ONE : Sea Creatures Birthday Party

 I'm ONE!

Our littlest one turned ONE! So hard to believe that a year has passed since her birth. I have been looking forward to this birthday all year! I knew that when it came, we would hopefully be past the hardest struggles of having a preemie. And we are! She is still slightly delayed in her gross motor development, but has come such a long way! She is crawling and pulling up now and all the weight issues of her first several months are a thing of the past. She's still a petite little thing, but not far off from where her sister was at the same age.

To celebrate her birthday, we had a joint celebration with a very good friend of mine whose son also turned one in July. The first pictures of them together are so funny. I think we took them at around 6 weeks old and Baby V looks like his doll. Now she's still smaller, but the difference isn't quite so dramatic.

It was fun throwing a birthday party with a friend. It meant that I didn't have to do all the work. LOL She handled all the food and I did the cakes and favors. We chose the theme "sea creatures." I thought it would be a fun summertime theme and perfect for a birthday party celebrating both a little girl's and boy's first birthday. My friend made yummy cream cheese and turkey or ham on tortilla sandwiches cut in the shape of fish. My husband has asked me to make these at home (minus the fish cookie cutter.) ;) Of course, we had to have goldfish crackers too. Along with that some fruit, chips for the grown ups and flavored lemonade. We had the party at a park so we tried to keep everything finger foods.

I made the cakes and cupcakes. I used this tutorial on Hungry Happenings to make marshmallow sea creatures from the sand toys I bought to give as favors. These went onto two different 6 inch round cakes frosted blue like the sea. I made vanilla wafer crumbs to resemble sand and sprinkled it around the base of the cakes. My dear friend Tina, card-maker extraordinaire, made two mini pennants with each baby's name for the top of the cakes. I think they came out pretty cute if I do say so myself.

I didn't get a good picture of the cupcakes I made for everyone else. I used these instructions on Family Fun's website. Super easy and cute! I made not only orange but also blue, yellow and green fishies.

We kept the party really low-key. We had sand pails and sand toys for the kids. I also set up a baby pool with sea creature squirters in it. Overall, it was a fun party to put together. We kept the guest list small which made it manageable, but I wished that I could have invited all the families who have been such a help to us this past year!

Yum!

LEGO Soap

We had a birthday to go to for a wonderful friend turning 9 years old. We weren't sure what kind of gift we could make and then remembered that he is crazy about LEGOs just like my boys. I had a LEGO ice cube tray I bought a few years ago for a LEGO themed birthday party. Since then I have been collecting silicone ice cube trays in fun shapes whenever I see them for my soap making. I hadn't tried making soaps in that mold yet, but thought they would come out super cute. This project was something that all the kids could help with too. We used a melt and pour soap base that I melted in the microwave. Then the kids added food coloring and a scent of their choice before we poured it in the mold. The result was a colorful assortment of yummy smelling mini soaps! I especially loved that the kids all got to be a part of the crafting this time.

I had to show off this awesome pop-up card my oldest made for the birthday boy. He used this tutorial. I thought he did great! 

Hello My Friend

I actually dragged out my long lost friend, my sewing machine, this past weekend. It felt good to do something crafty even if it was something so simple. One tea towel apron for a special friend of my daughter who had a very fun horse themed party. I had a heck of a time finding little cooking utensils to go with the gift. I ended up finding these cuties at Bed, Bath and Beyond but that was my 4th or 5th stop. I'm going to have to keep a look out for kid's cooking utensils. I know I've seen them at Michaels and Target before. Next time, I think I'll stock up so we always have a few extra. These aprons are so quick to put together, and I know my daughter and niece use their aprons all the time. I've made this apron and this one before as well as a few that never made it on this blog.

Dear 39,

Ate half a doughnut...what a treat!

I had a great first day, 39. We had treats, my favorite dinner, new shoes and a trip to the library. I had lots of birthday wishes that made me feel very loved. It was my kind of perfect day.

