Storybook camp out birthday party prep.

Hey y'all. Geez, I'm always starting my posts with "long time, no see." These days. Well, I've been gone a lot lately, my bad! It has been so hard to get time to myself lately. I started an Etsy recently and Dillon started school... So trying to get adjusted to our life right now has been the priority. But- it is Halloween eve, and I am wanting to share my party prep so far.

So because December is really busy with birthdays and Christmas I realllllly need to get working on Opal's birthday decor. Now y'all know when I throw a party, I go hard. I go all in- full force. I go straight into DIY mode AT LEAST a month ahead of time. 

Well this time around, I'm a little late. I really couldn't decide on what theme to go with. Opal asked for a petting zoo, but I couldn't get a hold of any of the ones around me and got tired of waiting for them to return my call so I ditched that plan. She also wanted Minnie Mouse but i didn't want to go with the traditional pink or red polka dots and black. It's just so overused and I want it to be more special. 

So after days on Pinterest during my nursing sessions I think I've come to a decision. Well, I can't say that "I think" I have, I HAVE!!!!!!! I even have some stuff to show you guys a preview of some of the tabletop decor. 

Oh, I forgot to mention the theme... A storybook camp out!!! I am going to add some Minnie Mouse stuff- but probably things like mouse ear headbands with flannel print bows! The games are going to be play on words that correspond with story book characters. I am going to have some sort of party favor that is a coloring project. I am also going to have some tents set up, you know the tee-pee kind? A-frame style though. 

Tonight I'm working on some of the art for it. I want to paint some storybook characters on parchment paper, then glue it to cardboard so that it is sturdy. 

I am hosting it early at 10 am so I plan to turn two of my mom's regular canopy tents into an enclosed tent. I'm going to zip tie 2 together, then use 4 white tarps along the back and sides to enclose it. It'll create a warmer shelter for the tables and food. Thankfully my mom has a really big backyard so I have room for that and plenty more for games and the camp out set up. (Tents and blankets)

For the food, I'm going to do a cute display of breakfast foods and pies. We picked out some cute dishes from the thrift store to hold paper straws, treats and more. Some cute vintage pans that will hold trail mix ingredients so that we can have a "trail mix bar" too. 

Okay- I'll stop jabbering on and show you some of the photos. My next post will probably have some of the painted characters. :-)

Peace y'all. 

Xoxo, Chelsea. 

I spent $21 but filled up my entire cart! Gotta love thrift stores.

I found this XL plate that will be used for donuts or something, and a matching lil creamer dispenser thing.

I also found these for coffee and cookies. Trying to keep things simple but still in the color scheme and the idea that it is something you'd have in a cabin or at a campsite. 

I'm using these cups for my trail mix bar. I'll have chocolate chips, raisins and little things in them.

These are also for the trail mix bar. I will make a post with all of the Pinterest pins and their sources of my inspiration for this party soon too.

We found this little basket too. It will hold the utensils and the duck napkin holder was just too funny not to grab.

I got this awesome old dark green metal tray for like $5. I'm using it as the birthday cake (or pie) tray. 

Last but not least, these are the two blankets I found to put the little tent /tee pee things on. I don't want the kids (or rather the parents) to worry about their clothes getting dirty while playing around.

Okay, well that's all I've got for today! 

Dillon's birthday was a success!

Dillon's birthday!!

Dillon opening gifts.

 My darling husband insisted he wanted to do nothing for his birthday and wouldn't even give us a list of birthday gift wishes. WELLLLLL, that didn't work for me! I could deal with not being able to invite his friends over for a party, but no party at all?! NO WAY! So I requested the car for a day so that Opal and I could brave the cold to find something for the man in our life.

I kept it small, but I didn't want it to be just another day. So the night before I wrapped gifts, put out some birthday party decor, baked a small cake, and set out some surprises for him.

We woke him up bright and early, told him to cut his hair and shower, and then made him open up gifts!!

He was blown away at how I somehow got all of this done under his nose. Opal and I are sneaky girls, I suppose!

Opal, Daddy, and the clock she picked out for him.

I let Opal pick out everything, from decor to the cake's icing color. She even picked out the funniest gift for her daddy! We were browsing the shelves in Marshall's when this little girl starts yelling, "Daddy! Daddy!" and pointing at this silver clock. I look around so puzzled as to why she wants me to hand her this clock, and when I do she holds on to it for dear life and continues to say, "Daddy!"... I asked my sisters and mom what to do and they agreed to just buy it and let him return it if he didn't want it for his night stand. Luckily, he did. :-)

Opal watching daddy open gifts.

She loved watching her daddy open all of his gifts. It was so precious to watch her face light up when his did. She is the cutest. I am so thankful to be back under the same roof getting to share these moments together. It means everything to see these two build their bond again.

After he opened his gifts we dragged him out to IHOP for a birthday breakfast full of super sugary pancakes! It was lovely. 

The day was great, we ran around and ended the day with cake and a delicious steak dinner.. (cooked by me!) I am glad I didn't listen to this guy and that we spoiled him. It was great to see him so happy and to know he felt loved and appreciated. 

He is definitely the apple of our eyes.

Singing Happy Birthday!

Dillon's cake.

 

The gifts all wrapped up.

Dinosaurs, hats, and mini pinata were all Opal's doing.

We have a ONE year old!

Can you believe it? Our little girl is officially the big ONE!

 She is 18 lbs. 28 1/2 inches long.

She loves all things sofia the first and doc mcstuffins.

She loves to stick her tongue out, 

dance to Taylor Swift, and sleep to Miranda Lambert.

Her favorite toys are the ride/ push toys.

