Well... Hello there!

Wow! So it's been a while...like 5 whole years. What?!

Truth is, I've missed blogging, but...life. (Can I get an Amen?!)

I've decided to dip my toe back in and start slowly with occasional posts as time permits.

In these past 5 years we've kept one small human alive, spent lots of quality time with friends and family, and, just under a year ago, moved into our second home. The good news, (for the blog), is that we haven't done much to the house yet, so I should have lots of thrifty home improvement projects to share in the coming months. We're about to get serious, people. (I hope.) ;)

In the meantime, I'm having lots of fun decorating for the different seasons and trying to find our style in this house.

Case in point-- our fireplace mantle...  It was billed as a "custom fireplace" in the real estate listing and we still haven't decided if we love it or not. Some days I'm all in. Other days I'm not. Maybe we just haven't refined the furniture placement to make it feel 100% yet?

Anyway, my first attempt at finding our new "style" for Spring/Summer resulted in this:

Simple. An old thrifted frame around my wedding bouquet (yes, I used faux flowers -- cheapskate, remember?), white resin deer head from Target. All the other items came from Michael's at various times--when on sale of course. ;)

Just this past week, I updated it for Fall, and I think I'm digging it.

I'm really into neutrals these days, but I decided that this Fall, I may have to re-decorate multiple times-- Early Fall (Sept.) = Neutrals, Halloween (Oct.) = Spooky Decor, Thanksgiving (Nov.) = deeper jewel tones (maybe-- I'm still debating this one).

For now though:

The off-kilter fireplace screen in this photo makes we want to gouge my eyeballs out, but of course I didn't notice it when I took the photo. Arrgghhh!

I decided to leave up the faux deer head, because, well... I like it. :)

The frame fills the space well and I needed some additional green on the mantle, so the 'M' made it's way back too.

Everything else I had in my stash already.

The little white pumpkins/gourds were actually from a bag of cheap foam pumpkins/gourds from the dollar tree. I simply spray painted them glossy white. The copper pot and the glass hurricane vase were picked up at a Goodwill for $1 each.

The leaf/berry sprigs were all picked up at Michael's during end of season sales for 70% - 80% off and the two amber glass mosaic candle holders were gifted to us. The pitcher was purchased as decor for our wedding 12 years ago, (apparently our mantle has a wedding theme), and the dried wheat I bought 4 years ago with a 40% off coupon at Michaels.

I just love this drapey (faux) greenery. I purchased this for my niece's bridal shower.

Art work in the background by my crazy talented brother-in-law.

                                                                   There it is again-- the fireplace screen...I just want to fix it so badly!

I've got lots of ideas kickin' around in my head for this house and I finally think it's time to start bringing some of them to life. I can't wait to share them with you!

And, if you followed my blog before, or you know me at all, you won't be surprised to know that in the last 5+ years, I've set-up a bunch of parties too--for all different occasions. Some better than others, but most were photographed for "some day when I bring back my blog".

Stay tuned...

Ninja Party: Table Decor (Party Part I)

To see the sneak peek of the party invitation, click here.

For part II of the party (dessert table), click here.

I TRIED to convince Cole to want to have a superhero party or a rockstar party or even a pirate party, but what did he want? ... ninjas.   Ninjas!?  Let me tell you there's not a whole lot of ninja party inspiration out there.  Yes-- I found a few (check out my Ninja Party pinterest board) and yes I used some of their ideas, but there is just not a lot.  Especially when you're talking about ninjas for 5 year olds.

One thing I was sure of, I didn't want to go too heavily on the weapons.  I'd seen the tin foil throwing stars, the ninja sword fighting games and the chocolate swiss roll nunchucks, but I just didn't want to overplay the weapon thing.    I also didn't want to go TOO heavily with an asian theme and it's almost impossible to find kid-friendly dragons that are of the right level of appropriateness (not too child like, not too "adult").  

In the end, here's what I came up with.

Mostly just red white and black, but I added a couple of colorful dragon centerpieces.  

Using scrapbook paper that I got when it was on sale 6 for $1 at Michael's I brought the party theme together...

water bottle wraps, juice box wraps, pinwheels on the food table (to mimic throwing stars but in a "happier" way), and a Happy Birthday banner (seen way in the back of the photo below-- forgot to get a good photo of it on its own).

The blue, white and black color scheme of the karate studio itself wasn't EXACTLY what I would've liked but when you're working on a budget (and in a space that is not your own), you work with what you've got.  To cover some of the wall space I hung some red and white striped fabric (bought in the remant section at Walmart).  

