A Butterfly Birthday Bash

The preschool at my church is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. Believe it or not, I can actually remember when they opened the preschool (totally just dated myself there). A good friend of mine was on the event committee that was charged with throwing an anniversary celebration for preschool families - past and present. Of course, I said "yes" when I was asked to contribute decorations.

The committee decided on a "Happy Birthday" theme that would incorporate butterflies (the school's symbol). I was charged with producing a backdrop for a photo booth, a centerpiece for the registration table and volunteer name tags.

This past weekend everything came together and St. Raphael Preschool had their 40th Birthday Bash which also included snacks, cupcakes, nitro ice cream, a planetarium, craft activities, and of course a bouncy castle.

The photo booth I created was the first thing guests saw after coming through the doors. The bright colors and butterflies set the mood for a happy, fun event. Take a scroll through the pictures below to see my handiwork...

For the photo booth backdrop I made a 20-foot balloon garland, a paper "Happy Birthday" garland and tissue butterflies - all in coordinating colors. The striking balloon garland grabbed everyone's attention as they entered the event.

The handmade papercraft Happy Birthday garland was the center of the photo booth backdrop. In this butterfly themed garland, I used 10 different papers and incorporated rosettes with detailed butterfly centers on the spacer sections. Each section measures 5” wide and there is extra ribbon included for adjustments when hanging.

Here are close up shots of a rosette spacer section and a letter section on the paper craft Butterfly Happy Birthday garland. The left picture shows a side view of the rosette with the "landing butterfly" center. The right picture shows the dimension of the paper layers on the letter sections.

This handmade centerpiece sat on the registration table as attendees entered the party and created a name tag. It includes three large papercraft rosettes that utilize the same papers as the Happy Birthday garland. As well there are five “flying” butterflies on floral wire. All elements are bursting out of a base of orange daisies. I also included a label of the preschool’s 40th anniversary logo on the galvanized container.

I created these butterfly masks as props for the photo booth. They are made with the same papers that were used in the birthday garland and centerpiece.

The preschool’s anniversary party had several hundred attendees and they wanted volunteers to stand out so people knew who could answer any questions. I created these volunteer name tags with coordinating papers and a butterfly die cut. On the back there is a broach pin to adhere to clothing.

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