:: Family Happenings - 5th birthday party

We just had Ava's 5th birthday party today and here is the aftermath.

Hopefully I'll post more pictures soon!

 (having issues with our photoshop which is why you're getting a lot of cell phone/instagram pics lately)

And Reese is, of course, sneaking some cake.  :)

:: Party Time - reese's first birthday party

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Reese turned one at the end of November.

{I'm finally posting this, after 2.5 months}

We decided to have a birthday party for her in the middle of December

after my husband's finals were finished.

When I saw this vintage, rainbow hot air balloon birthday party
 that Paige of Paige of Styles did for her daughter,
I knew I had to do it too.
And since I found a great deal I was able to buy her printable party package on etsy.

We bought this book and had people write inside what they thought she'd be when she grew up.

This woman was the hit of the party.

All the kids loved their balloons that she made.

It didn't take her long to dig into this cake.

Her first year did literally fly by.
Don't know what we'd do without her.
She's such a special little girl who makes me so happy.

party printable package - Paiges of Style

hot air balloon cookies - Sugar

cake recipe - found here

hot air book - amazon

:: Family Happenings - ava's birthday {party}

Sick of the birthday posts yet?  I might be.

And I still haven't even posted about Reese's party {shame on me}.

Well, this year I needed to simplify things a bit, so I decided to not do a big par-tay {like last year}.

I was definitely tempted, don't get me wrong.

And I had the PERFECT party planned for Ava.

Ideas were flowing into that crazy brain of mine, left and right.

But, this year is just not the year.

So we decided to do a smaller party with her friends and their family one Sunday after church.

All I did was . . .

make this awesome pink ombre cake,

make cupcakes,

buy 4 pink flowers,

pink balloons for the decor,

put up a cute picture of the birthday girl

 . . . and that's about it.

I made this yummy, pink ombre cake for the missy.

Really easy to do, just a little time consuming.

We then had everyone write birthday wishes on the balloons

and then the kids let them off.

Ava LOVES this birthday tradition.

:: Family Happenings - reese's birthday party . . . stay tuned

I'll be posting soon about Reese's 1st birthday party.

Isn't she the cutest one year old?

Stay tuned.

Ice Cream Birthday Party

My friend put on the most adorable ice cream birthday party for her little girl. She found the idea for an ice cream party from One Charming Party. So cute! She was able to download all of the printables from there too. And I was happy to photograph the event.

Birthday Party How-To: mini cake bunting

Remember the mini cake bunting on Ava's birthday cake? Well, the letters were a printable that I printed for free here. They have them in pastel, bright, and bold colors. Glue them to some lovely bakers twine and then tie them to lollipop sticks. I love it when people do my work for me!

Have a happy weekend!

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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