Tinkerbell's Pirate Fairy Party Ideas

When I saw the coming attractions for Tinkerbell's new movie The Pirate Fairy, I knew right away that it would be the perfect party theme for my daughter Lilianna's 4th birthday.  For starters, it would work great for both girl and boy party guests.  It's always a challenge making boys happy when the theme is super girly, like a Tinkerbell themed party.  After watching the movie with the birthday girl, it sealed the deal.   Lilianna was on board with the theme and I went into full blown party planning mode!  Here are a few of my ideas.

For the invitation, I printed all the information on a piece of card stock.  I added a pirate ship and a compass stamp to give it a more "pirate" feel.  

Rip the edges of the invitation and crumble up the paper.  This will give the invitation a weathered look.

Next, I used coffee to age the paper.  Brew a strong cup of coffee.  Lay the invitation down on a cookie sheet.  Then, with a sponge brush "paint" the invitation with the coffee.  Bake the paper at 220 degrees for 10 minutes.  The paper will come out of the oven dry.  If it still feels wet, put it in for another minute or two.

To assemble, roll the invitations and wrap it with a cotton string.  

Finished invitation

My daughter had a very specific request that Zarina, the pirate fairy, come to the party.  Since the movie was just released, it was impossible to find a Zarina costume.  Where there is a will, there's a way, right?  So I went to a thrift shop and found a green strapless dress for $15.  I glued gold buttons and trim to the front and cut the hem so it looked ragged.  Using black fabric, I made a sash and covered it with red and white rhinestones.  I had a pirate type shirt in my closet to use for underneath the dress. With the addition of white fairy wings, hoop earrings, a blue headband and high brown boots, we had a Zarina costume!

Our little cousin, Emily played the part of Zarina for the party

For the favor, I made pirate ship cupcake holders.  I found mini bins at the Dollar Tree.  Four bins for $1, what a deal!  They worked perfectly as the base of the ship.

To make the ship's sail, I used 5X7 index cards and "aged" them using the coffee technique like the invitations above.  

I used a skull and crossbones paper punch as the embellishment on the sail.  If you do not have a similar paper punch, you could print a picture of a skull and crossbones before "aging" the paper.

Using a standard hole punch,  punch holes at the top and bottom of the sail.  Then thread a 12" dowel through the holes to create the sail.  Hot glue a small piece of styrofoam to the bottom of the ship's base.  Using brown paper bags, cover the styrofoam at the base.   Then stick the dowel through the paper, into the styrofoam.  

Now comes the fun part, decorating the cupcakes!

I bought all kinds of pirates booty at the Dollar Tree.  The cupcake picks were purchased at The Christmas Tree Shop.

The "sand" is crushed graham cracker crumbs

Each pirate ship held two cupcakes.  Wrap the ship in cellophane and tie it with a red ribbon.  These were a huge success!  All the party guests loved them!  

For the cake, I made a sheet cake and decorated it as a pirate's map.  

I also made fairy wands for all the girls and gave the boys pirate swords.   The wands are available for purchase at my Etsy store, LittleLadyLilys.

Also check out my "Tinkerbell Fairy Finding Kit" party favor post here

I hope you enjoyed these ideas!  

Tinkerbell Party Favor Idea ~ Fairy Finding Kit

Throwing a Tinkerbell themed party for your little girl?  Make Fairy Finding Kits!  This inexpensive party favor idea is perfect for a fairy party.   It could also be used as part of the party activity.  How cute would it be to hide little fairy dolls or statues in your garden and have your party guests go on a fairy hunt?  Adorable!    

Everything you see here was purchased at the Dollar Tree.  

Here is what you'll need:

Pencil case $1

Flashlight $1

Field Journal (mini notebook) 3 for $1

Magnifying Glass party favor pack 6 for $1

Tinkerbell Pencils 3 for $1

You'll also need:

paint pen 

tape

"Fairy Finding Kit" template made on MS Word using Kristen ITC font set to size 48.  If you have a nice handwriting you can free hand it.  Mine stinks so I need a template.

Tape the template onto the cover of the pencil case and trace the lettering with the paint pen.

I love that the pencil case has a leaf shape on the lid which goes perfectly with the fairy theme.  I traced the "leaf" outline using a green paint pen so it pops.  

That's it!  

Fill it up with all the "fairy finding" goodies!  You could also include fairy stickers, crayons, and a granola bar (searching for fairies can make a girl hungry!).

The total for each party favor is about $2.83!!

Please comment below if you like this idea for your little girl's fairy party.  

Preschool Class End of Year Gift ~ Pinwheel

I can't believe it's June already!  With June comes the end of year gifts which usually cost a small fortune.  Not this year!  

My daughter Lilianna is enrolled in a 2 year old preschool class.  She absolutely loves it and will be sad when she doesn't get to see her classmates and teachers over the summer.  I came up with this idea (like most of my ideas) cruising down the aisles of The Dollar Tree.

It's a pinwheel with a tag that says:

 "I hope your summer "blows" you away!"  

Yes, its one of those perfectly Pinterest sayings but I think it fits nicely here, lol!  

Here is what you'll need:

Pinwheel (bought mine at Dollar Tree)

2" circle punch

 (If you don't have a 2" circle punch, you can cut the tag out in a square shape.)

