Ninja Party -- Super Inexpensive!

Mr. S had his 5th birthday earlier this month, and after lots of thought decided he wanted a NINJA party. I must confess -- we threw this party together very quickly. On a Monday morning (BEFORE we had the theme) we ran to the store and got generic invitations for him to pass out to classmates at school that day. By that afternoon he had decided on the theme. The party was Thursday.

I called my brother, who is skilled in doodling, and asked him to draw me a quick ninja. I used his ninja to cut out posterboard ninja decorations for the front door

and the walls.

And, of course, at our house no birthday party is complete without T-shirts for all the guests! (Past parties with T-shirts: Super Mario Bros and Despicable Me!)
I found 16 long sleeve T-shirts, all XS, in four different colors at the dollar store. I worked my magic with my brother's ninja drawing, my printer, and some iron-on printer paper. It was a complex shape so it took a long time to cut out the ninjas, but it was most definitely worth it!

A quick rundown on games:

We started with Ninja Training. My husband was an excellent trainer, teaching them how to be quick on their feet by having them jump over a spinning sword, and teaching them how to listen well and be disciplined by playing Ninja Says. He and Mr. S even created a big obstacle course in the basement for everyone to run through -- it involved climbing over, crawling under, somersaults, and even throwing paper Chinese stars!

We played Pin the Sei Blade on the Ninja.

The cake? I thought we could make cupcakes, but Mr. S thought that didn't count for a birthday. So, the morning of the party we lucked out and found a black and red swirly-looking cake already made at Walmart. Hubs brought home some ninja legos to go on top. Perfection!

At a local toy store we found these FUN tiny dragons for 50 cents a pop. The original plan was to put them on the cupcakes, but...

...they were just right on each piece of cake!

At the END of the party, just before parents were coming to pick everyone up, we busted out the $1 foam swords (from Target!) and a huge pile of balloons, and everyone played "keep up" -- trying to keep the balloons from hitting the ground. This was everyone's favorite game -- and we saved it for the end to avoid any sword fighting among the ninjas. It worked out just perfectly!

So, to sum up: Everyone had a fantastic time. Each guest went home with a T-shirt, sword, and tiny dragon for a total of $2.50 per kid. Mr. S was beaming for days. Sounds like the perfect party to me!

It's birthday party time....

It's birthday party time around here again, and you know what that means....

....lots of dollar store and dollar aisle shopping!!

This morning we went and picked up scads of T-shirts, posterboards, and balloons from the dollar store, and a huge pile of foam swords from Target's dollar aisle!!

Can't wait to share some details later this week!

"Despicable Me" Party Ideas!

For today's Dollar Store Craft I want to share what we did for Buzz's 6th birthday party last weekend. He really wanted a party with a Despicable Me theme. (If you haven't seen the movie yet, I definitely recommend it. It's so much fun!)


Of course we had to have some fun decor -- so I bought a couple posterboards at the dollar store and cut out some minions for the walls. I found a bright yellow disposable plastic tablecloth at Walmart for a little over a buck, which I ended up cutting to fit not only my kitchen table but also two smaller picnic tables we brought in. Also found at the dollar store: bright blue paper plates, bright blue and yellow crepe paper streamers, and....


....SCORE! Scads of bright blue T-shirts in all the kid sizes I needed! I busted out one of my FAVORITE crafty supplies I always keep on hand: Transfer Magic's Ink Jet "Transfer to Dark" heat transfer paper. This stuff is THE BEST. I simply sized some minion images in Photoshop, crammed them all into a 8 1/2" x 11" file, and printed them out on one sheet of transfer paper. I cut them all out while I watched a movie, then ironed them onto the blue t-shirts. Bang! 20 T-shirts for about $22! It was SO FUN to see all the little party-going minions running around in their matching minion t-shirts!

Now for the party games:


First a project-y sort of thing (you know I can't resist throwing in a creative project!): Cookie robots! My sister (thanks, Lol!) and I cooked this one up over the phone just a few hours before the party. When I went to pick up the cake (there IS a very cute Despicable Me cake available, hooray!), I also grabbed a bag of chocolate chip cookies, a box of Dots, a bag of stick pretzels and some cookie frosting. Ba-da-bing, cookie robots! Each partygoer got to come up with his or her own design. Fun and tasty!

Another game: Gru Says!
I whipped this Gru scarf together out of some fleece scraps. The idea is that whoever wears the Gru scarf gets to be in charge of Gru Says (Simon Says, of course!) -- and all the minions must follow. I admit, we never got around to actually playing this game at Buzz's party, because another game took over....


