Thank You Party Favors

Today marks the 1st birthday party of 2014 (the friend version as we have had a family birthday for Grayden already). I find planning little kid parties stressful, I know I do it to myself but that doesn't make the stress go away. I breathe a huge sigh of relief in May when the 3rd party has been wrapped up and I know I don't have to do it again for MONTHS.

But for today, the preparations are done, the cake is made and the party favors are assembled.

I love my Project Life cards. I have found they come in handy for so many more things than just my album. These Thank You cards are a perfect example, I used the 3X4 grid cards, a rubber stamp, a sun hole punch and baker's twine to attach the cards to the bags.

I find that with a bit of hunting that I can fill these bags for $5-6 each with goodies that gives 1 treat, something fun and a crafty keepsake.

These bags are for 5-6 year-olds. I made slightly different bags for the boys and the girls as I have 10 of each coming.

The only difference between the 2 bags is I substituted the tattoos for hair accessories and put in an owl or cupcake Melty Bead craft.

 

One other thing to note, I wish grocery stores would get in on the Minecraft bandwagon and sell Minecraft themed cakes. But a Minecraft cake is what he wanted and a Minecraft cake is what he is getting!

 

Wish me luck in transporting it!

collection

A new post is up on my photo blog. I chose to capture my collection of old books. Click on over to see Gabi's photograph, she took a unique angle in responding to the prompt.

I laughed a bit when I saw Gabi's collage of pictures because I also had the below picture ready for the response.

 

1. We have a turtle collection in our bathroom. I'm not sure how it started but we get them as gifts and find them in thrift stores. There are about 20 of the little guys hanging out on a shelf.
2. Jeremy decided we should have a duck collection, so that is now added to our list of things to hunt for when thrifting.
3. My collection of buttons is constantly being dumped out and sorted or made into pictures. And not just by me, the younger boys play with them too.
4. I want to add to our collection of older books but will have to find a bigger shelf for them. This one is full.

When I look around, there are other collections in our home I could have taken pictures off. We have a vintage glass collection, a shell collection from beach walks, rock collections that are souvenirs from various adventures and let's not forget the dust bunny collection under my bed.

I'd love to hear what you collect!

My Plaid Skirt - Memories

I remember this plaid skirt, or rather, I remember 1 event surrounding it and the feelings this picture evokes. (That's my little sister, we were pretty cute!)

I lived in rural New Brunswick growing up in a teeny, tiny town called Hartland, home of the Longest Covered Bridge. Even today, the population is a whopping 947.

We were at the dump, I was between 8 to 9 years old, and the garbage at the dump was on fire. My dad was throwing our bags of garbage from the car onto the piles and one of the bags ripped open. And there it was. My skirt. My favourite plaid skirt that I LOVED. In the garbage, it wasn't on fire yet but what was it doing in the garbage!?

There were tears, there was a hissy fit and my dad saved the day and reclaimed my skirt from the burning garbage pile.

My mom was surprised when we got home, I don't think she realized the meaning the skirt had for me. Or maybe she just couldn't take my crazy pattern pairings any longer.

Seeing this picture and recalling the event has reminded me how I felt and that I need to respect my boys and their belongings. I  will confess that I have snuck items into the garbage and donation bags when I have felt they have outlived their usefulness; but I won't do it again without their permission.

I don't have any memories of wearing the skirt again or whatever happened to it. But I did have good taste.

Sunday Links No. 6 - Hashtag Edition

I came across some inspiring hashtag projects this week and decided to share them here instead of my weekly collection of links. I'm going to be using these this week on Instagram, you can follow me here!

#sfgirlguide The blog SFGirlBay, is collecting photos on Instagram to create guides of various destinations. The idea is to get the gem locations from the locals; an off the beaten track picture guide for your next vacation. Here are the details on how to tag or find your city's must see locations.


#justsayhello Oprah has started a campaign to get people connecting and reaching out to one another. Why not just say hello to someone and see what happens? You could be making their day!

#whp__________ Every Friday, Instagram announces a theme for their Weekend Hashtag Project. This weekend is a video prompt, #whpwhereiwalk. "The goal this weekend is to take a creative video looking down as you walk."

Ready, set, #!

6 Years Old (and my first GIF)

My baby turned 6 yesterday, 6 sounds so big - not so "baby" anymore.

At 6 he:

• answers all his questions with "maybe". But not in a non-committal way, more in a coy, I'm not going to tell you kind of way.
• tears up when he gets in trouble and won't say a word.
• has the best imagination.
• tells so many stories at dinner that he is always the last one to finish eating. We have to tell him to stop and take a bite or we would be at the table all night.
• seems so much older than his brothers did at this age. Having older brothers is making him grow up way too fast.

 Happy Birthday Grayden!

Perspective

In case you didn't know, I have another blog that I contribute to every Wednesday. It is a photo blog collaboration with my good friend Gabi. (And now you know!)

This week's theme is perspective. My shot and thoughts are below. You can visit the blog here to see Gabi's take on the theme and her thoughts behind it.

It's okay that I left my clean laundry in the hallway (not folded) and the boys thought it was dirty laundry and piled their dirty clothes on top. It's okay I broke my own rule and didn't take my shoes off downstairs. It's okay because I spent the time playing knights and dragons with a special little boy.

Sunday Inspiration No. 5

This weekend is the first one I have had to work in years! I am not complaining (much) as my job lets me be home so much more than before, but still, not my favourite to be at work while everyone else is at home.

Here are some of the links that inspired me this week:

I am doing a photobooth at my boys' school for a fundraiser. Still sorting out the details, but this template looks great.

I've been thinking about bangs lately. I like having them but get bored quickly and HATE growing them out. This solution may do the trick.

I'm not a bling kind of girl, but I do love this combination of peach and mint.

I have an open closet in our hallway and the contents really aren't display worthy. This would be the perfect solution.

image source: Design Sponge

I have some left over flowers I pressed last summer. Here is the project I will use them on, who wants an old-fashioned letter on homemade paper??

I fall into this trap all the time: reading blogs and getting inspired to create and then reading more blogs, clicking on lots of links and then I end up doing nothing. So take this advice and go create and have fun!

But if you want to click one more link, you can check out past Sunday Inspirations here.

Happy Love Day

I spent Thursday evening making cards for all my guys. I found the inspiration for these quick and cute cards here. It was tricky using the white crayon on the white card but I am pleased with the results. (material used: white crayons, watercolour paper and watercolour paints)

I think next time I will let the recipient paint the card after I've written the note. It will be a secret message card and a craft all-in-one!