Eclipse Party

This is a party I did for a large group of my friends for the release of Eclipse.

I used printables from Hostess with the Mostess for the cupcake picks and for the framed quotes throughout the party.

"Wolf Kibble"

"Doggie" bags to take "Emmet's Grizzly Bears" (cinnamon bears) for the movie.

"Vampire Venom" and party favors

We had such a fun night, and I had a great time putting the party together!

Baby K Turns 1

For Baby K's 1st birthday

I decided to have a kite party .

It was at the end of March, so I figured it would be the perfect weather for kite flying.

The plan was to have it outside under the canopy tent, with picnic blankets all over the lawn. But you know what they say about best laid plans... we moved inside.

There was a large bucket filled with kites for everyone.

Everyone did get to go out for a bit to fly kites.

Sorry for the poor pictures. I was running late and didn't have much time to take pictures.

We had barbeque beef sandwiches, salads, and chips followed by cupcakes. Even though it didn't go exactly as I had planned, it was still a very fun party.

Here's the Story of a Lovely Lady...

Who was busy with three kids... That's the way this story starts. I'm the lovely lady :) and this story starts with my having three wonderful children. Life was good. Was I busy? Absolutely. Did I have "those" days where everything went wrong? You betcha. But was I overwhelmed? No. Did it all seem like too much? No. I was in my element. I was in control.

Then I did something that didn't seem like too big of a deal. I had another baby. I know, every child is a big deal and changes your life blah, blah, blah... but I mean in the overall big picture I didn't think it would be that big of a deal. Each of my kids brought new joys and new challenges, but each one just meshed into my life so nicely. Maybe my overconfidence was the problem.

Fourth child enter stage right. Chaos ensues.

I am a very "in control" sort of person that has found myself completely out of control. Not that the fourth child is difficult. He is an absolutely adorable boy who is mostly quite content and happy. I couldn't ask for a better baby. I'm not sure why I am so overwhelmed, but I am. I keep telling myself it will get better. No luck so far, but I do have hope. One of these days I will begin to feel in control once more. I just know it. (It's the only thing that keeps me sane.)

The crafter in me is longing for that day because there are so many projects I want to do and just can't find the time for. So, I know I am not on here very often. I wish I was, but occassionally I will find a minute to make something and then I might even find a minute to write about it. Those are very good days. Like today. Today is a good day. I found a minute to craft, and a minute to write.

(The styrofoam balls I had on hand for my topiary were a little too small, so I covered them in sapnish moss first to kinda beef them up a bit.)

Now back to reality. I have a pile of laundry, and a dishwasher calling my name. Where's my "Alice?" Hopefully you will see me again soon.

Pink Cupcake Party

I have to start by saying that this wasn't an actual party. Today the princess and I had what she called a "pink cupcake party." She was just dying to make cupcakes, so we made pink cupcakes with chocolate and vanilla frosting with pink, white chocolate hearts on top. Of course we had to have pink milk to go with it!

I just love having a daughter to do things like this with.

It's a Pirate Party, Savvy!

This party was a blast to put on! It was for my son who was turning 8. The invitations really helped set the mood

This was the walkway up to the house

Inside the door was a large treasure chest for coats, boots, etc.

I had the soundtrack from Pirates of the Caribbean playing and there were skulls, bones, treasure, and snakes everywhere. As each boy came in he was given a pirate hat and an eye patch.

The Captain got to sit at the head of the table where everyone had hotdog boats, gold fish, tropical fruit on skewers, treasure (chex mix with candy), and rootbeer.

The centerpiece was an opened treasure chest that held the first clue to our treasure hunt. (We did the hunt last. The treasure they found was their own treasure box favors.)

This was the awesome cake that my mom made for the party. Whatever other talents I may have, cake decorating is not one of them. Thank you, Mom!

This was the sign on the bathroom door because they are 8 year old boys and I just couldn't resist.

One of the games we played was Pass the Pretzel. Each boy got his own hook to wear and they divided into two teams. They had to pass the pretzel from one hook to the next all the way down the line.

They also had to walk a plank blindfolded and had a cannonball war.

There were two ships in the room, each with a Jolley Roger flag hanging behind it. They divided into teams and were each given a stack of scrap paper. They wadded up the paper threw "cannonballs" at each other. They loved it!

The captain got to sit up in the pirate ship to open his presents while all the rest of the pirates sat on the floor. I think he felt pretty cool being up higher than everyone else.

