How to Make Disney UP Wilderness Explorer Badges

Last week I shared with you the Disney UP-themed event for church that I put together.  One of my favorite crafts/projects from that night is the Wilderness Explorer sash and badges that I made to sit out on one of the tables.  Remember the cute boy Russell from the movie, and the sash with badges that he wore?  This is a replica of that, complete with the same badge designs that he wore!

This DIY sash is perfect for a Russell Halloween costume, an UP themed party costume or decoration, or even just for fun!  It was not hard, but took a little bit of time.  I found Pixar's Wilderness Explorer badges online and printed had them printed at the copy store onto thick photo paper.  I used this tutorial here as my inspiration, but made a few changes.

Supplies:

• Badges (printed onto thick cardstock or photo paper)
• Mod Podge (I used Matte)
• Craft foam
• Scissors
• Foam brush
• Adhesive
• Dark brown felt
• Glue gun

First I had the badges printed at the copy store.

I carefully cut out each badge, then glued it onto a thin strip of craft foam.  Using a foam brush, I brushed on a thin layer of Mod Podge to protect the paper badges and make them more durable.  Then I cut out each individual badge from the foam.  The grape soda badge was a favor left over from an UP birthday party we went to last year.  So glad I saved it!

Next I used my son and measured the brown felt, and cut out two long strips.  I glued the strips together with the glue gun (yay for no sewing!) to look like a sash.  I then glued all of the badges onto the sash, leaving a spot for the grape soda badge of course!

My son begged me to keep the sash, because he loved how it looked.  It was pretty easy to put together, too, which is always a plus!  So how would you use these cute little badges?

You can check out more photos from the event, including a sky backdrop, UP garland, painted paper mach houses, and lots of balloons!

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Disney UP Themed New Beginnings Program

I was recently asked to put together a program for the 12-18 year old girls at our church called New Beginnings.  I decided to go with a Disney UP themed evening after seeing these two fun programs here and here, and because it's a lot more fun for everyone when have a great theme!  Many of the ideas I used came from these two sites, and many I came up with on my own.

I wanted to share what I did with you, because a lot of these ideas can be applied to any UP themed party, whether it's a birthday party, a baby shower, bridal shower, etc… the sky is the limit!  ;)

The photos taken from that night were taken at night in a church building when I was scurrying around trying to make everything perfect, so please keep that in mind :)

I bought some sky and clouds butcher paper from here that worked perfectly as a backdrop for the evening and the decorations.  I have a large PVC stand that my husband and I came up with for our party backdrops, and it worked perfectly with the cloud paper!

I found the cute picture of Russell, the boy from the movie, and added the words "It's UP to you to Come Unto Christ."  This is one of the ways that I tied the UP movie theme to our Young Womens New Beginnings Program.

I made Russell's little Wilderness Explorer sash and badges, too, just for fun, and will be sharing an easy tutorial soon on how I made it!

The girls each got a small bag of colorful gum balls with the same Russell picture and words as the above sign.

I love this easy garland I put together for the program using Party City paper fans, these Pixar Retro UP Poster Art prints, and some string.  It added a lot of color and added to the overall UP theme, too.

All of the leaders helped me out and brought some delicious treats for dessert!  I forgot to push the table back up against the sky paper until halfway through the night, so ignore that little space in between the table and the paper.

One of my favorite decorations of the night were the brightly colored paper mache houses I spray painted in bright pastel Krylon spray paint colors.  I used the colors Blue Ocean Breeze, Gum Drop, and Satin Meringue to paint each of the 6 houses.  

I attached balloons to all of the houses, and used some on the houses on our main table, and some as centerpieces on the round tables we used.  

Because I didn't have enough houses to use on each table, I also used grape Crush soda on the other tables, with balloons tied to them, UP retro style posters leaned up against them, and paper fans lying by them on the table.

I feel like the evening was a great success, and everything went really well.  The girls, leaders, and parents all loved the theme, and it was a lot of fun to put together!

Oh, and I almost forgot… here's one of the photos I put on Instagram taken at church, when I passed out the girls' invitations.  They LOVED them!!  I designed some cute invitations with a house on them floating with tons of balloons on the top, and a blue sky background.  I attached the invitations to each balloon (that I filled up during the second hour of church), and passed out to the girls at the end.  I wanted them to get excited about coming, and I think these balloon invitations did just that!

xo, Laura

Sharing here: Show + Tell

Under the Sea Birthday Party Feature

Hello!  I'm busy trying to finish up last minute valentines for a party we're going to tomorrow, and recovering from the big UP-themed event I planned for our girls and their parents at church last night.  I'll be sharing more details about it soon, but if you follow me on Instagram you have probably already seen a sneak peek of what it looked like…

Here's a couple Instagram shots of the event, called New Beginnings.  If you're not already following me on Instagram, I'd love for you to join along!  I'm not going to lie, Instagram and Pinterest are my favorite forms of social media to use- I just love a  pretty picture! ;)

It was a lot of fun, and as much as I loved planning it, I am breathing a big sigh of relief now that it's over!

I wanted to share with you that my daughter's under the sea party that I shared with you a couple weeks ago is being featured on Smart Party Planning today, so be sure to pop in and check it out, as well as some of the other fun parties that Catherine has shared on her blog!

xo, Laura