What to do with cards?!

I saved all the adorable cards from my baby shower and decided that there has got to be something cute to do with them, besides shoving them in a box to forget about. I decided I would pick my favorites and frame them. I think it turned out pretty cute. I'd like to maybe do one for each of his birthdays.

Target Baby Crib Bedding

So the baby finally has a crib! Gramma Lou Lou bought him this wonderful, sturdy white one at a garage sale for $20! I got him target crib accessories to match his blue and brown decor and it looks SO good! He absolutely loves his new bed and is so happy to be out of the Graco Pack n Play.

Little "B" Turns One!

I started planning the first birthday party for my little "B" about 2 months before the day. I was just so excited to throw a little party for him, afterall, he is my little prince! So I decided airplanes would be the theme and the colors gradually came about as the primaries, Red Blue Green Yellow. I made the invitations, party favors, banner, airplane cupcake toppers, one cupcake stand, delicious cupcakes and some of the food myself. Then bought some party food from Costco and Fred Meyers.

First things first - the invitations...

Then the decor...

 

For the banner, I just printed out letters in different fonts and put the same size circle around each letter so that they were easy to cut out, then I strung present wrapping string through each one

 

 This was the birthday boy's seat!

Somehow the presents all matched the decor! Splendid!

The food...

Finger foods,

Cupcakes...

 

Cupcakes...

More cupcakes. The stand on the left is the one that I made.  I used a Huggies diaper box, white card stock, a Martha Stewart fancy hole puncher, fancy rope, pins, super glue, baby food jars, white spray paint, and little handmade paper airplanes.

The party favors...

The supplies...

Baggies w/ twist ties

M&M's with 1/4 cup scoop

Mini toy flying objects

Airplane making candy, I got this idea from here on flickr

And VOILA! Airplane themed party favors!

Displayed with an airplane ~ Of Course!

And finally, the birthday boy himself! ~Little "B"

 

 

The party was a smashing success! Little "B" made out like a bandit with presents, and the 30+ guests had a great time!

Homemade Cupcake Tower

I wanted to make a cupcake tower for "Little B's" 1st Birthday party, using things I already had in the house It took forever and was really hard to do, but I did it and it turned out really cute!

 THE PROCESS:

I cut out circles from a big Huggies diaper box, and the dividers are small and large baby food jars and a pill bottle.

I put covered the circles in card stock and made pretty bands using a Martha Stewart paper punch.

Then, I sprayed the jars white and glued it all together.

To hide the seams I put fancy ribbon on the edges. I attached the ribbon with sewing pins so that I can change the style of the tower for other parties.  The paper airplanes were handmade and glued on and I used a whole punch for the colorful confetti circles!

Adult & Tween Double Birthday Party BBQ

Another last minute birthday party, this one for my sister-in-law and young cousin. I used bright girlie colors and everyone brought food for a BBQ. 

 

Colorful poppers doubled as entertainment and party favors.

 

 

Drinks and candy! Starbursts matched perfect with the decor!

This is the present I got for my sister-in-law who is an excellent cook! She has a box of bulk spices that are kept in baggies, so I got her 20 glass spice jars (from World Market) and labels to go with them.

Cake Balls!

This was my first attempt at making cake balls. As soon as I saw this idea on Bakerella.com I had to try it!  It was a lot of fun, but A LOT of work! The best thing would be to let the balls sit in the fridge for 4+ hours before dipping them in chocolate, and make sure you don't burn the chocolate!

This was my extremely mess attempt, but they were deeeelicious!!

One box of red velvet cake mix made about 60+/- It was like a never ending cake ball event!

Some day, when I have a bunch of time on my hands, I will get back to making these again.

Canning in August

So I'm just posting the canning I did in August. It was my first time, and Momma Lou showed me how. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work. Four boxes of peaches is a lot of peaches! I got about 40 jars!

Sister - In - Law Birthday Party

We had the family over for desert for my sister-in-law's birthday. It was a last minute decision and I found this awesome recipe for a double layer yellow cake. It turned out beautifully and was delicious!

TO MAKE

head to smittenkitchen.com

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I searched the internet for homemade laundry detergents and found a dry one to make. 

Pros: 

It was very easy to make

It lasts forever!  

Ingredients were easy to find at grocery store

It's cheaper than buying it from the store... a lot cheaper.

Cons:

Shaving soap is hard work! I ended up using my blender, which was not good on my blender.

The smell of the ingredients gave me a headache, I could only do it with the doors and windows open.

RECIPE

Mix Equal Parts Borax and Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 Fels Naptha Bar* to every cup of mix (shaved)

I also added Calgon water softener to my mix

*other soap bars work just as well (ivory, pure & natural, etc.)

TO USE

1 or 2 TABLESPOONS per wash load