❤Download Soul Mates SVG / Nothing Makes Sense When We're Apart. Download includes 3 files SVG, JPG, and PNG ❤For personal use. Best Friend SVG to make a Couples shirt, forever friendship, great for a bride and groom, I love matching shirts! Celebrate being just married with the BFF locket style ❤Inspired by my daughter ❤To visit other items in my shop, please click: www.etsy.com/shop/creativecustomstuff .

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I really do enjoy it. But man, can it suck up a lot of time (that I don't have!)...and it creates in me a sort of lust for things that I don't need. But it sure does make party planning easier! About 4 months ago, my friend Lindsey told me about this birthday party she had just attended that was a construction theme. She thought it would be perfect for Jadon. My initial reaction was ambivalent. It sounded cute, but I didn't want to just copy someone else. But then I started thinking about it, and it was true. Jadon loves all things tractors/tools/destruction. And then I got on Pinterest...and oh. my. goodness. I was hooked! So, here is what we came up with. (I take no credit for any original ideas. Check out my Pinterest board to get to my original sources.) First, I had to decide on graphics and invites. I found several that I liked: The first one was my first choice...until I found the second one, and liked the orange stripes and yellow truck and number at the top better. But Jadon doesn't really care about dump trucks, he likes tractors...So then I found the third one, which fit the bill, but I still liked the bold graphics of the second one better. Bottom line, none of them were perfect. So what did I do?... I decided to design my own! (duh. What any normal person would do, right? Okay, maybe not. I'm a little crazy like that.) So I dove into youtube videos and online tutorials for Photoshop, and ultimately came up with this: And then on the back I was able to personalize it, too, asking guests to consider bringing a few dollars to donate to Jadon's World Vision sponsored kid, Misael, instead of bringing a gift for Jadon. I discovered these orange envelopes I bought on clearance (for some reason?) years ago, and added the cute little tractor graphic on some address labels, and whalaa! I think I still like Invite #2 (with the dump truck) better graphically, but I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. If anyone cares, the font I used was called Wicked Grit. It's one of my new favorites! Then, since I had already created the basic graphics, I was able to use it for a bunch of other projects, including a special birthday t-shirt for Jadon (too bad white is such a lousy color for a little boy who loves to get dirty!). Instead of using my beloved Cricut for the typical banner, I continued my Photoshop endeavors and created an easier one using the same graphics: The tractor graphic also was useful to personalize the party favors. I just switched up the colors, added a few layers (including each child's name), and made them into 2" circles, which I then printed onto full page labels and punched out with a 2" hole punch (very valuable purchase!). For the favors, we had cheapo Oriental Trading Company hard hats along with some of Jadon's favorite tools: a hammer from Oriental Trading Company (inflatable for safety's sake!), a tape measure (99c Store), and a flashlight (and batteries, from Dollar Store), plus a construction cone cup (which were probably not worth their $2/each, but they were so cute I couldn't help it!). I stuffed it all in Home Depot aprons, which Home Depot generously provided for free (that was a pleasant surprise!). I just had to call ahead of time so they could order enough. Just another reason why that's my favorite store (besides WallyWorld, of course!). It was so cute to see all the kids having fun with their "tools"! Pinterest was so helpful/annoying at providing tons of great ideas from party decorations other moms came up with. I ended up finding these "Detour" signs at Birthday Express, where I found the cone cups. We bought inexpensive stakes at Home Depot, and then Jim had the idea (miraculous rarity--decorating is not something he enjoys!) to string caution tape (we already had a roll, but you can find it at Home Depot) between the stakes and along the fence. Nice idea, babe! That made a perfect detour away from our front door to the gate to the back yard. We already had a helium tank from a previous party to inflate yellow, orange, and brown balloons. Then we hung the aprons from the fence with signs that said "party area ahead: hard hats required" (didn't get a good picture of that) and "hard hat area." My favorite sign I got from someone else's party. Ha!: I made all the signs on Photoshop, although Publisher would work just as well. I considered printing them somewhere else so as not to be limited to 8" because of paper size (12" would have been so much cooler!)...but printing them at home was so much more cost effective. And of course, the piece de resistance, was my dad's tractor, which set the scene perfectly...and was fun for kids to climb around on. Great timing on that big purchase, dad! I did splurge on the big "Jadon's Birthday Construction Zone" sign. I "designed" it (simply!) in Photoshop on a 20"x 30" canvas, then saved it as a jpeg and had it printed up at Costco for $8.99 (and this month's coupon book conveniently had a $1 off coupon for photo poster prints, yay!). Then I glued it to a basic foam core poster board from Walmart. The whole project came to just over $10. I had a lot of fun with food ideas, again, all copied from others' parties posted on Pinterest. Most of the foods were Jadon's favorites, along with a few things that were just too cute to ignore. Drink station: Utensils as "tools" in a cute tool tote Austin had made me in a woodshop class. For "substantial food," we ordered to sandwich trays from Costco (so good, and so easy!). Carrots and ranch dressing were "bricks and mortar." Mini oranges were "wrecking balls." Wheat Thins and cheese slices were "pavers." Cheez-its were "Builders' Squares." And stick pretzels were "lumber." The sweets side was my favorite. (of course!) My favorite of the favorites was the chocolate-dipped rice krispy treat "paint brushes." So cute! (Oh, and I discovered a handy product made by Wilton specifically for tinting candy coating/chocolate that