COVID-19

A to-DYE for Collab: Oh Happy Day x F&F Tie-Dye Treehouse Party!

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Oh, why hello there! It’s been a minute and I’ve definitely missed you all. In a short span of 2 months, I got engaged, married, and moved across to country to sunny Arizona! My socially distant party tutorials have gotten the shaft, but I trust that you have been having fabulous socially distant fun in the interim. Before my trifecta of life changes, I partnered up with Oh Happy Day to create the finale in my Party-in-Place tutorial series, and we settled on something very covid-friendly, awesome, and fashionably speaking.. all the rage: tie-dye! All the decor & tabletop items can be found in their Oh Happy Day Party Shop (linked below)!

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This party was extra special to me because I did it in Michigan with my nieces 2 days before we left for Arizona; and specifically for my 12 year old niece that had a shelter-in-place birthday parade in May during the peak of Michigan’s coronavirus prevalence. I am super close to my nieces, so it was extra special to leave on a very high note.

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Oh Happy Day has an awesome watercolor fans tutorial for white tissue decor that I followed with some small changes, and also added honeycombs and garlands to the mix.

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The original tutorial calls for India Ink to dye the fans, but I didn’t have any (and it’s $35) so I substituted that for good old Wilton Gel Food Colors and the results were pretty great! It’s a little more difficult to manipulate the colors with food coloring, but I wanted the tie-dye to be slightly muted. Vary the concentrations of your water/food coloring and the consistency of the stream on your spray bottles. In the end, use a more concentrated solutions and the stream mode (not spray or mist) to spray on some harsher lines to give it those quintessential tie-dye characteristics.

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To dye the honeycombs, open them up and just use a little scotch tape to keep them from closing (not the adhesive tabs they come with… save those for your actual event). Make sure you rotate them as you spray so that you don’t have a gap of white.

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Like the tutorial states, try to separate warm and cool colors so that they don’t mix and produce brown splotches and make your decor look dirty. After they partially dried, if I found white spots, I would add a contrasting color… a little blue on a warm palette, or a little pink on a cool palette, and I liked the variety that produced. Also be sure not to over spray, if your tissue gets too saturated, it will be more likely to rip. Alternate the settings of the spray bottles to get less uniform patterns, and be sure to partially dry your decor opened, and then close them for the remainder of the drying. The streamers are definitely harder to close, but with a little patience (and a second set of hands, if possible), it’s definitely doable.

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I love a contrasting backdrop for decor, so this rustic and foresty treehouse made for a great background for all the whimsical and lively colors. When placing your decor, stagger the heights of the honeycombs and fans, cluster various shapes and sizes, and avoid symmetry to give a more effortless and whimsical feel. Layer your garlands with contrasting textures… again, asymmetry is your friend here! With outdoor events, I love using decor with movement, like fringe and tassels.. it looks great when it catches the wind, and your pictures will look more lively!

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Now for the garbs. We bought the biker shorts sets from the kids section at Target: biker shorts ($5… a size XL fit me as a 0/2 and would probably fit up to a size 4!), and these boxy white t-shirts (I bought an XXL, size 18-20). We also found kids jogger sets on Zulily, but you can also check Amazon or Walmart. My sister and I also bought these Cat & Jack Bralettes (in XL), and they turned out SO cute! A sweatshirt + biker short combo would be very cute (and is probably in my near future to complete my set), and very model-off-duty-esque!

I love to live vicariously through my nieces whenever possible, and since I always wanted a treehouse growing up and my brother-in-law recently built one for the girls, so this ‘shehouse’ is where our party was based!

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We did our clumping and bunching inside the treehouse. For this step, you definitely want a LOT of rubber bands. Whatever you think you need… triple it!

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We more or less followed the WeWoreWhat Tie-Dye Tutorial because I liked that her final products were more subtle (we actually followed the video tutorial in her Instagram story highlights). The only minor differences is that we didn’t use bleach, and we rubber banded both sides. The more clumps and clusters you do, the better your patterns will turn out.