My New Vibram Five Fingers

I really have high hopes for you, 39. You see there were several doctors that thought I wouldn't make it to 39. They told my family to say goodbye...even my young kids. I don't remember that part because I was pretty out of it, but it was traumatic for the whole family. And now, here I am celebrating another year. Is it selfish to hope that 39 is better than 38? You know that 38 was not that kind to me with all the medical issues. I mean I'm incredibly grateful for my beautiful family, my kids and husband. I'm especially grateful for the birth of my sweet baby. I'm so thankful for her health and her happy demeanor. But, seriously, it was the day after 38 came into my life that all of my medical issues started - my first trip to the hospital. And those hospital trips just kept coming and the stays got longer each time.

I still have healing to do, but I feel so much stronger than a few months ago. I'm home being "mom" again. That's really all I want out of life. It seems so silly. I was so ambitious when I was younger - fancy college, fancy job. Now? The fanciest job I could ever ask for is at home with my kids.

Library Trip

I really wish I could see into the future. I really want to see if I'll get a different kind of year this year. I want a year of good health, peace and maybe even some room for me to get a little entrepreneurial. I don't want to worry about pain and sickness. I want to focus on wellness.

So 39, I'm counting on you taking me out of my thirties on a high note. I want to be able to look back at 38 and say that it was incredibly difficult but we made it through. 39, I want you to be the year that I can look back on and smile. I really like smiling. :)

Sincerely yours,

Cari

Pac-Man Cake

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Roni's 8th birthday. He loves homemade cakes. Well, home-decorated cakes...I still usually end up using a cake mix. I am by no means "good" at cake decorating. My mom is amazing. She hasn't done much recently, but when I was a kid she made amazing cakes. I should make her dig up a few pictures for me...hey, mom?! Anyway, my cake decorating is purely for fun and not professional at all. In the past he has had a dinosaur cake, space shuttle, a horse and a cute little teddy bear for his first birthday. This year he wanted Pac-Man which totally cracked me up because it seems so eighties. Because of our crazy year, I wasn't sure I could get it done. But, somehow we managed. It was the first time I've ever used fondant. I used this marshmallow fondant recipe. It actually didn't even taste too bad. I just made two round cakes and didn't trim the top but left the top kind of rounded. I cut out the mouth and covered it in the yellow fondant. Then I used a cup to cut two dots from the cake I had cut from Pac-Man's mouth. I covered those with white fondant. Hopefully, I can try using marshmallow fondant again. I can see where I could have cleaned it up a bit, but overall I was really pleased with the results. And my-now-8-year-old was pleased too which is what's important!

Handmade Birthday Gift : Dishtowel Apron + Cookie Decorating Kit

One of my daughter's good friends, had a very special birthday last week - 5 years old! I really wanted to do something special for her. I knew her mom said she didn't have an apron, so that seemed like a good gift. But, I wanted to include something else with the apron. I thought about some cooking utensils or maybe a mix. Then I started thinking, what's every kids favorite part of making cookies? The decorating! So I decided to include some homemade sugar cookies and frosting along with pink and purple sprinkles!

Although the apron is very similar to the apron I made before, I did change a few things. Instead of using bias tape along the sides and for the straps, I turned over the seam and used a very long ribbon for the straps. I had to make the neck wider to accommodate the bigger seam. Instead of 6 inches, I made the neck 9 inches wide centered. I turned down a 1/4 inch seam, pressed it and then turned it about 1 inch to sew the casing. I threaded the ribbon through the casing and it was done!

My daughter was even able to help me with the apron this time. I added beads to the end of the ribbon to try to keep it from pulling out of the casing when putting it on. She painted these wooden beads especially for her friend. It was so much fun to work together on a project!

Handmade Birthday Gift : Pencil and Paper Case

The flame version was my first attempt at a paper and pencil case. I made a few of these about a year ago for my boys and for a couple of gifts. I thought they came out pretty cute, but they had some major design flaws. First, the ribbon to tie it together was frustrating for my guys that couldn't tie bows at the time (not to mention the bow is just a little bit feminine looking.) Also, there was nothing to keep the pencils and pad of paper from falling out if the case was ever tipped over. And, at least with my kids, they had a difficult time keeping it in the upright position at all times. The last frustration was that the pad of paper had to be taken out of the case to draw. In the car, that meant juggling the pencils still in the case (but constantly falling out) with the pad of paper separately. In the end, these were tossed to the side because they just weren't very functional.

