Cardboard Garbage Truck

This was by far the largest project of the party but from the moment I saw pictures of garbage truck Halloween costumes on line I knew I needed to make a large scale yard ornament for our party. Little B loves making forts so I knew it would come in handy well beyond the party date and boy was I right. Since its completion we have spent hours dunking balls into it, snuggling up with books and blankets and of course playing hide and seek. Construction did take a while but it cost us less than $10 in supplies so to me it was way worth it. While we did a large scale version you could totally scale down your approach for a costume sized version this fall. Add a couple of shoulder straps to hang it from and you will be good to go!

1 large box (we used the box from our new microwave)

1 medium box (we used a medium home depot moving box left over from our move)

1 small box (we used a diaper box)

Packing tape- I keep this on hand for all sorts of projects

Glue gun and glue- This is my favorite crafting tool EVER.

Box cutter

3 cans of spray paint- 2 green, 1 yellow

4 pieces of black paper cut into large circles

Print outs for your graphics, we found all of ours on line for free.

Open the medium box completely flat. This is the box you will use to create the back hopper end of the truck. Lay the box out flat with the large box on top of it so that you can make sure the box with lines up. If the flattened box is wider and sticking out from underneath the large box use the box cutter to trim it to the correct size. Then tape the trimmed box piece to the back end of your truck allowing one of the corner folds to act as the shape for the pointed hopper. Once the piece is firmly secured reinforce the back end with extra pieces of cardboard and then cut a cover for the open spaces out of the leftover cardboard pieces. Use the box cutter to cut a door in the side of the box and a whole on the top so that the kids could pop open the top. Tape all pieces together securely. Spray paint the entire box dark green and set it aside to dry. Spray the small box yellow and set aside to dry. Once boxes are dry glue the yellow box onto the front end of the truck to use as a cab. Glue the wheels and the graphics on and you are finished. 

Trash Bash: Decorations (garlands, flowers and poms)

I had so many fun projects to work on for B’s party that I figured it would be better to break them out into a couple of posts so that I could do them all justice. The decorations were obviously a huge portion of the party since there are NO Garbage Truck party packs out there on the internet or in the party stores. You can order a la carte items from specialty stores on etsy but the items are still few and far between.

Garlands: I made several types of “trash” garlands to hang around the house. Most of them were super easy and only required me to save items I would usually recycle and hang them with string, the other was a bit more time consuming but turned out so cute that I am glad I put the time in.

Re-purposed box flags garland: I cut out a triangle template and traced it onto boxes from packaged items I usually purchase such as cereal, crackers and granola bars. Once all the triangles were cut out I whole punched the tops and then strung them up with butcher twine. These beauties hung across the house and deck in several locations. Most of this work was done while watching 2 seasons of Downton Abbey on Amazon. That really made crafting so much more fun. 

Simple Recyclable Garlands: I did three types of recyclable garlands, whole boxes, crushed cans and plastic bottles. For the boxes I used the same type of boxes and just strung them whole across butcher thread. Since we tend to buy the same items I tried to rotate the boxes so that different colors would pop next to each other. For the cans I washed and crushed soda cans (the Mr. quite the soda drinker) and strung them through their tabs on butcher twine. For the plastics I simply tied each clean, crushed bottle around its neck spacing them each a few inches apart allowing them space to hang. The garlands were a super fun and creative way to decorate while spending almost no money (only a couple bucks for the butcher twine) but I will say that it was a shocking lesson in just how much trash one family can generate in a months’ time. 

Trash Flowers: I made two different types of trash flowers for the party. For the first set I drew a flower outline on the inside of a box and cut along the lines. Glue a round trash object such as a crushed tin can, bottle cap or crumpled paper to the center to add a three dimensional effect and then affix the entire flower to a cardboard tube. Group these flowers together in a “vase” or glue them upright to paper to make them appear to grow from your tablescape. For the second set I used several sheets of color advertisements or magazine print. Fold 2 sheets of paper like an accordion and stack them together so that you can tie both with a piece of twine. Fan the accordion folds out and staple the loose pieces together so that a circle is formed. Glue a circular object to the center and then glue the flower to a cardboard tube for the stem.

News Paper Pom Poms: I love making tissue poms for events. I think they are just super sweet so I wanted to achieve that same look using newspaper to keep with our Reduce, Reuse, Recycle trash theme. I used eight sheets of newspaper for each pom and I will say that the smaller color advertisement sheets worked the best size wise. To make a pom you lay your 8 sheets of paper in a stack on a flat surface. Starting at one end you fold the stack in 1 inch increments making an accordion. Once you have finished you secure the center of the stack. I did this by tying twine tightly around the center. This was the same twine I used to hang the pom from. Once the center is secured you can begin to fan out the pom layer by layer being careful not to rip the sheets of paper. Fluff the papers to help shape the pom and then hang from the twine. Since these poms are quite a bit heavier than tissue poms you will need to purchase some adhesive hooks like command hooks to hang them from. These are great temporary hanging options that are easy to remove without leaving any holes in your ceiling.

The final touch I added are the separated recyclable materials in apothecary jars which is one of my favorite ways to decorate. These festive flutes are a great way to display unusual or everyday objects in a unique way. I always grab mine at HomeGoods or similar places and while I have my staple items I keep in them most of the year I like to change them out with festive items for holidays and other big events.

Ben’s Trash Bash: The Big Birthday Reveal

 Take out the recycling. Take out the trash. Its time for Ben's second birthday bash!

For weeks now I have been working on decorations for B’s big 2^nd birthday party. Once I wrapped my head around his requested theme I don’t know which one of us was more excited for the big day. It was definitely a lot of work but I will say we did save a boat load on decoration costs thanks to some creative thinking and a little lot of elbow grease. Lucky for me there happen to be a handful of other creative moms left their ideas on the internet, and for them I am greatly appreciative.

back lighting makes for bad pictures: Clockwise starting on left: Table Centerpiece, Mantel decorations and family slideshow (through flicker on apple tv), full table set up

We all had the best time celebrating with family and friends. The weather was perfect (although the yard was a big buggy for some) and the food and beverages were flowing. B received unlimited juice box privileges for the day, loved the worms on his cupcake and even managed to scarf down a bite or two of other food between his play. He mingled his way through the party exclaiming several time “best birfday eva” at the top of his lungs which leads me to believe that it was a success. Playtime included yard and water play as well as an appearance by our neighbors bounce house (Thanks Nicky and Peter). It truly was an awesome day so hopefully the pictures do it justice. 

Clockwise: re-purposed boxes as flags, re-purposed box garland, Happy Birthday banner, recycled paper party hats, newspaper pom poms, separate your recyclables: plastic caps, corks and bottle caps as decorations, frond door signage "Birthdays Stink & I'm Another Year Odor", plastic bottle garlands for the stairs.

Junk Food to the MAX!: Trashy trail mix and chip boxes, trash can utensils, pile o' dirt cake and cupcakes, litter bug lemonade, food & drink table signage

Some of my favorite party details include the signage, designed by our friend Anand, the cardboard box trash truck my father in-law and I worked on and the super cute trash can party favors.  Tutorials on specific items to come! While I created almost all the items seen on this post for the party, many of the ideas were borrowed from others. Check out the list of inspiration blog posts below for more trashy ideas to make your next garbage bash a smash!

 Blogs to be credited for all the trashy ideas: Picture Perfect Party Co, Hostess with the Mostess, Cakes likes a Party