About to POP Baby Shower

This past weekend was the About to POP baby shower I threw for my cousin's fiance...finally!

I feel like I've been preparing for this shower, FOREVER, but I've had alot of fun in the process.  It never fails that any time I host a shower or party of any kind, the night before I end up asking my husband, "why I decided to do this?" 

To which he responds, "because you like them".  Which is true but man the night before and day of is filled with alot of scrambling and stress.

Anyway, enough rambling, on to the party. 

I used multiple colors with the main 2 being pink and purple.  Of course no "About to POP" shower is complete without a popcorn bar, I too had to have one.  I made 3 types of popcorn, butter, caramel, and white chocolate with M&M's.  I made individual popcorn boxes, that were too cute.  I bought the book Hop on POP and had everyone sigh it for the baby's first book.  I had 2 types of centerpieces, the lollipop bouquet pictured above, and 2 diaper cakes.

 

I used my cricut to cut 2 inch circles and used them as a ribbon around the diaper cakes.  I had the hardest time figuring out how to top them.  First I planned on doing flowers like I did with the last baby shower I planned.  Then I thought of doing a painted wood letter "C", which stood for the baby's name, but neither of them looked right.  My last resort was the cloth baby shoes.  My intention was to decorate them with cute little bows and flowers (the above cake had pink polka dot shoes, the other one had purple polka dot shoes), however because I made these the day before during a rather short naptime and had a million other things to finish, it didn't happen.  They are still cute but I wish I had the time to jazz em up a bit.

 

I made a table runner for the counter out of polka dot scrapbook paper.  I didn't even tape them together, I just laid them next to each other and placed everything else on top which kept them in place.

 

 

I made the cupcake stand out of 3 wood plaques from hobby lobby and 2 glass candle sticks from the Dollar Tree.  I glued them together with E6000 glue and spray painted the entire thing.  I was so excited with my Chocolate caramel cupcakes.  They were so very delish and came out perfectly.

 

 

I have a thing about 2 liters of pop..... I hate having them at parties.  I always end up buying 2 many and I'm left with multiple opened bottles which inevitably go flat and get dumped into the sink.  I made strawberry lemonade, sweet tea, and cherry limeade.  I wasn't crazy about the cherry limeade, but other's said it was very tasty.  I also had bottled water with my cute little labels.  Which almost all got taken, so I was super happy.

 

 

I found a onesie shaped cookie cutter while my mom and sister and I were in Amish country and knew I had to use it for the shower.  It was just too cute.  I didn't want to frost them like I do any other cookie because I wanted them to look a little less homemade, not that there is anything wrong with homemade.  I took some tips for flooding the frosting and outlining the cookie from the blog Bake at 350.  If you are a cookie baker you must go to this blog, it is Heaven.  The cookies took a long time to flood but the end result was worth it.  I LOVE how cute they are.  Maybe eventually I'll get a little fancy with the frosting but the simple pink was just the right touch.

 

I made Snap Crackle POP treats.  Which was just store bought chocolate rice krispy treats cut in half with lollipop sticks sticks added.  I decided they needed to have some pink added to them so I dipped  in more chocolate and rolled them in sugar I dyed with food coloring.  I attached a tag that read, "thanks for POPping by". 

 

Here is one thing I have learned about favors, at least with my family, no one ever takes them, or even realizes what they are.  Unless it's a kid's party with goodie bags, I always get some puzzled looks when I mention favors.  So note to self.....don't worry about them next time.

 

I also had 9 tissue paper poms, 3 hanging from each light fixture in my mom's kitchen, dining area, and living room.  These tied all the colors together.

 

For food (which I completely forgot to get any pics of) was all popped themed.  I made POPcorn chicken using boneless, skinless chicken breast and Kraft Fresh Takes in Rosemary and Garlic as well as Italian Parmasan (spelling?).  They were super tasty.  We also had sweet pepper POPpers (I used cream cheese and cheddar shredded cheese), taco dip (Mouth POPin Taco Dip), pasta salad, and broccoli and Carrots (POP something healthy).  It was delish.