A beanbag-toss-type game: In the movie there is a scene at a carnival where the object of a carnival game is to knock over a spaceship to win a prize. In our modified version, I created a cutout posterboard version of the spaceship, taped it to the wall, and stacked some plastic cups in front of it.


Each boy had a chance to toss Sleepy Kittens (we HAD to get them in there SOMEWHERE!) at the cups. If they knocked the cups over, they won a prize...


...a Shrink Ray! Or, if you rather, a Freeze Ray! Or Piranha Shooter! Or Octopus Launcher! Or any of the other fun and silly inventions from the movie! Buzz spotted these at the dollar store in three-packs, and he knew immediately that he NEEDED to have them as favors at his party. Genius!

I'm happy to report that Buzz's Despicable Me party was a rip-roaring success, with no less than 17 minions running around and having a grand old time. Not too shabby for a dollar store-heavy production! :o)

Love Week -- Tiered Toddler Dress

Welcome to Day Four of a week's worth of Valentine projects!

Today's project: A sweet Valentine dress for your little girl!

Mine is made from four dollar store T-shirts ranging from light pink to dark pink, and a white size 2T T-shirt (for the bodice) that I picked up from Walmart for a couple bucks. Measurements fit my almost-two-year-old, but you could certainly adjust the measurements to fit whomever you have in mind.

STEP ONE: Cut your T-shirts!
Starting at the bottom (darkest) and working your way up (to lightest):
Bottom tier (darkest): Cut two 19" x 4 3/4" strips -- this is the measurement BEFORE I created a 3/4" hem. If you are utilizing an existing hem, adjust accordingly.
Third tier: Cut two 17" x 4" strips
Second tier: Cut two 15" x 3 3/4" strips
First tier: Cut two 13" x 3 1/2" strips

STEP TWO: If needed, hem your bottom tier. I folded mine up 3/4" and double hemmed it to match the hem of the bodice's sleeves.

STEP THREE: Starting with your bottom tier, lightly gather the top edge using a 1/4" seam allowance. Do not backstitch so you can adjust your gathers as needed! On my machine, I was able to do this easily by increasing both my stitch length to 5 and my tension to 10. It came out just about exactly right for the amount of gathering I needed, making this project super easy!
Note: Don't forget to switch your machine's settings back to normal! :o)

STEP FOUR: Attach your gathered tier to the bottom of the next tier up, right sides together, using a 3/8" seam allowance. Don't forget to backstitch this time. You will then gather the top of the next tier and attach it to the next tier up, and so on.

STEP FIVE: Once you have your front and back together, sew them together at one of the side seams.

STEP SIX: Cut your bodice T-shirt where you want the skirt to begin. I cut mine 1" below the armpit seam.

STEP SEVEN: Carefully pick open one side seam, as shown.

STEP EIGHT: Gather the top of your skirt and carefully attach it to your T-shirt bodice. This is a good time to pin! Once it is attached, sew up the remaining side seam.

Done!
I just love the gradated colors...

...and JellyBean loves it too!

Super Mario Party Wrapup

Just a few final things to share about Mr. S.'s Mario Brothers birthday party!

Less than an hour before party time, I decided my kids neeeeded to have some Mario brothers attire for the party! I asked each of the boys what character they wanted on their shirts. Of course Mr. S. wanted Toad, his favorite, and of course Buzz wanted a Bullet Bill. Perfection! And for JellyBean I chose Flower Power over one of the princesses. (We're just not princess-y people, you know?)
Anyway, I dug through my stash of dollar store T-shirts and found the right sizes in fun, bright colors. I printed the images on some printable iron-on transfer paper, cut them out, and ironed them on. Easy! (I use a brand you can find at JoAnn, specified as "transfer to dark." You can fit a lot of little images on just one sheet, so they go a long way.) We've already made another round of Mario Brothers theme shirts -- and I foresee more in the near future!

After the party I whipped together a little drawstring bag with a mushroom applique for Mr. S.'s Mario Brothers figures...

...and one more for the crochet mushrooms from Grandma!
(You must click over and check them out -- they are TOO fun!)


And, last but not least, this little "project" just tickles me!
I made a quick trip to the Hostess thrift store and bought Snoballs (green for Halloween, just my luck!) and some tiny cupcakes.

Add a little black gel frosting for eyes and some white frosting for spots, and you have an Extra Life Mushroom cupcake!! I cannot vouch for the, er, FLAVOR... but I think they are stinking cute!

