Some may be reluctant to get printable party files for a birthday or baby shower because they don't know what to do to put this stuff together or they think it's going to be a lot more work than they want to put forth. I admit the first time that I put a printable party kit together, it was a lot of work!
Tools that help make your party creations more simple
I have learned, after creating over a dozen of these better ways of doing this. Printable parties are awesome because they allow customizations, they are unique and they are not factory produced. This is one of the reasons I started designing them. This fairy party kit is now discontinued from my shop, I have since become a better graphic designer and I feel this isn't my best work though I really loved it at the time.
Printable parties don't have to be extremely time consuming to put together and they don't have to cost a fortune. You don't need a professional party person. If you are on a budget, you can still throw a fabulous party! Here are some hints to help out.
Get the tools that you need for creating the perfect party. Tools are EVERYTHING! If you try to cut everything with scissors it will make your hand hurt and take forever. The following are the recommended tools that help create these wonderful parties!
1. For the 2" favor tags use a 2" hole punch: Hobby Lobby has a 40% off coupon that can be used online if you don't have a store near you, this coupon makes all of these items affordable For the 3" cup labels use a 3" hole punch, again, I purchased mine at hobby lobby. For large circles use a large circle cutter, I have found that the Martha Stewart circle cutter works best. This circle cutter does take a little bit of getting used to so I recommend drawing some different sized circles on pieces of paper to practice using the tool. If you try using it on your prints you may ruin your prints and have to spend more money reprinting the party designs, once you have learned how to use the tool it's easy.
4. For straight cuts party designs you can use scissors, however if you have a paper cutter that is less stress on your hands. I am not a huge fan of paper cutters myself because I can't seem to get the designs cut close to the edge. I prefer to use a ruler, x-acto knife and cutting board. I learned how to use these when I was in college learning graphic design and yes, I have tried to cut my finger off a couple of times so you have to pay attention to what you are doing! This is the best for me personally, however, I am a picky graphic artist that needs my prints to be perfect. So if you are a perfectionist like me learn how to use a ruler and x-acto knife!
5. If you get a party banner there are a number of ways to put these together... I have tried them all! You will need a regular hole punch to punch holes at the end of the pendants or a x-acto blade to slice slits. Here are options to adhesive them together. You can make the banner a little bit stronger and add extra design to it by cutting pieces of scrapbook paper a little large then the pendant triangles and paste the 2 pieces together. If you have a Cricut cutter they do carry a pendant cartridge, this is the easiest way to cut background paper. For gluing the 2 pieces of paper together spray adhesive will work however the stick does wear off of them and the printing paper may fall off of the scrapbook paper so the pioneer glue is a better option to avoid this issue.
***Ribbon or string, this option cost a bit more because the prices of ribbon is a bit more. There are a couple of ways to use ribbon. You can tie each pendant together with a piece of ribbon and make a bow or you can string the ribbon through all of the banner pendants then tie the ends. The photo below shows the banner linked together with ribbon, I actually sliced the ends of the banner paper to create slits on this one so that the ribbon would lay flat.
*** Another option for attaching party banners is to use brads. It's funny a lot of people don't think they have heard of brads until I saw a photo of what they look like. Brads are the least expensive way to link the pendants together. There is also more control when using brads because they twist with the paper easily once they pendants are linked together.
6. Glue, I prefer this glue called pioneer glue. This stuff is pretty amazing, it's inexpensive and it sticks to nearly everything, it's also not messy because it's a stick. Hot glue or whatever glue you prefer is fine to use as well.
7. If you are going to use the cupcake toppers make sure to get some sticks for it. You can get the candy sticks, but I prefer Woodsies. Woodsies are awesome for the toppers, it's flat so they stay on a better. Candy sticks are round which makes it a little more difficult to stick to flat paper. Woodsies are also super inexpensive! 750 for $4, you only have to purchase them one time and you will have enough for quite a few parties. You can also paint them to match your party, if you want to get really creative add rhinestones to them!
Look around your house for items to use for your parties, you don't have to buy EVERYTHING!
Spray paint old bottles and jars or anything else that you can think of. This is a great inexpensive way to add matching party decorations to your printable party items and it's also a good way to reuse old things for something cool!
Make some things for CHEAP! There are a number of things that are really inexpensive that you can make. the stand that is shown in the image above is something that I made. The total cost was under $10 and you get six of the stands because the terra cotta pots that I use come in packages of 6 for under $4 at hobby lobby.
Now that I have created a few different parties using the printables created by Metro-events. I have created some better parties.