It's true what they say - the days can be long but the years are so short. How the heck is our girl already one?!Watching her grow and being her Mom is the greatest joy in my life. She amazes us every day. We love watching her learn new things and how she takes in the world around her becoming exactly who she was made to be. She makes the big adventures and little mundane routine so much more fun. She has enriched our life in every way possible. She truly is magic. We can't wait to see what life
Learn how to throw the most incredible party in Whoville with these 28 Dr. Seuss Party ideas that won't break the bank!
Blue’s fans will love a party topper with the iconic blue & magenta spotted ears. What You’ll Need blue construction paper scissors glue pen elastic string printable stencil Print Now How to Make: Step 1: Trace the printable stencil onto the blue construction paper and cut out the hat. Step 2: Cut ears […]
Fall is here, although it’s still stinkin hot here in AZ, we’ve already been bustin out fall decor & crafting up some Halloween kid activities. Since there is a constant debate about decorating for fall and then Halloween and then Thanksgiving or skipping straight to Halloween then fall/Thanksgiving (we prefer the first option, personally) we figured...
Makes approx 6-8 desserts
Grey was turning 1 on Halloween and his parents wanted to have a fun party at their house. Having your birthday on a holiday can be so much fun – a big party to get festive and on your birthday,...
a grey pebble with three stripes
I can't believe it's nearly Easter! We're practically a third of the way through this year already? I've been looking so forward to so many things this March and April. We've had visits from family members, parties, birthdays, picnics, road trips, and baby showers so far! One of the biggest events I was planning was Grey's first birthday party. I decided way back in October of last year that I wanted to do a Lucha Libre theme for his party. See, we love Nacho Libre... Okay, that's not entirely true. *I* love Nacho Libre, and I think Grey's little round tummy just reminds me of Jack Black in "stretchy pants" summoning his "eagle powers." I mean, who doesn't love a baby belly? And yes, just like Vesper's Menagerie-themed Birthday party, I made him a costume. Nevertheless, we went with a fiesta theme and threw in some luchador touches! Here are just a few snapshots of his day: We did a simple Facebook invite. It seems to be he easiest way to do things these days, but I did make an actual image for his invitation which turned out SO cute! I made the tissue paper fiesta garland and luchador mask and then added balloons in various locations. I loved how the garland turned out because it was super cheap ($2 for two packages of colored tissue paper) and it was a very substantial garland. Some garlands end up feeling kind of wispy, and I was going for bold! We wanted lots of bright colors! and later in the day, we put that piñata centerpiece to good use! The kids had SO much fun trying to bust that thing open! That's our little Birdy with Daddy helping her take a couple of swings. It was all very simple and handmade, but that's the best way to do it- especially when they're only a year old! We had so much fun celebrating with our family that came over. Thank you to everyone who helped make his day so special! And just for good measure, here's a picture of Grey on his birthday morning in his birthday present: Happy Birthday, little Bear! xo, Chelsea
Learn how to throw the most incredible party in Whoville with these 28 Dr. Seuss Party ideas that won't break the bank!
Halloween is such a fun time, especially for kids! I found some great Halloween games for kids that would be great for parties or just doing together as a family. Most of these are DIY and some even offer free printables, which is great if you are trying to throw a frugal Halloween party. Post
I am so excited about Dr. Seuss week. Here are some snacks I am planning on having... Ideas from:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/126...
