Friday, March 30, 2012

{Give Away} Hippity Hop Easter Collection - FREE One Day Only


Happy Friday everyone!! Can you believe that Easter is just about ONE week away??!


I just realized that I haven't done a Give Away on my own blog in a while and that I recently reached 2272 Facebook Fans and 691 Blog Followers! WOW! I couldn't be more thrilled!!! (Like I've said before why only do give aways for even numbers??! Boooring!)


SOOOO I started thinking that a lot of you might be crafting this weekend to prepare for your Easter celebrations and it might be perfect timing to GIVE AWAY my Easter Collection for FREE (just for today)!! FUN, right??!


Just click the link here. Once you get to the document page, click "File" in the upper left corner and then click "Download" from the drop down menu. Easy! I hope all your parties next weekend are fabulous!!


This give away has ended.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

{Tips & Hints} Lorax Party Truffula Tree Tutorial


Ever since I posted the Lorax Inspiration Party, I have received  so many sweet email requests for the Truffula Tree Tutorial that I just had to put everything aside and get it up here on the blog so you all can have a few fun Truffula Trees at your upcoming Lorax Parties!

To make one tree you will need the following...


- 1 Package of Tidy Pins
- 5 Feather Boas (these are the cheapy ones)
- 1 8" Styrofoam Disk (I used 8", 10" and 5" disks for the party)
- 1 Stick (I used birch)


1. Create a small spiral out of the boa in the center of your disk


2. Insert one or two of the pins to securely hold it in place


3. Continue wrapping the boa around itself to create an ever widening spiral and secure with pins as you go.


4. Create your spiral to the edge of your disk and secure with a pin.

5. Wrap the outside edge of your disk with boa and secure with pins. 


6. Repeat steps 1-4 until the whole disk is covered and tuck the end of the boa in and secure with a pin.


7. Turn the disk so that the edge is facing you. Clear a space in the feathers so that you can make sure that your insertion point will be centered and insert your stick into the styrofoam.


And there you have it... one completed Truffula Tree!


To give them a finished look, I layered some Super Moss on top of half circles of styrofoam and then arranged the trees in the foam.

The boas, tidy pins, styrofoam and moss can be purchased from Joann Fabrics.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. And I hope that all your Lorax parties are magical!

All the Party Printable items for the this part can be found in my shop in both the original Pink Palette and in the Orange Palette...




Thursday, March 1, 2012

{GWD Parties} Dr. Seuss' Lorax Inspiration Party


When I heard that a movie was coming out based on The Lorax book by Dr. Seuss (yep, a little barbaloot in the form of Lauren from Baby Lifestyles Magazine whispered it. Thanks, Lauren!), I was super excited. And THEN when I saw the trailer, I squeaked! A bright, beautiful, whimsical world AND a story that really has something wonderful to say.... What an AMAZING idea for a party, right??!


I knew I didn't want to wait around for a client to come to me with the idea (because who knew if anyone ever would), so I took all my excitement for the idea and pulled together a fun inspiration party. So if you have a little Lorax in your house, who wants to celebrate their birthday AND "speak for the trees" I have a few ideas to help get the ball rollin' on your Lorax party!

It's always fun to set the stage for a party with a welcome sign and for this party I made one that was Seussian inspired!


Right off the bat I wanted to pull the kids into Dr. Seuss' magical world so I created a combo kid's table/dessert table. I decided that kids are always drawn to dessert tables like moths to a flame and parties are about fun, so why fight it? Give the kids what they want!


This one is laden with brightly colored cupcakes decorated with a fanciful sugar flowers...


...cute Barbaloot and Lorax cookies...


...little milk bottles filled with orange juice and adorn with bows, mustaches and sweet stripey straws...


...not to mention adorable Lorax and Barbaloot cake pops!


I have to mention that I was blown away by the Lorax cake pops! When I first approached Sarah, of Mom's Killer Cakes and Cookies, a couple months ago about this party I couldn't even imagine how you would make Lorax cake pops and what one would look like, but I knew I really wanted them on the table. Sarah never batted an eyelash. She just jumped right in (bravely going where no cake pop designer had gone before) and within days these beautiful cake pops arrived at my doorstep!


Keeping the message of the book in the forefront of my mind, I used cloth napkins, bamboo plates and utensils, glass milk bottles, cardboard straws and reusable baking cups as well as an up-cycled nubby rug to help add recyclable, reusable, renewable whimsy to the table.


And of course what Lorax tablescape would be complete without Truffula Trees??! 


I created these by adhering feather boas to a few styrofoam discs with neat pins and sticking them on some birch branches. (tutorial here: http://www.gwynnwassondesigns.com/2012/03/tips-hints-lorax-party-truffula-tree.html)


All parties need activities to keep the good times rollin', so in the spirit of the Lorax I set up a potting station...


...and came up with a little game idea that I like to call "Recycling Relay".


For this game each team is presented with a bin of various recyclable and non-recyclable items. (Be sure to mark each teams' items with a different color.) All the teams are lined up along a homebase line and about 10 feet away a recyclables sorting bin is set up.


After a brief lesson about recycling and how to determine what items are recyclable and which are not, it's on your mark, get set.... GO!! A single member of each team takes one item at a time and runs it from the homebase line to the sorting bins, puts the item into the correct bin, runs back, and tags the next member of their team to repeat the process. Whichever team finishes first with all their items correctly sorted wins!

Once all the sweets are devoured, games are played and happy birthdays are sung, it's time for all the little Lorax's to go home. And what better way to send them off to continue all the earth-lovin' goodness than with a small pot and packet so that they too can protect "last of the seeds"!


Credits:

- Party Styling & Printables - Gwynn Wasson Designs
- Small Sugar Flowers - Cupcakes by Christy
- Large Sugar Flowers - Wilton
- Stripey Straws - Polka Dot Market
- Pom Pom Fringe and Napkin Fabric - Jo-ann Fabric
- Bamboo Forks and Plates - Party City