vamp up some gift bags

I have mentioned on multiple occasions that Malcolm absolutely loves Count von Count (AKA "The Count") from Sesame Street ... Any time he so much as catches a glimpse of the purple puppet (and even when he does not) he shouts out a gleeful "Ah! Ah! Ah!"

So, it was a no-brainer that The Count should have a prominent role in Malcolm's Sesame Street themed second birthday party. In addition to being on the home made invitations, I used his likeness to make some plain old paper gift bags a little more exciting ...

All supplies (as usual) were either from my current crafting stash or purchased at my local craft store:


Next, I did a little research ...

Using Google Images, I looked at as many pictures of The Count as I could find (a similar project from this Etsy site was extremely helpful and became my main inspiration). Once I was comfortable with The Count's unique attributes, I created templates using scrap paper then traced and cut out the various facial features (eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, widow's peak, goatee, and even monocle) that I would need to construct my gift bags:


Lastly, it was a matter of gluing everything together with my trusty glue stick:




And, as quickly as a vampire morphs into a bat (or disintegrates into ash when the sunlight hits him ... I'm not sure which analogy I like better), the gift bags were done!


Now I need to fill them with some Count (and kid!) approved goodies for the big party!