Made By Me Craft Parties is Five!

September 9, 2019October 8, 2019Leave a comment

Oh my goodness! I can’t believe that Made By Me Craft Parties is celebrating it’s 5th birthday in October! Five whole years of bringing crafty sparkly joy to parties in Dorset. To say thank you to all my customers, followers, supporters and future customers, I’m throwing a craft party to celebrate!

The Story Of Made By Me Craft Parties

Five years ago Made By Me was just little old me running ‘bronze, silver and gold’ craft party packages. But why did a set it up? To cut a long short short, it was my family. I didn’t have aspirations for world dominance in the world of parties, in contrast, I wanted a career that fitted in with my young family. I won’t bore you with all the details, but you can find out more about my story here.

How I’ve Grown

It’s been a steep learning curve of website building, networking, marketing and developing new parties. I’ve met some amazing small business owners along the way who’ve helped me enormously. My parties have developed over the years with attention to detail and a vast array of craft materials by my side!

Five years later, I’ve won an award for Creative Of The Year from the Successful Women in Business Awards. I launched the Spa of Our Own parties. Sarah, from Biscuits By Sarah B and I joined forces to create our wonderful Mini Makes & Bakes toddler classes. School holiday craft classes were launched in 2018 and I’ve written a blog for Hotter Shoes with Joanne Dewberry.

Also, I’ve collaborated with some amazing businesses to create the most wonderful parties and events such as Oddbods, Chillout Retreats, Castlepoint, Portobella Parties and The Wedding Crecherz to name but a few!

Made By Me craft Parties ran a craft table forOddbods blogger event in Bournemouth

Children making bath fizzers at the spa of our own craft party by Made By Me Craft Parties

Made By Me Craft Parties won the Creative Award at the Successful Women In Business Awards 2018

Made By Me Craft Parties ran a team building day for small business owners

Thank You, You Wonderful People!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank every single one of you for each like or comment on social media. For booking a party or for asking me to collaborate with you. But above all for sharing the love of Made By Me Craft Parties to your friends and families!

Tank you for supporting Made By Me Craft Parties

I’m so very grateful for all the love you give my sparkly little business. I hope it’s clear how much passion and effort goes into each party and event that I run for you! I certainly couldn’t do it without you!

Win A Place At My 5th Birthday Party

Finally, to celebrate this special birthday, I’m having a PARTY! I’ve given away 8 tickets to customers through 4 different competitions and I’m looking forward to celebrating with them all on the 20th October.

Furthermore, I’ve joined forces with the marvellous Sarah from Biscuits by Sarah B who will be supplying some beautiful biscuits. Samantha from Samantha Prewett Photography will be taking some gorgeous photos to capture the moments and memories of the day. And Rachael from Bakery Boxx is creating a beautiful cake for us to devour!

Here’s to another five years of amazing craft parties. Woop Woop!

How I Created A Beautiful Children’s Craft and Pamper Party

November 11, 2017November 9, 20175 Comments

My daughter recently turned 8 years old (how did that happen?!). She decided that she’d like a pamper party, however I couldn’t resist adding in a little of the Made By Me Craft Party magic and sparkle!

My printer has been playing up recently and caused no end of headaches, so I cheated with the invitations and bought some on ebay, but I think they’re very cute!

Personalised pamper party invitations

I tend to get a bit over excited about party planning and decided to make life a bit less stressful this year, so we served the girls with a simple bbq and cake at the end of the party and nibbles to keep them going. So once I’d booked the beautician, I was free to knock myself out with the details and some extra fun activities.

Previous experience has taught me that people don’t always arrive on time to parties, so I got the girls going on a fun activity while they trickled in through the door. This also allowed our beautician to set up in peace!

I purchased some plastic champagne flutes and the girls decorated them with foam stickers, gems and Sharpies. Once they’d completed their masterpieces, I added some Pop a Ball rose gold shimmer to some flavoured fizzy water. Oh my goodness, they absolutely loved it and felt so grown up! Not only did the drink become all shimmery, it went into bubble overdrive!

As the girls arrived to the party, they each personalised a plastic champagne glass with stickers and Sharpies

Each girl created a beautiful personalised glass to drink from at the party and to take home at the end.

I was worried about keeping the girls captivated throughout the pamper element of the party as they needed to wait around to have their nails done. (I was worrying unnecessarily because the girls loved the foot spas!). Once the girls had been beautified with face masks, nail varnish, hair curling and makeup, they came over to the lip gloss making station. This activity went down a storm and the girls loved it so much that they asked for extra pots to fill and decorate. The pots looked like giant gemstones and I gave them more gems and the trusty Sharpies to decorate the lid.

