THE GRINCH

Working on a Grinch Theme Hot Cocoa Bar for our wonderful staff at my daughter's elementary school.  Made a quick invite, photos to follow soon.

 

SHE HAD A BALL!

GG's Grand Slam Birthday

Our MVP turned 99 this month!  How to celebrate...with her favorite sport, Baseball.  Over the Summer,  we took my grandmother to see a minor league game for an early birthday present.  The hard part was how to create a party around this theme that wasn't masculine or childish.   After many days of searching, I stumbled upon the cutest vintage girl playing baseball, and then it all came together from this inspiration! 

My mom and grandmother have a lot of vintage postcards and paper dolls.  So this image fit in perfect!   

The inspiration for the party!

Our family line up includes 121 and counting!  My sister had the task of updating our family tree this year, so she was my source for the line-up and roster - which will change next month with an upcoming wedding.

After lunch, we had a family baseball game on GG's Field of Dreams and enjoyed root beer floats from the "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Root Beer on the Wall" station.
 

Ninety-Nine Bottles of "Root Beer" on the Wall - Make your own root beer float!

We all had a ball, and look forward to Thanksgiving when we will all be together again!  The game ended in a tie, so there will be a rematch between the Farm Donkeys and Cow Patties.

{The names are courtesy of one of my 20 cousins and my brother-in-law - luckily I was a farm donkey.}

ROOM MAKEOVER

My baby girl turned double digits last month.  In our house, that means a room redo!  When they turn 10, they get to choose their room colors/bedding/accessories, of course all on a budget.  Emily wanted a 'Lilly Pulitzer' inspired room, and it all started with the quilt set we found at home goods. Great price and received the quilt/2 shams/3 throw pillows. 

Lots of painting...many cans of spray paint and hot glueing, this is what we came up with.




I found the bed on craig's list and painted it, it took 6 coats of paint to cover this sucker and it even had 2 coats of primer.  The side table I scored for FREE!  The other furniture we already had, it was my grandmothers, just freshened up a bit.  We re-used her lamps, I spray painted the brass parts green, and recovered all the shades. Sewed 4 pillows from my fabric stash.  I want to monogram her pillows, but ran out of time.

The yellow chairs, have been in my basement for a few years, they were also FREE!
I spray painted them yellow and recovered the cushions.  The white table in between the chairs was a score for $5 a few years back. 

My husband is happy that some stuff in the garage is finally starting to move out ;-) I can't pass up a good bargain!

 

Most everything in her room was recycled. I was sad to see her little room go, knowing that she is growing up, but we are both pleased as punch with the end results.



OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO

STAFF APPRECIATION EVENT

At my daughter's elementary school, I was thrilled to style their Oh! The Places You'll Go sweet table.  It turned out super cute!  I modified the invite that I did for my niece last year for graduation (available in my etsy shop).  With alot of parent volunteers that made the treats and gorgeous cupcakes, my job was easy ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HIP CHICS EVENT

I had the pleasure of working with some wonderful ladies at a local boutique.
If you are ever in the Clemmons, NC area, you must stop in at Hip Chics Boutique and Gifts.  They just celebrated their 6th birthday and re-opening.  They just expanded their store and carry the cutest gifts and clothing!  You can find them online at www.hipchicsgifts.com.  Below are a few pics of the candy buffet I styled for the event.

 

 

 

AMERICAN GIRL SAIGE INVITE

The new American Girl of the Year, Saige, would make a wonderful birthday theme.   You can combine it with an art party or if you are having the party at a horse stable, it would make the perfect invite.

The new invite is available in my etsy shop.  Party Collection to come soon.

INSTAGRAM VALENTINE

My soon-to-be 13 year old daughter is obsessed with Instagram. With Valentine's day coming up this week, I have been wracking my brain to come up with something she could hand out to her friends ~ and still be cool ;-)

I first saw the instagram cookie on Bakerella's website.  Her's are absolutely gorgeous!  Here is my version, no baking required ;-) 

 

Here's what you need:

Graham Crackers

Chocolate Morsels or Candy Melts

Airhead Extremes

Mini Oreos

 

• Snap graham crackers in half.
• Cut Airhead Extremes into little pieces.
• Melt chocolate in the microwave.
• Dip one end of the Graham Cracker in the melted chocolate.
• Add the airhead extreme.
• Dip the bottom of the oreo in chocolate and add to cracker.

I also made tags to attach to your bags.  You can download them HERE for FREE!

 

 

 

 

NEW AMERICAN GIRL INVITES

This new American Girl invite was created especially for a very special girl named Abby.

 

CLASSIC MINNIE MOUSE

Here is a sneak peek at the Minnie Mouse party that went along with the invitations I did a month ago.  Elaine wanted to use classic Minnie colors, red, black, white and a pop of yellow.  I love how they turned out, the signs I made were all in yellow polka dots.  It went perfect with her amazing decor! 

I love to use wrapping paper as backdrops...so inexpensive!
I had this polka dot paper leftover from Christmas.  The 'Minnie' glitter letters were found in a Christmas clearance bin for 10 cents a piece! 

 

I have a huge stash of buckets, they make perfect risers.  If you look through my parties, I use them everywhere!  Of course, they were bought on clearance ;-)

 

Paper plates are very popular now to decorate with.

I love how these turned out on the wrapping paper, spelling the birthday girls name.
The large red bows at the top, were Christmas bows, I snagged for $2 each.