Pillows, Tutus and A Big Mouse

My daughter had a wonderful birthday...Thank you everyone that wished her a happy day!  I read every comment to her and she thinks she's famous now.  More about her day in a minute.

I mentioned that I got my crafting mojo back the other day and I wanted to show you what I've been working on.

First off....I have had BIG plans to make our apartment more appealing.  You may be wondering why I'd want to do this....when we should be moving out of our temporary arrangement in August.  We've decided not to move...for now.

There are a couple reasons for this.....one of them being that we still can't afford to move yet and we'd like to put some money in the bank and possibly buy a house instead of renting one.  This is not the best apartment we could be renting but it's nice and it's big enough and we really hate the thought of moving again.

We are happy here (mostly).

Anyway, I had big plans to paint my entertainment center.  I even asked iKeith instead of just doing it and he said yes, and then he said no.  I was really bummed about it.  Instead...I'm working on de cluttering and accessorizing.

I found a really awesome pillow at Target but when I told iKeith how much it was he said NO. Are you seeing a theme here?

I went to Cost Plus and JoAnn's over the weekend and inspiration struck when I found some napkins that were the exact colors that I wanted to decorate my living room!

I bought two napkins ($6) and a pillow form ($9) and sewed them together!  This is my favorite chair where I read, journal and watch TV.  I love it!

My other project was a tutu for Mallory's birthday.  I was feeling badly that I hadn't really done anything for her big day...like I did last year and this little project filled that void and she loved it!

I followed the directions from Wildflowers and Whimsy and I just loved making this!  I worked on it over two nights after the kids had gone to bed, while watching GLEE.  It make me soooo happy!

Mallory was very specific about what she wanted for her birthday cake so I called in a professional.  Gemma from Bella Stella Bakery.   The requirements were: Strawberry Cake, Strawberry Filling, White Frosting and Pink Flowers. 

It was beautiful, delicious and exactly what the Princess ordered!  I have to tell you....Mallory was a little bit reluctant to let us eat it.  She just wanted to sit and look at it.  Thank you Gemma for helping make a little girl's wish come true!  

Speaking of wishes coming true.  This little girls only wish for her birthday was to go to Chuck E Cheese (i call it Chunky Cheese).  She had so much fun, ate more pizza than I've seen her eat in her life and she met the guy in the costume BIG mouse!

Her favorite gifts were  an apron, a whisk and dollhouse accessories that Alex gave her.

HUGS!

Weekend Tea Parties and Shopping with Friends

We had a great time at our tea party on Saturday. Alex and Calvin left for Denver early and Alex was so excited for his trip.  Yesterday he had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese....he's never been there before and he loved it!

I put the invitation inside the hats....so that they would be able to wear their hat to the party.  Gabby's dog ate her hat but luckily we had a spare.

There was some drama (and stomping and door slamming) an hour before the party started when Mallory got upset because her friends hadn't arrived yet.  I couldn't get her to understand that they weren't supposed to be at our house yet.  I swear she is 3 going on 13!

We served blueberry muffins in tulip liners that I found at Joanns, mini cherry danishes, cookies and fruit salad with greek yogurt.  And an assortment of tea and I had back up juice boxes in case the kids didn't like the organic, white citrus tea.  Mallory is now addicted to tea and has requested that she be served Tea and Crumpets in the drawing room.

I made birdhouse decorations for the party.  I knew I wanted to mod podge them but quickly discovered that  I would have to paint some of the house to make it easier on myself.  Because, friend...let me tell you...cutting out those little hearts on the front will drive you to drink!  I got all crazy with the roof on the yellow and green houses.  If you decide to cut up 300 little squares and glue them on a birdhouse...make sure your kids are asleep first!  I bought the buttons for another project and decided to add them at the last minute.  I think it turned out cute.  What do you think?



Yesterday we had an amazing day!  We met my friend Chrisy in Salt Lake City and we had brunch at  Pago. (Click here for more about the food.)  It was amazing...can't wait to go back.  Then we did some shopping at Hip and Humble and The Trolley Square Mall.  This is my second time meeting up with Chrisy...we both love good food and last time we went to The Tin Angel.  Click HERE for that story.