Fortune and glory abound in this Indiana Jones Birthday Party by Party Magic, out of Manila, Philippines! Filled with adventure and loads of mysterious fun, this 1st birthday celebration is a glorious one! So enter, if you dare and be sure to track down these incredible details: Indiana Jones Stationery + Signage Snake Entrance Temple of Doom Indiana Jones Themed Cake Awesome Indiana Jones Dessert Table
Welcome to my very last party post for a little while! The last thing I want to share with you is how I made the moss covered letters. well, maybe want isn’t the right word. I could chat abou…
In honor of today being Star Wars day....."May The 4th Be With You" I decided it was finally time for me to share the Star Wars themed candy bar I did last summer. Growing up in a household full of girls.....Star Wars wasn't a big thing for us. In fact I know little to nothing about it. That is until I asked The Boy to give me a crash course in it so I could help plan this birthday party. He of course knows anything and everything there is to know about "The Force" and was my consultant throughout the whole process. He even went to his parents house and dug through his old toys to bring as decoration for the table......he was pretty into it. Let's start off with the drinks....I made a red punch and dubbed it Darth Vaderade The Boy had an old Darth Vader stamp so I stamped the napkins using Staz On ink so it wouldn't transfer And I made this little sign for the utensils. I was waaaaaay to impressed with myself with this one. Couldn't stop laughing...but my guess is it's not as original as I thought it was in my head And now on to the actual candy bar....... Let's start off with licorice.... And Tootsie Pops Some candy coated little meteors Teddy grahams made for awesome Ewok cookies Lightsabers Some Star Wars fruit snacks......because everyone loves fruit snacks And you can't forget the Princess Leia buns.....or pecan wheels in this case We also had a basket of storm troopers Which were big marshmallows that we drew storm trooper faces on using food coloring markers. Who am I kidding....we? I had zero to do with it.....I gave this job to The Boy. He knows all the various trooper faces Some thermal detonators..... And last but not least.....Wookie Cookies These were Star Crunch that we colored with sharpie for the mouth and eyes. Then a dot of white paint for the eyeballs, and we used plain white labels cut to look like teeth and stuck on That's it for the candy bar! And here's the cake I made for the birthday boy...... And one more little Star Wars related extra for you... A few years ago when I was showing The Boy all my baby pictures we came across one of me in the snow. The first thing he said was "Holy crap! You look like Han Solo!!" Of course I had no idea what he was talking about until he pulled up an image on google. The resemblance is uncanny Except for my awesome glow in the dark dinosaur sneakers I'm rocking. Han Solo ain't got shit on that! Happy Star Wars Day! May the Fourth Be With You!
Party Decorations for a Construction Themed Birthday Party Party planning for a construction-themed birthday party is a thrilling experience full of creative potential. Imagine turning your living space into a bustling construction site with vibrant yellow and black decorations. Start with caution tape streamers and hard hat balloons all around. Set up construction cone centerpieces on the party tables and use toolbox-themed plates and cups. A construction site backdrop for photos is a must-hav
Our son, Christopher, turned 3 this month. He loves anything to do with construction ... construction trucks, signs, all tools, hard hats etc. ... and so it was easy to pick a theme for his party. I found a bouncy house in the shape of a digger a few months back and it was a go! The color theme was orange, yellow and black. It was so much fun to decorate the house and I must admit I went a little crazy with the caution tape! I found so many great ideas on Pinterest and I hope by sharing my party with you I will be paying it forward. Feel free to message me in the comments if you have any questions where I found things (just be sure to leave contact info). Outside Front of the House Decor: This was the front walkway and door that greeted our guests. The ladder and tools are my husband's that I just decorated with caution tape and tied balloons to (not pictured). The front door read "Caution 3 Year Old Ahead" and is a sign I made by hand from a poster board and sharpie I purchased at Walmart. Favors: When you entered our house there was a table full of hard hats and tool belts. The hard hats I purchased from Amazon.com and the tool belt are from Home Depot (.77 cents each). I used our chalkboard and wrote "Welcome Workers! Grab your uniform and report to Site Supervisor Christopher." As kids arrived we let them pick which color of hat they preferred and then tied on their tool belt and explained what was inside. Each tool belt contained a construction party blower (found on Amazon.com) and then Work Orders (see explanation later in this post). My husband made a logo for our son's pretend construction company. We printed and cut them out as circles and taped them on the front of the hats. They read "Christopher Lehmann Destruction Inc. Crew". ;) For the favor, each child received a small truck in a bag filed with whoopers (boulders) and recces pieces (pebbles) when they left. The trucks come in a 5 pack and can be bought at Target, Walmart or Amazon.com. The favor tag was found online and can be downloaded here: Link Inside Decor: Let me tell you, decorating your house with caution tape is way too much fun! This is our front room and I simply taped up caution tape and a bunch of signs (the one on the mirror came in a four pack that I purchased from Amazon.com). I then added a cone and dump truck that we already owned to the toy dresser and we were set. Also if you want to keep your party guests out of certain areas