Ayla

For Ayla's 5th birthday she requested (okay I might have suggested - instead of a princess or Dora theme) a Hello Kitty themed birthday party.  Though she might have been slightly guided in her choice, she jumped on board and was very excited about it!  She helped me with all the planning, looking for ideas, shopping for and making decorations.  We started by making an idea board in Pinterest:

And though we didn't use all those ideas, they got the creative juices flowing. So here's what we DID end up with - a simple, low-key playdate birthday party for six little girls.

Invitations:

I fell in love with the design of these Hello Kitty Simple Sign invitations from Tiny Prints.  I ended up making my own instead of buying them, primarily because I had all the materials at my desk the day I wanted to make them, but buying them wouldn't have cost much for the 6 I needed. If I had been making more than that I would have bought them.  I also personalized each invitation for the girl we were sending it to.  :)

Decorations:

We kept the decorations fairly simple and only decorated in the dining room -- streamers, balloons, a handmade banner and a blue plastic tablecloth. I did buy some Hello Kitty themed plates, but stuck with light pink colored dessert plates, hot pink napkins and hot pink cups.

I made the "Happy Birthday" banner using the same technique as I showed in this handmade birthday banner tutorial using patterned paper and cardstock. Then I added some handmade Hello Kitty paper dolls to the ends of each banner, which I cut using this Hello Kitty font and my Silhouette.

Food:

Our party was from 10am to 1pm, so we served lunch.  Ayla's menu request - pizza & pears.  I added in pineapple and popcorn for a very simple lunch (all starting with P's).  I had planned to do a semi-homemade cake by buying a round white cake from the store and drawing a Hello Kitty on top of it, but my VERY talented friend offered to make me the dream cake I'd been eyeing (see it up there in my Pinterest board?).  She did an AMAZING job:

Activities:

This is where I'm weak in the party-planning department.  It's just like when I was little and my siblings wanted me to play Barbie with them.  I liked to set up the house, get all the dolls dressed up, and then just look at it.  I forget that everyone else wants to PLAY.  But I did diligently look for activities (with Ayla) that we could do with 6 little girls at her party.  We considered making necklaces, or paper dolls, or doing a bingo game, but keeping time, resources & money in mind, here's what we settled on:

Pin the Bow on Hello Kitty - I drew a Hello Kitty head on Ayla's easel and cut paper bows out of patterned paper.  Then we used a scarf as a blindfold and ended up with a pretty silly looking kitty.

Draw Hello Kitty - I gave each girl a 6" x 6" piece of white cardstock and asked them to draw their own version of Hello Kitty and decorate it with stickers.  We put each girl's page into a small scrapbook that we'll add photos to for Ayla to remember her birthday party.

Hello Kitty Tattoos - I bought a 24-pack of Hello Kitty Tattoos at the party store, so each girl got 2 tattoos.  They all enjoyed that and they got to practice counting to 30 each time we applied a tattoo. Look at all those tan little feet. These girls have been swimming this summer!

Play - These girls are 4 & 5.  They played together most of the time in Ayla's room. :)

Movie - After lunch and presents, while we waited for their parents to arrive, the girls sat on the couch with a big bowl of popcorn and watched a 30 minute Hello Kitty episode on Netflix.

Favors:

No party is complete without favors.  We raided the Target $1 bins and came up with pencils & erasers and notebooks for each girl.  Plus of course, the felt Hello Kitty hairbows that I made and which were a big hit.

And...finally, I couldn't resist buying Ayla this SUPER adorable Hello Kitty t-shirt from Target to wear to her party:

There you have it.  A super-pink, super-easy, super-cute Hello Kitty birthday party.

Linking Up: WomenWhoDoItAll, Night Owl Crafting, Paisley Passions, Sugar and Dots, Someday Crafts, BlueCricketDesign, 733Blog, CreationsByKara, SassySites, Delightful Order, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Katie's Nesting Spot, Paisley Passions, Fireflies & Jellybeans, 733Blog, House of Hepworths, SavedbyLoveCreations, A Glimpse Inside, Momnivore's Dilemma, Tatertots & Jello, At the Picket Fence, The Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Creation Corner, Whipperberry, Serenity Now, Simply Designing, Someday Crafts, Just a Girl Blog, Lovely Crafty Home, 504 Main, PerfectlyImperfectBlog, Be Different Act Normal, NV CraftEnvy, FunkyJunkInteriors, TheDIYShowOff, Iheartnaptime, Bacon Time with the Hungry Hungry Hypo,

For Ayla's 5th birthday party next week, we decided to invite a small group of girls and have a Hello Kitty theme.  Since we invited only 5 girls, I thought it would be fun to give each girl their very own "Hello Kitty bow" as one of the party favors.  So I made them...of course.

