The screaming staircase By Jonathan Stroud Lockwood & Co : Hauntings are our business This is the first book in Jonathan Stroud’s chilling and ghostly new series. Those who read this blog…
Minorities are underdiagnosed and don’t receive enough support.
Der passende Kuchen für abenteuerlustige Kids. "Fluch der Karibik"-Fans setzen das Schiff in ein wildes Meer aus zerkräuseltem, blauem Seidenpapier.
My sister, Jennifer, planned an adorable first birthday celebration for her sweet son Jonathan. Jennifer has graciously shared photos, re...
We held Theron's first birthday party at my in-laws last weekend and we think he had a pretty good time. Those almost-toddlers always keep you guessing! He loved pushing his John Deere lawnmower around the whole house the entire time. I think he couldn't have cared less who was there or how it was decorated. Hahaha! That kid is smart and I could take a lesson from him! We went with a 'rain+cloud' feel [notice I didn't say theme]. I made a lot of the stuff on my own and some of it came from Etsy or Target, too. I couldn't have completed any of it without the inspiration Pinterest provides. Gosh, I love how that site makes it possible to share and use the genius of other nice people's creativity! I wish I would've taken more family photos and decoration photos but as you know, if you've ever thrown a party, things get all wonky really fast and people come and go quickly as well. The pics I did get are sweet and will hopefully give you a little peak at our day. So let's get to it! The heart print was a free printable I found here. And I made the two prints [in the middle] on PowerPoint based on some others I had seen around. We got the Happy Birthday banner via a Brickyard Buffalo sale. I sewed rainbow colored cardstock into this mobile-like garland using this tutorial. I found some large blow up punch balls at Michael's and scattered them all over the floor for Therbear to kick. I bought a vintage sheet from this Etsy seller for the dining tablecloth and I made some cloud centerpieces from foam that I freehanded & cut out. I covered some large food canisters [that my father-in-law got from some family friends who own a restaurant] and wrapped them with kraft paper and gross grain ribbon. I bought some water bottle printables from this Etsy seller and scored the stripey straws at Target. I made the food & drink labels on PowerPoint and then printed them out on cardstock and used washi tape to snaz them up a bit. My favorite spot in the party was the food table! I took total inspiration from this image. I sewed some blue fabric together and made the clouds out of quilt batting via this tutorial. I have loved these tassel garlands for so long and finally found the perfect event to use one. I thought about DIYing one but bought one instead via this Etsy seller. Totally worth it. One of David's coworkers made some deeelicious red velvet cake pops and I made some rainbow favors for the guests to take home from this idea. We decorated the front of the home with some mylar banners and some pinwheels. The morning of the party when I was picking up the balloons I spotted the "1" and had to have it! It was the perfect door decoration! The birthday boy had a sweet gold dipped vintage highchair to sit in and enjoyed his very first cupcake while there, too! And, since this post seemed never-ending, I'll leave you with just one pic of our sweet one year old! I'll share the people pics later! Thanks for stopping by, everybody! xoxo
Katniss. Merida. Hawkeye. 2012 has definitely been the year of the bow & arrow! Needless to say the monsters have caught on to the trend & have been asking for little archery sets for some time now. Problem? Price & durability. We've gotten small sets, which have broken within a day's use. So when Lynneth asked to be Brave's Merida (complete with a bow & arrow fit for a princess!) this year for Halloween, I went on the hunt for a cheap & easy way to make something that would last! Ta Da! Not too shabby for a few dowel rods, some fishing line, hot glue, & feathers, huh? Monster Man loved it. I sliced a groove maybe 1/4-1/2 inch deep into each end of a 3/16x36in dowel rod & knotted fishing wire around the ends, pulling til the line was taught, but not overly tight. -Important- You can NOT use too much hot glue to secure the ends of the bow's wire. Let me tell you, it hurts like #%&* when that line pops (note the band-aid!) & I was super glad I was the tester versus the monsters. PLEASE use caution if making your own! For added safety on the arrows I used pencil erasers for arrowheads! Just fill with hot glue & spin the arrow in til it hits the bottom. While the arrows do go a lot farther/faster without the eraser caps, I'm glad we chose the safer route. Hurts a lot less getting hit by a rogue arrow when they're capped. >.