Since A was born, I’ve made her stacks of hair accessories. First I made her the cutest baby hair bands, then we moved on to endless clips for those little pigtails.

As she grew older, she decided that she liked headbands again. And while it hardly contains her hair, I decided to treat her to some new ones for Passover!

Today, I’m going to teach you how to make a simple DIY ribbon headband – in literally minutes. You’re using the ribbon to make a small rosette placed off-center on a stiff headband, for a gorgeous and classy accessory that can be customized as you wish.

You can add more style if you’d like with a button (more ideas below) and switch up the base headband to really make it your own.

Tips for making a DIY ribbon headband

Choosing your ribbon

Your best ribbons for making a DIY ribbon headband will be fabric ones, but the size and texture matters a LOT.

I started off with 1.5 inch chiffon ribbon and it came out fabulous. I pulled out a ribbon that I thought was similar, but I guess was closer to 2 inches, and it was just huge. This one was an organza one that was less stiff – and yes, the chiffon was quite soft, but still had enough structure to hold.

Think about it this way: your rosette will be almost double the size of your ribbon width. So a 1.5 inch ribbon makes an almost 3 inch in bow – which is quite large.

And while you’re scrunching it a bit and that gives it structure, if it’s too wide, the parts that don’t lay on the headband will be floppy, unless it’s a bit thicker.

Embellishing it

You might get a perfectly clean, scrunched center on your DIY ribbon headband, or you might not. Either way, it loos so pretty when you add a little something to the center! I added a big shiny gold button to mine that perfectly picked up the metallics from our bronze shimmery ribbon.

It was a holdover in my button box and it made this A’s favorite headband that she asks to wear every day.

You can pair other embellishments with the appropriate ribbons. Pair something more sporty with a felt pom pom, pair velvet with a rhinestone embellished piece, pair tulle with a crystal bead.

The base

For my base headband, I used two options. One was a fabric wrapped and padded thin headband. The other was a soft plastic black blank one. The problem was that the black one wasn’t sticking and I couldn’t figure out why!

Turns out it was actually silicone. Silicone is a nonstick surface – hot glue simply will not hold.

If you have silicone coated headbands, you can try other glues, but I’d actually suggest making a felt circle and sandwiching the headband between the rosette and the circle, gluing the circle to the rosette on either side of the headband. It’ll be able to slide around but not while worn.

Or, just stick to fabric coated ones. You can also get flat foldover elastic or pantyhose style headbands to turn these into infant headbands. Read reviews so you’re getting good, soft ones and not stiff ones.

How to make a DIY ribbon headband

Supplies

• Fabric Ribbon – something like 1.5 inch with frayed edges is perfect
• Fabric scissors
• A button for the center
• Needle and thread
• Base headband (avoid silicone/nonstick textures)
• Hot glue gun – I used Surebonder’s Hot Glue Pen for this.

Watch the video

Watch the full-length video on YouTube if you prefer to learn that way! Or scroll down for written instructions with photos.

Process

1. Cut your ribbon to about 18-24 inches, depending how full you want your rosette to be. Thread your needle and knot the end. Start sewing a running stitch along the edge of your ribbon (but not too close – leave about 1/4 inch “seam allowance”. You’re just going in and out. The distance between your stitches and stitch size will determine the size of the cinches.

Every few stitches, push back and gather the ribbon – meaning, pull the running stitch tight so it gathers the fabric at that end.

2. Keep going until you reach the end and thread through your starting point once. If you’re finding that it’s full enough and you have extra ribbon, simply trim the excess and proceed with this step.

3. Thread through the center a few times – just sewing the ends together in a few directions around that center point.

4. When you’re done, finish off your thread and trim. Glue a button or other embellishment over the center.

5. Glue your rosette to the headband base.

Your DIY ribbon headband is complete! What kind of fun accessory do you want me to show you how to make next? Comment below!

Yield: 1

How to Make a Ribbon Flower Headband

Active Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: $5

Craft the easiest and prettiest DIY ribbon headband in minutes!

Print

Materials

• Fabric Ribbon - something like 1.5 inch with frayed edges is perfect
• Fabric scissors
• A button for the center
• Needle and thread
• Base headband (avoid silicone/nonstick textures)
• Hot glue gun - I used Surebonder's Hot Glue Pen for this.

Instructions

1. Cut your ribbon to about 18-24 inches, depending how full you want your rosette to be. Thread your needle and knot the end. Start sewing a running stitch along the edge of your ribbon (but not too close - leave about 1/4 inch "seam allowance". You're just going in and out. The distance between your stitches and stitch size will determine the size of the cinches.
Every few stitches, push back and gather the ribbon - meaning, pull the running stitch tight so it gathers the fabric at that end.

2. Keep going until you reach the end and thread through your starting point once. If you're finding that it's full enough and you have extra ribbon, simply trim the excess and proceed with this step.

3. Thread through the center a few times - just sewing the ends together in a few directions around that center point.

4. When you're done, finish off your thread and trim. Glue a button or other embellishment over the center.

5. Glue your rosette to the headband base.

Your DIY ribbon headband is complete! What kind of fun accessory do you want me to show you how to make next? Comment below!

Notes

If you have silicone coated headbands, you can try other glues, but I'd actually suggest making a felt circle and sandwiching the headband between the rosette and the circle, gluing the circle to the rosette on either side of the headband. It'll be able to slide around but not while worn.

I started off with 1.5 inch chiffon ribbon and it came out fabulous. I pulled out a ribbon that I thought was similar, but I guess was closer to 2 inches, and it was just huge. This one was an organza one that was less stiff - and yes, the chiffon was quite soft, but still had enough structure to hold.

Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

The post DIY Ribbon Headband appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

When I designed baby J’s one cake topper SVG, I actually put together a few styles. I chose the one that said “one” for that event, and laser cut it from plywood as I had planned.

But then, for A’s fourth birthday, I decided to make this Happy Birthday cake topper! The number on the balloon is added externally, so that you can do it for any age group. I’ll share more details below.

