Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Ava's Birthday Bake Shop

For Christmas, Ava was given a baking set by an aunt and uncle. She loved putting on the apron and baking mini cupcakes with me. It was at this point that I decided we'd do a baking birthday party for her 3rd birthday.
So I looked online for ideas. I had seen this feature from One Charming Party. Loved it. Then saw this cake shown here and wanted something like it, but on a smaller scale. And I loved the red, blue, and pink theme.
For the invitations, I just printed off on labels and then just stuck it on a cellophane bag, place 3 homemade cookies in, and tied with blue, pink, ribbon and red bakers twine.

The rolling pins I found on amazon.com and can be seen here. They were 12 for $11.99 which was a great deal. That's the cheapest I found them for.



I wanted to make aprons and chef hats for each of the children, but since I procrastinated and started making the aprons a week before the party (each morning I woke up hoping the apron fairy had come and would leave 14 finished aprons, but unfortunately that didn't happen), only Ava's chef hat was made. Which was fine with me.
The aprons were definitely a labor of love. I'd been looking online for a free toddler apron tutorial and just didn't find one I liked and that would be really simple. So, I just made up a pattern and came up with those that we gave each child. (The two boys that were at the party, received white aprons.) And I already had all of the fabric too! (except for the white fabric) The tutorial for the toddler half apron can be found here.



I made the garland out of flattened cupcake liners and doilies. I also placed the flattened cupcake liners on the water bottles. I made the smaller tissue pom poms that were hung over the dessert table and the picnic tables. You can find my tutorial for the pom-poms here.  I also made the ribbon garland and you can find my tutorial here.

My friend Becca from Delectable Delights wanted some experience with fondant, so she offered to make the amazing cake and cupcakes. And it was so delicious!




And the party was a success! The kids loved it, especially Ava. She was so excited everytime that doorbell rang and one of her friends walked in. She loved making the cookies and frosting them. You know she was loading up her cookies with sprinkles. And then when she opened the presents, she'd say, "for me?". She's lovin the whole birthday thing.

The aftermath wasn't too bad. Although, my husband did say that if you licked the floor you'd probably get diabetes. I agree.
** If interested in having me make aprons for your little one's party, e-mail me (they would come with the rolling pins too!)

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Amy Atlas featured . . . Ava's party!

Ever heard of Amy Atlas? Well, in a nutshell, she's the party planner I want to be when I grow up. I love her amazing table/party creations.


Anyway . . . Ava's 3rd b-day party is being featured today! I'm beyond excited. When I saw the e-mail last night, I started squealing. The hubby thought I was getting a pay raise. (Cause when he was in the room right before, I guess I was writing an e-mail to my boss - - not about a pay raise, but about going back to work next week - - although I think I should definitely get a pay raise. Saving lives is difficult sometimes, ya know? Boo! Why can't maternity leaves be a year long like in other countries?)

Anyway, check out her blog here and her website here. Ava's party is here.




More pictures of Ava's birthday party will be posted in the next few days. Come check back!
And the amazing cake and cupcakes were made by my friend Becca from Delectable Delights For You.



Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Cha-cha-cha-changes.

So, while looking at my blog this morning, I decided it needed a major face lift. And since we have no money right now to spend on a blog re-vamp, I decided to do it on my own - - in between taking care of a sick little 3 year old, hanging/folding the laundry, taking care of a 3 month old, and cleaning up after the little 3 year olds adorable b-day party from last weekend (pics coming soon). Just me, my bff picnik.com, and the new blogger template designer. I came up with this. So . . . yay or nay? Do you like it? Anything you'd change? Would love some feedback. Maybe one day I'll have a professional do it!

Would you guys want a tutorial on how to do this using picnik.com? Let me know if you're interested.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Blog Lovin: Lailie Lynn Boutique

Lovin this new blog I found recently through my sis-in-law. Alicia from Lailie Lynn Boutique makes the cutest hair bows. And right now she's doing this {after Valentine's Day} giveaway for these cute hairbows. Uhh. Adorable. Would look pretty cute in Ava's hair. I'm just sayin.

Not only does she make these adorable hairbows, but . . .



check this out. I'm definitely swooning over this news boy cap. I might have to use my birthday money for this one. Love this as a photography prop. And the best thing about it? All of the sales of these caps goes to this little boy's fund.



And the wall stenciling? Uh oh. My husband might be regretting that I saw this.


Check out this blog! So cute. And the giveaway ends Saturday, February 26!




Sunday, February 20, 2011

Craft/Sewing: alphabet bean bags

I've been wanting to make Ava some alphabet bean bags for a while now. And after seeing this tutorial here, I decided that I needed to do it. These were going to be christmas presents, but I procrastinated and December became a little too hectic. So I decided to make them for Ava's birthday. I already had all of the fabric, freezer paper, and paint. Awesome.

Thanks to this friend who let me use her cricut, I was able to cut the letters out that way instead of using an exacto knife (way too time consuming - - I learned my lesson after making these). Painted them using brown fabric paint and then putting the beans in and sewing them together.

I think they turned out so cute! And the little missy liked them too (although, for awhile she's just been using them as her "babies", puts them in a bucket, and goes on her way - - silly girl)!

And come back soon! Cause I think I might be doing a giveaway involving a few numbers on bean bags.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Blog books . . . finally here!

Last Friday I finally received them!! My husband told me I had something at the door. And, yes, I ran to the door and screamed as I opened it. {Exactly what a teenage girl would have done.} I finally received my blog books! Woohoo! I was so excited.

I had worked on 3 of them. The first was from my family blog from 2010 - 200 pages long. For the two others, I'd decided to make a book for each of the girls about my pregnancy. I usually tried to take a picture of my growing belly about every 2 weeks and so that's some of what it contained.

I'm telling ya. Blurb is where it's at. {and they should totally be paying me for all the advertising I've done for them. but that's okay.}

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

"What I'm Loving" Wednesday

For Christmas, my older sister bought all of her nieces and nephews these awesome plates. Aren't they cute?! It's made dinnertime much more fun. And little Ava will actually eat off of her plate . . . although, we do have to make awesome looking hair. If we don't, she sorta gets upset. {They even have one for the little boys too.}

Ms. Food Face can be found here and Mr. Food Face here



Birthday girl.

This little girl just turned 3 years old yesterday. I can't believe it. Why does it have to go this fast? I've loved being the mother of little Ava these past 3 years. Of course it hasn't been perfect - - she's definitely had her fair share of time outs, but she has been such a blessing in our lives. I'm loving her 3 year old personality! Happy Birthday Ava!


Thursday, February 10, 2011

Sewing: toddler pinwheel skirt {refashion}


Remember this post here? Finally finished it! The toddler pinwheel skirt. My friend from this lovely blog, Elle Apparel, posted a tutorial of her pinwheel skirt. By that time (Sept.2010) I was very pregnant but wanted to make one. So, I decided to make one for little Ava out of this old lace shirt that I had and this suede skirt that I loved (but had a very large water spot on it). I wasn't able to finish it cause my little ole sewing machine couldn't sew through the thick areas and that's why it was stashed in the closet, with the rest of my unfinished projects. {sigh}





So this little skirt was in our closet for months. Until last week! My friend had come over from San Diego and she brought this amazing machine. Oh I want one so badly. If our
sewing machines were cartoon characters, mine would be a Care Bear and hers would be Iron Man. Really. This machine sews leather and suede. A solution to my little problem.
And here's the finished product. It's a little too big on her, but that's okay. And don't look too closely because there are many flaws.





Happy Thursday!