September is here!!! September as mentioned in my last post is almost Christmas time, but we aren’t here to talk about Christmas in this blog post… Never fear though, I will be waving that festive freak flag of mine shortly… Just you wait.
But now, back to it being September.
A few years ago the start of September use to mark the start of birthday month for me – YAY. A month long celebration of writing off every purchase as a birthday gift for yours truly. But now since being over 25, the joy & excitement of showering myself in treats & small gifts for a month and celebrating turning older is gone. Now I am much to busy to dedicate a month to myself anymore #mumlife. Instead now my birthday month is now birthday party planning month for my favourite little person who is a much, much more important person than me, to me. LuLu turns 2 next month & I am not necessarily ready for it, to be honest it has kind of crept up on me!
So anyway, for the past few days I’ve had my party planning hat on and being having quiet a few crafternoons.
Spotlight was kind enough to send me a wonderful parcel overflowing with some wonderful products that I could use for LuLu’s 2nd birthday party decorations. All these products are by American Crafts and from the DIY Shop collection. I really like these products, they are wonderful bases for any craft or decoration. I was actually torn on if I should use them for LuLu’s party decorations or some Christmas crafts. I figured her birthday was just around the corner so I better get a start on that first. But I have saved some for Christmas craft which I will bring you in November.
Onto LuLu’s party, last year I kept her theme under wraps – I like going for the surprise effect for my guest when they see invitations and decorations. But for the sake of this post, I am going to give everyone a sneak peek and also reveal her theme. I like themes, I think they are necessary.
I’ve decided to go with a “Tea for 2” theme where her little friends are invited to bring along their favourite dolly/bear or favourite toy. I did have a few other ideas floating around, but that is the one that stuck with me the most. As for colours, it will be similar to her party last year with pinks, brown paper, floral, gold & silver glitters. A bit of a shabby chic/vintage tea party. This years party will be a lot smaller than her 1st, but I still like to make an effort with decorations & food. I rarely can find the exact decorations I want & if I do they are normally very over priced, which is why I prefer to make them. I swear by the time LuLu’s party was over last year the staff in at Spotlight knew who I was and what I was buying everything for, after all the trips I made in there picking up more supplies! And it’s great that my Spotlight VIP card can often get me discounts! (You can sign up for one too, my Mum made me sign up for one years ago – so handy & I highly recommend it!)
Let’s talk craft… These are the wonderful products I was sent by Spotlight, I love how they are so versatile and can be used for any celebration or theme. They are great quality as well, which I find very important. Spotlight is a trusted company in Australia, everyone knows they are the place you head to when you need fabric & craft supplies! They also stock a wonderful range of homewares.
To decorate each item I just used products that I had in my craft room left over from LuLu’s last birthday party.
The first thing I decided to do was use the gift tags as invitations and they fit into the envelopes perfectly. I decorated one side of them and I plan to type up the party details just on my computer & print it off on some pink paper and attach to the other side = invites done!
Last year we had her invites designed & professionally printed, they were amazing & so stunning, but they also cost a lot of money. This year, I decided to make my own in attempt to save some money. They still are lovely, unique & a little bit nicer than the standard note pad invites from the news agency but they also won’t break the bank!
I think they are very sweet and kind of look like tea bags, perfect for our theme!
To get the sparkly 2 effect I used a craft glue to make the shape of the number and then tipped glitter over it. So easy and it looks very impressive. Each tag is handwritten which is why they aren’t identical or “pinterest perfect” but they are real & I think doing something yourself shows love & effort.
For the envelopes, similar to last year I just address them with a nice white pen with fake calligraphy. I know I am not perfect at it, but its better than last year and I think it’s sweet putting in the extra effort to try & do some fancy hand writing.
A tip for doing fake calligraphy (not that I am an expert) is to thicken all your downwards strokes. I just try to write in a nice cursive style and then thicken those strokes & that’s the result.
Next I decided to make some bunting for a party decoration. Firstly I typed out what I need on my computer in the size I wanted but reversed the letters. After printing I cut out each letter and glued it on to the back of the sparkly cardboard & cut out each letter. I glued each to a separate bunting flag and edged it with craft glue and topped with glitter.
I will string this up at her party with some lovely ribbon. I love how sturdy this bunting is. I can also reuse this at future parties by just changing the number. Last year I did hessian bunting, which is lovely but is a nightmare to work with and to cut & paint. It is also VERY messy! This was very easy and I think looks a lot neater as each flag is perfectly cut & shaped (& there is NO mess!)
The chalk board tags are so versatile and sweet. I can use these in so many places. They would be perfect for tags on each food plate, but I already have little wooden chalkboards from last year for that, so I decided to use them for other little signs. Like for the bird cage that all LuLu’s cards will go in. I used just white ink as I find it shows up the best and also because it is a plain colour that can be reused for any future party or theme!
They are just a few of the party decorations I have whipped up in the past few afternoons while LuLu napped. Her party isn’t until the middle of next month, but when you think about it – it really isn’t that far away!
I hoped some of these simple party decoration ideas gave you some inspiration for your next party or event. I know some people think so much effort for a party is silly & over the top, but I absolutely love throwing parties for my family, especially my LuLu.
Spotlight has such a wonderful range of craft supplies so you can have lots of fun crafternoons and if you want customise and create your own unique party decorations. All it takes is a little bit of creativity and then your options are endless. They have lots of fun project ideas on the Spotlight website as well as their recent catalogues and you can now buy online!
Please check out Spotlight on Facebook & Instagram.
Also if you aren’t following ModernWifeLife31 on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter – make sure you do as I update regularly on there with what I am up to!
Have a lovely day & #GetCreative! 
justbindy.com 