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We took the party down below the treehouse for the dyeing on top of a paper linen tablecloth. (my plan was to tie-dye this before the party and use on a table, but…I forgot!). The blue set we made with RIT Tropical Teal Dye , and the peachy blush/nude set was made with RIT Sandstone Dye. If you want white streaks in your creation, do not completely submerge in the dye solution, but submerge if you want a more monochromatic look. The spray bottles were from Walmart. Make sure you wear rubber gloves for this step, the dye will stain your hands!

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We decided this was going to be a family affair, and all present adults and grandparents got in on the action too!

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The 2” & 5” honeycombs were so tiny and cute that I decided to use them to top a plain white cake. The 2” balls are very delicate, so be sure not to saturate them when dying. The hot pink color pop “yay” was actually a straw from Target, but you can find a similar version here. The candles were technically “marbled”, but I thought they had a tie-dye look to them.

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Tie Dye Honeycomb Cake

This party is great option for covid-safe(r) fun because it is best done outdoors, and with gloves on! And trust me, most dyes will stain your hands, so you are going to want to use gloves!

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We tie-dyed on top of the OHD Paper Linen Tablecloth in white, and if you handle it carefully, you will end up with a sweet tie-dye tablecloth!

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All the decor & tabletop products from this setup are exclusively from the Oh Happy Day Party Shop! Click the links below; I have also itemized the quantities, sizes, and colors from the setup above! If you do this party, please share your pictures with me, or tag @feteandfinery on instagram!

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OH HAPPY DAY PARTY SHOP SUPPLIES

[White Tissue Decor for Dying]

Tissue Paper Fan 21" (Color: White, Pink, Mint Green)

Tissue Paper Fan Deluxe 27" (Color: White)

Honeycomb Diamond 12" (Color: 2x White, Mint Green, Light Blue)

Honeycomb Diamond 18" (Color: White)

Honeycomb Puff 14” (Color: Mint Green, Lavender)

Honeycomb Mini Balls 2" (Color: White - for cake topper)

Honeycomb Ball 5" (Color: White)

Honeycomb Ball 8" (Color: White)

Honeycomb Ball 12" (Color: White, Light Pink)

Honeycomb Ball 19" (Color: Mint Green)

[Garlands]

Full Garland (Color: White)

Bunting Fan Garland (Color: White)

Streamer Garland (Color: Mint)

Festive Festooning (Color: Light Blue)

Criss Cross Garland (Color: Lavender)

Paper Fringe Garland (Color: Light Pink)

[Tabletop]

Marbled Candles (Color: Mint)

Oh Happy Day Pink Marble Plates (Small) (Color: Pink Marble)

Oh Happy Day Ombre Cups (color: Sky)

Paper Linen Tablecloths (Color: White)

Tropical Ombre Wooden Cutlery (Color: Tropical Ombre)

Ombre Napkins, Small (Color: Multicolor)

To see more socially distant Party-in-Place tutorials, click the images below:

This Is How We Roll- Home Roller Rink Party!

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I apologize if I’ve thrown the word LOVE around too much for any previous party, but when it comes to parties… I absolutely truly and deeply LOVE me a good roller skating party! So much so I even demanded one for my birthday 2 years ago… and will again soon, trust me. :)

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Of course, a Roller Rink Party doesn’t have to be roller skates, it could easily be rollerblades, but something about roller skates really hits home in the nostalgia department, which is also why I love making it retro styled. You can make it modern if that’s your preference, or do a mixture! I love mixing a retro, vintage feel with some modernism via blacklights and glow products.

