DIY birthday candle crown

Brittany

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September 22, 2014

You guys loved the birthday cake chandelier. Hooray! Well, continuing on the Lars birthday celebration, here’s another for you, a birthday candle crown. Your birthday is no longer complete without it, right? Ashley nailed it again with this fun crown that your special birthday friend will love.

photography by Trisha Zemp
crafting by Ashley Isenhour
styling by Brittany Jepsen

Get the full tutorial below!

Materials:

scissors
cardstock
1/6 yard of fabric
gold thread for embellishment
safety pin
glue gun
paper straws
tissue paper
paint (optional)
crepe paper or fabric strip

Step 1: Cut a strip of posterboard 1.5″ wide and long enough to fit a little loosely around the guest of honor’s head (the candles will take up some space and make the crown fit more snugly). Glue ends together.

Step 2: Cut 3 1″ strips of fabric and 3 strands of gold thread at the same length. Hot glue the end of a gold thread to one end of each of the fabric strips. Secure the ends of the strips together with a safety pin and pin into your carpet / old upholstered chair / the pajama bottoms you’re wearing. Braid strands together. Braid enough to go around your crown twice.

Step 3: Hot glue fabric braids around posterboard base. Tuck end to the inside of the base and secure with hot glue.

Step 4: Cut paper straws in half to make candles. You can paint them or leave them as they are. Cut 1″ squares of tissue paper. Pinch each square in the middle and twist. Squirt a bit of hot glue in the end of each straw and stick the twisted end of your tissue in there. (This great idea is from Icing Design).

Step 5: Hot glue the base of each candle along the inside of your posterboard base. Try to space candles as evenly as possible.
Step 6: Cut a fabric or crepe paper strip and glue over the candles along the inside of the crown. This just makes the crown more comfortable to wear.

DIY Bunny Party Hats

Brittany

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March 30, 2015

0

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Tic Tac® brand. I received compensation to write this post through the Tic Tac Pack Program; however, all opinions expressed are my own.

As you know, it’s my personal belief that all holidays deserve a party, and Easter is no exception. That’s why I came up with this DIY bunny party hat to celebrate in true bunny style. They’re perfect for an Easter hunt or sporting at the dinner table. No big pink bunny costumes (a la a certain Christmas movie) needed! See below for the full tutorial.

I used the new Bunny Burst Tic Tac® mints to inspire my color palette for the bunny hats. They are a blend of artificially flavored green apple and grape mints and, of course, I ate a few along the way, to really get into the spirit. These little mints were the perfect confetti accessory for the table scene. Wouldn’t they be cute left out as a surprise for your guests mixed with the party hats?!

DIY Easter bunny party hats

Materials:

cardstock in various pastel shades
scissors
permanent marker
glue dots
craft knife
twine
Easter Bunny Party Hat Template

Instructions:

Make the party hats with this template. Any classic party hat template will do.
Cut out eyes and noses for the bunny with simple circles and triangles and long thin pieces for the whiskers.
Attach the eyes and nose with glue dots.
Draw in a simple mouth with your permanent marker.
Cut slits in the side of the hat with your craft knife.
Cut out ears and fold at the bottom about ¼” up.
Insert the ears and secure with tape inside.
Attach twine to the sides of the inside of the hat to tie around the head. Secure with tape.

Voila!

Enjoy the Easter party with your new bunny hats!

Photography by Trisha Zemp

This post was sponsored by the Tic Tac® brand. All content and opinions are my own! Thank you for supporting the sponsors that keep The House That Lars Built running!

For more Easter craft ideas and inspiration, take a look at the Lars Easter Pinterest board.

Easter Activities for Kids

Brittany

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April 12, 2022

0

Easter Baskets

Every child needs an Easter basket! It’s one of our favorite Easter activities for kids. But have they ever been able to help make one themselves? For older kids, this Rope Easter Basket is a great option that requires absolutely no sewing. Just twist and glue and you’re done!

Our Paper Easter Basket is a perfect option for kiddos who aren’t quite up to the rope Easter basket level yet, but still want to try their hand at making an Easter basket. Just print, cut and assemble and you’re ready for that Easter egg hunt.

