Tutu Birthday Party for my Two year-old

March 30, 2015September 22, 20212 Comments

What could be better than a tutu birthday party for your little ballerina’s two year-old birthday?

For baby ‘Belle’s party, I wanted to do something that conveyed her love of dancing and tutus and looked special, but that was simple and inexpensive to put together.

First, for my $3 backdrop, I took 3 white plastic tablecloths from the dollar store for my backdrop. I simple folded them in half length wise, then began rolling them up toward the fold. Once the cloth was rolled approximately 10″ from the fold, I began cutting the rolled tablecloth in strips approximately 3″ apart. Easy!

I finished it off with the vintage bunting we re-use for the girls’ parties each year. I love how this small investment adds something special to every party we have for them.

Next, I layered the table with two tablecloths, sandwiched with some tulle. I had planned to make this an inexpensive “tutu tablecloth” but it didn’t quite turn out that way! No problem though – I still love the effect of the pink tulle as the focal point of the table. To finish it off, I placed the tablecloth over the top and bustled it at the center to better highlight the tulle.

Finally, I placed a trifle bowl upside down and I placed her own baby tutu around the bowl. Then, I just placed the cake on top.

I’d ordered a the cake to looks similar this:

So, I was a little disappointed in the finished result from my local Target bakery.However, I really can’t complain for such an inexpensive cake…and really it looks so cute when it’s all propped out with this gold “2” candle and bunting.

We served ballerina punch, pink Jelly Bellys and dipped marshmallows for a birthday-worthy sugar buzz.

I hope you like ‘Belle’s tutu party fit for a two year-old ballerina. Thanks for stopping by!

DIY Open Air Terrarium

March 23, 2015September 22, 20212 Comments

DIY open-air terrarium (or at our home, Yoda’s home on planet Dagobah).

I’ve always been obsessed with terrariums, but was too intimidated to try my own. After I came upon some free supplies, I decided it was time to try my own open air terrarium as a special project with Dub.

First, here is what you need for an open air terrarium:

Glass vessel
Succulent plants – as many as you can fit in your container. (I found mine at Home Depot)
Potting soil
Small gravel (the size you find in fish aquariums)
Large smooth stones, if desired
Moss – I used sheet moss

First, make sure your vessel and rocks are clean. Then, I placed the large decorative stones around the edge and filled the middle with the gravel for drainage.

Cover the rocks with moss which acts as a filter.

Next, cover the moss with as much soil as your plants need to build roots. We covered our soil with moss because we liked the way it looked, but this is optional.

When you’re done arranging your plants, give it some water to set the soil and roots in place and continue watering just a bit each week, being careful not to over-water, which promotes rot.

Once our terrarium was complete we thought it needed a little ornament. We thought it looked like Yoda’s swamp, so we added a little Yoda Lego man. He fits right in, don’t you think?

Overall, this ended up being incredibly inexpensive for me since we sourced everything for free except the plants and soil. This was a fun project to do with Dub. He was stoked about this project and excited to put the terrarium in his room!

Minecraft Steve Lego Birthday Party Favor

March 20, 2015July 15, 20227 Comments

For Dub’s birthday this year, he wanted everything Minecraft. He also loves Legos so, naturally, Lego Steve from Minecraft seemed like the perfect party favors.

I did a lot of research trying to find an easy way to do this. To be honest, I was hoping there would be a sale of Minecraft Lego lots on ebay that would allow me to phone this one in, but it was not to be.

So, I ended up making a Minecraft Lego Steve myself using the Lego Pick-A-Brick feature.

Minecraft Steve Lego Favor | Five Marigolds

While you can do this in-store if you have a Lego retail location near you, they have a varying selection, so I saved myself the trip and did my shopping online. I wanted to be able to have all the pieces I needed for Minecraft Steve! This is where I insert my Lego PSA – I found out after I placed my order that Pick-A-Brick orders can take up to 18 business days! That’s almost a month! So, this Lego Minecraft Steve favor only really works if you are planning out by at least a month to ensure your Bricks get to you in time.

Here’s what I ordered to make 15 favors:

Item#, color – quantity

300423, blue – x30
4113915, yellow – x15
4155708, yellow – x15
4163696, light blue – x15
4179833, light blue – x15
4211210, brown – x15
4243821, green – x15
4271949, brown – x15
4579260, yellow – x15

For the pick axe, I had to go to Ebay where I got a great deal paying $1.47 total for 15 axes. That brought the total to $26.21 for 15 favors, or $1.74, each. (I didn’t see any swords or pick axes in the Pick-A-Brick section when I was ordering. They do have a “mini Fireman’s axe” or a “warrior weapon,” though.)

Then, I went to work making a face for Minecraft Steve in PhotoShop. I measured it to the size of the 2×2 Lego and then I printed it on Avery label paper. Removing the paper backing first, I cut down each face sticker to the exact size and then replaced it on a small square of the paper backing to place in the favor bag.

I took a photo of the complete Lego Minecraft Steve to include with all the kits. The kids had a lot of fun putting Lego Steve together while they were still at the party, and had a great time showing off their new toy when they were done.

