Pool Noodle Light Saber Tutorial

I know that if you have seen a Star Wars party, then you have seen these pool noodle light sabers. They are easy and extremely inexpensive to make, so that's why everyone is using them. 

I saw several different types of light sabers, but never saw a tutorial on how to make them. 

One of the problems I kept seeing with most of the light sabers was that the bottoms were kind of bubbly. The tape wasn't smooth. I knew how to remedy that, and I wanted to share with you how to do it as well.

 Your supply list:

Pool Noodle

Knife

Tape Measure

SHARP Scissors

Silver Duct Tape

Black Electrical Tape

You will want to measure your pool noodles and cut them in half using your knife. Then you can begin taping.  The pictures, I hope, are self explanatory...so I'll let them do most of the talking.

 Snip to the edge and overlap, all the way around each side.

 Smooth bottom of pool noodle.

 Turn noodle on it's side and begin taping around, making sure to keep it close to the bottom of the edge.

 Make sure you keep the edges lined up when you go around.

 Overlap just slightly for the next row of tape.

 For mine, I used 3 rows of tape. That seemed to be the right amount for the hilt.

 Next you will need to cut your black electrical tape. I cut multiple strips at 2 & 3/4" and just played around with the designs of the hilts...there is no right or wrong way. Just use your imagination, or look at a real light saber toy for inspiration...that's what I did:o) 

And then you should end up with something like this. Easy and best of all..CHEAP:o)

Hopefully this helps you in your endeavor to make a great party favor without spending a whole lot of money:o)

Star Wars Party Details

 I was given a strict budget for this party, and I actually stuck to it:o)

That NEVER happens, but the hubs cracked down on me, and I had to follow instructions...there's a first time for everything, right?;o)

So here is a break down of some of my purchases for the party.

Let's start with the party favors, since that was the first thing that I purchased.

I bought these Star Wars trick or treat buckets off of our local Facebook yard sale page. I paid $2 for the lot...super score:o)

 I bought the blue crinkle filler at the Dollar Tree. It took the entire bag for one bucket. I purchased the note pads and pencils from Target. They were in the party supplies section. I found the Star Wars playing cards in the toy section and they were clearanced at 88 cents each. I also found some Star Wars fruit roll ups. 

 Each of the kids got to take home a pool noodle light saber as well. Pool noodles were purchased at the Dollar Tree. (I'll share a tutorial on how to make those in my next post.)

I made these chocolate Millennium Falcons for the parents. You can find the molds at Amazon.

 For the girls, I found these little baskets in the dollar section at Target. They also got the note pads, pencils, and fruit roll ups. Their fun little party favor was Princess Leia headbands.

 I found a tutorial to make these at Disney Family. I made 2 changes. I wrapped the yarn around the headband, and cut extra circles to cover the backs of the buns, to give it a neater finish.

I had the headbands and felt on hand. I only had to buy the yarn, which was purchased at Walmart.

 I made two table runners. One for the food table and one for the dining table. The fabric was purchased at Hobby Lobby. I bought two yards total, and used a 40% off coupon. By cutting the fabric in half lengthwise and then folding it in half again and stitching it together, I was able to get 2 runners at 6 feet long each.

 The Star Wars poster was free. I had purchased the project board from the Dollar Tree a few years back. I spray painted it with silver spray paint and used a Star Wars font for the lettering. You can find the fonts HERE. I played around with the fonts in Publisher and blew them up to 300. I cut each letter out, and used double sided tape to attach them to the board.

 The cupcakes were one of my favorites. The cupcake liners were purchased at Party City. They were $1.99 for 50. S.R. and my mother made the cupcakes. I made the icing using a recipe from allrecipes.com. I added a drop of black food coloring to turn the icing grey. I also had unopened fondant leftover from previous parties, so I was able to use that to make the little cut-out faces.

 The cookie cutouts were found HERE.

The table decor was a mix and match of things bought and borrowed. The large Star Wars toys were borrowed. The shelf on the table was a yard sale purchase that I spray painted, and is now hanging in the kids bathroom:o) 

The table cloth is just gray velvet fabric that was given to me. 

The garland on the front of the table was created by using my 2" circle punch, and then stitching the circles together on my sewing machine. 

It was "sew" easy....pun intended;o)

Everything else, was recycled from previous parties.

  My absolute favorite purchase for the party was these two adorable Star Wars shirts. I had Kera from Sisterbug Monograms hunt down these appliques and she did great! I am so thankful to have her as a friend and as my monogramming gal:o) Definitely check her site out. She also did the Little Red Riding Hood Applique. 

So that's basically a break down of what I did for the party. 

I kept the menu simple with just cupcakes, ice cream, veggies (to counteract all of the unhealthy stuff), chips, dip, and punch.

Everyone enjoyed themselves, and this was the least stressed I have EVER been when doing one of my kids parties...crazy! 

If you have any questions, feel free to email me, or ask away on Facebook.

Star Wars Birthday Party

Saturday was E's 6th birthday party. E requested a Star Wars theme this year. I am no Star Wars buff..I have watched almost all of Episode 4...I fell asleep before the end...so I had a difficult time getting jazzed up about this theme. Thankfully the internet helped me out, and I was able to pull his party off without having to actually sit through any of the movies(yes!!)

Today, I am just sharing highlights of the decorations and the invites. I'll get a little more detailed in the coming days.

Enjoy:o)

The invitations.

The food table

I opted for cupcakes this year. Easy, and quick.

The dining area.

The boy party favors

The girl party favors

The adult party favors.

And some happy kids:o)

Stay tuned for all of the details of this party and a few cost break-downs.

Have a great Monday!

Gearing Up for all kinds of fun!

I have missed you all...have you missed me?;o) Last week I was M.I.A. because the hubs was working from home...which means he had the one and only computer in the house. 

So I haven't been able to fill you in on what I have been up to. I have lots to share, but I'll share a little at a time, so that your brain doesn't explode:o)

Anyway, I'm sure you all have noticed that football season is in full swing. I have always wanted to do a kick off party, but never got around to doing it until this season.

 The hubs is a big University of Alabama fan. 

So we invited some of our close buds(also BAMA fans) over for a taco bar, and had fun watching the game while the kiddos played the night away.

Below was the set up for the table. I kept the snacky foods in the living room for quick access, and the rest of the dinner food was in the kitchen.

I made this yummy....let me re-phrase...oh, so delicious caramel corn for my guests to take home with them.

 I filled these glass jars(dollar tree) with the caramel corn. I added the ribbon and the little football cutouts.

 You can find the recipe and the cutouts over at The Party Press. You really need to make this stuff...for reals.

 Here's a shot of all the babies...they were so good!! They played so well, and laughed the whole night. It was GREAT!!

I can't wait to do it again!

September seems to be the month of parties...I'll give you one guess as to what is coming up next...and for those of you who have been following me for a while know that I love throwing kids parties. I can't wait to start sharing some of the details for E's 6th birthday party.