Get the Happy Birthday Cake Topper SVG files

This is a premium download, available in my shop and on Etsy. Your purchase helps keep this blog alive and the tutorials coming.

About the Happy Birthday cake topper

The party theme

A’s fourth birthday was done in a dress-up theme. She’s a fancy dress kind of girl, so we made a fancy dress kind of party!

While I did not go with a solid color scheme, I did incorporate lots of gold, pink, and other metallics, just because she loves that. So I crafted the cake topper in those colors.

I also added some pearl beads in the form of a “pearl necklace” pennant banner on the bottom to fit with the theme.

Why cake toppers?

We have a family tradition that is relatively new to have a “birthday babka” instead of a birthday cake. It’s just that babkas are delicious – much yummier than birthday cake, much cheaper than birthday cake, and look pretty with a cake topper!

The simple babka really lets the topper shine.

Cake toppers really “crown off” a cake, and allow you to incorporate a theme without getting a custom cake (or making one yourself).

I like toppers because I’m more of a crafter than a cake decorator, so if you’re the same way, you may prefer it too.

Crafting the Happy Birthday cake topper

While I did not record a proper tutorial (this is a “make it to suit YOUR event kind of craft), here are some general crafting guidelines.

Materials you can use

Wood is one of my favorite materials to use for cake toppers. However, I decided to make this one from cardstock so that I can use my Cricut to cut it.

I chose glitter cardstock and metallic poster to go with the theme. If you’re making yours from cardstock, definitely use straws or skewers as the sticks – don’t rely on the spokes in the template. But your file does have spokes in case you’re using acrylic and want it to be in one piece.

Assembling the basics

Your file comes in a few layers, ready to cut however you’d like. I used a hot glue gun to connect the parts, and straws to place it in the cake.

When sending the file to your machine to cut (whether it’s a laser cutter or blade cutter like I used), you can add and attach, or slice elements to the balloon. Type the number of the birthday, add a first initial, or even try attaching a name to the bottom of the “Happy Birthday” portion.

Making it your own

You’ll want to tie your Happy Birthday cake topper into the party theme. Choose papers to match. For me, it was going all glam with the fancy dress theme.

You can choose patterned scrapbook paper to match your theme, and include it only on the smaller parts. For example, get leopard print paper for a safari theme and use it on the balloon only. Then use it in more of your party decorations too.

If you’d like, you can also dangle a banner, like I enjoy doing on my cake toppers. Try a beaded banner or a pennant-style one. On this one, I used glass pearls to give it a dress-up vibe.

If you haven’t yet, you can download the Happy Birthday cake topper right here!

The post Happy Birthday Cake Topper appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

Today I’m sharing the next post in a series featuring the different things I made for Baby Jay’s first birthday party! First, I shared a DIY felt birthday crown for babies and then I shared a 1st birthday photo garland that was so meaningful.

I’m all about the garlands, and this one is great for any birthday party. In fact, once you learn how to make tassels from tissue paper, you won’t want to stop! It’s such an affordable and easy party decor idea that’s classy too.

Tissue paper comes in virtually any color of the rainbow, which means that you can match a tissue paper tassel garland to basically any party you’re planning. And since you get at least two tassels per sheet of tissue paper, it’s affordable to make too. A little bit goes a long way!

I made these 2-4 to a sheet of tissue paper. You can make full sheet tissue paper tassels and cluster them together hanging individually from string at different heights instead.

You can also make these as graduation decor, whether you’re making jumbo graduation caps or just looking for themed decor!

Try making these as holiday decor too, in whichever colors you’re decorating for the holidays. You’ll even be able to use the leftover tissue paper for wrapping gifts!

For Baby Jay’s birthday, I stuck to a beige and sage green color scheme, with some gold touches. I did a soft “grow with me” theme. By soft, I mean the theme, not just the colors. I didn’t make the theme “in your face” – it just seemed appropriate to accompany the “watch me grow” banner with gentle botanicals.

I always like to layer my garlands, and this one goes fabulously with flower pom poms from tissue paper, sewn paper garlands, and even a fabulous happy birthday banner!

What you’ll need

• Tissue paper sheets in your party theme colors. How many you need depends on how big you’re making them, but you can definitely make two from a sheet.
• Scissors
• Good quality washi tape
• Twine or ribbon to string up a garland

Watch the YouTube Video

Watch the full-length video on YouTube if you prefer to learn that way! Or scroll down for written instructions with photos.

How to make tassels from tissue paper

We’re going to be making two tassels at a time.

1. Take a sheet of tissue paper and fold it in half the long way – it’s probably the way it came packaged. Cut it in half on this fold.

2. Stack both halves, and then fold them in half the long way.

3. Fold in half the other way, shortening the length.

4. You can fold it again the same way to shorten it further, so you’ll need to make fewer cuts.

5. One side should have all folds and one should have all open ends.

Cut fringe into the side with all open ends.

Leave about an inch from the top (at the fold) to form a loop at the end. How wide you make your fringe depends on your preference, but don’t leave it too wide – it won’t look nice. Too narrow and you’ll accidentally be cutting fringe off.

Cut fringe like this all the way across.

6. Unfold your fringed tassel.

7. Unfold it the other way and separate the two sheets.

8. Make sure your tissue paper is on your work surface with the wrong side face up. Fold it in half so that you have fringe on the right and the left. This step isn’t strictly necessary but it makes the next step easier.

9. Start rolling up your fringed tissue paper from the bottom until you reach the end.

10. Hold it in the center.

And then twist the center to secure it.

11. Fold the center into a loop.

12. Secure the loop around both sides of your tassel with washi tape.

13. String the tassels into a garland.

You’ve successfully learned how to make tassels from tissue paper! What will you be using yours for? Comment below!

DIY Tassel Garland from Tissue Paper

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Beginner

Print

Materials

• Tissue paper sheets in your party theme colors.
• Scissors
• Good quality washi tape
• Twine or ribbon to string up a garland

Instructions

We're going to be making two tassels at a time.

