A little Valentines Day fun..

Valentines day..it means or matters differently to everyone and this year for us it was all about Alicia. We made sure the day was filled with fun and things she "loves"and I have to say it was by far the best Valentines Day ever!

 The night before I had briefly explained to her what Valentines Day was all about, Love. When she woke in the morning she found an awsome suprise waiting for her in the dining room..Cupid had come to visit..

I decorated the walls with construction paper hearts and the cards were made by other family members when we saw them earlier in the week..she even got a card from our dog Jake! Cupid left her a little note and gift...

After all this excitement she was good and hungry..now of course I planned a special breakfast..home made crepes with all the yummy fixins..but my daughter being my daughter INSISTED on having her usual bowl of regular mini wheats mixed with blueberry ones. Really...cereal chosen over crepes, even after she saw the chocolate. Heres the recipe..really simple and oh so delicious!  The best part about it too is that you can make the batter the night before along with all the cut fruit and when everyones hungry just heat up the skillet..yummy crepes!

After hanging around the house I made up some sandwiches and we headed over to the lake for something she LOVES to do...picnic!

Cupid followed us there and had a special suprise for her after lunch was done..a heart hunt!



..as you can see..Jake was a big help..

Now usually Valentines day is about me and my significant other, but this year was so much more special to make it about her. She was a happy camper all day and I love the smile on her face when she sees something fun exciting, it was a great day for all of us...

Simple snazy invites..

A simple way to get super cute and cheap invites with more personality to them than the packaged ones you buy at the store is to make them yourself on microsoft word. I've made almost all the party invites since I've had my daughter and always recieved complements on how nice they were. So get your creative side out and make sure your ink levels are good to go...

Head down to target and for about $9.99 you can get a box of plain of white or cream colored 5x7 sheets PLUS the 50 envelopes to go with it..total deal. Now of course if you don't use them all in on place..no big deal..I'm sure you'll get use out of them for the next party.

Add a simple border and some clip art found by "googleing" your topic of choice.

..If you have kids and they simply don't want to leave you be as your working on them, get a couple packs of stickers that go with the theme and have them decorate the blank envelopes..

Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday Party

Yo Gabba Gabba Party!

So the first real big party I did was my daughters 2nds birthday, she insisted on Yo Gabba Gabba and of course I said ..yes dear. I jumped online and got a few ideas to get the ball rolling. Most of the stuff used I was able to find at the dollar store, if not there then Target or Michaels if absolutly neccesary.

The first item I tackled was one that I'm able to use year after year for her birthdays! Her birthday banner.

1 pack primary colors scrapbook paper (square)

10 pages patterned scrapbook paper (depending on how long)

1 pack of Rivets ( no tool necesarry! I just poked a whole using a knife or pen and pushed the rivets through with a hammer,the tool is another $10-20.00)

1 roll of ribbon

1 pack of paper letters from the dollar store

So my next attempt was at centerpieces. I think they turned out decent but this year I will for sure make them more "full."

DOLLAR STORE:

containers

florist foam

tissue paper

skewers

construction paper

..basically everything..you can't beat that!

The characters came from nick jr.com , a GREAT resource if your child loves a show from that channel. We made ones for all the characters, print 2 copies of each image and "sandwich" the skewer inbetween with some glue.

Next up, the Goodie bags!

For these I bought 1 pack of multi colored bags from Michaels, the pink came in a 2 pack from the Dollar store. The images were printed at home onto FULL page labels found at Staples. Simple and super cute!

Her party was held in the middle of June outside at one of our favorite parks. Since it would be a nice hot summer day I thought it would be nice to add a little something special to the tables that are oh so useful in the heat..fans!

Some large tounge depressors, ribbon, construction paper,and the print out is all you need. We still have one at our house and my daughter uses it when she plays.

Ok, so these were my absoulute pride and joy..I still love them and think they are the CUTEST trash cans ever..yes, trash cans..

All the poster boards were bought at the Dollar store, and stock up on construction paper from there as well. Get yourself tons of glue sticks from walmart (the cheapest place I found)



..Lets just say we had Gabba EVERYWHERE..even on the silverware..rhyme?

Using the full sheet labels I printed the characters and stuck them onto the primary colored cardstock. Then they were taped to plain white silverware wrapers using double sided tape strips..I printed extra stickers of the characters and used them in the Pinata. Next time you go out to dinner as them for a stack..remember to tip your server well!

Last but not least was the cake. Now, I didn't make it myself but don't feel like you have to go spend tons of money on a fancy cake to go with the theme. Plus I was plenty busy this was my "get outta jail free card." I simply went down to Safeway and had a sheet cake made, added some cute candles and Viola! Cake is cake..its all delicious.

The colors matched perfectly!

Oh! Get some iron on transfers for a little special touch...

So this is going to be a place where I put up pictures and "how to's" for various things ranging from party decor., sweet recipies, or easy gift ideas. This is my first blog so please be kind as I figure it all out and get the hang of it. I hope its enjoyable..here it goes!