Jan's Library

Birthday Bag and Placemat Craft

By: Jan K., The Proofer

This article will give you all the instructions, plus illustrations, for making a birthday party bag and placemat set. The free printables are provided by Mom's Break at: http://birthdays.momsbreak.com/birthday-by-age-printable-projects.html. Use the instructions given on that site for downloading the free printables to your computer.

To make matching birthday party table placemats and party favor bags, you will need the following:

• Candy or Birthday Party Favors
• Colored Construction Paper
• Glue Stick or White Glue
• Plastic Page Protectors
• Illustrated Instructions
• Free Printables provided by Mom's Break

Birthday Bag

First, print the illustrated instructions at: http://readingroom.janktheproofer.com/BirthdayBagPlacemat.doc.

These instructions contain several pictures, so it might take several (long) seconds for the page to open. Once the page does open, then allow a few extra second for all the pictures to appear.

Now, print the Birthday Bag (from the free printables that you downloaded from Mom's Break). Be sure to print as many as you will need so that each party guest will get a Birthday Party Bag.

Using the illustrated instructions, fold the Birthday Bag along the dotted lines. Please note that the line shown to fold the bag in half is not quite in the center of the paper. This is OK.

Glue down the sides. If you use a glue stick (I prefer Elmer's School Glue Stick), it will stick immediately. If you use white glue, you will need to allow at least an hour for it to dry thoroughly.

Put candy or preferred party favor inside the bag. Fold over excess of the bag at the top to make the closing flap for the bag. Glue shut if desired.

Birthday Party Placemat

Print the free Birthday Party Placemat from the free printables. Print one for each place setting.

Select construction paper of any color to match the placemat, or use several different colors. The construction paper will be the "back" of the placemat, so you can use any color you'd like.

To prevent the colors of the printed placemat from running (from drink spills), use clear plastic page protectors. You can find them in any office supplies store, such as Office Depot. Be sure to get the page protectors that are side punched for 3-ring binders, that do not have an extra "tab" extension for the holes. These are very cheap! I like to keep them handy for other printables projects---and they are great for scrapbooking!

Match the placemat with a piece of construction paper. Open the sheet protector, insert papers, and fold the flap of sheet protector back over itself to close the protector.

Set your party table with matching placemats and use the birthday bags as favors for each setting!

For other ideas for using the Birthday Free Printables offered by Mom's Break, see:

http://readingroom.janktheproofer.com/BdayBanner.htm

http://readingroom.janktheproofer.com/BdaySign.htm

Jan K., The Proofer is a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. Visit http://www.jansportal.com for more information about Jan's free crafts, recipes, tutorials, other resource sites, and free content articles, as well as Jan’s business services. Be sure to visit Mom's Break (http://www.momsbreak.com/) for free printable crafts and projects. © Copyright 2005 to present. All rights reserved.