1. Take a sheet of tissue paper and fold it in half the long way - it's probably the way it came packaged. Cut it in half on this fold.

2. Stack both halves, and then fold them in half the long way.

3. Fold in half the other way, shortening the length.

4. You can fold it again the same way to shorten it further, so you'll need to make fewer cuts.

5. One side should have all folds and one should have all open ends.

Cut fringe into the side with all open ends.

Leave about an inch from the top (at the fold) to form a loop at the end. How wide you make your fringe depends on your preference, but don't leave it too wide - it won't look nice. Too narrow and you'll accidentally be cutting fringe off.

Cut fringe like this all the way across.

6. Unfold your fringed tassel.

7. Unfold it the other way and separate the two sheets.

8. Make sure your tissue paper is on your work surface with the wrong side face up. Fold it in half so that you have fringe on the right and the left. This step isn't strictly necessary but it makes the next step easier.

9. Start rolling up your fringed tissue paper from the bottom until you reach the end.

10. Hold it in the center.

And then twist the center to secure it.

11. Fold the center into a loop.

12. Secure the loop around both sides of your tassel with washi tape.

13. String the tassels into a garland.

You've successfully learned how to make tassels from tissue paper! What will you be using yours for? Comment below!

Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

The post How to Make Tassels from Tissue Paper appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

Try one of my favorite birthday party decorating hacks at your next event: buy a pack of tissue paper in colors to match your party decor, and see how many decorations you can make with it!

Today, I’m going to show you how to make flower pom poms from tissue paper – and yes, I have more coming.

I made these for Baby J’s first birthday party, which had a neutral theme, with forest and sage green, beige, and gold – and hints of eucalyptus.

How to make any size flower pom poms from tissue paper

These tissue paper pom poms take minutes to assemble the base for, and since it’s one of those things that still require a lot of assembly after purchasing (they come accordion folded and flat), you might as well buy them! Tissue paper comes in a wider variety of colors than the pom poms, so you can really match up anything while saving a few bucks and making an impact!

This is the kind of decoration that really fills a room, kind of like balloons, only without the danger of popped balloons floating around your one-year-old’s house after!

And the coolest part: you can make them in virtually any size!

My tutorial shows how to make half-sheet flower tissue paper pom poms. You can make whole sheet ones – just use more layers. Do quarter-sheet ones with fewer layers.

You get my drift!

Mine are hung at various heights at either side of a garland (tutorial coming soon) to really frame out a room.

Where to use your tissue paper pom poms

We used this at a first birthday party for a soft but neutral look. More ideas for where to include tissue paper pom poms in your decor:

• Baby shower – this is so perfect for that because of how soft and calming they are
• Bridal shower
• Kids party – while balloons might be more fun, getting these in the right colors can fill that same spirit
• Dorm room – if you’re looking for fun, cheap decor for your bedroom or dorm room, these are a fabulous choice.

How to make flower pom poms from tissue paper – Step by Step

You’ll need

• Tissue paper to match your party
• Scissors
• String
• A marker
• A ruler

Video Tutorial

Watch the YouTube video below for a step-by-step tutorial, or scroll down for photos.

Photo/Written Tutorial

1. Take four sheets of tissue paper, and fold them in half (how they’re usually packaged). Cut off that fold line near the edge so you have eight sheets.

2. Place the stack vertically on a flat surface. Start from the bottom. Accordion fold your tissue paper with about 3/4 inch folds.

4. Use a bone folder to smooth the creases as you go along and when you reach the end.

5. Shape your edges. You can definitely play with different shapes! On your first try, I recommend cutting a pointy edge by cutting off the corners. On this one, I did a rounded end.

6. Mark the center. This won’t show and can be permanent.

7. Cut a long piece of string – 2x the length you want it to hang, plus about 6 inches. At the halfway point of the string, fold it in half, and slide the fold under the center point of the folded tissue paper.

8. Slide your string ends through that loop and pull it closed.

9. Wrap the two sides of your string around that center and knot them together.

10. Fan out the sides of your accordion fold to form a bow.

11. Gently peel back a layer at a time, fluffing it out. Do this for half your layers on the right and left sides.

12. Flip over and repeat with the remaining layers.

You’ve successfully learned how to make flower pom poms from tissue paper for your next party! Now try it in more colors and with different edges!

Hang it from that long bit of string you left behind.

Which occasion did you decide to learn how to make flower pom poms from tissue paper for? comment below!

The post How to Make Flower Pom Poms from Tissue Paper appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

Craft this adorable and gorgeous one cake topper from the SVG! When you’re done, you’ll want to check out this DIY felt first birthday crown template and SVG too. This post contains affiliate links.

We are right back with Baby Jay’s first birthday party crafts and here’s one of my favorite things I designed for it: a one cake topper SVG!

As a relatively new laser crafter, I really wanted to try making a wood cake topper for a change. There are ramifications to this, which I will share below – feel free to use the table of contents to skim the post if you’re short on time but I do offer lots of valuable tips for making this first birthday cake topper.

Baby Jay’s first birthday party had a “soft theme” of “watch me grow” – meaning not everything was strictly themed. We had some gentle botanicals – particularly gender neutral eucalyptus – incorporated, but it mostly centered on the colors beige, gold, and sage.

The goal of this one cake topper was to be able to have a basic “naked” cake (a bakery babka in this case) while keeping with the color scheme. I left some wood exposed, painted some, but more on that later.

Download the One Cake Topper SVG

This is a premium download, available in my Etsy shop. Your purchase helps keep this blog alive and the tutorials coming.

Your download includes two version of the one cake topper SVG – one that has holes to hang any kind of mini banner from it, and one without holes to leave as is.

Tips for Making a Laser Cut One Cake Topper

I try to leave crafts like this open-ended for you, while providing the structure to craft it easily. Here are some tips and variations, as well as advice on making it safe to stick into your cake.

