How to spend only $1 dollar on handmade decorations and keep everything else on budget!
I pestered her to get me her invite list which I quickly made up an e-invite and texted it to all her friends. Once those were out it was time to get on the planning. Since she was going to be naming her daughter Lennon, which means little blackbird and her middle name would be Gail which sounds like nightingale, she already had a bird theme going so I literally flew with the bird theme. I hopped on Pinterest and got some ideas generating of what to make. To make this low budget I knew I was going to have to make all my decor and honestly I enjoyed the challenge of making cute stuff since I like to be crafty and keep it as inexpensive as I could.
For my food table decorations I wanted to make eggs in a birds nest. The peonies came from my mom's garden and the daisies side of the side of the road. I picked a lot of them and put them in mason jars. I'm in no way versed in floral arrangements, but I managed well enough.
For my eggs I asked my mom for left over plastic Easter eggs. Which I then got some family members to help me paper-mache the eggs with newspaper. Once they were dry I got watercolors from my kids crafting supplies and painted them blue. The wreath nest was made from kiwi vines at my parents house. That was the hardest thing to make, but it still turned out well enough. My daughter and I gathered pine cones around my parents house to just tossed on tables to add to the outdoor theme.
For the sign I had these craft frames that I had picked up from Walmart years ago (for another project that was never done), went through my paints and painted the frame a color I liked and then dry brushed a cream color on the top. I then used the old Thomas guide again and cut out flowers and a bird. And here is where my $1 came in, I bought the chalk paint to make a little chalk board out of the frame, my intention was that mom could then use the frame as a monthly photo opt chalk board or just put a photo in the frame. I probably could have even asked a few people if they had chalk paint for me to use, but since I've been wanting some anyways I just went to Joann's and used a coupon to buy a little. Hence my $1 I spent for my decor.
I also made a little birds nest out of branches from my friend's willow type tree. I used the wreath nest to put the little blank birds that needed to be written on. There you have my wish tree that I made for $1.
My idea what that since some birds are known to collect shinny objects and bring back to their nests, I wanted a bauble of some sort to gift and put in a nest with an egg. Alexis owner of Verity & Co. Designs which can be found on Facebook made my dreams come true! I commissioned her to make 4 of her amazing bracelets, I asked for 1 with birds and the rest a mix of feathers, flowers and leaves and I let her decide how she wanted to design them. She puts the bracelets in a little draw string bag with a cleaning cloth. Seriously check out her page, she is so easy to work with! I commissioned her before to make myself a necklace and my mom one as well. She just does wonderful work!
The finishing touch that made this the perfect display and made me so giddy was the abandoned birds nest that I found on the ground at a mini golf course when I was camping. It was literally meant to be! I took it home with me and believe me everyone I was with was laughing at me and looking at me like I was a little crazy for taking a birds nest with me. But whatever it takes to make my vision complete and come to life!
If you would like to see Lennon's newborn photos, please visit her blog post here.