Wild Child's 4th Birthday - An Ariel Extraganza

It is hard for me to believe that my baby girl turned four this week. She's been talking about her big birthday party for months. At first she was set on a Frozen theme, just like her big sister is planning. But in the end, I was happy to see her decide for herself and it was all about Ariel.

Normally I am right on top of the invitations - completed and mailed at least a month in advance. Somehow this year, the time got away with me. Even though they were rushed, these invites actually are at the top of my favorites.

Different shades of blue envelopes from Envelopments (because my old business was custom wedding invitations and that's what I had.. lol) Topped with some glittery sand and seashells. A bit of time on Photoshop and tada, pretty cute invites that didn't cost me a dime out of pocket!

One of the most important parts of the party for my daughter was the cake! I had to make an Ariel cake, and it had to be with rainbow cake. Oi! It reminds me of that bloody armadillo cake in Steel Magnolias!

 About two decades ago, I took cake decorating classes with my Mum and had a blast! I also ran a small bakery online about 4 years ago (though no birthday cakes!) I thought this Ariel cake would be a cinch to do. Well I busted 3 of 4 of my icing bags and cursed a lot in my head. And honestly, she scares me a bit..but the birthday girl and my eldest daughter thought it was awesome!!! That's what matters, right?

I couldn't eat a rainbow Ariel cake though.. So I made these adorable little cupcakes. Easy peasy with a giant star tip, blue chocolate candies and some Little Mermaid icing candy. In the end, these were a hit with the kids too.

An easy extra dessert because the cake and cupcakes were not enough, right? Blue jello in a pie tin with graham cracker "sand", gummi fish and giant white gumballs. 

For her party favors, I Photoshopped an image off Google and added some text. I ran little, white paper bags through my laser for a sweet, personalized gift. The printing on paper bags with a laser wasn't exact, but for 4 year-olds, it seemed just perfect. If you really wanted it to be exact, you could easily print it on a different paper and adhere it to the bag.

They were stapled shut with some fun red coral-like fringe I found ages ago. And what's inside? Sea side bubbles and more tiny red fish. Something to play with and a little treat..

In the end, I had one happy mermaid!

Love you my sweet, wild child. Every day is full of more adventures, love and laughs because we are blessed with adorable, little you.

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby

I don't know how my baby turned two. It has been the fastest two years of my life; I could probably sit and shed many tears over how fast it went. This picture from today perfectly embodies her sweet spirit. Love her gentle, silly ways more than I can say.

Her ultra sweet big sister desperately wanted to decorate the princess birthday cake. I squashed my type A desire to have it "perfect" and let her shine. She was extremely proud to make this for her sister and I'm not sure I've seen a sweeter cake. (Though it's been affectionately nicknamed "Hot Mess Barbie Cake")

Happy birthday sweet baby girl..

Julie's Circus!

For awhile now I've planned on doing a circus for Julie's first birthday. And lucky me, it was a popular theme this year! There was tons of eye candy on Pinterest . I had way more ideas than time or money, but I did my best to make it a blast for the girls.

I won't even start about the heartbreak about my last baby turning 1, I'll just show you the fun we had! I'm pretty sure I did the party - decor,games, food, etc for under $200. I know for some that is a lot to spend, but parties are big in this house! We had over 30 people attend (almost half of which were toddlers and babies). I fully intended to throw everyone out in the back yard, but October weather in Utah is a fickle mistress. Of course after hours of preparation in the back, the clouds and wind were too much.. So with less than an hour before our first guest would arrive, we moved most of it inside. Nothing went as planned and I forgot tons of stuff, but it was perfect!

Easy peasy wreath for under $5.00!

I have loved The Silly Pearl's for sometime now and wanted to try a version of it.

It took a large hoop, 1 bag of party blowers, and some party hats.

And I hotglued it all in bed... tired and crafty, that was me..

The "prizes" came from Oriental Trading Company.

Lots of little knicky knac toys that you would find at a circus..

My mom (and Isabelle) really wanted cotton candy for the party,

but the machine rental was $45!

Instead we bought bags and bags and bags of it at the store.

Huge hit and 1/4 of the cost!!

There is cutie pie Big Sis helping to decorate.

Lots and lots of colorful streamers.

Get them at the dollar store and you can afford the rainbow!

Our house was covered in circus tickets, gumballs, and suckers.

The giant suckers were a great decoration and each child left with one.

Hire a clown?

With a dozen kiddlets, that's all the clown action you need!

Each child received a top hat, clown nose, huge glasses,

package of mustaches, and treat bag.

Most of the goodies again came from Oriental Trading Company.

There are the sweet little treat bags - stuffed with circus cookies,of course!

A great way to coordinate your party on a budget is to use printables.

I bought a circus printable package from JudiBDesigns on Etsy.

A smokin' deal for $10!

It was the invitation, graphics for the favor bag,

graphics for the drinks and snacks, and the thank you note on the way.

And there's Isa with Grammy!

You can't have a circus party without peanuts!

I used the printables again to complete the fun look.

The paper straws were a splurge, but aren't they adorable?

I made a sherbet/7up punch that was a hit with the kiddos.

And the hit of the party?

The "popcorn" cupcakes!

Yummy,yummy,yummy.. and soooo adorable.

There are a million tutorials out there, but if you want one..let me know!

These are easy,easy,easy...but take awhile.

I made 3 dozen and it took over 2 hours..

Well worth the time, but just plan accordingly.

There is Angel Pie's cupcake.. Sunflowers are her signature flower..

Our easy, yummy circus buffet!

Chips, hotdogs, and watermelon..

Baby & I playing in the photo booth.

Just find a colorful fabric and some props!

My big girl!

My sweet mom made these insanely awesome skirts for the girls.

I appliqued on their shirts to pull the circus look together.

Grampy & the birthday girl.

Did you know you can buy a helium tank & balloons at Target?

You totally can!

Great decoration and each child got to take one home.

Julie had a ball with her cake!

Yummy!!

After the party was done, we were exhausted and a little slap happy..

My mom & hubby in the photobooth.

Hubby & I keeping the romance alive clown style..

My hubby & his dad being silly.

We had a fabulous time and the girls were beyond happy.

Hope you were inspired by the circus that is our life!

Linking up to:

Today's Creative Blog

Results for WOW #10 - Details for #11

How was your Fat Tuesday?

Our was filled with short naps, errands to the craft store,

and sneaking in some sewing time.. so nothing out of ordinary!

For this week's challenge I embraced my new favorite - free motion embroidery.

I embroidered an outline of a Mardi Gras mask

and went wild with stipple.

It is adorned with matching gemstones.

It looked very vanilla on the Kona cotton,

so I decided to free motion applique it to a yummy

piece of Michael Miller glitter fabric.

Kathy submitted a yummy project and a sweet toddler craft.

Be sure to take moment to check out her pic!

I may have to drive to her house today to try some cake :o)

And I love Sophie's sweet little puppet.

Kids love crafting and it is such a great way to

keep their minds & hands occupied for an hour.

Craft Challenge #11

In honor of Isabelle's birthday this week - let's celebrate!

Anything birthday related..

Banners, cakes, candles, gift wrap.. you name it!

If we can round up 5 entries this week,

the prize will be a set of 10 tissue pom poms from FiestaPomPom

I think these are fabulous for parties!

Want to join in on the fun?

Leave your link on this post by midnight (MTN) of next Tuesday.

You can read the details of WoW here.

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