I've had more fun than should be legal with these little party projects -- and everyone had a great time at the party! It was fun for everyone, but the creative parts were EXCEPTIONALLY fun for me. Win-win all around, I say!

Obsessing About T-Shirts....

I'm continuing to obsess about dollar store T-shirts.
(I may or may not have purchased 15 more this week... heh heh...)

After some serious digging I found a 2T sized T-shirt in the bin at the dollar store, and originally intended to turn it into a peasant top BODICE for a little dress. But when I finished it up (only five minutes, folks! Try it!!) and put it on JellyBean, it was so cute as a little top that I couldn't talk myself into cutting into it! I'll just have to go back and look for another 2T shirt for my dress idea...

Then of course I found more color trios perfect for those tiered tops...


...and perhaps I got a little carried away!

Obviously there are many, many more shirts for me to cut into. Problem is, Fall is fast approaching, so it doesn't make sense to create more summery tops and dresses.

No worries, though. I have some ideas! :o)

Tiered Top/Dress from T-Shirts!

Today I will show you how to make a cute tiered top, dress, or skirt -- from dollar store T-shirts!

My dollar store has recently re-stocked their T-shirts -- called "seconds," usually for a tiny hole or some other minuscule flaw -- and there are so many bright and fun colors. As you can see, I got a little carried away and purchased 15 shirts!

STEP ONE: Pick and arrange three colors how you like them. Keep in mind that your tiers will be narrower as you go up -- choose shirt sizes accordingly.

STEP TWO: Cut out all your pieces. For the bottom tier, utilize the hem of that T-shirt! I cut my bottom tier 6 1/2" wide.


Also cut two 1 3/4" strips from the same T-shirt as your bottom tier. These will be your binding strips/straps for the bodice of the top.

I cut my second tier (lighter blue) 5" wide (not pictured).

Since you are cutting pieces from T-shirts, your strips will be tubes. Cut one side of each tube so each becomes one long strip.


Cut the bodice from your final T-shirt. I created a pattern by tracing an existing tank top -- front and back are the same. I cut four pieces because my white T-shirt was rather sheer -- double layer for both front and back.
(Check out how I utilized the sleeves!)

STEP THREE: Gather the top edge of the bottom tier. This is easier than you think!! I increased my stitch length to 5, which is the longest it can be, then increased my upper tension to about 5 1/2. Sew, but do not backstitch -- just in case you want to rearrange your gathers. Magic! Automatic gathers!

STEP FOUR: Change your sewing machine's tension back to its original setting. Using a narrow and long zigzag stitch (this will allow your seams to still have some stretch), attach your bottom tier to your middle tier, right sides together, just beyond your gathering stitchline.

I placed my middle tier right side up and layered the bottom tier right side down on top. (In the photo they look the same color, but the lower layer is the lighter blue!) Having the gathered tier on top makes it a little easier to control your gathers and keep them even.

Looking good already!
(I do this the lazy way, and simply trim tier two to match the bottom tier AFTER they are sewn together. Works great!!)

STEP FIVE: Press your binding/strap strips wrong sides together, lengthwise down the strip. Then fold each edge to the center and press again.

STEP SIX: Bind the top edge of your bodice front and bodice back.
Lay your bodice right side up, and align one raw edge of your binding right side down on top. Sew with a 3/8" seam allowance. Fold binding around and topstitch in place. (See Steps Eight and nine if this makes no sense to you!)

STEP SEVEN: Layer your bodice front and back right sides together and sew ONE side seam. Gather your second tier and attach it to the bodice, using the same method as Steps Three and Four. Then sew the other side seam for the entire top.

STEP SEVEN: Mark the center of one strip and pin it to the side seam of the arm opening. Pin around arm opening, then sew in place using a 3/8" seam allowance.

STEP EIGHT: Fold binding/strap strips together using your pressed lines (from Step Five) as a guide. Pin.

Sew about 1/8" from folded edges starting at one end of strap and working your way to the other end. Repeat Steps Seven and Eight for opposite arm hole.

Tie the top on your little one! It's done!

Depending on the size of the T-shirts you are using, this will work to make tops or skirts for older girls too!


VARIATIONS:
Wear as a dress OR as a top
Easier: Make a skirt using the same method
No pattern: Instead of creating a bodice, use elastic thread and shirr the top -- then add straps
With sleeves: Use my peasant top tutorial to create a bodice



I will have pictures of variations to share sometime in the near future!!