It Sucks To Be 4 - Vacuum Cleaner Birthday Party Theme Idea

It sucks to be 4 ~ my big little guy loves vacuums. So I had to make this theme from scratch. This is the exact vacuum themed tshirt he wore for the event.

I used his toy “Dyson” vac as a main color palette. I printed an assortment of vacuums for the piñata I made reusing a cardboard box, the paper fans banner and the center of pinwheels. Used my Silhouette cutting machine for the letters banner and robot vac names.

Reused some Café Bustelo coffee cans for centerpieces. I found this template (Brother Creative Center Dustbin Template) for a paper trash can to hold color pencils for the activity sheet you can find on Etsy.

We had the robot vacuums battle it out. I painted a canvas I had with the phrase "Let's Get Ready to Roomba" on it. The fight works best with remote controlled vacs but either is fine (the Roomba actually won) just takes a bit longer and you need to set up a sort of perimeter for them.

I found a mini desktop Henry vac that I personalized and originally was going to use as a cake topper but the cake came out smaller than I planned so I put it aside and just made it to look like the sprinkles were vacuumed up revealing a 4. On the cake table I added my trusty letterboard with a vacuum joke. In my head the sprinkle theme tablecloth and disposable plates/napkins made sense because the scattered sprinkles looked like a mess and vacuums clean up.

Not featured in the video is playing musical chairs to a vacuum techno mix song off YouTube with a mini ladybug handheld vacuum as a prize. In the goodie bags I included a crazy straw because they suck and a pop tube because they resembled vacuum hoses to me.

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Anyway just wanted to share. Also thank you @pinterest as always. I liked how it came out and I don’t think it sucked 🙄🤭🧡

Refashion | Mad for Plaid - Upcycled Faux Layered Tunic 2 in 1 Top

thee Inspiration:

How cute is this? Two shirts in one! or so it seems. Perfect for fall/winter! It looks upcycled too but these are not :/ These were selling on Zulily a while back. They caught my attention because they really do look like they could be upcycled. So it prompted me to want to make/upcycle my own. Of course I'm not the first to do this, here's a cute refashion by Chapter 37, where she added the button down's collar too.

One great thing about doing this is it's pretty easy since the main parts are already done for you.

I found this short sleeve knit top at the Goodwill along with the mens plaid button down. I really wanted a long sleeve sweater but didn't find any. This top is nice though, like new but dated so I think adding the plaid definitely spruced it up.

You want to cut however much you want of the bottom end of the plaid button down. Then of the knit top, cut the sides starting 2" down from the underarm. Serge the plaid pieces across the tops. Pin the plaid underneath the knit top, to both front and back.

Top stitch to sew the plaid in place with the knit top. Then serge the sides, front and back.

Next take the plaid shirt remnant use the back or sleeves if they're wide/long enough. This or these will be your side inserts. Make them however wide for whatever amount of volume you want added. Pin them into place, right sides together.

I left the inserts about a quarter inch longer than the side lengths so that when I hemmed it up, it would line up with the already done hem.

So you have it all pinned you sew it up. Make sure the tip of the triangle insert is sealed. Voilà, godets! Or really mine turned out looking more like inverted pleats but that's okay.

Lastly, hem the bottoms of the added plaid to align with the already done hem. I also added a second button to the bottom opening of the plaid. I thought it needed it.

It's quite the comfy top!

This is another one I did for my mom. Isn't a lovely marriage? It's basically the same process. Except this one actually has longer sleeves so I was able to add the cuffs.

You cut the bottom of the button down shirt and the sleeve cuffs, leaving about a half inch above the actual cuff. Then serge the raw edges of all pieces.

Then you pin it all in place. The cuffs go inside the sleeve so they fold out, if that makes sense. Sew it all up and your done.

I gave this one a little plaid detail on the top since it has a collar. It helps tie it all together too. So there you have it, a simple refashion, perfectly seasonal. I hope you give it a try!

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