Mallory was so funny!  She kept posing on the lounge chairs in Restoration Hardware and asking me to take her picture. I think I need to get her an agent!   I really liked the deepness of this leather couch until Chrisy demonstrated that I'd feel like a toddler when I sat on it!

And then we went to Target...because I weekend just isn't complete without dropping $100 bucks there.

How to Throw a Ladybug Party

I've been anxiously waiting for the day that we had enough friends in Utah that we could throw a party. When we lived in Denver, I'd have themed dinner parties all the time and loved the planning and executing of my plans.

There's that little Martha Stewart part of me that loves to put all kinds of fabulous touches on things but of course I don't have her budget so I have to do things the Connie Way which is also...A Good Thing. 

And as if that pressure isn't enough, I have Miss Tori Spelling throwing fabulous parties for her kids that will soon be on the pages of People Magazine.  I have a little friendly competition going with her since her son's birthday is always the same weekend as Mallory's.   This year Liam had a Superhero Theme.....Lucky Kid! (OH MY HECK...Tori & Dean is coming back on April 5th!)

It was a last minute decision to make the wreath for the front door.  I had seen the roses on The House of Smith's blog and I had this extra foam wreath form laying around from my failed attempt to make a Marshmallow Wreath at Christmas.  I had a ton of crepe paper and too much to do so I went for it.   On Thursday, I was sitting watching my favorite show...Studio 5 and Shelly from the House of Smith was on the show making the roses!  I couldn't believe it!  I discovered from watching her on the show...that I was doing it wrong but I was almost done so I kept making them my way.

I also made a bunch of ladybugs in different sizes out of construction paper and had them crawling up the front door.  These are now climbing up the french doors in our dining room that I just turned into a playroom.

I bought the little red buckets that served as our gift bags for our guests at the dollar spot at Target around Valentine's Day.  I used my Martha Stewart Ladybug punch to make a bunch of little black ladybugs to mod podge to the buckets.  They contained jewelry, bubbles, a top, a ball, sunglasses, candy and handmade bracelet's from Bobbi.  The boys got slinky's, bubbles, a ball, paddle balls and candy.

The cake came from The Parson's Bakery in Bountiful Utah and it was fabulous!  It was so much more than the picture can show.  I loved it and Mallory thought it was the coolest thing ever.  She kept asking us to lift her up so she could smell it.

When I started planning this party and figuring out who all we wanted to invite (everyone) I started to panic because I didn't know where the children would sit. I wanted to get a new table and little stools from IKEA....but I checked my budget and knew I was going to have to figure something else out.  I decided that the kids' train table would work perfectly as a table but I didn't have any chairs.  I came up with the idea to use 3 gallon paint buckets from Sears ($2.99 each) and make covers for them from my felt stash.

Then I realized the the table was too short so I bought small clay pots from Michael's, painted them red, embellished them with some black and white ribbon and hot glued them to the table legs.  It worked perfectly!

This would be a good time for me to talk about my other chair remodel. On Wednesday, while I was in the middle of several unfinished projects, I decided that my chairs needed help.  I received a lot of comments from friends on facebook that said they have these same chairs and that they are in the same condition as mine because they have kids too.  They are so easy to re-cover!  They are just attached with 4 screws that come off really easily.  I had this cute dark blue fabric with little cream colored stars in my stash and it was very easy to cover, staple them (tried hot glue...it no work) and attach them back on the chair frame.  Each chair only took about 20 minutes and I completed this during nap time.

I needed a game appropriate for 2-5 year olds and I thought pin tape the dot on the ladybug would be perfect.  I made this little guy from construction paper and poster board.  Mallory informed me that he needed teeth and she was right!  I put each child's name on the dots so we'd know who won by getting the closest to the drawn on dot.  Alex won this game and I DID NOT coach him.  :)

Do you believe in fate?  I do!  Back in January when Mallory decided on a theme, I had some Gymbucks to use and this adorable little dress was available in her size!  It was on sale and I basically got it for free because I had $25 in free Gymboree money to use.  Then I got the barely used shoes on ebay for $7 and they have little silver ladybugs on them!  I tried to talk her into the black tights but my little fashionista wanted red....

