A Look Back: A Gold and Pink Party for Everly

So this post is beyond late. Like 6 months late. Everly will be 2.5 years old on January 30th, so I figured it was time I share her 2nd birthday party with you. It’s so late on account of all the things that had been going on that kept me from blogging. Better late than never right?

For her second birthday, I decided to do a gold and pink theme, with a little bit of sparkle. She is such a little girly girl I thought it would be a perfect fit for her. I had so much fun planning all of the little details. It’s easy to say that now that I can look back on it and smile; but maybe if you had asked me at 1:30am the morning of, I may have said something else as I iced 60 cupcakes in my kitchen…

We decided to rent a hall for her party because we were expecting quite a few guests, I didn’t want to chance it incase it rained which would leave us cramming people into our house. (It’s a good thing we did, because it was pouring rain the day of her party.)

Her birthday banner I made myself (I purchased the card stock from Michaels, as well as the gold polka-dot wallpaper.) The tassels I made myself. Each one is a single sheet of tissue paper. They were a little time-consuming to make (only because I needed quite a few of them), but they turned out great.

The cake pops I purchased from Starbucks – they are a little pricey but the kids LOVED them. The pink cotton candy jelly beans I purchased from bulk barn. The cotton candy I purchased from a local business owner, it came in the containers and was around $1.50 per tub. Again, these were a huge hit with the kids. I added the gold sparkle tape around the tubs, which I purchased on clearance from Michaels. The chalk board easel I also purchased from Michaels, and the carnations were a pretty touch. The cupcakes I made myself, and dusted them all with some edible gold sparkles. I am really happy with how they turned out (well worth the effort – again, easy to say now).

The loot bags and tags I purchased on clearance at Michaels and filled them with little trinkets from Dollarama. The sand buckets were for the littlest ones. The princess rendition of “pin the tail on the donkey” was also purchased from the dollar store.

I tried to buzz around as much as possible to take pictures of all of the guests and kids playing together – it’s times like that I could really use a clone…

How sweet is she?! I think my little cupcake had a great party.

Kitchen Desk Organization

Having a desk in the kitchen has both perks and downfalls. Lately, the one in my kitchen has become a major source of clutter and junk collection. Everything from a radio, to a laptop, to notes from Maxton’s school, to mail – you name it. It’s so easy to just toss things and go which often leaves me in a mad panic in the morning as I search for Maxton’s milk envelope, permission slip, or my cheque book. There is no designated “office” in the house, so that doesn’t help matters.

Horrible, right? Well I decided it was time to organize this small space. As you can see, there isn’t a whole lot to work with. The desk is in between the counter, and the floor to ceiling pantry-cupboards so it’s not a true office desk, and I wanted to be careful to not stray away too much from the kitchen-feel. Here is what I came up with:

Like I said, nothing much, but it has made a world of difference. I’m not a huge fan of having the radio/iPad dock there, but it comes in handy and I use the radio every day.

I picked this up at Home Sense for $19.99 and thought it was a real steal. I loved the colour and the overall design. Each slot sits at a different height to hold various types of paper.

This letter sorter I also got at Home Sense for $7.99! It was a great deal and I love the colour and pattern. It adds a nice pop of colour to this corner.

I needed something to hold a few pens and a pair of scissors so I just used a mason jar that I already had.

Nothing too fancy, just a little organization for under $30. 2016 may just be my year to organize!

 

DIY Spring Wreath

Back in September I posted a DIY I did for a fall wreath for our front door. I decided it would be nice to have something for Spring (and even summer) as well.

So, off to Michael’s I went to hunt for the supplies I would need for my wreath. I had something in mind, it was just a matter of making it come to life.

I decided to go with the same type of wreath that I used for my Fall wreath for a few reasons: 1. It was only $4.99 2. It is the perfect size 3. It is easy to work with. I found some artificial hydrangea’s that were 40% off, a clip on daisy for $1.29, a burlap rose that was $4.99, that was 30% off and some other flowers for 40% off. The whole thing cost me about $24 taxes in.

I decided not to add a bow, I thought the burlap rose was a good substitute.