I looked around for some bow-tie style tutorials, and found a great one, but it required some machine sewing and precision - which I *can* do, but it's not always very pretty (or precise).  So, when I realized I had plenty of red felt and hair clips on-hand already, I altered the tutorial to make it a little easier, a little cheaper, and without quite as much sewing. 

1. Cut felt strips, about 2" x 9".  I made 8 bows, but you only need one of these strips per bow.  Plus, then I also cut a strip of felt about 3/4" wide and a couple feet long to use as the wrap around the center of each bow.

   
    

2. Next I hand-stitched the 2" x 9" strips to make a loop.

   
   
    

3. Before cutting the string, I did a loose stitch up the center of the bow (through both sides of the loop) and pulled it taught to create a gather in the center.  Then I wrapped the string around it a few times and secured it with a few stitches.

   

   
    

4. Next, I wrapped the narrow strip around the bow to make the center have a clean look, and stitched it together on the back side (securing it to the bow as well) and then trimming off the excess felt.

   

   
    

5. Finally, I secured the bow to a hair clip with hot glue and called it done!

   

Linking Up: 

Stories of A to Z, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Today's Creative Blog, BellaBeforeandAfter, Linda-Coastal Charm,

WomenWhoDoItAll, Night Owl Crafting, Paisley Passions, Sugar and Dots, Someday Crafts, BlueCricketDesign, 733Blog,

Delightful Order, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Katie's Nesting Spot, Paisley Passions, Fireflies & Jellybeans, 733Blog, House of Hepworths, SavedbyLoveCreations,

Tatertots & Jello, At the Picket Fence, The Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Creation Corner, Whipperberry, Serenity Now, Simply Designing, Someday Crafts, Just a Girl Blog, Lovely Crafty Home, 504 Main,

PerfectlyImperfectBlog, Be Different Act Normal, NV CraftEnvy, FunkyJunkInteriors, TheDIYShowOff, Iheartnaptime,

Craftomaniac, Polly Want a Crafter, Dittle Dattle, DIY Showoff, Sarandipities, Keeping it Simple, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou,

Day 5 - Friday.  Busy all day long.  Working, laundry, packing the kids (for a trip with Daddy - yay!), errands, more work and then freedom (from kids), but not from work. :) That's okay, I think work is fun.

The stats:

• 160 photos saved to my hard drive.  30 shown here. Many of those were product pictures though...so they don't really count.
  
• Ben thinks Fridays are haunted around here.  The kids and I always seem to be worn out from the week, on each other's nerves, and have no patience with each other, which results in lots of crying, whining and yelling (by all of us).  So I usually try to take them someplace fun instead of keeping them cooped up inside.  
• Notable differences about today compared to every other normal day - Ben took the kids to Auburn for the weekend, and I got to stay home by myself!  I think the last time that happened was early last summer.  I was due. 
• Another notable fact about today - We received our information packet about our sponsored child in Ecuador via Compassion International!
  

Ahh...Thursday.  Day 4 of this project. 

Thursdays are usually pretty good days around here.  Lots of work to do, Ayla's at school, and usually Paxton goes to his friend's house for the morning.  This week, he was home, but he "helped" me work and read stories, so it worked out just fine.  My Week-in-the-Life exercise went a little better today (helped that it wasn't raining and I wasn't sleep-deprived from storms).  I have found though that I manage to do about 10 noteworthy "tasks" before I even make it downstairs in the mornings to get my camera.  Today, that included getting two kids dressed, changing Ayla's sheets, letting the cat outside, and starting a load of laundry.  None of which I enjoy doing before I've eaten my bowl of cereal and checked my email...but what can you do?

The stats:

• 75 photos saved to my hard drive.  30 shown here.
  
• Paxton *actually* performed on the potty tonight...after three consecutive trips DURING dinner.  He also appeared to be scared to death of the entire experience once he realized what was going on.  We made a big deal of how great it was, and he was rewarded with chocolate chips. 
• Notable differences about today compared to every other normal day - Paxton didn't go to Shelby's house this morning and was home instead, which means Ben & I didn't have our regular Thursday lunch-date.  But otherwise, today was a pretty normal day!
  

