diy / carnival birthday party

lincoln's first birthday was a diy success. 

check out all the tricks and tips, behind the scenes... 

photobooth:
i am definitely a photobooth junkie. i can't get enough. and its a great way to get extra silly photos of all your guests at the party. if you rent a photobooth, you will probably pay a minimum of $800. we didn't have that kind of budget.. to make your own photobooth, all you need is a tripod, ipad (or tablet), and ipad to [tripod connector]. (if you don't have a tablet, then you can hook up a point and shoot to a tripod and purchase a shutter release cord.) i downloaded an app called [pocketbooth] which looks just like a real photobooth, you push a button on the screen, it takes 4 photos, and then creates a strip. you can shoot in color, b&w, and other filters can be purchased. we used the color.

the backdrop can be made out of anything. for this backdrop, i bought a piece of cotton muslin fabric (about 60in x 60in). i used wooden rods to support the top and bottom. i "hemmed" the top and bottom leaving room so the wooden rods would slide through. and found some macrame black rope to knot at either side. since this was a carnival birthday party, i bought a roll of tickets and some yellow streamers and stapled it to my fabric. as far as props go, i found the glasses, hat, and clown noses at the dollar store. at the end of the party i had tons of photos to look through. and i posted them online for my party guests to have. its a fun thing to have at any party.

ring toss:
this is a very affordable diy. especially because nick drinks these on the daily. first i would find a crate, this one is from [joann fabrics]) then figure out how many coke bottles (or plain bottles) fit inside. since we had a baby party i hot glued the bottles to the wooden crate. the rings are made from rope (which we also got at [joann fabrics]..) a total of 3.5 yards makes about 12 rings. i found electrical tape at [home depot] that was different colors. i used the white and red so there can be 2 players. this game came to life after i put an 8 year old in charge. he pretty much is the ring toss champion.

lincoln's monthly photo banner:
if you've been keeping up with this blog, you know about [lincoln's monthly dots]. i've been keeping track of his monthly milestones with "dots". each dot is one month. i wanted to show at his first birthday how far along he's come since month one. i posted all these photos to my instagram @thegreyboy and it was really easy to print them using [printstagr.am] they come on nice thick matte  paper, and i'm a big fan of square photos. i just attached them to a banner i made earlier, [diy easy party garland] using tiny clothespins. they were displayed above the main food table at the party.

cake toppers:
i knew i wanted to keep the cakes simple and create my own toppers. i found the lion and elephant at the dollar store, and gave them party hats out of construction paper, a knot of felt, and bakers string (a dab of hot glue helped them stay put). the "happy birthday... linc" was made with paper straws, bakers string, and brown card stock paper. i printed the letters on the printer... s   p   a   c   e   d it out and then cut each one out carefully. i threaded a needle with the string and carefully "sewed" them onto the string. "linc" is short for lincoln, and since it was a small smash cake, i didn't have room for the rest. [recipe for banana smash cake] i also used rainbow sprinkles and animal crackers for the cupcakes. the big cake came from a delicious bakery down the street [roser's bakery] they thought i was silly for wanting a plain white cake.. but they did a fantastic job on the inside and it was absolutely delicious !

prizes: 

my goal for the goody bag / "prizes" was that i wanted the kids to leave the party looking like they were just at a carnival... and i didn't want to kill 15 real goldfish.. so i found these cool "bath toy goldfish" that squirt water. each kid also left with a box of animal crackers with a balloon tied to it. some probably liked the balloon more than the goldfish.. and thats okay! 

tattoo booth: 
i found this company [tattly] a few years back, and am now extremely happy i had an occasion to finally order some! these tattoos are made in the US of A and are non toxic. safe for all ages. designed  by actual artists.. need i say more?
i set up a table with a small bowl of water, two sponges, a dish towel, and a box of [circus tattoos] on the box i had some instructions (pretty simple.. sponge, water, 30 seconds) everything can be found on their website. kids got into it, adults were tatted up.. linc had a sleeve by the end of the party.. it was a great success!