All set up for eager 8 year olds to make lip gloss

A couple of the girls checking out each others lip gloss results!

Once the lip gloss is all mixed up, it goes into beautiful gemstone pots

A dash of glitter finishes off the handmade lip gloss beautifully!

Finally, I set up a photo booth so the girls could show off their new looks and use some fun props. I decorated it with bunting, circle fan decorations and a sequined backdrop. We themed the party in pink, turquoise and a spot of gold and I think it looked stunning!

Say Cheese!

A friend made the cake and did an awesome job of it, but I think we were eating cake forever because it was so big!

If you’ve been following my party adventures for a while, you might know that I’m a huge champion of party favours that are useful, unique and fabulous. This party was no different and I spent a happy afternoon trawling the shops for pamper themed goodies. I’m rather pleased with myself and came up with a clear makeup bag filled with; a body pouffe, lipstick eraser, lipstick pen, nail varnish highlighter, nail file and a packet of tissues. As most of the girls were only 7 and 8 I felt that make up wouldn’t have been appropriate. Of course, I had to do a bit of personalisation and hand stamped each girl’s initial onto a tag and tied it on with some ribbon. The favours were surprisingly reasonable in price but looked stunning.

Grown up party bags

I loved planning this pamper party and I’ve been inspired to add a pamper craft party option to my packages, so watch this space as I’ll be launching it soon!

The birthday girl and I 🙂

Bright and colourful personalised fabric party bags by Make it Friday. Party Bag ideas by Made By Me Craft Parties

Five of the Best Party Favours and Party Bag Ideas

October 21, 2017November 15, 20195 Comments

Unique Party Bag Ideas

I’ve hunted high and low to bring you a selection of fun, exciting and quirky party bag ideas and favours. I think you’re going to have a hard time choosing which one to go for!

There’s something really exciting about party bags and favours for children and adults alike. In contrast, some people are from the school of ‘whats wrong with a bit of cake and a balloon?’ But I love it! I adore hunting for little bits and bobs that fit the party theme or even better, finding a single item that is both useful and fun!

Furthermore, I also love supporting small and local businesses. The chain stores and pound shops are great for a bargain. However it feels amazing to know that your purchase from a small business is going straight into paying for football or ballet lessons for someone’s child. Also you get something unique, made with love and generally awesome!

Paint pallet party favour.
Party bag ideas by Made By Me Craft Parties — A rainbow paint pallet for a My Little Pony Party

Fabric Party Bags

Make it Friday believe in turning the bag into the gift, as opposed to the contents which are just an added bonus! It seems extravagant, but by the time you buy all of the plastic (argh not the p-word), would it not make more sense to buy a beautiful, reusable, personalised cotton bag? You can pop a slice of cake inside and the bag can be used for all sort of things at home.

Wendy and Emma can create bespoke bags to suit your party and they follow party trends closely. Children (and a lot of adults) love anything personalised, so keeping designs simple with a name or even initial work a treat.

Party bag ideas. Fabric party bag with dream catcher

Fabric party bag with mermaid tail on it

Personalised mini tote bags with cupcakes on them

Mini Craft Kits

Here at Made By Me Craft Parties it’s all about the arts and crafts! Hence the perfect party favour to pair with my parties would be from the talented Cotton Twist. An inspiration for parties & play, they pride themselves on making activities & gifts you’ll love to give, & children will love to receive. Nostalgic, chic, simple & inherently satisfying, crafts draw upon a palette of raw materials from lolly sticks to boxes, & from twine to felt. Wave goodbye to all that plastic! And just look at those tins, they are so cute!

Party bag ideas; Make your own key ring favour tin

Something for the Tweens and Teens

For something a bit more grown-up, look no further than the tasty Willow and Boo! Their mission statement is ‘to transform the humble lollipop into something delicious and dazzling for every occasion.’ And wow their lollies certainly ‘POP’! When I first saw the sherbet jars I fell in love! These grown up treats would be perfect for a teen or tween party favour. I can also see them going down a storm at hen parties and weddings.

Party bag ideas. Handmade rainbow lollipops and sherbert pots

Party bag ideas; Handmade lollipops by Willow and Boo.

Baking Mixes

Now who would like to go home with a baking mix party favour? ‘Me please!’ I love the idea of giving party favours where you go home and make something. A baking mix favour is simply perfect! Katie Bakes is based in Hampshire and offers personalised baking mix party favours that only need the addition of melted butter.

Party bag ideas; Cookie and brownie mix party favours

Beautiful Personalised Biscuits

Don’t get me wrong … I love cake, however I find it often comes home from a party all smooshed up in a paper napkin and then looks totally unappetising. The solution? Biscuits By Sarah B. They’re cute, they’re delicious, they’re packaged up beautifully. Yum!

