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.

Better After

Ever heard of the blog Better After? I absolutely love it! They feature your design projects/makeovers. And they're featuring my family room today. Yippee! Check it out here. For those of you who've been following my blog for awhile, this is old. Sorry. You're probably getting sick of seeing my family room. I'm just so excited. Had to tell you all.

So, if you want your project featured, send Lindsey an e-mail.

And don't worry. I haven't forgotten about the coffee table. I'm still in the middle of working on it. Life has just gotten in the way . . . which I don't mind at all sometimes.

DIY Obsession: Hardwood Floors

Okay. So, I'm being featured today on an amazing blog.

My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia.

I'm so stinkin excited. Just ask my hubby. I was so giddy when I found out.

I found her blog a few months ago while blog hopping. After seeing her post on her kitchen cabinets (one of my next projects), I was in love with her blog and couldn't stop checking out her jaw dropping transformations. Check out her French Guestroom here. And not only is she gorgeous, but she's as sweet as can be. I'm the first one being featured on her "feature friday" and can't wait to see who is next! Thank you Kristin!

So, I guess there's not a better time than now, then to post about our hardwood floor DIY project. I'd been waiting a while to post until we completely finished everything (still waiting to complete two more rooms and I wanted to get the baseboards up - - anyone know of where to buy baseboards for cheap?), but can't wait any longer.

We love the look of hardwood floors and did our research. We wanted to do it as cheap as possible but of course good quality floors. We found an amazing deal at Simple Floors. They had a deal the week after Thanksgiving where they'd give you 10% cashback. We'd probably never see anything like this again, so we couldn't pass it up!

Due to our limited expenses, we had to do it ourselves. We'd decided to do it during my husband's 2 week Christmas break. But between going to Vegas and SLC during the break for Christmas to visit family, we'd only be able to do the whole house on a weekend. HaHa! My sweet hubby said that he and his friends/family would be able to do it all one Saturday. I just smiled and nodded. Oh sweet hubby.

One Thursday and Friday night my hubby and I did the demolition. Can I tell you how much I can't stand tack boards? Our backs were dying the next day. Where was our cute little girl? Oh, probably being hypnotized by that screen in the family room and running around on the cement floor. Poor girl.

That Saturday was the big day. We definitely couldn't have done it without 3 amazing family members. They were awesome (and so were their wives for letting them spend all day . . . right before Christmas . . . all day . . . did I mention all day? installing the floors) I was actually a little bummed that I had to work, but someone's gotta save lives I guess. I really wanted to help. They were able to get our family room, foyer, and both hallways finished. It looked beautiful! I love my floors.

A few days in January, my hubby and I put the floors in the guest bedroom and our daughters room (pictures coming soon!).

We were able to save thousands of dollars by doing this ourselves. Of course it took a lot of time and energy, but you can do it! It's definitely worth it. Oh . . . and I'm still loving my green walls (it's pretty funny to see people's reactions . . . "oh, it's . . . green" , "was this painted like this when you moved in?")

What DIY project are you working on?

Feature and a Giveaway

I'm just a little excited. Today I'm being featured on a new sewing blog: Sew It To Me. Thank you Vanessa for feauturing me as your Sunday Spotlight. I'm very flattered. It's funny. All of those nice things she said about me . . . I was going to say about her! She's awesome. Check out their new blog. So, welcome Sew It To Me readers! I hope you enjoy your stay.

Well for those who have been following my blog, the other day I posted about this pillowcase I found for $1.

I made it into a pillowcase dress and decided to do a giveaway for all of my followers. So . . . if you aren't a follower, just go to the side and sign up!

Rules:

This giveaway starts Sunday, February 28 @ 2:00pm (PST)

and will end on Tuesday, March 9 @ 2:00pm (PST)

the winner will be announced on Wednesday, March 10 on this blog.

One entry per person. One winner will be chosen randomly. (The winner will need to leave their e-mail address in the comment section so that I can contact that person. If not, a new winner will be chosen.)

All you have to do is:

1. become a follower ( just sign up on the side; if you already are, just let me know)

Easy, right?

This can be a dress for a 2T-3T and probably a cute top for the older kiddos.