 

 

I'm so glad I did the shower because the guest of honor was super happy with everything but man am I glad it's over.  I was exhausted for 2 days after and very thankful I don't have another party to plan and prepare for until Grant's birthday.

 

 

 

Baby Shower Banner

I'm so excited to be planning another baby shower.  About a year and a half ago I did a Thing 1 and Thing 2 for my cousin who was having twin boys.  I can't believe they are over a year old now.  When I found out my cousin Trevor and his fiance were expecting I immediately volunteered to do their baby shower.  I chose the theme "About to POP", mainly because I really really wanted to do a Popcorn bar but also because I knew I could use a rainbow of colors and I want this shower to be bright and cheery, full of lots of color.

I bought a scapbook paper stack from Hobby Lobby.  180 sheets of polka dot, stripes, plaid, etc in a variety of colors and I'm going to do all the decorations and invitations using them.  The first project I tackled was a banner.  After all every good party needs a banner right?  I saw this one and knew I needed to make one of my own.  I hand traced and cut each onesie out and used my cricut to cut the circles and letters to spell baby Channing's name.  I have to say after cutting all those onesies out by hand I have a new found appreciation for my beloved Cricut.

 

I used some ribbon I already had along with clothespins I already had.  Then I dug through my boxes of fabric to find some scraps I could cut up to tie in between each onsie.  I wasn't trying to make colors match or anything, I just wanted some bright colors in the mix.

 

This is not where the banner will hang during the shower but it was the only wall space that I could get a picture without toys, pictures, tables, windows, or Grant's hands in the photo.

 

 

I absolutely love this banner.  It just screams "baby", and I like that it couldn't be used for a birthday or any other kind of celebration.

 

I have many more "About to POP" projects coming up, as I'm slowly completing them marking them off my list one by one, so stay tuned!

 

 

Mickey Birthday Shirt

The one picture I didn't get throughout the party was a good one of Grant's shirt.   My mom found this white shirt for $1 (SCORE!).  I printed Grant's name in Mickey font I downloaded from dafont.com, slipped it under the front of his shirt and traced the letters with a water soluble quilting pen.  Then I just embroidered the letters.

I didn't have any black fabric and rather than go buy some I decided to be really thrifty and use one of the old t-shirts we had in our give away pile.  I used the Mickey head image from my Cricut to make the head.  I backed it with heat and bond and stitched it with my sewing machine.  I printed the 2 in Mickey font then traced it with the water soluble pen and cut it out of red fabric I already had in my stash.  I backed it with heat and bond, ironed it on, and hand stitched it to the shirt.

 

I had intended for the shirt to be a lot more detailed and a lot  more colorful but time constraints (since I actually forgot about finishing the shirt until the day before the party) forced me to make it a little more simple.  However I'm really happy with the simplicity of it.  Grant kept trying to look at the back of his shirt to see Mickey while it was on him, too cute!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 2nd Birthday!

My son's birthday party was this weekend.  Normally once a party or shower is over I feel relieved to have it behind me and start crafting for the next one but I'm really sad his 2nd birthday is over.  I was looking back on pictures of my little guy from his first year and started tearing up.  It seems like forever ago since he was born and yet like it was just yesterday at the same time.

We did a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme this year and I set a challenge for myself.  To have a birthday party with food, cake, favors, and decorations with a budget set at $50.  Why did I do this you ask,  it seems everything nowadays is getting bigger and bigger, that includes birthdays.  I've seen some on tv, talked to friends and family members as they have been in the midst of party planning and i've heard mentions of decorations alone costing over $60, cakes $80 or more and entire parties costing in the hundreds, my mouth hits the floor every time.  If there is one thing I want to teach my son as he grows up it's to appreciate simplicity and the value of a dollar.  I could have spent more than the $50 I alotted myself but why?  If I can get the party I want for Grant and have all the things I know he will love, why spend a fortune that could be put towards something else for him. 

