By Blythe
Earlier this summer, I threw a bridal shower for a friend. It was such a delight to celebrate her, and I wanted to give her an afternoon of joy and fun. She's not someone who enjoys the limelight, so those goofy games where we would talk about her sex life or dress her up in toilet paper weren't really her style. I did want to include an activity that would keep the guests moving and mingling, and to create something that the bride could take away as a reminder of the day.
Inspired by crafty tutorials like Natalie's Freezer Paper Stencil DIY, I decided to invite the guests to create stenciled dishtowels for our friend. At a craft store, I purchased a set of Martha Stewart adhesive stencils, plus paint, brush sponges, and fabric fixer to make the designs colorfast when washed. I bought plain white flour sack towels at Target.
I set up a stenciling station in my kitchen where a few guests at a time could create towels while everyone else hung out and drank champagne. I pre-mixed the paint with the fabric fixer following the directions on the paint bottles, but you could make the process even easier by purchasing fabric paint.
Stencil art is great for people who don't see themselves as artistic - the blank canvas is much less intimidating when the images and colors are pre-chosen, and everyone gets to create something homemade for the guest of honor. This could be a nice baby shower activity using burp cloths or onesies as a canvas.
After the shower, the towels simply had to be ironed to activate the color fixer and Voila! Useful, personal, and pretty gifts for our bride.
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