Our Brave Party!

Somehow our sweet Kiddo turned 5 this past week and ended up having three, yes three parties! Today was her last party - a Merida Brave themed celebration. I've tried hard to reign back the amount of work I put into these parties, but some things are just too fun! Here are some highlights..

Archery target cupcakes - chocolate of course!

 Mason jars full of little chocolate bears - just like the triplets..

Carrot and celery "arrows" with ranch dip dressing.. We also bought a ton of pizza from Costco. You can order in advance and have them baked. Easy, peasy!

Slightly spooky witch lime pineapple punch..
(OK, so where's the spooky part of this punch? Ugh. Apparently you can't store dry ice for long in a normal freezer. My best attempts to prepare in advance backfired on me bad this time. The ice had completely dissipated by this morning.. so the punch was not too spooky..oh, well!)

My husband gave me pink and purple tulips the day Kiddo was born; we have to have them present at each birthday of course.

A really easy rag  plaid wreath..

Blue wisps filled our home leading our lads and lasses to the festivities..

We were blessed with a gorgeous day of sun.. and so the kids spent most of the day playing on our swing set and running around..

And a gorgeous day requires an impromptu picnic.. There is nothing Kiddo loves more than laying on a blanket in the sun.. I honestly couldn't have planned this, I was thrilled this day was full of so much relaxed fun.

I've decided to NOT plan too many games and activities for toddler parties. They just want to play- that's all. I did however spend the last couple of nights making this Brave archery target pinata. Jam packed with over 7 pounds of candy. Sorry parents!

With so much candy, even our littles had bags overflowing with sugar..

Kiddo with one of her sweet friends..

And the favors for the party? Again, I tried to scale back but had to make a few fun things. An easy tartan sash with Celtic pin. Simple brown bags stamped with the same Celtic sign to hold all their candy. The stamp did not take long to carve and I love adding a few handmade touches.

It was really such a fun day. The parents were relaxed, the kiddos were happy and the sun was shining. I couldn't ask for more!

If you would like tutorials or in depth information on anything, please drop me a line!

Another Toddler Thanksgiving Craft

I tried again to find a "job" to entertain my sweet toddler while I tried to get work done. I found a super cute Thanksgiving fingerpaint project on All Kids Network. Isabelle is crazy about painting and I rarely let her at home - just too much work with her busy hands and the baby. However I'm trying more and more to move out of my comfort zone so that she can learn and enjoy.

I cut the corn and stalks last night. My husband insisted that I cut some green leaves for the cob as well. Husbands are funny, aren't they? But I gave in..

On her own she painted the corn very similar to the original tutorial.

I didn't even instruct on what she should do. Love her orderly pieces of corn.
And then well.. that got boring I guess. We ended up with a crop of muddy corn! She had fun and I got no work done, but we had a great afternoon together while the baby napped.
And I have more cute Thanksgiving decorations. Granted they are muddy brown, but they are made with love!

Turkey Garland

The Baby still insists on 2 naps a day while I'm lucky if I can get Kiddo to be quiet for 1 nap. During the morning nap I try to work while Kiddo plays or reads. The reality is Kiddo wants to hang on my leg and have constant attention. It's hard to balance this. I want Kiddo to feel loved and have that special time with me, but there are some days that I'm so busy that I quite simply need to work. I thought if I had some dedicated crafts for her to do while I worked, that we might both be happier.

Early this morning I searched Pinterest for Thanksgiving inspired child crafts. I found this post on the blog, Chasing Fireflies. I loved it! I thought it would be a great activity for Kiddo and would be super cute as a decoration. I made a pot of coffee and chopped up Kiddo's doodled construction paper in festive colors. Now if you spend some more time punching holes in the "feathers" your Kiddo's life maybe a tad easier, but.. I'm lazy.
During Baby's nap I gave Kiddo the colorful stack of feathers, a skein of yarn I no longer loved, and a yarn needle. Kiddo is around my sewing tools 24/7, so I feel very comfortable with her using a blunt yarn needle. She's 3 1/2. Please use your own judgement with your kids... I showed her a few times how to punch through the paper using the needle and off she went.
Did I get more work done? Probably not. My leg is still the place to cling to no matter what craft is available. However, she did finish a beautiful strand of garland all on her own. It looks awesome and fun in our playroom. And I actually love that the feathers are from doodled paper.. looks more like us..
What was I working on? Well it's top secret, Peeps! But here is a tiny peek..

Linking up to: Tatertots & Jello

Clearance + 2nd hand + Stash = Simply Cute Dress

There are 2 dresses that Isabelle will wear any day and everyday if given the choice. That is the Valentine dress I made her and the Queen Bee dress made by Soren Lorensen Design. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why these 2 dresses appeal to her so much. Leave it to my Mom to solve the mystery -they are both fairly loose A-line dresses.

I decided that I had 2 options. I could either argue with Isa everyday about why she couldn't wear a dirty dress..again. Or I could make some more. I started shopping at our local salvage store for tees that I could cut up and reuse in the dresses - Isa really loves the graphics, bright colors, and soft material. I also scoured Target for clearance shirts. I bought tees or dresses that were either her size or bigger. You don't want to buy anything smaller than their current size since you are going to lose material when you cut these up and sew them again with at least a 1/4" seam allowance.

Soren Lorensen Design has hinted at producing sewing patterns in the future and I can't wait! In the meantime, I am making my design off the Leila & Ben's - Sweet Little Dress pattern with a few changes ( no elastic in the arm band, extra visible serged seams, etc). I used this pattern for her other favorite dress, the Valentine one, so I know it fits well and meets her design standards.

This week I made her a Mickey Mouse dress. The Mickey Mouse shirt was a St. Patrick's Day clearance item at Target. I used it for the front of the dress and I cut up the back to make new sleeves. The back of the dress is the back of a green pajama top from our local 2nd handstore. The red dress skirt is some jersey material I had kicking around in my garment fabric stash. It took maybe a 1/2 hour. We both love it!

If your princess has a Punky Brewster streak, this is an awesome way to make a ton of summer dresses for cheap and quick! This dress cost me around $5.00

I'd love to find some fun 80's music shirts to make into dress for her.. I can just see her rockin' a Rolling Stones dress!

Easter Egg & Bunny Tail Garland

One of my new favorite blogs, eighteen25

posted a tutorial for their pom pom garland.

It was super cute, but I wasn't planning on making it.

Then my mother pointed it out again

and commented on how that would be an easy craft to do with Isa

(and Isa is a craft addict! I wouldn't know where she gets it from..)

I have nicknamed this the Egg & Bunny Tail garland.

All you need is plastic eggs

(eighteen25 recommended Target ones because of the holes)

large white pom poms,

thread and a needle.

Have your kiddo dictate what goes next on the garland,

string 'em up,

and tie it off.

Hang the garland and watch your kiddo beam with pride!

It took us about 30 minutes to make it

and kept my kiddo plenty entertained.

We hung it up in her play area

so that she could touch it and admire it at will.

**And this is totally another under $5 decorating idea!**