For food we had a hot dog bar complete with all kinds of toppings for hot dogs, cheese puffs, pretzels, potato wedges,deviled eggs, bacon ranch pasta salad, coleslaw, iced sugar cookies, and chocolate peanut butter cupcakes I made myself.  Most of these items were purchased over the last couple months with coupons.  For example the hot dogs cost all of $0.17/package, the ranch dressing for the pasta salad was $0.39, and the sugar cookies were made from a Betty Crocker sugar cookie pouch I got for free.  I am so proud of the party I was able to put together for the small budget I set for myself and I can honestly say there was nothing I was wishing I had bought or done differently.

Now onto the party.....

 

Centerpiece #1: All the images were cut with my cricut and attached to kabob skewers with tape.If you don't have a cricut you could easily print similar images off the internet and cut around them.  The bottom is just a wide drinking glass I stuffed 2 sheets of tissue paper down in and then wrapped it with another piece putting a rubber band around the top to hold it in place.

 

Centerpiece #2: The table runner under this centerpiece runs the lengths of the bar and is just strips of crepe paper streamers sewed together.  If you don't have a sewing machine you could easily tape them together on the bottom and get the same effect.  I cut 1 1/2inch black mickey heads to scatter around the table runner and act as confetti, these were also cut using my cricut.

 

 

I loved this cupcake stand and the cupcakes on it.  The stand is 3 boxes (a Special K granola bar box, shipping box, and the lid of a copy paper box) wrapped in red wrapping paper from the dollar store and stacked on top of each other.   One thing I learned with the small budget challenge was to use what you have and make it work.  This cupcake stand is a perfect example of that. The black Mickey images were cut with my Cricut using the Mickey and Friends cartridge.  I made the cupcake toppers myself using red chocolate from Hobby Lobby and a Wilton squeeze bottle.  I piped them with the squeeze bottle onto wax paper, put them in the fridge for about 10 minutes then popped them off and put them on the cupcakes with the flat side facing out.

 

 

 

I used some items we already had to decorate like the stuffed Mickey and the frames that held Grants 2 year pictures and subway art. 2 board books I found at the Target dollar spot are placed on either side of Mickey.

I made the birthday banner out of cardstock and fabric.  I cut the cardstock pennants with my cricut as well as the letters.  Using those as a guide I drew a template for the larger fabric pennants to go behind them.  I used glue dots to attach the letters to the cardstock and I stitched the cardstock to the fabric.  I then made my own bias tape to attach them all at the top and stitched it as well.  I was so excited with how this banner turned out and how well it went with the party without screaming "Mickey Mouse".

I made the character images with my cricut. I adored the mickey/circle garland.  I used primary colored cardstock, cut the Mickey heads and circles out with my cricut them stitched them together.  The effect was perfect and Grant loved them.  I can say the only thing I hate about making homemade decorations is I can't bear to throw away all my super cute hard work haha.

 

I purchased this blue bucket at the Dollar Tree for the ice and water bottles.  I showed the water bottle labels I made here.  I don't buy a bunch of 2 liters of sodas any more because the cost tends to add up & in the end your left with half a dozen 2 liters 1/2 full, and they end up going to waste.  Instead I have started making a large pitcher of homemade strawberry lemonade and sweet tea.  I figure anyone who doesn't like either of those can choose the bottled water.

 

 

I used the Mickey/circle garland I made out of cardstock to drape each of the windows.  After draping them I felt they were too plain and I immediately thought of window clings.  I used to love those when I was a kid.  I used my cricut and cut Mickey heads in 7 1/2 inches and 4 1/2 inches and stuck them to the windows.  Grant kept walking over to the windows and pointing saying "Mi, Mi" (Mickey).  After the party I took all the small colored ones and stuck them on the wall next to my son's bed, he loved it.

 

 

 

I was trying to get a better view of the table runner I made with crepe paper streamers and confetti in the picture above.  We also used water bottles as balloon weights.  I forgot to tell my husband to get weights when he went to pick them up so we improvised.

 

 For a game we had Mickey Mouse bowling I made with empty soup cans and cardstock.  Grant loved stacking them up and throwing the ball to knock them all down.  He hasn't quite gotten the hang of rolling the ball.

 

I made treat bags for the 2 little guests we had.  I debated for a long time on what to put in them and eventually decided to put in Grant's favorite goodies.  So inside were fruit snacks, lucky charms breakfast bar, homemade tootsie rolls, and a Minnie Mouse board book (because both were girls).

