Take Me Out to the Ballgame - A Very Special First Birthday

My baby boy turned one, and I chose a baseball theme for his very small family party. It was really fun, because there was so much out there for baseball. And since our colors were red and blue, all the 4th of July party stuff worked too! I really enjoyed doing all the concession stand inspired food too.

Thank you to my mom who helped me with a lot of the party,  and to my mother-in-law who made the precious party hat.

Here are pics of the decor and treats:

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Argyle and Alphabet Nursery

We are having a baby boy! And the first thing I did when I heard, was start planning the nursery! I wanted to do aqua, red, and bright green to go with our chocolate brown furniture. I originally got the idea for the colors when I was stacking blocks with Leah about a year ago!

When I was newly pregnant with Leah, I found this really cute argyle bedding set I wanted from Land of Nod if we were going to have a boy. This time around, I know I won't use a traditional bumper, so I had to figure out another way to include argyle in the nursery. I also wanted to incorporate the alphabet since it is so versatile! I perused Pinterest and found some really cute nursery accents to get started on.

So here's how it got done:

I relied on my husband to paint the room. I used the new Emerald paint from Sherwin Williams. It is low VOC's. The color is aquatint. Between the quart sample I bought and the gallon, we had enough for two coats and touch ups.

Here is the door hanger I made for baby Kyle out of a medium sized wooden letter, hot glue, and yarn.

                                             

I made one for Leah too, of course!

Here is the full size letter I made to go on the wall. The inspiration came from this site.

I also made these letters to collage on the wall. I used a package of 6 inch chipboard letters from Hobby Lobby, modge podge, scrapbook paper, and an X-acto knife to make them. I then secured them to the wall with ultra thin glue dots.

My bestie, who owns her own card and stationery business, made these PERFECT nursery prints for me as a very thoughtful gift. She is incredibly talented!! Her website is www.sugarbeedesigns.com or she has an Etsy shop named SugarBeeShoppe.

Next, I went to Ikea and got some containers. I was hoping for green, but I got these brown ones. I think they give the room some texture. I used ribbon from my shower gifts to embellish them.

The toy tub and diaper cake were both shower gifts. The changing pad cover is custom made by ModFox on esty.com.
We had the shutters installed. They are an investment (Thanks, Mom and Dad!), but I think they make the room look bright and clean. Also, there is no need for any other window treatments. We have these in Leah's room too and absolutely love them!

I bought the hanging blue toy holder at Ikea. As you can see, we have a few toys in it already! I bought one for Leah's room too, since she has so many "friends." The rolling cart is also an Ikea buy. Very versatile!

I was going to paint an argyle pattern on the wall, but decided to hang a quilt instead. It's less permanent and can be moved anytime! My mom made this amazing quilt in an argyle pattern with the fabrics I helped pick out at our local quilting store. She's very talented!

I also found this small rug at Ikea. It is actually a bathroom rug- GASP! But it was the only one I thought worked with the room. I like the texture of it too. You can't see it very well in the picture, but it has raised dots over the entire surface. They had lots of different colors.
The quilt hanging over the chair was made by my mom out of Justin's baby clothes. Thanks to my ma-in-law for parting with some very cute little clothes!

The bedding (sheet, crib skirt, and changing pad cover) is from a shop called ModFox on Etsy.

The bumper is a Breathable Baby bumper that my mom customized with one of the quilt fabrics. We didn't cover any of the mesh, just the top and bottom edges. She also added the ties.

In the closet, I invested in some of those labeled rings from a shop called BumpandBeyondDesigns on etsy.com. They are somewhat DIY (you have to cut out the stickers and apply them yourself), but that makes them much cheaper. I also bought some tie onesie stickers from her. She has great stuff!

We are ready for this little boy to come! 

A Family Baby Shower

My husband and I ran around with the same group of friends in college. Most of us live in Houston now, but now that we all have kids, it gets harder and harder to get together. So, a great excuse is a baby! 

Our close friends, Amy and Joel, are welcoming a baby girl in June, and I wanted to throw a mini baby shower to welcome her! We invited a few of our favorite little families. 

The theme was very simple- pink, pink, and more pink. Tough for all the guys that were invited! 

The decor

I made another banner for the mantle. I used these awesome glitter letters from Hobby Lobby. The background paper is cut into 4.5 inch flower shapes (accent essentials cartridge) and the white is 4.25 inch. I used double stick tape and a matching ribbon to put it all together. Pretty painless.

