Max wanted a race car theme with red and orange. Done.

We tied an orange balloon to each chair. I covered the table with brown kraft paper (the [...]]]> Spring time is birthday season at our house. I decided to let the kiddos have birthday parties with friends every other year. So this was our friend party year.

Max wanted a race car theme with red and orange. Done.

We tied an orange balloon to each chair. I covered the table with brown kraft paper (the kind from Home Depot that contactors use to cover the carpet – it comes in giant rolls and is super cheap). I used orange wrapping paper to cover the counter. The plates, napkins and cups were red.

I pre-poured snacks into cups – cracker, pretzels, goldfish. We had tangerines, chocolate cupcakes, and juice. About an hour before the party, I put the juice boxes in the freezer to get them cold and the froze! So most kids ate their juices with a spoon – but everyone likes slushies, right?!

The kids played “Red Light, Green Light” in the backyard. I made the flags out of felt and dowel rods from the craft store.

Target had some wooden cars and trucks for a dollar so the kids each decorated a car. Max takes his projects very seriously. He stayed at the table to color even after his buddies were long gone and playing in the playroom. He colored every inch of the car (and his face). I set up a ramp in the family room using our coffee table and some masonite board I had laying around for the kids to race their cars.

Max helped me put the party favor bags together. He chose punch balloons, race car pencils, bouncy balls, and little race cars to go inside the bags. I printed out some race car graphics. Max cut each one out and glued it on each bag. We used the extra images to make a mobile that hung from the light over the kitchen table (my mom’s idea). The kids loved that! We closed up the bag with jute twine following this tutorial.

All in all, the party was a success. No disasters. My parents were in town so they helped with all the prep and the day of the party. Max had fun with his friends. We were all happy.

Last week I hosted a baby shower for a good friend. She is having her fourth boy! I really wanted to have a celebration for her (not so much for the baby). Now don’t get me wrong, babies are good. But I think the party needs to be for the pregnant lady. It’s no small [...]]]>

Last week I hosted a baby shower for a good friend. She is having her fourth boy! I really wanted to have a celebration for her (not so much for the baby). Now don’t get me wrong, babies are good. But I think the party needs to be for the pregnant lady. It’s no small thing to have a baby. Motherhood is a big deal and needs some loving attention.

So, this party wasn’t very “boy-ish” because Melissa was my main focus.

I was inspired by this rustic party table. I really tried to only use materials I had around the house (that kind of thing makes my husband happy…) I covered my table in brown kraft paper. On top of that was a wrapping paper table runner using a blue on blue floral (from IKEA). I added one more layer with a burlap table runner. The red and orange tulip centerpiece wasn’t quite tall enough so I stood the vase on a glass salad bowl turned upside down. Perfect. The food signs are printed on construction paper and held up with giant clothespins. For my guests, I gave a little seed kit in a tiny clay pot (love those dollar bins at Target!).

I’m the awesome kind of party host and mom that sets up the buffet table the afternoon of the party. So the boys had to eat dinner outside on the deck.

The Menu:

+ Mango Salsa with chips
+ Broccoli Salad
+ Artichoke and Spinach Dip with crackers
+ Rolls and strawberry jam
+ Whole Wheat Banana Muffins
+ Fresh Fruit cups
+ Chocolate Cake
+ Peanut Butter Pie
+ Lemon Pudding Parfaits
+ Caramel Brownies
+ Pomegranate Izzes

Melissa has had baby name drama (to say the least) and so I had slips of paper prepared for each guest to suggest some names for her new baby.

We had a great time chatting and eating. And eating. And eating.

Party success.

Happy baby!

I used this table setting at our Easter Brunch but it would work with any spring or garden party. The nest is made out of marshmallow and All Bran cereal.

A few weeks back, our friend invited me and the boys to make these darling chicken cupcakes. [...]]]> This might be a little late, but I’m sharing anyway.

I used this table setting at our Easter Brunch but it would work with any spring or garden party. The nest is made out of marshmallow and All Bran cereal.

A few weeks back, our friend invited me and the boys to make these darling chicken cupcakes. They were so much fun to make and the kiddos loved it (especially eating the Jelly Bellys off their birds). Great idea for kids or adults.

AND… here’s a sneak peek at tomorrow’s tutorial:

With Mother’s Day right around the corner I thought you could use this. It’s a card/book with pockets so you can write an extra special mother’s day love note to your mom.

See you tomorrow!

This is fabric flower garland is pretty simple. I made the flowers out on the deck while the boys played in the backyard. Later that night I made it into a garland. It’s the perfect thing for spring and summer.

