Big Boy Birthday

Last week, my adorable husband turned 30. I asked if he wanted a date night, a small gathering, a party, or just to forget about it. Surprisingly, he wanted a party!

The party planner in me was thrilled, but what do you do for a 30th birthday?? We planned the party for the afternoon of a Clemson home game and invited friends and family over to watch the game and eat. It was a beautiful day, so we ended the night with a bon-fire as well.

Decorating for a 30th isn't easy, but we stuck to the number 30, and the colors blue, orange, and gray.

A little photo collage as the number "30" showed of my favorite photos of Hubby. He's changed a lot in the last 10 years!

Some little streamer/banners added a pop of color as well.

I used my silhouette to cut out circles of the three colors, then just sewed them together! 

I didn't want it to look like the cake was on fire, so we settled for three candles instead of 30.

He had help from his favorite little girl to blow out his candles!

He said it was the perfect birthday. All of his friends and family were there, the Tigers won, and the food was great.

I hope he has many more, even happier birthdays for us to share together!

Happy Birthday!

This guy doesn't want to admit it...but he's 30 today!!

 That now means we've been together for 1/3 of his life...yikes! He is the best husband and daddy to our little family, and sets a wonderful example for our children to follow.

This is the look he gives me...most of the time. He puts up with a lot.

 We're a little nuts, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We have some good times together and I look forward to many more!

Happy Birthday Hubby! We LOVE You!!

Mini-Cornhole Boards

For Goldilocks' 4th birthday, we wanted her to have something unique, something she could use. We made her some mini-cornhole boards!

I didn't take pictures for a tutorial, but since these are "mini" I'll give you some measurements!

Length: 24"

Width: 18"

Hole Diameter: 6"

There are LOTS of good YouTube videos for how to assemble a cornhole board if you need it. But it's pretty straightforward. Make a platform, add some legs to elevate one end, and drill a hole.

I made the actual corn bags a little smaller and lighter than usual. These finish at 4 1/2" square and are made of duck cloth and canvas.

 

I used my Silhouette to cut the vinyl decals for their names and the palmetto trees. A few coats of polyurethane should keep them slick and looking nice for a while. 

 

We had fun with these at her party and many evenings since then. A good, well-made set will last a long time and I know we'll get years of enjoyment out of these.

Glitter Crowns {Tutorial}

When Goldilocks told me she wanted a "princess" theme for her party this year, I was excited to create something to make it special. I was going to make her a crown to wear, but then decided that the other kids would probably like one too!

One trip to Hobby Lobby, and I had my materials to make 10 sparkly, glittery crowns, fit for princes and princesses.

Materials:

Fabric-backed glitter "paper" (in the felt section)

3/4" wide elastic

sewing things

I chose pink for the princess, and neutral gold and silver for the rest of the crowns, since there will be boys there too! Each piece of paper makes 2 crowns, so one other girl will have pink to match the birthday girl.

Flip over your paper, and simply draw an even zig zag pattern down the middle. Draw it long ways.

Use scissors (not your fabric scissors!!) to cut out your crowns. Cutting through the glitter isn't too messy, but it's hard on scissors.

For toddler heads, I cut my elastic to 6". The 6" elastic, plus the 11" length of paper should fit around their head nicely. They had enough stretch to not be too tight, but still stay on.

Sew the elastic with a few zig-zag stitches to the back of the paper.

 

Now you have adorable crowns, ready for a royal party!

 

They're lightweight, and comfortable to wear. Not to mention your royal subjects will LOVE wearing them to feel special at the party!

Happy Birthday Baby

Our beautiful little girl isn't so little anymore. Today she turns FOUR years old. She gets smarter and more beautiful each day. I think I learn more from her than she does from me.

She loves teaching her brother how to play, and how to say new words. He is one lucky little boy. 

She writes her name and is learning to read. We are so proud of the little lady she has become. 

Looking at pictures of her I can't believe how much she has changed from the chubby, squishy baby she was 4 years ago.

4 Years Old

3 Years Old

Still has that sweet baby face....

2 Years Old

1 Year Old

She looks soooo much like her brother in this picture!

1 Day Old

My sweet little newborn. 

I wish they could stay tiny forever, but I know they will grow to become amazing, loving, people.

