4th of July Party Circles

July 2, 2014 2 Comments A Well Crafted Party

Ohhh… the party circle. This must be my favorite printable party item EVER. They are so versatile. I often use mine for cupcake or food picks, ways to decorate glassware, bunting, and more. There are a zillion free and inexpensive printable party circles out there that can help give some flair to your next party. Make free printables your own by using scrapbook papers, glitter, stickers and other such items.

I created the printables for a 4th of July party for someone who likes touches of Americana, but not too much of it.

DIY Cupcake Toppers with Free Printable 4th of July Party Circles

Supplies: (Links below are affiliate links. Affiliate link purchases help support this blog.)

Free printable 4th of July Party Circles (Download link below!)
Glue Dots and optional glue sticks
Toothpicks
Scrapbook paper of your choice
Optional 2-inch circle punch

Directions:

Download the 4th of July Party Circles and print on cardstock
Cut out the 2-inch circles using your circle punch or scissors. Go ahead and cut out 2 inch circles out of a scrapbook paper or additional 4th of July Party Circles for the backs of your picks. Some people like to have the words on both sides. I like to add pops of color to the project by backing the picks with scrapbook paper.
Adhere 1 glue dot to a party circle near the bottom center of the circle. Place another glue dot towards the top center of the circle.
Place the toothpick on the lower glue dot and press. Glue Dot Tip: Press the paper to the glue dot and then peel the glue dot off the wax paper that it comes packaged on. If you try to get the glue dot off the wax paper first you will likely end up with a sticky ball instead of a nice flat glue dot.
Place the backing paper on top of the tooth pick, pressing the paper to the glue dots.

Voila! Easy peasy. If the edges of the paper are sticking out too much for you then you can use glue sticks to help keep the pages together.

Click each link to download!

Pursuit of Happiness, Justice & Dessert for All, & Were All Cupcakes are Created Equal Party Circles

Celebrate Freedom, Sweet Land of Liberty, & Happy Indpendence Day Party Circles

A Well Crafted Pantry

Guest Post: 4th of July Menu & Table Decor from MacSuzie.Com

July 1, 2014 1 Comment A Well Crafted Pantry

A big thank you to Jenni for having me as a guest poster today on A Well Crafted Party! After a little hiatus from my own blog, her invite was just the kick in the pants I needed to get back on track and get some MacSuzie mojo going! It felt really good to be in the kitchen and at my craft table working on this menu and table decor.

I hope you all enjoy the summer recipes I’ve put together for you – great as a menu altogether for the 4th of July, or any of them on their own as additions to your gatherings throughout summer. Many items can be prepared ahead of time (or require barely any prep at all!) so you won’t toil away the afternoon in the in the kitchen. Plus, the table decor is very simple and won’t cost you an arm and a leg 🙂

Start yourself off right with a fun and festive summer cocktail reminiscent of the ice cream man jingling down the street.

This Bomb Pop Cocktail has all the flavors of the original – cherry, lime and blue raspberry, with a grown up twist.

For the kiddos, a real Bomb Pop is a fun way to keep lemonade or soda pop cold 🙂

Grill out (or in, if your 4th gets rained out, as mine always seems to!) with this flavor packed Homemade Veggie Burger with Blue Cheese & BBQ Sauce that will impress even the staunchest of carnivores.

Lately, my favorite way to eat these is topped with a slice of blue cheese plus some pickled onions and BBQ sauce – so good!

On the side, the smell of these Tin Foil “Camping” Potatoes will make it hard to decide what you want to take a bite of first.

Packed with onions and garlic in a pocket of foil, it doesn’t get any easier. Ok, maybe it does… See below for my roasted corn!

It wouldn’t be summer without an ear of In-Husk Roasted Sweet Corn – just like the county fair vendors 🙂

You won’t believe how easy it is to cook corn on the grill or in the oven – no husking required! Hahaha, guess you’ll have to find something else to keep the kids (or husband!) busy. 🙂

End the meal on a fruity note with my Mini Red, White & Blueberry Strawberry Shortcakes!

Smaller than the usual shortcake, you don’t have to choose between the two toppings – have one of each! (both with a giant dollop of homemade whipped cream of course!)

Table Decor:

To break up the traditional (and sometimes boring) red, white and blue, I decided to add in a touch of light turquoise here and there. I pulled in a few of turquoise Fiesta serving pieces I already had, plus my trusty vintage ball jar, some bandanas and scraps of paper and fabric and ended up with a beautiful table. You can do the same – just use what you have on hand and get creative!

To start, I used bandanas as place mats.

Some coordinating ribbon dresses up a plain jar or old vase without much effort.

Keep all your toppings on top of your burger with these adorable picks!

Just a few scraps of paper and some stickers make boring old skewers into fun decorations. Use them on your burgers as I have, or put the flags on toothpicks and use for fruit or cupcakes.

Lastly, ditch the paper napkins and use some clean bandanas instead!

Quickly folded into a pocket and dressed up with some fabric scraps and ribbon, these bandana napkins are festive AND won’t blow off the table. :

Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and summer!

Seriously, how cute is this party!? A huge thank you to Lindsey of MacSuzie.com for brining us this awesome 4th of July party! I can’t wait to try these recipes and entertaining tips for the upcoming holiday and throughout the Summer. By the way… if you’ve been wondering about the name MacSuzie here is how Lindsey describes it on her site: “A dash of ‘MacGyver’ plus a sprinkle of ‘Suzie Homemaker’ – all tied up with a bow!“

A Well Crafted Party

DIY Dye Painted Cloth Napkins

June 30, 2014 3 Comments A Well Crafted Party

DIY Dye Painting // A Well Crafted Party — Photo by Motormouth Studios

A really easy way to transform a table is by customizing the table linens to match your theme. For my Forth of July Meet & Greet event at West Elm I wanted to teach attendees a way to customize fabric napkins in a way that doesn’t end up being overtly patriotic so that they might be able to use the napkins throughout the Summer. I chose to teach a DIY Dye Painting craft that creates fabric napkins with almost a water color effect. I liked the effect so much that I chose to create matching printables with the watercolor look too complete the party. Stay tuned this week to see the free printables. (sneak peek here!)

DIY Dye Painting with A Well Crafted Party — Photo by Motormouth Studio

DIY Dye Painted Cloth Napkins

Supplies Needed: (Links are affiliate links. Affiliate link purchases help support this blog.)

Wax paper
Paint brush (medium size worked best for me… though, any size works!)
Liquid Rit Dye (I used Navy Blue)
Salt
Cotton Napkins

Directions:

*Please be careful working with dye. It wil dye your furniture, clothing, etc. It is very important to protect your space and be careful when painting with this dye. If you are worried about getting it on your hands then use latex gloves to protect them!

Make your dye: Mix 2 Tablespoons of Liquid Rit Dye with 1/4 tablespoon of salt, and 2 Tablespoons of water.
Place several layers of wax paper down underneath your white napkin.
Paint shapes on your white napkin using the dye. The napkin will cause some bleeding of the dye. Small, intricate designs are not suggested for this type of fabric painting.
Let the design dry. The drying process can be as quick as 30 minutes. I let mine sit overnight. The overall print will be lighter than that painted. Some of the dye will also bleed during the rinsing process… making the watercolor effect I was speaking of before.
Rinse each napkin separately under cool water until water runs clear. Put in dryer or hang to dry.
Wash the napkins in a separate load and not with your regular clothing in future washings. The dye may bleed in the next few washings and you don’t want to get the dye on other cloth items.