Target Turkey Thursday

One of my favorite blogs, Frost Me has a great series of posts for Saturday's - Shopping Saturday's.  Kim posts her shopping finds and gives tips on how to use them for various parties.  It's like going shopping without leaving your computer!

So tonight, the kids and I ventured to Target (which really means ADventure with my children).  As I've mentioned before, Target's Dollar Aisle is one of the things that fills my life's bucket :)  We have a Target Greatland which means 2 entrances - I drive clear across the parking lot so we can park at the entrance for the Dollar Aisle.  Not only is it great for Party Planning Moms on a Budget, but it is the best go-to-bribe area for kids.  Mom's can bribe the kids to be good without having to spend a fortune. 

Inspired by Kim at Frost Me, I found lots of cute things refrained from buying them!  Stay tuned for a future post.  It was hard because tonight's dollar aisle was stocked with new fun things. 

I did pick up a few things though.  Each year we host my Mom's side of the family for a Thanksgiving feast.  Each year it seems to grow bigger and bigger with the addition of new little ones.  I'm going to have to upgrade and enlarge the kids' table this year.  Celebrations at Home has some great posts for Thanksgiving party ideas, including some great ideas for the kids' table.  Unfortunately, the featured color-your-own giant Thanksgiving table cloth is no longer available at Oriental Trading. 

No fear - Target Dollar Aisle to the rescue!  Tonight I found these packs of 6 color-your-own Thanksgiving place mats.  I thought it may be better than the tablecloth because each child will have their own so hopefully no fights.

I've mentioned before my infatuation with pin the "whatever on the whatever."  Apparently Target is on the same page too.  In the dollar aisle I found this "Pin the Hat on the Turkey" game.  It would cost me more to make my own!  And think of the time I saved :)

My final Thanksgiving find were these Turkey hats that just made me laugh. Ethan checked out a book from the library a few weeks ago called, "Ten Fat Turkeys."  It's really a silly book that we had to read every night, sometimes more than once until we had to return it.  Chris threatened to renew it when he took Ethan back to the library.  The book became my own ear worm.  So when I found these hats I couldn't help but laugh and think, Wobble, Wobble, Bibble, Babble.  Ten Fat Turkeys sitting on a fence...  My plan is to take the kids' picture in them for a fun Thanksgiving Dinner e-vite and then use them to play a silly game modeled after Ethan's Ten Fat Turkey book.  Who knows, maybe I'll even have to re-check it out.  Maybe I should call ahead to the library to have them put a hold on the book for me :)

UpperCase Living (the vinyl version of a Tupperware party) has this adorable centerpiece for the kids table. 

I also found these adorable pilgrim hat cookies to make for the kids.  They look easy enough even I can do them.

So sorry for completely jumping over Halloween here.  I haven't forgot you Halloween.  Target just had me thinking Turkeys tonight :)

Grace's DWTS Commentary

When I had the idea of doing this blog, not only did I want to share my party ideas, but I also wanted to be able to blog about my children.  I use Facebook to share some of the comical things they say and do, but there is only so much you can write in the 425 characters they give you. 

Like many of the kids that I know, Grace and Ethan LOVE Dancing with the Stars.  In addition to their other favorite shows, Wipeout and The Middle, it is the highlight of their television watching week.  They anxiously anticipate when the new season will start as much as they anticipate the coming of Santa.  So Monday night was a big night at our house.

For those of you that don't know my Grace, it is hard to put into words the girl that is Grace.  She really is wise beyond her years, but still a 6 year old girl, articulate but sassy, funny yet sarcastic, sympathetic but blunt.  There are days when I want to put her on the curb with a "Free" sign and in the same day I want to bottle her up and keep her a 6 year old girl forever.  So the dichotomy that is Grace results in lots of insightful, interesting and often hilarious comments.

For example, one day while I was getting ready for work in my bathroom Grace happened to stumble across my feminine products.  Like any other 6 year old girl would, she wanted to know what those funny things were.  So, in the best way I could explain puberty to a 6 year old, I told her about how when she gets older, her body will go through changes, etc.  At the end of my very sincere, thoughtful explanation she asked, "So when I go through puberty then I'll get a car and a cell phone?"  I could have just died!

Grace is also quite the girly girl.  She loves anything sparkly, shiny, "blingy," (if that's a word) and pretty.  And for Grace, the more the better.  There are days when she would make Zsa Zsa Gabor look like a plain Jane.  Her birthstone is diamond and she embraces that as her moniker.  She loves high heels (watch out Suri Cruise), make up and accessories.  I struggle with letting her have her own style and keeping her from looking like a trailer park princess.  And on some mornings I let her walk out of the house wearing an outfit that I never would have thought I'd ever let her put together much less appear in public at school.  On those days, I'd like to write a note to her teacher with the simple FYI telling her "It wasn't worth the battle today."  But her teacher is pretty wise and I'm sure she already knows that.