We love you baby girl! 

Happiest of Birthdays to You

A "Reely" Good Time: Fishing Birthday Party

I have made it through the terrible, horrible realization that my baby boy is growing up. He turned ONE this past weekend, and is no longer my tiny tiny little baby.

To celebrate, we threw him a fishing birthday party. He LOVES goldfish (what baby doesn't??), but we didn't want to do the "goldfish" theme.

With blues, greens, reds, and browns we made a sweet little fishing theme for him to celebrate with our family and his baby friends.

The most important part of any birthday party is the cake right?

Especially if you're turning one. You need a SMASH CAKE!

His smash cake was 2 layers of chocolate and strawberry cake with blue frosting. Tiny pretzel fish circled the bottom of the cake, while a bobber, and a small pennant banner decorated the top.

I used my silhouette to make the "1" for the bobber.

Everyone else enjoyed cupcakes. Blue icing topped the cupcakes as well as either a little pretzel fish, or a circular cupcake topper.

The cupcake toppers are simply a piece of scrapbook paper glued to a stick, with an additional circle glued on top with a birthday message. Easy to make a looks cute on a cupcake tower.

I was lucky to find some really great woodgrain scrapbook paper to go along with our theme.

Additional bobbers and some fishing net were also used to decorate the cupcake tower.

Scrapbook paper is your friend when decorating. It's easy to find the patterns and colors you need with hundreds to choose from. A simple pennant banner adds lots of color and is easy to  make.

A banner of pictures was strung for guests to see our "incredible unchanging baby". We laugh because baby boy has changed hardly at all since he was born, except being a little less squishy.

I used the monthly pictures I took of him to make the banner. It was sometimes hard to remember to take the pictures, but we ended up with 12!

For a little snack we had some "cat tails" right off of the water. They are chocolate dipped marshmallows and were a yummy addition to our lunch.

 

The favors were of course Goldfish crackers. I made the printables for the bag toppers. I will be sharing those as a FREE printable shortly!

I took the ribbon off our year-round wreath and added another pennant banner and a "1" for baby boy.

I even found these super-tiny bobbers at the hardware store for some added sweetness.

Baby boy had such a good time at his party. His family and friends shared food, laughs, and fun on a chilly January day. I just need time to slow down just a little bit before he has another one of these....

Sprinkle Party

Somehow....someway....this beautiful little girl turned 3 years old. It seems like she should still be the tiny little redhead, obsessed with her Daddy and shoes. While she is still obsessed with those things, her world has expanded and she learns so much every day!

 

She is one of the funniest people I've ever met, and the things she knows at the tiny age of 3 is amazing. She is incredibly smart, well spoken, kind to her baby brother, and such a beautiful person all around.

To celebrate her birthday, we wanted a theme that she would LOVE! One of her favorite things in the world is SPRINKLES!! What 3 year old doesn't love sprinkles. So a sprinkle themed party is was.

 

A few hours at the computer and I was able to get her invitations just how I wanted them. A rainbow of cascading sprinkle goodness.

 

The décor was multicolored and fun.

My Parent's beautiful gardens provided an extra pop of color too.

 

Baby girl didn't choose her birthday. She was born on one of the hottest days of the year. Our friends and family melted through the party with us...as did the cupcakes! They were dripping with sprinkles, and melting in the heat.

 

Sugar sprinkled strawberries were cool and sweet.

 

And we couldn't forget her favorite...Sprinkle Cookies!!

 

She made a wish (a good one I hope) and blew out her candles.

 

I made her dress using THIS pattern and some sweet "sprinkly" fabric from Simply Color for Moda.

 

Gray wasn't the only entertainment. We had some baby friends there too! Brayden and his cousin Abigail spent some sweet time together.

 

The birthday girl enjoyed opening presents from her friends.

 

Gray taught Abigail and thing or two about opening presents.

How cute are cousins together???

 

Baby brother watched from the sidelines. Maybe we should get him his own chair...the pink doesn't suit him.

 

She loved her party and playing with all of her friends and family!

 

This little girl lights up our world with her joyful personality. She is my little firecracker.

 

While I'm sad that she's getting so big so fast, I love watching her grow and learn.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!