Tips for laser cutting this cake topper

I cut this using my xTool F1 Ultra – you can read my F1 Ultra review here. I do also have an F1, and while it can technically be cut using that machine too (read my xTool F1 review here) you will be more limited with size. It can only really get a functional size at all using the slide extension. Again, you can read my rundown of the xTool F1 vs. Ultra here to understand more about which laser you need.

As far as laser type, you’ll want a Diode or CO2 laser for this one.

Wood is a flammable material, and I usually prefer to more passes on lower power to avoid charring. I did not do this while laser cutting this one cake topper SVG and you an see the charring on it. Later crafts, such as these earrings, were cut using this method with fabulous results.

Can you cut this with your Cricut?

The Cricut Maker 3 can officially cut wood up to 2.4 mm using the knife blade, but it’s the only model that can do so. I crafted mine from 3mm basswood, so technically the Cricut would NOT be able to cut it. You CAN make this with thinner wood – it’s not going to get heavy use.

It is MUCH more efficient to cut it using a laser cutter.

However, you can cut this using your Cricut as an even ideal tool if you make it form one of the following materials that SHOULD work:

• Chipboard
• Cardstock
• Cardboard
• Foam board

Or a mix of the above. The thinner materials may need to be stabilized with extra layers. You may also want to cut off the “prongs” that are part of the SVG and just glue on skewers.

Making it food safe

One big mistake I made while crafting the one cake topper was that I didn’t realize that cut plywood isn’t food safe! The top surface can be, but plywood is made from layers of wood glued together, and the glue is not food safe.

Some solutions include:

• Make it using acrylic – see my rundown of which acrylics a diode laser can cut here.
• Seal the prongs using a food-safe sealer
• Wrap the prongs with plastic wrap or foil before inserting into the cake

Tips and variations

The SVG is designed to be crafted two ways. There are two layers, one that says “one” in a script font and one that serves as an outlined background for that and has the skewers. That’s the base.

I got creative, painting the top with Glitterific paint with confetti sequins in it, and the background a sage color to match the party.

You also have a version with holes and a version without holes. I made a sweet little pennant banner for it. I did not include an SVG for this because it’s overkill: just cut scraps of paper into triangles and hot glue them onto a bit of string. If you REALLY want to machine cut it, just add a triangle from your device’s design software and cut that.

More ideas for banners include:

• Felt pennants
• Mini pom poms
• Mini circle banners
• Beaded banners (I did one like this for A’s birthday and hope to share it when I can!)
• Mini tassels

Or, use the SVG without the holes and omit the banner completely. But I gotta say, it sorta made the whole cake. Do it.

How to Make a One Cake Topper

I always write out the tutorial exactly as I crafted it, however, you can definitely vary it as I mentioned above.

Materials

• 3mm Basswood Plywood
• Diode or CO2 Laser – I used the xTool F1 Ultra
• Paint – I used DecoArt Americana in Aloe and FolkArt Glitterific Polka Dots in Beach Party
• Paint brush
• Wood glue
• Paper or cardstock scraps
• Scissors
• String/ribbon/twine
• Hot glue gun

The one cake topper SVG in case you missed it

This is a premium download, available in my Etsy shop. Your purchase helps keep this blog alive and the tutorials coming.

Instructions

1. Resize your topper to the size you want it. Cut your two layers.

2. Paint your layers as you’d like them to be. Allow them to dry completely.

3. Glue the “one” on the background so that the holes line up.

5. Cut long triangles from cardstock.

6. Cut a length of string about twice the width of your topper.

7. Glue on the triangles far enough apart that just a teensy bit of string shows through. The pennant portion should be long enough to reach almost from hole to hole but with a bit of drape.

8. Tie it to the hole on one side.

And glue the knot in place.

9. Trim off the extra string.

10. Repeat it on the other side, tying it so that the banner drapes slightly, just below the “one”. You don’t want it to drape too much, or it’ll interfere with the cake. You can glue the pennant to the part where it hits the stakes if you want.

Seal the wood to make it food safe! Insert into the cake and enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed this one cake topper SVG! In case you missed it, you can get it here!

The post One Cake Topper SVG & Tutorial appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

One of the most meaningful things I did for Baby Jay’s first birthday party was to make this 1st birthday photo garland. It hung over the party table where it could stay clean and people can look at it and enjoy the progress of his milestone photos and how much he grew.

I designed it from scratch to be easy to assemble and versatile to use. Our party didn’t really have a theme but it had soft, botanical vibes with eucalyptus and sage greens, browns, soft golds, and, I’m ashamed to say it, lots of beige.

More things you can craft with this milestone frame SVG

When designing the 1st birthday photo garland SVG, one of my goals was to create something that can be used in multiple ways.

For that reason, I didn’t add holes to the garland template. They’re easy to punch – and anyway some people might prefer other methods of hanging, such as taped on paper tabs or just taping a string along the back and not making holes.

Here are a few more things you can do with it:

1. Mount it in shadow boxes or frames and display it along the table
2. Turn it into a photo book – you can actually do this with the garland when you’re done with it – as I’ve done!
3. Use these as scrapbook frames
4. Since it’s an SVG and you can upscale the size of the frames, you can also make them full-sheet and hang them as posters

Get the SVG for the 1st Birthday Photo Garland

This is a premium download available for purchase in my Etsy shop. Your purchase allows you limited commercial use to sell finished products, so if you’re a party planner or if you like to sell premade party goods, you’ll be able to do that!

What you’ll need

• A cutting machine, I used the Cricut Maker 3
• LightGrip (blue) mat
• Cardstock paper in your party colors
• Hole punch
• Twine or string
• Printed photos (note the size you’re cutting the hole on the SVG and make it slightly larger)
• Tape or glue

How to make a 1st Birthday Photo Garland

1. Upload your SVG to Design Space, change the colors and sizes as needed. Send it to your Cricut to cut.

2. Remove them carefully from the mat. You can do this by flipping over the mat, and peeling the mat away from the paper instead of vice versa so it doesn’t curl as much.

