Handmade Decorations for a Birthday Party

I love the idea of creating a handmade home.  So when it was time to celebrate Martin’s birthday while we were in Germany, I knew I had to incorporate some sort of handmade decor into our celebration.  I guess I feel like handmade is also heart-made, and you all know what a sucker I am for following your heart!

Last year, I made bunting from old newspapers and paint.  (Here’s a recycled newspaper bunting tutorial.)

It was the perfect little touch that could be so fun to make with kids.

This year, I wanted to create something a little more sustainable that we could use for years and years of birthday parties.

So while Martin was out for the day, I pulled out my sewing machine and bits of fabric, and placed them on our dining table.  I didn’t follow a pattern.  As my mom says, “Katie just starts sewing!”  Well I think about it first and look at a few pictures.  After a few hours, I had this:

I shooed Martin into the bedroom while I strung them across our apartment in Berlin.  You may remember seeing that bunting hanging up in several photos of our house like this one:

Just for fun, I hung a shorter one above my desk, too.  And for now – our bunting has become a permanent fixture in our apartment (unless the folks there take it down!).  I guess I like to think of it as becoming our “welcome home!” banner when we get back to Germany.

If you’d like to make fabric bunting of your own, try googling “how to make fabric bunting” for a slew of styles and tips.  It’s certainly an easy sewing project or no-sew project.

How did your family used to make birthdays special when you were young?  Any strings of streamers or balloons?  How about a heavily-used Happy Birthday! sign or special dinners and delicious cake?  And what do you do to make the birthday boy or girl feel magical?