I placed the Legos in a small jewelry ziplock bag. Then, I made a simple tag that I stapled to the top of the sealed bag as a finishing touch.

This was a huge hit among the 6 and 7 year old crowd!

While this Lego Minecraft Steve party favor does take a bit of advanced planning, you and your child will will have so much fun sharing these unique and fun activities for the kids to do!

Thinking of making a Lego Steve for your Minecrafter’s party? You can get a head start by downloading Steve’s face here (compatible with Avery 5260* labels), the finished Steve image inserts here, and the favor tags here. Enjoy!

MORE FREE MINECRAFT PRINTABLES: Like these printables? Be sure to check out my other free Minecraft Printables here and here.

Find my other Minecraft Birthday Party posts here:

Minecraft Birthday Party on a Budget | Five Marigolds

DIY Minecraft Birthday Party

Minecraft Tinsel Tassel Bunting Tutorial

Minecraft Birthday Party

March 14, 2015September 22, 20212 Comments

This year, Dub wanted his party to be all about Minecraft. I didn’t want our home to look like it threw up Minecraft-licensed decor, so I went with something that we all could get excited about. We weren’t having a big celebration at home either, so I wanted to keep this simple and fairly inexpensive.

First: the centerpiece du jour: his Minecraft cake. Kind of a boring concept, but this is a representation of THE pixelated cake featured on the video game. I was more than happy to outsource this portion of the party and Dub was in love with how it turned out. It was exactly what he wanted!

Next, I created the theme using a brown dollar store tablecloth and some tissue paper “grass.” Super inexpensive for one package to cover this table, and the kids were fascinated by this!

I created a simple and inexpensive tissue paper bunting that added some visual interest in the party theme color (tutorial here).

Finally, I like to decorate with party favors, because it’s the decoration that cleans itself up as the guests leave.

I bought some green lunch bag sized paper bags and cut felt into the shape of a Creeper face. Really, this would have been so much easier with black construction paper and my Silhouette SD, but black felt was what I had on hand so that’s what I used.

I filled the bag with goodies like gold and silver ore, Mike & Ikes, a growing green bug, and I repurposed my Minecraft Valentine printable to wrap boxes of Nerds candy.

The highlight of the goodie bags was a Lego Steve creation I made with the help of Pinterest and the Lego Pick-A-Brick tool.

*This post contains affiliate links. Please read the full disclaimer on the right sidebar. Thank you for your support!

Find my other Minecraft Birthday Party posts here:

Minecraft Tinsel Tassel Bunting Tutorial

Minecraft Lego Steve Favors | Five Marigolds

DIY Minecraft Lego Steve Favors

Tutorial: Tinsel Tassel Party Banner

March 7, 2015September 22, 202110 Comments

I absolutely love the look of these tinsel tassel banners for party decor. Even better? They’re super easy and inexpensive to make.

Dub really wanted a Minecraft-themed birthday party, but I didn’t want a licensed decor explosion, so I began thinking of ways to decorate with color. With lots of Pinterest inspiration, I decided I wanted to give this a try. However, I was surprised to find there aren’t a lot of tutorials out there so I am sharing a quick and dirty tutorial of my own.

I set to work on this particular banner with four colors of tissue paper, green, lime green, chevron and silver metallic (I linked to some examples because I initially had a hard time finding these).

1) First, I took a stack of 8 sheets of tissue in each color and cut them the short length of the pre-cut sheets (approximately 20″) and cut them about 8″ wide.

2) I then folded the stack of sheets in half and began cutting them in 1/4″ strips, stopping about 1″ from the fold. I used a rotary cutter and mat to make quick and more precise work of this, but regular scissors will do.

3) I then unfolded the papers and, taking 2 sheets at a time, began rolling them tightly at the center. Once each set of 2 was rolled at the center I began gently twisting the rolled portion. Once it was lightly twisted I folded it in half and began twisting the rolled portions together. When you’re done it will look something like this. Perfectly imperfect.

4) Thread the tassels through a string or ribbon. I made a single simple knot at each tassel to keep them in place.

All in all, this was a pretty quick and easy project that took me maybe 20 minutes total to complete. I also love that if you source your papers from the dollar store, you could complete three of these banners for just $4! (meaning, each banner is just over $1, with plenty of paper to spare for favors or gifts). I have a feeling various themed tinsel banners will be showing up at more parties around here!

Dub’s party is not for a few more weeks, so I’m letting it hang on our mantle for St. Patrick’s Day. How’s that for multi-purpose party decor?

Find my other Minecraft Birthday Party posts here:

DIY Minecraft Birthday Party

DIY Minecraft Lego Steve Favors

Five Marigolds

Living life colorfully, one DIY at a time.

Month: March 2015

Tutu Birthday Party for my Two year-old

DIY Open Air Terrarium

Minecraft Steve Lego Birthday Party Favor

Minecraft Birthday Party

Tutorial: Tinsel Tassel Party Banner