birthday Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

"No Sew" Bunting and More Spring Peeks!

January 13, 2011 by Ashley Hackshaw

Lisa and I planned a quick little photo shoot in the backyard on Tuesday and invited a few friends over. Lisa couldn’t find her fabric banner/bunting she’d stashed away so we had to make a quick version because we wanted it to hang in the background. It turned out so cute and added just the right amount of color:

I know many of you don’t sew and this is an easy way to make a birthday banner or some pretty bunting for a boy or girls room!

Materials needed:
Spray adhesive (acid free)
Liquid Stitch
Variety of fabric for flags
Pinking shears (or regular scissors if you don’t mind a straight edge)
3 yards of 2″ grosgrain ribbon

Here is a template you can use……just resize it depending on the size of banner you want.

For each individual flag, spray a layer of adhesive to the wrong sides of 2 pieces of fabric:

Press the two pieces together flat and trace out your triangle:

Use pinking shears or regular scissors to cut out each flag. Pinking shears will give you the zig zag edge:

Iron your the grosgain ribbon it in half along the entire length:

Using Liquid Stitch, attach each triangle to the bottom half of the ribbon…..

…..alternating colors:

Lastly, apply liquid stitch to the top of the triangles…

…and press the top half of the ribbon closed:

You can easily personalize or spell out a message using spraypaint too! Just cut out your shapes or letters to make a stencil using contac paper or adhesive shelf paper:

Stick the stencil directly onto your triangle flag and spray a thin layer of paint across the top:

Easy and no sewing involved!

Here’s a behind the scenes shot of Lisa photographing Boo. We strung the bunting between 2 ladders in the corner of my backyard:

I was so happy with how both the banner and mini photo shoot turned out! We invited a few friend with older girls over to model some outfits for the spring line.

It’s amazing how much easier it is to shoot a willing model than a toddler! These girls were naturals!

Boo was sulking at first because she didn’t get to wear the purple headband….she informed me that purple is her FAVORITE color:

Once she saw the older girls having fun she changed her mind:

So cute!

Even Diesel was thrown into the mix!

I’ve had so much fun designing a full spring line! More to come this week! Spring line should be in the store on January 24th!

Speaking of designing…are you working on your next big design?

Butterfly Birthday Party

October 18, 2010 by Ashley Hackshaw

Lisa here! Miss Elle turned 3 over the weekend! She requested a butterfly themed party and mommy delivered. It was butterfly overload! This was probably the easiest party to throw together. I’m going to tell you how I did it!

1. Party decor is focused entirely around the table. I rent child size tables and chairs from a local party rental company along with the table linens in a color to coordinate with the theme. I wrap tulle around the chairs for a little something extra.

2. I was inspired by this picture over at Martha Stewart. Instead of cutting out paper butterflies I opted for artificial butterflies, and I hot glued them everywhere 😉 Let me recommend Just Artifacts on eBay for the lanterns. You can search for artificial butterflies on eBay as well. These are going in Elle’s room, they will look so cute!

Butterfly Birthday Party Decor Ideas via lilblueboo.com

3. I can’t take credit for the centerpiece. This was my mother’s idea. We realized about 20 minutes before the party that our moss needed a little something extra, so she cut down a branch off one of the neighbor’s trees and hot glued butterflies on it. It turned out pretty perfect.

4. Upon entry to the party, our little guests received a pair of wings and a skirt. All purchased at the dollar store. If you don’t shop at the dollar store for party favors you are missing out! Plates and napkins were also purchased at the dollar store!

5. I hire someone else to entertain my kids, so I can enjoy some time with the other mamas, sit back and take pictures, and enjoy all the yummy food 😉 Is that wrong?

6. I decided to go with cupcakes this year. Wow, that made things so much easier! Last year it was about 100 degrees and cutting a cake while you have 15 kids waiting for a slice was a lot of pressure and I will never do it again!

That’s pretty much it! You too can throw a dreamy butterfly party for your little one. I’m not sure who had more fun, me or Elle 😉

A Very First Birthday Outfit! (& Tutorial)

January 1, 2010 by Ashley Hackshaw

cupcake applique tutorial via lilblueboo.com

My friend Jenn asked me to make her daughter Callie’s outfit for her big first birthday bash in a few days…..complete with cupcakes, ruffles, sprinkle fabric and a single birthday candle!

cupcake applique tutorial 2 via lilblueboo.com
The cupcake applique and sleeves of the onesie have matching pink tulle and sprinkle fabric ruffles.

cupcake applique tutorial 3 via lilblueboo.com
The skirt is made from Jona’s Evelyn Apron Skirt pattern (without the apron) using Michael Miller’s “Cupcakes on Pink” fabric and some cute sprinkle fabric I found at Joann’s. I modified the size 2 to fit a one-year old.

Closeup of the cupcake applique:

The contrasting sprinkle trim on the skirt:

To make the bottom part of the cupcake I applied Wonder Under to the back of a dark brown fabric and then cut it into 1/4″ strips.

Then I ironed them 1/4″ apart onto white muslin, curving slightly to resemble a baking cup shape…..

…. and trimmed it into the bottom of the cupcake shape. I appliqued the bottom cup, the top of the cupcake, a candle and flame onto a onesie using Wonder Under and stitched each shape around each shape to secure. I used one row of stitching for each brown fabric strip on the baking cup.

For the cupcake icing I cut a few strips of pink mesh tulle…..

……and sewed down the middle of each piece, holding the top spool lightly in place every few inches, to create gathers (a little trick I learned from my friend Vanessa over at V&Co).