This party was a huge hit, and so fun to do. Hope you got some good ideas for your next pirate party.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Here is a bit of Christmas cheer from me to you! I apologize for the picture quality. I can never seem to figure out how to photograph a Christmas tree, so you will only get little glimpses of parts of the trees. If you have any helpful hints (my photographer friends) please share!

The Princess' Tree

We'll start with my favorite tree. I really wanted to do a lot more with the ornaments and topper on this tree, but I just didn't have the time this year. Maybe next year. But I love the fun pink color and the super cute garland.

Family Room Tree

This tree has a very rustic feeling. I made these balls a few years ago, and I love them. I just glued small red beans and black-eyed peas to a styrofaom ball and used jute as the hanger.

I the pictures you can catch a glimpse of the garland. It looks kind of like rope, but up close you can tell it isn't. This used to be a broken basket. I just pulled the basket apart and used it as garland. I love the way it looks, and best of all, it was free.

Tree in the Library

This tree was the worst to photograph, so again, sorry. I got this tree topper years ago, not long after I got married. I paid entirely too much for it, and would never even consider spending that kind of money on a tree now, but I do love it. And I am so glad I was frivolous years ago so I've been able to enjoy it for all these years.

I made these ornaments with some frosted balls, ribbon, and two floral picks that I intertwined.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year!

I'm linking up to Funky Junk's Christmas Trees Unite.

Let the Countdown Begin

Well okay, it actually began a couple of days ago, but whatever.

Take one unfinshished wood frame. Add scrapbook paper, chipboard, stencils, stamps, ribbon, and of course the everfaithful Mod Podge... and voila! You're counting down until Christmas.

I don't know about you, but I better get off this computer and start getting ready for Christmas.

Confession

There is something that consumes me, and if you know me, you will instantly know what it is, but if you only know me through this little blog, you probably have no idea. That's because this is the one place I try to keep free of my obsession. The one place you will not have to listen to me go on and on and on about EDWARD, and BELLA, and JACOB, and VAMPIRES, and WEREWOLVES...etc. My plan was to always keep this one little area of my life Twilight free, but alas, when something becomes such a fulblown obsession, it is bound to show up everywhere. Nothing can be left free of it. So this is me officially coming out of the Twilight closet on my crafty and -up until now - Twilight free blog.

Is there any relevance of my "outing" to this blog? Why, yes there is, otherwise it would still be Twilight free. For the opening of New Moon I went to a pre-movie party and was asked to bring a dessert. I was so excited. And suddenly my creative juices stopped flowing, maybe I was just a little too emotional over the whole thing to think clearly. I wracked my brains, I scoured the internet... nothing. I found lots of ideas, but nothing "spoke" to me. Then my neighbor sent me this link. Here it was, the idea I had been looking for. The one that finally said, "pick me, pick me!" So I did. And here is the final result:

They are obviously red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. The frosting has clear sugar sparkles on top (a nod to Edward's sparkling body). The fork picks, for Forks, WA where the story takes place, are holding quotes from New Moon. And of course, the quotes are typed in each character's font used in the book. I think they turned out great, and they were very fun to make!

Use #158 For An Old Window Frame

A hair clip holder.

I found an old window frame for $3.00. I knew what I wanted it to become almost instantly. I had to paint it so it would match the princess's room, but there was so much texture going on that I didn't want to mess that up.

So I used plain old acrylic paint and just gave it one light coat. It is completely flat and very thin so that you can still see through it in most places.

I stapled some pink ribbon to the back and and screwed in some hooks at the bottom for bracelets and necklaces.

I love it when something is not only pretty, but functional as well. This has them both covered, and the princess loves it, too.

Pink Shabby Christmas

This summer I picked up the most adorable little pink tree with pink lights to go in the princess's very "shabby" (as in Shabby Chic, not as in crappy) bedroom this Christmas. I got it for a just a few pennies.

Yesterday I decided that it would look great with a tied garland. I used scraps from the quilt I made for her bed.

First I cut the scraps into strips.

Why are they sorted on the carpet? Yes, I do have a craft table with a chair... I prefer to work on the floor.

I got some ribbon and started tying the fabric strips into knots around the ribbon. When I was finished, I trimmed all the ends of the fabric to about the same length.

Isn't it lovely?

Garland done, ornaments are next!