Birthday Party for My Littlest Girl

Look who is three...

I know! I can hardly believe it.  For the first time in (what?) twelve years our family is out of diapers and sleeping through the night.  She insists on being called a kid, not a toddler or baby, follows me like a shadow and begins each and every sentence with "mommy?"  I love her so much!  What a fantastic reason for a celebration. Of course it is no secret that  I adore a well planned party.  My fingers crave unique homemade decorations and I tend to get a little worked up the days before, but it is always for the best cause, my family.  Plus I love a challenge.  

This year she voiced her first real birthday party request...OWLS.

Owls?  Really?  Well, okay...

When I picture owls I imagine woodlands. I think I crossed the line between normal party decorations and actually crazy this time when I pinned and taped tree limbs to my walls.  Sticks and branches  became trees and thirty balloons became owls.

A little bit whimsical...

A little bit magical...

 Well, at least it was only thirty balloons.  Last year it was 100...

I did some quick searching for "balloon owls" and came up with this for inspiration.  I wanted a truer owl.  Using a scalloped and circle punch I layered big wide eyes.  Simple half ovals became wings and triangles became beaks and ears.  (I assembled the shapes first then taped them onto the inflated balloons.)

aren't they so adorable...

A couple strings of my favorite bunting and a fun owl tree and our place was set. 

Oh and the entire menu was planned around this deli meat and cheese tray idea.  (Soups, chili, sandwiches, veggies and caramel and chocolate apples for dessert)  Achieved? Eh.. close enough.

So all in all this party cost me two pack of balloons, four sheets of scrapbook paper and adhesives.  Is it silly that I'm completely motivated to put together blog-worthy parties for a couple bucks?  Nah... Now I have yet another "theme" to add to my accomplished list.

And a couple more pics of my owl loving baby...

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Come back on Friday for my recipe for chocolate caramel apples, made with vegan caramel and no corn syrup.  I am as surprised as you are that this one worked!  See you again soon, promise!

Baby Dresser / Party Pics

When my friend Heather found out she was just barely pregnant she immediately requested that my gift to her be a refinished dresser. Goodness does she know me. I have a basement with half empty paint cans and a garage full of quality wood furniture that simply needed attention. She peered into the packed room and pointed to this little treasure.

Well it wasn't exactly a treasure in that state. Maybe it takes a mother's eye to appreciate that kind of beauty and potential. Yellow greasy finish and sticker residue? I saw through that...

I sanded it to the bare wood and covered it with two coats of a dark blue grey.

While this would be super for a baby bachelor pad, the coastal blues and sea greens she wanted in her nursery would not mesh well with this dark dresser. Back to the basement to mix some paint.

After a thin coat of a light blue grey, I sanded some of the top coat off to reveal the dark underneath. Then I applied stain in a mahogany satin with a foam brush, let it sit a minute and then rubbed it off with a clean towel. The look?

Much better. A quick coat of black flat spray paint on the bronze hardware and the transition was complete. Yes, I lightly sanded the hardware after painting too.

I wrestled a lot with the colors and finish of this piece. Overall I love the look. Its cool blues is a great pop of color for a neutral nursery but the shade and style can grow with the child.

Ahem... Please ignore the lawn mower, kite, saw horses, bike trailer, random rusty items and other dilapidated furniture in the background of these pictures.  Is this the best ta-da I can do?  If I ever plan on selling anything ever I need to learn to stage better.  

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I'm finally going to do it!

Post pictures from a party that I made something for... I know, you are shocked.  Don't worry, I'm sure I'll get around to posting pictures I promised from summer parties during the frigid and dark winter months when all I have to to is sit inside and stare at this computer screen.  Sigh. 

Just last week I posted a bunch of things I was putting together for a very special baby shower for a very special friend and her very special sister.  Yep, a double shower.  Two sisters due just days apart.   Here are a few pics from the occasion...

big sister


little sister

It was such a simple beautiful shower.  There was so much love and support for the girls.  So glad I could be a part of it.  Those are some lucky kids!

Baby Shower Decorations

My dear friend Heather is expecting her first baby this fall. Isn't she adorable. She totally humors me and will pose whenever and wherever I want for a photo. The best!

I am truly giddy for her. Babies are my favorite with parties as a close second, as if you couldn't tell. So of course I wanted to help in any (creative) way possible and basically begged her to let me put together some pretty things for her baby shower. With only a handful of ribbons, a stack of scrapbook paper and a few odds and ends, here is what I came up with.

All baby showers need cupcakes, or so I'm told. Maybe its the similarity of size between the bite sized cakes and the baby to be... who knows? But they will look cute stacked high on these spiffed up cardboard towers.

And if there are cupcakes there must be cupcake toppers...

I thought it would be fun to have pinwheels. So first I made big ones...

and then more... slightly smaller....

and even more... even smaller....

They were a breeze to make. Start with a square. Cut from the points towards the middle, leaving about a square inch in the middle not cut. Put a generous dot of hot glue in the center and pull the same pointed end of each quarter towards it. Secure on top with a button. Turn it over and use another dot of glue to stick a skewer to the pinwheel. Cover the pointy end with paper.

Safety first... cover that pointy end!

Medium -- Small -- Large

Heather wanted to showcase some of her mom's cut flowers at the shower as centerpieces. Rather than use vases, we decided on mason jars.

There are a dozen jars adorned with ribbons, buttons and stickers (from the scrapbook paper).

She loved the paper garland I made for the boys birthday party this summer so I thought I would sew up a ton to put some color on the walls too.

I had a huge stack of paper circles sitting next to my sewing machine and I would randomly grab them and stitch them together. I was also reading books to the little one, discussing supper ideas, and probably playing cards with the boys so my sewing wasn't at its best...

There are 2 - 20ft long strands for the walls and a couple shorter 6-8 ft strands for tables. To store and travel, I secure one end of the strand to a box or piece of cardboard with tape and wrap up and down the box. For the second strand, I wrap the other way, side to side, securing the other end with tape to finish. I alternate until all the garland strands are on the box.

Now just to keep all of these delicate paper creations out of little hands until this weekend...

Hope you love them, Aunt Feather (as Eden calls her).

Welcome to the Family / Party Progress

Say hello to the newest addition to our farm family...

This adorable little girl was born one week ago today and has been shy with pictures until this morning.

At first her mother and aunts surrounded her...

And then they shoved her out of their protective circle to let us see!

Here is her sister. No longer the cute baby, a gawky teen, but still pretty in her own right. She turns one this weekend. Her birth (the first on this farm in a very very long time) was a huge surprise the afternoon we returned from a visit to Kentucky!

This is the beginning of our own little herd: the mother, the bull, two aunts, her older sister and baby makes six.

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Still drowning in party preparations here. Does anyone else go all out and then at the last few days before the party regret undertaking so many new projects for themselves? Yep, that would be me. But go big or go home, right? It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't making everything from scratch. Good thing I have my own little party elves over here painting, sewing and in general making me NOT lose my mind! Thank you dear dear friends...

Just a few peeks at the upcoming festivities... these lovely things make me smile and will be seen at the dessert table.

I can't wait to show you the rest. I may not sleep for the next two days but this party is going to be worth it.