Miss M's 8th Birthday Luau

Call me crazy, but yes I let Miss M invite six friends over for s sleepover party. We did have the assistance of an "aunt". Sara fills that void nicely since our family is out of state. The evening started off with making tie-dyed shirts.

Miss M and I sporting our matching VERY vintage and VERY authentic Hawaiian shirts my grandparents got on a trip right around the time I was born. (see, VERY vintage!)

Fruit kabobs, a veggie tray, and pizza for dinner...not very Hawaiian but easy and tasty nonetheless!

Miss M showing off her flip-flop cake. It was just about the easiest cake we have made to date!

Turquoise of course! Click here for directions.

A little bleary-eyed the next morning but most were still going strong. Doughnuts helped the cause.

Our customary "crazy" shot on the front porch, sporting the shirts we made.

 

 Also, big thanks to my friend Kris for loaning us a bug tub of tropical decorations. As you can see, even the bathroom got in the party spirit. When I started this post, I realized just how few pictures I had taken - too busy making the party happen I guess!

For the actual birthday day at Nana & Popa's house, we continued the theme with a beach cake.

 

At long last, Miss M got her ears pierced with no tears! Can hardly believe my girl is eight!

Glam Girl's Room on a Budget

Old outlet covers..made new with a coat of silver spray paint. We also painted the floor vent and the drawer handles.

A yellow wall becomes turquoise!

 She already had the pink canopy (a $3 garage find a few years ago). The flower hooks and name above the window were purple and pink. I repainted all the purple parts turquoise.

 Switch plate cover...glammed up with turquoise paint and the same rhinestones as the lamp. It makes me happy that she wanted the vinyl puppies on the wall...lets me know she is still a little girl and not growing TOO fast.

 Old hand-me down mirror freshened up with a coat of what else.....silver spray paint!

 A bit of hand-sewn ribbon detail adds a little sparkle to the curtains.

This bulletin board has been several colors in its lifetime...turquoise with a spray of glitter gave it new life. The two over the door jewel hooks add a little more storage for all kinds of things.

So, the total breakdown of the room redo:
bedding and curtains: $70, but it was a birthday gift from Cupcake Nana.
gallon of paint: $20
ribbon: $2
silver spray paint: $5
nightstand table: $20, plus a few materials already on hand
light switch cover: $5
package of rhinestones: $3
lamp: $10
trim for lamp: $5
vinyl puppies: $10
turquoise spray paint: on hand
total for room: $150
seeing the pleasure on your daughter's face of a job well done: priceless!
We still have a few little things to finish, but she is very happy with the results and proud of our work. I have caught her several times just sitting in her room and looking around.  Happy (early) birthday Miss M!

Mr C and His Sports Party

So, what do you get when you combine a bunch of 3 and 4 year old boys, FRIGID temperatures, and a mom who is too cheap to spring for an "away" party? First, your awesome husband cleans out the garage, including the melted snow and road yuck. Then you crank up the heater in your oversized garage, inflate a jump house borrowed from a friend, set out a few assorted balls and celebrate Mr. C's 4th birthday!

Mr C saw a photo of these cupcakes in a Betty Crocker calendar after his birthday last year and hung it on his bedroom door so I wouldn't forget what he wanted!

 Not the most flattering shot of Miss M, but everytime I tried to take a bouncy shot, this is what she did!

more fun in the "gym" as one young partygoer called it!

You can see just a little of the "craft" - room pennants with each boy's name written in slick paint. They had sports foam stickers to put on them.

 Waiting for the basketball pinata'...

 major jumping action + dry winter air = MAJOR STATIC HAIR!

A homemade basketball pinata, made with help from the entire family. It lasted long enough for everyone to get in several swings.

The resident girl means BUSINESS!

CANDY!!

As usual, this party was done with a small budget. I made sure to check the clearance aisle every time I made a trip to Hobby Lobby. We scored some great deals on paper products and decorations. The only splurge was a package of plastic basketball whistles we gave out as a favors. Yeah, my mom friends were less than thrilled with that choice, but they deserve it after all the battery hungry toys they gave as gifts! Just kidding, we are all still friends...I think!

Ice Cream Shoppe 7th Birthday

Well, my girl has gone and turned SEVEN already! I can hardly believe it. Once again, she decided on a theme months ago and stuck with it! I really followed my "party rules" to the letter this time - even finding leftover poster board in the basement! One party goer said "Wow! I didn't know Miss M had her own ice cream shop!"

As is our tradition, a silly pose is always required! Some of us have had more practice at this than others!

