{note: Lego Star Wars images are heavily licensed and therefore I made these strictly for personal use, and will not be making any for commercial use. Please do not try to steal any images/ideas for commercial use}

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Invitations

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Banner, Tissue Pom Poms & Cupcakes

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Dark Side Cupcake Toppers {chocolate chiffon cupcakes w/vanilla buttercream frosting}

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Light Side of the Force Cupcake Toppers {vanilla dream cupcakes w/vanilla buttercream frosting}

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Light Side & Dark Side Favors {included stickers by UrbanBlissDesign.com, Lego crayons from http://www.etsy.com/shop/chasedreams & Star Wars crayons by http://www.etsy.com/shop/craftygio}

Each child got to choose to take home either a Light Side of the Force favor bag or a Dark Side of the Force favor bag. I made the stickers, favor bag labels and printed out some blank Star Wars coloring sheets, and included crayons in the shapes of Legos and Star Wars characers {see captions above for stores}.

Lego Star Wars Homemade Light Sabers

My son had the most fun helping me make these light sabers, which are just foam water noodles cut in half and wrapped with alternating reflective duct tape and black duct tape.

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Yoda Soda

My kids have yet to touch real soda, so for my son’s 6th birthday party, we made the Yoda Soda from lime sherbet ice cream, lime juice, and tangerine lime sparkling water. YUM!

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Wookiee Cookies

There’s a cookbook out that offers a recipe for Wookiee Cookies that’s really just chocolate chip cookies, so we decided to make star-shaped chocolate shortbread cookies the color of Chewbacca

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Decorations: cups with custom stickers

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Jedi Training Completion Certificate

Each child received a Jedi Training Completion Certificate {made super fast by me & printed at home} after completing a game a Pin-The-Light-Saber-On-The-Light-Saber {explained more below}.

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Masks

I found some decent images of Star Wars characters that were a high enough resolution to print out onto 100# cardstock on my laser printer, cut them out, punched holes on the sides and tied together with string.

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Obi-WanTons {fried wantons w/chocolate hazelnut filling}

The Obi-WanTons? A HUGE hit!

Lego Star Wars Birthday Party Tatooine Tartlets {chocolate pastry filled with chocolate ganache}

And we had a ton more Lego Star Wars themed items, including Bow-Tie Fighter Pasta {farfalle salmon pasta salad}, Leia & Luke’s Lumpia {a Filipino egg roll}, Darth Malt {malt shakes!}, Jabba Java {coffee for the adults!}, Boba Fett Brie and more. I also printed out a large Star Wars wall poster that matched the invitations and party cup stickers, and we played Pin-The-Light-Saber-On-A-Light-Saber. The kids each got a sticker for a turn, and the one who landed on the most light sabers won a packet of stickers.

These coasters are SO incredibly easy to make. I warn any friends or clients reading this: don’t be surprised if you get coasters for winter holiday gifts this year! AND in addition to the easy instructions below, I’m including a FREE PDF design so you can make your own coasters! Just be sure if you download this design, you ONLY USE IT FOR PERSONAL USE. I have eyes everywhere, and if I see these being used commercially, you betcha my lawyers will come a’ knockin’, because that’s stealing and stealing is just not nice.

MATERIALS

1. Thick coverstock paper – about .25 – .45 cents per sheet at paper stores (I used 85# because I wanted it to go through my picky laserprinter)

2. 4″ round clear acrylic (I got mine from Tap Plastics for $2.30 each; most plastics or industrial art supply stores have this or can cut acrylic to size & shape for you)

3. Photo spray mount – around $14-16 (although I used regular spray mount here which was $7.99)

4. Modge Podge or similar finishing product – around $6-8

DIRECTIONS

1. Design your own 4″ round coaster art, cut out your favorite fabrics, or download our 2010 Urban Bliss Spring Green Coaster Designs for FREE through April 30th! Cut the designs out carefully with scissors.

Here’s a few I made for my friend’s shower:

Here is a sample of what the FREE Urban Bliss Spring Green Coaster designs look like (you get 2 of each design in the PDF; print as many as you want for personal use!):

2. Most plastic/industrial arts shops will give you acrylic rounds with protective backing (either blue plastic or thick cover adhesive). Use your fingernail to pick away one edge of the backing; once you get a corner off, the rest of the round cover should come off easily.

2. Place the round coaster paper face up on top of an art rag or other cloth item you no longer need. Use a photo spray mount adhesive and spray lightly over the cut out rounds of paper. Try to spray as evenly as possible, otherwise there may be splotches that seep through the paper.

3. Quickly but carefully place the clear acrylic round over the paper round that you just sprayed with adhesive.

4. With your fingers, firmly and evenly press the acrylic round to the paper round to ensure they stick together.

5. To finish off the coaster, use a light sponge and dab Modge Podge over the back of the blank paper side of the coaster. Allow to dry according to packaging. **Note: You could skip this step, but doing so just helps add an extra layer of protection to the back of the coaster.**

6. If making as a gift, here’s a simple way to present the coasters:

Voila! Easy, fast, and super fun! If you try this, be sure to let me know how it went, what materials you used, and send link to a photo too! Happy crafting!

find these at murdockdesign.etsy.com

find these at girlsliketrucks.etsy.com

find these at belldesign.etsy.com

Aren’t these all ADORABLE?! Go check out these great shops on Etsy! And if you’ve got more great sources for various button designs, let us know!

I don’t know about you, but having three to five holidays each year in which I need to find my parents the “perfect” gift is a bit daunting. I love my parents dearly, but after all these years, they pretty much have what they need, get what they want for themselves, and don’t need any random useless but oh-so-pretty gifts lying around their house.

So for my father’s birthday this year, I made him gift certificates that he can cash in for our help with things like working on the outside of the house, help with interior house work, a homemade BBQ anytime he wants at our house, and a dinner out to his favorite restaurant whenever he’d like. It’s not flashy or new, but it’s a set of gifts I know he can use, and it gives us more excuses to spend time with him.

My dad’s a simple guy, so I kept the design bold and classic: solid colors, plain font, classic frame silhouette. He loved it!