Day 3.  Wednesday. 

Rainy.  Cranky.  Tired.  Working. Seems like we had more fun the last time we did this project....hmmm...

The stats:

• 102 photos saved to my hard drive.  30 shown here.
  
• Paxton LOVES the self-timer.  Thinks it's hilarious.
• Notable differences about today compared to every other normal day - pretty much nothing.  Today was pretty basic and normal.

Day two..we made it through. Lots of work and things to do. :) Just click the image to see a larger version of our Tuesday:

The stats: 

• 96 photos saved to my hard drive (30 shown here).
• Don't be fooled.  Paxton is NOT potty trained.  He just likes to "try".
• Notable differences about today compared to every other normal day - I went to lunch at Ayla's school because she was "Star of the Week" and Paxton joined Ben at Disciples Fellowship for "Lunch on Lorna."

Day one of my Spring 2011 "Week in the Life" is complete--at least as far as getting to the kids' bedtime.  I may have to retire my camera at that point each night this week...I'm beat. A day full of activities (some normal, some extra) plus photographing them, and writing 'em all down will wear a person out.  Now I'm off to watch some TV and veg...okay, maybe I'll get one shot of that. :) 

Here's what today looked like at our house (you can click the photo to view the images larger):

The stats: 

• 128 photos saved to my hard drive (35 shown here).
  
• The first three lines of photos in this collage all occured before 8:30am.
  
• Notable differences about today compared to every other normal day - We went bowling & Ben gave blood.

If you joined me...how'd you do?  If you didn't, why not?  Give it a try.  Do a "Day in the Life" instead of a week and give it a shot. :)

My mom brought the kids some flat, colored stones from Florida a few weeks ago.  I wasn't sure what we could do with them that would allow the kids to enjoy the stones, without them becoming a tool of mass destruction in our home or another "something" to pick up. (Who am I kidding?  everything becomes "something" to pick up)....

Side note: I LOVE grandparents and the gifts they give to our kiddos.  And the kids LOVE the gifts.  However, said grandparents may need a lesson or two in age-appropriate gifts.  :) Breakables = no nos.  Kids don't understand the difference between "decorative" and "toy".  Sadly, we've lost several sweet and sentimental gifts to because-they-loved-them-so-much-they-broke-them "accidents". 

Anywhoo...truly there's nothing wrong or breakable about these stones, and Ayla especially was very excited about them, so I wanted to come up with a good way for the kids to use them.  Together, we came up with pendant necklaces.

Originally I was going to drill a hole in them, but my drilling skills are limited, the stones are SOLID, and my efforts did NOT produce anything more than a slight scratch.  Plan B.  Washers & E6000 glue.  Yeah, that'll do it.  Then I added some cute rub-ons (hearts for Ayla & a dinosaur for Paxton) and a ribbon, long enough to go over their big ol' heads!

The kiddos were pleased.  I wouldn't call this the most quality jewelry designing, but for a 4- and 1-year-old...it was just right:

Nope, that's not a basketball, that's his belly... :)

Ayla was on a sugar high, I saw this red brick wall, she had on a red dress and was eating a red sucker and wearing sparkly shoes -- and well, it was just a perfect time to take some pictures.

When a little girl requests a butterfly birthday party, I'm happy to oblige.  I went the VERY simple route for this one, even though I could have gone crazy with the decorations and crafty projects.  There just wasn't time or money for anything too complicated!  So here's what we ended up with:

• butterfly birthday plates & napkins from Big Lots
• white tablecloth with patterned paper butterfly cutouts sprinkled around it
• three scrapbook pages featuring newborn Ayla and pictures from this past year
• a borrowed cupcake stand
• butterfly and flower cupcakes from Sam's Club (we added gummy worms for caterpillars)
• strawberry & grape butterflies (just add toothpicks)
• fruit
• apple juice & lemonade
• Party Favors: butterfly nets, wings & glasses from the Dollar Tree
• butterflies made with fabric strips tied in knots (so the kids could throw & catch butterflies in their nets)

Easy!  And it all fit into a rubbermaid tub and cooler to bring over to the park.  Too bad the butterfly birthday balloon I bought flew away as soon as I opened the car door...guess I didn't have it tied down as well as I thought!