What to Put In Your Easter Basket

A fun activity that doubles as the perfect addition to your child’s Easter basket, try these carrot treat boxes! Fill them with treats and they also double as party favors for a spring or Easter themed party.

If you’re in need of other things to fill your child’s Easter basket with, here’s a post all about activity-filled Easter baskets. And here’s an Easter basket choose your own adventure! All out of time? These last minute Easter printables are sure to save the day.

Egg-centric Activities

It wouldn’t be Easter without some egg-centric Easter activities to keep your little ones busy. The bonus is that these activities appeal to adults and kids alike!

Egg Dying

Egg dying is a classic Easter activity for kids. We have lots of egg dying ideas for you to choose from, like our Naturally dyed Easter egg tree or our Easter Egg runner tablescape. For something a little more in-depth (ideal for older kids), these Ukrainian Pysanky Eggs, Nesting Easter eggs, pressed flower eggs and Botanical Easter eggs are stunning, and you can use to redecorate with for years to come.

Once you’ve dyed your eggs, you’ll need a way to display them. Try our Easter egg holders!

Slip a few of the lovely eggs you’ve dyed (or painted) into the grass for an Easter egg hunt. Let your kids find them using one of the Easter baskets above or this carrot shoulder bag!

Spring Birthday Activities

While not restricted to just a birthday activity, this Easter Scavenger Hunt with anagram balloons is a great one to add to the list if your child has a birthday at this time of year! And of course, no birthday required for a fun Easter scavenger hunt.

Speaking of spring birthdays, this Easter Tablescape Party Suite is the perfect way to celebrate. The best part is all you have to do is print and cut and you’re all done!

Coloring Pages

Another great option if you’re looking for good Easter activities for kids is coloring. Try our Ukrainian Easter Coloring Pages or our Easter coloring pages. If your child loves to color, you’ll also definitely want to check out this Flowers coloring book, as well as the rest of our coloring pages and books in the shop!

Dress-up and Play

What kid doesn’t like a little dress up? It’s a perfect Easter activity for kids. For the littlest of them all, this Baby bunny bonnet is adorable, not to mention a great way to keep their tiny scalps from getting sunburnt. For toddlers and children of all ages, these DIY bunny ears, Bunny party hats, and Easter printable crowns are fun and festive.

Need more activities? These Easter egg coupons will give you endless ideas of activities to do with your kids this Easter! Bonus: you can put them in their Easter eggs to avoid a sugar rush and keep them excited all the same.

You also won’t want to miss our springtime activity kit, or our springtime printable activity pack, which includes spring-themed coloring pages and paper dolls for your kids to have fun with.

Baby Animals

What child doesn’t love a cute animal? Even better, what about a bunny in honor of Easter? Make your own or buy one from our shop and keep your kids happily playing all afternoon!

From our shop, here’s a template for our DIY sewn bunny, or this Floppy bunny doll, if you’re not in the mood to sew.

Here are some more options to peruse:

Gardening

Have a budding gardener on your hands? Help them plant some lovely spring flowers! It’s a great way to capitalize on that warmer weather. Here are some supplies to get you started:

Budding Chef

Is your child interested in learning to cook? We have the perfect Easter treat and activity to try: Resurrection rolls for Palm Sunday!

Don’t forget the kitchen essentials for your kids to use:

More Inspiration

Need more ideas for things to do this Easter? Try this post on Easter crafts, or these Easter decor ideas. Happy crafting!

Birthday Printable Collection

Brittany

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February 20, 2020

2

Printable Birthday Suite

We love the colors, the sentiment and the craftiness. Here’s what we have!

Printable Birthday Invitations

You know what they say, first impressions are everything; so, let your guests know they are in for a great time with these invitations!

Printable Birthday Banner

Is a birthday party really a birthday party without a proper birthday banner?! We think not! Hang this up to set that party mood!

Birthday Crown

We heard you can only have a proper birthday if you are wearing a crown… so, we present you what might be the best birthday crown you have ever seen!

Cake Toppers

Lest the Birthday Queen or King forget how old they (yes, this has happened to me once or twice…) remind them with these cake toppers that are good for anyone ages 1-1,000!

Thank you to Dahlia Bakes for the scrumptious and beautiful cake. If you’re local in Utah Valley, we highly recommend her work!

