Make Your Own Old Fashioned Games... Make Them Pretty too!

Well here we go.  

I am planning this birthday party that I initially intended to be easy with pizza and a jump house. But to my great delight, we decided to go another direction and we are doing this picnic party with some homemade, old fashioned yard games, picnic blankets, and a picnic dinner. And it will be GIRLY!  

HOORAY for girly!  

So get ready!  This next month will be pretty party focused and today I am going to share two projects I have done so far.  

The first one is this Ring Toss game. Isn't it sweet?

I started off with this old small crate, some small embroidery hoops, and a 6 pack of Diet Root Beer.

I wanted the bottles to use in the crate.  I could only fit 5 of them in there but I loved how it turned out.

I used the inner and outer rings of the embroidery hoops to make 6 rings and wrapped them with fabric from those pretty sheets I recently purchased. I just cut them into thin strips and wrapped them around and secured it with a dab of hot glue.

I hope the outer rings with the small screws won't be a safety issue so I figure the grown ups can use those and the kids can use the inner rings.

I wanted a girly but distressed look to the bottles so I painted them a very light green color (I know it looks white...sigh) called celery ice.  After it dried, I painted over it with a light pink color and then wiped it off in different places to reveal the light green underneath.

(I love my little Ella's bare feet jumping into the picture at the last minute ♥)

I painted the crate a really pale blue color (again, it looks white...another sigh) by using a dry brush of paint.  I just dipped the brush in paint and then dabbed off the excess and then with long sweeping strokes made it look distressed.  I prefer painting things this way so that I don't have to sand them later. 

Finally, I used alphabet stamps for the lettering and made them look faded.

Fabric Wrapped Hula Hoops

I love hula hoops!  I love their shiny and fun colors.  But I wanted something more feminine and sweet for one of the outdoor activities I have planned.  Plus, a couple of their hula hoops starting peeling and feeling prickly so I wanted to give them some new life.

 So enter in pretty sheets again! 

I just cut thin strips of fabric and started wrapping them and securing them with dabs of hot glue just like the embroidery hoops.

 Much prettier and they feel so soft!

And yes, they still work!  The girls seem to like them better and actually using them a lot more now.

I believe pretty fabric makes everything better. And prettier.  And happier.

Amen.

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