Birthday Party Madness…

My son is the king of themed parties.  (And his mom might play a role in the enabling that goes on around here…)

This year (his 7th birthday) was he year of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

 

(Where the hell did that come from?  Am I eighty years old?)

 

First, I designed the invites using some clipart I googled…

 

Then I decided to make my life very difficult and took a little visit to the black hole known as Pinterest.  Searched for TMNT party and found some cool ideas I incorporated for the birthday.  Cookies made to look like mini pizzas?  Sure, why not?  Handmaking the pizza boxes?  OK!  Cake pop treats?  No problem!

 

Easier said than done, mofo.

 

Well, here are some pictures.  And I’ll say what I say every year after every kids’ party:  I’m never doing this again, next time I’m ordering everything from Oriental Trading or Birthday in a Box.

Sure.

 

For the boxes, I used this tutorial over at SplitCoast Stampers.  Super easy!

Thank You cards

I crafted some cards as thank you’s for some of my donors for my NStar Walk for Children’s Hospital Boston.  (Holy run-on sentence!)  I used Stampin’ Up supplies and managed to create a dozen of them while the three kids stormed my craft room.  It was not easy, let me tell you.

 

I linked to my friend Sherri’s Stampin’ Up! site, as she is a seasoned demonstrator.  She has lots of great ideas and products, go check out her blog too.

 

Decorating

I have a hard time decorating.  I think it’s the committing to putting stuff on the walls that gets me.  Even though we have been homeowners for eight years, I still have that “apartment living” mentality where I am loathe to mar the walls with nail holes.  Yes, I could always use the 3M Command strips.  Maybe for the next project.

I was browsing Facebook this morning and I subscribe to 733 Blog’s Facebook page.  She’s got tons of great ideas and she posted some inspiration for me this morning.

Facebook screenshot of http://www.733blog.com’s inspiration photo…go check out her blog!

If you haven’t seen her blog, go check it out!  After seeing hers, I made my own.

I ordered a 16×20 print from Shutterfly and used my $10.00 off coupon that was emailed the other day.  I’ll matte and frame it when it arrives and maybe I’ll have the wherewithal to actually hang it on the wall and post a picture for you!

I’ve been browsing other printable wall art and I think I might jump on the chevron bandwagon.  These would be cute simply framed in a white frame and hung in a row:

 

 

 

My Daisy Scout is “bridging” tomorrow…

Where did the past 2 years go?  DD7 has been a Daisy since Kindergarten, sometimes enthusiastically, sometimes reluctantly…

(Blurry cellphone pic taken during the freaking monsoon we camped in)

I made a few goodies to celebrate “bridging”, the ceremony celebrating the Daisies’ journey to becoming Brownies.

I punched the petals and created the wrap for the Lindt chocolate bag (on clearance for .32 each at Walgreen’s!) with Stampin’ Up card stock.

I’ll post measurements of the Lindt chocolate bag wraps if anyone is interested…

Paper beads

I’m on a paper bead kick-it’s easy and cheap and doesn’t require a lot of tools.  I happened to have a Klutz books kit that I got for about a dollar and really only bought it for the little paper roller tool in it.

I cannabalized a necklace that I inherited from my late mother in law and added the heart with wings charm, and strung it all on a stretchy cord.  Fun!

Happy {unoriginal} Valentines!

So…I’ve been crafting a lot more lately but haven’t come up with anything original.  This is where Pinterest comes in.  If you don’t know what Pinterest is, well…you’re better off not knowing.  Unless you don’t have a job…or kids…and a money tree in your backyard…and you don’t need to sleep.  Ever.

Pinterest is addictive.  Imagine flipping through a bunch of magazines and dog-earing the pages of ideas you really like.  That’s what Pinterest is-just grabbing ideas and photos and tutorials off a site with other crazed Pinners.  I have been known to pin for hours on end!

And just so you don’t think I’m the only one sucked in by the craze, check out this YouTube video.

Shit Stay at Home Moms Say

So I totally stole this idea from a fellow Pinner of making Star Wars themes Valentines for DD6’s class. She hates girly things and recently got into into Star Wars, so this is perfect.

 

In case you couldn’t tell, that’s a glow stick stuck through a slit in the card.  Now I just have to figure out how to get them to school without her snapping and activating all of them!

 

What are you doing for your kids’ valentines?

Merry Christmas!

I’m almost done with my Christmas card mailing…I have about 2 dozen left to make.  Here is the design for this year:

 

I am happy with how they turned out but it’s been hard to get them all mailed out!  Little One is better since we stopped trying to sleep train him.  Everyone is much happier and I’m not forcing the issue for a while..

Thank You’s!

(Or is it Thank Yous?)

I just ordered the thank you notes for DS5’s birthday party this past weekend…how cute are these?

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.

More pics and updates later this week.  It’s Sunday night and I’m beat!

Chore Jar

Another modified Pinterest idea  here…the inspiration was from Make and Takes.

I used Mason jars, scrapbook paper, crafting popsicle sticks, and a couple of graphics from Lettering Delights.

The week starts off with all sticks in the jar.  There are several of each stick, the blue ones are my daughter’s and the orange ones are my son’s.As each chore is completed, the stick gets moved over to the “done” jar.
Each chore completed earns the kid a cool quarter.

 

If you want to follow me on Pinterest, my username is lydiaacheson!