This doesn't show off the spoons very well, but they were so cute! The handles are each shaped like an ice cream treat: a fudge bar, banana split, milk shake, and ice cream cone. I watched and waited at my grocery store for SIX weeks until I knew the store would mark them down. They finally did and I scored them for 50 cents each down from an original price of $1/spoon. Dollar Store clear plastic jar were filled with sprinkles and bear a label reading "It was so sweet of you to come to my party!" We also found lip gloss in ice cream cartons at the $ Tree! So perfect!!! Miss M also added a cupcake eraser from Aunt J.

Another Miss M, Poppa, and Miss M. Trying to scoop "ice cream" into a dish....a lot hard than it looks! The girls had lots of fun watching one another on this game. These are also the ice cream dishes we used at the party. I bought 12 at Deals a few months back....$1 each of course!

Miss M and I made the awnings, with help from our bloggy friend Nikki. She has the lowdown on how to make the freezer paper awning and some other great ice cream party ideas. We also made the crepe paper ice cream cone. Cupcake Nana painted two "shoppe" signs. The one on the front door also says "OPEN". The effect was not lost on Miss M or me!

Mr C was so serious about helping churn the vanilla ice cream. Everyone took a turn, but Daddy finished the job!

A party goer giving her sundae order to Cupcake Nana. Bananas, strawberries, sprinkles, chocolate syrup, M&M's, chocolate chips, gummy bears, marshmallows, cherries, and of course whipped cream were the offerings.
Miss M's new favorite color is turquoise. (Notice the cupcakes and signs/awnings - even her nails!) She was so pleased to find Kool-Aide that "matched"! The girls and Mr C decorated soda jerk hats while taking turns churning the ice cream.
I received an ice cream cone cupcake pan for Christmas from my SIL last year and it was just the ticket for this year's party. (Cupcake Nana scored the cake stand decorated with ice cream treats!! for $2.50 at Goodwill.) Mr C spied the ice cream shirt a few weeks before the party and that was his gift to Sissy. Unlike her Christmas gift, he didn't tell her what it was this time!
After the party, Miss M said "THIS was the best party yet! I love homemade things...especially things you and Nana make for me." She is a girl after my own heart.

Balloon Wreath

Miss M will be turning SEVEN at the end of this month and has had birthday planning on the brain for months. When we saw this wreath at how does she we knew we HAD to try it. We picked up all the supplies at Hobby Lobby today and made it while little brother napped.

Supplies needed:

• 144 ballons - we only found the 12 inch size
• 2 greening pin packs-found in the artificial plant section
• straw wreath -leave the plastic on so it doesn’t shed

Just take a balloon and put it in the middle of the pin, then push into the wreath. Then repeat, repeat, repeat.... It took a little time for us to discover that alternating the position of the open end of the balloon helped on spacing. We also learned that it's best to dump out  and mix up the entire bag of balloons because we had a ton of pink in one bag!

I also used some ribbon I had on hand to make hanging the wreath a little easier. Total for supplies: $15. Not only can you use it for birthdays, but you could also make a little "congratulations" or "celebrate" sign out of p cardstock and stick it on with a toothpick or floral pick. For a family known to celebrate Happy Monday with a cake, a balloon wreath is a perfect fit!

Mr C's 3rd Birthday - Cars Theme

From this scary beginning... To this boisterous and lovable boy just three short years later...Mr C LOVES anything related to Lightening McQueen (as do his little buddies), which made his party theme this year a no-brainer. It was made even better when I found some cake toppers, paper goods, favors and more at a super low clearance price back in the summer.
Since his birthday is January 3, you will notice I still have Christmas stuff up in some of the pics. And yes, my kitchen is STILL not finished from the wallpaper removal/skimcoating/painting job we started back in the fall. Just ignore it; apparently, I am getting pretty good at doing that myself!I found these stickers are the Dollar Tree and the cold pack at Goodwill for 59 cents....marked down from the Target price of $2.99. We used an extra pack of stickers to make the invitations and thank you notes. (I HATE those little plastic, trinket items some people give as favors. If you are going to give favors, make it something useful and/or consumable please!)
The party was on New Year's Day and we invited two other families. A meal of hotdogs and chili came before the fun cupcakes. It was a houseful, but a great day of celebrating Mr. C with some special friends.

Best buddy Nathan...always a ham!
These guys are moving when school is out...we will miss the entire family.

Decorating the cupcakes turned into a family affair...
At three years old, Mr C:

• loves anything that bounces or has wheels
• still needs his blankie at night and sometimes during the day
• loves his sister lots
• talks a ton and your comedic side is starting to emerge
• will only wear one pair of shoes - Lightening McQueen ones
• really likes blueberries, milk, most meats, and green beans + smarties, chocolate ice cream and M&M's
• enjoys hide and seek and making up games with Sissy
• likes to talk on the phone and/or Skype with Nana and Poppa everyday
• hates to miss story time at the library
• weighs 30 pounds FINALLY!!
• sings and dances a lot-especially Jesus Loves Me, ABC and various Go Fish songs.