Analyse's 2nd Birthday - part 1 - the banner

   o/~ "Precious Memories, how they linger, oh the smile upon my face..."o/~ (My adaptation of an old song).
   Back on May 16th, I told you about how Byron and Cyndi had requested that I make a banner for the big event. In that posting, I had also shared links to some postings from other sites, which I was using as inspiration boosters. Today's posting is all about the banner('s ?) I made.

   But first, this picture. A oh-so-precious-moment between this grandma and the birthday girl. She had fallen, which usually isn't a big deal to her. But that time her leg had turned sideways... and the tears came.  I picked her up intending to give her a kiss and quick hug, instead she snuggled in for a comforting cuddle. What was I to do? T'would have been rude to just sit her down...  o;-)
  Oh my sweetheart, the things you continue to do to this grandma's heart ....  :->

  
    I have decided to first show you pictures of the banner('s ?) as completed projects, and then to show you step by step pictures of the' how I did it' part.
   About the "banner('s ?)" - They had wanted a Sesame Street (R) themed banner, which said Happy Birthday on it. But as I got going, I thought maybe I'd just make two banners. One which spelled out Happy Birthday Analyse (pronounced Auna-lease), and one with pictures of the characters on it.  That way, I could use both of the designs I had in mind. But as my 'plans' so often do, this, this, and then that turn to my 'plans' happened. And the back ground material I had planned to use for the letter blocks, has evaporated out of this house (8-/).  A-n-d ...
   In the very end, per Brent and Kayla's prompting, we ended up hanging the small character blocks spaced out amongst the words of the birthday greeting, and the three big character blocks, in the awning by the food table. And they looked like that had been my intention all along. "I love it when a plan comes together".  o;-p

   Whole banner - which we hung via the hooks on the front of the garage, where they hang lights every Christmas.

 
   Closer up shots of each of the words -

     All three of the big character blocks hanging inside the canopy tent -

                                    (click on picture to see it larger / clearer)
   Close up shots of all three -

  (as you can see by the picture further down of the character pages, Cookie Monster (R) came accompanied by several small bunches of cookies, along with a not that full cookie jar. Where to put them all?  I ended up cutting most of the clumps apart, taking individual ones and using them to make it look like he was juggling cookies, and turning the others and adding them on top of the cookie jar. When I was done, Brent's friend Adam claimed he was "very jealous of Cookie Monster (R)" ;-p )

   and close up shots of the small character blocks, just because -

    And now, before I go into more step by step instructions - another picture. This time, a special moment with grandpa (wet hair and a different outfit, due to the downpour that had hit us). 
   Grandma's heart is not the only heart this grand daughter has gotten a-hold of. ;->

   The making of the banners -

   The character boards -
    Robin P. and I had finally gotten an afternoon 'therapy time' together, and after lunch, we had gone to the World Mission Store (formerly known as Valueland). Part of the store houses a  used book store (ICAPSA). They have a really good sized supply of children's books in stock, and I was ever so sure that I could pick up a Sesame Street (R) themed book or two, which I could cut pictures of the characters out of and use on my banners. Man was I wrong. They had books o-kay. Literally hundreds of them. At amazingly low prices. But we only found two of the type I was looking for (after both of us having spent about a half hour on our knees, looking book by book through their shelves). And both of them had writting OVER the top of the pictures. Bother!
   Brian suggested that I buy some themed wall paper and cut the characters off. There use to be wall paper stores all over the place. There aren't anymore. I did a web search and found that a nearby paint store carried it. My chauffeur Amy took me there. The Lord had gone before me. They had one box in stock of cling on type Sesame Street (R) Characters which were adorable! ! ! The package of them wasn't super low price like my book idea had been, the package was $12 something. But Brian had said that if I found something even close to what I had in mind, to nab it. I could always return it later if I found something better. These were so good, that I didn't even keep looking.  Thanks again Lord!!!

    Picture of the package they came in -

    Picture of the four sheets the package contained.

    Amy and I then went to Michael's to see if we could get the rest of the supplies. I was so glad they were in the midst of moving their store. I used some of the empty shelving to spread pages out on. Amy and I were trying to find scrapbook type paper to use as background. And we wanted them to contrast yet compliment the pictures. "O-kay, so we have this color for this character, and that one for... wait... "  The shelves came in VERY handy! Yes indeed!  We then also picked out/up ribbon, using the same choosing methods.
    But a lot of their supplies had already been moved across the street to the new store, which wasn't yet open. Thus we couldn't get board to use. So we instead went over to Hobby Lobby.
  
    Here is a picture of all of the supplies I used in the making of the character blocks.

    Figuring out how big to cut the boards down to the size I wanted.

     I did it so that the paper was able to cover the top of the board and extend over the side enough to cover the sides and a small part of the back. Or at least that way my idea. Turned out I hadn't cut the boards quite small enough. Often the paper didn't extend past the sides to the back. In the future - I will make sure they do!!! Ever so much easier to get them to adhere the smooth back than to the cut sides! ( <-- Bonus Tip there!)

   What we used to cut the boards down to size.

