Less than a week before Ella’s birthday party, she told me that she thought we needed a craft. Normally, I would have had a moment of sheer panic, but since the party was already geared to be super low-key, I felt sure we could pull it together in the nick of time. I took to Pinterest and searched through tons of “summer camp” themed crafts, but these Kid Made DIY Dream Catchers were my absolute favorite!
I started by digging through my own stash of craft supplies and (fortunately) had most of the items we needed on hand. The berry baskets were left over from a previous birthday party, I had plenty of random ribbons and trims, I bought discounted Christmas gift tags at Target last year that I knew would be perfect, I had plenty of washi tape thanks to Bible Journaling and the girls had a huge plastic tray full of beads. I ran to Hobby Lobby a few days before the party for embroidery hoops, yarn and a few extra beads. All said and done, we were able to create these beautiful dream catchers for around $3 per person.
My mom had two plastic trays in the bathroom drawer upstairs, so we emptied them out and organized all of our supplies at either end of the table. I tried making everything easily accessible for our crowd and even though we didn’t have quite enough of the bigger embellishments for each girl, they were super sweet to share. In addition to the store-bought trinkets, I made twenty felt hearts ahead of time and taught the girls how to make their own pom poms from the yarn.
I wish I had more photos in progress, but I had the camera set up to video (even though that didn’t work out so well) and my hands were super full throughout our craft time. My sister and I took turns helping the girls tie off yarn, secure beads and sew on felt hearts and it took over two hours to get everyone all caught up. Once the girls settled down for the night (with a movie and plenty of popcorn), I went back and worked on each dream catcher (at their request) and finished up one for myself. I have to admit that I had THE best time making one for me and I can’t wait to find somewhere pretty to hang it. For now, it’s above my desk in the dining room, but I think it would be super cute hanging in a window somewhere.
Who wants to see seventy five photos of the finished products?! I love how even though we all used the same supplies, everyone’s dream catcher looks so different. A few girls got really frustrated with the washi tape and wrapped their hoops with yarn instead. At least one girl decided to insert her heart within the yarn around the hoop instead of hanging it below and it turned out just beautiful!
Before the mamas came to pick everyone up (and while our campers packed their bags and cleaned up their messes), I hung these on the pool fence to admire. Everyone took a stroll past our display to see just what we had been up to!
How adorable are these girls?! They had the best time at the party and I had so much fun helping them make these for their rooms.
Pin these DIY Dream Catchers for your next party!
I’m joining Bailey for Blogtember, where we’ll be linking up daily posts throughout September. Visit Love Bailey Jean to see a list of the prompts and join in!