3. If needed, cut your photos to size.

4. Tape or glue them behind the frames.

5. Punch holes in the two top corners (they’re easy to find and coordinate due to the shape of your 1st birthday garland).

6. String them on string or twine so that the string runs behind most of the frame and comes out of the holes on the sides.

7. Hang them up and party away! What a beautiful, meaningful decoration to have at your kid’s first birthday party!

In case you missed it, you can get the 1st birthday photo garland SVG here!

The post 1st Birthday Photo Garland appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

This DIY felt first birthday crown template is perfect for little boys and girls – and easy to craft! When you’re done, you can check my felt DIY first birthday hat tutorial too. This post contains affiliate links.

Your little one is turning one, and wow, you’d do just about anything to make that day special. After all, it’s very much a celebration of a year since you’ve gotten possibly the greatest gift possible.

I know all about it, I was just there.

We just celebrated Baby Jay’s first birthday party, and I know I need to share all the details. It was truly special.

Besides for his unique personality – he’s just so full of life and humor – he is a rainbow baby, and I guess the blessing and miracle of it all hits home that much more.

So I’ll be sharing the details of this DIY felt birthday crown I crafted for him, followed by some other unique crafts I created – some designed from scratch – for you to replicate.

Eventually I’ll share all the details of his birthday party. Sometimes it takes me time (yes, years) to get to all of it but I’ll try not to let it take that long this time!

I’m starting with this DIY felt birthday crown, because the photos of him wearing it came out too cute so I just can’t wait.

I crafted it twice. First, I made a whole-head crown. It came out really cute but it covered all his red hair, and felt like it kind of stole a part of his personality! So I recrafted it as a “birthday hat” that sits atop his head.

I share both ways here, as well as various ways you can assemble it to make it easiest for your needs.

Different ways to craft a felt first birthday crown

Full Head Crown

My first instinct was just to create a full-head crown, which is what I did.

I created it with a burgundy lining and a mustard yellow outside. It was based on what I had handy. I cut the one out of the main crown to show the lining through (the template gives you multiple options and it’s not fixed – you choose which one you want). You can also cut a one from a separate piece of felt (which I show below).

However, while totally adorable, it somewhat missed the mark. First, his copper hair didn’t show. Second, the bits that did totally clashed with the burgundy – so I knew I had to remake it anyway!

And finally, the burgundy didn’t really match our party so I needed to redo it.

It does, however, sit comfortably on his head. I used soft felt, which is important, so that baby is comfortable with it. The template is easy to trim down a bit (much like a paper birthday hat) to adjust to your kid.

It is a very tall crown -for drama, which you can adjust to your needs, trimming off the bottom if you want it shorter.

Birthday hat – crown shaped

I went back to the drawing board to make a smaller birthday-hat style DIY felt birthday crown. This template is smaller but not tiny. It perches on baby’s head like a headband/crown and is in a way more comfortable.

I was sure Baby Jay would complain about the elastic, but he actually didn’t mind it! He kept it on for most of the party – he only took it off when he tried relaxing by feeling his hair and discovered it.

This one has a separate cut out word one. It’s made from the same soft felt as above, however I got sage green and tan for this one. It worked much better with our party colors, and looks fabulous on the little gingy.

Sewing vs. No Sew

You may have noticed another difference between the two DIY felt first birthday crowns. The small one is sewn and the large one is glued!

I actually did sew the seams of the large one and at that point I decided I do want to sew the rest. I usually hand-sew felt, but this felt sewed so nicely, I just went with it.

Ultimately, you can craft this either way, and I share the tutorials for both below – and with your download.

Get the DIY felt first birthday crown template

This is a premium download, available in my Etsy shop. Your purchase helps keep this blog alive and the tutorials coming.

It includes templates for both crowns (big and small) in PDF and SVG format for hand or machine cutting. I hand cut mine.

It includes a few styles of number one. If you want other numbers, you can type your desired number in the size you’d like it. Same if you want a different style.

How to Assemble your DIY felt first birthday crown

You’ll need

• Felt: 2 sheets of an outside and inside color for the large crown, or one sheet if you’re making the small one.
• Good fabric scissors and detail scissors (or Cricut Maker with rotary blade)
• Washable fabric marker (if hand cutting)
• Felt Pom Poms
• Hot glue gun (note: even if you’re sewing, the hot glue gun is good for securing your layers together and stiffening up the felt to stand up.)
• Optional: sewing machine with thread
• For the birthday hat style: 1/4 inch flat elastic
• The template or SVG

Process

Full Head Crown

1. Cut out your main crown template, and choose the number style you want. Cut that out too.

2. Trace the crown. If cutting the number from the outer layer, trace it where you want it as well. You’ll want to use the clean side for your outside, so flip the number upside down and reverse it.

3. Cut out your two outer crown parts and the number.

4. Note: this was photographed on an earlier version of the template. The final template shows you to cut the edges down for your lining. You can choose to cut your crown lining in advance from the template, or do it like I did it here: glue it down and then cut.

Place your main crown over the lining felt, so that it sticks out a bit over the edges (trim your felt if needed)

5. Glue your inside and outside layers together. First, glue around the perimeter of the number so that it sticks nicely.

6. Glue each of the crown spokes, filling the inside with glue to stiffen it up a bit.

7. Now cut the lining layer around the perimeter of the crown.

8. Place crown wrong sides together. Measure baby’s head to see how large you want it and mark where you need to sew accordingly.

9. Sew (or glue) along the right and left edges. Trim off any excess to make the crown more comfortable for baby. Flip inside out, glue pom poms to the tips, and your crown is ready to wear!

Mini (Birthday Hat) Crown

1. Cut your main crown. Glue it to the lining color, but only use a thin line of glue in the center of each spoke to reinforce it.

2. Cut around the edge of the crown to cut out your lining. For this one, I cut out the one from the lining color separately and glued it on. If you have a free motion foot, you may be able to sew it a bit more easily. Or, you can hand sew it with embroidery floss and a decorative running stitch.