Printable Birthday Decorations e-book

You can find all the individual components in the shop OR you can find them all in our Birthday e-book here. Here are a few must haves for your next birthday Party!

As always, we can’t wait to see how you make your birthday come to life with our printables. Tag us with #LarsMakes so we can see!

How to Celebrate Your 40th Birthday

Brittany

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June 10, 2022

0

My 40th Birthday Plans

Leading up to my 40th birthday, I had lots of plans. Specifically, I wanted a big Europe trip to celebrate! But we are in up to our necks in behind-the-scenes projects here at The House that Lars Built, which means a trip to Europe just wasn’t in the cards. At least for now. Maybe in the fall? I’ll keep you all posted. There’s noting wrong with a belated birthday trip, after all!

I’m not the only one turning 40 here, though! Despite my lack of exciting birthday plans for now, all my friends are also soon-to-be or already over the hill, which means I’ve attended some great 40th birthday celebrations in the past year. I couldn’t just not share those ideas with all of you! So today I’m giving you the lowdown on all the things my friends did for their 40th birthdays, plus a few extra ideas.

How to Celebrate Your 40th Birthday

Birthday Trip

Birthday trips are a classic way to celebrate a big milestone birthday like your 40th! (hence, my hopes to make it to Europe this year). But if you can’t make it internationally and still want a weekend getaway, try something closer! It’s amazing what a quick trip to somewhere new can do. And of course it’s always better with friends or family to come along for the fun.

For your enjoyment, here are some photos from our most recent trip to Denmark (and I promise to post more once I make it back to Europe for my birthday trip)!

Karaoke

So I don’t know if you were aware, but there’s something about 40-year-olds and karaoke that is just magical. I’ve been to a handful of karaoke parties to celebrate the big 40 and I have to say that a bunch of moms singing karaoke are a different breed of unparalleled fun. What are you waiting for?! Warm up those vocal chords and get ready to sing yourself into your 40’s!

Spa Day

A birthday classic for a girls day out especially, a spa day can be the perfect, relaxing way to usher in the 40’s with some self care. Pamper yourself; you deserve it! Go for a mani/pedi, massage, the whole nine yards. We promise you won’t regret it!

Here are some spa essentials to get you going:

In-person Parties

Post COVID lockdowns, it feels that much more triumphant to have a party IN PERSON with people you love! So even though parties aren’t unique to a 40th birthday, there’s a reason we have parties for every birthday. It’s a classic way to celebrate that never really gets old!

Speaking of parties, we have some great party decorations for your to peruse in our shop! Check out our birthday suites, and all of our birthday content here!

Learn a New Skill

Your 40th birthday is such a milestone that it can be great motivation to learn a new skill or take on a new hobby you’ve been wanting to try! It’s never too late, and 40 seems like the perfect time to try. Turn it into a party and invite someone to teach you and your girlfriends how to knit, cook something fun and fancy, or even make a punch needle rug! The options are endless. What do you want to learn how to do?

Movie Night

Movies are a classic way to celebrate anything special, so why not your 40th birthday? Go out to the theater with the gals (maybe even rent it out if you’re feeling ambitious!), or take the party home and have a marathon of your favorite series! Personally, I’ll be watching Bridgerton. What are your favorites? Send the recommendations my way! I’m always game for a fun new show.

Game Night

The options are endless with this one! Just because it’s your 40th birthday doesn’t mean you can’t have a simple game night. So many categories of games. Are you more of a board game or card game person? Or do you prefer a combo of both? If you’re like Paul, you’ll be hanging around those old classic arcade games all night. Whatever gets you most excited is what you should do!

Here are some game night options to get you started:

More Inspiration

We have plenty of ideas to get you started on 40th birthday decor! It starts with our five birthday suites: animal menagerie, garden party, lemon, rainbow, and floral. Click here to see the rest of our birthday shop! Also, don’t forget to check out our past birthday blog content, like our Flower Lane birthday crowns, twisted birthday candles, or DIY birthday felt pennants.

Hopefully we gave you some good ideas to get you started planning your 40th, if you haven’t had it already. And now we need to know: what did you/are you doing to celebrate your 40th? Let us know in the comments!