SUPPLIES

+ fabric of your choice cut into circles (3″ diameter) + needle and thread + hot glue + twine [...]]]>

This is fabric flower garland is pretty simple. I made the flowers out on the deck while the boys played in the backyard. Later that night I made it into a garland. It’s the perfect thing for spring and summer.

SUPPLIES

+ fabric of your choice cut into circles (3″ diameter)
+ needle and thread
+ hot glue
+ twine or ribbon

HOW TO MAKE A FABRIC FLOWER GARLAND

STEP 1: Fold one circle in half. Then in thirds (should be a triangle shape). Pinch it at the bottom to hold it together.

STEP 2: Put a little stitch in the bottom. I used a contrasting thread to make this tutorial easier to follow. You should use a matching thread.

STEP 3: Take another circle and follow steps 1 & 2. After you’ve stitched it, sew it on to the first circle. Continue doing this with 10-15 circles or until your flower is the fullness you want it to be.

STEP 4: Decide the length of your garland and space out your flowers. Hot glue each flower to the twine. I put the twine through the middle of the flower and then glued it in place. This will hold the flower better than gluing it to the back of the flower.

STEP 5: Hang it where you can enjoy it!

A few nights ago I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for my friend and her new baby boy. I love these types of celebrations!

Some party details:

Of course the only photo I took of the food table was before all the food was on it. (I would do something like that – maybe [...]]]>

A few nights ago I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for my friend and her new baby boy. I love these types of celebrations!

Some party details:

Of course the only photo I took of the food table was before all the food was on it. (I would do something like that – maybe because a half an hour before guests arrived I was in the shower haha). We had the most delicious cheesecake ever (thanks, Amy!!), lemon bars, and chocolate cupcakes filled with whipped cream. Plus, we had Vietnamese Salad Rolls (thanks, Tricia!!) which are so yummy, artichoke-spinach dip, fresh strawberries, fresh clementines, and fresh veggies. Lemon water and Izzes to drink.

(love my Kroger flowers?!)

I made the garland out of craft paper and string. A matching one hung on the mantle.

The food was all labeled with these cute signs. I’m working on making this into a free download for you – I’ll let you know when it’s ready.

******UPDATE: Click HERE for the free download of these labels to use at your own party! It’s a 2-page pdf with the big labels I used for the food and the little labels I used on the cookie treats. Enjoy!******

I don’t believe any party guest should leave empty handed so everyone took a “glad you came” cookie for the road. (These labels will also be available soon for download)

And, of course, there were candy munchies a plenty (everyone needs buckets of m&ms!)

So that’s what I’ve been up to. I’ve also had a bunch of custom book orders lately – keep them coming! I love custom orders. I’ll post pics soon.

Christmas week was just as I hoped it would be. I spent tons of time with my little family. We (Chris, mostly) did a few projects around the house, raked leaves, and had a party. In years past, we have delivered plates of treats to our neighbors and friends around Christmas time, but [...]]]>

Christmas week was just as I hoped it would be. I spent tons of time with my little family. We (Chris, mostly) did a few projects around the house, raked leaves, and had a party. In years past, we have delivered plates of treats to our neighbors and friends around Christmas time, but this year we decided to host a “Merry Christmas Hot Cocoa Social” instead. We invited our friends (who we knew were in town) to join us Christmas Eve afternoon. I love having a full house – and trust me, the house was full!

I kept things pretty low key. The hot cocoa & hot cranberry drinks were made from my great aunt recipes and I served them out of crock pots.

We also served chocolate crinkle cookies, banana bread, cranberry bread with walnuts, and hot chocolate mix-ins (candy canes, marshmallows, choco chips, whipped cream).

We will definitely do this again next year!

One activity from our advent calendar this year was to play Christmas Bingo with a few friends. Well, that’s what we did Saturday and it was lots of fun. So much fun that I didn’t even take photos. Why does that always happen? Oh well. I’m sharing my Christmas Bingo boards with you. To download [...]]]>

One activity from our advent calendar this year was to play Christmas Bingo with a few friends. Well, that’s what we did Saturday and it was lots of fun. So much fun that I didn’t even take photos. Why does that always happen? Oh well. I’m sharing my Christmas Bingo boards with you. To download the Bingo boards, click HERE. It’s a 10-page pdf with 10 different Bingo boards. I filled one of my apothecary jars with prizes from the dollar store and had some snacks to munch on. We will definitely be adding this to our holiday traditions.

Another great thing I made last week was inspired by my Auntie who is an amazing baker. I made the most delicious chocolate cupcakes. Cooled them in the fridge. Dug out a tablespoon of cake from the bottom. Filled the hole with freshly whipped cream. Stuffed the cake bottom back on. Drizzled a chocolate ganache over the top. YUM! Don’t worry. I’ll be posting a tutorial on this one soon.

