DIY Birthday Party or Baby Shower Streamer
My little Baby Bear just had his 1 year birthday! Already. My, how the time flies! As I began to plan his birthday party, I couldn’t help but remember where I was this time last year: still suffering from morning sickness for another month followed by the malaise that comes with
being 9 months
pregnant and huge. Then, he came in the beautiful and natural, midwifeassisted birth I’d
been dreaming of and hoping for. Those first few months of his life flew by in a flurry of
exhaustion and late night feedings as they generally do and before I knew it his newborn
fuzz and sleepy demeanor was gone and replaced by an expressive personality and huge
milestones like rolling over, crawling, and trying to say his first words. I look at him and
savor every moment as he does the amazing things that babies do and when he finally
falls asleep in my arms for a nap or while he’s nursing, I savor the gentle look of his
chubby cheeks and the dark lashes as they brush against his lilywhite skin. * sigh *
What was I saying? Oh yeah. His first birthday.
I’m a Spanish teacher, so when I recently found a onesie on Zulily that had a sombrero, a mustache and said, “jefe,” I had to buy it. With that purchase came the theme for his first birthday party, a Mexican fiesta. It’s gonna be great! I have lots of leftover decorations from my classroom that depict things like the flag, cactus, sombreros and maracas. We’re on a budget, so I’ll be doing everything very simply, attempting to make a big splash with very little cash.
When I saw these simple streamers on Pinterest, I was so excited because they’re simple, easy to make, and cheap, if you have a sewing machine at your disposal. I first decided to use them for my friend’s bridal shower. Once I made hers and realized how quick and easy it was to do, I determined that I will have to make some for my son’s first birthday party as well!
Materials Needed:
Colored paper
Die cut machine/ Cricut/ Paper punches OR cookie cutters and scissors
A sewing machine
Black, white, or coordinating thread.
A new needle on your sewing machine (it will be dull when you’re all through).
Instructions:
1. Cut your paper out in the shapes you want using either a Cricut, an Ellison die cutting machine, some large, paper punches from the craft store, or simply a cookie cutter and some scissors if none of the above options are easily available to you.
2. Sew the pieces of paper onto some thread. You can just sew one piece at a time or you can put two different colored pieces back to back for a twotoned effect.
- a. Pull a good length of bobbin thread and top thread out the back of your machine. You want a nice length at each end for tying or taping.
- b. Feed one of your shapes through the sewing machine, watching the measurement markings to make sure you sew each piece uniformly.
- c. Once the piece has been sewn completely through, stop sewing and simply
pull the thread out again for a couple of inches (Make sure you take note of
how much space you have between each paper shape so you don’t have
different sized gaps between the rest of them.). - d. Place another shape on the sewing machine and repeat steps “b” and “c.”
- e. Once all the shapes have been fed through your machine, pull them out the back until you have a nice long tail for taping or tying.
- f. Cut your thread and store them folded like an accordion and fastened together with a paper clip to prevent tangles until you need to use them.
