Lets Party!

The time has come to start getting down to business with my party planning.  I have to start planning waaaay in advance because I like to do DIY decorations and I am only able to DIY after my little one is asleep.  And I can only stay up so late, since I work full time and they do not appreciate it when I take a nap at my desk (just kidding.....maybe...).  

My idea for a "camping" themed birthdays started last year when I saw the "Fort Pippa" birthday posted on 100 Layer Cakelet's blog.  And the idea continued to build as my daughter's love for animals increased.  I've thought about trying to build a tent or tee-pee for her to play in for a while.  Whether or not that actually happens is still yet to be seen, but I figured a camping birthday would be a good excuse for me when I explain to the hubby why we have a tent taking up so much space in our small apartment.

I've slowly been collecting an assortment of stuffed woodland animals to use at the party and I also started work on creating cutout animals like the ones in featured in the photos from the Fort Pippa party.  

I started creating the cutouts by finding outline drawing of animals online, printing them and then filling them in to create the look I like.  Then I used the projector in my husband's classroom to project the image on white cardboard I purchased at Hobby Lobby.  I drew my image on the cardboard.    

 The next step was cutting out the animals (which was a lot harder than it sounds).

 After the animals were cut out, I outlined them with Sharpie pens.  

I love how they turned out!  Right now I have them on the walls around my daughter's toys for decoration (since the party is not until November). Since these turned out so well, I am contemplating doing a few more animals.  Perhaps some rabbits or maybe a bear cub....