GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!
Islandshire is buzzing with its own preparations to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee (70-year reign) of Queen Elizabeth II with a special Street Party sponsored by Eliot & Bunty. Photos of our doll-sized celebration will be posted during the official holiday of June 2-5, so check back then to see it all put together. For now, though, I’m posting FREE PRINTABLES for some of the party decorations that we’re making, just in case your dolls are planning party time of their own and want to add a bit of paper fun to the day!
First of all, a big “thank you” to The Purple Pumpkin Blog and Mum in the Madhouse for the fabulous full-sized and free party printables that they’ve made available online. I’ve scaled some of theirs down to fit our 18″ dolls and created more to fill all our own party needs. To find the printable files and instructions on paper type, just scroll to the bottom of this entry.
BUNTINGS AND FLAGS
No party is complete without hand-held flags and traditional buntings, right?
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Color Printer
Scissors
Plain White Printer Paper (20# or 24#)
White Cardstock for your Printer
Clear Strapping Tape
Glue stick
Aleene’s Tacky Glue
Thin Bamboo Skewer
Craft Bead for top of flag (we used Stars)
- The large flag in the center was printed on cardstock, making a great piece to tack onto a wall or hang from a doorway. I may also let my dolls hold it during a few photo-ops, just for the cuteness of the thing.
- The single-sided pennant bunting is simple to make, having been printed on white cardstock and cut with scissors. I used a very small 1/8″ crafting single-hole punch to make the holes for the string, but an X-Acto blade or awl works fine, too. For the extra festive look, I strung the bunting onto purple and white baker’s twine. Make it as long or short as you like.
- The hand-held flags were a little more time-consuming to make but well worth it in the end! We trimmed thin kitchen bamboo skewers to 4-1/2″ long for the handles. The flags were printed on plain printer paper. Normally, I avoid shiny surfaces for my doll photo-ops, since even a small hint of glare in the wrong place can sometimes ruin an entire set-up. This time, however, I opted to cover the flags with clear strapping tape on the printed side, to give them a bit of shine. After the flags were taped (trim the tape edges off before folding), I folded the taped paper around the skewer and glued the unprinted sides together with an Elmer’s glue stick. Make sure to tightly roll the flag around the skewer. I added some clear-drying Aleene’s Tacky Glue to the area where the flag touches the skewer to keep it from sliding. A little plastic star-shaped bead fit perfectly on top and was also glued on with Aleene’s. Plan on waiting about an hour for all the glue to dry well.
PAPER CHAINS
Can’t forget the quintessential party decoration, can we? Let’s make a classic paper chain!
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Color Printer
Scissors
Plain White Printer Paper
Glue stick or tape (single- or double-sided)
I may have gone a little overboard with the paper chains, but they were just so much fun to make (and our family has been making them for many generations). Included is a variety of printable options for different color combinations. You could use single- or double-sided tape, too, to join the rings. The length is up to you. Just keep looping and taping/gluing the pieces together. It can’t be too long, in my opinion.
POPCORN BUCKETS AND CANDY CONES
In real life, these would be brimming with buttery popcorn and candy, but I can think of a lot of different doll options for filling these. If you only have a few snacks, you can always stuff the bottoms with poly fiberfill or tissue paper and leave the goodies showing on top.
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Color Printer
Scissors
White Cardstock for your Printer
Glue stick or tape
Aleene’s Tacky Glue
I printed these on white cardstock, and the printables have folding lines. Tip: Scoring the fold lines lightly with an X-Acto (don’t cut through) makes the whole experience a lot easier! The Candy Cones needed Tacky Glue to keep them together, but you can use a glue stick or tape on the popcorn buckets.
CUPCAKE WRAPPERS
I made these to fit the 18″-doll cupcakes I have (I think they’re Sophia’s) which measure one inch at the widest point, but you could just wiggle the wrappers around to fit smaller or slightly larger desserts.
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Color Printer
Scissors
White Cardstock for your Printer
Glue stick or tape
These were printed on white cardstock, then cut out and glued to fit. They’re just wrappers, so you shouldn’t glue them on. When you’re ready to “serve” them, just sit your cupcakes down inside the open paper wrapper and admire!
TABLE DECOR AND BADGES
Even though Eliot and Bunty have had to limit their invitation list to ten (their dining room is appropriately doll-sized, after all, and can barely hold a dozen kids), they still need a lot of table party supplies. And Eliot insisted on a Big Ben centerpiece!
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Color Printer
Scissors
White Cardstock for Your Printer
Glue stick or tape
Clear Strapping Tape
Paper Towels or Napkins
Scotch Mounting Putty
- For the Big Ben centerpiece, I printed it on cardstock and cut out around the image. Then I used a 1/2×5″ piece of cardstock for the stand, which was taped to the back of the Big Ben cutout in a sort of C shape.
- The Tent Place Cards can serve dual duty to either mark where your doll should sit at the table or tell guests what type of food is being served. They’re printed on cardstock and folded in half. If you want the shiny look, you can cover the printed side in Clear Strapping Tape.
- The round Badges were printed on cardstock and covered in Clear Strapping Tape on both sides to make them shiny (trim the edges well). I’ve successfully used items like this, with a bit of mounting putty, to temporarily make my dolls’ shirts look like they’re covered in printed designs. Just stick the putty to the “badge” and then the t-shirt. I’ve never had it ruin any clothes, but you might avoid this if you have irreplaceable clothing on your dolls.
- Napkin Rings were a fun touch. I printed them on cardstock, cut around the edges and glued them together at the back. The napkins are a quarter of a select-a-size paper towel (cut in quarters the short way) that I folded in half and rolled. You can use whatever you want for the napkins. Even cloth would work!
PARTY CROWNS
Bunty was adamant that a party isn’t a party without hats, so what’s more fitting for a Royal Jubilee than a paper crown?
SUPPLIES NEEDED
Color Printer
Scissors
White Cardstock for your Printer
Glue stick or tape
These were printed on cardstock, but in order to make them large enough to fit around the dolls’ heads, I had to use an extension piece taped/glued at the back. When you’ve got your crowns all cut out, you should have two pieces per crown as shown below. Glue or tape the back extension to the ends of the crown rim and your doll is ready to celebrate! (Make one crown first and check all your dolls’ heads for size. Some of my dolls have wigs that didn’t work with these crowns.) Make sure that the glue or tape is not exposed, to avoid snagging your doll’s hair.
We hope that you and your dolls enjoy the printables and have a great Jubilee Celebration! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or send a message.
Most importantly, have fun and God Save the Queen!
DOWNLOADABLE PRINTABLE FILES
Click on any images below to view the enlarged file images. Right-click and select “save image as” to download the file to your computer.
These are meant to be printed at an 8×10″ photo size on 8-1/2×11″ paper or cardstock, in order to fit 18″ American Girl dolls.
The two sets of printables ABOVE will give you best results when printed on white cardstock. If you use regular printer paper, these items will have difficulty standing up or supporting any snacks.
The four printable files ABOVE are designed to be printed on plain white printer paper. You can choose any combination of these for creating your own doll-sized paper chains.
Click here for a link to all the QEII Platinum Jubilee articles in the Islandshire Gazette.