Guest Posting @ Naptime Crafters!

Hi all!  Just a quick note to let you know I'm guest posting at Naptime Crafters today!

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I'm taking a break from my usual crafty talk and sharing some thoughts on motherhood.  I'd love it if you would stop by and read my post- and maybe even add your input in the comments over there!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Bow Tie Baby Shower

My sweet friend Nichole has all sisters.  When she got married, she had two girls.  Now, this woman of all things girly is expecting a BOY!  My friends and I thought it would be appropriate to throw her a Bow Tie-themed shower to celebrate all things boy!

We chose black and red as the colors, as her husband is a HUGE AZ Cardinals fan (that's football, for the uninitiated!).  Their nursery is being decorated in these colors, so we thought we'd carry them over into the shower.

Nichole wanted a brunch, and since we had a large amount of people coming, we kept it very simple: Cinnamon Baked French Toast from The Pioneer Woman, lots of fresh fruit and dip, and cinnamon roll pops.

We finished with mini-cupcakes for a treat.

Here's a few shots of the table and decor.  We had originally planned an outdoor brunch, but the day dawned cold and extremely windy.  A last minute decision moved everything inside.  

We handed out favor bags filled with Snickerdoodle White Chocolate Popcorn from Picky Palate.

It was a success!  We had a really fun morning, and can't wait to hold that little baby boy!

Tell me- what does my friend NEED to know about boys?  Share in the comments below!

Linking up to some of the parties listed here

Pin-spiration: Stenciled Wall Sign

This is the post where I am going to show my social-media ignorance.  What is a Tumblr, and how does it work?

A few weeks ago I saw a quotation "pinned" on Pinterest that I really liked.  Not only did I like what it said, but I really liked the visual impact of the way it was showcased.

The pin links back to All Things Girly and Beautiful, which is a Tumblr site (?), and that's as far as it goes, so I can't credit the original source. 

Anyway- this happens to be the one of the colors of our master bedroom, and I just happen to have a 12x24 piece of plywood just waiting for me to put something on it.  I knew I could take this and make it into a cute wall sign. Here's how it turned out!

I painted my plywood white, so the text would eventually be white.

I designed my design on my Silhouette Cameo software (using the font Pea Girly Girls Script, in case you would like to know), then cut the words out in vinyl.

I laid it out how and played with it until I found where I wanted to go, then applied the vinyl to the board.

The red on white is kind of cute!  I almost stopped, thinking this would make a great Valentine's day gift or decoration!  But, I soldiered on, because I really, really need a cute sign in my bedroom.  And, you know, Valentine's Day is kind of a long ways off....

I painted over the entire board with two coats of Hydrangea paint, then let it dry.  I peeled up the vinyl, and it looked amazing!  I only had to fix two spots where there was a noticeable bleed-through.

Now I have the perfect little sign for my bedroom.  I can't wait to hang it up.  First I have to clean the wall of some old gunk from a poster we had up about, oh, three years ago, that I never bothered to clean off.  I'm awful.

Anyway- this was my first attempt at using vinyl as a stencil, and I LOVE it- so easy, and it comes out so clean.  What's your favorite way to stencil?

 I'll be sharing this at some of these parties.   



Have a great week!

Ruffle Cake

My daughter's birthday was yesterday!  I can't believe she's 7- time surely does fly in the overall scheme of things.

She loves everything pink and girly, so I decided to make her a pink ruffle cake.  I've never done anything like this before.  I turned to this video for guidance, and here's how it turned out:

I love it!  It's perfect for her.  While my technique needs a little work to be a little more precise, I love the overall effect of the ruffles.  Although, I should've gone up just a little bit higher and it really bothers me when I look at it!

I also made this little paper dress cake topper, inspired by this one at Composing Hallelujahs.  I just made it a little shorter so it looks like a tutu.  Love it!

I'm sharing this here:  come along with me!

Ballerina Party

Oh, Michaels, you, one of my  favorite stores.... this time you let me down.

We booked a party for my daughter there (which was a bad experience all in itself).  When we arrived to set up, no one knew we were coming.

It was a bit of chaos, and the party room was a disaster.

But they did their best to make it up to us, so in the end, I guess you pulled through for me after all, dear Michael's.  We did get free balloons, ribbon halos, and craft kits.  

My daughter wanted an art party, but she wanted all the decorations to be ballerina-themed.  So, I did my best.

Now as I mentioned, the party room at Michel's was a mess, so there was no grand food table display.  I will show you what I was able to put together.

First, I made favor bags for all the girls.  Since I knew they would be taking their craft projects home with them, I kept the treat bags simple.  

I made dipped Rice Krispie treats,

and Bottle-cap Zipper Pulls.

I packaged them together and tied them with a ribbon,

then put them in a sweet little pink butterfly basket.

We had Funfetti cupcakes with classic Birthday Party Frosting from Sweetopia.  I made the toppers on my Silhouette Cameo.

I also put out a fruit platter with this delicious Marshmallow Cream Cheese Dip from The Finer Things in Life.  Try it next time you need a fruit dip- it is delicious!

We had dipped pretzels

and of course, Easter candy on the day before Easter!

We also had Doritos and lemonade, but who needs a picture of that?

The girls had fun decorating their ballerina dolls and their coordinating outfits.

They also got their faces painted!

It might not have been the best party I've thrown, but I think the girls still had fun, and in the end, that's all that matters.

I'm linking up to some parties this week:  come check them out with me!

Roundup- A Christ-Centered Easter

Well, another Easter is almost upon us, and while I love a good Egg Hunt or visit with the Easter Bunny, I want to make sure my children understand and remember why Easter is so important.

I'm sharing a few links I found with some great Christ-centered Easter crafts, treat or lessons.  I know it's late, but I'm sure there's time to share some of these with your family, too.

Being LDS shares a whole bunch of  wonderful crafts and activities here:

Detail-Oriented Diva has some great ways to re-label regular items for a Christ-centered Easter Basket.  Really, some really fun, cute ideas here!

Happy Home Fairy has some great Easter traditions that you can do with your family to help keep Christ as the focus:

Thanks for the inspiration, ladies.  I wish everyone a happy Easter- may you enjoy the day however you celebrate it!