SWEET SIXTEEN {Doctor Who Birthday Bash}

What is a mom to do when her baby girl turns sixteen!? How does she cope? Well, this mama distracted herself by diving deep into creating a mature, yet fun filled Dr Who Birthday Party! The girl is a Whovian of Whovians, and has asked, and asked, and asked for a Tardis Bedroom door for her room. However, I repeatedly refused to have the bright blue Tardis in my hallway… I eventually gave in, which turned into her first Birthday Surprise…

How'd it happen? Well I knew I didn't want to paint her door permanently Tardis blue. You see these things come and go… She wanted to be a skater for a few years, so we did her room in graffiti and skateboards…

But she quickly outgrew that idea… and I know she'll outgrow The Doctor. At least I hope. So I took some measurements, visited a local resale shop, and purchased an old used door for $10. Next I took some Rustoleum Paint + Primer spray paint to it. Three Cans!  This stuff dries quick, which is perfect for the not so patient DIYer.

I was left disappointed and felt it needed more dimension, so I had the hubby cut some strips of wood for me and attached them with good ole Elmer's Wood Glue. Then I sprayed again, getting all the cracks and crevices.

Next, USE GOOGLE! I found and printed the 'Police Public Call Box' and 'Free For Use of Public' signs, attaching and sealing them with Mog Podge. That stuff is amazing!

For the windows I simply painted them white and drew black window panes with a paint marker.

Realizing (too late) that I should have sanded the door down before painting, and that the spray paint was scratching off effortlessly, I got the Mod Podge back out and Mod Podged the whole door! 

It turned out amazing! Far better than I had envisioned! BTW, I did both sides, that way I get to have a Tardis in my hallway (I know, what have I become!?) and she gets to have one in her room as well J Smart, I know.

Next project… You cannot have a Doctor Who Party without The Doctor Himself. So, deciding on the Eleventh Doctor, and again using good ole Google Images, I created a life-size Doctor. I did this by creating a 50" X 72" Document in Photoshop. After Printing the entire thing out on card-stock (45 sheets to be exact), I cut them out and put it together like a puzzle. Again I got out my handy Mog Podge and glued it all down to a large refrigerator box. After it was glued, I Mod Podged over the top as well. Next, using a box cutter, I cut The Doctor out, leaving a strip attached to the bottom for folding under and helping him to stand. Again, the result was awesome! Seriously, do you guys have any clue how much these things are in stores? 

Here are some of other things I did to make this party memorable…

I began by making and sending out these invitations.

We decorated the front door with a plastic blue tablecloth and some printed out Tardis signs.

We hung Cassandra (the last human) on the wall and decorated a lasagna with red bell pepper, apple, cherry tomato, and lettuce to look like her as well.

Using an image of the Tardis and Microsoft Word, I made a Happy Birthday Banner on card-stock.

I strung lights through it (it was supposed to look like Tardis lights) and forgot to take a picture if it… too many things on my mind… but you can see it partially in this photo.

MY GIRL AND HER PROUD MAMA

Here is the cake table-

Complete with Fish Fingers and Custard, bow ties, and official suspenders and bow tie for the birthday girl (from ebay for $6.00).

Korrie with her Doctor Who Cake. I ordered the edible paper from Ebay. My plan was to make a cake, but there just happened to be one on the discount rack screaming my name! Make a cake? Aint no one got time for that! I gently placed the edible paper, and added some blue spray (edible of course) and sprinkles.

The cupcakes may have been my favorite. I made a cupcake tower following this tutorial, ordered edible cupcake toppers on Ebay, and printed off these Dalek and Tardis cupcake wrappers. Again I used blue spray and sprinkles. They were so cute! (The popcorn boxes were downloaded from here.)

You can't have a Doctor Who Party without Bowties for everyone to wear, Adipose, Gummy Babies, and Sonic Screwdrivers.

I made the Bowties with red napkins and ribbon. I included peel and stick safety pins for all the guests J

The Adipose were done by gluing mini marshmallows to regular marshmallows (using melted white chocolate). I added sprinkles and painted the faces on with an edible marker.

Sonic Screwdrivers were simple: dip pretzel sticks in melted white chocolate, spray blue, and add sprinkles. 

For the photo booth I made masks by printing them out on card-stock and gluing skewers to them.

I wrapped her gift in blue paper and again printed out Tardis signs. What a cute package!

On one wall we added The Crack in Time and Space and had Rory and Amy coming out of it. 

And THAT, my friends is a successful Doctor Who/Sweet Sixteen Party!

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DIY Custom Wall Art- 10 Easy Steps

Once in a while I get all inspired and form crazy creative ideas of being talented and artistic. To be honest, my siblings are incredibly creative and clever. Me, not so much. However, I'm a pretty quick learner J

 So, I began my Saturday DIY living room photo project. And here begins the start of an ongoing living-room-kitchen-make-over. And isn't that what summer breaks are for?

Step 1-

Go to San Francisco and take too many photos of the Golden Gate Bridge than any person could ever use or want. Ok, you can skip this step, but we were there, so I utilized the opportunity.

Step 2-

Purchase/gather supplies:

Foam Insulation Board from either Lowes or Home Depot

Elmer's Spray Adhesive

Acrylic Paint (I used black) and Paint Brush

Duct Tape and Twine (for hanging)

Step 3-

Choose that perfect photo and turn it black & white. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements. Once you've cropped and edited, go to Staples.com and choose Engineer Prints. (It's important to decide what size you want your finished print to be before the editing process.) My local Staples offers these prints in 18"x24", 24"x36", and 36"x48".  I chose 36"x48", downloaded my print, and picked it up just a few hours later.

Step 4-

Cut your foam board to fit your large print using a utility knife. I cut it slightly smaller than my print so I could wrap the print around the sides of the board, leaving crisp, clean edges.

Step 5-

Remove the sticker from the front of your foam board and spray, spray, spray. Use lots of spray glue to ensure a secure bond.

Step 6-

Now this is the tricky/difficult part. Carefully lay your print on your sticky foam board and press all bubbles and wrinkles out.

Step 7-

Spray the edges of your board and wrap each side, pulling as tightly as possible to get that crisp edge.  I then put Duct Tape around the edges to ensure years of security J

Step 8-

Using your acrylics, paint the edges of your photo. You can paint around the side edges only, or bring the paint to the front as well to give it a fun, less crisp look. I used black, but any color would add character to your photo.

 

Step 9-

After the paint is dry, flip your photo over. Now make your beautiful portrait ready to display by using your twine and duct tape. Use lots of tape so your twine doesn't slip out.

Step 10-

Flaunt your enormous wall hanging for all to enjoy J

This is the first one I made for display in my classroom. You can see I brought the black paint onto the front of the photo, giving it more character. 

These were made by printing color 8½" x 11" photos from my home printer.

This is next on the DIY list! The docks of San Francisco with Alcatraz in the background.

Do you have a DIY project to share? Would you leave your link here for us? Thanks for visiting!

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