 

 

I posted about the Invites here.

 

I had so much fun planning, preparing, and putting together this birthday and I couldn't be happier with the results.  Grant had a great time with people he loves celebrating his 2nd year and that's the important thing.

 

Happy Birthday My Little Man!

 

 

 

 

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday Invite

I have been in birthday crafting mode all week.  I have quite a to-do list but I am determined not to have a repeat of last year, which consisted of me being up until 3am decorating.  I have no desire to do that this year.  So I have quite a few posts coming up full of birthday goodies.  The first being his invitations.  I've had it in my mind how I wanted to do his invites for a while and for whatever reason the procrastinator came out in me and I just got them finished.  I was very thankful I didn't have dozens to do because they took a bit of time.

I used my cricut to cut the Mickey head and attached it to the wrap with glue dots.  To make the wrap I had to measure each of the invites (because I wasn't smart enough to cut them all the same size) and added 1/2 inch seam allowance. 

 

On the invite itself I downloaded the Mickey image from the internet and just created the rest in a word document and printed it on white cardstock.  I stitched the white part of the invite to the colored cardstock, 1. because I didn't want to use any more of my glue dots, and 2. because I thought it would add something different to the invitation.

 

Because these weren't standard sized invitations I ended up having to make custom envelopes.  They weren't difficult, just a little time consuming.  I used a letter scorer (is that what they are called?), you can see it in the right of the photo below.  It came with my cricut supplies, maybe it's a bone folder, either way, doesn't matter.  I put the invite in the middle of my 12x12 cardstock, used a ruler and scored it so it would fold nicely.

 

 

As you can see above I cut the corners out so it would all fit together like an envelope.  Fold in the right and left sides, and fold the bottom up attaching it to the sides with glue dots.

 

 

Then put your invite in and use another glue dot to close the top flap.

 

I'm so thrilled with how they turned out and even more thrilled they are finished.  It feels good to be able to check some projects off my list.

 

 

 

 

Mickey Birthday Bowling

I finished the bowling game I have planned for Grant's birthday.  I went back and forth on how I wanted to do it, what I wanted to use, etc.  Originally I saw toilet paper bowling over at Oopsey Daisy and thought for sure that's what I wanted to do.  However when I set my party budget at $50 (that includes food, drinks, favors, and decorations) I started trying to find ways to use things I already had around the house because any time you have a small budget, every dollar counts.  That's when I thought of using veggie cans.

So after a few dinners I collected 6 veggie cans, took the lids off with a can opener and put masking tape over the rim in case of sharp edges.

 

I bought a package of primary colored cardstock at Hobby Lobby to use for multiple decorations throughout the party.  I picked yellow, red, and blue and wrapped the cans with them sealing them with glue dots. 

 

 

Of course I had to tie in Mickey so I decided to use my Cricut and my Mickey and Friends cartridge to cut out a black Mickey head.

 

(After taking the above pic I decided to put the can opening down so I switched the Mickey around)

 

Just a plain Mickey head wasn't enough so I added the number 2 to each of the cans.

 

 

I personally think they are too cute! Grant kept wanting to knock them over while I was trying to get pics of them to post, so even if they don't actually "bowl" with them I know they will at least knock 'em over and stack 'em up.

 

 

 

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Subway Art

I saw birthday subway art here at Oopsey Daisy and thought it would be too cute to make one for my little guy's party.

At the very bottom is his birthday.  I downloaded the Mickey, Minnie, and Waltograph fonts from dafont.com.  I made my art in a Microsoft Works Word document by creating txt boxes of varied sizes.  It's pretty simple but I think it will look cute as part of the decorations on the gift table. 

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Water Bottle Labels

Last year for Grant's birthday I created these water bottle labels.  While I thought they turned out really cute, they were alot of cutting and glueing and I decided this year I didn't want to put up with all that.  So I'm keeping it a little more simple and classic.

I made each label with a different character because it's easy to get lost and only feature Mickey Mouse.  The more characters you showcase the more colors you will tie in.  I found all the character images using google searches and copying and pasting them into a word document.