I borrowed the lanterns from my ma-in-law. I think they are from Party City. And I made the tissue pom poms. 

The food

For appetizers, I put together a simple veggie tray with ranch, a spinach parmesan dip from Costco, and Wholly Guacamole. With an array of chips, everyone was happy for a while. 

For our main course, I served Pioneer Woman's Dr. Pepper pulled pork with King's Hawaiian rolls (and pickles!) and Barefoot Contessa's tarragon chicken salad (minus the grapes) with mini croissants. I also had fruit salad on the side. For those picky eaters (like my child), I had a small deli tray with meat, cheese, and crackers. 

The cake!

For this cake, I used the same recipe that I used for Leah's birthday cake, but I left out the sprinkles. This recipe is a yummy lemon cake that turns out very moist. It is my new favorite!

I made a two-layer 8 inch cake and used white buttercream for a thin crumb coat. Then, I took a small circle cookie cutter and gently pressed it into the cake where I wanted my roses. This was used as a guide so my roses would be about the same size and shape all throughout my cake. 

Next, I put a small amount of soft pink coloring into my icing. I made a piping bag of this icing out of about 1/3 of the icing. Then I added more coloring and made a second bag. Then a little more coloring for the last bag. This made the ombre effect on the cake. I used a star tip to create the roses. If you try this technique, start from the bottom of the cake with the darkest icing. Each individual rose should start from the middle and work out. Wherever my crumb coat showed through, I put a small star. 

For the banner, I used cookie sticks (in the baking aisle at Michael's), ribbon, scrapbook paper, and letter stickers.

We all had a great time! 

A Low-key Cinderella Party

Princess Leah turned 3! She wanted a Cinderella cake, so I wanted to give her a Cinderella party. We decided to fore-go the big blowout birthday party this year for a few reasons. So, we just had family over for dinner, cake, and fun!

I didn't have a whole lot of time left when I decided I wanted to make a banner. I made this simple banner in about 45 minutes using my Cricut. If you can't see it, it just says, "Leah is 3!" I used 5" circles for the background, 4.5" circles for the patterned paper, and 4.5" letters. I used the Lyrical Letters cartridge for the font. It took 2 pieces of patterned 12x12 paper, 4 pieces of background paper (also used for letters), one spool of ribbon, and mini glue dots.

I ordered the balloons on Amazon in a pack and had them blown up at Kroger.  

For some simple decor, I spent a few minutes and dollars at Party City. I bought paper goods, blue and white streamers, blue tissue paper balls ( I know I can make my own, but I was short on time), and a princess crown for the birthday girl.

The food

A little off of the theme of Cinderella, we had a taco bar. It included all the fixins and soft and hard taco shells. I also included two appetizer dips (jalapeno popper dip from Pinterest and Texas Caviar), chips, rice, and beans. 

The Cake!

This was the inspiration for the party. I had many different ideas about how to make her a "Cinderella cake," but eventually saw the pumpkin coach and had to give it a try. I used a homemade funfetti cake recipe and traditional buttercream for the bottom layer. For the top layer, I just used a boxed mix, a coat of buttercream, and fondant. To shape the top layer, I bought a sphere-shaped pan from Michael's.

Since I am not a professional and don't have tons of experience, this cake was quite a labor of love. BUT the look on my precious daughter's face when she blew out her candles was worth every back-breaking second!

Wedding Shower Gift Plaque

My husband's cousin got married, and I made her one of those name plaques that are all over Etsy for $35-$60. The final cost of project was about $15, with some extra supplies for other plaques or crafts.
This is a super easy and cute project!

You'll need:
1 wooden plaque
any color acrylic paint (I used black)
sticky back vinyl for the Cricut (I used white)
Modge Podge
paint sponges
X-acto knife or rotary cutter
chalk and measuring tape
medium fine sandpaper
2 of those small rings that screw into the top (obviously don't know the technical name, see picture)
pliers
hammer, or heeled shoe :)

