Category — Birthday

For my daughter’s birthday I ordered some invitations from Lisa over at Dragonfly Designs, and I have to gush just a little bit. They are GORGEOUS and absolutely perfect for my little fairy-loving daughter!

We were having a fairy tea party, and the little flower fairy fit the theme perfectly - and I the curly font that she used!

If you are planning a birthday party for kids - or adults - I urge you to head over to Dragonfly Designs. Actually, if you need invitations for ANY event, head over there! Lisa creates unique invitations for all of life’s events - birthdays, weddings, engagements, showers - you name it! Lisa will work with you to create a fabulous invitation that will have your guests asking where you got it!

Dragonfly Designs Invitations

My daughter’s birthday is coming up and it took her an amazing amount of time to choose a theme this year… not normal for her! When she finally settled on a theme I went hunting for a fun and unique party invitation. What I found amazed me.

Shannon from ScrapIts.com designed these adorable photo invitations and sent them to a local photo printing lab for me to pick up. They have all of the necessary information, and a cute picture of our little birthday girl - just in case anyone forgets who she is! We handed many of them out today and everyone was amazed at the ingenious idea of them.

The pricing is great for something that is so unique - I am definitely setting one aside for the scrapbook this year!

Shannon makes wedding invitations and engagement announcements as well, and they are all gorgeous. What better way to announce your engagement that with your engagement picture with a little extra boost to get everyone excited!

If you know anyone having a birthday or planning a wedding, you simply have to take a look at ScrapIts.com!

Happy Autumn,
Jennifer

We had a wonderful house-full yesterday - family, friends & food!

We had an end-of-Summer, back-to-school & oh yeah, it’s almost my birthday BBQ, and everyone brought something delicious to share:

Kosher polish sausage
garlic & onion burgers
spicy slaw
artichoke tapennade-topped bread
rosemary sweet potato fries
chili sweet potato fries
garlic-chive aioli
deviled eggs
pasta salad
hot pickled veggies

oh yeah, and death by chocolate…
- my dear, sweet hubby made an amazing cake - then cut it in half to make it a layer cake & added a raspberry cream filling using fresh whipped cream and homemade jam that *just* cut the richness of all of that deep, dark chocolate. It was all topped with a deliciously thick dark chocolate ganache…

Then he made me my own mini-cake out of it… what a guy! I didn’t have to share even a bite of it! I’ll have to get some pictures from the Mum & post them. It was delectable.

It was so nice to have a day dedicated to spending with friends & family - even though we did 5-6 loads of dishes from all of the prep work.

The day was, of course, finished with a round of Settlers of Catan…
and a round of Ark of the Covenant - based on Carcassonne
All of these can be found at our favorite game store - Phoenix Games!

These picture wands are a great way for every little girl that attends to remember your daughter’s special day. They are very easy to make, and you just tape a picture into them during the party (Dad’s love to be stuck with this job – they can’t seem to take that much fairy fluff!) Here are the items that you will need to pick up at the store – we usually head to Michaels:

· 1 package of 20 dowels – pre-cut to around 12” long
· spray paint in the color of your daughter’s choice (we have done pink, purple, green, etc.)
· spray glitter or loose glitter
· Ribbons – you can choose either ¼“ ribbon or curling ribbon. Get a couple in each color you choose. I recommend at least 4 colors.
· Pre-painted wooden mini-frames – Michael’s carries these back in the wood section. They are about 3” tall.
· Hot glue gun
· Digital camera

Take the dowels outside & spray them with the color of your choice. They will need some time to dry between coats, so if it’s cold or rainy, use the garage. I usually place them in a cardboard box & shake it to roll them around to get all sides. If you are using plain glitter, pour some in the bottom of the box while you are painting the last couple of layers & shake the box to coat them. Spray glitter is easier to use, just wait until the paint is dry & spray the glitter as the final layer. Allow them to dry overnight.

Cut the ribbon into 2 ft. long strips. We usually use an assortment of curling ribbon, sheer ribbon & ¼” to 1/2 “ ribbons. Sometimes we even add a little pearl ribbon that you can find in the bridal section of most craft stores.

When the paint is totally dry, glue the dowel to the back side of the picture frame at one end. While the glue is still hot, select around 6 ribbon pieces & tie them around the dowel, just at the base of the frame. Set them aside to dry. On the day of the party, you can place them in a vase as part of the table decorations.
If there are older kids at the party, you can have the pre-painted dowels, ribbon & frames there for them to put together as a craft, however I would not recommend it for young kids – that hot glue gun gets hot!

When each guest arrives, take their picture – make sure you have a good close-up of their face. When everyone is there, let dad sneak upstairs to download & print off the pictures. Make sure they are sized to fit inside your picture frames. Once they are printed off & cut out, simply tape them to the back side of the frame. If you want a more “finished” look, you can tape or hot glue a piece of fabric on as a backing behind the picture.

Ta-da! You now have a wonderful party favor that will remind your daughter’s friends of her party for a very long time.
These also work great for a special craft for a pre-school or kindergarten class.

This hand-knit beanie hat is absolutely adorable! My daughter has one and wears it often - even when it’s not cold outside!

They come in your choice of color - you simply tell them the colors you want & they make it to order! They say that they will fit toddlers to elementary-aged kids, and it looks like they will. The two-toned color scheme really adds to the cute-ness factor too.

Cold weather is coming soon, and kids will need something to keep them warm - may I recommend this cute beanie to anyone with young kids. Choose your child’s favorite colors & it’s a guarantee that they will love it!

http://taterberrycottage.com/hand-knit/hats-for-children.html

Are you looking for a wonderful gift for an elementary aged child? Take a look at My Twinn! I purchased one of these for my oldest daughter a couple of years ago, and it is amazing how similar you can get a doll to look like a child! She gave her doll her middle name, and loves to dress her and take care of her.

You can choose from a wide variety of face shapes as well as eye, skin and hair colors to create a doll that looks almost identical to your child - they will even paint on distinguishing marks like freckles or birthmarks, all you have to do is send them a picture of your son or daughter - yep, they have boys now too.

They also have matching clothing and accessories available at the site, so your daughter (or son) can have fun dressing themselves & their doll identically. These dolls are larger than 18″ tall, so be forewarned. You have to get My Twinn clothing for it to fit them (they also wear infant 12 months clothing - my daughter chose some of her old clothes for her doll).

Take a look at these dolls if your child has an upcoming milestone or birthday that you want to make extra special!

Review by Jennifer

For Mother’s day this year my siblings and I wanted to do something special and personalized for our mom. We ordered a custom Mama Loves Necklace from julesjewlery.com. It was a wonderful way to include all her kids and grandkids in a gift that she can wear everyday.

When she got her package in the mail she was touched to find such a beautiful and personal gift inside. This is a gift that will last her a lifetime. Two of the hearts have pearls on them to represent my sister and I’s soon to be born children. Julie graciously told us that when the babies are born, she would be more than happy to add those birthstones to the necklace.

If you are looking for a gift with a personal touch, I would highly recommend julesjewlery.com.

Review by Tami