DIY Doily Honeycomb Decorations

Brittany

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January 20, 2021

4

DIY Paper Doily Honeycomb Decorations

You might recall that we made these custom Honeycomb Christmas decorations from templates that we designed, but we wanted it to be a bit easier. Turns out, doilies are great because the shape is created for you and all you have to do is cut them down the middle and assemble. Plus, the doilies create that beautiful lace effect.

The More You Know

I had to do a bit of digging to find out more about what a doily is and why we have them. Turns out, the term doily came from the last name “Doily”, a London firm of linen merchants who made fringed napkins in the 1700’s. Then, from 1711, a doily was a small ornamental napkin used at dessert. THEN, they were placed on the backs of chairs to protect them from the oil that men used on their hair. Nowadays, some people use them to protect surfaces of tables from decorative objects.

Ok, so now that we know the history of doilies, let’s get to learning how to make these honeycomb decorations. I’m thinking they would be lovely to give as a Valentine or adorn a branch tree (you know we love a decorative tree!) or taking the place of a wreath.

Here’s how to make it!

DIY Honeycomb Valentine ornament

Materials:

See above for where to get the doilies
Glue gun
Scissors or paper cutter

Instructions:

Measure a line down the middle of the doily to create an axis of symmetry
Cut doilies in half. If your doilies are heart-shaped and have different colors on each side (ours are white on the back) keep the right-sided halves separated from the left-sided ones. You will alternate gluing left and right sides of the heart.
Glue a line down the middle of one half-doily (starting at the axis and moving to the edge.
Place another doily on top. For heart-shaped doilies or ones with different colors on each side, glue the same colors together. The contrasting color/blank side will now be facing up.
Glue two lines down the sides of the doily on the top of the stack.
Place another doily on top, again gluing the same colors together.
Carefully separate the layers where glue may have escaped to lower layers through the holes in the doily.
Repeat steps 4-8 until the stack is tall enough to open up and wrap back around so that the first and last layers meet. This will be about 50 layers or 25 whole doilies.
While pressing down the layers of doilies, glue a line down the spine of the stack and even it out with the warm tip of the glue gun. Make sure that all the layers are adhered together with this glue.
Glue a loop of ribbon to the top of the spine.
Fan open the ornament, carefully separating any layers that may still be stuck together, and glue the first and last layers together. You’re finished!

How to make a circle doily honeycomb decoration

And the tutorial is a bit different if you’re doing a heart. Here’s how to make it:

Would love to see how you put them to use. What will you do with them? Tag us when you make yours with #LarsLovesLove #LarsMakes.

Like these? You’ll also love these:

Honeycomb Ornaments
Lunch sack honeycomb decorations
Printable honeycomb cards

Birthday pancake cake

Brittany

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September 23, 2014

6

A pancake cake. I know, I know “but the calories, the sugar…”, SNOOZE FEST! It’s a PAN and it’s a CAKE! A pancake cake! And it’s delicious, which these days is my hashtag 1 requirement. Can you imagine anything more scrumptious to arrive to than a pancake cake surprise awaiting the birthday boy/girl?

Photography by Laura Sumrak
baking by ME Hammond

Check out more birthday projects here
And more delicious recipes here

See the full recipe below

Birthday Cake Pancake Batter:

1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. funfetti cake mix (yellow cake mix also works great)
1 t. baking powder
1 T. sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
3/4 c. milk
pinch of salt
Sprinkles

1. Mix together dry ingredients
2. Add eggs, vanilla, and milk to dry ingredients (whisk well, try to avoid clumps)
3. Fry pancakes in a medium high griddle
4. Top with syrup and sprinkles
5. Eat up!

Friendship Bracelet Inspired Balloon Garland

Brittany

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June 24, 2021

0

Friendship Bracelet Inspired Balloon Garland

This year, we turned to our friend Wendy who has the most charming old white house (we’ve talked about her before here), which is a dreamy setting for her preschool. We had aspirations of flowers and we wanted it to be BIG. That’s when our friends at Anagram stepped in and gave us a hand with some of their balloons. My favorites are the purple/pink ombre ones, how about you? We knew with Wendy’s house and Anagram’s balloons we could pull off something really fun.

