Train Party: Homemade Decorations

I've had some questions about things we made for the boys' train party, so I thought I'd share! They were all rather simple and inexpensive to do!

{Train Tracks}

 All you need for this is black electrical tape! Such an easy & inexpensive way to create a nice effect. Everyone commented on it! And, the kids have loved playing on it!

{Railroad Signs}

I bought one piece of yellow poster board & one piece of black. With that, I made one large sign for outside and multiple signs for inside. For the large sign, I free-handed a circle in pencil on the back (why is drawing a perfect circle so difficult?!). Once the circle was cut out, I measured & cut two strips from the black poster board. For the "R"s, I used my Cricut. For the smaller circles, I cut out 5-7" circles on my Cricut and then did the same for the cross-lines and "R"s.

{Train Flag Banners (a.k.a bunting)}

These are SO easy to make & add a nice pop of color! I got some various sheets of 12 x 12 paper in our party colors. I even found one with trains! For this, I cut the pages in half. Then, cut triangles from each half (for this one, I do recommend a ruler!!)! I used a small hole-punch in each corner and laced with thin ribbon.

{Train Cake}

 I was really nervous about doing this cake--the engine seemed especially intimidating. But, it actually wasn't as difficult as I anticipated--only time consuming. Because of that, the cake has it's own post. So, you can find out all about how to make the train cake here. 

 

{Matching Train Birthday Shirts}

I'm one of those moms that really likes matching shirts for the boys! And, with almost the same birthday, they HAD to have matching party shirts, right?! RIGHT! I'm going to confess something here--I'd never made/embellished a shirt before. I know. I know. What I learned:
It's SOOOOO easy!! Dangerous knowledge to have now though, as I might be crafting quite a few in the future! 

I got the plain shirt & onesie at Hobby Lobby for less than $3 each!! Sweet! Then, I also bought a 1/4 yard of train fabric & Heat 'n Bond. I cut some templates to play with from cardstock on the Cricut (you could free-hand something if you don't have an electronic cutter). 

 

Once I had a plan, I cut a square of train fabric & adhered heat 'n bond to it (following the instructions on the packaging). After that, I cut out my shapes--a square (rotated to diamond) for Big Brother & a circle for Little Brother. (I adhered the heat 'n bond first to avoid fraying of the fabric). Then, I did the same thing for the numbers (cut from some extra black fabric I had on hand). 
After those were cut, I ironed the number on to the shape. Then, ironed that whole unit on to the shirts! And, voila, matching party shirts that the boys were ECSTATIC about!! :) (this picture cracks me up!!)

 

So, there ya' go...a few homemade train party ideas! Thanks for sharing in all our train party fun! :)