Strawberry Birthday Party (Pic Heavy)

Last week my little turned two years old.  I can't believe two years have already passed since she was born.

Mattie had a Strawberry Shortcake inspired birthday party using the colors and design of Strawberry Shortcake. Below are some of the things we did to throw her her very own Strawberry Party.

These cupcakes were the BEST cupcakes I might have ever made, maybe ever had. Seriously. Making three dozen cupcakes with a double batch of the icing was a bit laborious, but once my taste buds experienced these cupcakes, it was all worth it. I already had the cupcake stands from Laney's birthday party last year.



 I got the recipe from Martha Stewart's website, but really the recipe is owned by Candice Nelson, aka Sprinkles. I changed some things in the recipe that you will definitely need to know about, like adding baking soda that was accidentally left out of the recipe (that will have to be another post). Here's also a video of Candice Nelson making these (she included the baking soda in this video)



Do you think Mattie liked them? She was putting her fingers in the icing, picking the strawberries off the top, licking the icing off of them and eating them.

Mmm. Mama these are good cupcakes.




 Red-picnic Dollar Tree plates and napkins

 

Focal point of party!
We had the party down at the pool cabana of our neighborhood. It was so nice because it was free, there was enough seating for everyone, there were ceiling fans, and a pool for everyone to swim in after eating cupcakes. (oh and not to mention a cool fireplace for our focal point)

The morning of the party my friend, Rachelle Usher, came over to help me prep for the party. What a tremendous help she was. Rachelle came over and made the balloon banner you see above. Want to know now to make it?

Supplies for Balloon Banner:

• Pack of 20 balloons in red (Party City)
• Pack of 20 balloons in green (Party City)
• Decorator Strip ($4.99 at Party City
• Strong lungs to blow up 40 balloons

Balloon Banner How-To:

1.  Blow up all of the balloons.

2. Tie two balloons of the same color together. 

3. Make a cluster of four balloons total by tying together two clusters of two balloons, of the same color.

4. Stick the end of a balloon cluster (4 balloons tied together) in the hole in the decorator strip.

5. Continue to stick all balloon clusters into decorator strip until you have no more balloon clusters.

6. Reserve a little bit of the decorator strip on each end so you can hang it.

*This banner was supposed to hang straight, but it was difficult to do that at this shelter, so we did the best we could. Also, I wouldn't recommend hanging balloons next to brick. Balloons were randomly popping throughout the party and scaring us to death.

 



I had Dear Hubby unscrew our big chalkboard from the playroom wall,
 so I could make a focus point and personal birthday sign.

I snagged Mattie's birth announcements, her first year portrait, some fake flowers from our house, and a pink chicken for decor (from our house) to add to the focal point.

Spanish Moss "M" for Mattie:

• "M" at Hobby Lobby for $1.99
• Spanish moss at Hobby Lobby
• Spray glue (on hand)
• Ribbon to hang (on hand)

Spanish Moss Letter How-To:

1. Head outside with your supplies.

2. Spray your letter(s) with spray glue.

3. Quickly bunch up and lay down your Spanish moss.

That's it.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

My friend Rachelle actually glued the Spanish moss for me the morning of the party.
She did a fantastic job!



Inspired by the Strawberry Shortcake design (but not using the Strawberry Shortcake character stuff), I bought red, plastic tablecloths from the Dollar Tree, green and white polka dot wrapping paper from Party City for $3.99, and grabbed a few things from the house for decor (strawberry bowl and glass candlesticks).

Gotta love my animated little Lanes. She's the life of a party!

For the party favors, I sewed burlap bags with red thread.

I used a scallopped paper punch and some scrap cream cardstock  to make nametags

Inside bags: (pics aren't that great due to mobile phone pics at 1:30 am)

Handmade red headbands (made from an old tshirt) with burlap rosette

Trader Joes strawberry fruit leather
Organic strawberry sucker
A few pieces of Trader Joes saltwater strawberry taffy
Little plastic bags of Trader Joes crunchy chocolate covered peanuts tied with gingham ribbon



Birthday Girl in her bathing suit.
This was also a swim party, so the entertainment was built in.
Loved this.



Beautiful big sissy having a blast swimming

Celebrating with friends and family

Incredible birthday picture with Nana

Having fun with Mimi
Bye-bye!
Thanks for dropping by my Strawberry Party!

DIY: Gift Card Holder (or Hair bow Holder)

Would it not be so dreamy if someone gave you a spread of gift cards for a special occasion? A friend of mine was recently put on bed rest in the latter weeks of her pregnancy. Our church rallied together to collect some gift cards to help out that family in these challenging days for them.

I wanted to organize them to make them presentable, instead of putting them all in a box or envelope. Below is the super-easy tutorial. I also used the same steps to make my girls' hair bow holder that hangs on the wall.

What you need:
-newspaper
-wood frame
-flat head screwdriver
-paint & paint brush (or spray paint)
-coordinating ribbon
-hot glue gun & glue sticks
-paper clips
-sticky adhesive (used hanging things on walls) *optional*

$2 frame from Goodwill. Always buy an all-wood frame. 
And that heart artwork...whew.
It leaves something to be desired for sure. 

Don't let cheesy artwork deter you from buying a solid frame
that could be turned into something great. 