Ladybug Party Playlist

It's Your Birthday.......Justin Roberts

Lucky Lady Bug........Mikey's Band

You Are My Flower........Elizabeth Michell

Butterfly's Day Out....Edgar Meyer

Ladybug Picnic.................Elizabeth Mitchell

3 is the Magic Number.......Elizabeth Mitchell 

Who's My Pretty Baby.......Elizabeth Mitchell

My Girl..........................The Temptations

I hope you enjoyed our party and got some ideas for your own Ladybug Party!  Its a great theme and one that I'll remember with fondness for many years to come. 

The Invitaitons
The Party

All songs available on iTunes

The Ladybug Party

I'm so glad that you all liked The Invitations!

Last night....I tried to explain to Mallory that 3 years ago I was in the hospital and that Daddy was with me and that I was waiting for her to arrive.  She asked how she got in my tummy and I told her to go ask her Dad.

If you'd like to read the story of Mallory's birth, you will find it here.

This is the slideshow of our Ladybug Party....it's short and has pretty music. I hope you like it.

I will be spending the day playing dress up and McDonald's drive thru, making Banana Bread and reading books with my girl. During nap time, I'm hoping to watch the episodes of Ugly Betty (edited: that episode is called Icing On The Cake...funny!)  and Grey's (ha...this one's called Scars and Souvenirs) that I missed while I was in labor. I still can't believe that three years have passed but I'm looking forward to many more years of laughter and tears, joy and tea parties. I look into those big blue eyes and I see a beautiful future.



Tomorrow....I will explain all of the crafts I did and talk about the cake and Mallory's pretty dress.

Ladybug Party: The Invitations

Magical.

If you ask my kids about their childhood when they are much older, I want them to say that it was magical. I want them to remember that I went all out on things and I tried to make their lives special. I want them to know through my actions and my words that I loved them.

I had the best time planning and making things for this Ladybug Party. I'm so thrilled that Mallory selected this theme because I fell in love with all things ladybug.  I've decided that every years theme will be our theme for the year....we will find more ladybug things and all of the items I made or bought for the party will now decorate her bedroom.

Needless to say, I believe that the party was a hit and if the smile on this little girl tells you anything...it's that she was completely happy and full of joy.

I'm still recooperating from the party, putting the house back together and waiting for the HGTV people to stop by today and tell me that I won the HGTV Dream Home in New Mexico so today I'm going to show you were it all started....The Invitations.

  click to make bigger

I found something similar on Etsy and they were ridiculously expensive and you had to buy 10 and I only needed 4.  I knew that I could make these and it would be more special that way.  I also decorated the envelopes with a small ladybug from a Martha Stewart punch that I bought at Michael's with a 60% off coupon!  WOOT!

Come back tomorrow to see the party.....

Holiday Tea Party 2008

Yesterday, Mallory and I hosted our first annual Mother/Daughter Christmas Tea Party. I spent many weeks deciding on my menu and purchasing little items to make everything perfect.

Many, many years ago. I had a dear friend Adrienne that introduced me to the fabulous world of tea and tea parties. For Christmas one year, she gave me my very first antique tea pot, cup, saucer and plate. It is a cherished possession of mine. Adrienne made such an impact on my life and she now owns The Canterbury Tea Room in Greeley Colorado.

Ever since then, I have wanted to host my very own tea party.

The Menu....

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches, cut into triangles
Pineapple-Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches, cut into rectangles
Scones with Clotted Cream and Strawberry Jam
Spritz Cookies
Whipped Shortbread Cookie
Cherry Tassies

Earl Grey & Christmas Blend Tea from Adagio Teas
Apple Cider

I had hoped to serve Strawberries filled with cream but I couldn't find mascarpone cheese in all of Ogden. Next year....

The Swag!

Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix, cookies from the tea party, a Curly Wurly candy bar, The Christmas Box book by Richard Paul Evans and a cookie cutter...all in a beautiful red felt bag!

My beautiful friends and their daughters!

I had so much fun planning and throwing this party! There was snow lightly falling outside and The Nutcracker playing in the background. I loved making this memory with my daughter and our friends and I am already thinking ahead to next year!