3. Sew along the top and bottom edges of the crown. TIP: if you’d like, you can first pin the elastic in place between the layers to incorporate it more seamlessly. Do this on each side 1/4 from the right and left minus that extra flap of seam allowance.

4. Fold your crown in half, right sides together. Sew the two sides together. Trim the seam. Glue on your elastic (if you didn’t sandwich it between the layers) and glue on pom poms to finish it off.

Your DIY felt first birthday crown is complete! In case you missed it, you can get the template here.

The post DIY Felt First Birthday Crown – Template appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

While friendship bracelets were a staple and saving grace of my tween/teen years, there’s one style that I never made back then: thread wrapped friendship bracelets.

I attend toy fairs sometimes to learn about the latest innovations, and I saw this super cool display of friendship bracelets at some fairs I went to – and I HAD to check it out. Turned out, they were advertising the Loopdedoo – a friendship bracelet gadget made by Ann Williams.

I decided to go ahead and buy it (Okay, I confess, I needed to up my purchase from Michaels for “free” shipping and that was my excuse).

ON that note, I’m going to share my review of this little gadget, whether or not it’s necessary for making wrapped friendship bracelets, as well as a full tutorial for how to make thread wrapped friendship bracelets.

Thread wrapped friendship bracelets are really fun and creative. You’ll want to stack them up. They are a fabulous bracelet for fundraisers and sales because the turnaround is pretty quick on them. While I love the other advanced and beginner friendship bracelets I’ve shared here, including the name friendship bracelets, chevron, and diamond friendship bracelets, they do take longer and are hard to sell for a good price point.

Using the Loopdedoo to make thread wrapped friendship bracelets

Loopdedoo wrapping gizmo: review

What it is – and what it isn’t

When people purchase a gadget like the Loopdedoo, they often expect it to “do most of the work”. That is, they require it to not need any skills. However, I don’t find that to be the case.

Much like any low OR high tech crafting gadget, there is a learning curve.

Ultimately, I like to think of the Loopdedoo as a loom more than any fancy gadget. You attach your strings, and use it to easily wrap around the threads so that you’re not winding things around a hundred times – or unwinding it.

So in a nutshell the Loopdedoo is essentially a loom that serves two purposes for making thread wrapped friendship bracelets more easily:

• It holds central base strings taught, in place, so that you can freely wrap around it without getting confused, knotted, or mixing them in.

• It allows you to wrap more easily, by spinning those strings.

Beyond how to use the Loopdedoo, the various ways you can wrap and turn your bracelet require creativity and learned skill. All of these are taught in the clear, concise instruction booklet that come with the Loopdedoo. And I’ll be sharing the basics below.

What I liked about the Loopdedoo

I am always concerned when kits or tools take away creativity. I always seek those that encourage creativity. As I mentioned above, the Loopdedoo is really open-ended, leaving many options for how to wrap a bracelet. It’s more a tool than a kit or a “do it for you” device.

In fact, I think that kids struggle with creativity when it comes to friendship bracelet making. It’s a bit of a “scientific” activity, and most people follow patterns. (I don’t think it would be wise to completely diminish the creativity involved. I came up with this 3D zig zag friendship pattern on my own while sulking in my bedroom as a young teen. Plus there’s the color choice).

The Loopdedoo offers opportunity for kids to come up with their own wraps, with fewer restrictions on creativity.

It also features a storage drawer, and comes with a nice starter stash of threads. So yes, it is a complete kit.

It is lightweight, portable, and quite solidly built. And it even has a built-in ruler for measuring bracelet length as you wrap.

What I didn’t love as much

I did not find it to be the smoothest running, and the turning mechanism seemed to catch sometimes as I spun it. However, I don’t think that this was to a critical degree – it didn’t disrupt the crafting process. It just wasn’t that smooth.

The drawer was a bit difficult to operate. I think that this is intentional – you want it to be portable, and you don’t want it to accidentally open and spill. However, I do think that a simple latch or click mechanism can be enough for that.

Do you need the Loopdedoo to make thread wrapped friendship bracelets?

Technically you can hack it, clipping the center strings in two places, or using heavy duty clips on each side of a clipboard or other rigid surface. Then, you can simply wrap around it.

The Loopdedoo definitely makes it much easier, though. It’s a better system, and you don’t run the risk of wrecking your work when it comes loose. Wrapped bracelets aren’t secured knot-by-knot, so the risk of this is higher.

So the Loopdedoo is fabulous for big kids who are looking to make their own thread wrapped friendship bracelets, and are happy to take the few minutes to learn how to use it.

When you’re done, make sure to introduce them to more designs and teach them how to make a friendship bracelet from scratch! The simple flower bracelet or the daisy chain friendship bracelet are favorites, or get ambitious and try for a Buffalo plaid bracelet!

How to make thread wrapped friendship bracelets

Full video tutorial

Watch the full video if you’re the visual type! There are also step by step images as well as a recipe card that’s “printable” for those of you who prefer those formats.

Supplies needed

• Loopdedoo Spinning Loom for Bracelets

• Embroidery floss – included with the original kit
• Scissors

Step by step tutorial

Starting & measuring your thread wrapped friendship bracelets

1. Choose your threads and hold them together. You can make it thinner or thicker, but 3 is a good amount for your first bracelet. Hold the ends together.

2. Double knot them around one of the loops on your Loopdedoo.

3. You’re now going to run your thread back and forth, around the opposite loop, back around the starting loop, etc, at least three times – and up to 23. I started with three times for my first bracelet.

This will help determine the thickness of the bracelet.

Always stop wrapping on the end opposite where your starter knot is. Don’t cut it off yet.

4. Now, you’re going to hook more floss temporarily around the loops, just to measure how much you need for wrapping your bracelet. If you’re working on a thinner bracelet, try four lengths (the distance from hook to hook). For thicker bracelets, try six lengths. Following these guidelines, I always had some extra.

5. Trim off your extra thread.

6. Now remove the threads you looped in step four. You just did this to measure. Let it hang. You should have your long loose thread on the side opposite the starter knot. This is going to become the loop of your final bracelet, that you can use to tie it.