I removed the back paper, the art, the mat and the glass. If there are staples, you will need something like a flat head screwdriver to help bend those staples up enough to get the glass out.

Find a little helper to help paint.

Painting finished

Hot glue ribbon onto back of frame 
 Be sure to pull the ribbon as tightly as you can, once you get one side glued down.

Notice that I did not hot glue the ribbon on the very back of the frame, but instead on the inside of the frame. Right where the glass would sit inside the frame is where you want to glue down your ribbon, which gives you some room between the ribbon and the wall. If you're using this as a gift card holder, then ribbon placement really doesn't matter, but if you're making a hair bow holder, then it's nice to have a little bit of room for the hair bow to clip on so you don't scrape the wall. I don't feel like I explained that well, so feel free to ask questions if you have any.

I like to space out the ribbon randomly on the frame, using wide and narrow ribbon.  



Almost finished...

After I took this picture, I added one wide cream grosgrain ribbon in one of the middle gaps.



Add gift cards with paper clips.
I folded most of the paper part of the gift card, so as to provide more room on the frame and make for a prettier presentation. I tried my best to hide the paper clips.


Be patient when trying to hide those paper clips. Take a few deep breaths if you get frustrated. It's only frustrating if you have to keep moving them, especially after you add the sticky foam tape too.  

I did a lot of moving around, because I get particular and picky, and I designed it as I went along. If you don't mind that the paper clips show, which is a fun look too, then it will be easy adding the cards.
I even thought about using clothes pins, and that might look neat if you don't have lots of cards.

\

I also used a foam sticky tape to make the cards more secure.


The foam tape was leftover from my teaching days and is used to hang plastic hooks on the wall if you don't want to put a hole. It's not necessary to use this, but keeps the cards from shifting. Double-sided tape might work too or those little scrapbook squares.




Project FINISHED!
Now take a look at the before/after.


Before:

After:

My friend loved the fact that this was a dual-purpose gift. She was SO excited that she could use the frame for her girls' hair bows as well, since she's having another girl!


Happy Crafting!



Teacher/Kiddie Presents

This is a great idea for your child's teacher, your own child's room, or for your child's friend. It could also serve as a birthday present too! This great idea is originally featured at Testosterone Times Three.

You can find a box of crayons and a frame at the dollar store. Print out your background with the teacher’s/kid's name, scripture, or any saying and create a monogram out of crayons, breaking them to get the right widths. I would hot glue the crayons on, pop in the frame, and you’re ready give a great homemade gift. You can also substitute other school supplies such as colored pencils or regular #2 pencils.

Project Estimate:
Frame, $1 (or use a frame you already have around the house)
Box of crayons, $1
Glue, on hand
Total: $2

1st and 3rd Birthday!

In 2009, we have already celebrated Adeline's first birthday and Will's third birthday! First up was Adeline in March. For first birthday parties, I think its best to just have a gathering of family and friends for a meal and, of course, cake!! I do minimal decorations with only a few balloons or other handmade items (see below).

Following in that tradition, Adeline's party was held at her Gigi's house (bigger than ours!) and we had a cookout. I included many kid friendly food items including cheese cubes, fruit salad cut small, goldfishes and juice boxes. Here is Adeline with her cousins, friends and Grandaddy. :)

My big birthday girl enjoying her gifts.

Here she is discovering her cupcake! You'll see from Will's party below that I'm a HUGE fan of cupcakes! I love to bake and make cakes, but when they're young - cupcakes seem SO much easier to dish out. So far, its what I've done for all four birthday parties I have under my belt.

For Will's birthday, we had his party about a week after his actual birthday. So, on his actual birthday we made it special all day long. He got to use the (Mom-made) special plate! Dad left him a card and he opened a few presents. We generally just made it a big deal all day long!

Will's birthday is in June - so it is the perfect month for a POOL party! We have been blessed with having a great "third set" of grandparents for Will (and Adeline). Sherry was Will's babysitter while I worked and she, along with husband John, love Will like their own. They offered for us to have Will's party at their house and use the pool. We said, YES!

Since it was a pool party, we went with general pool/beach things and bright, beach ball-like colors. This bucket was our "dirt" cake. Except, I made the top layer to look like the ocean and sand. The "dirt" thing didn't really fit the pool party - but we love dirt cake, so this worked!

I also made some cupcakes for those that may not like dirt cake. I feel like I'm a little slow on this one, but I (finally) learned that you should make WHITE cake if you want the colors and/or design of the cupcake liners to show. I usually do chocolate, but it ruins the cute colors of the liners. This time the paper was bright thanks to white cake!

This year, I made each kid their own birthday garland. For Adeline's, I used pink and green patterned fabrics. Will got bright colors. My intention was to use iron-on letters to spell, "Happy Birthday." But I never got around to it. It worked, because each kid now has their banner hanging in their rooms! I love how they turned out.

One last birthday tip - this is the first year that I've ordered paper invites for any party. I usually use a service like Evite, but decided to change it up this year. For both Will and Adeline, I was able to get plenty (at least 20) of these adorable invites, plus envelopes, for about $15 shipped. I almost couldn't buy cards and print it myself for that cheap. The website is VistaPrint and I highly recommend it!