An Afternoon At The Park

We took the kiddos to the "park" the other day. Actually, it was just an empty field and gravel path near our house. Our kids didn't care, as long as we played together as a family. This was also the golden hour for picture taking so I dressed the kids up as well. Kill two birds with one stone. My hubby wanted to play with the dramatic lighting of the setting sun and so he used an off camera flash placed to the side of our adorable subjects to be sure they wouldn't be lost in the growing shadows. Here are the best shots of the day:

Inexpesive Pirate / Neverland Party

My original thought was to have a pirate party for my little guy; however, I ended up officially calling it a Neverland party. I love to encourage guests to dress up and I thought mermaids, pirates, fairies, lost boys, etc. would be fun costume ideas. The birthday boy himself wore a costume which loosely resembles that of Jake and the Neverland Pirates. I made the vest out of felt (which I bought for around $2) and I used the trim and buttons I found in my sewing supplies. His shirt was a 25 cent yard sale find, and everything else we already had on hand.

The hanging pirate decorations I bought at a yard sale for a quarter as well. It was a brand new three pack and they were so long, I cut them up into shorter pieces.
The banner was made from paper we had in the kids craft stash and all the other table decor was from around the house.
The plates, napkins and cups I found on clearance for 75 cents each at  Target last summer.
I made the cake myself and the favors were just treat bags with Pirate Booty and extra gold coins.
Everything turned out pretty cute and wasn't too elaborate or complicated. It was perfect for my little pirate!

Keeping Kids Still

My brother and his wife just loaned us this cool little bench for taking pictures. I couldn't wait to try it out as a prop. So I  dressed up the kids and prepped snacks to keep them in place. The last time I tried to take pictures of my little guy by myself was a joke. Not one picture turned out right. So you might see him with his mouth full, but at least he's where I want him to be!

Salt Dough Ornaments

 

I'm still learning how to manage my time at home. This new hair styling job takes up way more time than I'd like and my housework will often fall to the way side. Sometimes I simply choose to play with my kids over keeping a clean kitchen. Here's one of those days!

I found this super easy recipe for salt dough and as soon as I realized we had all the ingredients, it instantly rose to the top of my to-do list.

The recipe I used was:

1 cup salt
2 cups flour
1 cup water


I kneaded it for about 7 min. then we rolled it out, used cookie cutters, and I poked a hole in the top with a straw. Easy peasy.

We had to bake them for around 2 hours at 250. When they cooled we used acrylic paint, white glue and glitter to decorate. I did all the writing with a black Sharpie. It worked like a charm and was much easier than a brush.

After they were completely dry, I sprayed them with a high gloss spray. I love a little shine on kid projects. They somehow look a little more finished.

 

 The kids had a blast! (And I obviously enjoyed our project as well!)

Creative Gift Wrap

   I always feel silly when I try to wrap gifts for guys. Deep down, I want to throw something frilly together; but I end up making it simple and boring. In the end I guess they never care; however, this time around I actually came up with a decent idea. 

  We happened to have black wrapping paper in the closet. I think I picked it up at the dollar store, or someplace like that. It reminded me of a chalk board so I wrote on it with chalk. 

Instead of a ribbon, cheap twine looked pretty cute. Then I hot glued some silk leaves on it in place of a bow.
   I think this would be really cute for a teachers gift too or or even your child's first day of school.

This worked out so well, black paper might become a gift wrapping staple for us.

How to Smooth Out Frosting {Princess Barbie Cake}

For the cake itself I baked an entire cake mix in a 9" Pyrex bowl. It took close to an hour to bake. Then I made 3- 9" round cakes. All together it took about 2 1/2 cake mixes. Cut circles in the middle of all the cakes, stack layers with frosting in between, wrap Barbie in plastic wrap then drop her down into the center. Pretty easy and much cheaper than those princess cake pans you buy at a craft store

Smooth Frosting

Start by making your own butter cream frosting. Here's the recipe I used:

In a mixer combine - 

1 cup butter

1 pound powdered sugar (add just a little at a time)

1 teaspoon vanilla

a couple teaspoons water (or milk) until you  reach the desired consistency

I needed about 4X the recipe for this cake.

 Smooth frosting out the best you can. I used upward strokes with a spatula.

Now refrigerate until it's crusted over. About 10-15 minutes.

Place a paper towel onto the frosting and smooth your hands over it. You can feel the lumps and gently apply just a little extra pressure to those areas. Gently peel off the paper towel. It shouldn't stick too much. If it does, you either pressed too hard or didn't refrigerate it enough.

Refrigerate it again then apply your piped designs.

A perfect princess cake for your princess!

A Party For My Princess

I know it's been a while since I last posted. Our days are finally starting to settle into a routine leaving me a little more time to do things for myself and work on creative projects.
Even though our little world has been turned upside down,
I still threw a Barbie Princess birthday bash for my sweet girl.

I decked out a simple pink tiara with goodies from my craft stash.

Barbie Princess Dress we found at a yard sale. Lucky us!

{Barbie Princess Party Details List}

Decor we had on hand:

Pink curtains (hand-me-downs)

Pink tablecloth overlay (from her grandma's fabric stash)

Birthday banner (from her 1st birthday)

Pom poms (from her bedroom)

Pink pails (left over from a bridal shower)

Yard sale fan (one of her toys)

Party items we found on clearance:

Pink plates 

Princess napkins

Pinata

$1 party deals:

Tiara party favors for girls

Sword party favors for boys

Yard sale dress for the birthday girl

Menu

Heart shaped PB&J sandwiches

Watermelon

Strawberries

Juice with club soda

and of course a Barbie cake I made!
(I'll give details on the cake next week. So stay tuned...)