doesn't change its consistency. Definitely worth it!) We made "soil" out of pudding cups topped with Oreo crumbs and a gummy worm...and a little "dig in" topper on a toothpick. I bought peach licorice for orange "rope" (it was cute, but not as tasty as I'd hoped) and rootbeer stick "beams" (which, if I had it to do over again, I would have called "rebar"). When I ordered the rootbeer sticks, the company accidentally sent me rootbeer rock candy on a stick, so I put those out, too, but couldn't think of anything clever to call them. Another one of my favorite ideas that I gleaned off of Pinterest was chocolate donut "spare tires." Ha. So cute! And then I found these gummy tools at Oriental Trading Company, too. I was going to put them in the pinata, but then I ran out of room, so I put them on the food table...but I think they would have gone better in the pinata. My favorite part of the party was the activities. For some reason, I didn't find as many (easy) entertaining "construction" activities for toddlers to do as I expected, so I had to adapt a little, but I think everyone ended up having fun. Knowing my child, and his "proclivity" toward lack of structure, I tried to think of activities that could be as spontaneous and free as possible. I grouped them in stations that kids could wander between as they wished. Here was our "construction zone" that included building blocks my dad had made (a couple of years ago) out of scrap 2x4s that he cut down and sanded smooth (great free toy for active boys, although the sanding does require time and patience!). The other activity was a "nailing station" using an old styrofoam icechest (I had seen one where each kid was given an individual block of styrofoam, but that was way too pricey for me...especially when Jadon found the old ice chest in our garage!), a cheap bag of golf tees, and a couple of 99c store rubber mallets (which Jadon LOVES to use around the house as hammers, anyway...I figure the rubber is a little safer than a metal hammer...) Good thing Jadon was the birthday boy, because he had far too much fun running up out of nowhere and knocking over other peoples' towers (as seen in the last picture!). We are working on that, but he's on a slow learning curve! Also thanks to Jadon's destructo-man tendencies, you can see the sad state of the icechest by the end of the afternoon! But even the debris proved salvageable. The kids loved hammering tees into the styrofoam way more than I'd anticipated! I also turned a little inflatable pool and 2 orange table covers into a color-coordinated sandbox, that was a non-stop hit all day. Jadon's trampoline was also a fun hit. We filled it with orange, yellow, and brown balloons to start, but those quickly popped and/or floated out. But the kids still enjoyed it. My favorite part was toward the end when only a few kids remained, and Jadon convinced them all to play "shark" with him, using their flashlights as guns. The activity I was most uncertain about was painting. It just seemed like it had the potential to become a huge chaotic mess. On Pinterest, I had found several parties where they painted giant houses made out of cardboard boxes, but that required too much work for me after I discovered these cute little birdhouses in the dollar bin at Joann's Fabrics. I bought a pack of Crayola washable paints, some brushes, and a roll of 13-gal. garbage bags to use as smocks...and then put out the trays of paint with trepidation and apologies to the parents...and I couldn't believe how smoothly--and successfully!--it went. Even the older kids and some of the parents got into it. And Jadon! (Instead of painting a house of his own, I think he just added personal touches to everyone else's!) The only activity we had to "orchestrate" then was the pinata. I had seen this great tutorial for a construction cone pinata...and then personalized it to make my own...and was thrilled with the results. Knowing how rough my child can be, I made it extra durable (with extra layers), but the rope still broke out of the top hole, so if I had it to do over, I would probably lower the rope hole and beef that section up even more. Even so, all the little kids got a chance to swing at it, and even some of the bigger kids...and everyone had fun charging for the loot. (Here's my tutorial for how I made it.) All that was left after the pinata was the cake...a birthday staple that I have relied on Albertson's bakery for the last 2 years but decided to do it myself this year. I bought this super cool pan at Bed Bath & Beyond that allows you to make any letter or number, so I had to make a "3," and then, thanks again to ideas from Pinterest, I decided to turn it into a road. My dad helped to frost it (he used to decorate all of ours growing up...all 6'5" scruff of him!), and I think he did a great job. Because I wasn't sure how many people the cake would feed, I also made cupcakes. Oh! Great cake trick I discovered/attempted for the first time. I'd always heard that you could substitute apple sauce for the oil, but I was always skeptical. Great news: it works! The cakes turned out even more moist than usual, and I think they just tasted better. I also attempted my own buttercream frosting, but it got way too melty way too quickly, so I will definitely be experimenting with some more options there... Jadon couldn't wait to blow out his candles...but then the wind did it for him. Bummer! But he didn't let it phase him, and instead decided to claim the whole cake quickly for himself...along with a couple of cupcakes! (Don't worry, he didn't finish more than a couple of bites!) All in all, I think everyone enjoyed the party, especially Jadon. And I had a ton of fun putting it together. Special thanks to Sam Jeet, who photographed the event! Even though I still had to play with my new camera, it was nice to be able to relax knowing that someone else was there to capture key moments. If you live in the San Diego area, I would highly recommend her services. Oh, and besides having a ton of fun, we raised almost $100 for Jadon's World Vision sponsored kid, Misael. People tended to ignore the suggestion to not bring Jadon any gifts, but they were more-than-generous with both boys. It will take a few months for World Vision to tell us how specifically the money will be used, but it will definitely be a blessing to Misael, his family, and his community!