Our party this year will consist of a family dinner, nothing too big, under 20 people but even still I have all the elements I want.  I love water bottle labels and they have become a staple at every party I've had since my wedding.  They are a cute, simple and inexpensive way to add a personal touch to any party.  Not to mention I don't like providing a bunch of 2 liters of sodas because the cost can add up quickly and we don't let Grant have soda yet.  I figure if it's his birthday why should we have a drink he can't even have.  So instead I plan on having homemade lemonade, sweet tea, and anyone who doesn't like either of those can have the water (but I don't know how anyone could not like my homemade lemonade).

Mickey Mouse Birthday Beginnings

I have been working on Grant's birthday decorations.  This year we are having a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme, both Grant and my neice love the Hot Dog dance.  My mom happened to find the Mickey and Friends Cricut cartridge last year for $13 on clearance so I'm using it for the decorations.
Here are the characters I've finished so far:

I also have Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy but I am lacking 1 color of cardstock to finish them.  As of now these character cut outs will be used to decorate for the bean bag toss.  Can we take a moment and say how much I love my Cricut.  It makes creating birthday decor so much easier and cuter than I could create by myself.

I used the Calligraphy cartidge to make the penants for his banner.  I made mine 7 inches.  The letters are from the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge and they are each 2 inches.  I have striped fabric that has all the primary colors I'm going to back each of the penants with but I haven't gotten them sewed yet.

His invitations are simple yet I think they are so darn cute! I looked all over the internet for invite ideas and saw some really cute ones I was going to copy, then decided to do something of my own. 

I'm going to use the invitation above and make an invite wrap to jazz it up a bit.  I bought a yard of striped fabric that incorporates all the colors I'm using for the party.  It will be used in the banner but I'm also going to create a wrap about 2 inches wide to go around the center of the invite (big enough to cover mickey, small enough you will be able to read the first 2 lines).  On top of this I want to layer a red smaller cardstock wrap with a black mickey head in the center with a 2 on top of that.  Does any of that make sense?  I'm super excited to get these decorations started and hope my steam doesn't run out before everything is finished.

What else is on my birthday to-do list?  Water bottle labels, bowling and bean bag toss games, lollipop tree, favor bags, cupcake stands, birthday shirt, and centerpieces.  My list isn't very long this year.  After the late nights I had preparing for Grant's Toy Story birthday last year I learned alot about time management, along with how to make things easier on myself.

Stay tuned over the next 2 months for more Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday tid bits.

Water Bottle Label How-To

I have started a small obsession with water bottle labels and feel the need for them to be apart of every celebration.  My first dabble with them was for my wedding.  I stupidly made 24 labels, with the intention of using them in goody bags for Derrick's family who drove from Tennessee to Ohio, ended up not doing the goody bags and put them on the table at the wedding.  Needless to say everyone wanted one and they were gone before you could blink.  I made those in Microsoft publisher which I no longer have on my computer, enter my Cricut.  I used my Cricut to make the labels for my sister's graduation party and my cousin's baby shower and now my son's birthday. 

Each time I do the labels I end up finding another way to make them.  So here is how I made Grant's birthday labels:

1st I typed the wording I wanted in a word document and spaced the Happy Birthday and the Grant is 1! as far apart as I could and still have them on the same line, then copied and pasted a few more on the page with enough room in between to cut.  I printed them on white cardstock I bought at Walmart for $5.96 for 150 sheets

Then I took a label off the water bottle I intended to use keeping as much of it intact as possible to use as a template.  I positioned the label wear I wanted it over top of the wording and made small marks to indicate where the top and bottom of the label would need to be cut (if you look close you can see these dashes on the right hand side of the cardstock page).

Now use your paper cutter, any paper cutter will do, and cut straight across where you made the dashes.

You will end up with a bunch of these:

Are you getting excited! I love this part of crafting, when the first part of your project is done and you get a little sneak of what its going to end up looking like.  Haha I think only fellow crafters would understand that comment.

Anyways...

I found a picture online of Buzz and Woody I liked, copied it into my pictures file, then copied it into a word document, sized it to 1 inch and put multiple on one page, leaving enough room between them to cut them into circles.