Making the starting knot

1. Drape the threads over the end loop, about 1 cm from the hook.

2. Hold the strings together. Pull it under both all the threads that are still hooked on the loop, and then through so that it comes back over itself.

3. Run it back through the loop that you just formed.

4. Then back under the side of the loop that you just went over.

5. Pull tight and it forms a knot.

Wrapping

1. When wrapping, you can hold your thread with whichever hand you prefer and spin with the other. Use the wheel on the side to spin, as you guide the thread that you just knotted around the center threads. You have control here. You should be working things intentionally, not just arbitrarily spinning. How you wrap is how you’re styling and designing your bracelet.

Make sure to keep your wrap tight and flush against the core threads. For this this bracelet, I used all three colors and simply wrapped them around to cover the center threads completely. Some other ways include color blocking (which I’ll showcase shortly), sticking to a single color wrap, twisting the colors together as you wrap, wrapping more open so that core colors show, going back and forth for a crossover wrap…

Keep wrapping until you hit the size bracelet you’d like.

Finishing and tying off your bracelet

1. Drape your threads over the core at the end of your bracelet and then under the core, back through and over the original thread to form a knot. Pull tight against your wrap.

2. Snip it off the knotted end.

3. Separate your loose threads at the end roughly in half. Make sure you have some of the threads you used for wrapping in each half.

4. Tie the two halves together once.

5. Now you can tie it on by simply placing one half of knots through the loop, and tying it to the other!

Wrapping a color blocked Loopdedoo bracelet

1. When you’re ready to start wrapping, take out the one string you’re ready to start with. Slide the threads you’re not knotting into the notch right on top of the opposite hook.

2. Start looping your first color. (Note: I did work this one a little wrong – so ignore any other details of the bracelet).

3 . When you’re finished with a color, tie it off with the knot you made in step one of tying it off. Insert the color you just worked on into that slot and take out the next color. Repeat the process.

Now that you’ve tried these two, practice with more styles! Experiment, allow for some failure. Some you’ll want to ditch, and some you’ll want to make again and again.

Which styles of thread wrapped friendship bracelets will you be trying first? Comment below!

How to Make Thread Wrapped Friendship Bracelets

Print

Materials

• Loopdedoo Spinning Loom for Bracelets
• Embroidery floss - included with the original kit
• Scissors

Instructions

Starting & measuring your thread wrapped friendship bracelets

1. Choose your threads and hold them together. You can make it thinner or thicker, but 3 is a good amount for your first bracelet. Hold the ends together.

2. Double knot them around one of the loops on your Loopdedoo.

3. You're now going to run your thread back and forth, around the opposite loop, back around the starting loop, etc, at least three times - and up to 23. I started with three times for my first bracelet.
This will help determine the thickness of the bracelet.
Always stop wrapping on the end opposite where your starter knot is. Don't cut it off yet.

4. Now, you're going to hook more floss temporarily around the loops, just to measure how much you need for wrapping your bracelet. If you're working on a thinner bracelet, try four lengths (the distance from hook to hook). For thicker bracelets, try six lengths. Following these guidelines, I always had some extra.

5. Trim off your extra thread.

6. Now remove the threads you looped in step four. You just did this to measure. Let it hang. You should have your long loose thread on the side opposite the starter knot. This is going to become the loop of your final bracelet, that you can use to tie it.

Making the starting knot

1. Drape the threads over the end loop, about 1 cm from the hook.

2. Hold the strings together. Pull it under both all the threads that are still hooked on the loop, and then through so that it comes back over itself.

3. Run it back through the loop that you just formed.

4. Then back under the side of the loop that you just went over.

5. Pull tight and it forms a knot.

Wrapping

1. When wrapping, you can hold your thread with whichever hand you prefer and spin with the other. Use the wheel on the side to spin, as you guide the thread that you just knotted around the center threads. You have control here. You should be working things intentionally, not just arbitrarily spinning. How you wrap is how you're styling and designing your bracelet.

Make sure to keep your wrap tight and flush against the core threads. For this this bracelet, I used all three colors and simply wrapped them around to cover the center threads completely. Some other ways include color blocking (which I'll showcase shortly), sticking to a single color wrap, twisting the colors together as you wrap, wrapping more open so that core colors show, going back and forth for a crossover wrap...

Keep wrapping until you hit the size bracelet you'd like.

Finishing and tying off your bracelet

1. Drape your threads over the core at the end of your bracelet and then under the core, back through and over the original thread to form a knot. Pull tight against your wrap.

2. Snip it off the knotted end.

3. Separate your loose threads at the end roughly in half. Make sure you have some of the threads you used for wrapping in each half.

4. Tie the two halves together once.

5. Now you can tie it on by simply placing one half of knots through the loop, and tying it to the other!

Wrapping a color blocked Loopdedoo bracelet

1. When you're ready to start wrapping, take out the one string you're ready to start with. Slide the threads you're not knotting into the notch right on top of the opposite hook.

2. Start looping your first color. (Note: I did work this one a little wrong - so ignore any other details of the bracelet).

3 . When you're finished with a color, tie it off with the knot you made in step one of tying it off. Insert the color you just worked on into that slot and take out the next color. Repeat the process.

Now that you've tried these two, practice with more styles! Experiment, allow for some failure. Some you'll want to ditch, and some you'll want to make again and again.

Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

The post Thread Wrapped Friendship Bracelets appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

Puppet play is fun and engaging for all ages, and these adorable stick puppets will have you or your little ones wishing to go back to the dinosaur age! A loves, loves, loves puppets, and I’m always amazed by the worlds she creates with them.

Puppets are amazing for children’s social and emotional development. They give kids the opportunity to take part in a variety of interactions without the pressures that may come along in real life. Kids can take on roles in a puppet show that they can’t or don’t access in their lives. It’s also a great way to practice all types of language skills.

