A Birthday Party for Sue

Hello, Ribbon Lovers!

I was born into a household with 3 older brothers.  And I loved them.  A lot. But as soon as I was old enough to ask, I started requesting that my mom and dad add a baby sister to our family so that I would not be the lone girl.  And my mother’s response was always the same: “if someone leaves a baby girl on the doorstep, we’ll keep her.  How’s that?”  Finally, when I was 5 years old, my baby sister Sue was born.  And I adored her.  I spent countless hours playing with her, reading to her, and comforting her when she was upset.  So her birthday has always been a special event for me.  This year my daughter and I schemed together and organized a little birthday party for her.  We invited 2 of her best friends, and booked a gourmet olive oil/balsamic vinegar tasting party and luncheon at a local boutique.  If you’re not familiar with these, they are kind of like a wine tasting for foodies.  You can look at a link HERE.  Anyway, I wanted to make a little birthday party favor for each guest to take home and decided to put together a little file folder notebook so we could write down our favorite pairings, recipe suggestions and the like.

The base folder is made with heavy weight red cardstock.  I printed out the cute file folder design on the front from my Crafty Secrets Retro Kitchen Kit, sizing it so that I could fit a junior legal pad on the inside.  Then I loaded them up with ribbon to make them really cute!

To keep with the kitschy color scheme of the project, I layered a double row of 5/8″ wide black plaid ribbon, using Scor-Tape to hold it in place.  I wrapped it around the sides of the file folder before I glued the front onto the base so that the edges would be nice and neat.   I added a layer of Red Canvas Color Band Ribbon in between the two rows of black plaid ribbon.  This was a quick and easy way to create a border on each folder.

 

The aprons were fussy cut from Domestic Goddess Creative Scraps and popped up on foam adhesive dots.  A pretty double bow made from 3/8″ Red Plaid Ribbon was topped with a loopy bow made with red and black burlap string.  I used my Zutter Bow-it-All to tie all my bows. And of course, I topped it off with a cherry button!

Inside, I created a slash pocket on the left.  I topped my junior legal pad with Midnight Waves Striped Grograin Ribbon. Again, I ran my Scor-Tape around to the back of the pad and wrapped the ribbon ends behind so that they look nice and neat and will not fray.

To create the base folder, I just trimmed my red cardstock to measure 8″ wide x 10 3/4″ I scored it on the long side at 5″ and again at 5 1/4″, then folded to form the booklet.  Easy peasy!

The ribbons and trims made this quick and easy project “party ready.”  Oh, and the party was soooo much fun!  Here a few pictures for you to enjoy!

This is me, with my sweet baby sis!

And a happy birthday kiss.

Getting the food table ready.  I created a salad bar, and we had beautiful breads from La Farm Bakery to dip into homemade pesto or vinegar and oil.

Everyone loved having a little notebook to keep track of their favorite oil/vinegar combinations.  And the wine was tasty, too!

Here we are, all together.  My older daughter, Liz is on the left, then Sue’s best friend Laura, Susie and me.  Sadly, one of the guests was stuck at the airport and had to miss this fun event.  These grown up birthday party favors were a hit, and I hope you’ll have a chance to use the idea at an event of your own soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy