You'll probably notice a few things about me while reading my party blog posts:
1. I'm cheap
2. I'm super OCD
3. sum of 1. and 2. above: I have a REALLY hard time justifying paying for something, when I can just do it myself and to my liking
4. I LOVE paper
5. Like I said before I love anything with an "old fashioned" or vintage flare...
I usually start off party planning once I have my theme... It's a very intricate and extremely enduring process..........which basically consists of doodles and notes on one of the million notebooks or paper pads I have lying around in literally every room of the house. AND don't forget the sacred PINTEREST... here's my board, it'll save you loads of time. https://www.pinterest.com/missrener/paper-dollretro-party/
Before, during and after spending WAY too much time on Pinterest, I make lists of different ideas and what will be needed to bring these to life:
- Theme/color scheme:
- 1950's Betsy McCall Paper doll, red, yellow, green, lime green, teal/blue
- Invitations/date/time:
- afternoon ice cream sundae's and snacks
- Banner/Decorations:
- pin wheels, vintage dish towels, vintage table cloths, striped straws, doilies, mason jars, etc...
- food:
- make your own Sundae, cupcakes, potato salad, fruit, etc...
- table set-up:
- cupcake stand, stands, crystal/1950's dishes
- take homes:
- jacks, hop scotch, paper dolls/pouches, candy bar with old fashioned candy, etc... (I wanted to do marbles but they were a little pricey and a choking hazard) we also had some bird whistles and bubbles left from previous parties.
- activities/games (I am a totally artsy fartsy person and am determined to show the world that we all have a Martha Stuart deep inside us, so for parties I use as an opportunity to craft!)
- color your own paper dolls, button bracelets, pin the dress on the paperdoll, hot potato and gracies fave FREEZE DANCE (if there was extra time I was going to have them play hoola hoop outside and play on the swing set.
- prizes
- I found some retro toys of pick up sticks and yo yo's (which came in handy when a friend brought their little brother).
As noted in the previous post, we decided to go with a "Betsy McCall" paper doll/1950's theme. You can get ALL the Betsy McCall paper dolls for free online and print them yourself here:
http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/dolls/pd_scans/betsy_mccall/index.html
I used this a ton! You'll see...
Once I have a general idea of a color scheme and style, I hit up Joann's, Hobby Lobby and/or Michael's for one of those paper pads that have a theme or color scheme. They go on sale a lot, or you can use your coupon, so you should usually be able to get them for around $10.
I found an adorable floral paper pad that looked like 1950's table cloth fabric, PERFECT! Here's the link: http://www.joann.com/dcwv-12inx12in-stack-180-fresh-floral-stack/11180676.html
Sometimes I use the pads to integrate in the invites, sometimes I just use it as reference.
For the invitations, I really lucked out as an extremely talented lady posted these "paper hankies" she created for a bridal shower. Again, perfect! Thus, I didn't end up using the paper pad on the invites. Here's the link: http://www.eatdrinkchic.com/post.cfm/diy-wedding-hanky-love-letters
I found the general "doily" look/inspiration I wanted from Pinterest. Michaels has small ones in basically every color. I decided to go with Yellow. Bright, cheery, childhood and I was already using enough pink, red and blue. I had bakers twine already on hand in red, pink, lt/lime green, dark green and a bright baby blue.
I used word art and some free fonts online to create the wording... The fonts I used were
Purple purse, cookie, Petunia and Rage (You can search those fonts free ___ font)
Here's some decoration around the house.
I have a bit of a cherry fetish which totally came in handy for the theme! I already had this antique cherry plate so I wrote with a dry erase marker. The board I made for her first "Cherry" themed birthday party to put the take home hair clips on. For this, I took scraps from everything I made for this party and used the cricut to cut the numbers 1 through 5. I printed a picture from each birthday (and when we brought her home from the hospital to display for all to see).
I printed a Betsy McCall extra large and used the Cricut to cut the letters for the "Pin the dress on the Paper doll" game. This was a hit! The girls loved picking out their dresses!
I sewed cute scallops around the gingham, (I bought extra when I made her dress), for the runner. 
The Party hats were done with the scrapbook pad and some ribbons from hobby lobby. I just went through my massive ribbon stash and used gingham, ric rac in different colors and sizes, lace and ribbon. The pom pom balls were made by wrapping twine and friendship bracelet string around a fork and then tying a knot through the middle spoke. then cut the two rounded sides and spread to a pom pom. (or just buy the pom poms at the craft store).
Here's the template for the party hats... (and my inspiration for them): http://www.joann.com/dcwv-12inx12in-stack-180-fresh-floral-stack/11180676.html
TIP** before I put the ribbon on, I punched little holes with a pen and put in the elastic for their chin strap. I just used the small elastic from the craft store.
Here's where I got the color your own vintage paper dolls: https://marlendy.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/more-black-and-white-for-our-gift-book-of-paper-dolls-to-color/
and 1950's coloring pages: http://qisforquilter.com/2010/03/favorite-paint-book-little-girls/
We made button bracelets with stretchy beading string as well.
The fabric for the paper doll pouches was found on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Paper-Doll-Fabric-100-Cotton-By-The-Yard-Timeless-Treasures-Girl-Pink-C5193-/151600480317?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234c17c03d
I used vinyl fuse on the fabric to give it a "plastic feel" like 1950's table cloths. Its also great for protection from little messy hands. and keeps it stronger to keep the paper dolls inside from bending. Here's the link. You just iron it on the fabric and sew (btw - I put scotch tape over my sewing foot to help the plasticy fabric slide.)
Here's the link on how to do it: http://seekatesew.com/make-your-own-laminate-fabric/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+SeeKateSew+(see+kate+sew)
For this party they got the button bracelets they made, the paperdolls they colored and cut along with kid scissors and the paperdoll bags as noted above. I did a candy bar because I wanted to keep with the theme and found old fashioned candy, such as gumballs, sixlets, paper candy, smarties, saltwater taffy, candy bracelets, etc... (I got all the candy at Sprouts and Party City). The bags were made with the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge. I used 50's style fabric (the paper doll fabric, cherry and polka dot fabric to make little draw string bags and put a set of Jacks in them: here's the link for the jacks: http://www.orientaltrading.com/jacks-and-ball-sets-a2-20_7.fltr?Ntt=jacks I made little tags explaining the rules for jacks. The chalk in the silver wash bucket is wrapped in twine with a little tag explaining the rules for hop scotch.
Here's some more decorations. If you need help figuring out how to do anything, just comment here and I'll be glad to help.
Here's the pinwheel tutorial: http://www.polkadotbride.com/2014/03/diy-paper-pinwheels/
Here's the tutorial for the fan circles: http://rusticweddingchic.com/wedding-paper-garland-diy-project
Now for the actual party, the girls loved the old fashioned game of hot potato. I used leftover paper doll fabric and made a bean bag with some dry beans. I heated it in the microwave, I think 30-45 seconds
These bird whistles were leftover from Gracie's Snow White birthday and a perfect take home. Just fill with water and whistle.
 |
| Here's the birthday girl coloring paper dolls |
 |
| Freeze dance! |
 |
| I used the leftovers for the thank-yous |