While we’ve featured a number of hand puppets recently, stick puppets are a different concept. Because they’re little and don’t need to be put over your whole hand, one person can manipulate a bunch of characters in one scene. They are also easy to travel with or bring along to a playdate.

On the other hand, because they’re smaller, they require a little more fine motor skills to cut out and put together. This is a great way to move kids to a higher level if they’ve previously enjoyed making larger puppets and crafts.

You can also enlarge the template before printing if you’d like it slightly larger; the dinosaurs will still sit comfortably on a stick at 150% of their size.

One super fun thing you can do with stick puppets is make your own puppet theater. You could do this for any puppets, but the small size of stick puppets makes it so much easier.

Turn an adult-size shoebox upside-down and decorate the outside with colored paper and available materials to create your stage. You can even store the puppets inside the shoebox when you’re done playing!

Or go big! My kids love climbing into large delivery boxes that we get. We color the front of them like the scene we want to create and the stick the puppets up and over to make their show.

I’ve used simple cardstock and markers to create these puppets to show you how very easy and inexpensive it can be. But you can also let your (or your child’s) imagination go wild and use different types of materials – perhaps different kinds of paper, felt, or foam; wiggly eyes, and anything else you have on hand.

In fact, when doing a pre-made craft like this dinosaur puppet craft, I specifically like to offer different materials. My crafting style is to offer a framework, so that kids who are less naturally creative can have inspiration to start them off, but still give them space to innovate.

Grab your free dinosaur puppet craft template at the end of this post and get ready to go back in time with your new dinosaur friends!

What you need

• Colored paper
• Glue
• Pencil
• Popsicle sticks
• Markers
• Scissors

How to make a dinosaur puppet craft

1. Pick some brightly colored papers for the dinosaurs. You’ll want some contrasting colors to fully enjoy the fun patterns. Cut out the template pieces, trace them onto the colors of your choice, and cut them out carefully. Make sure to trace spots and scales for each dinosaur on a different color than you’re using for its body.

2. Glue the spot cutouts onto the triceratops and stegosaurus bodies.

3. Glue the scales to the back of the T-rex and stegosaurus, sticking out of the edge so they will be visible from the front. Glue the horns to the triceratops’s head.

4. Glue the triceratops’ head to the front of the body.

5. Complete the other dinosaurs similarly by gluing the cutouts together to match the patterns. Draw on simple faces if you’d like (totally optional).

6. Glue or tape popsicle sticks to the backs of the dinosaurs to complete the puppets.

Download the Dinosaur Puppet Craft Template:

To download, fill out the form below. You’ll be signed up for our free newsletter – unsubscribe at any time in the footer of the emails. I respect your privacy and the law and won’t share your information with anyone.

The post Dinosaur Puppet Craft (Free Template) appeared first on Moms and Crafters.

Time for some more puppet play! Homemade puppets encompass everything we love about crafting with kids: Exercising fine motor skills and following directions, leaving room for creative personal touches, and then using the products of their own handiwork to engage in unlimited activity.

Puppet play in particular is a developmental goldmine, as children can enact both realistic or imaginative scenarios to practice social skills and role playing.

Here’s an all-new character to add to your handmade puppet collection: The bat! For some reason, bats have a spooky, scary reputation.

Maybe it’s because they come out just as it’s getting dark outside, which could understandably make you a little nervous. But in real life, bats don’t generally harm people, and there are so many cool things about them, too! 

For starters, they are the only mammal that can fly. How wild is that?! To find their way around, they use echolocation – releasing sounds and detecting their echoes in order to navigate in the dark.

We humans need sophisticated machinery to attempt that! And bats are super helpful in keeping pest populations under control, because their diets consist of bugs such as mosquitoes.

So, you are more than welcome to make your bat puppet scary if you want. But you can also use this project as an opportunity to get to know and befriend another one of our little animal helpers!

This project is well suited for crafters of any age, though you might need to help the youngest ones with some of  the tracing and cutting.

You can use any type of paper – construction paper, cardstock, or copy paper, for example. And if you don’t have colored paper or are missing some of the colors you’d like to use, you can simply print the template on white paper and have the child color it with their choice of markers or crayons.

What you need

• Colored paper
• Paper bag
• Scissors
• Glue
• Pencil
• Markers
• Template – download for free at the end of this post

How to Make a Paper Bag Bat Puppet

1. Print the template and cut out all the pieces. Trace them onto the colored papers of your choice, and cut them out. When done, you should have a head, body, wings, fangs, eyes, inner and outer ears, feet, and cheeks. 

2. Glue the inner ear parts to the larger/outer ear pieces.

Use a marker to draw details on the wing cutouts. We did this by outlining the shape of the wing, and then drawing lines from the top corner to each of the bumps on the bottom.

3. Glue the feet to the bottom of the body shape (the large rectangular cutout)

4. Glue the wings to each side of the body.

5. Use markers to draw pupils on the eye cutouts. Glue them onto the head.

6. Glue the ears to the top of the head on each side.

7. Use a marker to draw a mouth in the middle of the face under the eyes. Glue the fangs to the mouth. Glue the cheek blushes to the sides of the face. Trim off extra cheek paper that sticks out, if needed.

8. Get your bag ready to assemble the puppet. Put it in front of you so the bottom of the bag is at the top of your puppet, flattened so that you can see the base of the bag. The opening should be facing toward you and will be the bottom of the puppet.

9. Glue the head to the flat bottom side of the paper bag (which is now at the top of the puppet). The ears will stick up past the edge of the bag.

10. Glue the body to the flat side of the paper bag that is below the head.

11. If the open end of the paper bag is sticking out too far from the bottom of the puppet, you can trim it shorter.

That’s it! Your bat is ready to soar through the night on a fun adventure!

Download the Paper Bag Bat Puppet

To download, fill out the form below. You’ll be signed up for our free newsletter – unsubscribe at any time in the footer of the emails. I respect your privacy and the law and won’t share your information with anyone.

The post Paper Bag Bat Puppet Craft appeared first on Moms and Crafters.