Midsummer decor idea

Now, Wendy used to live in Sweden, so she was very eager to hop on the idea of Midsummer balloons. Did I also mention that Wendy is a BIG time lover of balloons! Match made! With the idea of greenery (read more about Sweden’s Midsummer traditions HERE) and flowers abounding, we got to work making some flowers out of balloons.

Beaded Flower bracelets

We were reminded of these popular bracelets that our friends at HonestlyWTF made and knew what we had to do. With some extra white balloons, we were able to make a chain and string the flowers together making the perfect balloon friendship bracelet.

Here’s how to make them!

Materials:

Anagram Orbz Balloons in flower shades
Anagram orbz balloons in yellow for center
Anagram white orbz balloons for garland
Packing tape for balloon on balloons
Balloon tape
Gaffer tape for balloons on buildings
Electric air balloon pump or hand pump (electric is way faster!)

Make a flower balloon:

Start by using a gold/yellow balloon for the center.
Blow up 6 “petals” to go around the center. Use packing tape to secure together and to the center.
Blow up 5 white balloons for the garlands. Use balloon tape to hold them together. Use packing tape to secure if necessary.
To adhere the garlands to your structure, use gaffer tape.

Tip: We found that packing tape is AMAZING for balloon to balloon adhesion and gaffer tape is great for balloon to other surfaces.

Recycling foil balloons

Did we mention recycling? Yes! Anagram foil balloons can be used year after year. Or you can gift them to friends like we did to give them a second life. It turned out so cute and we can’t wait for her kids to see!

This post is sponsored by Anagram but all opinions are my own!

DIY Happy Birthday Banners

Brittany

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January 4, 2018

0

Download the letter templates to make your own DIY Happy Birthday Banners!

DIY Happy Birthday Banners

Materials:

12×12-inch cardstock in 3 colors, about 15-20 pages of each color depending on how long you want your garland to be
Natural Twine
Hot Glue gun
Die-cut machine (This will make this project a breeze!) or scissors (this one is our favorite!)

Instructions:

If you have a Cricut machine, use font “Cricut Sans” at size 450. Each letter should be 6.25 inches tall. We used the phrases: “Happy Birthday To You,” “Make A Wish,” and “Hooray” in all caps. Cut out all letters with Cricut.
If you don’t have a Cricut Machine, you can use a similar font in Adobe Illustrator or Word and size them so they’re 6.25 inches tall for a similar look. Hand cut out all letter.
Choose one color for each phrase or mix it up!
Once you have all the letters cut out, spell out all your phrases to get everything in order
On the backside of each letter, hot glue a continuous piece of twine along the top edge of the letter.
Glue each letter quite close to each other for each word, and leave a bigger space in between words. Then repeat the phrase until you have the desired length you want.
Leave excess twine on each end to allow for some wiggle room when hanging your garlands.
Repeat for additional phrases.
Hang up all the birthday phrases, varying the garlands so you can see all the phrases clearly.

It’s party time!

Photography by Jane Merritt | Crafting by Rebecca Hansen

DIY hair pinatas

Brittany

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January 21, 2016

1

On Tuesday evening we were pleased as punch to host the release of Rubi Jones‘ book, The Art of Hair, with a braiding workshop and book signing here at the studio. We knew we needed something punchy and celebratory for the event so we decided to go all out with a brigade of hair-inspired piñatas. Along for the ride are a metallic comb, hair brush, blow dryer, shears (I was corrected that they are not scissors), and hairspray. “But, Brittany, what do I need a brigade of hair-inspired pinatas for?” Friends, the possibilities are endless (and I’m sure you can add to it):

braiding party (a la the intro of Full House)
treat yo’ self night
your salon, your friend’s salon, your wanna be salon (a la, your living room)
girl’s night out
weekend retreat
your bathroom/party room
surprise at a friend’s door for a birthday
and last but not least, Galentine’s Day party as shown by Kelly Of Studio DIY

You catch the drift.

Well, I’ve combined with Kelly of Studio DIY to complete the hair product brigade with an adorable hair spray complete with an air pouf along with a detailed step by step tutorial. Scroll down to see how hers completes the puzzle or check the full post here.

See the full troop and instructions below!

