#Pink Zebra Party #Happy Birthday Destiny 2015

Happy hump day, ya’ll! If you’ve been following my blog, you know that I have been absent for a while & am playing a little catch-up on all the posts I’ve been planning on doing for months! My baby turned 9 in June this year! We celebrate every year with a huge family & friend cook-out. The month before I we started talking themes… it’s a summer party so we’ve pretty much covered the beach, summer, ocean animals, luau, etc parties in past years… Destiny is pretty easy going so she was all for doing yet another dolphin party & beach balls & sand buckets are cheap & plentiful that time of year, but I wanted to think outside of our usual themes. We usually get most of our themed party supplies online and then supplement those with Dollar Store & other local store finds. I always love getting a couple cute themed items then using a matching color scheme to tie everything together to bring it home. Not a fan of those pricey birthday in a box type things, I mean does the plates, napkins, cups, & party hats all have to match exactly…. why do you really even need party hats? lol Ok I’m getting off track… Anyways, Destiny & I decided to check out Amazon for party invitations… figured that was a good way to start brainstorming. She fell in love with some pink zebra postcard style invites, and while I was hooked on some cute owl ones, I couldn’t help but think pink, black, & zebra print… simple, girly, fun… and ideas just started popping into my head! Once she had picked the theme, she scampered off to do “funner” stuff & left me to do the planning. I mean I rock at party planning & she knows it so we’ll take that as a compliment. She did make sure I knew she must have a zebra pinata so with that as my only criteria, it was time to get ordering. A friend had recently gave me a black cupcake stand so I decided on ordering some hot-pink cupcakes from work aka Publix because they are delicious & is just one less thing I have to do. Since we were skipping a cake this year, I didn’t have to worry about a cake topper & opted for some pink zebra striped candles & a 9 candle. I quickly found that Amazon has tons of pink zebra party stuff, way more then I needed, but I couldn’t pass up adding some zebra stripe plastic table covers, confetti, & some pink & black zebra balloons. At home  we TRY to stay away from candy, but it’s a party & I always think “candy bars” are so cute so we decided to so a little one… on hind-sight we ended up with a lot of left-overs we pawned off on guest as they left so we probably could have skipped or just scaled that down, but it was so cute! So the last thing I got from Amazon were some pink unicorn pops because they are striped & it’s a zebra party… it just made sense. I got a cute plastic candy dish with a lid, pink & black gumballs, and pink sixlets in my local Target’s party section, though you can always get those on Amazon as well. I had some small pink plastic buckets & glass candle holders from a past event (Dollar Tree) to use, but decided to see what Oriental Trading had to offer in the pink zebra party department & came across some absolutely perfect pink zebra containers… couldn’t have been more perfect for the diy decorating/ candy holder idea I’ll show you in a bit! I love Oriental Trading… super cheap, large quantity items perfect for party planning, large group activities, & craft projects! Ok… I think I’ve rambled on about what I bought long enough, but I wanted you to have all the links if you like how this party turned out & were interested in using this theme yourself. Anyways… let’s get this party started…

This is a super easy lollipop holder that you could customize to fit any party theme… all you need: lollipops of your choice (unicorn pops from Amazon), a bucket type container (got these zebra ones from Oriental Trading), floral foam (Dollar Store – available at any craft store), & paper shreds (Dollar Store – gift wrapping section of lots of other stores)… super easy to make… place foam inside container (may need to cut a bit to fit), stick your lollipops in far enough to be secure, and cover the visible foam with the paper shreds… done 🙂 This would be a cute way to display cake pops, cookies-on-a-stick, or chocolate dipped marshmallow pops… basically anything on a stick! lol

We used some zebra duct tape (Wal-Mart) to add a little party flair to everyday water bottles.

Now some pictures of the actual party…

I honestly didn’t get as many pictures as I’d hoped because I was busy hosting &, well, enjoying the party, but hopefully you got some great party ideas! As you can see the kids all had a blast beating the pinata, playing on the park playground, getting their faces painted, playing with balls & bubbles, & especially eating those hot pink cupcakes! While they ran wild, the adults spent time laughing, talking, talking, & stuffing our faces with way to much delicious food! Perfect way to spend any summer day…a  great party for the best 9 year old around! Happy birthday, Destiny!! ❤