1/2" hole punch

I designed these tags using MS Word or you can print them here:  printable tag

White Cardstock

It's an easy and inexpensive project that your child's classmates are sure to love!  

Happy Summer!!

My girl, Lilianna!
Don't mind my yard, today is clean up day!!

LEGO guy backpack ~ Birthday Party Activity~ under $2 per guest!

My son Thomas is a LEGO fanatic so naturally he picked LEGO as the theme for his 8th birthday party.  As the party activity, he and his friends made LEGO guy backpacks which could also double as a LEGO storage bag.  The boys used their creative juices to create a LEGO guy as distinct as they are.

Here is what you'll need to create these one of a kind LEGO storage bags:

Drawstring Backpacks (I bought mine from Dollar Tree)
Yellow Felt
LEGO guy template (I googled "LEGO guy template" and a bunch came up)
E~6000 glue
Tacky glue
black felt
white puff paint
Scissors

First I cut out all the LEGO guy heads using the yellow felt

Then I cut eyes that were 1" circles from the black felt

Put a dot of white puff paint in the upper edge of the eye.

Cut small strips of black felt to be used as the mouth and/or eyebrows 

using the E~ 6000 glue, glue the yellow felt LEGO guy heads to the backpack.  I found that the E~6000 glue works the best to bind the felt to the backpack.  

When the party guests are ready to create their LEGO guy backpack, give them the tacky glue to glue their mouth and eyebrows to the LEGO guy head.  

Here is my 2 year old daughter's LEGO guy LOL...

and some of our guests creations

The boys had a blast creating their very own LEGO guy backpack.  And at less then $2 each backpack, it was a very cost effective party activity!  Let me know how yours turned out by commenting below...

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday Party Ideas

I know I'm not the only one who looks at *anything* red and imagines how it can be turned into a super adorable Mickey Mouse inspired creation.  Please, tell me that I'm not the only one....  Anyhow, I can not believe that I didn't think of this idea sooner.....Red Solo cups as Mickey's pants!!  So inexpensive and really easy to do!  Can be used as party cups or as the base of a treat bag.   

While cruising the aisles of the Dollar Tree last month, I came across these little plastic storage bins.  At the time, I did not know what I would do with them.  My inner Dollar Tree voice said...  "at 4 for a dollar, buy them now and figure it out later..."  So I bought 6 packs of 4.   I'm so glad that I did!

What you'll need

I am almost embarrassed to actually type out instructions for this...  Using a 1" circle paper punch, punch out two white circles out of card stock.  Using a low temp hot glue gun,  glue the buttons onto the cup.  Done.  Seriously, how easy is that!!

 I found black striped paper straws at Michaels for $2.  I punched out Mickey heads using my Mickey paper punch and black card stock.  I used a tiny drop of hot glue to glue the Mickey Heads about an inch down the straw.   

Finished product, how cute?!

Onto the base of the treat bag: Just like the cups, hot glue the 1" circles to the front of the container.  Fill with candy and tie with a yellow ribbon.  I added a Mickey head punch-out to the bow.

Finished treat bag :)

I made these Mickey inspired cupcakes using half of an Oreo and two mini Oreos as the ears.  Red icing and two white chocolate chips as the buttons.  So simple.  

Let me know what you think, comment below!

Chalkboard Countdown Calendar Using a Dollar Frame from Michaels

 This $1 picture frame turned countdown calendar was born from my love of making new uses out of everyday items.  In my house, we are always counting down to *something* whether it be our next Disney World vacation or a birthday.  This countdown calendar is inexpensive to make and so much fun to embellish to your personal taste.  

Here is what you'll need to create this adorable project:

~ 3.7" X 3.7" unfinished wooden frame from Michaels ($1)

~chalkboard paint

~Mod Podge

~2 foam brushes

~ a piece of scrap Fabric

~white fabric Puff Paint

~wax paper

~ "Days Until" template ~Download HERE or make your own using MS Word (change font    size to 100).  The Font I used of the "girls weekend" countdown calendar is called AR Bonnie in MS Word.

~ embellishments

 Paint the frame with the chalkboard paint.  The chalkboard paint I used needed 3 coats.  Let the paint dry in between coats.

Tape the "days until" template (download above) to the table and put the sheet of wax paper over it.  Trace the letters using the puff paint.  I have been itching to use this technique from the moment I saw it on Pinterest!   This idea is from the blog Virginia and Charlie.  

 The puff paint has a lot of bubbles in it so if you make a mistake, just move the wax paper over and try again.  Let dry for at least an hour.  You might want to do this step the night before you plan on starting this project to insure it is completely dry.

Using the Mod Podge, glue the scrap fabric to the cardboard square that came with the frame.

  

 Put a layer of Mod Podge over the front of the fabric and let dry.

 Once everything is dry, you're ready to assemble your countdown calendar.  Carefully peel the puff paint from the wax paper.  Add another layer of Mod Podge to adhere the letters to the scrap fabric.  

 Once the lettering is in place, Mod Podge over everything to seal it all together.  Trust me, this is an important step if you have a toddler since I found my daughter trying to (unsuccessfully) pick the letters off of it when I was done.  Once the Mod Podge is dry, trim the edges of the fabric and place back into the frame.  

Now, have fun embellishing!  Don't forget to pay attention to where the hole in the back is to stand up the frame (I didn't do this and now I can't use that little wooden dowel that comes with the frame to stand it up!  You live and learn, right?)

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