Sunshine Party: How to Make a No-Sew Tutu

I made Summer's adorable yellow tutu for her first birthday party. I was shopping at AC Moore and I passed by an aisle with all different colors of tulle. I had just called a kids store to order a tutu for $30. I called back and cancelled the order and bought two rolls of yellow tulle for under $5. When I got home I browsed You Tube for "how to make a baby tutu." I followed this tutorial, by Flower Supply. I already had the crochet headband needed to make the tutu. You Tube has become my new best friend. This really is so easy to make.

Double-Layer Tutu:

I used an upside down wide glass vase to hold the headband as I tied the tulle. In the comments section of the video sizes are listed for suggested tulle length. I first measured from Summer's waist to see about how long the tutu should be and doubled it (14"). I measured one piece with measuring tape and used that to cut the rest. I didn't worry about all the pieces being the exact same size because I knew I could trim the tutu once finished if needed. I used the bottom two holes all the way around and it was had the perfect amount of puffiness. I looped each piece of tulle through the crochet hole and tied two knots. Throughout the process I used my fingers to separate the pieces of tulle.

I only used yellow tulle since it was a sunshine party and I wanted it to be bright, but you could also alternate between two colors. You can also add embellishments or a bow at the top as seen in the tutorial.

I loved that I made this myself and it was definitely the hit of the party. It looked adorable on her! I can see myself making many more of these in the future, especially if Summer loves tutus as much as Ellie does.

Summer's Outfit Details:

"One" onesie: Madelyn Ashely Boutique, Etsy

Bow headband: Banner Boutique

Tutu: me!

Shoes: See Kai Run

You can read all about her Sunshine Party HERE! 

Summer's Sunshine Party!

Summer's First Birthday was a sunshine themed party. She is "Our Little Sunshine!" 

You can read more about the party details here, and all the sources are listed at the bottom of this post. Thank you for reading about such a special event!

Decorations:

The flag pennant was created for the highchair; however, I borrowed my in-laws small compact one and it was too wide for the chair so I hung it above the "1" instead. I bought yellow balloons and used a balloon pump and duct tape to attach to the wall to create the number one.

I used a pink sheet to cover the mural on the wall. I wanted a clean slate to hang the 12-month banner. This table consisted of the desserts and fruit. I cut a watermelon into triangles and added Popsicle sticks. They were a hit! The cake was ordered from Giant and we also received a smash cake. I ordered a butter cream icing for Summer's cake, then I created the "1" using rainbow sprinkles. I had seen this in magazines and loved the idea. It looked very professional! I made Rice Krispie treats the morning of the party and added colored striped Popsicle sticks to each. These and the cake pops were popular party treats. The cake pops were baked by my friend, Jen, at Sweet Details. I highly recommend- they are amazing.

The party favors were also on the dessert table. I loved these favors and the tag read, "Thank you for brightening my day!"

The party food consisted of sandwiches, salads, and pretzel bites. I filled yellow cups with popcorn for the kids.

Party photos:

We sang Happy Birthday to Summer and waited for her to dig into her cake. I gave her a lick of the icing and she wasn't impressed. She had never had cake or icing before so she had no idea what she was eating. Ellie was the same exact way. It wasn't so much a "smash" cake after all. But still, nonetheless, it was sweet and fun to watch.

We had such a wonderful day celebrating our one year old with family and friends. Happy First Birthday, Summer!

My favorite items from her party were the chalkboard sign and her tutu that I made for her. She looked so adorable in it and yellow is definitely her color. I am so glad everything came together. It was worth all the hard work and extra time setting up. It's not easy when you have a party at a remote location and need to transport everything. I did all the set up myself so that my husband could bring the girls. My Mom made a pasta salad and the fruit salad and my in-laws brought ice and balloons that were hung along the fence (not pictured). A tutu tutorial will be on the blog tomorrow!

Sources:

Invitation: Etsy, Abby Reese Design

Chalkboard Print: Etsy, Pink Poppy Design

Yellow tablecloths and dessert plates: Target

Yellow utensil holder: Michael's Arts & Crafts

"One" (highchair) banner: DIY, cardstock from Michael's Arts & Crafts

Favors: sunglasses, Party City

Cake and smash cake: Giant

Cake Pops: Sweet Details

Summer's Shirt: Etsy, Madelyn Ashley Boutique

Yellow Tutu: Me! 