Also, we decorated graham cracker houses a few days ago. Two things that worked really well: we separated the candy into muffin tins so the kiddos could see what their choices were and to construct the houses I dipped the graham edges in melted sugar. Worked like a charm.

Our little neighbor friend turned 4 and we decided to make her a tutu. I should have done a tutorial for this one because it’s super easy (no sewing!) but I didn’t. However, I did stumble upon Design Mom’s tutu tutorial from a while back and it is very similar to what I did. Or [...]]]>

Our little neighbor friend turned 4 and we decided to make her a tutu. I should have done a tutorial for this one because it’s super easy (no sewing!) but I didn’t. However, I did stumble upon Design Mom’s tutu tutorial from a while back and it is very similar to what I did. Or you can look at this very detailed tutu tutorial.

I used 1″ elastic for the waist band, 2 spools of tulle (get the sparkly kind!), 2 spools of sparkly ribbon, and 2 purple ribbon scraps for the ties.

The night before I assembled everything: craft stuff in a big bowl, snack stuff in a crate, silverware in a flower pot (not as good of an idea as I thought it would [...]]]> We celebrated Pioneer Day with a party (even though we do not live in Utah). And it was really fun. Crafts. Games. Snacks.

The night before I assembled everything: craft stuff in a big bowl, snack stuff in a crate, silverware in a flower pot (not as good of an idea as I thought it would be – my guests kept getting impaled by the knives), butter supplies in a pan, game pieces in a bowl. We only have room for 6 people at our kitchen table and so I knew I would need everything for each activity ready to go for quick set up and clean up. It worked out great for our little space.

First, the kiddos made log cabins with pretzels and icing. It would have been great to do this on little milk cartons, but I’m not an elementary school and didn’t have 6 tiny milk cartons on hand, so cardboard it was. I used my trusty Sharpie to draw an outline of a house on the cardboard and then the kids went at it. We used construction paper for windows and doors.

Then we played “Ring on a String” (a childhood favorite of my husband’s – not sure it’s technically a pioneer game, but oh well).
MATERIALS TO ROUND UP: a roll of string, a ring
RULES OF PLAY: Everyone sits in a circle. Cut a piece of string long enough so everyone sitting can hold on to it. Put the ring on the string and tie the string ends together. One person goes in the middle and closes his eyes. The people in the circle slide the ring around on the string, passing it around. The person in the middle opens his eyes and starts guessing where the ring is. Once he finds who has it, they switch places. And on. And on.
[I wasn't sure if the kiddos would catch on to this game, but they did! And they loved it!]

Next was “Drop the Handkerchief” (pretty sure this is the precursor to Duck-Duck-Goose).
MATERIALS TO ROUND UP: a handkerchief
RULES OF PLAY: Everyone sits in a circle. One person stand outside the circle with the handkerchief. He walks around and drops the handkerchief behind someone. That person picks up the handkerchief and chases the one who dropped the handkerchief around the circle until they get back to where they started. Then they switch places. And on. And on. Until the kiddos say, “I don’t like this game. I’m swinging,” and leave. (It was HOT outside – I don’t blame them)

Snack time was last.
MENU: fruit kabobs and homemade butter on homemade bread and lemonade
TO MAKE BUTTER: I filled baby food jars half way with heavy whipping cream. Shake it until butter forms (this took about 5 minutes). Pour off the remaining liquid into a bowl (it’s buttermilk) and eat the butter. Easy! And way better than store butter. The kiddos shook the butter for about 30 seconds and then I told them to give it to their dads to finish up the shaking.

There you have it. 90 minutes of pioneer fun.

Like I’ve mentioned before, I am so excited to have a new nephew on his way to earth. It is great cause for celebrating. So, our family decided to celebrate together over a delicious dinner in mom’s fabulous yellow dining room. My sister, mom and I all worked together to make this meal from scratch. [...]]]>

Like I’ve mentioned before, I am so excited to have a new nephew on his way to earth. It is great cause for celebrating. So, our family decided to celebrate together over a delicious dinner in mom’s fabulous yellow dining room. My sister, mom and I all worked together to make this meal from scratch. So tasty! I love dinner parties.

Menu:

Broccoli and Cheese soup (not the velveta kind – real cheese)
BBQ Brisquet
Spinach Salad
Crescent Rolls
Homemade Raspberry Icecream
Chocolate Cupcakes with yummy frosting

Decorations:

Red and orange pom poms
Name tags out of craft paper with an animal silhouette on each one
Coordinating cupcake toppers from the craft paper
Crowns for mom-to-be and dad-to-be to wear during the meal (of course the kiddo cousins each needed a crown after they saw them…)

Game:

Opening presents (that’s a game, right?)