Mod Monkey Birthday: Go time!

The cake!

I got a template here.

The party was a success! It was amazing! To get the full rundown, go here.

Mod Monkey Party!

Here are just a few odds and ends in preparation of the big day! It’s coming up fast!

Birthday Crown

I just took a Burger King crown and covered the jewels with monkeys and dots, and the Burger King logo with a “the big 1” sign. Cheap, easy, just the way I like it!

Door Sign

Just a little something to welcome our guests at the door.

Cups and labels

We’re having a Banana split/sundae bar! So we’ve got to have a lot of options, right? I went to Coldstone and bought a bunch of cups in all sizes and covered them with paper and dots and monkey and voila! We’re ready to go!

Doorway Decoration

I took some ribbon I had and hot glued foam circles onto it. Then I glued them to a ribbon on top to secure them together.

I love this! I got the idea from HowDoesShe? and I think it adds so much to a room! PLUS you could use it for a doorway hanger or a background for pictures or just to add color to a wall! The possibilities are endless!

It’s all coming together! There’s so much more to come!!

Mod MonkeyTheme: Pin The Tail On The Monkey

In planning Ian’s birthday party, I got to thinking that there will be a few kids coming that are a bit older than Ian. I thought some games would be nice, even though Ian couldn’t play. So I made a pin the tail one the monkey game!

I found a picture of a monkey that I really liked. In reality, it was on Ian’s pajamas. So I scanned it into my computer.

I zoomed in as far as I could go and printed it out. It was in pieces and parts of it weren’t there, but it’s easy enough I could read between the lines.

Then I took the leftover felt from my birthday banner and using what I printed, cut his little body out.

Then I took some tan felt and cut out his ears, tummy and face.

I then drew eyes, nose and mouth on with a fabric pen.

Then I used my sewing machine and zig-zag stitched his tan parts onto his brown parts. Then all of him into a blue piece of felt.

Then I made a yellow felt boarder and sewed it on, making a casting at the top I can slide a dowel through to hang him up.

Then I made a bunch of curly tails and hot glued some Velcro dots onto the backs. The hard side, not the soft…does that make sense?

I think he’s cute! I love him. Hopefully the kids will love him too!

Birthday Banner Tutorial

You know those cheap “Happy Birthday” banners? You know the ones They are made of paper and each letter is connected to one other with a brad? And they rip and tear as you take them out of the little plastic wrapping and you have to tape them before you even have the chance to hang them up?

Yeah. I’m through with those.

I saw an adorable idea here and just had to make one for myself!

Here’s how I did it:

I bought a bunch of fat quarters, twelve to be exact. (5 girly prints, 7 manly-ish ones) I really could have done it with fewer, but I wanted to have more of a variety of fabric.

Then I cut a pattern… or template. Whatever you want to call it. I just folded a piece of plain white paper in half lengthwise. Then I used a straight edge and drew a line from the upper edge to the fold.

Then I cut it and unfolded it and I had myself a pattern!

I then went to work cutting out triangles. I think I cut 28 out of the boy colors and 18 out of the girl colors.

I then went to my computer and found a font I liked. I enlarged it and printed out all the letters I would need. The font I used was Elephants in Cherry Trees which you can download for FREE here. Then I went to work. I traced them onto brown felt and cut out each letter. It really took about 2 hours, but it seemed like forever!

Then I used a roll of Heat and Bond and secured those bad boys on each triangle. The felt did really well. I only melted one piece when the iron got too hot!

Then I used my sewing machine and stitched around each letter. I just used a quick running stitch, nothing fancy. Then I matched each triangle with a back. I made it reversible, see, so it can be blue for a boy birthday and then pink for a girl birthday. (Seeing as I am currently the only female in the house, I get the pink side all to myself!) Anyway, to make it reversible, I matched the blue H with the pink Y, the blue A with the pink P, and so forth. I then, with right sides together, sewed the two side seams and left the top open.

Then I turned them all and pressed the crap out of them! I didn’t topstitch the edges or anything, although I think it might look nice as well.

Then I opened up some double fold bias tape and stitched the length, making sure to get each open end enclosed.

Tada! I love how it turned out! There is a banner for each family member, and I also have enough matching fabric leftover that when we add more babies, I can make more banners! Hopefully someday I’ll be able to share the pink side! :)

I’ve probably spent more on those lame banners in my lifetime than I spent making this one! And it’s gonna last a LONG time!!!

Thanks to See Mommy Sew for the fabulous idea! Ian’s birthday is gonna ROCK!!

Mod Monkey Birthday Invitations

My babe is turning one! The countdown has officially begun!

I found a theme that I simply adore called Mod Monkey.
You can find it here.

Since I am trying to be thrifty and stay on a budget, I tried my hand at graphic design. I used a brand new (to me) program to make some invitations and announcments. I think they turned out darling and were much cheaper than purchasing them already made.

For this one, I just Googled "Mod Monkey" and the invitation came up. I copied the design, but I have no idea who to credit it to! Sorry!