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So first things first - the rink. Since your local Skate World or roller rink is not currently an option during quarantine, there are many ways you could make a roller rink at home! An unfinished basement, flat driveway, or cul-de-sac would work great. In this tutorial, I used the party base as the garage, and had it spill into the driveway. I chose to concentrate the decor into one corner of the garage, versus sparsely decorating everywhere, but a few more fringe curtain sets could have completed the wall, or just use string lights (or Christmas lights) to add instant ambiance to the rest of your garage. You could even outline the section of your driveway that will serve as the “rink” with lights.

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If you keep your garage door up, it will most likely become a dream to hang things from!

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Finalizing your rink is very important, but coming in at a close second- the outfit. I feel like retro socks are a must, and scored these socks at Justice. I bought enough for all the attendees, told them to wear shorts or leggings, and gave each guest a pair as part of their favor, and it really made the photos super adorable!

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Bombers, athletic shorts, and high socks are a classic go to, or bright spandex leggings or shorts and an oversized sweatshirt/top also work great. A quick “retro roller skating outfit” Pinterest search will give you lots of options.

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If you have time and patience, customizing roller skates is a great present to gift the birthday boy or girl that could help them feel extra special at their party! I came to learn about customizing skates with ModPodge & glitter when I exhausted my search for cute kids roller skates that didn’t cost hundreds of dollars.

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I bought a basic white pair from my local roller rink (I will include some online retailers below), bought some colored laces, and got to customizing in the birthday girl’s favorite colors. You basically mix ModPodge and glitter and apply with a paintbrush in coats until you achieve your desired color. I wanted to do each skate half fuchsia and half orange, and used painters tape to make clear lines.

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When completed, I added some vintage broaches to complete the look, but you could even hot glue gun any embellishment. Old Christmas bows also look adorable on skates and add a lot of whimsy!

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I added some glow-in-the-dark glitter embellishments to the skates and they lit up pretty well!

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Speaking of glowing… if you can host your event in an enclosed garage or at night, swap out your regular bulbs for blacklight/UV bulbs and you will have yourself a proper glow affair!

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I recently did a Glow-in-the-Dark Neon Dance Party, and many of those concepts can easily transfer over to a skating party.

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One of my favorite purchased elements were these color changing LED balloons. I’ve only seen these white balloons sold individually at Party City for $0.99/balloon, but you could hang these color changing punch balloons from the garage or ceiling like lanterns. You could also easily achieve this look by putting a glow stick inside a latex balloon.

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I also think these glow in the dark plates/cups/utensils were a great addition and were made well and sturdy enough to be reused (they don’t come with napkins).

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Light up crowns were a hit, and glow in the dark body paint were both super fun and an additional activity or station that can take place during the party.

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White and neon decor illuminates best if you are going the glow route! Mylar and foil.. not so much.

Now for the cake! This cake was made for a frosting-averse birthday girl, and layers were connected with a crushed oreo chocolate ganache, and served with a dollop of whip cream (vanilla ice cream would be ideal, but we didn’t have freezer access at this venue). I lucked out on a post-Christmas sale and got these roller skate ornaments from Papyrus 70% off!

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As always, please pay close attention to all CDC and governing guidelines to assure your fête is safe for all! If you try this party at home, please tag/hashtag @feteandfinery! I would love to see your pictures!

Items in stock as of 4/25/20 and shipping within 1 week:

Striped Tube Socks - Gap

Toddler Rainbow Striped Tube Socks - Etsy

Soffe Retro Shorts

White Roller Skates - Womens

White Roller Skates - Girls

Black Roller Skates - Boys

Fringe Curtains

Light up Crowns

Glow in Dark Body Paint

Glow in Dark Plating/Cups/Utensils

Martha Stewart Mylar Chandelier (Silver)

Light Up Balloons (Multicolor)

Color Change Punch Balloons

Blacklight Bar

We are in this fight against Coronavirus together, even though we are apart. Until it’s safe for us to gather & celebrate together in-person, there are still ways to make life’s many special moments and milestones special and uniquely yours. For more Party-in-Place free tutorials, click the images below: