Manic Mama Miles: Ahoy! It's a Boy!

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Ahoy! It's a Boy! - DIY Life Preserver

I was convinced that the "Ahoy! It's a Boy!" nautical baby shower needed lots of decorations, including those of the DIY variety. I did not do nearly as well taking pics of this DIY as I did with the DIY Anchor or DIY buoys. I pretty much have a picture of the final product & that is it. Boo. But, I can tell you how I made it & promise that the "in progress" pics weren't really that exciting.

So I knew I wanted to have a life preserver hanging as part of the shower backdrop. I shopped around & they were a little costly. And what am I going to do with a costly life preserver after the shower is over? Besides save lives of course. ; ) So I decided I would just make one. First, my inspiration came from where else? Pinterest. I saw this cute DIY life preserver at the Parties & Potty Training blog found here.

She had taken a Styrofoam wreath & put yarn around it to make it look like a life preserver. I found a Styrofoam wreath at a craft store for a few dollars, but I didn't have any yarn the color that I wanted. I decided I would use white streamers (which I always have around for some reason but I don't know why because I am not sure I ever use them at parties, oh well) & I wrapped the streamers around the body of the wreath, taping it at the ends. I did have some blue ribbon that I liked the color of, so I decided to use that instead of yarn. I got some of the rope that I had in my garage that I also used on the DIY anchor & DIY buoys & I placed it loosely around the life preserver. I put the knot tying the ends of the rope together under where I put some of the ribbon. I then wrapped the ribbon around probably 10 times in 4 different places, securing the rope around with those silver flat thumb tacks, to recreate the "life preserver" look. It's certainly not lifeguard approved, but I think it turned out pretty cute & only cost me the few bucks that the wreath based cost. : ) Happy Crafting!