Last but not certainly not least, we celebrated cute Nora's birthday. She had picked Pegasus as the theme she wanted for her birthday. hmmmm Pegasus, how do you throw a Pegasus themed party ....? well scroll through the pictures and we will show you! We went in a Greek plus mount Olympus plus clouds plus mythology sort of direction, and combined all those elements to make one amazing party. This theme was right up my ally, I LOVE Greek mythology! We also included lots of feathers since Pegasus' wings are an important part of what sets him apart from unicorns and just regular old horses... As usual bethy brought fun and unique balloons. Balloons really make any party super festive. This time some of the balloons had big gold confetti in it .... They kind of look like Greek coins to me And she had them put feathers in others, how cool is that! Nora's Greek birthday girl throne Grammy let Nora open one present early.... A super awesome stuffed representation of the horse himself! Gold star confetti On one of my numerous visits to the craft store I found some edible gold spray paint. Can you say amazing!! I snatched up a bottle when I found it and have been waiting for any excuse to use it. Bethy thought it would be cool to spray paint bunches of grapes to make edible center pieces ... How neat are they?! This is the product itself, it is so fun to use! I found it at Michael's craft store. Bethy made these cute little favors to put at everyone's place at the table. So if you look at my blog often you know that Jens makes the most amazing birthday cakes for all of her kids' parties. Here is the cake she made for this party ... I was obsessed with it. I thought it was GORGEOUS! and just so awesome in every way, so I took a bazillion pictures of it. Look how cool that ombre is! The buffet was all Greek inspired food, SO GOOD! Jens even found ground lamb for the gyros, she really goes the extra mile to make her parties amazing for her kiddos. It was like being right back in the center of Athens I had a little spy teasing me while I ate ... After dinner it was time for presents!! I love how the siblings get just as {or maybe even a little bit more} excited when the presents are revealed! Sam would steal a little sit on the throne whenever he could. Some of the presents had gold tinsel inside, and boy the little kids LOVED it! Tinsel EVERYWHERE!!! Nora got right to work on one of her presents. These scratch art things were one of my favorite crafts as a child. I had the hardest time not taking it away from Nora and completing it myself haha After presents it was time to dive into that delectable cake! Nora's birthday in on May 31st and Marolynn's birthday is on June 1st. So Jens made a special batch of chocolate GF cupcakes for Marolynn. Politely and patiently waiting for her cake ... Nora had requested for her cake to be cherry flavored, so that is what her sweet mom made for her. Then it was time for our Grecian photo booth. We got some really fun pictures! "We are the muses. Goddesses of the arts and proclaimers of Heroes ...." Random candid photo that I thought was funny Jenny had prepared a little fun short quiz for that last activity of the night. The questions were all about Greek mythology and Greek art and architecture. She had visuals from the Disney movie Hercules for every question. Since we were at a kids approved birthday party, Jens asked for the Disney answer rather then the real myth answer on some questions since we all know those myths could get a little risque ..... haha She did a really great job on it, it was so fun! We were all divided into teams and were awarded medals according to where we placed. Beth, Reece and Evie got the gold Mike, Marilyn and I got the silver Mom, Dad and Nora got the bronze. All the Griffin parties have been so great this year! Birthday season at their house is always a fun time of year! Thanks Griffin family for being so awesome!
Beltain/Beltane Festival of Fertility and Union The name originates from the Celtic god, Bel - the 'bright one', and the Gaelic word 'teine' meaning fire, giving the name 'bealttainn', meaning 'bright fire'. This is the beginning of the light half of the year when the Sun begins to set later in the evening . To our ancestors Beltane was the coming of summer and fertility. The fields are sown, the crops are growing, and in the cycle of the farming year, although there is always some work to be done, there is now a little time to relax and enjoy things for a while before the next surge of activity at harvest time. So, it is a time for rejoicing. It is a time for sharing. It is a time for new beginnings - which may well include courtship and marriage, but can also refer to any field of human endeavour. It officially begins at moonrise on May Day Eve, and marks the beginning of the third quarter or second half of the ancient Celtic year. It accompanies the first turning of the herds out to wild pasture. The rituals were held to promote fertility. Animals were transferred from winter pens to summer pastures, and were driven between the Beltane fires to cleanse them of evil spirits and to bring fertility and a good milk yield. The Celts leapt over Beltane fires - for fertility and purification.Contact with the fire was interpreted as symbolic contact with the sun. In early Celtic times, the druids kindled the Beltane fires with specific incantations. Later the Christian church took over the Beltane observances, a service was held in the church, followed by a procession to the fields or hills, where the priest kindled the fire. The rowan branch is hung over the house fire on May Day to preserve the fire itself from bewitchment . This is a holiday of Union both between the Goddess and the God and between man and woman. Handfastings are traditional at this time. It is a time of fertility and harvest, the time for reaping the wealth from the seeds that we have sown. We celebrate sexuality, we celebrate life and the unity which fosters it. The Lord and his Lady, having reached maturity, come together in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust to celebrate the joy of their union. This is a time to celebrate the coming together of the masculine and feminine creative energies. Beltane marks the emergence of the young God into manhood. Stirred by the energies at work in nature, he desired the Goddess. They fall in love, lie among the grasses and blossoms and unite. The flowers and greenery symbolise the Goddess and the Maypole represents the God. Beltane marks the return of vitality and passion of summer. Another common focal point of the Beltane rituals is the cauldron, which represents the Goddess. It is a time to ask yourself what will you focus on? What can you change to make life better? What can you do to spread goodwill? Let the energy of Beltane carry you closer to your goals. Beltane activities could include watching the sun rise, have a camp out, sit around a fire with friends, jump the Beltane fire leaving behind anything that is holding you back, make and walk a spiral or labyrinth and of course dance around the maypole! Symbols are May garlands, the Maypole, May dolls, Beltane fire, the May King and Queen, The Green Man, John Barleycorn, the hobbyhorse, mummery, flowers, mirrors and the Fae. Deity: Aphrodite, Artemis, Bast, Diana, Flora, Lady of the Greenwood, May Queen, Prithvi, Rhea, Venus, Bel, Green Man, Herne, Horned God, Jack in the Green, May King, Pan Colours: Sky blue, light green, lavender, orange, pink, peach, red, turquoise, white, yellow Gemstones: Sapphires, bloodstones, emeralds, orange carnelians and rose quartz. Herbs: Almond, angelica, ash trees, birch trees, bluebells, cinquefoil, daisies, frankincense, hawthorn, ivy, lilac, marigolds, primroses, rosemary, roses, satyrion root, woodruff and yellow cowslip. Happy Beltane! Tansy x
The Year of the Snake begins next weekend. In celebration of Chinese New Year, the girls and I made paper snakes. We repurposed an empty paper towel tube to
My students love playing card games! Need a creative and competitive way to practice and improve responding to What ,When, Where and Why open-ended questions? This is the game for you. Similar to a classic numbers and colors card game that students already know and love - this version is modified to...
