It's Great to be Eight!

"It's Great to be Eight" is a baptism preview for children turning 8

in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 

This passport-themed night will make it all the more memorable!

 

While listening to a talk about the importance passports when traveling, the Primary president in our ward (church group) came up with this idea to have a passport-themed night for the children turning 8 years old.

 

Since I am the Sunday school teacher for that age group, I was happy to help put it together.
I started by scouring Pinterest for ideas (check out my board here).
I also took a picture of each student to put on their "passport".

{This adorable darling's mom works with I Heart Naptime and
gave me permission to use the items I created for her daughter.}

I found a passport graphic online (no source) and just tweaked it for our purposes.

{Print blank ones here}

We had them printed double-sided at a UPS store.

I made these postcard invitations and had 4x6's printed at WalMart.com's one-hour photo.

You'll find a blank PDF version HERE that you can use to put your own info on the lines.
The fonts I used are Academy Engraved and Meddon. The font for the giant number 8 is called Cast Iron.

We used old-world décor: trunks, maps, globes, pillars, etc. to decorate the room.

I basically packed up my house and brought it to church!

We set up a table outside the main room for the programs and personalized passports.

I made 5 banners with my Silhouette Cameo.
Since a silhouette will cut any font, I use wingding fonts to create banners.
The "WELCOME" banner is made from KG A Little Swag font with Cast Iron letters.
I backed them with some world map paper I found at my local JoAnn store.

 The other banners are made with the KG Flavor And Frames Four font's lower case "e" since it's represented by a pennant. I put 2 pennants per 12x12 page, one pointing up and one pointing down.
I taped jute to the back to string them up.

We covered the chalkboards with navy material to hide the stuff behind it without taking it down.

I taped together the small side triangles that were left to make pennants for the banners to decorate the tables we used for refreshments.

I made a cupcake topper to match the postcard and program.

{Print a sheet of 2-inch cupcake toppers here.}

To bring the passport theme into play, we set up a small "Customs" table
where the children could get their passports stamped.

My bestie, Brit (also in the Primary presidency) has TONS of stamps from Close to My Heart.
We went through them and chose stamps that we thought represented the topic of the 5 speakers for the evening. After each speaker finished their talk, the children lined up at the stamp station for Brit to stamp their passport.

It was so fun to watch the children's faces as they learned
and then earned each stamp in their passport.

I hope this helps make your event
GREAT!

"A Mustache Bash" Themed Baby Shower

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for . . .

 { okay, maybe it's just me! =) }

THE BABY SHOWER POST!

These fabulous ladies: Melissa, Amy, and Shenna helped put this together.

 

My bestie Britany, who blogs at 32 Turns, is having a baby in a couple weeks.

 Isn't she abso-freaking-lutely radiant?!

 

Since she's having a boy, we threw her A Mustache Bash.

See our collection of inspirational pics on our Pinterest Board.

 We put some sandwich boards out front to welcome the guests.

I tried to make them awesomely chalkboardy but it actually rained here in the Valley of the Sun and kind of messed them up. Typical, right?

 

We decorated with pom-poms, paper fans (tutorial here), and bowtie garlands.

(Amy, you're famous!)

  

 We found a backdrop picture on Pinterest  from Hostess with the Mostess and ran with it!

I covered cardboard with newspaper (nice & cheap!), Amy and Melissa attached the fans and prints I made.

 

Amy had our sweet friend Pica make an AMAZING cake.

Check her out at Picaflor Cakes. She's awesome!

Melissa did the edible centerpieces with Shenna's Candied Popcorn.

I whipped up my favorite Pasta Salad, with a bowtie twist.

 

We also dressed up the water bottles by removing their labels and replacing them with

some suh-WEET mustache duct tape that I found at Wal-Mart.

We finished them off by adding a "Wet Your Whiskers" label.

{{PRINT WATER BOTTLE LABELS HERE}}

 

We originally planned to have it outside but, due to the unseasonal weather,

we had to cram it all indoors.

 

It was a bit tricky with crazy-high ceilings but it turned out just right,

including some Hanging Orbs (tutorial here).

 

We added a few tables on the patio but the guests there were blown right back inside!

