Strawberry Shortcake Gymnastics Themed Birthday Party!

My boo turned SIX years old!
She wanted a gymnastics party. I was whacking my brain on how to make the invitations. All of a sudden, a light bulb went off - gymnastics...Olympics...gold medal! I love how they turned out:



I got a few rolls of this Red, white & blue ribbon from Hobby Lobby:


I cut off a strip and used fabric glue to secure the end:





I cut out 3.75 inch circles out of this glitter paper from Hobby Lobby:




And super glued the ribbon on the back of the circles:


I designed the wording and printed it on pale yellow cardstock. I cut them out into circles and superglued them on top of the glitter circles. Make sure they are smaller so the glitter creates a border:


For party foods, these are my staples (not in the picture is the Chik Fil A chicken nugget platter):
On the gold plate are  jumbo marshmallows dipped in icing and in gold sprinkles.
In the silver star bowl are rolled up salami and cheese cubes on a gold star pick.


I just used the gold stars to fit the party theme...kind of perfect, right? =)

Cake time! This year, Miss Sugar wanted an ice cream cake. Which meant I would not be able to make her cake like I do every year.  I was kind of sad, but it was easier and less stressful this way. She picked out the coordinating Strawberry Shortcake ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. We bought all the little figurines and she loved them. It's actually a busy book set that came with the toys, and they were exactly what we wanted:

I recently discovered Big Birthday Cake Sparkler Candles. You can get them from Amazon but I got the same thing on Ebay because of the quicker shipping.  I'm getting these candles for every birthday from now on! The "Elle" custom glitter cake topper is from HomemadeXOjules at etsy.com. It is even more gorgeous in person!


The sparkle custom green gymnastics shorts (for the Strawberry Shortcake colors) is from CathyKelly2 at etys.com. Super fast turnaround time, and A+ on communication as I requested a color that she did not make available at that time. She made it the day we spoke and shipped it out the very next day:


And lastly, something that is Pinterest-inspired! I drew this with sidewalk chalk in my backyard. <3


Happy Birthday, Boo! I love you.

Floral Letter

I love this so much!


This is a great decor piece for every room and every event! It is super simple to do, and looks lovely and impressive. I chose to use all sorts of colors, but it would also be beautiful using a solid color for the entire letter.

Materials:

Wooden Letter

Flowers

Hot Glue
Wire Cutter
Scissors

I picked this 18" wooden letter from Hobby Lobby. With a coupon, it was $7.79 plus tax:



I got a bunch of flowers from the Dollar Tree. I ended up not needing so much, but I wanted an assortment of colors and different kinds of flowers:


Step 1: Cut off the flowers from stems. Get as close to the base of the flower as possible. The flatter the base, the better for the glue to adhere to the letter. If the flower comes apart, it's ok because you'll be hot gluing it down anyways:


Some of my flower had these long green things...cut those of too:


Step 2: Cut and prep the leaves. Just pull the leaves off the stems, and cut them into individual leaves:


Step 3: We are going to cover the corners with the leaves:


It will give dimension to the letter, and help make the flowers look lush as if they are falling off:






Step 4: Arrangement the flowers but don't hot glue yet!


Get it exactly how you want it, and you might even need extra flowers later:




Step 5: Once you have the flowers how you want it, take a photo of it.  You'll be taking the flowers off and gluing them back on one at a time, so you will want that photo as a guide. Start by gluing the leaves and flowers at corners of the letter first. Then start filling in. Every so often, glue a leaf behind or in between flowers. There is no right or wrong...just keep gluing!


Step 6: Every so often, take a step back and look at your progress.  If there are any gaps, fill them in with more flowers or leaves:


It's all done and looking gorgeous. It's ready to be hung on the wall or propped on a shelf.
Good luck!
=)

Elf On The Shelf, 25 days

Our mischievous Christopher Elf was here for 25 days! I have started this little tradition 3 years ago, but we don't follow all the "rules" intended to get children on their best behaviors for 3 weeks....because I believe Boo should try to be "good" all year long, and not just for Christmas. 

It is a fun thing for us me to do, and Boo to experience.  The Husband is starting to enjoy this too, as he would sometimes ask me what Christopher would tonight, and makes sure Christopher doesn't forget to make the reindeer food on Christmas Eve. I am surprised at how much Boo loves Christopher. She also remembers a lot of the mischievous things he did from previous years. I know which are her favorites, but I.. Christopher tries to not repeat the same thing twice. I didn't go all out and crazy this year...but maybe next time! This is a quick compilation of what our Elf did this year. Something for us to look back at one day. =)

Boo drew a picture of them: 

This is where Christopher rests:


Day 1: He brought our Advent Calendar to help with the countdown. A big thanks to my friend who helped me make this last year. We love it:


Day 2: Christopher TP'ed the stairs


Day 3: Christopher wanted a new outfit. All wrapped up.


Day 4: Caught in the web! (Clearly I did not do a good job, because Boo said "Oh look, Christopher is pretending to be Santa and Spider-Man is like a reindeer pulling him.") I tried, haha.


Day 5: Elf Shoefie!


Day 6: Christopher had a late night tea party with the princesses.


Day 7: Christopher was not impressed with the Christmas decor in the house, so he took it upon himself to wrap picture frames. I like it!


Day 8: Christopher went skiing.


Day 9: Christopher wrote a little note on the mirror...glad he found a ladder.


Day 10: Christopher thought Boo would love these arts & crafts stuff. He's right!


Day 11: Christopher Angry Birds


Day 12: Christopher made a kissing booth! Would you want an Elf kiss or a chocolate kiss? 

Day 13: Do you want to build a snowman...?? Christopher knew he had to incorporate Frozen into his shenanigans!


Day 14: Yo Ho, let's go! Christopher and Hook join the crew on the Christmas train.


Day 15: Christopher and Angel hanging out at the top of the Christmas tree with a new ornament for Boo.


Day 16: Christopher bandit! Piggy bank is worried. (Cue in Mission Impossible music)


Day 17: Christopher attempts tightrope walking. (It is one of Boo's favorite games on the Wii Monkey Ball game, and she always wins.)


Day 18: Namaste! Boo does yoga during PE at school, so Christopher thought he should try it out too.

Day 19: Christopher left a note...he wants to play hide and seek.


Day 20: Christopher made some coloring pages of himself and Boo! He was busy on my computer and phone last night.


Day 21: Christopher shows Boo where the North Pole is.


Day 22: Christopher celebrates the start of Christmas break with a cookie decorating kit.


Day 23: Christopher made himself at home in a cozy igloo along with some snow.


Day 24: Boo watched the movie Elf for the first time last night. So Christopher had a great idea to make everyone Elf Spaghetti for breakfast! So thoughtful, yum...

Night 24: Christopher came early tonight to give Boo her new Christmas pajamas, reindeer food, and a reminder to leave cookies & milk out for Santa!


Day 25: Christopher stuffed her stocking and Santa came!