She is quite her own fashionista.  She loves to watch What Not To Wear with me as well as Say Yes to the Dress.  She certainly has her own opinions on others' style or lack thereof.  One day she came home from school to tell me that her girlfriends' mom should really be on What Not To Wear.  And honestly, she was right.  But at the same time she told me that, she also said "But that's not something we tell her, right momma?"  And oh by the way, she's 6 and still calls me "momma" and that melts my heart.

So the little fashionista loves watching DWTS not just for the dance and music but also for the fashion.  Some nights we'll be watching and she'll tell me (particularly with reference to Lacey Schwimmer), "I would not wear that momma."  And for some of the navel bearing, cleavage showing outfits, I'm glad she makes that assessment.

She also loves watching DWTS for her long lost love, Derek.  I'd like to put in a request to the producers to have him dance BEFORE 8:00 Central/Standard Time.  Holding him out until last does not work with our bedtimes! 

This week while watching, Grace had an inquiry about Margaret Cho.  She asked Chris whether "She was from Indian."  (not India, Indian.)  This from the girl who at 3 as we were getting off the elevator in a hospital and seeing an African American woman for the first time in her young life in person (that she could remember) exclaimed, "She's black momma."  Now mind you, we had never talked about race at our house, never use the word "black" to describe African American people and consider ourselves pretty liberal.  I was SO embarrassed.  Fortunately for me the nurse was so nice about it and said that if everyone was as sweet and innocent as Grace the world would be a better place.

So after Grace asked her question Monday night about Margaret, I was curious to hear Chris' response.  I'm not sure what was funnier, her comment or Chris' response.  He told her that no, she wasn't from Indian, but she was Asian.  Grace asked what that meant - because now I'm sure she was really confused.  Chris made it even more simpler for her - telling her that meant that was her heritage :)  Here I had to explain puberty and now he was trying to explain heritage??? 

Her assessment of Kurt Warner was also too funny.  My kids have seen their share of Disney shows, including all the shows I swore my kids would never watch - Hannah Montana, Suite Life, Wizard of Waverly Place, etc.  When Kurt Warner came on she was very proud of herself that she recognized him.  She informed Chris and I that he was a "Star" because he was on Suite Life on Deck.  I'm sure that he'd be happy to know that's what he's famous for - not the Super Bowl rings or the records he set as an NFL quarterback.

Last night she saw "The Hoff''s" dance for the first time as he danced way past her bedtime on Monday.  As he was dancing, she asked me if he was a Grandpa.  Apparently the plastic surgery didn't hide his age too well for her.  This morning she asked me who got "kicked off."  I told her the Grandpa and she knew immediately who I was talking about.  Ethan then asked me if he cried.  He too is full of funnies.  But this post is getting really long so I'll end it at that.  I'm glad I finally got to share my Grace with you.  I'm still waiting on those pictures...  Hopefully tomorrow.

Green and Brown Baby Carriage Baby Shower

While I'm (impatiently) waiting the arrival of the pictures from Ethan's birthday party, I thought I'd post some pictures from my sister's baby shower.  My nephew turns one in a few months and it was fun to look back at the pictures from the shower. 

The colors of the shower were taken from the colors my sister chose for the baby's room.  My friend Rebecca (I think she should start paying me for each time I mention her in this blog :) had given me adorable white wicker baby carriages for my other sister's shower 6 years ago.  My mom saved them, hoping to put them to use again!  We bought flowers from the farmer's market and put arrangements on each table.

I looked to Etsy to find cute coordinating green and brown baby carriage party decor.  I found the cutest things from my go-to cupcake topper and favor tag gal at Ciao Bambino on Etsy.  I have used her for Grace and Ethan's parties more than once and couldn't be happier with the results.

The shower was held in the Fall in Wisconsin which equals BRRRR!!!!  My sister did not want a formal event so we held it in my parent's garage (do you see a theme of my parties - garages seem to equal party spaces.)  I wouldn't exactly call my parent's garage an actual garage.  It is nicer and cleaner than some people's homes.  After all, who has custom cabinetry and a furnace in their garage?  My dad of course :) 

I found brown and green polka dot balloons on ebay.  The balloons were tied to the baby carriage centerpieces.

