Backyard Baby-Q Bash
This event is coming up quickly and it is not going to be the typical baby shower. Since Memphis came early, we decided to have more of an introduction party for her and we wanted to include the guys, too. Danielle is not fond of the typical shower with the typical games anyway. We decided to host a backyard barbecue with cornhole and ladder ball games instead.
PicMonkey, a photo editing site, is my favorite site for editing photos and creating labels, posters, etc. The invitation I came up with reminded me of a steamboat poster. Doesn't Memphis Belle sound like it should be the name of a steamboat? I know, it was actually the name of a B-17 bomber. It still makes me think of a steamboat.
I have been to showers that asked everyone to share words of wisdom for the parents of the baby. Danielle liked that idea. It should be fun to read all the comments later. Since I designed the invitations on PicMonkey, I went back and designed a label for the canning jar we are using to collect the notes everyone will write.
As I was looking for some burlap fabric in my storage room, I found a roll of six-inch burlap ribbon. I thought that would be perfect for wrapping the canning jar and using it as a background for the 'Words of Wisdom' label. So, that is what I did. I think it looks rather nice. Target had a little notepad printed with 'Remember' across the top and I thought it was perfect for the notes. A pen was all I needed to complete that project.
In the middle of working on the jar, the idea of using the burlap ribbon for a pennant came to mind. I had planned to buy burlap fabric for that, but the ribbon would do just fine.
I made a template from regular paper. The triangle is eight and one-half inches long and the width of the ribbon, (six inches) wide. I included an extra inch at the top to fold over to slip the twine through. I used the font 'Rye' on PicMonkey to make the letters two and a half inches tall and printed each on a separate paper. Then I laid the burlap triangle over the printed letter. Using a black magic marker, I just traced each of the letters onto a burlap triangle. At first, I was planning on using a ruler to copy the letters precisely, but it was easier and looked pretty good without using it.
As you can see in the picture, it was easy to see the letters through the burlap. After I finished a letter, I folded over the top and placed it on twine, which was draped across the front of my black kitchen island. Immediately, I noticed the letters looked much more clear with a black background.
So, it was back to my fabric scraps. I found a good sized piece of black knit. It almost looked like felt and I thought it would work nicely, and it did. In the next day or two, I will be posting more detailed instructions on these two projects. Look for it under the Entertaining Inspirations tab.
