shake it up: happy new year’s!

There’s no time like the present to get rollin’ on favors for tonight’s big New Year’s Eve Par-tay–at least that’s what we thought this morning when we realized that we didn’t have much, in the name of fun noise-makers, to take to our pals’ house tonight.

And goodness knows that two adults and three kids isn’t noise enough for a bash to ring in 2010.

So still in pj’s, breakfast dishes still in the sink, we covered our table in newspapers, grabbed the tiny plastic containers I am notorious for keeping (these were from a few finger paint sets, I think), we gathered some beads, and my trusty glue gun. And in no time flat, we had noise-makers to take to our party.

• New Year’s Noise-Makers: My friend, Christy, shared this simple but neat noise-maker a few days back, so when Maddy, Owen, Cora, and I talked about noise-makers we could quickly make, I knew we could do something like she did.

Really, these took minutes to make, and I think the kids will really love shakin’ them around come their (9 o’clock) New Year’s Celebration.

I put a handful of beads, beans, and (because everything is so much more fun when it’s sparkly) sequins on a paper plate in front of Maddy, Owen, and Cora. Then I said,

Okay, my friends. We need some noise-makers to take to Ella and Annie’s house tonight. And these might seem really tricky, but they’re so simple to make.

All we’re going to do is fill one plastic container with beans, beads, and sequins, then I’ll hot glue the other container like this, and we’ll have a shaker for New Year’s! How fun?

So they filled.

And I glued.

I totally heart this tiny glue gun.

And then they picked a pretty ribbon to put along the seam, and I glued some more, and that was it!

Hopefully they’ll stay glued through the shakin’ and dancin’ and singin’ and hootin’ and hollerin’ the little ones will be doing tonight, but if not–thankfully–we’ll have lots of tiny hands to pick up beads from the floor.

Happy, Happy New Year’s to all of my friends!