Birthday Crafts

It has been a busy couple of weeks, both at home and at work. One of the things I've been doing while not blogging is some crafting in preparation for Harrison's birthday party. As I previously mentioned, Amanda Soule's book The Creative Family has been a real

 inspiration. The narrative portion is enjoyable to read and really puts the projects in context. The project descriptions themselves are very easy to follow and adaptable to design changes, even for novices like me. 

First off, here's my take on her birthday crown. I slightly modified the provided template to make it higher in the front and also added a fabric cover for the elastic. I'm really happy with the way this turned out and Harrison loves it too. He wore it with pride all week. A very quick project--it took me about two hours to execute (with a sewing machine).

Next up was Amanda's bunting. I went a little crazy with the bunting-making, because it so damn cool and insanely easy. In total, I made 12 YARDS OF BUNTING! I'm already fantasizing about different color combinations of bunting for every occasion and season. I love this stuff.

Finally, on the morning of Harrison's party, my (much craftier) sister Val took the lead on executing a card stock and ribbon birthday banner I had designed in my head when nursing in bed at 5:30 in the morning. Nice job, Aunt Val! The tabs are moveable, so they can easily be stored and preserved for the next birthday, or the name simply switched out. Or we could switch the letters around into various weird anagrams. 
We didn't get to enjoy the decorations too much during Harrison's party, because it was gorgeous out and we ended up being outside all day, but it has felt festive in the house all week. 

Here's to new, homemade traditions. Hurrah!