My mom is the dessert queen.  She really should open her own bakery some day.  She decided we would have all green and brown desserts for the shower.  Yum, Yum!  She made pistachio tort, chocolate mint brownies, and grasshopper pie.  I added the cupcakes and the baby carriage chocolates.  The dessert table turned out adorable.

I made a diaper cake using my sister's color scheme.  After pricing them online, I decided to try it myself.  The hardest thing is rolling all the diapers.  But after getting the hang if it, it really is pretty easy.  There are several tutorials on the web for a DYI diaper cake.

Keeping with the baby carriage theme, each guest received a baby carriage wild flower seed packet. 

It was a great shower and my nephew is one of the sweetest little guys (next to Ethan of course!) 

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post the pics from Ethan's party.

Quick post of Ethan's party.

I'm so excited to share Ethan's 3rd birthday, but probably not as excited as he was for the party.  On Friday, after "helping" me decorate for most of the day, he exclaimed to Grace after she got home from school, "TA-DA!!!  My birthday party Gace."  (He calls her "Gace.") 

I have a bazillion things to do after ditching out at the Packer game today but here is a quick and dirty post.  I hope to do a more detailed post later this week.  Jessie Warner graciously agreed to take pictures of the party for me.  Here is a link to her website and of the proofs from the party.  I'll feature the pictures later this week!  Thanks for looking!  Have a great Monday.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

I feel like I'm about to engage in a race so I thought the title was appropriate (albeit a little corny!)  Less than 48 hours before Ethan's Cars 3rd Birthday and I feel like I don't know where to begin - so I thought I'd blog! 

Here are two more features from Ethan's party.

First, as I said in the previous blog, I am trying a candy table for this party.  I thought it would be cute to have a sign for the table.  Here is what I came up with:

What is a birthday party without party hats?  My friend and co-worker Rebecca (who is the one I credit for turning me on to party planning and who herself is a fabulous and talented party planner) found this great website that specializes in personalized Meri Meri party decorations.  If DYI party decorations intimidate you, check out the gals at Make It Mine Parties as well as Meri Meri decorations.  They are simply adorable and have tons of themes and decorations for all sorts of parties from Halloween to Luau's to traditional birthday parties.  They also have several lines of cupcake kits.  I've seen these sold at local boutiques in my hometown. 

Meri Meri has a Racing Car line of invitations and coordinating decorations.  It is so adorable!  Unfortunately, there is no Lightning McQueen incorporated in the decorations for my little guy, so I couldn't use the entire line.  However, Make It Mine has these adorable birthday hats that I couldn't pass up.

 

There is some assembly required, but if I could figure it out, anyone can.  They have hats to coordinate with almost all of Meri Meri's themes.

So now I'm off to turn a garage into a 3 year old's Lightning McQueen birthday wonderland. I am somewhat disappointed that I have to have the party in the garage given the 40% chance of rain the weather people are predicting.  But as Rebecca pointed out to me, given the theme of the party, it is not entirely inappropriate to host the party in a garage!

I'm very excited to post the final pictures after Saturday!  Thanks for reading and have a FABULOUS weekend!

Ethan's Party Week

So this week it is all Ethan, all week.  Tomorrow is his actual birthday.  When I asked him what he wanted to bring to daycare for his treat, his immediate response was "Queen Cutcakes" - translation - Lightning McQueen cupcakes.  So here are the cupcakes for his birthday for tomorrow.   (I apologize for the flash - still learning how to take good pictures)

 

Chris had to help me frost them because I hurt my back this weekend getting a massage of all things! Let's hope it improves because on top of teaching my first CCD class, I have A LOT of party planning to do!

(The licking of the frosting was AFTER I stuffed the pastry bag and is way out of my norm of what I'd let my kids do.  But it's Ethan's birthday week so I guess I'm letting my hair down!)

Here are a few other things I am working on for the party.  I've been inspired by all the adorable sweets tables on the party blogs so for this party I am trying my hand at one. I loved the sweets table from this Sesame Street inspired party.  Luckily I had a very similar container for the lollipops from my Grandpa Pat.  He had a garden that would make the greatest gardner envious.  He and my Grandma Gladys would spend days on end canning tomatoes in the greenhouse.  The container is one of his containers for storing canning jar .  I was very happy to put it to such a great use and to have him be a little part of Ethan's party.  If he was alive today he would get great joy of of his Great Grandkids!

