Stacy made lots of the decorations herself, including this adorable ribbon covered number “1.”  (With a blog called She’s {Kinda} Crafty you’d expect nothing less.) I asked Stacy if she’d put together a tutorial on how she made it, and she so generously said yes. Hooray! Here it is…

Supplies:

Loosely measure the length of ribbon you need to wrap around your number or letter (leave enough to wrap around to the back). Depending on your number or letter you can pre-cut your strips of ribbon.

I only pre-cut enough for the “stems” of the R and the rest I cut as I went, loosely measuring each length one at a time. Apply one line of glue at a time and lay your ribbons down in whatever pattern you’d like (or go crazy and don’t use a pattern!)

You could go ahead and glue ALL your ribbon on to your number or letter before flipping it over and gluing the ends to the back.

I stopped when I had reached a point where my pre-measured strips were all used up. Apply a bead of glue to the back edges of your number or letter and wrap the ribbon around.

You may need to hold the ribbon while the glue sets to keep everything straight.

Repeat on other side of number or letter.

Keep on going until your letter or number is completely covered.

Starting in a corner, apply a bead of glue about 1/4″ from the top edge of your number or letter (I did about 8-10 linear inches at a time since I was using fast drying glue).

Continue this around your number or letter until you’ve gotten back to the beginning, overlapping about a 1/2″ at the end. It doesn’t matter what the back looks like!

 

Viola! You are done!

You can also mount the number to a frame by cutting a piece of patterned paper to the size of your frame (this one is 8×10), removing the glass of your frame, insert the paper and close the frame up. Then add a whole bunch of glue to the back of your number or letter and stick it right on the patterned paper!

Don’t worry about having to buy a new frame, just take one out of your house because after your party you can just take the paper & number out & pop the glass back into your frame! (However, I did buy this frame at Target for about $4.)

Such a fun project! Thank you again, Stacy for putting this together. To learn more about Stacy and see all the crafts she makes, please check out her blog, She’s {Kinda} Crafty. Also, take a look at the rest of her pool party photos. So much cuteness!

If you make a ribbon covered letter or number for your next party, please send photos to jillian@catchmyparty.com, I’d love to post it.

Lindsey M’s Girly Gecko Birthday Party

Lisa R’s Carnival Party

Sarah Y’s Popsicle Party

Katie I’s Flip Flop Fabulous Party

Christina C’s Splish Splash Party

Maureen A’s Blue and Green Pool Party

Jen C’s Brinley’s 2nd Birthday

Lisa R’s Hannah’s Flip-Flopped Party

Claudia S’s Surf’s Up Party

Tonya B’s Splish Splash Soiree

Hope you’ve had a wonderful summer!

So in honor of good weather, here are some of my favorite pool party ideas from Etsy.

First, an invitation from Lilly Mae Designs.

Next a banner from IE Creations.

Some DIY printable pool party decorations from Paper and Cake.

Pool party cupcake toppers from Toadally Cute Products.

And to make your cupcakes even more decadent, how about some fondant cupcake toppers from Kids Cakes.

A large galvanized tub to keep your drinks cool from brodyandma.

And so no one mixes up their drink cups, here are some chalkboard tumblers from Party Bzz.

Some wooden boats to decorate your pool from duckduckgoosetoys.

And to add a little excitement and fragrance to your party, how about these fizzy pool bombs from Les Treasure.

And finally, so no one goes home empty-handed, some flip flop cookie favors from Whimsical Originals DB.

And shouldn’t the kids get something extra?  Personalized beach pails from Bumble Bee Lane.

Stay cool and happy swimming!