She loves to facetime her daddy on mommy's phone.

Kissing and hugging mommy are new, and she loves to do it.

This year flew by so quickly, I don't know where it went! Last year, I was in DC with Dillon and gave birth to our little winter princess in the middle of a snow storm that had the DMV area closed down. This year, I have been living in California with my family. 

We celebrated Opal's big day with an "Opal the first" birthday party with all of her cousins, aunts, and uncles in attendance. This girl was showered with love and gifts and had such an amazing day. 

I am thankful that she got to spend this day like a normal kid with all of her family having a blast. Especially knowing that next year it will probably just be her daddy and I spending the day with her. 

So here are some photos of her party.. I'll also give little descriptions of the items that I did craft myself.

 This was the kids table. I washi taped coloring pages down to the table cloth.
I placed buckets of crayons/ markers on the table. (cute buckets can be found in Target's $1 bins)
I found the wood magnets at the 99 cent store in 5 packs.
The pirate patches and party hats were from target's party section.

 This was her cake table.
I used yarn and clothes pins to hold photos from her first year.
I got the canvas from Walgreens (SAME DAY PICK UP!)
The "ONE" is cut from foam poster board (dollar tree) and I hot glued
silver tinsel to it. (also dollar tree).

 Chalk board info sign is actually a black foam board (dollar tree)
and I used a 4 pack of chalk pens from Michaels ($12- used a coupon to get it cheaper)

 For snacks I didn't want a bunch of candy, so I found these donut holes at my local grocery store's bakery. popped some cupcake toppers (dollar tree) on and wa-lah!

 The cookies are also from my local bakery.
The rice crispies are from the box. I dipped 'em in melting chocolate (food colored) and dipped in sprinkles with a cake pop stick on the end.

 plates were from target.
Is served fruits and licorice as my "candies".

Not pictured: I had brown paper bags for the kids.
Inside were heart shaped PB&J sandwiches, a paper cup filled with apples, grapes, carrots, and a orange slices. a cheese stick was also inside the bag, and desert were jello cups.

Flamingo Party- planning PT 2 - CENTERPIECES

Hey guys! So, I am only days away from my party now, and have so much to do still! 

I decided last night to start putting my centerpieces together and then individually bag 

them so that on the day of the party I can save some time, and only have to take 'em

out of a bag and set them on the table!

I want to share some really easy centerpieces, that literally cost me LESS than $5!!

Also, I will share where you can *hopefully* find the same items, or similar ones.

First off, I'll share the cup and utensils holders that I bought at Target.

The holder itself is designed by Poppytalk in their Poppytalk for Target party line!

This line is currently on clearance, so now is the time to go snag it really cheap!

I also found these cute cups at Target, they're also Poppytalk's.

The picnic napkins were from Michaels Craft Store and the spoons/forks were from Walmart

I really wanted them to have a picnic feeling, so I wrapped the utensils in the

napkins and tied a little piece of thin yarn around them.

Now for my centerpieces!!!!

For these, I really didn't spend a whole lot on them!

I bought the tin chalk bucket at Target, it was found in the $1 bins!

They currently have a cartwheel offer for 20% off this section of the store!

Which would make them .80 cents!

The chalk pen, I bought in April for my sister's car windows after her wedding,

so I didn't spend anything on it. But- they run for around $5 at Joann's.

Obviously you can use regular chalk and not have to spend a lot at the dollar tree.

I only used the pen because I am putting it into the bags and didn't want it to smear.

Next, you'll need the foam. I also already had this, but you don't need a lot 

and can find this really cheap at Walmart for under a couple dollars!

You'll also need flowers! I opted out of the real deal to keep in

 my budget! I found these at the dollar tree, and because my party 

is in the evening, nobody will notice that they're super cheap! 

Especially if you take the not so cute leaves off of them!

These pinwheel picks are from Michael's, they're the brand "Celebrate It!"

I believe they were on clearance for around $1.

If you use wire cutters and trim the flowers to be just high enough to poke

out of the bucket, it'll look great and nobody will see inside!

Flamingo Party - Party Planning Part 1 - Glitter Name tutorial

Hey everyone! So I have been doing some projects for my 21st birthday party and want to start sharing some of the things I've done so far! I saw this cute photo on Pinterest and decided to do something similar. I haven't quite decided how I am going to set them up, but I think they will be along the side of the house, hanging from the side of the roof by fishing line (surrounded by lights, lanterns, and other cute things) or something else, (I have no idea). 

I will definitely let y'all know how I end up doing it!

Supplies:

• Wood letters (I found mine at Michaels craft store.)
• Glue (any kind of liquid glue strong enough to hold the glitter.)
• Gold glitter (I found a cheap jar at Walmart for like $3.)
• Acrylic paints
• Paint brushes/ foam brushes
• Clear coating (I haven't done it in these photos yet.. I am waiting until I'm done with some of the photobooth props!)

 STEP ONE: PAINT THE LETTERS

I didn't do much but picked a couple different colors and designs. 

I wanted the letters to pop, obviously without the glitter they look sort of blah!

STEP TWO: GLITTER THOSE BABIES UP!

This is the size I picked of glitter. I wanted it to be BIG and FLASHY, 

especially because my party is at night and outside.

I used a foam brush to add glue to the gold upper half of the letters, 

and poured tons of glitter all over and waited for it to dry a bit before tapping the excess glitter off.

STEP THREE: CLEAR COAT.

I haven't done this step yet, I still have some other pieces to finish.

But- Here's a picture of each letter with the glitter and paint completed!

I can't wait to see how cute they'll make my cake table.

(excuse the "E", I totally accidentally dropped and broke it!)