pull up to my closing party nyc 🥳 my solo show "keep it cute" is going out w a bang! tomorrow (10/1) from 6-10pm at Cierra Britton Gallery - the first ALL WOMXN OF COLOR GALLERY IN NYC 💫 see you there
I was in charge of the activity this week for Young Women. We were welcoming two new girls into the group so I wanted to plan some kind of get-to-know-you game. I found a couple ideas online and decided to combine them. First, I took a bunch of tongue depressors and wrote two words, one on each end, which the girls would have to choose between. Some examples were "Chocolate" or "Vanilla", "Cats" or "Dogs", and "Facebook" or "Instagram". I also took some yarn and wound it into a ball. The container is just a No. 10 can wrapped in washi tape. I tied the end of the yarn to my wrist and picked a stick. I can't remember the exact stick I picked, but lets say it was "Fame" or "Money". I chose "Money". The next step was to ask who agreed with me. Everyone who agreed raised their hands. I then threw the yarn to someone with a raised hand. They put their had down, wrapped the yarn around themselves and threw it to someone else with a raised hand. This continued until no raised hands were left. At that point, the person with the yarn chose another stick and the game continued. Pretty soon, the yarn had woven quite a web illustrating that we are all connected in some way. I was pretty nervous going into the game. I figured everyone would love it or it would be a huge flop. Surprisingly everyone had a blast and really enjoyed themselves. It was great getting to know everyone a little better and it was a perfect introduction for the new girls to the group. P.S. You may want some scissors on hand for the end!
© Robert Doisneau If you were living in Paris during the years that followed World War II and liked to party, you'd better have known Boris Vian. In 1950, he wrote the original guidebook to bohemian Paris and pioneered a movement which brought back the city's "joie de vivre" that had been lost du
Free 2021 Year In Review Printable is the perfect way to record your child's year. It is fun to learn what they think about their year!
Erskine's "Sun, Moon and Stars" is made up of "Spectrum of Time" and "Sunrise", a pair of permanent installations in the Kokerei Zollverein.
Students write their New Year's Resolution on the party hat. Then, they draw on their face. They color and decorate the horn, and then wrap it around their pencil to make it curl like a party horn. They glue it on their mouth to make it look like they are blowing it. Enjoy!
SACREDBEE is the creation of the award winning children's book author and illustrator Pamela Zagarenski. Look for her books: The Fabled Life of Aesop Zola's Elephant "HENRY & LEO"......Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016 "THE WHISPER"..... 2o15 "SLEEP LIKE A TIGER" ...Caldecott Honor winning title "RED SINGS FROM TREETOPS: A Year In Color" ...Caldecott Honor winning title
On New Year's Eve we came across what we think could be the ultimate party house to ring in 2014! This cool California house sets the stage for a swanky
Discover gorgeous Halloween makeup ideas that don't require elaborate costumes. Get inspired and stand out at any Halloween party.
Found at an estate sale. Poem from a school book from Northgate School - Seattle, Washington. I love the picture this poem paints.
Kicking off summer with fire and revelry.
You can now see Yayoi Kusama’s iconic dotted pumpkins, not just one, but 100 of them, in Bangkok!
retrohound.org
George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Lupita Nyong’o, and Jared Leto are among the 12 stars on our March cover, photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
My son just turned 6! This year he requested (out-of-the-blue) a Knight themed party. The challenge was on! Below are pictures of the invite, color scheme, and activities…. I made a tunic for…
She. 18. Egyptian.
Happy Monday peeps! I have had the craziest few weeks! It's birthday month at our house. My birthday was first, and my hubby threw a great karaoke party to celebrate! Then my son Connelly's birthday
Beltane kicks off the merry month of May! In ancient times, festivities began before the 1st of May upon the evening of the last day in April.
This beautiful installation of umbrellas was recently spotted in Águeda, Portugal by photographer Patrícia Almeida. Almost nothing is known about the artist behind the project or its significance, but it’s impossible to deny the joy caused by taking a stroll in the shadowy rainbow created by hundreds of parasols suspended over this public walkway. It reminds be of Garth Britzman’s bottle carport. (via my modern met) More
Emil Nolde (German, 1867 - 1956) At the wine table (Am Weintisch), 1911 Oil on Canvas Belvedere, Orangerie, Vienne, Austria
20+ of the best Frozen activities, recipes, crafts and printables inspired by Disney's smash-hit movie. Anna and Elsa fans will love this collection!