I cut the stems of the flowers and arranged them around the wreath, and then wrapped the wires through the wreath.

Lastly I clipped on the sunflower and the burlap rose.

I am really happy with how it turned out and I am hoping it wills Spring to arrive soon!

I hope this inspires you to get creative this Spring!

DIY Fall Wreath

This will be our fifth “fall” in our house, and it has taken me that long to finally make a fall wreath for our front door. I have been meaning to do this every year since we moved in.

Two yours ago I posted the DIY Christmas wreaths I made, and I may tweak those a little this coming Christmas season.

So, off I went to Michaels, in search of the perfect items for my wreath. I knew I wanted it to be a wooden wreath, and found one that was the perfect size for only $4.99! I wanted to put a burlap bow at the top, but didn’t want to spend too much on one. Most of them ranged from $9.99-$19.99. I came across a nice roll of purple burlap for only $3.99 and thought: how hard could it be to make the bow myself? So I did…

I cut the strand of burlap into three pieces. Two longer strands and one shorter strand. A put aside one of the longer strands.

I folded the ends behind, and pinched the center, in order to have one piece overlap the other.

I wrapped a string around the pinched section in the middle of each of the two pieces, making sure the knot was at the back.

Place the smaller bow on top of the larger bow and wrap the third piece of cut burlap on top of the bows and tie at the back. Arrange the two strands to complete the bow!

Not bad, right? Took me less than ten minutes and it was so cheap!

I searched for some flowers that I could add, and found a great bunch that were $12.99 on for $9.99. I also found a beautiful orange flower that had a clip on the back for $1.29. The final touch I wanted to add to the wreath was a monogram. I found the perfect wooden “W” that was already painted white for $6.99, and used a 40% off coupon for it.

In total the wreath cost me about $25, and it was EXACTLY what I wanted.

I drilled a hole in the back of the “W” and screwed in a hook so I could attach it to the wreath with some wire.

I took the bow and attached it to the wreath with string; and took each of the flowers from the bunch and wrapped them through the wreath. The stems were made of wire, so it made it very easy.

The finished product!

Although we have two front doors, I figured the monogramed wreath would be enough on only one of the doors.

What do you think? I am really happy with how it turned out, and think it’s the perfect fit for our door this fall.

All items were purchased from Michaels for this DIY.

Maxton’s Bubble Guppies Party

On Saturday we celebrated Maxton’s third birthday, with a Bubble Guppies themed party (he doesn’t actually turn three until the 24th). Bubble Guppies is probably his favourite TV show, and has been for a while so I figured it would be something he would enjoy.

I see this TV show multiple times a day, so I had a pretty good idea on what I wanted to do and the colours I wanted to stick with.

You will have to excuse the picture quality. I was racing around minutes before all the little guppies arrived, and wasn’t paying much attention to the settings nor did I do a great job at centering the photos.

The party was supposed to be outside, but just like last year for his party, it poured rain. It had been threatening rain all week, and it literally started to pour five minutes before his party started.

The Bubble Guppies characters I purchased from Party City. They actually came in six, 6ft strands, but I thought I would get creative and tape them through the streamers to make it look like they were swimming in water.

The sign I made myself from scrapbook paper from Michaels. I love making the signs, it is so much more fun than just buying one.

The plates, napkins and orange paper straws I purchased from Dollarama, with the exception of the Bubble Guppies plates; they were from Party City.

It was fun coming up with funny little names for the food – makes it that much more fun.

The cupcakes I made myself, and the cupcake toppers I also did myself. I printed them off of the Nickelodeon Junior website, cut them out, and taped them to the back of toothpicks.

The cake I had made by “Not A Cupcake“. She did an amazing job and only charged $35. Most importantly, Maxton loved it, and it tasted delicious!

He was so excited to blow out the candle!

So serious – he loved his piece of cake though!

Overall, despite the fact that we had to cram 40+ adults and kids into our house, it turned out great and Maxton had a blast.

I hope my little guy enjoyed his Bubble Guppies party. I still can’t believe he’s almost three…