DJ's 1st Birthday

I got to play party paparazzi again this morning with a small celebration for DJ's 1st birthday! A very simple celebration that everyone enjoyed! I didn't plan any of it, I just took a few pictures.
View Album here, password: dj

Getting Ready for Gabby!

I am preparing for a baby shower in two weeks for one my best friends! Heather Rios is expecting her first baby, a girl Gabrielle Elizabeth this April. I have been hand making a few of the items & I was so excited about my success I had to blog about it!


I ♥ evites, they are free! But for this party we decided to go with the old fashion postal service.... now I could have gotten those vague lame ones that come 8 in pack at Target or spend a bunch of money on customized ones from places like Tiny Prints. Instead, I decided to do homemade invitations. Now for someone who is not a craft expert I was a little nervous. Thanks to help and confidence by my good friend we made our first template and then we were set!

I got all of my supplies from the local craft store.
Scrapbook paper in green and purple.
Cardstock in brown.
Tiny jewels in green and purple found in the jewelry section.
Plain envelopes.

For the designs I used a cricut machine. For the inside and envelope I used Microsoft Word.
For the inside, I stained the tips of the paper with brown stamping ink.

I believe in doing things yourself. & like I said before, I am totally not crafty... so if I can do it, ANYONE can! Just to tie the bows, I had to youtube how to tie one! LOL (youtube video)

I used a hot glue gun instead. I made one before with regular glue and it wasn't very sturdy! I love making my own cake stands because you can customize it everytime with your party colors! This time I made a two layer one, normally it is 3.

Cake stand:
Brown ribbon
Sytrofoam One 14" (bottom) & 12" (top)
Scrapbook paper
Decorative flowers





I love baby banners! I never thought I could make one, but when I saw them going for $30 on Etsy I was determined to figure out how. I found a great post about it(check out here) & I was inspired to give it a try! If I didn't have the cricut machine to cut out the letters I would have just printed them out. I found the beautiful brown butterflies for 85 cents when I was at the checkout at the ribbon store! Just look around, remember you can use anything you want! For the middle decor I used the baby buggy that I used on the invitations.

Baby Banner Supplies:
Brown, white, and purple ribbon
Scrapbook paper
Cricut letters
Hole puncher
Glue

Always Celebrate!

Coble Angels

I remember reading years ago an online article that would stay in my heart forever. I was so happy to see this family featured on Oprah today! A mother lost all 3 of her children in a car accident. Completely devastating! Miraculously a year later the parents were blessed with triplets almost a year later.

The major impact this story had on me was that every child, every person, every year is special! I never want to take my family for granted. I have it set in my heart to ALWAYS CELEBRATE! I know some people opt out of recognizing milestones, but life is way too short, and love is way too precious. So whenever you get the chance, celebrate! If you are invited to an event and can attend, show up! It's important to be there and enjoy one another.

The Oprah story here

Life is crazy short! (My spin on it) Psalms 144:4 & James 4:13-14

Bailey's Birthday

My neighborhood friend invited our family to celebrate her daughter's 2nd birthday at John's Incredible Pizza. I couldn't leave without taking a few pictures!

Happy Birthday Bailey!!!!

My advice

My top 5

1. Celebrate! Life is short, so take the extra time to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries. It doesn't have to be expensive or elaborate. Just the thoughtfulness and togetherness of an event should be embraced!

2. Don't be wasteful! DO NOT spend a lot of money on something that will end in the trash less than an hour after the party ends. That's just throwing away money. Including food. If you have 20 guests, do not prepare food as though it is for 100. It pains me to see people cook a large spread. Remember no one eats that much at a party. It's not your job to provide them 3 meals worth of food. & no one is going to eat all that cake. I laugh every time I see a cake as big as the table and everyone only asks for a very tiny piece. Be mindful. Set a budget and prepare the food appropriately.

3. Go General. License characters cost more, for plates, napkins, invitations, etc. So go general. For example, Spiderman. Instead of buying all things Spiderman, save yourself money and pick a few things that have Spiderman on it and do the rest in matching solid colors.

4. Plan an activity. I've been to events that are gorgeous to the eyes but just plain boring. Don't forget what PARTY means! It should be fun! It should encourage interaction, togetherness, joy! So plan an activity where everyone can let their hair down. I feel this is especially important since everyone is so digital now. Face to face interaction is good for the soul, so make the most out of it.

5. DIY. Make the food, decorate the cake, set the table, make the party favors. It's okay if it's not perfect. It's the thought that counts. When I throw a party I'm sure it would never be pictured in a magazine, but when my kids are older and they look back, I think it will mean so much more to them and to me, that I took the time to handcraft with love all the details for their party. Search the Internet for inspiration and then see what you can do yourself. I have gotten help from my friends plenty of times, its so much more rewarding when you do it yourself... not to mention, less expensive!

Happy New Year!

It's 2011 and I got to start off the New Year with my first party! My hubby & I found out a lot of our out of town friends would be in town this weekend so just a few days ago wii decided to host a game night. With not much time nor the desire to spend a lot of money, wii were able to pull off an enjoyable game night!

If I had more time I would have definitely did somethings different, but hey! that's life, you do with what you have :)

I have always loved the Mario & Luigi themed party, especially since I am a Wii fan. So with a few Super Mario character print outs & pom poms we were set. I really wanted balloon bouquets but unfortunately my favorite party stores were closed today for the Holiday. At first I was thinking bright colors to decorate but it was a party for the 20-30 something crowd so I went with all white instead.

When the guests arrived they were given a name tag that had a color dot on it. The color dot placed them on a team: Red= Mario, Green=Luigi, Orange=Yoshi, and Blue=Toad. Wii played Mario Olympic Games. For every 1st place a team scored they moved closer to the finish line on the scoreboard. The winner won a star trophy. I had extra from a previous party, however if I had more time I would have had these super cool Super Mario Water bottles sold at birthdayexpress.com. To ship them in time would have cost me $15+! Total waste of money. So my second choice was to make star cookies, but I ran out of time! I am 7 months pregnant and just decided to do this 3 days ago! I get a free pass :)

star cookie featured here, mine would not look like this... but it would have been a yellow star with black eyes! lol



I believe everyone had a good time, I know our family sure did! What a way to start the New Year! I hope this is a sign of what is to come!!!