Party bag ideas; handmade and personalised pony biscuits

Now you’ve nailed your party bags, you might like to check out my blog post about party decorations or check out Four ways to make your celebration cake and party food look awesome.

Finally, this is only a small selection of my favourite, beautiful and unique party bag ideas. But I’d love to know if you’ve got a good idea that you’ve used on the past? Pop your ideas in the comments and I’ll check them out!

Roarsome Dinosaur Party Details

June 8, 2017March 6, 20191 Comment

I love party planning and adore making party venues look special. I’ve themed lots of girly parties, but dinosaurs were a whole new world for me. I recently decorated our local Girl Guiding hall and transformed it into a prehistoric jungle for my son Austin’s 4th birthday party.

The theme of the party was set with these adorable invitations. I designed and printed the words and hand stamped the dinosaurs using my ‘No Bones About It’ stamp set from Stampin’ Up!

Orange is Austin’s favourite colour, so the colour scheme ended up being green and orange, with a dash of yellow to brighten things up. I made lots of lovely jungle leaves and hung them around the room with green and orange streamers and yellow balloons.

I dressed the party table with a plain white table cloth and punched out lots of orange and green circles and then added some plastic dinosaurs with … (wait for it!) …. party hats on! How cute! (PS I know that the first photo is a dragon, not sure how he snuck onto the table!).

I made signs for all the dinosaur activities that we did. I printed off the wording finished them off with my dinosaur stamp set and then popped them in these versatile frames.

The hungry dinosaur explorers all sat down to party food served in individual orange, green and yellow lunch boxes from Party Pieces. I added a bit of decoration with hand stamped labels. I made the labels using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch from Stampin’ Up! I love using these boxes as they reduce food waste and are a lot easier than preparing a huge buffet.

I incorporated a game into filling the party bags at the end of the party. We gave out plain paper bags decorated with hand stamped labels for the children to collect their dinosaur eggs.

As a final surprise, Mr Made By Me dressed up in this rather marvellous dinosaur costume and as you can imagine he was very pleased with himself! The kids loved it too!

I hope I’ve inspired you with some dinosaur roarsomeness for your next party! To find out more about how I can run a craft party for you please get in touch with me at lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk

Bye for now,
Lexy 🙂

Ker Pow!

June 16, 2016February 26, 2020Leave a comment

It’s been ages since I last blogged, but I promise you I’ve been beavering away running craft parties and coming up with new designs and themes for you (not sunning myself in the South of France …sigh).

First up is the superhero cuff. Of course, boys like crafting too and I’m keen to include lots of party options for them. Keep an eye out for my Superhero ‘Capes, cuffs and masks’ party option which is coming soon, but for the meantime, the cuffs have been added into the Craft Mania Party. If you’ve a mix of boys and girls you could choose to have a mixed activity of crowns and cuffs.

I’d also like to introduce my Catching the Sun and Casing your Dreams party. Sun catchers are a lovely option for craft parties, especially in the summer. I’ll provide all the beautiful materials to produce a masterpiece that can be treasured for years to come. The children will be able to add pom poms, tassels and ribbons to their creations to give them extra wow.

So that’s a taster of some ideas I’ve been working on, I hope you like them. What would your child choose to make if they had a craft party? I’d love to hear from you and discuss your party needs, you can contact me at lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk

Made By Me: making craft parties special

February 9, 2015October 4, 2017Leave a comment

Planning a party can be a stressful and expensive business and the choice of themes and activites out there is mind boggling! A craft party gives people a chance to bond, relax and create something a little bit different to take home.

So, who am I? My name is Lexy and I’m a crafty (not like a fox!), mother of 2, a born planner, organiser and fun loving too. I’ve made my own greetings cards since I was a child and have tried my hand at loads of different crafts; I’ve sewn, beaded, painted, stuck, cut and glittered my way through life and have loved every minute!

A Made by Me craft party is all about having fun and creating something fabulous! I can teach a new skill or create craft activities to fit a theme of a party, for example decorating a castle for a princess party or making hot air balloons for a balloon party.

So who are the parties for?
My aim is to spread the love of crafting and my parties can be tailored to fit any age and ability. Children’s birthday parties are an obvious choice, but lets be honest, adults love to get creative too, so I offer activities for team building events, hen parties and baby showers. Or how about keeping the kids entertained at a wedding or as part of the entertainment at a summer festival?

