Alexander's 1st Birthday Party!

I have been planning A.J.'s first birthday celebration since late November.  Sock Monkey party fun!

I have really missed crafting and figured this would be a good excuse er, opportunity to craft until I was blue in the face.  Little did I know that would be quite literal ;)  I knew I wanted a cohesive, cute and fun look to the party.  What is more fun than sweet sock monkeys?

For Alexander's present we searched high and low for a shiny red Radio Flyer wagon.  Once we found it, party planning was in full swing!  I had seen pictures of wagons used as props on good ole pinterest and loved the idea.  I liked the idea of using it to corral a few birthday themed items at the front door. Too cute!

I have done a few posts on wreaths in the past and love how easy they are to include in current theme/seasonal decor.  So of course I needed to do a sock monkey wreath for AJ! 

Sweet multi-colored pompoms I made (on night shift as my patients slept!) and a bright letter "A" dressed this grapevine wreath up in a snap.  I added a Sock Monkey pennant made from a pdf file purchased from Etsy.  The shoppe I ordered from is exceptional and has wonderful customer service.  I was over the moon with all of her stuff!  Such a sweet detail upon entering the party house!

This was the entry table welcoming and thanking all AJ's guests for coming.  I did a party favor for the adult guests as well as adorable sock monkey themed loot bags for the kiddos.  They were a huge hit!

As mentioned for the grown ups, I put together this strata cookie mix in mason jars.  It was super fun putting all 21 together.  Not that I was counting! ;) 

I made vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and topped them off with adorable cupcake toppers from the same Etsy shop.  I bought various pdf files from her that all co-ordinated so beautifully!

My Aunt Liz made AJ's cake.  She is so talented and I was so happy with how this turned out.  AJ loved it! The cake was delish and it was super adorable.  See that adorable little banana? HA! That was the FIRST thing AJ grabbed!

I made these little sock monkey cookies at 11:00 pm the night before.  I admit they are a RUSH job.  But still turned out pretty good!  I was so organized with the party planning BUT underestimated the time we would need to set up!  We were up til 4:40 am the night leading up to the party!  Guest arrived for 12:00...I hopped in the shower at 11:50.  Swear it.

HA!  AJ's little finger print in the dots! He thought they were buttons to push! CUTE!

My little man having some cake! He just loved it!

Here is the birthday boy's party attire.  I ordered the adorable onsie from this Etsy store.  It was so so cute.  Best thing?   The cake stained all came out!

I had adorable sweet treats for the guest labelled with coordinating buffet signs.  Licorice, Tootsie pops, Swedish fish, Goldfish, Banana chips. There was chili, buns, and meat, cheese, fruit and veg.  Quite the spread!

Thank you for stopping by and looking at Alexander's first birthday pictures.  I must tell you, I was so busy and late getting ready, I did NOT have time to take pictures with my real camera.  I asked Josh to take some, and while they are good, they are not blog style and did not show the sweet details of the party decor.  I wish I had taken more.  So I am so sad they are iPhone pictures :( There was a sweet banner and so many cute balloons.  Oh well, that's life!

Have a happy day!

p.s. I plan on doing posts on the pompom wreath and the mason jar cookie mix :)

I linked up at:
Tatertots and Jello
Craft-O-Maniac
I Heart Naptime
Under The Table and Dreaming 
Project Inspire
A to zebra celebrations
FineCraftGuild
Clean and Scentsible

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Mish Mosh

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ok, yes, I know I am over due on this.  But I still want to wish you all a wonderful 2013. 
Resolutions? Yes, I have a few.  I am not entirely sure they are any different than last years really.
But I will share a few...
1)  Blog more
2)  Learn to use my beautful Nikon camera...well. (SARAH!!!!!!)
3)  Organize the house...this is proving to be a challenge.  Just seems no time with a busy near 12 month old!
4)  Continue to finish unfinished projects around the house...but to be fair, the huns has to help with these :)
5)  Show more gratitude and be more thankful.  In more tangible ways.

Just a few...kinda boring.   I am also focused on my little monkey.  I want to spend more time devoted to day trips and outtings as a family.  The aquarium and the zoo (if you can call it that) to name a few.  He is growing so fast, I feel like I am missing it.  Gotta spend more quality time. Darn work. 

That being said, I love my job.  Nursing is so fantastic.  I am happy to be back caring for my patients.  Man, I really did miss that.

I also want to take a moment to thank a few of my blog friends for some pretty awesome things.
Liz, thank you so so much for the art print you sent AJ for his first Birthday.  SO thoughtful and I love it.
Sarah, thank you so much for the impromptu camera lesson.  That was sweet :)

So there you have it, a mish mosh of thoughts.  No pictures, no crafts, no home decor.
Hope you are all well and healthy!

Love Me.