    Yes, "we". Turns out that 'Ms. Vertigo' here can not cut a straight line down a board, even if it's been drawn on. 8-/   (I had made the cutting board in shop class back in middle school ;->  NO! it is NOT an antique!!! ;-b)

    Next step was applying the glue to the board.
    Apply it -

    Then smear it all over. I used a plastic ruler, which wiped clean ever so easily. ( <-- another Bonus Tip)

    S-l-o-w-e-l-y lay a piece of paper down on top of the glue. (The pictured piece is for one of the bigger blocks which took one and three fourths papers). G-e-n-t-l-y use the other side of the ruler, or your hands, or both, to smooth the paper out, making sure it doesn't slide out of position,  thus no longer leaving you enough overhang along the edges to cover the sides.

   This process can be a bit messy. I'd strongly encourage you to have something easily available to continually use to unstickify your hands. (Spell check tells me that 'unstickify isn't a word. Yeah right. o;-p )

   Cut a slit in the paper which is sticking out over the sides, in a slant towards the corner, so that it is easy to wrap the paper and attach it to make smooth corners. (Hopefully that direction makes sense to you.) -

  The front of the board totally glued on -

   See the difference that the glued on ribbon makes to the boards?! ;-D 

   [ Use the wet wipes on your fingers after running them down the length of the ribbon (which was also cut to go around the ends and onto the back), and even on the board itself to wipe off excess glue along the sides of the ribbon. When your all done, lay the finished boards out someplace to dry. My bed, in front of the open window and under the ceiling fan worked excellent! ;-b ]

    The letter boards -
   
     The materials I used -

    The 'plan' had been to use the roll of wall paper which had been left over from our bathroom, and had been sitting in this one spot... for years ... But it has vaporized. At least from that spot. And I am not allowed much access to the basement, what with the low ceilings and my inability to keep from bumping my head down there 8-/ ! I 'had' been going to use it as the back ground.   Hum mmm ...
    I had picked up four different solid color papers to use for the letters. My 'plan' had been to cut the shapes of the letters out of them.
    I went up and got out the bag, which contains parts of scrapbook paper books I have picked up over time. Hum mm .. I didn't have quite enough of the right colors. 
    I wonder ... Got in the drawer where the colored paper is for the printer. Bingo! Thank-You Lord!  There was solid color purple paper that would work, and there was enough patterned scrapbook paper that would work with the purple. :-D
    Brian figured out how to print off the right size letters for me to cut and use as stencils. But once I got them cut out (yes, I cut them out myself. Holding a paper kind of up close and using scissors was far more manageable. Though I will admit that by the time I was done, the eyes were a whirling! Break time!) and laid them on top of the solid color paper, on top of the patterned paper ... WOW! "I Like that 3-D effect!"  Should I leave it?  Benson suggested I get "girlie opinions".  So over to Amy and her girls I went. And then stopped at Elizabeth P.'s. Total thumbs up all the way around. :-D

     Instead of using the liquid glue on the letter boards, I used glue sticks. I'll just say that both methods require wet wipes near by. o;-b.
     I applied the patterned paper.  Then spaced, trimmed down a bit, and then applied the solid color paper. And then glued on the letters. (Remember the "hopefully helpful tip" I gave you HERE about doing those?  o;-p!).  But I didn't remember to take any pictures while doing these.  I have faith in you. I am positive that you can use the above pictures to figure out how to do these type of blocks too.
     If you go up and click on the individual pictures, you will then be able to see them in larger size. This might help you get a better view of all of the patterns I used.

   We used fishing line to string along the hooks on the garage. Brent had used a leather craft punch to put holes in the boards, which we strung ribbon through and Kayla tied to the fishing string.

    I'll close this posting with another picture of our adorable impy grand daughter.
    This one was taken while pretending to drive Uncle Benson someplace in grandpa and grandma's van.

    We realize that the time when she will actually be able to do so will come oh so quickly. In the mean time, we cherish her the way and age she is now!  We LOVE you Analyse!!

   This concludes part 1 of Analyse's 2nd Birthday - the banner.
   Coming soon in a posting on this site -
   part 2 - the Cookie Monster (R) cupcakes (A-DOR-A-BLE!!!)
   part 3 - the food we took
   part 4 - fun pictures from the party

  : - ) ~ ~   : - ) ~ ~   : - ) ~ ~   : - ) ~ ~   : - ) ~ ~   : - )

Special Thanks to:
~ Byron and Cyndi for requesting that I make the banner this year.
~ Brian for letting me.
 I enjoyed doing it so much!
~ Robin P. and Amy for taking me shopping for supplies.
~ Benson, for your encouragement and understanding along the process.
~ Amy, her daughters and Elizabeth P. for your council.
~ Adam, Brent and Kayla for cutting the boards to size for me.
~ Brent for punching the holes in the boards to put the hanging ribbon through.
~ Brent, Brian and Kayla for hanging them for me at the party (and taking them down before they got drenched in the sudden down pour)
~ Benson, for striving so hard to work around the glaring sun at the party, to get pictures I would want to use.
~ To my friends whom are also readers of my blog, whom have been inquiring when I am going to get these postings up ;->
~ And last, but not least, by any stretch of the imagination - Thank You Lord, for all of it!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
Next week,   I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:
~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven' (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/).
~ "Market Yourself Monday", are hosted by Sumo, at 'Sumo's Sweet Stuff' (http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/)
~ "Whatever Goes Wednesday('s)", hosted by Michelle, at 'Someday Crafts' (http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/)
 ~ "Handmade Tuesdays", hosted by Kristen, at 'Ladybug Blessings' (http://ladybug-blessings.com/).
 ~ "Too Cute Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Kyla, at 'Funky Polkadot Giraffe' (http://funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com).