Circus Theme First Birthday Party

Lucy and Levi turned one!! And it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Around eighty of our friends and family came over to celebrate with us. Lucy and Levi had a wonderful time being passed around. And when it came to eat some cake, Levi had two fistfuls and smeared it in his hair while Lucy couldn't keep her eyes open (it was nap time). We sang "Happy Birthday" to both kids individually because although they share a birthday, I want them to feel like it's a special day for both of them.

We also passed around "If I Ran The Circus" book by Dr. Seuss for our guests to sign and write a note for the twins. 

Activities for the kids:

We had a plethora of things for the kiddos to play with; a ball pit, face painting, temporary tattoos, punch balloons, clown noses, crazy straws, and a water table.

The Menu:

For appetizers we had a fruit tray, veggie tray, chips of every variety, pickle roll up dip, and queso dip. We put popcorn and chex mix on the tables.

Our lunch was fried and grilled chicken from Jewel, Jimmy Johns sandwiches, pasta salad, potato salad, and 7 layer salad.

For dessert we served snow cones, cheesecake, cotton candy, clown cupcakes, and a three tiered circus cake from Sams Club. 

For drinks, we used a kiddy pool filled with ice. And the drink dispensers and wine were kept on a table on the patio.

Welcome to the Davis Family Circus!

DIY: Burlap Placecards

Can you see a theme in my recent posts? Burlap, folks. I'm obsessed with it right now.

For Thanksgiving, I wanted to make my own place cards instead of going out and buying them.

For this craft, I used:

• Hot glue gun & glue sticks
• Card stock
• Scissors
• Felt Pens
• Ruler
• Scorer/Box Cutter/Credit Card
• Burlap (or whatever you want to embellish your place cards!)

I cut the card stock paper in 3in x 3 1/2in rectangles. I got about 6 place cards per 8x11in paper.

I then marked the halfway point on the 3 1/2in side, which is 1 3/4 in.

I then scored it across using my cutter/scorer template (Martha Stewart from Michael's). If you don't have one, you could lightly score the place card with scissors, bow cutter, or a credit card.

I then wrote out the names of my guests and then folded the place cards. Then, I cut little squares of burlap and then folded them in half. 

At this point, you could customize your place cards with whatever you'd like! For instance, I made my own place cards for my wedding and embellished them with buttons in our wedding colors:

(Aren't they super cute!?)

Okay, let's get back to business!

I took my hot glue gun and put it inside the burlap and then glued them on the place cards! They turned out so cute!

If you end up making your own -- let me know and share a picture!

DIY: Burlap Napkin Ring

I just bought napkins for the Thanksgiving meal Will and I will be hosting -- but I just couldn't find napkin rings that I liked enough to buy. I called my friend Aly who suggested I make them from paper towel rolls! I love that girl - she is so creative!

After some trial & error, here are my finished napkin rings:

Supplies:

• Burlap, or fabric/ribbon
• Glue gun & glue sticks
• Marker
• Tape measure
• Box cutter
• Scissors
• Paper Towel Roll

I started by marking the paper towel roll at 1 inch intervals.

All marked up!

Before I cut the rolls with my scissors, I had to make a small incision with a box cutter.

After making the incisions, the roll was super easy to cut.

The roll yielded about 11 rings.

I cut about 3/4 inch wide chevron burlap ribbon about 20 inches long.

I started by putting a dab of glue inside the roll.

I then placed the ribbon inside and made sure it was secure.

I then wrapped it around, making sure it was tight.

Then I added another dab of hot glue and continued to wrap the roll, overlapping just a little.

All done!

They are the perfect size for the napkins!

I tried different burlap fabric I had. I found that the burlap that had a painted print held better than plain burlap. 

I think it would be so cute to make these again but with a solid ribbon color and then add buttons!

They looked amazing on the napkins! 

And the cost? Practically nothing! I had all the supplies at home :)

If you make your own, let me know how they turned out! Feel free to include pictures!