... oh so fabulous project...

i looked all over for a cute and creative giveaway for sara's birthday party.  she had a pizza party where the kids made their own pizza, so my first thought was an apron and chef hat.  but how to do this? after some research and some work, here is a picture of the final product.  cute, huh? i have to say i'm super proud of these!

i found the aprons at hobby lobby for around 3 bucks each.

i ironed the wrinkles out and put some "stitch witchery" on the top where i would place the ribbon.  this stuff makes the ribbon stick without having to sew it, and you apply it by just laying the strip where you want it to go.  

after i stuck the strip on, i applied the thin ribbon directly up on top of it.  after i placed it there, i ironed it on.

(please ignore my water stained ironing board cover!) 

already the apron had become 100% cuter!

next it was time to add a personalized cupcake design. 

my girlfriend Laura found the cupcake image on etsy.com, and just pulled it into photoshop to give us a workable file.  she sent the image to me, and i added each girls name to the template with a super cute font.  i printed them on iron on transfer paper.  the paper isn't cheap- between $1-2 per sheet.  it was originally 23 bucks for 12 sheets at jo-ann's, but i was able to use a 40% coupon. yippee! careful that you print on the proper side and reverse the image so it transfers correctly-- just check out the directions inside the transfer paper packet and it will all be clear.

here is the paper i used and you can see what the final printed page looks like.  i had already cut out one image when this photo was taken.

so here is what i'm working with after all of them are cut out:

position the image on the apron where you want it and iron it on.  make sure you hold the iron down for 60 seconds or so on each part of the transfer.  if you begin peeling up the edges and it looks like it's not sticking completely, re-iron to make sure it's good to go.  

wait a few minutes to make sure the apron has cooled down.  begin peeling back the paper, and if it has stuck well on the apron go ahead and peel it off.  remember- if it hasnt stuck 100% then just re-iron for a minute or so.

final product:

too cute! 

the hats were easy as well.  they were made from strips of posterboard with white tissue stuffed in the middle.

here are a few pics of the girls at the party with their chef gear on:

if you are looking for a party idea, this one was great!  we played "pin the pepperoni on the pizza,"  colored pizza sheets, made our own small pizzas, and had a conga line singing and dancing time (kids idea!).  i had brought cupcakes to decorate as well, but we ran out of time. 

6 year old birthday party= roaring success

and all of this was thrown together the week of the party

(i'm a glutton for punishment)

what has been your favorite birthday party theme for one of your kids or a child's party you went to?

i'm always looking for new ideas!