Plaid + Dots

handmade festive flag banner

One of the things that I made for Miss N's birthday bash was a flag banner.  This very simple and cute paper craft can be tailored to any theme by selecting a color palette and using different colored or patterned papers.  For Miss N's birthday, I used shades of pink and green as my primary color scheme and mixed in a little bit of orange.  Without further adieu, here's what you need to make your very own banner...

DIY Flag Banner Instructions

Supplies

• Colored / Patterned Craft Paper
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil 
• Ric Rac 
• Elmer's Glue

Flag Banner Instructions

• Create a template for the flags. 

1. Using your ruler, draw a straight line on a sheet of paper in your desired width [for my flags, this line was 4 inches long].

2. Draw a mark on the line at the midpoint.  

3. From the midpoint, draw a straight line perpendicular to the original line that is at least as long as the length you desire.  You should have a "T" on your sheet of paper.   

4. Draw a straight line from the edge of your original line to the perpendicular line.  You should have a triangle on one side of the "T". 

5. Draw a straight line from the other edge of your original line to the same point on the perpendicular line.  You now have a perfect triangle for your flags.

6. Cut out your triangle template.

• Measure and cut the ric rac into the desired length of the banner plus 1-2 feet on each end for hanging.
• Using a variety of colored and patterned papers, trace the template on the paper.  Make as many "flags" as needed to fill the length of the ric rac less the hanging length.
• Determine the order of your flags - custom or random.  For my banner, I created an order out of the patterned papers and kept repeating that order.
• Leaving 1-2 feet on the first end, glue the first flag to the ric rac.  The ric rac will be glued on top of the flag.
• Leaving about 1/2 inch between flags, glue the next flag.  
• Continue gluing the flags until you have 1-2 feet of ric rac left on the other end.
• Let the flag banner dry.

Hang your homemade banner in a fun place and let the party begin!!!

celebrating one : balloons + party hats included!

We celebrated Miss N's first birthday over the weekend and here's some pics from the fun party!  Happy First Birthday to my little girl!!!

 

P.S.  All decor, party hats, cupcakes and treats were handmade...  I'll be posting the how to over the next few weeks.  Enjoy!

carrot cake celebration

This weekend we hosted an impromptu birthday party for our friend, Jamey.  We had a gourmet dinner of spring green salad and filet mignon accompanied by herb roasted potatoes and creamed spinach.  Paired with fine Napa wine it was a wonderful feast!

To top off the celebration and honor the birthday boy, we decided to make Jamey's favorite cake...Carrot Cake.  I hunted a bit for recipes and made this delicious carrot cake recipe from Epicurious.  This recipe was super easy but I changed it a little bit by doubling the recipe and adding half a cup of reconstituted raisins**.  I also baked it in a bundt pan and it turned out beautifully.  It was probably one of the prettiest cakes I've ever made.  Top it with cream cheese frosting and you have a wonderful, moist, fragrant cake.

I made it the day before and stored in the fridge- the cake got better with time.  If you are a carrot cake fan, I highly recommend that you try out this recipe.. so good!  

Happy Birthday Jamey... I hope you enjoyed your cake!

 

**NOTE:  To reconstitute the raisins, I soaked both golden and regular raisins in water for about 30 minutes before adding to the batter with the nuts.