< Hot gluing a feather on the tip & slicing a small notch to help 'grip' the line round out the finished arrows! For the hand grip I used half a shop towel my hubby had laying around outside on the porch, hot glued one end on to the bow, wrapped the towel around several times, & them taped the whole thing down & painted it. The only real flaw I've found so far is that the paint started to rub off the more the monsters used it. As for Lynneth's request....here ya go. A bow & arrow set worthy of my very own red headed princess. =) Not to be left out, Gwenna got a half size 'practice' set. You barely have to pull on the line & the arrow goes! *gasp* "For me!?!?!" Now the real question...do they actually work? So much fun! My kids spend a good hour this afternoon playing with their new toys, which held up just fine to all the use & abuse! I'll admit, I'm actually kind of jealous...might have to go back to Hobby Lobby for some mommy-size supplies. ;)
Fun presents for the littlest Southerners
My littlest lady got herself a very special book for her very special first birthday. Just like the one her big sister got on her first birthday (that I documented in The Creative Family), and was and continues to be...
A Sock Monkey Birthday party featuring red and black accents with a retro feel. Sock monkey cupcake toppers and party bunting!
Yesterday we celebrated Owen's birthday with lots of friends, family, and fun! Owen had such a great time with all of his friends. He wasn't very interested in opening his gifts, but he was VERY interested in playing with them! We did a Yo Gabba Gabba themed party and he was obsessed! I did a lot of the decorating on Friday when he was at Ronda's. When he got home, he walked around screaming, "Gabba! Gabba! and Bo-bee (Brobee - the green Gabba character). It was a great party to celebrate a very special boy. Gabba characters greeting our guests! Owen with Auntie Dawnie and Uncle Bob Gabba cupcakes - If I don't ever have to cut out another Gabba character in my life, I'll be one happy Mommy! Brobee cake Blowing out the candles - no girlfriends! Mmm! A Brobee cupcake! YUM! Now that was a good cupcake! Nana made this awesome blankie for Owen. It is Muno on one side... ...and Brobee on the other side! He LOVES it! Papa made this cool chalkboard for him! Nick and Sophia helping Owen open his gifts Owen on his new digger from Bobby, Nesha, Livia and Sophia Jamin and Sully playing taking a turn "I have the best Auntie and Uncle in the whole world!" What boy doesn't dream of a new pick up truck with a red bow on it? This smile didn't leave his face the whole time he was riding in the truck. Happy birthday buddy! Pinning the eye on Muno. Lindsey and Nicholas showing us how it is done. All kinds of fun happening in the play room! Playing ball with Uncle Bob Taking a rest from the party fun with Papa Gabbas! Owen is obsessed with letters, so he stands by this banner and tells us what the letters are. Candy buffet Yo Owen Owen pops Paul kept telling me that he needed to eat a few M&M's because the jar was too full..... Marshmallow sprinkle pops Gabba characters made out of candy Gabba water bottles and CDs for the kiddos to take home Owen was so excited this morning when he woke up because Livi and Sophia slept over night! He smiled, jumped around and giggled playing Elefun with them! LOVE this one! Our goddaughters Livia and Sophia and Owen - such cuties! Cheese! Livia, Bobby, Owen, Nesha and Sophia Today after everyone left, he crawled up into his new truck with his Gabba blankie and just zoned out while we started to put all of the new toys away. He is one tired boy today after all that partying!
One of Aidan's favorite characters is Indiana Jones. So for Aidan's birthday, Tisha made a theme cake. Take a look! Yet another great cake to add to her collection!
