Addie's Rainbow Ice Cream Party

My sweet Addie girl turned four about a month ago. Today I thought I would share a few photos of the last minute party we threw in her honor. She turned four the day I left for my week at Alt, so we put her party on hold. To be honest, I wasn't really in the mood to throw a large party this time around, but we did end up putting together a little afternoon with family and a handful of friends. Addie loves to be the center of attention, but prefers a small group, so this was perfect for her! She asked for ice cream and rainbow colors, and that's what she got.

The night before the party I raided the local party store for rainbow colored balloons, colorful gumballs, and party favors. While in SLC, I discovered the loveliness of Zurchers and happily bought a handful of colorful honeycombs to throw in my suitcase...

Thankfully, my party closet is always stocked with colorful straws, party hats, and candles. Last minute parties like this one help me justify my random purchases and overabundance of festive supplies. I just can't stop.

Over the past few years we've developed a tradition of making a tiny cake for birthdays in addition to cupcakes for guests. My girls look forward to seeing what their Dad will do with their cake each time! Sometimes I laugh at how different their childhoods can be from mine at times. I can't even imagine my Dad making me a cake, but I love him all the same.

We also enjoyed some ice cream from Molly Moon's and gave away a few little prizes to friends. Happy Birthday to my sweet, funny, opera-singing four year old!

Resources:

Party Hats-Target
Honeycombs-Zurchers
Large wooden "A"-Hobby Lobby
Gumballs + Balloons-Party City
Stripey Spoons-Sucre Shop
Pinata-Hobby Lobby
Party Favors + Small party horns-Party City
Fringed Party Horns-Tops Malibu

A shower for Landon

Recently a new client approached me about making some invitations for her daughter's baby shower.  When she told me the theme was the San Diego Chargers I was a bit worried.  Sometimes it's hard to mix classy with a sports theme.

When I got to work, I was surprised how easy it was to design.  Just goes to show a party theme is what you make it!  I ended up loving the final product.

I can't wait to see how the rest of their party turns out!

Connect

I'm so excited to announce this to you today!  I've been so lucky to meet two of the nicest (and super talented!) girls lately.  You might remember Danyelle and Lindsay from Project:Craft. They both have excellent blogs (you can find them at Dandee and RunLucasRun) and happen to share the same zip code with me. 

It's so nice to be able to "talk shop" with other bloggers.  Let's be honest, significant others and friends may eventually tire of hearing about your latest blogging ventures.  Blogging is such a unique experience, and many things are figure-out-as you go.   Having people to talk to and network with is a must.  Plus, I think bloggers are some of the best people and I want to meet more!

Are you a Tri-City area blogger?  If so, we would love to chat with you and share some Starbucks this Saturday.   Meet us there around 7:30?  Feel free to spread the word around.  It's time to connect.

A no-sew circle garland

If you're anything like me, you love yourself a pretty garland.  I can always find an occasion to use one.

I've been admiring the simple sewn circle garlands that seem to be everywhere for quite some time now.  The problem?  My sewing machine is a dinosaur and I'm a little bit lazy.  Enter in super-easy, no-sew garland.

Want to make one too?

Step One: Gather your materials

You'll need some circles of either paper or fabric, a small hole punch and some twine.

I had some fabric left over from making cupcake toppers for this party.  My fabric was treated with a fabric stiffener, which gives it similar properties to paper, but you can try it with regular fabric too.

Step Two: Punch holes

Punch two holes near the center of each circle with your hole punch.

Step Three: Thread it

Thread your twine through the holes.  I used a thick string that easily went through the holes, but you may need to use a needle depending on the thread used.

 

Happy garland making my friends!

A Colorful Garage Fete

Remember these colorful invites?  Saturday was party day, and in spite of a little weather problem, we had a great time.

Thanks to a little drizzle and wind, we decided to set up the party in my parent's garage.  Not the perfect canvas to decorate (hello Ken Griffey Jr. posters), but we did alright.

I love how bright colors pop when everything else is white.

Lots of family and old friends came by to say goodbye (for now) to Melissa and Ross before they leave the country.

We tried some different Korean dishes (don't ask me what they were!) made by my sister's mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  They were so sweet to find the recipes online and prepare them all!

At some point people started playing with the extra streamers, until the whole garage was full of color and I couldn't see the person I was talking to.  When the party started winding down, the kids had a blast gathering the streamers and putting on a show.

P.S.  Looking for a resource for those big beautiful balloons?  I got mine here.

Fun with tape.

Thanks to a lot of actual work coming in, I've been feeling pretty uninspired when it comes to making things for my home.  In an effort to jump start some creativity I was playing around with some Japanese Washi tape (how can you not love this stuff?).

I ended up making this chevron inspired art and letter "e" to brighten up my desk for a while.  They will probably be replaced before long, perhaps when I get out of this rut? 

In the meantime, here are some fun things you can do with this amazing tape:

Decorate a vase.
Spruce up inexpensive clothespins
Make plain gift wrap more awesome
Add some flair to wire hangers (perfect for kids rooms!)
Quick, but cute bunting
And my favorite: Make your own twist ties!  I'm so doing this.

Supper Club.

We recently went to a little supper club at a restaurant nearby.  We were surprised to discover this place about 40 minutes from our house.  Chain restaurants are really popular where we live, but we're hoping to see more places like this one.

Wine O'Clock is a small, well decorated space with an ever-changing menu.  They grow their own herbs in front of the restaurant and show old movies in the dining room. 

A lot of choices they offer are cooked in the wood-fire oven, such as gourmet pizza, roasted asparagus and delicious bread.  It's been a favorite date spot for a while, but recently they started offering a Supper Club option occasionally on Sunday nights.

It was a chance to eat a four course meal not typically offered on the menu. Pizza (pear and brie), truffled risotto, asparagus, beef tenderloin stuffed with Gorgonzola, and bread pudding-if you must know.  I don't think I've ever eaten that much food at one time in my life.  The food coma afterward was worth it! 

We started with appetizers on the front porch.

We then headed inside and all 30 of us dined family style.

We were seated right next to the open kitchen, and in front of the wood fire.  It was great to watch the chef do her thing.

It happened to be the owner's birthday that night and a member of the kitchen staff surprised her by singing a beautiful song in Spanish while we ate dessert.  It was unexpected and heartfelt.  I saw tears spring to people's eyes as her smoky voice filled the room.

I love this new idea of a more intimate dining experience.  If we ever open a restaurant I would love to offer this. While passing the food around the table, we got to know the others dining with us.  No one was rushing through their meal because there was no one waiting to be seated.  I'm still thinking about that asparagus.

An accidental party.

Oops.  I had another party.  I invited some friends over to dye Easter eggs and I promised myself I wouldn't go overboard.  Then I realized there would be 10 kids in all, which definitely warranted a little trip to Target, to buy some snacks.  Have you seen how cute the Easter stuff is at Target this year?

We found these cute little cupcake liners first...

Then my daughter spotted this cute little egg stand (just what you've always needed?)...

Kids have to drink, right?

This old thing just happened to be lying around.  It was begging to be hung...

It was a little hard to snap pictures in the midst of pure pandemonium, but I did my best. I think it officially became a real party when the kids were jumping around mosh pit style, chanting, "party, party....".