Yellow Bow Headband: Banner Boutique
My Yellow Dress: J.Crew (years ago)

Summer's Sunshine First Birthday: DIY Projects

We had Summer's party celebration on Saturday, May 10th at a local park. We reserved the "pre-school playground and pavilion," which consisted of a large covered pavilion and a playground.  This is the same place we had Ellie's first party (you can read about it here and here). The weather was a little unpredictable as it called for an afternoon thunderstorm. I debated cancelling it, but decided to keep it on and I'm so glad I did. The weather was hot and sunny until about 15 minutes left until the party ended. Then, there were torrential downpours and storms that passed through. Luckily, we had the covered pavilion and this was the perfect time to sing Happy Birthday and have dessert.

This was the invitation I ordered via Etsy. I took the photo in our backyard. Summer has always been such a happy baby and is always smiling. I thought the perfect theme for her first birthday was "Our Little Sunshine." She brightens our days! Instead of gifts I asked guests to consider making a small donation to one of our favorite charities, Save the Children.

I made a 12-month banner using white patterned card stock and ribbon. I picked my favorite photo for each month and printed the pictures at Fed Ex. I used Rubber Cement to glue the pictures to the paper, then punched two holes and strung the ribbon through the holes.

I wanted to try making my own high chair banner so I bought cute polka dot cardstock at Michael's Arts and Crafts, printed alphabet letters I found on Google, traced them onto pink paper, and glued them to the flags. I've seen banners like these on Etsy, but I really didn't want to spend the money. This one came to under $3! I used a ruler and my paper cutter to cut the flags.

I got the idea of using sunglasses as favors from Pinterest. I bought two bags at Party City and secured each in a plastic bag with a circle tag with "thank you for brightening my day." I really loved these favors. I found a sun image on Google and created the template on Pages on my Mac. I bought a circle punch at AC Moore and used yellow ribbon to attach to the bags. I found a pink plastic container at the Dollar Store to hold the favors.

I continued the theme with yellow tablecloths for the picnic tables and yellow dessert plates I bought at Target. We brought two of our own tables for food and dessert and used cloth tablecloths for those. I also had to remember to bring other accessories, such as the candle, lighter, knife, wet ones, paper towels, staple gun, thumbtacks and tape.

I was also excited about the first birthday chalkboard sign I ordered from Etsy. I love how it turned out! I ordered it from the shop, Pink Poppy Design. I chose the colors and submitted all of the information and it was emailed to me within 12 hours via a digital file. I printed it at Fed Ex for less than $2. I put it in an Ikea frame I had in my kitchen.

You can read all about her Sunshine Party and see more photos HERE.

Ellie's Third Birthday Festivities + Mermaid Party Details

Ellie turned the big 3 on April 12th! It was a beautiful, fun-filled weekend. The day before (Friday) I took her to the musical, Pinkalicious, at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. I was happy that Ellie and I both experienced our first musical there for her special day. Her friend, Madelyn, was there for her birthday, too (she turned 3 on the 11th). We got an adorable picture afterwards that will definitely be framed. The girls were so cute together. Ellie and I read the book for the first time the week prior to the musical, which was actually good-timing so it was fresh in her memory. It's a cute story in which the girl in the book eats too many pink cupcakes and turns the color pink. She eats lots of green veggies to become normal again. A good lesson in the end! Ellie really enjoyed the show and clapped at the end of each segment. She was all smiles. She wore her pink, too- a dress I had mentioned previously that I wanted to get for her from Gap. It was a morning show so afterwards we went to a restaurant I had been wanting to try, In Riva. It's across from the Schukill River so a pretty view. I had the most delicious Kale and Burrata salad and we shared a pizza.

Saturday was her actual birthday and my husband had to attend a workshop for most of the day so it was just the girls and I. My Mom came to watch Summer while I took Ellie for her first manicure. My Mom brought Ellie a bouquet of daffodils and Ellie was so happy. On the way to the nail salon I had thoughts of turning around and just taking her to the playground because it was such a beautiful day and I wasn't sure if Ellie would really enjoy going to the salon. At that exact moment Ellie says, "Mommy, I'm so excited to get our nails painted. I'm so excited for our mommy daughter date." It was perfect. Ellie picked out a pink color, as did I- my favorite pink, Fruit Sangria by Essie. Ellie impressed me by sitting still for the entire length of her manicure and she was so curious. She watched the technician intently and did everything she asked. She would look over at me and smile shyly. I melted. While we were drying our nails she mentioned she wanted to come back to get her toes painted with me. It was such a fun and special experience for both of us.

