Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Princess Birthday Party

A few weekends ago (July 8th to be exact) we went to a princess birthday party for one of our good friends.  When we first got there, the kids played a few games, ate and then it was princess time.  Princess Snow White showed up (the same girl that was Cinderella in this post) to entertain the young princesses and pirates.




Balloons!

Pirate belt and sword

Poison Apple!

Storytime

Dancing with the kids

Face painting

The expression says it all!

My little pirate man

Princess and a pirate




Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Pinterest Country Shower!

For my sister's shower, I decided to search on Pinterest to get ideas for the decorations.  I found lots of great ideas, but modified most of them to make them work for the country theme and the colors.


Welcome chalk board
The inspiration
My version

For my version of the pinwheel chalkboard, the materials I used were:
 - Scrapbooking paper (three different designs)
 - a large chalkboard from Joann's
 - piece of white grosgrain ribbon
 - pictures 
 - masking tape

I made the pinwheels using this tutorial here, but found I needed more paper than the directions called for when making the larger pinwheels.  For my board, I used fewer pinwheels and made them smaller than the ones in my inspiration.  I felt like the larger pinwheels took away from the pictures.  To make the banner across the upper left corner, I used a piece of white grosgrain ribbon and cut out small triangles from the scrapbooking paper.  I taped everything onto the chalk board using masking tape.



Mason Jars & Burlap
The inspiration

My version

For my version of the burlap and lace mason jars, the materials I used were:
 - large mason jars (I think they were a quart)
 - lace
 - pink shear ribbon
 - burlap (my sister got ours at her work but I have seen it at Joann's for about $2/yard)
 - hot glue gun and glue sticks

I pretty much followed their directions with this one.  The main thing that was different was that I used larger jars then they did so I needed more materials.  I also hot glued the burlap in a few different places while wrapping it around the jar so it would stay better, instead of just at the seams.  



chalk board labels
The inspiration

My version

For my version of the mini chalkboards, the materials I used were:
 -acrylic paint ("Cranberry")
 -paintbrush
 -wooden plaque
 -wooden dowels
 -hot glue gun and glue sticks
 -spray paint chalkboard paint

I followed the directions for this one also but I painted it "cranberry" around the edges (2 coats) instead of leaving it plain.  For the chalkboard part, I just followed the directions on the spray paint chalkboard paint can.  The size wooden plaques that I used were 5 inches by 7 inches.  



crepe paper balls
The inspiration

My version

The pom poms that I made were the lighter colored ones in the middle of the mantel.  For my version of the tissue paper pom poms, the materials I used were:
 -tissue paper
 -flower wire
 -scissors

There are many different versions of these floating around the internet.  The directions that I used were for the small pom poms.  My pom poms turned out huge so I can only imagine what the larger versions looked like!


The last thing that I made was the cute cow cake!  It was such a hit and it turned out great!


The inspiration

My version

For my version of the cow cake, the materials I used were:
-homemade butter cream icing
-tube of black icing
-can of brown icing
-icing star tip
-one box of cake mix + ingredients 
-piece of paper and pencil
-pink food coloring
-2  9 in. round cake pans

My cake was very similar to the directions.  For the face of the cow, I traced the pan and then drew the face how I wanted it on the paper so I had a template to use when cutting the actual cake.  I knew that I would mess the cake up if I didn't.  I omitted the chocolate chips and just used black icing.  I also dyed some white butter cream frosting to make the snout pink.  


It was a lot of fun to make everything but also a lot of work!  To view more pictures of the shower, check out this post.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Sister's Bridal Shower


This past weekend was my sister Jessica's bridal shower.  Her wedding is in September and I am the Matron of Honor.  Her future MIL and I planned the shower and I think that it was a success! The theme Jessica requested was "pink and white country" and she wanted her shower to match her wedding colors.  




This is the cow cake that I made for the shower.  It turned out so cute and everyone loved it!


Cow cake on the cake table

Cupcakes and Cake on the cake table



Center pieces




Head Table

Tissue paper flowers, crepe paper and tulle

Dollar store boot decorations and diy chalkboards


Photo Boards


Fabulous future bride and groom

My adorable daughter (and flower girl!) with a cow tail and mini bouquet.  The woman
who made the centerpieces whipped up the bouquet with the extra flowers that
she had leftover and brought with her to the shower.  She also made the cute
bows on Alyssa's shoes.

All the bridesmaids and fabulous bride-to-be!

Sisters!

My sister loved the shower (especially all the pink! - her favorite color) and received many great gifts!  I think that everyone had a good time.  

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Happy birthday to my baby girl!


On Sat, my little girl turned 4!  She pretty much had a birthday weekend.  It started Friday with us going over to one of my friends houses that has a little girl a week younger than Alyssa and a boy a little younger than Malachi.  My friend put up balloons and even made her a cake to celebrate!  It was so sweet and Alyssa loved it.  Sat. we went over to the in-laws for some swim time, cake, food and presents.  Later that evening we went to Chuck E. Cheese.  Sunday we had a few of my sibs over.  Busy weekend!  Sadly, I did not take pictures all weekend but I thought that I would share some pictures of my sweet, little girl over the years!




2 months


4 months
6 months

9 months
One Year
14 months
17 months w/Malachi 1 week
22 months
two years old
28 months

2 and a half

33 months

3 years old

3 and a half

4 years old!