Farm-tastic First Birthday: Petting Zoo and DIY Hay cones

As promised, here is a little more of a look at Quinn's Farm-tastic First Birthday.

A month back I took the girls to the Dallas Arboretum (or "ah-BORE-etum" as my brother calls it,) where they enjoyed a little petting zoo. I grabbed a business card and my wheels started spinning. Jaime and I had recently discussed party themes in need of a makeover and the "farm" theme made the top of her list. Yes, these are the things that Jaime and I talk about on the phone, and that is why we are craft-nerd soul mates. So I pitched the idea to Rick and he surprisingly agreed. I mean who agrees to a petting zoo for a first birthday party? That's just nuts. I may have also promised that I would get half of it paid through gift contributions. Thanks Mom! (I just want to add that Country Critters Farm is an insured and licensed petting zoo. The animals live on a idyllic farm that you can actually visit and seem to have a very happy life with nurturing caretakers)

I whipped up these easy little hay cones and a crate-style stand for them. The kids (and the kids, ugh sorry!) loved them. Get the DIY after the jump.


 What you need:

• 12x12" paper
• Scissors
• Stapler
• Wooden crate
• Sheet of Styrofoam
• Lollipop sticks
• Hay (I've learned that baby goats eat Coastal hay)

What to do:

1. Collect some 12x12" scrapbook paper. I had this Martha Stewart Bandana Paper in the stash.


2. Fold each piece from corner to corner and cut along fold.


3. With the Right (90 degree) Angle as the bottom point, wrap the sides around making a nearly closed point at the bottom. You don't want much space, just enough for your stick to slide in later.


4. Staple a few times along seam. I can't say enough about my new Christmas stapler. You should totally get one.


5. Now, here is where you can get fancy and trim your tops with a pinking shears or some other such adorableness. I knew that my edges would be hidden by hay so I simply folded them in. It also made the cones a tad sturdier.


6. Now take your wooden crate (This one was from Michaels for $5.99) and cut your sheet of Styrofoam to fit your crate. I saved money by using a 1" thick sheet and layering 2 pieces.


7. Create a grid of lollipop sticks in your foam. I did 4 across by 4 down.


8. Slide your cones down over the sticks as you go to get the spacing right.






9. Pile hay in your cones and slide some into the base to hide the foam. This would also be really cute for popcorn or small tissue pom poms (or flower petals) for wedding tossing.