Flower Fun
We love these darling felt flower rings featured on the Giver's Log. They made these sweet DIY accessories as a Mother's Day gift, but we think that they'be equally cute as a goody bag favor at your little princess' next big bash!
Simply made using pipe cleaners, leftover scraps of felt and patterned fabric, and dazzling array of colorful buttons, these homemade rings are easy for small hands to make, and look just as great on! Check out Giver's Log for tips on making your own and the full walkthrough.
Party Instruments
This year's partygoers are sure to get a kick out of making these cool homemade harmonicas featured on Maya*Made.
Simply constructed using popsicle sticks, paper, and rubber bands, these harmonicas make for excellent goody bag treats that can be used long into the future by even the smallest of music lovers. Plus, what is a party without music and noise makers?
Party Jugglers
Pepper Paints shares an excellent tutorial for making these DIY juggling balls for kids. Perfect for circus-themed party goody bags, these juggling balls can also double as bouncy balls and plenty of outdoor fun!
Easily made using raquet or tennis balls, ballons, and rice, these colorful little balls can be decked out with stickers, tiny rolls of bright masking tape (as shown), crayons, and much more. Be sure to visit Pepper Paints for the full scoop -- she offers up a great pictorial and tips for recreating these bouncy juggling balls.
Play DO!
One Golden Apple's features this bright and beautiful idea for making naturally-dyed play dough. Using colorful juice for the pink and turmeric for the yellow (genius!), this play dough only contains a handful of common ingredients and it is super cheap to make!
We'd also recommend snapping up some small mason jars for decorative goody bag dough containers. Overall, one goody bag favor that can be used for plenty of play in months to come!
Lolly Love
The Decorated Cookie has an incredible idea for making quick and easy homemade lollipops out of hard candies.
To make your own, simply place your colorful Jolly Ranchers on top of each other before baking. As soon as you pull your pops out of the oven, just add a stick and let them cool. Your pint-sized party guests are sure to love the bright colors and multiple flavors! Trick of the trade: Smash the hard candies up in a Ziploc bag or by using a rolling pin to give your lollies a stained glass effect.
DIY Lip Smackers
We love Not So Idle Hands' idea for making homemade lip balm -- and we're sure your lovely little ladies will feel the same!
Simply made with Kool-Aid and petroleum jelly, this DIY lip balm can be made in various fun colors and flavors. Plus, you can put them in the decorative pot or container of your choice. Mama Emily cleverly chose to put them into toy dispenser capsules so that her little ones could string them up as fancy necklaces -- the options are endless!
Paper Mache Pretty
Pinatas are fun at any party -- and for all ages! That's exactly why we can't get enough of Let's Explore's idea for making small pinatas with her kids. Easy, cute, and a great take-home favor idea!
Offering up an excellent DIY pinata tutorial, Mama Amy walks you through the tips and tricks of making these adorable paper mache animals and we can't help but think that this would be a great party art table to have at your next birthday bash. Maybe one big pinata for the party and a small pinata for each child to take home? Awesome!
Mustache Makeover
We love 5 Orange Potatoes' idea for making these DIY felt mustaches! A party treat that even the adults will love, this felt mustache will get plenty of laughs out of your little ones and can be used for years to come in their dress-up boxes and during creative play.
To make your own you'll only need to have felt, an elastic cord, and embroidery floss on hand. Pair your new mustaches with a top hat and you've got a magician on your hands, or maybe with an eye patch for some pirate-y fun... the options are endless!
Popcorn Perfect
Katherine Marie provides fun info and gorgeous photography on how she created an entire birthday party themed around... Popcorn! Super original and creative, this party included decorated "box" cars for sitting in at the living room "drive in," a table for edible popcorn painting (colors made with food coloring and sweet evaporated milk), plenty of popcorn-related games and... A popcorn fight! And once the popcorn has finished flying, your party guests can take home their fancy new colored popcorn in personalized popcorn bags or tins for later snacking!
Stuck on You
Salt and Chocolate has an excellent tutorial on how she crafted homemade stickers with her tot by using a stamp gum made with ingredients that can be found in your pantry. Too cool!
We think that a sticker-making birthday table would be a fun idea for your art-loving tots... And then they can be taken home as treats for extra sticking fun! Check out the full post for more tips and tricks on creating your own DIY stickers.
