photo booth

Kid-sized photo booth!

This kid-sized photo booth is ideal for a little one’s birthday party! It’s also easily customizable by using theme-appropriate paper to match your party.

Total cost: $10
Total time: 1 hour

Materials
– Project display board
– Wrapping paper
– 8×10″ frame
– Spray paint
– Glue gun

I was able to find the display board (for science fair projects) and frame at my local dollar store. I bought the heavy-weight wrapping paper and white Krylon Short Cuts spray paint from a craft store.

Instructions

1. Remove the glass and backing from the frame so you are left with just the 8×10″ decorative frame. In a well-ventilated area (I recommend the outdoors!), coat the frame with the can of spray paint.

2. After the paint has dried (approximately 30 minutes), position the frame on the project display board where you would like it. Then trace around the frame, marking the board. Using a scissors, blade or box cutter, remove the rectangular box that you just marked.
3. Unroll the wrapping paper and cut to size, allowing at least one inch of excess all around the board. Fold the paper around the board and tape into place. Be sure to use a lot of tape around the creases.
4. Through the hole cut in the board, trim the paper, allowing approximately one inch of excess. Wrap the paper through the hole and tape securely into place. You’ll want to use a lot of tape around this area, as it will get the most use.

5. Fit your frame into position within the hole and allow about 1/8″ to stick through the back. Then use your glue gun and glue around the edges of the frame, mounting it to the board.

You’re all done! Just place the photo booth where the kids can reach it. After the party, just fold it up and tuck it away – it takes up very little space!

Additional ideas:
– For extra strength, use fabric instead of wrapping paper. You’ll want to use a spray adhesive for the fabric, instead of tape.
– To accommodate bigger kids, use a larger frame. But just keep in mind that you’ll be limited to the size of the project display board.

Much thanks to Susan from Rivers Photography for helping with the kiddo portraits. Green mustache prop by Whisker Works.

Enter the Mustache

Parties didn’t always have silly mustaches to liven them up — but then again, everything has to start somewhere. Take the mustache itself. The first evidence of anyone wearing one, real or otherwise, dates back to the 4th century B.C., well before the birth of Whisker Works.

The first recorded portrait of a man with a mustache appears on a carpet from 300 B.C., now housed in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Unintentionally inspiring Tom Selleck, Alex Trebek and countless polka-dot-winged equestrians in the process of looking fabulous.

A mustache first was photographed in 1826 in Paris, France, using a camera made primarily out of wood! Almost 100 years later, a Russian-born New Yorker created the first modern photo booth in 1925. The invention earned him $1 million.

Catapulting the artificial mustache into the mainstream, world-renown British rock band The Beatles gave away cardboard mustaches with their album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” released in 1967. As a side note, though all four Beatles eventually grew mustaches, it started with Paul McCartney, who only grew one to hide a chipped tooth.

Perhaps inspired by the Beatles record, the mustache-on-a-stick concept gained wide appeal after being featured on The Martha Stewart Show in October 2008. Made for that program of dryer lint and fabric glue, they had a hairy realism about them. I tried to make some myself, but only made a big, gross mess.

One year later, I gave the idea another shot — this time using modeling clay. They were a hit at my own wedding, delighting guests who posed for dozens of silly photographs using disposable cameras. Months later, Whisker Works was born. It’s been my full-time job ever since, now with plastic as my medium. My name is Amber and this is my blog. Welcome. 🙂

Kid-sized photo booth!

Enter the Mustache

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