The craftiness of the pirate party

So this is what I made for the party in greater detail.

Each child was offered a bandanna which I made from a synthetic pirate printed fabric. I simply cut 20 inch squares - you could hem if needed, but this fabric was not going to fray so was ideal for this project.

I also found exceptionally cheap eye patches and moustaches to accompany the bandanna




With the left over material I simply top stitched the off cuts - which I shaped ever so lightly - onto bright yellow twill . To make a matching garland



Inside the party favour bag was a zipper pull, which I made using shrinky dinks. If the kids were older and a I had smaller group I would have provided them with a pencil template to colour in and make them up on the day as a party activity.

Like wise with the peg dolls - but the age range at this party was 2- 6 and I had 24 of them. Hence the hiring of a professional pirate for entertainment.



THE PARTY BAGS





To make these beauties me hearties you need

• Calico/ muslin (a think grade is preferable)
• Clear Contact
• Stamps for decorating I got mine from the wonderful yellow owl workshop
• Ink
• Grommets
• Sewing machine
• Baking paper
• Pencils

Firstly cut out the the pieces needed to construct a lunch sack I followed the Martha Stewart pattern and tutorial but reduced the sizing down to 5 inch x 17.5 inch for the main panel and 2.5 x 7.5 for the side panels.

I then decorated the front panel using the yellow workshop stamps - I found the mid point - to ensure the pattern was repeated on either side of the lunch sack when sewn up.



Lay baking paper down on the iron board the with fabric right side facing upwards- now cover with contact - and then place an other layer of baking paper on top. Baking paper protects the iron and the ironing board cover!



Then iron - you can use iron on vinyl but it is rather expensive and book covering contact is $2 a roll.




Then cut contact away - basically you are left with a form of home-made oil cloth.

I then sewed the lunch sack according to the Martha Stewart instructions - skip to my lou also has a great lunch sack tutorial (there are quite a few out there)



The only hitch is that the contact is still a wee bit tacky - I have 2 sewing machines one for delicate things and one for these kind of projects - but you do need to clean your needle regularly during this project (I made 24 of them) - I also gave the sewing machine a good clean after I completed the project. Also use a GOOD quality cotton cause this kind of project cause cheaper cottons to break continually

Once bag is assembled I used the zig zag stitch across the top of the sack and then inserted 10mm grommets in the four top corners and fed a pencil through - done. If anything is unclear would be more then answer any questions......

MY FIRST BORN IS 5

How did this happen ? - he was born into the quivering arms of my husband - who whispered gently "anything you want you shall have" - he was then clothed by my mother who claimed never to have seen a baby so ready for the world. And when he returned to my breast I told him " I knew I loved you before I had even met you" and " I need to make you a friend"

He was a baby full of grace - he slept the night through from 5 weeks. I Look back at his Kraamtijd (nursing time) as one of shear love. He would wake at 6 in the morning for a feed and then we would sleep through to 10 in the morning - the sheets smelt sweetly of breast milk.

It was such a special indulgent time and I am very lucky I had this experience, no colic, no fussing - just able to enjoy that beautiful special time reserved for the first child. I can not believe he is no longer a baby.

A pirate party was our way to celebrate!!!

A great day had by all me hearties!


brother and sister


Thoughtful pirate cam


Cam and his pirate dad


victory at the tug of war



the cake



blood and daggers cupcakes



The party favours - shrinky dink zipper pulls and a peg doll



The party bag will post about them more later

simple pencil toppers

This is a quick simple party favour project:



Tools
Pencils
Glue - Glue gun
Ink
Stamps
Interfacing (the nice and stiff kind)
Scraps of Material
Cotton Twill 3cm wide
Glitter (optional or in our house "with out exception there must be glitter" )

1. Stamp the the twill repetitively for number of pencils needed. I used ink and fabric paint - I then heat set both.


2. Cut into postage size stamp.

3. Iron fabric to interfacing.

4. Cut a front and back square, rectangle or even circle around the twill

5 Place fabric Wrong sides facing - Twill on top.

6. Sew Twill to Fabric - I used a small tight zig zag - appliqué stitch. Be sure to leave a gap at the base for the pencil to fit through

7. Squeeze a bit of glue into the pocket and insert pencil.

You can also stuff these and sew the opening , stick a magnet on the back and create a magnet

A BIRTHDAY GIRL

My litttle girl turned THREE and here is my photo journey of the day.



First thing in the morning with her Birthday present from us a pram - I dressed it up with a bit of red and white gingham


HER party dress at the start of the day with only a few stains



Look I can dance



A birthday smile


The party table



Party favours - pencil toppers


The party room with HEMA slingers


A crown for every little girl


Birthday wings


The first guests


Aunty Al gets all the kids dancin



waiting to light the cake



Brother and sister sing Happy Birthday



The Cake


Anneke Turner, Aunty AL Tuner and Grandma Turner



A birthday Cubby House

A great day had by all

and she shall have a wand for her crown

So I decided that now that heat has disappeared, to make wands for the crowns - also to cheer us all up a bit, from the sadness in Australia. I defy anyone not to smile when working with glitter,bells, ribbons and pretty pretty paper. So here is an other wee tutorial as to how I made them. You could use fabric (my original idea) instead of paper - but it was agreed by all that the paper was very very very pretty

The older the helpers the less you would have to do - mine were able to handle the painting and glitter.

I wanted to make some that were not so very girly and that would tie in nicely with the woodland theme.


Tools
Blank wands - most craft stores
Paper reasonably thick - I looked in scrap book section of the craft store and found these
MODGE PODGE - other then baking paper the best thing in my craft room
Glue
Paint
Ribbon
Bells
Glitter
Brushes
Stanley knife



So gather supplies



I then used glue to strengthen the back as these were very cheap wands and as experience had demonstrated breakages and as I was adding bells and whistles I had a need for durability.


Paint the handle



modge podge the front



Stick front of modge podged wand to back of paper


Once dryish cut out around star shape


Apply an other layer of modge podge


Apply a bit of glitter at the same time - bear in mind this brush will have glitter stuck all through it (lucky for us glitter is very popular in the house)


Add ribbons and bells and store till the party day