What crafts can we do?
The craft parties include crafts such as pencil case decorating, tote bag decorating, decopatch (decorating paper mache shapes), tutu making, castle decorating, card making, paper bunting and bird boxes, notebook decorating, crown and mask making, ceramic money box painting and the list is always growing! I can match the activities to any theme and colours.

What’s included in a Made By Me Craft party?
I want your experience to be as stress free and enjoyable as possible, I will run a craft party to suit your interests, needs and theme and make it age appropriate.
I can also do a mixture of party games, face painting and crafts for younger children.
I’ll bring all the craft materials, aprons for the younger children and a table cloth.
I’ll clean up afterwards and make sure everyone goes home with something to be proud of!
You can even use many of the craft items your guests produce as part of the party bag/favour. How about filling the decorated pencil cases or tote bags with a few sweets or a small notebook and pen?

What makes Made By Me special?
The reviews and testimonials I’ve received speak for themselves, but you can count on me to listen to your needs and requirements and create a bespoke service just for you. If you can’t see what you want on my website, just ask me if I can help.
I think attention to detail makes all the difference, so I’ll make sure the art materials are laid out beautifully and the party will have a bespoke welcome sign too.

How can I book a party or a service offered by Made By Me?
Simply call me on 07779 870183 or email me at Lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk with your party date, requirements and theme (if you have one) and we can take it from there!

Thanks for reading and I hope I can create a crafty party for you soon 🙂

Minnie Mouse is in the House!

January 19, 2015May 18, 2017Leave a comment

I really thought my daughter would like a princess party for her 4th birthday last year, but she surprised me by choosing a Minnie Mouse party.

Some of you may have noticed that I’m not a big fan of using branded character party accessories, I’d much rather use the essence of the character and the colours for my themeing. With this in mind I used lots of Minnie silhouettes, dots, bows and of course pink and black! I was particularly pleased with how the black paper plates with Minnie ears and bow came out (all hand made of course!).

As it was a party for 4 year olds, the activities were kept simple and traditional, including pin the bow on Minnie (sorry – there are no photos as I was busy making sure they all had fun!) and we also did some Minnie cookie decorating in the garden.

I made this tutu for the birthday girl and it looked utterly gorgeous! One of my craft party options for older children is a tutu making party – how much fun would this be? Get in touch for more details at lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk

The party favours were these super cute mini popcorn boxes filled with themed hair accessories, sweets, the cookies from the craft activity and hand made Minnie ears (Mickey ears for the boys). We gave these out at the start of the party and they’re still being used in dressing up boxes a year later. I personally think it’s better to put together useful and long lasting party favours and bags. I can create bespoke and special party bags for your party, contact me to discuss your requirements at lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Minnie Mouse party, thanks for reading. Meeska, mouska … Mickey mouse!

Your Ultimate Guide to Awesome Frozen Party Games!

November 5, 2014July 6, 2020Leave a comment

‘Do you wanna build a snowman?’ My daughter (Izzy) certainly did! So for her 5th birthday party, we put on a Frozen extravaganza for 14 of her friends! Planning the Frozen party games was such fun, and of course, it was even more fun running them!

Castle Decorating

The party kicked off with a ‘Decorate Elsa’s castle’ activity. We did a spot of reusing and recycling to make the castle and Mr Made By Me (hubby Martin) did a grand job! I’ve found a great supplier for super glamorous cardboard castles for any future Made By Me Craft Parties. This activity was more popular than I had imagined and the girls kept going back to add a few more jewels and embellishments throughout the party.

Girls decorating a cardboard castle at a Frozen garden party

Frozen Party Games: Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?

Next up was ‘Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?’ We split the girls into teams and asked 4 unsuspecting parents to be our victims (er … I mean, Olafs). Each team had a roll of toilet paper, 3 buttons, a carrot nose and a scarf and they had to dress up their adult as Olaf. Cue lots of laughter and fun!

Frozen party games - parents being dressed up as Olaf using toilet roll

Girl turning an adult into Olaf using toilet roll

‘Making It Snow’ Balloon Popping Game

I thought it would be amazing if we could make it snow for the party. So I took an idea I’d seen on Pinterest and changed it up to suit our Frozen needs. We filled balloons with some Christmas chocolate snowballs, silver sequins, some tiny cotton balls and also a party guest’s name on a piece of paper (so we knew whose turn it was next to pop). We hung the balloons from our conservatory roof and each girl got to pop a balloon. It was a bit like pass the parcel with a bang!

The party was in September on one of those unexpectedly hot days and my cunning plan went a bit melty! I hadn’t factored in the hot conservatory and the chocolate … there were a few chocolate smears as a result. Oops!

It’s also worth noting, that it’s a good idea to check with parents about whether their children are OK with loud balloon popping noises! There were a few children who covered their ears.