sticks and set them aside. Next, I designed a circle on PSE that measured 3.5 inches and typed "Makena is turning one" and cut them out using my handy dandy circle punch. Luckily, I had left over white metal buckets from my sister's baby shower that I was able to reuse. I glued the circles to the front of the buckets using mod podge. I just love that stuff! Inside the buckets I hot glued a half dome of styrofoam to the bottoms and then placed the green dowesl in the middle of it so that it would stand straight up. Lastly, I took colored tissue paper and stuffed it in the bucket. Super easy. Super cute!

Supplies:

-Enlarged VHC images

-Wooden dowel sticks cut in half

-Acrylic paint

-Party circles either typed or handwritten

-Circle punch

-Buckets

-Hot glue gun

-Mod podge

-Colored tissue paper

The Guess Book

Since the party theme was inspired by a book I thought it would be cool to have everyone write a special message to Makena in the actual VHC book. Next to the book I  made a simple sign explaining to the guest what I would like them to do. I absolutely loved this idea. I love that Makena will be able to look back on it one day and read all the sweet birthday wishes written to her on her special day!

Supplies:

-The Very Hungry Caterpillar Book

-Pens ( I like to use Sharpie pens) 

-Typed or handwritten message with directions for guest

That's all I have to share with you today folks! I hope you enjoyed all the projects and will stop by soon to share more crafty things with all of you!

Abrazos,

Nathalie