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"big sis"
A party favor bag to hand to each child is a must in my book. It’s a nice way to say “thanks for coming to celebrate with us”. Plus and this is a BIG plus, most children expect something! haha! We once left a party empty-handed and my daughter was SO confused…never mind they fed us and entertained us, she didn’t understand why she was not given a favor (granted, she was 3 or 4 at the time).
The dilemma is always do I just buy them or do I personalize them by making them? I’ve done both but always have the need to decorate the paper ones still! Sheesh! What’s wrong with me?! So, I decided the week of the party that they would be made! My twins were sweet enough to let me use fabric I had stashed away instead of making another trip to the fabric store.
So this is where it pays off to buy fabric by the bolt 
I measured the widest party treats and added a few inches on the sides for the bag. For the length, take your longest treat and add 5 inches extra to the height of your bag. My bag measured 7 x 9 inches.
MATERIALS:
- Sewing Machine
-
Fabric
- Pinking Shears
- Grosgrain Ribbon to match your fabric
- Marking Pen
HOW TO:
1. Cut 2 pieces of your fabric using your pinking shears, which will minimize the fraying. Mine measured 7.5 x 9.5.
2. Cut a piece of ribbon; ribbon should go around the bag and be long enough to tie into a bow. Mine measured 20.5 inches.
3. Pin the ribbon at the center of the bag, approximately 4 inches from the top. I realized after the kids had packed up their goodies, that the top was too short and slipping out of the ties. This measurement will ensure that you have enough fabric above the ribbon so that it will not slip out.
3. Mark with your disappearing ink where you will stitch up the ribbon. I just eyeballed the center and spaced the stitches 3/4 of an inch apart.
zig zag stitch or
straight stitch
4. Pin wrong sides together and sew the two sides and bottom using 1/4 seam allowance.
5. Clip the corner and turn the bag inside out.
completed bag!
bag filled with party favors!
big sis
for the twins’ 7th birthday is coming along.
I’ve got the dot garlands stitched up and ready to go!
via Instagram (@lilsprinkles)
And I’m almost done sewing up the party favor bags. I contemplated buying some but at a $1 per bag, I could not justify it! I got extra lucky because my twins didn’t mind me using fabric I had on hand. It all makes sense…why I buy bolts of fabric, that is.
Here’s a twist on the traditional drawstring bags that I made here. I’m hoping to get a tutorial up as soon as I finish whipping them up. They are so much quicker than drawstring pouches!
So that’s what I’ve been up to. I am fighting a cold and I’m not sure if it has to do with this crazy weather we are having in SoCal or if it’s all the prepping/planning that’s breaking down my immune system. I’ve got lots to do still and am making a mental note that having parties at home (for me) is not such a good idea. haha! For some reason, I can’t just do a “normal kid’s party”. I feel the need to go above and beyond and for that, my body is paying for it. I’m sure that going to Hawaii (for the 1st time as a family of 5) just 3 days following the bday party is not really helping the stress level, huh? This vaca couldn’t come soon enough. I hope to check in before I check in to paradise Hope you have a happy Wednesday. Thanks for stopping by!
big sis
We were so excited when Printic contacted us to check out their app…b/c you know we love Instagram (follow us @lilsprinkles) and esp love being able to order prints right from our phone. Printic is a free app which allows you to choose your pictures, crop them, select who you want to send your pictures to, and the recipient will receive a print that much resembles a polaroid picture! Love! So here’s what we liked/disliked about the app…
The pros:
- Super easy to use b/c the pictures are right on your phone! You can also email yourself pictures off your computer, save them to your camera roll, and use those too.
- The end result is a super cute polaroid looking picture!
- You can also add text to your pictures.
- You can select multiple recipients and they ship the pictures for you.
- They are fast! We received the prints 3 days later.
The cons:
- You must purchase 3 images per order.
- Beware of using characters and emoticons…lil sis used Korean characters and heart emoticons, and they showed up as ? (question marks) and unfortunately, there was no error message to warn her that they were not going to print according to her wishes. See below.
Lil sis likes to send pictures to her in-laws since they live in the mid-west and can’t see their grandchildren. This app would totally save her time because they take care of the processing and shipping for you. Now you know you can’t use special characters or it will turn out like that.
