Give It a Country Flair With a Twine Banner

Good morning, friends! 

Waterin' Hole Banner

Today I thought I'd share a little craft I did for my sister's graduation party. She wanted a country theme, so I had to find ways to give the party a country or western flair. It took me a while to come up with an idea that would work, but I was happy with the result, and it was super easy, so I thought I'd share. :)

I started with brown packaging paper that I had left from Christmas. (Brown paper packages tied up with strings, right?) I made that the backdrop for the banner. Cut it out at the size you want your finished banner to be.

Then I took some black card stock that I found at Walmart and cut out bold letters. I did the first letter as a stand-alone, and then the rest of the word in a cursive-type style so that the twine would continue without being cut after every letter.

Once that was done, I took twine that I also purchased from Walmart for a dollar or two and used it to make a cursive-type lettering over the bold, black shadow. To do this, take a hot glue gun and 'write' along the center of the black cut out letters, then press the twine to the glue trail. You'll have to do this a little bit at a time so the glue doesn't dry on you before you can get the writing situated.

After the letters were formed, I hot glued them to the rectangular piece of brown packaging paper that I'd cut out in the size I wanted my banner to be.

And hey, ho, howdy we have a banner that is light-weight enough to be taped to a wall, but country enough to hang in Granny Hillbilly's  kitchen.

Just for fun, here's a couple of other ideas we used.

Country Desserts

 Oreos as Tractor Ties, Rice Crispy treats as hay bales, and no-bake cookies as cow patties.

Forks and Spoons

I love themed parties. They're so much fun. Have you ever been to a themed party? I'd love to hear about it! I'm always on the lookout for new ideas. ;)

Hunting Party Time - Decorating Ideas

Since November is deer hunting season, I thought I'd share a few decorating ideas for a Hunting/ Duck Dynasty themed party. I did a similar post a couple months ago on hunting themed party food. If you missed it, click here to view. 

Hunting themed decorations were a little bit tricky for me. I used green and brown streamers, tablecloths and napkins, but I had to create a banner of my own.

  

Hunting Party Banner:

I started with green and brown construction paper and cut 8 inch squares.

I used decorative scissors for the edges. Next, I cut 6 inch squares out of camo scrapbook paper and glued them to the construction paper squares. 

Next, I made circles that fit nicely inside those 6 inch squares out of the construction paper. 

Finally, I used stencils to cut the letters out of the construction paper also. I punched holes in the two top corners and joined the different letters with orange ribbon. 

Camo Lettering:

When decorating for a hunting party, be sure to buy LOTS of camo duck tape. Here, I overlaid cork letters in duck tape to make camo letters to spell the graduates name.

 Camo Graduation Cap:

I found a disposable paper graduation cap and also overlaid it with camo duck tape. This made for a nice addition to our dessert display. 

Other Random Ideas:

• Use a hunting lunch box to hold the greeting cards. 
• Use duck dynasty tissue paper to accent the tables
• Use fall leaf sequins and feathers like confetti to decorate the tables.
• Chances are, if you're doing a hunting party for someone, they probably have some hunting decor or figurines that you can use to decorate as well.

Do you have any hunters in your family?

What is the most memorable party decoration you've ever seen?

Multi-published author Amber Schamel writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest". A homeschool graduate from a family of 12 children, Amber found her calling early in life. First published at age 21, she has continued to hone her craft and is now the author of over half a dozen books. Between ministry, family and working in their family-owned businesses, Amber loves to connect with readers. Find her on the Stitches Thru Time blog, or on any of the major social media sites.  Amber is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Historical Novel Society.

http://amberschamel.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAmberSchamel 
Twitter: @AmberSchamel 
Pintrest - http://pinterest.com/AmberDSchamel/ 
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7073165.Amber_Schamel

Camo or Duck Dynasty Themed Party - Food

My little brother is a hunting fanatic. Seriously, a fanatic. He spends all year thinking about those few months in the fall when it's open season. When he was nearing 18 and still didn't have his driver's license, my dad told him no hunting until he had it. Guess what? He got his license quick.

My family homeschools, and this summer John was graduating from high school. Since he's the only one in his class, he gets to pick what he wants his 'school colors' to be. His answer was "camouflage." I should have known, but did he really have to make it complicated? I was thinking of one, maybe two colors like blue and white, or green and gold, something more simple, but no. It was camo. It took some more creativity, but it turned out to be really fun. 

Today I thought I'd share a few camo party ideas with you today in case you also have a friend or loved one who is a hunting or Duck Dynasty fan. 

Food:

I tried to come up with some food ideas that were the camo colors of green, brown and orange. Here's what I came up with. 

Camo trail mix. A mix of pretzels, colored goldfish, green M&M's, Reeses's pieces and nuts.

Nachos with green guacamole and corn chips.

 

(left) Carrots with artichoke dip

(Right) Camo Cola Punch – This is coke mixed with a little bit of Tang, and sliced Oranges and Limes for garnish. An experiment recipe for me, but it went over well.

Last but not least, the CAKE! I found a neat video on youtube that showed how to make a cake that is camouflage on the INSIDE as well. You split the white cake mix into three bowls, and also have a bowl of chocolate cake mix. You dye one of the white mixes a light green, the other a dark green. Then you spoon globs of the different colors in varying pattern into the cake pan and bake as usual. For the decoration, I used brown, orange and green icing, a camo sugar sheet you can find at walmart, camo colored pearls also found at walmart, and a toy deer for the topper.

Sometime I'll share some of the decorating crafts/ideas that I used. 

How about you? Any ideas for camo themed food?

What is the funnest theme you've ever done for a party?

Best selling author Amber Schamel writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest". A homeschool graduate from a family of 12 children, Amber found her calling early in life. First published at age 21, she has continued to hone her craft. You can connect with Amber on her website or any of the major social media sites.

http://amberschamel.com/ Pintrest - http://pinterest.com/AmberDSchamel/
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7073165.Amber_Schamel