Rocket Hot Dogs or Rocketdogs are the perfect addition to your 4th of July party or boy's themed birthday party! Easy to make and totally festive.

Get ready to party with these amazing and fun Blippi Birthday Party Ideas! Adorable Blippi cake ideas, party food, party décor and more!

Cars Birthday Party inspired by Radiator Springs, McQueen and the whole gang. Including lots of fun, movie-inspired snacks, games + Piston trophy favors

10 Essentials to throwing a memorable and fun Firetruck Birthday Party for your little firefighter.

It started when Uncle Kevin gave Cooper a dinosaur book with buttons that played all of the different dino sounds. We'd be walking upstairs around 10pm and still hear Cooper saying "rrrrrrrRRRROARRRRR" in his bed, flipping the thick cardboard pages by the light of the LED nightlight. I started collecting things for his dinosaur themed birthday a few days later. To set the tone, a modern dinosaur invitation was sent in the mail to all of Cooper's closest friends (who also happen to be our closest friends...) and his family. For the next two months, I puttered away with all things black, white, teal, and sea-foam green in preparation for a 3rd birthday party that he would really love. This was the first year where he could really offer his opinion, so decisions like white cake with white icing, and chocolate dinosaur lollipops -- all thanks to Coop. We are so lucky to have such amazing people in Cooper's life and in ours! What more could a little kid ask for than 16 aunts and uncles, 2 nanas, 1 grandpa, 1 grandad, 4 cousins, 1 sister, and a handful of little friends. Thanks so much to my friend Jess for capturing these photos from Cooper's 3rd birthday party! It's the best gift ever to be able to enjoy a party like this without taking photos myself <3 Chocolate lollipops for the win! The fam :) I am so thankful for a husband who helps make my vision come alive. He handles EVERYTHING when it comes to food and drink, so that I can focus on everything else. He even dresses like Sam Neill from Jurassic Park when I ask him to... Probably the biggest hit from the party: custom cups for the kiddos in lieu of loot bags! My girls! Uncle Kevin and Auntie Anna <3 Coop and Jilly are SO excited to be the ring bearer and flower girl at their 2018 wedding. I could cry just thinking about it. This dino balloon was tied to the light post in our driveway so that everyone knew they were in the right place for a RRROARING good time :) Cooper Scott and Uncle Scott. My heart! These girls right here. My ROCKS. My best friends. They are the sweetest Aunties to our babies, and even read to them before bed. I couldn't love them any more than I already do <3 My favourite moment from the day. He was so excited to blow out his candles he couldn't even wait for the song to end! These kiddos are getting so big! Good thing Uncle Andrew and Uncle Chris get them the biggest gifts in town... Everyone was genuinely surprised that I blew up the bouncy ball by myself. GUYS. It wasn't that big :) To everyone who came out to make Coop's dino themed birthday unforgettable, we love you! We know how busy you are, and the fact that you continually come out to support the Kelly kids means the world to us. We love you all!!

