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 🙂

Unique and beautiful party decorations

May 14, 2015May 14, 2015Leave a comment

Since I started up Made By Me Craft Parties it’s amazed me how many people want something a little bit unique and special for their celebration events. I thought it would be nice to share some of my commissions and inspire you lovely people!

First up, and quite possibly my favourite so far is my pin wheel commission. The Students’ Union at Bournemouth University contacted me about designing and making something special for their centrepieces for an awards ceremony. This is what I came up with; it’s fun, fitting for an awards ceremony and reflects the seaside location too! These would also look fabulous at a wedding in pastel colours.

Bunting seems to have struck a cord in many people’s hearts for a while now and I’ve made up lots of bespoke paper bunting this year.

My mini bunting makes a perfect party bag gift and has been a best seller. It comes beautifully packaged and can be personalised and themed however you want.

I really enjoy pulling whole parties together, this spectacle themed party was one of my most challenging briefs to date, but I think it works beautifully. I sourced a cake and balloons before creating paper bunting and this gorgeous photo booth prop jar. I bet hours of fun was had with the beards and glasses!

I do love a good party and I’m looking forward to my next challenge! If you would like me to create bespoke party decorations for a party you are planning, please get in touch with your ideas 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!

Frozen Party Ideas – Icy Decorations, Pretty Invitations and Yummy Favours

January 5, 2015July 7, 2020Leave a comment

For my daughter’s fifth birthday we held a Frozen themed garden party for a few friends and family. I spent many hours scouring Pinterest for the best Frozen party ideas and there are a lot to choose from!

I handmade most of the party decorations and might have gone a teensy bit crazy, but you’re only 5 once right?

Frozen Invitations

I wanted to give a feel for the Frozen colours without using the characters. Consequently, to set the theme, I designed these frosty invitations and added a bit of subtle sparkle on the snowflakes after printing. Canva is a great place to design your own free invitations and you’ll find lots of templates to choose from.

Frozen Party Favours

I adore the handmade touch and made these cute foam Elsa crowns for each of the guests. I found a free crown template on My Sister’s Suitcase blog and added gems and glitter.

The Olaf favour thank you tags matched the invitations in design. The bags contained sweets to build your own snowman. Each bag contained; large and small marshmallows, raisins, orange jelly bean noses and chocolate matchsticks.

Frozen party ideas. pale blue, foam Elsa crowns

Frozen party ideas. Build your own snowman party favours, containing marshmallows and chocolate Matchmakers.

Frozen Party Decorations

I transformed the party venue into a beautiful Frozen wonderland! There were touches of handmade icicles, meters of bunting, balloons and snowflakes throughout. This pom pom bunting is so cute and can be used for all sorts of different themes. If you’d like to make your own pom poms, you can follow my tutorial here.

I was also really pleased with how the foam icicles turned out. Furthermore, they were easy and cost-effective to make and looked great!

Blue and white pop pom bunting for a Frozen themed party

Frozen themed party decorations. Icicles, bunting and balloons at the house entrance.

Finally, our playhouse was crying out to be turned into Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and the conservatory looked perfect with meters of handmade blue and sparkly silver garlands, balloons and a homemade castle. (Which we decorated as one of the activities).

Girl in front of a play house which has been turned into Wandering Oakens Trading Post.

Frozen party decorations, blue balloons, cardboard castle and bunting

I hope you’re inspired for your Frozen party decorations! Please hop over to Your Ultimate Guide to Frozen Party Games for more inspiration.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my Frozen party ideas post. Contact me at Lexy@madebymeparties.co.uk and let’s chat about how I can help you at your next event, by entertaining the children with a craft party.

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.