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Memory Scroll Ornament

Happy December everyone! On Friday, I was lucky enpugh to take part in Jenn's Trim the Tree party {as mentioned on Fridays post!}  I wanted to share with you what I did incase you missed it! So without further ado...

In January I became a first time parent to a pretty amazingly adorable little man and I am just starting to do all things crafty, DIY and home decor related again. LONG overdue! I am a self proclaimed Christmas nut, however I am sure my family and friends would not bat an eye to nominate me as such.  Confession:  I listen to Christmas tunes BEFORE Halloween. Yes, that is a fact.


I am so excited to take part in Jenn's Trim the Tree Party!  I have known Jenn for a very long time and have been a huge fan of her blog since day one.  I love her crafty ways and her fearless outlook on all things DIY. This is actually my very first guest post ever and I just love that it is a Christmas themed feature.  
                                                    
I had been wracking my brain, trying to think of a way to capture some of the sweetest little details about my little man Alexander and make them into a special keepsake for our Christmas tree.  I wanted to do a message in a bottle type ornament-something he could he could one day open and read.  I wanted a way my hubby and I could express the joy he brings us and document a few milestones in a meaningful way.  I had a flash of genius! (ok, maybe a stretch?) I thought about using clear ornament balls (instead of a bottle for our message) and it took off from there.  I wanted it to be very simple, sweet and somewhat traditional looking. Here is what I came up with!
  
Materials 

• clear glass ornament ball
• glitter paint
• paint brush
• number stencil
• painters tape
• exacto knife
• bakers twine
• vellum paper
• kraft paper
• letter stamp set
• stamp ink in black
• jute string (for hanging)

 

How To 

• type a list of things you wish to document on the computer-I put the year at the top and then listed the sentiments in point form, the print it on vellum paper.  

 

• cut the list it to resemble a long scroll, roll it up and secure it with a piece of bakers twine.

• Next cut a small piece of kraft paper and fold it width wise {to give it more weight} and glue it together with adhesive dots to secure the fold.  I used tiny letter stamps to spell out my little mans name on both sides.  I also burnished the edges with black ink to give it some visual interest.

 

• Using a cardboard stencil, trace the number 1 on to painters tape and carefully cut it out with a exacto blade. Then place the painters tape stencil on the glass ball as a custom adhesive stencil. Be sure to press the edges of the painters tape stencil down firmly with your nails to avoid any bleeding of the paint.  I did three coats of paint to build up the glitter paint power ;) Let dry and carefully remove stencil. I VERY carefully scored the edges with the exacto knife first. 

 

• Carefully place the tied scroll and name card into the ball.
• Lastly, add some jute string to hang from your tree! 

 
This little ornament is the first of a tradition I plan to keep up each Christmas, recognizing the number of Christmases we celebrate with our Alexander. This year he is actually going to be 11 months old on Christmas day.  The number on this ornament is to signify his 1st Christmas :)

I hope you and your loved ones have a very happy Holiday Season and make many cherished memories with your loved ones.

Warm Wishes!

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Trimming our Tree

Hi everyone! I am so very excited to be guest posting over at one of my favorite blogs today!  Jenn of Clean and Scentsible has hosted a Trim the Tree party this past week and today I'm up!  I was so excited when she asked me and was up for the crafting! It was long overdue don't you agree?

So come on over to Clean and Scentsible to see my special ornament tutorial as well as all the other lovely handmade ornaments made by Jenn's favorite bloggers.

I also thought I would share Alexander's first Santa picture...poor lil guy did not think Santa was all he is cracked up to be! Disclaimer: no children were harmed in the taking of this photo ;) Baby MumMums fix everything!

Do you have any kiddo pictures that went a little like this?  

Happy Holidays!!

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Keys to finding your keys

"A place for everything and everything in it's place" right?  Right!  I had been looking for a key rack to hang at the back door off the laundry room for a while.  I came across a gently used frame/key holder for $4 and thought well, so what if it is bright orange and doesn't go with the space?  I have my trusty spray paint to combat that!  So I bought it and the mini project was on!

This is a picture from the girl I bought it from.  Orange.  Nice, but not my cup of tea.  So I took off the little hooks, gave it a light sanding and sprayed three light coats of Rustoleums Blossom White.

After some drying time I re-attached the little hooks and washed the glass for the picture spots.  Of course Baby AJ picture are what needed to go in there.  I used three 3M Commandstrips to hang it as the keys will add to the weight.

The boxes to the right are alarm system and thermostat controls.  Why in the 80's did they place these items in THE worst spots basically rendering certain walls useless! Oh well, I hung it there anyway. 
Hope you have a lovely day all!  Please don't be shy to tell me what you think!  Do you have a spot for keys on the wall, a dish or another specific place?  I would love to hear about it and see pics :)

Linking to:  The Ironstone Nest, Not Just a House Wife, Clean and Scentsible

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