of your home caution tape and a "Danger Keep Out" sign works great and totally fits the theme! Port-a-Potty sign on the bathroom door! Port-a-potty sign found here: Link See I told you I went a little crazy ... I even decorated the bathroom! I love this "Workers Present" sign I found online and I put it above the mantel since all the presents would go in this room. The sign can be download here: Link. I made the 3 banner using the leftover poster board from the sign on the front door and the "Party Zone" sign. The 3s were cut out of black construction paper and glued on to the poster board. One of my favorite decorations went behind our food table. I simply taped caution tape and black and orange streamers in a repeating pattern at the top of our cupboards and then let them hang to the floor. It created a dramatic look for practically nothing! Food: The food table decorations included a "Dig In" banner that my husband designed and printed on card-stock (I had found a pack of oranges/yellows at Michael's for $5). My husband also designed the food tags which labeled all the food as their constriction counterparts. My son already owned the three construction trucks and all the tools on the table and they added a fun touch! I found the adorable idea of calling the cutlery "tools" on Pinterest. I already had a paint can from my daughter's painting party and just crumbled up some napkins on the bottom of the can to give height to the forks and knives. The plate and napkin holder I just happened upon in the Target $1 bins. For the food I kept it simple. I have made the mistake in the past of trying to make a bunch of fancy food from scratch for parties and have realized (1) kids don't eat fancy food (2) I will have no life/sleep the day/night before and morning of the party (3) it really is not worth the effort. So even though I still love going all out on party decor and details, I go pretty simple when it comes to food. Drinks were lemonade and apple juice labeled as gas and diesel (another Pinterest idea). And the "Refuel Here" sign we saw on Pinterest and then my husband just redesigned it. I bought some warning tape on Amazon.com for $4 and wrapped that on the water bottles to make them more festive. The dessert table was a lot of fun but again I kept it simple (everything was bought except for the dirt cups). We had a cake, build your own dirt cup station with four different toppings, and then mini cupcakes. The "Party Zone" sign was another sign I made out of poster board I found at Walmart. The "Build Your Own Dirt Cup" my husband designed. The dessert table was decorated with caution tape and again tools we had around the house. This is a Costco cake and it works perfectly for a construction party! I just added a few small trucks that I already had bought to give away as the favor and some smashed up Oreos as dirt and I was good to go! The candles I bought at Walmart. I loved the idea of doing a build your own dirt cup station. I made the dirt cups ahead of time with chocolate pudding and crushed up Oreos. Then for toppings we had wafer cookies (2x4s), whoppers (boulders), recces pieces (pebbles) and gummy worms (worms). The kids LOVED it and had more than enough sugar during this party! Dig In Dirt Cup Topper Here: Link Cupcake Topper / Road Signs Here: Link My husband made this fun, themed sign for the outside garbage can. Games/Things for guests to do: The party was mainly in our backyard where we had a big bouncy digger, our play set/sandbox and tables set up. On each table in the middle I put a construction cone (two for $1 at the Dollar Store) with a dump truck printout that I had printed on white card stock and cut out (Link). I then ran balloons from a weight inside the cone out the top (not pictured). On each table I also placed coloring sheets (Link), crayons, and fake legos from the Target dollar bin. "Work Orders" were in each child's tool belt which they received as they arrived. The "Work Orders" listed the different locations where, now as construction workers, they had to do their "jobs". There was the Bounce Zone (the bounce house), the Wrecking Zone (the wrecking ball game), the Dig Zone (the sand box) and the Build Zone (inside the house in the front room where there were blocks and Duplo legos for the kids to build with). The older kids were really into this and checking off each box! I found the general template here (Link) and then my husband tweaked it a little bit to make it more personal. This is the Bounce Zone and as you can tell the birthday boy thought it was pretty cool! The second zone was the Wrecking Zone (another Pinterest idea)! I wrapped a bunch of boxes in brown and white packing paper and drew bricks on the brown and wood grain on the white. The kids could stack them as high as they wanted and then pull back the wrecking ball and knock them over. The wrecking ball was an old ball that we tied twine to and then covered in Duct Tape. We then attached it to the top of our swing set. It was a HUGE hit! The boxes. Our little construction worker! The third zone was the Dig Zone ... AKA the Sandbox! I just filled the sandbox with my son's construction trucks and shovels and then sprinkled some fake Legos (again Target $1 bin) so that the kids had something fun to dig up. The fourth and final zone was the Build Zone. In one room I put all our toys that kids could build with (i.e. connector blocks, wood blocks, Duplo Legos, train tracks etc.). This also became a great space for the babies and toddlers to play, away from the outside craziness. Can you tell by his face he had an amazing day?! Happy 3rd Birthday Christopher! Thank you for checking out my party blog and if you are planning a construction party for a special little one in your life I hope this post gives you a few ideas!
Italian Rino Stefano Tagliafierro took around 100 images and brought them to life in a short video clip he has posted on YouTube.
Raise your butterbeer mugs on February 1st!