1. Paint the plaque. Let dry. Paint another coat. Let dry.
2. Sand the edges of the painted plaque for that distressed look.
3. Cut out the letters you need onto the vinyl. I made the first capital letter a 1/2 inch bigger than the other letters so they would stand out. I used two different fonts to cut out the letters. For the name, I used Lyrical Letters, and for the date I used Plantin' Schoolbook.
4. Don't take the letters off the backing yet.
5. For the line, cut a strip of vinyl using your X-acto or rotary cutter. I made mine longer than the plaque. Place it carefully in the middle of the plaque. Use X-acto to cut the length as desired on each side.
6. Place all of the letter exactly where you want them using the vinyl strip as a guide. Use a measuring tape to make sure each side is the same size. Do the same with the date at the bottom.
7. Once you are perfectly happy with the placement, take your chalk and make a mark on the side of each letter so that you can line it back up.
8. Carefully take the backing off each letter and place it in its spot.
9. If it looks wrong in any way, this is the time to adjust it!
10. When you are happy with it, take the Modge Podge and cover the entire visible surface of the plaque.
11. Let dry.
12. Take your hooks and attach them to the top of the plaque. I had to hammer them in first, then screw them in using my pliers. Make sure they are equidistant from the sides.
13. Attach your coordinating ribbon. I threaded it through each hook and then made a knot at the top.
14. If you want to keep your ribbon from fraying, just take a lighter and carefully singe the ends of the ribbon.

Here is the final product!

Activities Advent Calendar

We have holiday traditions- decorate the tree together, watch Home Alone and Home Alone 2, go to Christmas Eve service and eat a  delicious dinner at Guadalajara, etc. However, this year, I thought I'd use some Pinterest inspiration to make one of those cute advent calendars that can last for years! I think it will be a fun tradition for Leah as she grows up.

So I looked through the ideas for activities on Pinterest and wrote down the ones that we could do. Then I wrote them out on a numbered list (1-24). Keep in mind when doing this what day of the week things will fall on. For instance, I know we are more likely to do some bigger things on Saturdays. Also, my mom always signs us up to decorate a gingerbread house at the church, so I made sure that was on the right day.

Keep your activities general- Instead of "Watch Home Alone," I put "Watch a movie." Instead of "Make a handprint wreath," I put "Make a Christmas craft." You get it. Also, a few things are repeated.
Here is my list:
1-Decorate the tree
2-Set up the Nativity scene
3-Decorate the inside of our house
4-Read a Christmas book as a family
5-Invite the neighbors over for dinner
6-Make gifts for grandparents
7- Read or tell the Christmas Bible Story
8-Make a gingerbread house
9-Make breakfast together
10-Make a Christmas craft
11-Make marshmallows
12-Go on a family outing
13-Read a Christmas book as a family
14-Make neighbor gifts
15-Deliver neighbor gifts
16-Put old toys in a sack to donate
17-Wrap presents
18-Watch a movie together
19-Write a letter to Santa
20-Make a birthday card for Jesus
21-Go look at Christmas lights
22-Read or tell the Christmas Bible story
23-Watch a movie together
24-Go to church and eat a yummy dinner

Here are my activities cards.

I cut 24 3"x1" pieces of cardstock in 3 different colors. Then I used a white scrapbooking marker to write the activities. I then cut 24 2.5"x .75" pieces of coordinating paper for the tops. Next, I used a tiny bit of glue to attach them. I used my NEW Purple Cow laminator (bought for $20 at Costco!) to laminate the cards.


For the board, you will need:
1 piece of 24"x 12" plywood
24 mini clothespins
spray paint in a coordinating color
bottle of acrylic paint in coordinating color
small embellishments
a spool of coordinating ribbon
hot glue gun (I also used mini glue dots and spray adhesive)
Modge Podge (I used matte finish)

1. Paint the board with the acrylic paint (you can use spray paint, but I had ivory paint on hand). Make sure you paint the edges.
2. Glue the ribbon to the edges of your board. I used spray adhesive on the front and hot glue on the back.
3. Spray paint your clothespins. Don't worry about the back, but make sure to get every visible surface.
4. For the numbers, I used my Cricut to cut .75" circles. You could make any small shape. Then, I used my white marker to write the numbers. I laminated these also. I attached them with a glue dot.
5. Once all of your pieces are dry, place the clothespins (with cards) on the board until you are happy with their placement. I used hot glue to attach them to the board.
6. Modge Podge your embellishments in desired places.

Here is the finished product!

I am planning to attach it to the wall with Command strips. It is very light. However, you could attach ribbon to the back also to hang it on a nail.

I am excited to try it out! Come on December!