#Bunny Buckets #Easter Egg Wreath Idea

I like to make little gifts for Destiny’s classmates a couple times a year. With Easter right around the corner, I looked on Pinterest for inspiration & found some really cute ideas. You can see some of my favorites on my Easter board by clicking here. I originally saw an adorable mason jar idea that I thought looked like a nice option but would need to do it with smaller jars since I have to make 18 & buy enough candy to fill them. I’ve been super sick for about a week now & not feeling well as that was coming on so after not being able to quickly locate the size & shape jars I was searching for, I abandoned that idea & started looking for alternate options. I often do just traditional “goodie bags” so I was trying to find something a little different this time. I have seen cute bunny buckets & saw some similar things on Pinterest, but still wasn’t finding exactly what I wanted so I started looking at the Oriental Trading website to see if I could locate something quick & easy to make since I didn’t feel like hand cutting bunny ears, noses, etc. in my current state.  What I love about Oriental Trading is that usually the craft kits & supplies as well as party supplies aren’t super expensive & they come in large quantities. I grabbed some 3″ white metal pails with handles & started looking through the Easter craft supplies to find something to easily make them into bunny buckets. I was tired & didn’t feel good so almost gave up when I happened across a Easter Bunny Picture Frame Craft kit. It wasn’t too expensive & had twelve kits just like the bucket quantity, and I felt that I could easily repurpose the supplies to fit my needs. Anyway enough of my tired ramblings, let me just show you what I came up with…

Here are my supplies… I only used the precut foam bunny parts & ribbon bows which already had peel & stick adhesive strips… yay… adorable & super easy to assemble. My only complaint about Oriental Trading foam craft kits in the past was that the self adhesive wasn’t as permanent as it should be, and unfortunately, while the majority of the bunnies held together fine, some of the front paws came loose in the night so I went through & added some Elmers glue to all the parts just to be safe. Even still I recommend this websites’ craft kits because they are adorable, inexpensive, easy to put together, come all individually wrapped making them perfect for large group events, & usually come with a few spare parts just in case. Only keep in mind that you might want to save the extra step when using ones with self-adhesive strips & just go straight for your glue during assembly for longer lasting, sturdier creations. I ended up with 24 foam frames, frame backs, magnets, & tons of foam circle stickers that I didn’t use, but I definitely will be able to add these to my craft supply stock for a future project! They won’t go to waste in this household. you might even see them in a future blog post! lol

They say a picture is worth a thousand words… so I’m gonna skip lengthy, step-by-step directions and just show you how we put these bunny buckets together. Destiny has 9 girls & 9 boys in her class so she wanted to only add the bows to the girl bunnies.

I think they turned out just perfect… just like I pictured them in my head! Since the buckets are quite small, I didn’t have to buy a lot of candy to fill them up either, just a pack of fun size Easter M&Ms & 3 small pieces of candy & they are ready to go!

It’s been a rough month so far for me… first a back injury & then 2 weeks later I was down with bronchitis & an upper respiratory infection… so I am awfully bummed I haven’t gotten to the many Easter craft & recipes I planned to make & share with you. That’s life though, doesn’t always go as planned. It seems like the older I get, the faster time flies by or maybe it’s just because we are busier. I’m not even sure when I will fit dying eggs in or helping the Easter Bunny fill the baskets so this might be my only Easter related post this year.

Here is another one of my past Easter projects I wanted to share. I’ve made Easter Egg Wreaths since then for family members. It was one of my all time favorite Pinterest projects & probably one of the first ones I actually saw & made. It just takes a few supplies: ribbon, hot glue, a foam wreath, & lots & lots of plastic Easter eggs.  I’ve had this one for years… still looks just as bright & festive every time I put it out & if, heaven forbid, I loose an egg or 2 in storage, a little hot glue puts it good as new! If you like this idea but your busy schedule keeps you from creating it in time, wait & take advantage of the 50% off Easter eggs that are always abundant afterwards. That’s what I did. Honestly most of my holiday decorations have been picked up for dirt cheap after that holiday is over & then I use them for the next year. Click here for detailed instructions. I believe this is the site I found through Pinterest when I made my first wreath.

Throwback to last Easter… I love this picture!!

In case life gets too crazy, I’ll just wish you a Happy Easter now, from my family to yours! ❤

 

 

 

 

#First Annual Halloween Craft & Movie Night

Love crafts & Halloween? What better way to add some creativity & Halloween fun into your week then a Halloween craft & movie night! I ordered some inexpensive, easy craft kits from Oriental Trading when I placed an order for supplies for Katlyn’s upcoming pink mustache birthday party, gathered a few snacks & supplies, and recorded a selection of the family Halloween movies we watch every October to get ready. Let the Halloween fun begin…

No party or event is complete without a few snacks!!

After snacks were eaten & hands were washed, we turned on the Nightmare Before Christmas and started the first craft of the night: No Sew Halloween Pillows

The girls posed with their finished pillows.

The pillows made a perfect addition to our living-room decor!

Next up: Halloween Foam Doorknob Hangers

These were so easy to make & very cute, but we did find out this morning that the self-adhesive on the foam pieces wasn’t as strong as it seemed so added some glue & they are drying now.

A few lollipops, some scrap white material, Halloween ribbon, & a permanent marker = Ghost Pops, perfect for giving out to trick-or-treaters or your child’s classmates!

We just did this as a family this year (plus one friend), but this would be a perfect idea for any size group! Having a large get-together? Have each family attending bring a snack to share &/or supplies for one craft. Spending time & making memories with those you love is what’s important! It’s something we all need to remember as we speed towards the season of “I want!” Just a little food for thought on this beautiful October day 😉