I found this great Eric Carle printed fabric, perfect for cutting into separate animals and making dolls out of. I purchased it on Etsy.com but you can also find his fabrics on the official Eric Carle website.
When I got the fabric, I cut out each individual animal, leaving about a 1/2" of white border for stitching. Each animal was about 5-7" long and 3-4" high, a great size! I then found some bright colored fabrics for the backs and cut them the same size. I stitched around the animals, following the printed animal design and left open a 2" area for stuffing.
Then each was turned inside out, stuffed and hand sewn up. I made one for each child and a few for my son to play in his crib with, they are a good size for a toddlers hands.
The fabric was great for both girls and boys. The animals were cats, frogs, ducks, dogs, bears, horses and birds to name a few. (* Please note the Eric Carle fabrics are for personal use only, and cannot be sold commercially) They were a big hit and fun to give!
That completed the party favors! A balloon, bear mask, chunky crayons and an Eric Carle animal doll for each little one. To finish the bags, I made tags similar to the crayon tags on my computer, thanking everyone for coming and hand wrote everyones name.
Next..What's a party without party hats and cupcake toppers!!
Well, to have a childrens party, you need fun favors! So of course, they need to be inspired by Eric carle style..hmmm!???
So first, brights colors are a must! All the children are under 3 years old, so something toddler friendly. Of course they each will get a mask that we made previously. So I decided on crayons, a nice natural rubber punching balloon and a sewn stuffed doll with an Eric Care animal print. I purchased the balloons, easy! then I made chunky large crayons.
This was super easy. All you need is a box of crayons, a muffin tin or some sort of mold, vegetable spray or oil on a napkin to coat the mold and an oven.
First, you coat the mold lightly with vegetable oil. Next, you tear off the crayon wrappers and break them into pieces, I found an exacto blade works wonders, just slice down the side and it's done. Then you sprinkle the pieces in each mold. I tried to keep like colors together but you can make mixed or rainbow ones too.
I then preheated an oven to 250 degrees. I placed the muffin tin inside and waited for about 10 minutes, depending on your oven. Mine melted nicely, once totally melted, you take it out and let cool. To rush it, you can place it in the freezer, just be careful, it's hot! After it's set, just turn the tin over and hit, and they will come out super easy. (I did have one stick, and used a knife to help it out.)
I made a couple for each kid. I then placed them in a cello bag and created tags on my computer with the same hungry caterpillar dot design I used on the invites. each was then tied with a twisty tie. Cute! (For the much younger, use larger molds to create a very chunky crayon as you can see on the right)
I also had 2 nieces both over 3 years old coming on a later date, so I made them both crayon rolls. I used Eric Carle printed fabric along with organic cotton canvas to create their crayon rolls. (* Please note the Eric Carle fabrics are for personal use only, and cannot be made into items and sold commercially)
They had velcro closures and a handle for easy carrying. There is also a small pocket for a notebook, stickers or notes to keep with them. You never know what little girls might need!
Next..Eric Carle Party favor Animals Dolls...
Since it is an Eric Carle party, I must have a panda or polar bear in the invite! So I chose to go with the panda bear.
I found an image I liked and scanned it in. My invites were 5.5 x 8.5 with a border, so I sized the image to fit. I tried to find a font close enough to the book font, and used a phrase to start the invite.
I liked the dot pattern in "The Hungry Caterpillar" book, so used that for accents. To make his name, I used the Erc Carle Alphabet print, cut out each letter and made his name. (I will also use that idea for the banner) I then added all our info and printed them out.
And Whalla! Super cute personalized DIY invites.
Next Up..What to do for Eric Carle party favors??
Now that I had my animals made, I set out to make some Eric Carle style masks.
Since the party was a panda, polar bear theme, I decided to use one of each. I found 2 images I liked and scanned them in my computer. I made them bigger to fit the width of a child's head because I wanted to cut eyes to match up. I then printed them out and cut them out.
I figured where the eyes needed to be and cut out holes. I laminated (totally optional) the masks, as I want them durable and to last. I poked 2 holes for elastic and tied elastic string to each side. I made it long enough to fit around their heads, but slightly taught to not be loose.(* Please note the Eric Carle imagery is copyrighted and cannot be sold commercially)
It was super cute to have little pandas and polar bears running around!! Love it!! Each child got to take one home and continue to play and be little bears!!
Next Up..What to do about invites?