Birthday Finger Foods
Looking to add a litle make-believe deliciousness to this year's big birthday bash? Don't miss out on Shelley Inspired's fun idea for making a farmer's market set out of felt veggies!
Considering that one can never have enough felt food, your birthday party guests will get a kick out of adding to their make-believe home kitchen collection with new veggies, meals, or treats. And if you're looking for further felt food ideas, be sure to check out Keeper of the Cheerios for a full list of 35 different felt food tutorials. There are even some included for cut-apart felt food -- SO neat!
Party Pirates
Honeyflake's ideas for a pirate party with "loot" bags are fantastic! She chose to fill her DIY silk screened bags with bandanas, eye patches, and a pirate-y cool telescope made from painted paper towel rolls.
For treats, she had plenty of scallywag-lovin' fare on hand including Pirate's Booty (of course!) and her little swashbucklers took to the neighborhood on a treasure hunt for additional treasures. This is most certainly one of those themed party ideas that make us wish were were a kid again!
Super Sweet Accessories
Candy necklaces are always a hit at any birthday bash and Speckled Egg's homemade party favor candy necklaces are no exception!
Though there is plenty of candy out there that you could use to make this colorful, edible jewelry, mama Heather recommends that gummies, gumdrops, Lifesavers, and hollow licorice work best. She also adds that if there are young children making these accessories, you may want to skip the needle part and stick to the hollow candies. Also not to be missed are the included candy magnets in this post -- super neat!
Robot Raves
Mama Hilary of Wee Wonderfuls shares some great ideas and photos from her son Oscar's fourth robot birthday party.
They constructed a cardboard fort as a space station, made sparkly robot cupcakes, and party guests had the opportunity to decorate robot gingerbread cookies with pretty frosting and candy to take home as party favors. Overall, a bevy of fun party ideas for the tots that can't get enough of all things robots!
Goody Bags for Art Lovers
Mama Jen of Paint Cut Paste puts it best when she says, "It is easy being green!" And that's exactly why we're excited to share her idea for making handmade flower tote bags -- perfect for an art-making birthday bash.
Children will love designing their own canvas tote bags that they can use in years to come. And before they leave you can fill them up with fun art supplies to keep them busy, such as homemade recycled crayons, colorful chalk, and much more!
Peachy Keen
Berlin's Whimsy features this great recipe for homemade fruit leather, and we think this treat makes for an excellent alternative to the typical goody bag sweets.
Simply made with fruit and sugar, homemade fruit leather can be created with a wide variety of fruits, cut into cute shapes and overall, it makes for a sweet -- and healthier! -- snack to keep your little ones going strong. Check out Berlin's Whimsy's peachy follow-up for additional tips on making this yummy DIY fruit snack.
Felt Fantastic
Adventures of a Rainbow Mama provides a great tutorial for making super cute homemade crowns (such as her garden elf crown shown on the left).
We love the idea of making personalized felt crowns for the king or queen of the party and all of their friends... Or letting them design their own to take home for future afternoons filled with creative play! Check out Rainbow Mama's full post for the tutorial and helpful tips.
Stylish Birthday Super Stars
Got a gaggle of superheroes coming over for this year's blowout birthday bash? Never fear, CraftSanity is here to save the day with an easy tutorial on making these bedazzled homemade masks!
To make your own, simply print off the template included in the post, and you'll want to have Wonder-Unders, nylon fabric, and a sewing machine on hand. Be sure to visit CraftSanity for the full tutorial, she makes it look downright easy! Who says you can't save the world in style?
Sock Sensations
Craft Jr. reminds us of just how easy and fun homemade sock puppets can be with this adorable giraffe puppet!
Perfect for using up extra socks in the house that are missing their match, animal sock puppets are a fantastic goody bag treat for younger tots. So whether you're setting up a sock puppet art table for kids to make their own, or simply including personalized friends for each pint-sized party guest to take home, this is one DIY, quick and easy idea that's sure to provide plenty of smiles and giggles!
Magical Goody Bag Wands
We love iKat Bag's idea for making homemade dress-up wands. And whether you choose to make them for a group of pretty princesses or crafty magicians, these wands are sure to be a hit at this year's special birthday celebration!
iKat's tutorial includes an easy-to-follow pictorial for every step that she took in making the wands shown -- so even if you're not the craftiest, DIY mama of them all, this will be one easy fun project!