Easy, fun and budget-friendly Superhero Birthday Party Games, perfect for your next Superhero or Avengers Birthday party.

I know everyone is gearing up for the upcoming holidays, but we can't let the kiddo's birthday party slip through the cracks.... so I'm here to help. For this construction themed birthday party I created

Ideas for a Halloween Birthday Party. The easiest kids Halloween party ever including easy snacks, games and decorations.

A watermelon carved to look like a pirate ship makes a charming and refreshing addition to the spread for a summertime cookout or pirate-themed birthday party. This project requires an oblong watermelon to achieve the elongated shape of a pirate ship, although you can choose from multiple pirate ...

ROAR!! It’s Dinosaur day today Lovelies and this party is filled with colossal sized details. From T-Rex to Stegosaurus, every Dino has room on these party tables. Dinosaurs can be some little boys beloved play toys and they make for a lovely birthday party theme too. Go for a more archaeology type of dinosaur party […]

If your child loves Peppa Pig, why not throw them a Birthday bash they will truly love and include these Top 10 "Oinkingly" adorable Birthday Party Ideas.

This cute train cake is assembled using store bought cake, and if you like, store bought frosting.

Ready for a roar-tastic dinosaur birthday party for your paleontologists? We have dino-mite dinosaur party ideas for birthday boy or girl party-saurus. From decor, foods, cakes, crafts, games & more.

Throw a dinosaur birthday party that all the kids will love, here are our planning tips and party ideas.

This one’s for all the dinosaur lovers! We’ve got a free printable party pack with 19 FREE printables for decor and activities to help you throw an awesome dinosaur birthday party. These can be used for any dinosaur themed party or specifically a Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous party. Keep reading to see how we set

Spidey and His Amazing Friends coloring pages. New coloring pages of excellent quality for printing. Download or print for free.

An unbelievably inexpensive tassel garland that will look great for your next celebration. Customize your colors to suit your party and save, save, save!

I made this pretty pink punch for my girls night last week and it turned out so good! It was sweet with just the right amount of fizzyness. This would also be great for bridal or baby showers, litt…

Considering my living room is filled with hotwheel cars, it was easy to pick our son's race car themed third birthday. This was the first party he had several friends come to, so it was extra special. I leaned more into the vintage car theme and styling, and we had so much fun! I've tried...

Sold by  Create your own from scratch  Size: 5" x 7" Make custom invitations and announcements for every special occasion! Choose from twelve unique paper types, two printing options, and six shape options to design a card that's perfect for you. Dimensions: 5" x 7" (portrait or landscape) Standard white envelope included High quality, full-color, full-bleed Add photos and text to both sides of this flat card at no extra charge Two printing options available: Standard and High-Definition 12 unique paper types and colors to choose from Designer Tip: To ensure the highest quality print, please note that this product’s customizable design area measures 5" x 7". For best results please add 1/16" bleed. Paper Type: Matte A classic, all around paper with a natural feel and an uncoated matte finish; our Standard Matte stands the test of time. Elegant and understated, colors print softer and more subtle. 17.5 pt thickness / 120 lb weight / 324 GSM Light white, uncoated matte finish with an eggshell texture Paper is easy to write on and won't smudge Made and printed in the USA

Grab some seashell plates and get ready to dive into a sea of deliciousness with these mermaid party food ideas!

Helping Families to Connect and Thrive

Download your free Avengers cupcake topper printables. These easy to make DIY printables comes with a step by step tutorial

DIY Dinosaur party games to make your child's dinosaur party extra fun.

