Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Party Tip Tuesday with A Darling Day: Let's Make Labels!

Hello friends! It’s Jessica from A Darling Day again, here with an easy tutorial for party labels. The more you can label at your party, the better. Here are some examples of important labels you might want to consider having at your next party:

*Label drinks, especially your ‘sweet tea’ and ‘unsweet tea’, or your ‘regular coffee’ and ‘decaf coffee’. Label half-n-half from milk and sugar from any sugar substitutes.
*Label food items, especially dishes with meat. Specify ‘fish’, ‘beef’, ‘chicken’ or ‘pork’.
*Label any food items that contain possible allergens, like nuts (My friend ate a chicken salad that contained pine nuts without knowing. It wasn’t pretty.).
*Label individual cups. It will save time on clean up if guests keep track of and reuse their cup during the party.
*Label each guest’s place at the table. Place cards are great to use at a sit-down dinner party. You can make sure to separate Aunt Gladys from her brother-in-law :)
*Label different stations or areas at the party. Label the favor table, the gift table and the guestbook table.

So now that we know WHAT to label, here is any easy tutorial of HOW to label!
You will need:
*several pieces of your chosen ‘wood shape’ (I used hearts and rectangles)
*black board paint + chalk
*drill (optional)
*4″ styrofoam ball + knife to cut
*mini clay pots, mini picture frame and/or mini watering cans (I found these for .59 and 1.00, respectively)
*wire + wire cutter/needlenose pliers
*moss, rocks or sand to fill bottom of pots
First, make your labels. Paint your ‘wood shapes’ (I found each of these for .29 at Michael’s) with two coats of blackboard paint. Write with chalk on each wood piece to create your desired label. Chalk easily wipes off to correct or reuse. You might need a little water to remove residue completely.
Tip: Use scissors or a knife to sculpt the end of your piece of chalk into a point. It will be easier to make small letters.
Next we will start on the base for the label holders. Cut a styrofoam ball in half. Then in half again. Continue to halve the styrofoam pieces until they are the correct size for your pot or container. They do not need to be the perfect shape, just big enough to make a tight fit when pushed into the bottom of the pot. Wedge a piece of styrofoam tightly into the bottom of each container.
Cut a piece of wire about 8 inches long. Use needlenose pliers to hold the end of one side of the wire. Wrap the remaining wire around the nose of the pliers three times with your fingers. Before releasing the end of the wire, pull it out from the other layers, separating them slightly. You will then be able to insert your wood label between the wire swirls.
Stick the end of the wire label into the styrofoam container. Cover with moss, rocks, pebbles, sand or tissue paper to hide the styrofoam.

Variations:
1. If you do not want to work with wire, hot glue a toothpick to the back of the wood label. You can then insert the toothpick into the styrofoam container in the same way.
2. If you want to tie your label to the base of a glass or jar, drill a small hole in the corner of the wood piece. Then lace with twine, string or ribbon and tie to the desired container. You can also drill a hole in each corner of the wood piece to create a hanging label.
3. Purchase a small picture frame. You can find these at most craft stores (I found the one below in a Michael’s $1 bin). If it comes with a piece of glass or plastic in the window of the frame, remove it. A piece of thin wood can be cut to fit the frame and then inserted.
(That is my sister’s Easter egg tree, featuring small, hand-knit eggs. How cute would those be as a spring party favor??)

I was visiting my sister and her family in Charleston, SC when I wrote this tutorial. My sister designated herself my helper. THIS was her contribution…
So you see… you can use this basic idea in a number of different ways! Have fun making labels for your next party!

To wrap up my ‘Party Tip’ series here at Better Life Bags, I will be doing a giveaway of 15 custom, handmade party invitations next Tuesday. I will design a set of custom theme invitations for the winner, using the theme of their choice. Check out my websitemy etsy shop or my facebook page for samples of invitations I have done in the past.

See you next Tuesday!

1 comment:

  1. Wow, what a creativity is this ! Your label and framing is really looking just fantastic. I really want to appreciate your creativity.

    ReplyDelete

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