I forgot to mention in the cotton candy post yesterday, but this week we’re sharing Piper’s Fifth Birthday party from April — it was loads of fun and all based around the adorable Lalaloopsy dolls. (Go here for a complete look at our Lalaloopsy Birthday Party.)
Have you seen them? They remind my sister and I of Raggedy Ann a bit, but they’re so colorful and sweet. I wish I was a little girl all over again so I could collect these dolls. Instead my daughters have amassed quite the collection — let it suffice to say that we all need to avoid the toy aisle on shopping trips {ahem}. So they’re seriously cute and when Piper requested a Lalaloopsy birthday party I was very excited to get working.
The story of Lalaloopsy is that each is a rag doll sewn from re-purposed fabric — whether it be a baker’s apron or an astronaut’s suit — and they say that when the last stitch of these rag dolls is sewn they come to life taking on personality traits of the fabric from which they were sewn — example: the baker’s apron doll loves to bake sweets. (Personally, I think the whole “comes to life” as a plastic doll is a bit ridiculous, but my daughters think this story is magical so I won’t press the issue).
In Lalaloopsy world you see a lot of sewing, craft and even everyday items reused in some clever way: buttons are eyes, table tops, fruit on the trees; thimbles are cups, telescopes, paint cans; and tea cups are the seats on the ferris wheel. So our Lalaloopsy party is essentially a sewing-themed party with a super-shot of colorful cuteness — doesn’t that sound fun?
Today I’m sharing how to make the darling wooden spool sign holders that Aimée created for Piper’s party. These spools look so fun and are a cinch to make. What you need:
:: Unfinished Wooden Spools
:: Unfinished Wooden Sticks (4.5 inches long, the pointy end is not necessary)
:: Glue Gun
:: Acrylic Craft Paint
:: Yarn
We used wooden picks from our stash, but you could us any wooden dowel that will fit inside the center of your spools. Cut them down to 4.5 inches in length before painting.
We wanted our Lalaloopsy party to be colorful so we used a foam brush to paint the sticks several different colors. We then painted all our spools black to unify the colors.
Once the spools were dry we used a hot glue gun to secure a stick into the hole of each spool. We finished by wrapping with coordinating yarn. Come back later this week to download the freebie printable food signs and to see more from our Lalaloopsy Birthday Party!
Tutorial photos courtesy of Aimee & Bettijo’s iPhones; not to be confused with the much better finished spool party photos by Erika of Yellow Pear Photography.
Adorable!!! My girls love lala loopsies too. Cant wait to see the posts on the party!
Hello this is so adorable! Love this idea for my daughters bday can you tell me where I can get the printable food sign labels? Thank you so much!
The printable signs are from our Lalaloopsy party. You can find them here:
https://pagingsupermom.com/2012/06/lalaloopsy-birthday-party-ideas/
Was interested in doing the wooden spools. Can you provide me with the size? are they 1 1/2 x 1/2 inch or 3/4 x 5/8? Thanks!
I used basic wooden spools that I found at our local craft store. They are just over 2″ tall and 1.5′ wide. Good luck with your party!