Here is where my beloved Cricut comes in, can I say how much I love my Cricut, I love it I love it I love it.

Ok back to water bottle labels.

I used the Accent Essentials cartridge and cut the shape on the left, which I used as a background for the Buzz and Woody picture.  I cut this shape at 2 inches out of regular scrapbook paper.  I used the centerpoint feature on the Cricut and cut 1 3/4 inch circles around each of the pictures, then glued the circle onto the background shape using clear glue I bought at Walmart.

Now just glue the Buzz and Woody shape in between the wording on your label and TADAAA! Your almost finished, but look how cute they are!

Now, technically you could stop right here and just tape or glue these fabulously homemade and personalized labels to your water bottles, or if your like me and have a need to keep little momentos of birthdays (holidays, baby showers, bridal showers, etc etc etc), you can use contact paper to cover them and keep them from ruining or ripping.  I read somewhere if you cover them in packing tape they will be waterproof, and all I can say about that is...

Lies! All Lies!

I tried this on my sister's graduation labels because the party was at a park and the bottles were going to be in a cooler of ice, needless to say my beautiful labels that I slaved over for hours ended up completely ruined with bleeding cardstock colors.  O well live and learn.



Toy Story Birthday

Grant's birthday party was Saturday and let me say this, I will be planning his 2nd birthday way in advance.  I had the ideas for his party for quite a while but didn't actually get started on decorations until 2 weeks before the party, and all I can say to that is...... big mistake!  When it comes to parties and holidays I always have this vision of what I want them to be and all the personal touches I want to add, and needless to say I procrastinate, stress myself out, get hateful, and almost cry because nothing is going the way I want.  I had many ideas that fell apart due to time, money, and pure exhaustion after working all day and taking care of Grant and the house.  However, now that it is all said and done I am so happy it went well and Grant had fun.



I bought 1yd of Toy Story fabric from Hobby Lobby to cover the table, and the banner was made using paper I already had in my stash.

My Cricut and I became very close working on this project, I think we are going to need a little time apart lol.  I cut all the characters out using the Toy Story Cartridge.  I attached kabob skewers to the back of each character and stuck them in a mason jar filled with basket filling.  I found the Toy Story ribbon on clearence at Walmart and decided to wrap the jar in it and attach a number1.

I made his birthday hat using the Elmo Party cartridge and tieing white ribbon to either side, decorating it with dots and a number 1 cut using the Plantin Schoolbook and Accent Essentials.  I made the "I am 1" banner with Cricut scrapbook paper. 

We decided not to have the party at 3pm and just have desserts in order to keep costs down.  I decided to

made chocolate cupcakes with homemade buttercream icing, rice krispy treats, chocolate covered marshmallows, and iced butter cookies.  We usually buy quite a few 2 liters of different sodas but instead I decided to have sweet tea, punch, and bottled water. 

I made Grant a 6 inch smash cake.  I kept the decorating simple by piping a number one on top and making a border around the bottom.

I thought the marshmallow pops were so cute but not as tasty as I would have liked.  The kids loved them though.

I had each of the characters cut out and hung on the cabinets.

 

My mom did the balloon wreath the night before, trying to help me get finished before dawn.  I think the both of us finally made it to our beds at 2 am. 

I bought the straw wreath form at Michaels for 4.99 and my mom used plain straight pins to attach all the balloons.  The Toy Story emblem was made with my beloved Cricut and hung with thread.

I made a 12 month banner, cutting the "frames" out with my Accent Essentials cartridge

I love tissue poms!

I had to make him a special shirt,  I appliqued a number 1 on the back of a white onesie...

and copied a picture from the internet into a word document, printed it on printable fabric from Hobby Lobby and appliquued it on.

When I pictured my little one's first birthday like most mother's I wanted the perfect picture of his cake covered face and since there were so many things that did not go as I wanted I figured there was no way I would be lucky enough to get this perfect shot.....but I did!

Is that not the cutest mouth and hand you have ever seen! haha. 

Now the party is over and all my work is done (for this project anyway), now its time for me to rest.