Before we sent our guests off with a Popcorn Ball favor,

we had some fun with photo props that Shenna made using her Silhouette.

 It was so much to watch everyone playing!

 It turned out great and I think everyone had fun!

 Good Luck, Brit!
Can't wait to meet your Little Man.
Love you, girl. =)

DIY: Hanging Orbs

 Here's another paper decoration you can craft-up in no time:

Hanging Orbs!

I love making these! I busted out a dozen in no time once I got into a rhythm.

Here's what you'll need:

 I made 2 different sizes. The photos in first 6 steps show the small size; the other steps show the larger one but the steps are essentially the same for both sizes. I'll explain the smaller size first.

 

This is how we do it.

STEP 1: For small orb, cut one piece of 8.5 x 11 paper into 1-inch strips.

STEP 2: Slightly crease one piece in half to find the center.

STEP 3: Stack up the strips and in punch a small hole in the center; make sure it goes through ALL the papers. {I used a nail!}

STEP 4: Cut a 4-inch piece of wire and thread it into 2 holes of  a small button. Twist the pieces of wire together tightly against the underside of the button.

STEP 5: Push the wire through the hole of each strip of paper. Fold the wire over flat on the paper.

STEP 6: Bring the ends of each strip together.

STEP 7: Place a small piece of tape on one end of a paper strip.

STEP 8: Bring the other end of THE SAME strip of paper and tape ends together.

STEP 9: Put a hole through the tape in the middle of the 2 ends.

STEP 10: Continue taping and putting a hole in each strip, nesting them inside the previous strip. 

STEP 11: Thread another button with wire and push it through the hole in each strip of paper.

STEP 12: Fold the wire toward the inside and flatten it.

STEP 13: With one the buttons on opposite ends, you're ready to start separating the strips.

STEP 14: Split groups of strips opposite of each other.

STEP 15: Continue separating strips until you've filled-in all gaps.

STEP 16: Tie a length of fishing wire around one of the buttons and you're finished!

 The large orbs need two 12 x 12 sheets of the same paper, again sliced into 1-inch strips.

Tape 2 strips end to end make the length of the strips double that of the small orb.

Omit Step 2 and continue following the remaining steps. 

 Fun, festive, and fabulous!

DIY: Paper Fans

I've spent the last month prepping, creating, and crafting for my friend Britany's baby shower.

I got together with some of her other friends to put on a Mustache Bash to welcome her little boy.

 

I wanted to share one of the decorations I made for the event:

DIY Paper Fans!

These are SO simple to make but they look awesome!

Here's what you'll need to make 1 large fan:

• 3- 12x12 pieces of paper (same design/print)
• glue gun
• fishing line (optional; for hanging from the ceiling)

1- Start with 3 pieces of 12x12 paper

2- Fold it "accordion style" in 1-inch increments

3 - Fold the entire paper (you may end of with a slightly short or longer piece at the end; it's ok!)

4 - Bring the each end together to meet in the middle.

5 - Crease the center fold well.

6 - Follow steps 1-5 for the remaining 2 papers.

7 - Hold each "fan" by one side so the inner folds are visible.

8 - Place a line of hot glue along the edge and center crease.

9 - Pinch "fan" closed to adhere glue to both sides.

10 - Follow steps 7-9 for remaining "fans".

11- On outer edge of one "fan", pipe a line of glue along top and lower crease.

12 - Attach glued side to outer edge of another "fan".

13 -  Pipe glue along outer edge of last "fan".  Attach it to one side of previously joined "fans".

14 - Pipe another line of glue along top edge and down center crease.

15 - Pinch together to secure.

16 - VIOLA!!

 

For a small fan, you'll need:

• 1 piece of 12x12 paper
• hot glue
• fishing line (optional; for hanging from the ceiling)

Follow the same steps as the large fan, but start with 1/2 inch folds (instead of 1-inch folds). You'll need all four small "fans" to complete this one (vs. 3 "fans" for the large one).

See how easy that was?!

 

I didn't use fishing line on these because we attached them to a backdrop instead of hanging from the ceiling.

Here's a little peek at where we used ours:

Check out the full Mustache Bash party here!

How would YOU decorate with these?