So there’s our review! Definitely worth a try at $0.99 an image/$2.97 for the minimum order.
big sis
***We were not offered compensation for this post and all opinions are our own***
Thank you, Jenny! Happy 1st birthday to your lil one
big sis
Thank you, Tali! Hope your lil one adores her!
big sis
They are so sweet and loving to one another. Baby girl completely adores both her brother and sister but I must admit, she does have a different relationship with her sister. When big sis cries, baby girl will sit on her lap and lean in close (her way of giving hugs). When big sis is not in sight, baby girl can be heard shouting for her. When big sis is doing something on the iPad, baby girl is right beside her. When big sis is reading a book, baby girl finds a book of her own and plops down next to her. Although they are a lil more than 5.5 years apart, I do hope that they will grow up to be besties!
big sis dusting the dirt off of lil sis’ shirt. melts. my. heart.
big sis
I knew immediately when I saw this
from here
that this is how I am going to decorate the twins’ 7th birthday party. Isn’t it so purty?! It’s tough trying to come up with a unisex theme especially when my son is very much a boy and my daughter is such a girlie girl. My only concern is that this decoration is going to be hung on my patio in the backyard and if it took 2 people 4 hours to set this up, how will 1 person do it in 1 hour (the time I allotted for decorations on the day of)?!?! that is the question…sigh…So my next thought is to set it up at night but then I’ll risk the morning dew possible ruining it. The things I ponder…
This is the 2nd birthday party we are having at our house and I’m making it a drop off only party. Yikes! I’m a lil scared but I’m trying to cover all my bases to make sure the kids are not bored and running amuck in my house
So the invites are almost done and then I’ll be ready to go into full-blown party planning mode. It’s gonna be a stressful time indeed…with the party, teacher appreciation week, Mother’s day, and our big vacation coming up…all occurring in a matter of a 10 day span. I see loads of checklists in my near future!
I have finally got all the dollies up in the shop and will be pulling down the custom doll listings until about June-July. Thanks for stopping by!
big sis
Shop update will finally happen Monday, April 15. It took me awhile but I’ll have some new girls, including big sisters, in the shop. Here’s a sneak preview…
The Big Sisters
The Lil Sisters
And a few more…
See you Monday! Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!
big sis
I’m addicted to Instagram (@lilsprinkles)! haha! I was one of those peeps who got a Facebook account waaaay late and by the time I got on, it seemed like alot of people stopped being so active on it. But Instagram…I don’t care who’s on or not, I’m hooked on the filters! So here’s what we’ve been up to this spring break.
Easter egg hunting
Outing to the zoo
A whole lot of eating out!
A tiny bit of crafting
And some baseball-ing
Spring break is almost over and while I loved having the kids home (although let me tell you…there were a few moments when I started counting down!), I did find that we were quite busy…busier than when they are at school! It gave me a glimpse of what my/our summer will look like.
The twins have a movie date + sleepover at their grandparents while the baby and I will be enjoying the peace and quiet at home. Hope you are having a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by!
big sis
You’ve probably seen glimpses of my backyard if you follow @lilsprinkles on Instagram. While I don’t have a green thumb and I like things very clean and minimal in my space, I have accumulated an overabundance of cymbidium orchids…mainly due to my father-in-law’s friend. Remember my orchid teacher from this post?
You’ve probably seen glimpses of my backyard if you follow @lilsprinkles on Instagram. While I don’t have a green thumb and I like things very clean and minimal in my space, I have accumulated an overabundance of cymbidium orchids…mainly due to my father-in-law’s friend. Remember my orchid teacher from this post?
10 alone on this table, 18 on the ground surrounding my patio set
And while we don’t use our patio set, I didn’t necessarily want to use it as a plant stand. So I searched online to see if I could make some kind of stand + shade covering for my orchids but c’mon, who do I think I am?! haha! Plus, I didn’t find much out there, even on Pinterest! So here is what I found!
Panacea 3-Tier Nesting Plant Stand
It’s quite sturdy. My 6 year olds tested this out by sitting on them! And very easy to put together. My son did half of the work while I cooked dinner! I love it so much that I’m considering buying another one!
I’m still working on a shop update. I’ll have about 9 lil sisters and big sisters combined. I’ll do my best to post pictures of the girls before I list them in the shop…no promises I’ll have all 3 kids at home for the next week and we’ve got lots of activities planned. Is spring break over yet? haha! Thanks for stopping by!
big sis
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