Bird Themed Favors and Placecards

Oh friends.  If you only knew the drama that has played out over these favors and place cards.  I seriously had no idea what I was going to do and stressed over them as if my life depended upon it.

Yes, over people's names and a little thank you goodies. To know me in real life, is to experience the intense anal retentiveness that is my reality.

So this post will show you what I came up with and also what I TRIED to do and what did not work out.

It'll be fun.

Once upon a time there were these little $1 bird houses. 

You were such a quandary to me in how I was going to use you yet your bird themed essence and cuteness-on-the-cheap made me purchase you.

And then paint you. The end.

Now what?

So I racked my brain thinking maybe I would make these the place cards but that just did not sit right.  Not what I was going for.  Then the Hubs suggested cute little bird magnets. Brilliant. It would be quick and cost me zero dollars.

So I made these which my Ella called little bird pillows.  Love her.

When she saw they had magnets on them she was ecstatic.

If you look at them for long periods of time, you will begin to wonder if they are actually tadpoles coming into their froggy-ness.

 So I attached each bird to a house.  Just a little scotch tape worked.

And wrote a little thank you note on each roof.

It's cutesy and fun.  I like it.

Now for the place card idea that FAILED...
I came up with the idea of using a bird bath for each place card.
But what could I make into a bird bath? 
So I got to work experimenting.  I grabbed a candlestick, a pink ramekin, and a little dish.  I figured if one of them worked, I would glue it to the top and spray paint the whole thing.

Nope.  Looks too much like a wine glass and just did not look right.

 Neither did this one.

 I kept staring at my candle stick and then wondered...what if I flip it over???

Yes! 
Perfect!  It looks just like a little bird bath!! 

What if I paint the inside and add a little bird place card!  ADORABLE!  

I bought these at the dollar tree and I knew I could get a bunch more!  Yay me!

Um, no. My sweet husband was on the hunt and went to every dollar tree near us.  None.

Back to the drawing board.  

But I had to share in case one you are lucky to find them at yours and can tuck this idea away.

So here is what I did.  The backyard was becoming the hottest spot for this tablescape, so I gave that  a whirl again.  And I found some little branches.

And dry brushed painted them with a little light grey paint. 

The color is called Old Faithful.  Isn't that a great name?

And I added some paper punch out leaves.

They match perfectly and each side has a different pattern. Love, love, love how they turned out!

The actual place cards I agonized over.  I finally went with simple using a a pink cardstock with a pretty sheen on it, a circle punch, a pretty font, and some pale green ribbon. I tried birds (but I felt we were getting birded out), bracket labels...nothing looked good.  Turns out...simple works best. :)

 Another idea is to use a place card with a bird clipped to the branch.  I saw a set of 6 white birds at Joann's that would be really cute. 

 Tomorrow I will be setting it all up and then tomorrow night is the big night!!!

I will do my best to take photos but I may not get to show them to you until Monday.

Thank you so much for coming along with me on all these tutorials to a beautiful Spring Tablescape!

I hope you liked it and I can't wait for you to see the whole table put together. I will be adding some extra stuff you have not seen yet to give it the final touches and to match our theme!

I am so excited!