Wednesday 22 February 2012

Getting ready for an orange birthday

Luca's almost 4 and about to have his first proper birthday party. I don't know who's more excited: me or him. 

The brief that I set myself for Luca's party...Actually it's pretty much the brief I set for most things: handmade, thrifty, green and personal. Well, OK, as much as possible.

Orange is Luca's favourite colour. Has been forever. Even as a teeny toddler, he'd pull all the orange blocks out of the box and make them into a tall tower. 

So the theme is, of course, orange.

Martha et al make pompoms look easy.



They are. But by the fifth, you've had enough of all those papery layers and you start tearing them. How does anyone have the patience to do enough to fill a whole room??? This is all I've managed to make.



Move on to hanging paper garland. All I've done so far is cut the strips. You need a sewing machine to stitch them together. I still haven't taken mine out of its box. I have four days to learn how to use one. Hmmmm.




Next on my list is a number wreath. Made out of cardboard. Easy enough. The plan was to make lots of orange snails to stick onto it. But then I realised that I forgot to add simple to my brief. I'm no Martha. So I used all the bits leftover from the pompoms...




And made this.



And now for the bit I was most looking forward to. Orange yarn lanterns. To hang in his bedroom afterwards.



It's enough to make you give up making anything ever again. I've gone through two bottles of glue and a whole packet of cornflour. The garage floor is covered in sticky knotted yarn and big white blobs. The balloons that I spent ages tying to the ceiling and lovingly rubbing with vaseline popped or deflated within hours, and the two lanterns that I did manage to do. Look. Like. This. 


No, I'm not doing this again. Handmade, yes. Enjoyable? Not so much.



It's not quite going to plan (damn you, Martha Stewart), but hey, Luca's not going to care. He's already excited with the few orange pompoms and the orange 4 that we're going to tie around a tree. Cake, friends and games will make it for him. Not the image I had in my head of trees decorated with dozens of lanterns and stitched garlands. 


Do you know, I think I will hang those pitiful two lanterns. I'll enjoy the laugh, and so will everyone else.


I'll do another post soon with all the food!


Luca's party invite that we emailed to his friends

Playing along with snap it {colour}

8 comments:

  1. Oh, his party sounds like lots of fun. All that DIY sounds hard - good luck with the sewn garland. :)

    I think maybe Vaseline destroys the latex in the balloons- that might be why they deflated so quickly!

    Can't wait to see the food! xx

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  2. You've put so much time and love into Luca's birthday party, he will love it because you did it just for him. I love the orange theme too and I have had lots of trouble making those paper flowers too grrr the tissue paper tears so easily doesn't it! I look forward to seeing what food you make. x

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  3. Oh good on you! And you hang those dangling lanterns, i think they're cool. I'm sure he'll feel the love in every little handcrafted thing you've made him. And remember the only thing you REALLY need for a party is friends and cake. Heaps of cake. All the rest is a bonus. Hope it's a beautiful day.

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  4. How fun! He is going to love all of the orange creations! Glad I am not the only one who still has their sewing machine in its box (coming up to 3 months now!)and I to would love to learn to sew!! Looking forward to seeing the food photos!! Enjoy!

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  5. YOu've done a geat job with all that you've made so far. Luca is one lucky little boy to have a Mummy who'se put so much hard work into his party. Will look forward to photos x

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  6. oh how creative you are!! keep up the good work! I am sure it is going to be a spectacular party. enjoy celebrating four!!

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  7. Wow, you set yourself a pretty big list of things to achieve... I think you are doing great considering!

    For the record... I made those sewn paper garlands for a rainbow party and it is the easiest sewing ever... just a straight stitch and keep feeding the paper bits in one after another. So as long as you can figure out how to thread the machine, I reckon you'll be right!

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  8. It all looks lovely, and the lanterns are hilarious! I've had my eye on the Martha paper pompom thingies for ages.
    I've sent you a blog award today. The truck should arrive any minute with it, as well as confetti to throw on your head. xx

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