Yankee Baseball Theme 2nd Birthday Party

My friend and business partner, Theresa, is throwing the most adorable birthday party for her son, Gavin.  A native New Yorker, they LOVE the Yankees and are turning their home into "Miller Field" for the big day.  Look at this adorable invitation she made that looks like a ticket!

Sorry it is grainy...I was trying to block out her personal information and compromised the photo.  I am helping with some of the signs and a custom photo booth. My first sign is done...can't wait to continue working on this super cute party this week!

This sign will sit in the front yard directing guests around the side of the house and through the back yard gate to the one and only Miller Field...home of baseball great Gavin "Go Get 'em" Miller!

Tween Birthday Party Activity: Memo Board Tutorial

 

Compliments of my partner for Quite The Occasion, Theresa, I have a great tutorial for the adorable memo board craft we did for Hollins' 10th birthday party.

 

Theresa writes:

 

Making a memo board was the perfect activity for a 10th birthday party; it was inexpensive and fun!  Plus it made a great party favor for the girls!  Here are the easy step-by-step instructions:

 

Only 5 supplies are needed:

 

- 12x12 cork tile (got on sale for 50% off at Joann Fabrics - cost was .80 apiece)
- 16x16 piece of fabric
- 12x12 piece of quilting batting
- Glue (hot glue is a great option, but we stuck with tacky glue for safety reasons and it worked great!)
- ribbon

First you attach the batting to the cork tile with a little glue. 

 Then lay the cork tile, face down, on top of a piece of fabric:

Next, wrap the cork tile like a present using glue:

Turn it over and here is what it should look like!  Easy and quick!

 Next it is time to jazz it up with ribbon.  Cut a few strips of ribbon, add a little glue, and affix to the board.  I used this crisscross pattern:

Turn the cork tile over and use a little glue to attach the ribbon to the back of the tile:

Add just a scrap of ribbon to make a loop for hanging your memo board:

 We decided to then take a piece of 12x12 card stock scrapbook paper to finish off the back just to make it neat and tidy.  Once you do that, flip your cork board over and, wah-lah!  Here is the finished product!

That cute felt flower is actually a push pin - it makes the perfect practical accessory for your new memo board.  And it is super easy to make:

Just cut out a few fun shapes from pieces of felt, add a few buttons, sew them together, and a attach a flat push pin and there you have it!  At the party, the girls used tacky glue to create their pins and it worked just fine.

 How cute is that?  And each board cost less than $5.00 to make! 

I love the board that birthday girl, Hollins, created!  Those flowers are fun and festive and I love the fabric print!

Craft, Create & Celebrate! Tween Birthday Party Activities

There is so much to share with this party that it couldn't fit all in one post.  Today I want to focus on the activities.  There were 5 distinct parts to the party:

 

1.  A Welcoming icebreaker- when the girls arrived my sister placed Disney character names on the backs of their shirts.  They had fun asking questions to figure out who their character was while they were decorating cupcakes.

 

 

2. Cupcake decorating - We did this in my sister's kitchen and the girls had fun chatting and decorating.

 

 

 

We used hard candies such as lemon heads and Mike & Ikes, basic white icing and cupcakes.

 

3.  Crafting - All of the kits were preset before the girls arrived.  A full tutorial on how we made our bulletin boards and felt push pins is coming.
 

We had lots of fabric the girls could pick from that coordinated with the flower theme.

Here is our sample board and pin created by Theresa:

 

And here is a finished board and pin.  Too cute!

 

4.  Snacks, Shirley Temples and Presents - we made the Shirley temples with ginger ale, cherries and grenadine.  Basic recipe that was delicious.

 

 

5.  Outdoor games until the parents arrived. My sister lead the girls in a fun game of spud for the last part of the party.  The girls loved it!

I love this photo!  What a sweet group of girls!

By the end of the day, they were all wearing their napkin rings as bracelets!

Even Reed joined in on the party fun!

 

It was nice to be able to spend some time with my Mom as well who helped me with the crafts and finishing touches.  

 

 

Craft, Create, Celebrate! Tween Birthday Party - Theme Concept

When my sister asked Theresa and I to style my niece's 10th birthday party, we were so excited!  This was our first girl's party and we couldn't wait to get started.  When we interviewed Hollins we learned quickly that she wanted a party where she and her friends could have fun, get crafty and enjoy her favorite drink - a Shirley Temple.  A tall order, but Theresa and I were up to the challenge.  After some thinking - the Craft, Create and Celebrate theme was created and we got to work.

First I designed the invitation based on a cute skirt pattern Hollins had that she loved.

 

From there we ran with the flowers and put them everywhere!  Here are the adorable felt flower and button napkin rings and place cards Theresa made.  Hollins wrote the names herself.  

 

Does the bunting look familiar?  We re purposed this from my neighborhood block party.  It matched perfectly and gave everything that crafty look.

 

Claudia's cheery front porch was decked out in bunting and balloons for the big day.

 

I made this custom sign with a piece of Masonite board, scrapbook paper, ribbon and mod podge.  It was a great way to welcome guests.

 

 

My present to Hollins was this sketch book that her friends signed. 

Theresa made this sweet felt flowers that we put all over the house in a few of my sister's vases.

I made this "H" using cardboard and yarn.  The girls said it was "the coolest H they had ever seen!" 

Theresa created the felt flowers that I glued on with a hot glue gun.  I will include the tutorial for the flowers and the H in another post.

I created these candy bowls using the school yard paper game.  The girls used this candy to decorate their cupcakes and it added some nice decor to the kitchen table.

My niece is in the orange top working hard on her cupcake.

Hollins got to have her Shirley Temples and the girl's loved the straws. 

We set up Claudia's back deck for the craft area.  More bunting and balloons!

I created the polkadot runner very simply with one yard of fabric cut into three separate strips.  I left the edges frayed  to coordinate with the crafty bunting.  I will probably finish them and leave them in three separate pieces so they are more versatile to use on dessert tables for other parties.

The Shirley Temples were a big hit!

The cupcake stand was created using plates and candle stick holders from the dollar store.  It was the perfect centerpiece for this party!

It was a great party!  Hollins loved every aspect and my sister was so pleased how it all turned out.  Several girls told me that we just had to do their birthday parties too.  So hopefully we will have some other opportunities to create special occasions in my hometown.

 

 

Here is Hollins crafting away!  She loved her party!

 



 

More on the menu, the craft how to and activities in other posts!