Craft: Dinosaur Treat Bags

I am making a few goodies for Audrey's dinosaur party. Though I love doing the big party tablescape, it's fun to focus on just a few things for this one and let our local museum do the rest. So I am making dinosaur treat bags as party favors.

I ordered these 8"x10" cotton muslin bags and stenciled on some red t-rex skulls. I don't have a lot of experience transferring or stenciling. I probably stenciled a few times years and years ago. And I know there are great new tools for automating much of this. But, since I don't do a lot of it, this low-tech approach seemed just fine. 

I cut out a t-rex skull using the same template I designed for the t-shirt applique and sprayed the back side with some Easy-Tack hoping to bond the edges to the fabric enough to stop the paint from bleeding. It worked thank goodness! I cut out a circle for the eye and an oval for the nostril and sprayed those to stick too. Then I used Martha Stewart Crafts paint in Habanero and painted away with a small clipboard inside the bag to keep the paint from bleeding through to the back side of the bag. I let the bags dry with some paper inserted between the fabric layers and then ironed them with a blotting cloth when they were completely dry.

And for the goodies inside? I've got some dinosaur "skeletons" (love these! they are flexible and would be fun to bury for a digging game) and dinosaur bracelets. The museum hosts are going to add a few other small dinosaur things too.

Audrey helped me make the bracelets for her friends and we made a necklace for her to wear to the party. We used these dinosaur beads and some star beads I bought at Michael's.

Bright and fun!

We're almost ready for the party!