As I was searching for ideas for a birthday gift last week I stumbled on this paper and pencil holder at the Skip to My Lou website and blog. The blog is really wonderful! It's full of all kinds of ideas including a great list of handmade gift ideas. Since her design solved all of my design flaws, I decided to give it a try. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I used an old pair of jeans for the denim in the inside as well as a short section of the jean waistband for the closure. I used some scrap floral and lavender material for the cover and pencil pocket. Instead of a snap or button, I used iron-on velcro. I think the velcro will make it really easy to open and close. This one was obviously a gift for a girl, but I think it could very easily be made very boyish with different fabric. I'm really excited about that, because I sometimes struggle with handmade gift ideas for little boys. All three of my kids have already requested them too!

Handmade Birthday Gift : Drawstring Backpack

Here's another birthday gift I made recently. Unfortunately, we missed our friend's birthday party because it was in the middle of all of us having the flu. Hopefully, we'll catch up with our friends soon so that we can deliver this gift.

I found this adorable fabric on the clearance table at JoAnn Fabrics. I really should not go into that store! I went in for some lace trim for the apron I made and walked out with a couple of yards of fabric. I just love the strawberries. I thought it would work great for a drawstring backpack. I used these instructions.

Since this backpack was for a little girl turning 3 years old, I thought I'd make it a bit smaller. I used an 8.5 x 11 piece of cardstock I had as my template. I think that size is going to be fine this time since she's so young. But, if I make it again, I'm definitely going to make it a bit bigger. It was a little too small even for my 4 year old. Next time, I think I'll try making it 10 x 14 inches and maybe even bigger for an older child. The instructions call for 13 x 17 inches.

We filled the backpack with some sidewalk chalk and some fun colored pencils.

I just love the red and yellow! I'm really happy with the finished product. I'm trying to decide now what to do with the rest of the fabric. I definitely think some kind of clothing set for my daughter. I'm a little nervous about sewing clothes. I have no idea why. I just feel more comfortable with crafts. I think it's time to get over that!

A Wild West Birthday!

Roni had very few requests for his party. He wanted a "western" theme with hot dogs, cake with ice cream and a pinata. Thankfully, I could make that happen. I used a lot of ideas from the Family Fun website like the instructions for the horse cake. The games and activities I had planned were a total bust. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. We had paper bag vests for the kids to color as well as some sheriff badges I found online. I had a game where you try to knock down cups with a squirt gun. But, the squirt gun was so pathetic that it couldn't even knock them down from about an inch away. 

But, the food was good! Grilled hot dogs with yummy salads and watermelon that my friends all brought to share. We really have the greatest friends here. One of my friends even brought goodies to stick in the pinata. 

And here is my son's happiness. This kid really believes that the only way to have a party is with a pinata. We found this pinata at Party City and thought it was too cute to pass up. All the kids went home with a bandanna and some goodies from the pinata. It really was a fun party! To make the day even better, Roni received his cards from his grandparents in the mail. He's out with Dad right now spending his birthday money. Wow, I can't believe he is six years old!

Handmade Birthday Gift : Little Girl's Apron

We've had a ton of birthday party invites over the last month or so. This week alone, we have 4 different kid's birthdays. We're also on a really tight budget right now. (Can you call it a budget when there's no income?) ;) So, I've had to get creative with gift giving. I like to make handmade gifts anyway, so it's actually been kind of fun. I've made aprons from tea towels before for gifts. They are super simple and fun to make. I'm always on the lookout for inexpensive and cute tea towels to use. These two towels I found at Target on clearance and stashed them away a couple of months ago. I pulled them out this week to make an apron for a friend of my daughter who was turning 4 years old this week.