I dropped Ellie off to my Mom at the playground and drove to pick up the balloons for the party. I was able to nap both girls at the same time (my lucky day) and get a lot of things done for the party. I really had prepared well during the week, but just had a few last minute things to do. We bought most of the food, but I made my favorite Mexican Quinoa Salad and my Mom made a pasta salad. When Ellie woke from her nap (Summer was still sleeping) we made marshmallow pops together. Ellie had fun dipping them in chocolate and covering with pink sprinkles and white pearls. I wanted to use the cupcake toppers in some way since we were having a cake and these were perfect.

My in-laws came an hour early and helped set up outside while I dressed myself and the girls. I had bought a yellow smocked mermaid dress for Ellie to wear, but it was too big. Instead, she wore the pink tutu she had been wearing all day paired with a J.Crew star tee and her new Toms Mary Janes. It was the perfect birthday outfit for a three year-old girl!

We only invited immediate family and a few of her friends so not to overwhelm her. It was the perfect number of people. And, a beautiful day!! We really lucked out with the weather. It was sunny and 70 degrees. The kids played in the backyard and we had a pinata (Ariel, of course). The kids had a blast picking up all the candy. We brought the cake outside to sing Happy Birthday. The candles wouldn't light so we pretended they were so Ellie could blow them out. Ellie gets shy when all the attention is on her (only when it's out of her control- not when she is singing and dancing). During the song she turned toward me to give me a hug. So sweet.

Ellie insisted on an "Ariel" cake so that is what she got:

Summer had a blast, too. She wore a seahorse dress from Carter's and her metallic gold moccasins.

Me: Gap Jeans / Banana Republic Top / J.Crew bracelet

Everyone was impressed with the balloon wreath. It was such an easy, inexpensive, and festive item to make. It took about an hour to complete. I bought a straw wreath from AC Moore for $3 (keep the plastic on) and two packages of 75 balloons from Target (Spritz brand). I had about ten left over. I used sewing pins to secure each balloon (one per balloon). I kept adding balloons until I covered every inch of the wreath (except for the back). Then, I hung a white ribbon around and hung on our front door. I put bunches of balloons (not pictured) in the backyard tied to our front porch.

I searched all of Etsy for the perfect mermaid package for a 3 year-old party. This one, by Sugar Tot Designs, was definitely my favorite, and Ellie's, too. She refers to all mermaids as "Ariel" and as soon as she saw the one with the red hair she was happy. Plus, it was a great deal for only $22 for the complete party package. I printed the banner, menu cards, cupcake toppers, and favors at Kinko's using white cardstock. The water bottle labels I printed on regular paper to save money. I got menu item names from Pinterest (seashell pasta salad, sea sips, seaweed dip, pearl pops, mermaid kisses, mermaid rolls, and sea bites).

Of course we had beer and wine- much needed after a busy week! If you've never had the pink grapefruit Italian soda from Whole Foods you must try. It's delicious. I put festive straws in a Mason jar and labeled the drink station as "sea sips." 

The birthday banner was hung across the windows and sliding door in our dining room. I printed out pictures from Ellie's third year and created the number "3" on our wall. I bought the honeycomb paper decorations and hung two on the ceiling and two aqua ones outside. Favors included mermaid coloring books for the girls (Ellie's favorite) and pirate kites for the boys. Ellie's baby cousin, James, received whale bath toys for his party favor.

I made a tissue tassel garland in the colors of the party. I also made my first fabric garland using fabric swatches I purchased from AC Moore. These garlands make me happy! This chalkboard puts me to shame compared to all the fancy ones on Etsy, but it served its purpose. I used the same one (and a DIY project) for Ellie's party last year.

The party ended at 5 and we had some family stay and hang out afterwards enjoying the beautiful weather. Then, we cleaned up and ate dinner outside. We sang Happy Birthday to Ellie again and this time the candle lit. She had one of the marshmallow pops we made together.

 Happy 3rd Birthday to my silly, loving, caring, beautiful daughter! These three years have been the best of my life!

Sources:

Paper package included:

Birthday banner, water bottle labels, menu cards, favor tags, cupcake toppers

Sugar Tot Designs, Etsy

Mermaid coloring books: Family Dollar

Pirate kites: Five and Below

Fabric (for garland): AC Moore

Balloons: SGS Paper Company

Honeycomb paper decorations: SGS Paper Company

Paper tablecloth (aqua): Spritz by Target
Paper Straws: Princess (Jane) & Striped (Target)

Pinata: Party Store

You can read about Ellie's first birthday party details HERE 

and see the party in photos here and here!

 And, her second birthday party HERE.