Happy Birthday! (On the Cheap)

I love children's birthday parties! But, I can't stand going to Toys R Us, trying to find a decent toy for $10, buying a $3 card, a $3 bag, and tissue paper to fill the bag! Before you know it you're walking out $20 poorer, and the birthday kid will probably forget all about your toy in a week!

So I have made a pledge to myself to say NO MORE! I recently made this for a 4-year-old out of tee shirt scraps:

Basically I just googled Ugly Dolls and found one I wanted to copy, cut out 2 layers of fabric for the body and appliqued his face on. I forgot to take a photo of his back, but his name, "Stinky" is embroidered on his heiny.

Too cheap to buy a card? Here's a quick tutorial on how I made the card and envelope. All you need is:

2 coordinating pieces of craft paper

2 buttons

embroidery floss

adhesive-backed velcro

glue stick

For the card cut your paper 6'' by 9''. Fold in half. Cut out the child's age and use a glue stick to glue it on. Easy cheesy!

For the envelope cut your paper 7" by 12". Fold it over once at 5" and then fold over the excess so it looks like an envelope. Glue a scrap of your coordinating fabric to the bottom of the front of the envelope. Then use embroidery floss to sew on your buttons. I like to put them in the top right corner so it looks like a stamp. Then sew up the sides with embroidery floss (being sure not to sew into the flap!

Stick on the adhesive velcro and voila! You're done!

I used a bag and shredded crinkly paper from one of the kid's birthdays (always save your bags people!) $20 saved! Does that mean I get to go shopping?