I used these instructions as my starting point. I cut off the bottom section, 17 to 18 inches from the top. In the past, I've just turned that shorter section around and used it for a pocket. But, this time I wanted to use the coordinating dishtowel as the pocket so I set it aside to use for something else.

Then I cut the top corners off. I measured 6 inches centered on the top and marked the towel. Then I measured  10 inches from the bottom on both sides and marked the towel. Using a straight edge lined up with the two marks, I cut off each corner of the towel.

Next, I cut out the pocket from the second towel. I wanted to use the pattern with the stripes going in the opposite direction so I had to measure out what I needed (plus some extra for the seam on one side) and cut that out. I actually forgot about the seam when I cut it out. Thankfully, I was pretty sloppy and had enough.

I added some lace trim along the edge of the pocket when I finished that edge. Then I sewed the two sides of the pocked to the apron. Then I measured 4 inches in on both sides and marked the towel. I sewed along my markings to divide the big pocket into three smaller pockets.

I used extra wide double fold bias tape to finish the bottom seam. I also used the bias tape to finish the sides and create the straps. I had wanted to use Velcro or a "D" ring for the neck strap, but my Velcro was too wide for the bias tape and the "D" ring was too big. So, I ended up just making straps, about 15-16 inches for the neck straps and 17-18 inches for the back strap. 

Voila! Finished Apron! I think it turned out pretty darn cute and for less than $5. I threw in a small whisk and spatula to complete the gift. 

Beautiful Butterfly Birthday

My sweet girl turned 4 years old this past week. We celebrated by having a butterfly birthday party at our house for her with all of her friends. We had 10 little girls here plus some siblings and mommies and daddies. It turned out to be quite the party. 

I proposed the idea of a butterfly theme birthday about a month ago. I was trying to find a cost effective way to throw a party. I had this cute butterfly cake pan from her first birthday and thought it would be fun (and inexpensive) to use it again. Here's how the conversation went:

Me - "I thought it would be fun to have a butterfly birthday this year!"

A - "Hmm, I was thinking that I want a princess birthday."

Me - "But, you've had princess parties for the last two years. Wouldn't a butterfly birthday be fun?"

A - " Yeah, I was thinking princess..."

I finally convinced her. ;) You know fairies and butterflies both have wings. She ended up loving it and I got to use the cake pan again!

We played a "cocoon" game where the kids wrapped each other up in toilet paper and then broke free from their cocoon. Here's my oldest being wrapped up by his friend who had his birthday just a few days later.

The girls made coffee filter butterflies...

...and decorated foam butterfly wings.

She blew out her candles (with a little help from one of her brothers.)

And she opened up gifts. She received so many great presents from her friends. There's a lot more princess, fairy, craft and butterfly things in our house now!

And she even got a brand new pair of Crocs from Grandma Rose, complete with light-up Fairy Jibbitz. She loves them! I think she had a great birthday! (And thanks Cindy for taking pictures for me!!!) 

I Have an 8 Year Old!

Earlier this week, my oldest had his 8th Birthday! I cannot believe that he is 8 years old. We celebrated his birthday at one of the city's indoor pools. I felt like the cupcakes I made were uninspired this year, but the kids loved them. We tried to stick to a pool/water theme. I just frosted them blue and stuck little gummy sea creatures on them. B invited a bunch of friends from our playgroup, homeschool group and his soccer team. It really is unbelievable how much energy 7 and 8 year old boys have! They got to go down the really cool slide and have squirt gun fights in the pool.


B had received some money from his Colorado grandparents for his birthday gift. He asked if we could stop by Big 5 on the way to the pool to buy some nice goggles. He had some inexpensive ones that he'd been frustrated with during his swim lessons. The new ones are pretty cool! He received so many wonderful gifts from his friends - lots of Lego sets. Although we've been so busy this week that he hasn't had a chance to really sit down and work on them. He was even asking me when we could leave the park today so he could come home. That doesn't happen very often! He also got a new chess set and Star Wars monopoly. I think I know what the family will be doing this weekend!