The label is from Posh Pixels on Etsy.  She also has her own blog.  She does custom orders and is great to work with!  I'm using lots more of those cute labels throughout the rest of the party.  Stay tuned :)

Since Grace's first birthday I have put together picture boards for each of their birthdays with a picture from each month of that year.  It is fun to see how they have grown and changed throughout the year.  My first picture board was pretty blah now that I look back at it.  But it will be fun to take them all out at their high school graduation and see how they've grown.  Here is Ethan's picture board for this year.  I try to stick to the theme of the party so not only will the see how they've grown but they will remember their birthday party themes :)

The weather on Saturday is supposed to be rainy.  That should come as no shock to my family and friends.  It never fails that the weather is awful for the kids' parties.  Last year it was literally 90 degrees and humid - in the middle of September in Wisconsin no less!  So I have indoor games planned for the activities.  One of the easiest and most inexpensive games you can play with the kids and that can match any theme is "Pin the [whatever] on the [whatever]."  There are tons of free coloring page websites out there.  Here is one I like to use.  Find a picture that fits your theme, print it out, transfer the image to an overhead transparency and then use an overhead projector to project it onto poster board, trace, color and voila - you have a "Pin the [whatever] on a [whatever]."  I've used this for Ethan's first birthday ("Pin the star in the sky"); Grace's ballet party ("Pin the tutu on the ballerina"); our block party ("Pin the cherry on the ice cream cone"); our upcoming Halloween party ("Pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern"); and now Ethan's party - "Pin the Tire on McQueen."

So that's my introduction to Ethan's party.  There's lots more to come later this week.  Stay tuned :)  Have a fabulous week and Happy 3rd Birthday to one of the sweetest and happiest little boys!

Adventures in Novice Graphics Design

T minus 3 days until my baby boy turns 3.  And T minus one week until his big Lightning McQueen Birthday Bash.  Just like Grace, I look at him and wonder how he grew up so fast!  My baby is no longer a baby and is such a little man. 

For the kids' birthdays, I usually order my invites from places like Paper Style or any other online invitation place where I can find them at a good price.  I order them blank and print them myself - so much cheaper!  Unfortunately, every invite I found for a Cars/Lightning McQueen birthday party was so commercial and in my very humble (and I mean VERY humble) opinion, cheesy.  So, I decided I'd try to make my own.

I don't have any fancy graphic design software.  But I do have a digital scrapbooking package from Creative Memories.  In my pre-children days I was quite the scrapbooker.  Now it just seems like too much effort for me to get ALL that stuff out after the kids go to bed, set it up and then get one or two pages done.  So my last scrapbook page that is currently left in an unfinished state is of me when I was 7 months pregnant with Grace.  I have ideas of grandeur that I'll finish it, but Grace turned 6 this year and it still is as undone as it was 6 and 1/2 years ago!

So for me, the digital software is so much better.  It's all in one place, only takes the time to turn on your computer to get it "set up" and you can use the same "paper", "stickers" and "embellishments" over, and over and over again!  I actually have not used it to scrapbook at all.  I've used it to make photo cards of the kids.  It's super easy.  After you "scrapbook" your card, you can save it as a JPG file, and then upload it to something like Walgreens and print it as a picture.  I've printed mine as 4x6's or 5x7's.  Here are an example of some that I've done.

Halloween Card from 2009

Christmas Thank You from 2009

Valentine Card from 2010

Not that I want to sound like a sales person for Creative Memories, because believe me I'm not getting any royalties for this post :), but one of the great things is that they have all these mini themed packages you can purchase for around $4.95.  And luckily for me, they had a Cars package.  The one I purchased has been revamped to include the new "Toon Town" cars, and frankly I like my older version better, but here is a link to the package.

Here is my version of a Cars invite for Ethan's 3rd Birthday.

To plan for this party, I literally searched all the party blog sites and found some truly inspirational ideas and "met" (online version) some really great people.  Here are some of the ones I found:

• Belly Feather's Race Car Party (Betsy is one of the sweetest, nicest people I've met.  She's a "real" party planner and has lots of great ideas and real things you can buy from her to plan your party.  Check out her site here.)
• Bliss Bloom Blog Race Car Party
• Just Deanna Race Car Party
• Belleza e Luce (this party has been featured on a ton of party blogs)
• Party Love Hot Wheels Birthday Party

I'm not going to lie, using (or stealing) these ultra-talented people's ideas I created some signs for the party using the software as well. 

(I'm going to use this by the gift table.)

(If it wasn't obvious, I'm going to put this by the drinks.)

(I'm going to put this by the Cars Tattoos I have for the kids.)

(I'm going to put this sign by the favors table.)

I still have a TON to do for this party, but I'm very excited, as is Ethan!  I will be busy this weekend.  Wishing you and your family a splendid and safe weekend!  And happy party planning!