Polka Dotty Pool Party – {Other Details}

After the food tables and favor table were planned the rest of the party was just organizing the details. Reading party blog after party blog gives you SO MANY great ideas that it is hard to mentally sort through which you want to incorporate into your party (or at least which ones you have time to do). If time or money were no object there are many many more things I could have incorporated but then again you don’t want it to look like the party fairy vomitted all over your party, either. I used my drawings that I shared with you in my first post to try to sketch out what decor ideas I wanted to make for the party. Some that I made didn’t even make it up at the party due to lack of time in the end. But it is better to have too many options than not enough!

 We all know that buntings and banners and pennants are all the rage on the party scene, and for good reason, they are so stinkin’ cute and really easy to make and customize to any party! These 6 fabrics were used through out the party and I only had to spare a small amount to make the 3 buntings that I hung from the patio railing. To make your own just draw yourself a template on a piece of cardboard, cut it out, trace the shape onto the back of your fabric, and then cut them out using pinking shears. Since I was in no mood to pin the flags to the navy hem tape I used as my ribbon, I used iron-on stitch witch (or whatever you call it) to temporarily hold the flags to the hem tape. Then, using a zig-zag stitch, I sewed the flags on for a more permanent solution since it tends to get a little windy on the water.

 Mr. {kinda} Crafty hung the paper lanterns for me (thus they are all at exactly the same height) and I didn’t really have time to hang the rest but you get the idea – they added more color to the pool area and are a cheap and easy decoration! I also found the striped pool towels in my 3 exact colors at Target!! not pictured are the pool toys and water guns that I laid around for the kids to find and play with along with the pink, blue & green water rings that were a huge hit.

 You have to make the birthday girl feel special but big fluffy handmade tutus and water don’t go hand in hand. Don’t get me wrong I did make a hot pink, navy & glittery lime green tutu but while I was sitting there staring at it I realized it was total not gonna work for a pool party. But I really, REALLY wanted a tutu at the party so my solution was the high chair tutu!! Watch your dashboard or Facebook for the DIY coming in the next couple days!! This was my first attempt at paper lollies and ribbon awards. Debating a tutorial on make them as well.

 The birthday girl’s pool towel was my first attempt at applique and using the Silhouette machine to cut fabric. As long as you don’t look at it too closely it looks AWESOME! I wasn’t in the mood for sewing on the ribbon so I used permanent fabric glue to attach them and even after sending it through the washer and dryer they are all still attached! Originally, I was going to make an appliqued towel for each party guest to use and take with them…then I woke up 🙂

 The condiment bucket centerpiece! I showed y’all how to make this fabric covered bucket a while back. Now you know how I used it! I placed a large piece of stick-on velcro to the center of the bucket and the other half of said velcro to the bottom of a metal bucket I picked up at Hobby Lobby so that I could create a centerpiece that would stay in place while holding all the condiments at the table. Genius, I know! I filled the smaller inside bucket with Styrofoam and dyed coconut shreds and inserted a dowel I had topped with a large graphic I had used my Silhouette’s print & cut feature to make. I have a thing for reusable, dual purpose party supplies!

 The photo wall was a project I had no idea was going turn out the way it did. My original idea was about 180 degrees away from what you see here, but this was WAY easier and still just as cute and fun for everyone to look at. I had my favorite photos from each month printed out at my favorite photo printing site, Mpix, onto 8×10 on their true black and white photo paper while they were having a half off 8×10 sales (it pays to sign up for all those newsletters from your favorite vendors). I made sure to select and crop my photos so that I could cut them down to 8×8, then I mounted them to white 8.5×8.5 inch card stock and then 10×10 card stock. I used my Silhouette to cut out the numbers and glued them into place. I am going to laminate and bind these photos, along with a #12, to have a cute little memento for Baby P when she grows up.

The little stinker was way past her naptime by the time we were ready for cake. She looks unhappy and rather serious about trying some frosting for the first time. She ate several hand fulls before the big dramatic meltdown that lead me to put her down for a nap in only her diaper (getting a damp swim suit and swim diaper off a melting down baby is not an easy task).