Continue

Bird gift topper

Brittany

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January 10, 2022

9

Gift topper idea

One of my favorite ways to jazz up a gift is to keep some bright wrapping papers in my arsenal and then add on a cute gift topper. That could be a pretty ribbon or gift tag. Here, I took a more artistic approach and cut out a bird out of black paper and added in some cute details with paint. It’s simple yet striking, no?! It’s a fun little project for feeling like you’re reaching your creative quota for one day.

Solid colored wrapping papers

It all starts with some awesome solid colored wrapping papers in great colors. Here are some great options that you can find in a bundle if you’re looking to add to your gift wrap station. Here’s another brand in really great color options.

Bird gift topper

Hopefully you already have everything you’ll need for this one since it’s so simple, but if not, here’s what you’ll need!

Materials:

black cardstock paper
thin paint brush
white gouche, acrylic or paint marker
peach acrylic paint or peach paper
black pen
bird template SVG and PDF
craft cutter or scissors
paper adhesive mounts (we love this brand) or mini brads

Instructions

Start by cutting out the shape of the bird with scissors or on your craft machine*
Paint decorations on the bird with white paint or marker (marker is easier to control if you don’t have much experience with painting)
Affix a paper adhesive mount to the back of the wing for the frontal wing and to the front of the bottom of the wing for the back wing.
Cut out the flag for the bird and if you’ve cut it out on black paper (like we did) paint it peach.
Write in your gift tags on the flag part.
Gift it away!

Of course, you can get into the spirit of decoration and go wild painting and I say have fun with it! This project is one that is meant for getting out your creativity.

Here are some more gift topper ideas:

Prize ribbon Gift topper
3D paper flower gift topper
Tissue paper flower gift topper

Show us your projects on Instagram by using the hashtag #LarsMakes

Photography and crafting by Ashley Isenhour

Birthday Cake Topper with Brother

Brittany

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March 18, 2020

1

As you can probably tell by now, we can’t stop talking about how much we love National Craft Month. It’s the perfect time to celebrate your creativity and get to work crafting up all of the amazing things you’ve been thinking about. If you are feeling like you are in a bit of a craft funk we have teamed up with our friends at Brother to bring you a sweet yet impactful project to get you out of your slump and on your way to crafting town!

Using the Brother P-touch ELITE we created these colorful flag cake toppers inspired by our newest line from Abby Low found in the Lars Print Shop. You may know by now that we love celebrating and since we are already celebrating craft month we figured we may as well celebrate anyone and everyone out there with a March birthday with these adorable birthday flag cake toppers.

Birthdays are so very special and we tend to go bananas decorating and that’s part of the reason we love using the P-touch ELITE because of how easy it makes it to create personalized ribbon! Think up your birthday phrases and print them on ribbon (the P-touch Embellish ELITE prints on tape too!) so you can create the perfect phrases, specific for your birthday queen or king!

Here’s how you do it!

Directions:

Pick your color palette
Paint your skewers to the colors you have chosen. We painted three skewers of each color and used 21 skewers and six colors (the more the better in our opinion)
Set aside to dry.
Paint the wood beads in the same palette, three of each color in all six colors.
Set aside to dry.
Download the Ptouch Design&Print app to your phone!
Select “Create your own label”.
Select “text” and add in whatever you want the ribbon to say or even a graphic!
Once the text is in click “Done”.
Adjust the “Taper length” depending on how long your message is.
Scroll to the left to find “label alignment” and align your text to the right”
Once your text is in and the alignment is correct click “print”
Set your ribbon to the side and begin building your flag frame.
Attach a piece of wire around the dried painted skewer by wrapping it around the top.
Once the wire is attached, measure the length of the wire against the length of the ribbon and cute wire accordingly.
Using the glue stick apply glue to the back of the ribbon.
At the mid point on the ribbon place the skewer there and fold the ribbon in half so the wire is in in between the two halves.
Attach a painted wood bead to the top using a hot glue gun.
Place completed flag in cake!

We love using the Brother P-touch ELITE it is the perfect easy-to-use ribbon and tape printer that you can use to create any and all of the exciting crafts you have planned for this Craft Month! We can’t wait to see what you create!

The green polka-dot background is from our Lars Print Shop. Thank you @glweddingcakes for the lovely cake!