Hi Friends! My sweet little Easton is 3! To celebrate our special guy's birthday we transformed the backyard into a retro outdoor drive-in movie party, complete with a fully stocked concession stand, ticket booth, and cardboard box cars for all of our little guests! It was a complete blast! EASTON'S RETRO DRIVE-IN MOVIE PARTY: THE

**WARNING: Heavy link and picture post*** As I already shared last week, we had Bean's party at Gymboree. Which was a blessing and a wee bit stressful. The stressful part for me was remembering everything, packing it all up, lugging over there, and only having 45 mins to setup, EEK, I get the shivers thinking about it again. But honestly it turned out perfectly. I also mentioned last week about 90% of his party was DIY, why? because I love to. Bean is WAY into dinosaurs, so choosing the theme was a no brainer. And another no brainer for me was where to go to get the paper good made. As you know from this party and this party Kori, Paper and Pigtails, is my go to girlie for all things party. First things first the backdrop for the little dessert table. I was lucky to find large square plates at Ikea summer clearance section, $1 for 10. Then with my Joanns coupon I purchased a bifold foam board, the kind for science projects, then hot glued the plates to the board. Then to add a little extra something I added a fabric garland across the top. Honestly it took all of maybe 20 mins and cost maybe $10 bucks. One thing I did buy and not make were dinosaur masks from Oriental Trading. I loved the variety and price. :) When planning this party it became clear right away that Pinterest was going to be a BIG tool for me. So I created a "Little Dude is Turning 2" board. And one of the first things I pinned were these dinosaur tails, and knew I was going to make them as favors. The first one was not the greatest but after, oh maybe, number 5 I was on a groove and it took two days to complete 12 of them. To make the ones for the girls a little more girlie I added a felt bow to them. To say they were a hit would be a HUGE understatement. Honestly I think they made the party. Another one of those not made things was dinosaurs on the tables, which I bought one for each kiddie to take home. $1 store came through on this one, $12 bucks = PERFECT! Now back to the table. Using Kori's snack cups, which are my favorite things in her lines, I put some goldfish and homemade lemon buddies {check the back of the Rice Chex box for the recipe}, so yummy. Now I was going to make cupcakes, and when I woke up on the morning of the party and realized that would NOT be happening, a quick call to our grocery store solved that problem quick and easy. The cupcake "stand" was made with a $1 pizza pan from the dollar store, a large can from making tomato sauce for dinner one night, then taking the striped paper Kori had made for the set and gluing it all together. WHAM BAM, thank you MA'AM. Cost maybe $3. I also made Oreo Pops, cause no party is complete without them, TRUTH. Another thing I had pinned were these Cheerio Snacks and right away I knew they had to be our volcanos. So after making them and letting them cool, I took some red wiltons melting candy, heated it per the bag instructions, added it to a ziploc baggie, snipped the tip off, and squeezed on took to make the lava. They were super cute! And tasted yummo. When I pinned these dino fossils, I know I was going to make them into cookies. So after making the BEST sugar cookie recipe, rolling it out and cutting it into circles, I took a {washed} dino and made foot prints, then took a little cinnamon sugar concoction, and sprinkled in the foot prints. Baked and done. Lastly, came the dino claws. When I saw this pin, I was like "HOLY DINO CLAWS!". After making them, which I am not going to lie was NOT fun, the taste of these salty sweet goodies made up for it! For favor bags, I took just regular old brown paper lunch bags, filled them up, took one of the circles from the dino paper set and sewed the bag. I love sewing paper, its kinda of weird how much I love it. And the bags were filled with a book of dinosaur stickers, $1 bin at Target, stamps from Oriental Trading, and no spill bubbles with dinosaurs on the bottle {regular $2.49 I scored on clearance at target for .50!!} My last project was to make the birthday boy a special shirt. I purchased the shirt from American Apparel, Kori made the Dinosaur and his name and a 2 for the back. After printing onto some iron paper, he was all set to party! So there it is Bean's Dino-mite 2nd birthday party. It was super fun to plan and execute. And this little face made it all worth it! So I warned you, there was a BOAT LOAD of links and pictures in this post. If you have any questions feel free to ask away.

Completed Dinosaur cake.....size is good enough for 15 -20 single serves. (Scroll down for details) ------Making----- Drawing Di...

An easy and frugal way to make DIY dinosaur bones. Kids can help make these fun and easy bones. We used them for a dinosaur dig at a birthday party.

Christmas, Halloween, Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, New Years,

If you’re brewing up a superheroes party, here is a list of sites that offer free superhero printables that you might just love to print and use. But before browsing through the list, let me …