 

The centerpieces were a total happy accident.  I was browsing the clearance section at Michael's and found these Ni Hao Ki-Lan paper dragon puppet kits.  They were on clearance for 1.99 so I bought 2. I bought the black rocks at the Dollar Store (2 bags at $1 ea.) and the white ceramic planters also from Michael's clearance (and purchased with a 20% off coupon) were $4.79 each.

At first I wasn't totally sold on the colors (as they weren't red, white and black) but in the end I think they ended up being a really good fit-- helping to make the party really kid friendly and adding a "touch of whimsy".  I didn't want to be too serious.

While trolling Pinterest a friend of mine noticed that I pinned directions for folding origami cranes and she offered to do them for me!  I gave her some pre-cut-to-the-right-size scrapbook paper and in a few days she handed me back 25 beautifully folded origami cranes.  Thanks Nicole!  (FYI-- scrapbook paper is slightly too thick for origami-- go with origami paper instead.  sorry Nicole) :)

The table runner idea also came from pinterest.  Can you guess what it is? Wrapping paper.  I got it in the Dollar spot at Target a long time ago simply because I thought it was fun.  Turns out its also the prefect width for a table runner! Score.

I also made some more DIY baker's twine in both red and black and wrapped individual serving size Pringles, used some black and white striped ribbon as napkin rings and purchased the paper straws on Amazon (best price I've found) to pull it all together.  I liked the "look" of the single serving size pringles containers but more importantly no hands in a giant chip bowl-- Hooray!!

And every birthday boy needs his own designated birthday chair right?

I cut a number 5 out of cardboard and wrapped it with yarn.  I think it's one of my favorite projects from the whole party.  I don't know why but I love it!  

In general, I'm really happy with how the table turned out!

Stay tuned because in another month or so (just kidding-- I hope!) I'll show you the food table and other miscellaneous details.

Finally. A Girly Party!

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I LOVE to plan parties!  I've coordinated lots of corporate events, parties for my son-- I even helped offer ideas/vendors for a friend's son's "Rockstar" 1st birthday party, but I've never had a chance to do a real girly party-- until now!  

When my friend Kim started talking about her daughter's upcoming 4th birthday party, I subtly invited myself to help and she totally bit!  :)  Of course I was challenged to keep the budget to a minimum so we DIYed much of the decor and food, BUT we didn't want to sacrifice the details either!  Using what we already had, working with coupons and shopping post-holiday sales helped us keep the costs down.

Sarah (the birthday girl) very specifically asked for a "purple fairy pixie dust" party.  Sarah would've been happy with a store-bought tinkerbell party, but Kim (Sarah's mom) didn't want a full-on licensed character party.  

When I joined in the party conversation a few things were already set-- the venue and the entertainment. Basically we had to come up with decor, food and favors.

Kim got a great sized space to use for the party for FREE!  It presented some challenges but the price was right.  It was ALL dark wood paneling,  there was LOTS of furniture in the room (with no other space in the building to move it to), and we were given lots of restrictions- like not taping anything to the walls.

On the other hand, the space was the perfect size, it had an attached kitchenette (for final food preparations/storage), and it was FREE!   :)  All the tables and chairs were also thrown in for free.  So far our budget was off to a great start!

One week before the party I got my first look at the space.  Luckily a lot of the ideas we already had planned were going to work.  Here's the space as I saw it 1 week before party time:

from the entrance to the room

looking to the left 

non-working fireplace-- looking back toward the entry way hallway

looking right

That's a lot of dark wood and a lot of orange and blue furniture-- doesn't quite scream "purple fairy pixie dust" now does it??!

After and hour and a half of set up, here's how the room looked at party time:

A simple sparkly bow welcomed guests (bought during post-holiday-sale).

It snowed the morning of the party.  The sled not only helped move food/supplies into the space, but pulled double-duty as a great activity on the adjacent hill to keep the little ones busy during post-party clean up!

Each place setting had a large paper doily, lime green plate, Tinkerbell fairy napkins and cups (Sarah's choice) and an extra napkin sticking out of the cup to add a little height to the table setting.

The tables were scattered with sparkly fairy confetti and white flower petals found on clearance in the  wedding section.

I also found mercury glass votive candle holders in purple with rhinestones and silver with butterfly appliques for $.30 each in the holiday clearance bins at Michael's craft store.  We used battery operated tea light candles (3 for $1.00 at DollarTree) to add some warmth without adding any risk.  Even though it was a daytime party, it felt really special to have the flicker of "candle"light.

apparently the fairy with the black hair really liked them :)

Centerpieces included tissue paper flowers and star shaped lollipops for the kids to take at the end of the party in simple mason jars.  Totally simple and totally kid friendly!

Each child's chair had fairy wings (found in the Target dollar spot) for the kids to wear and then take home-- serving as both decor AND favors.  Gotta love double duty items!

Even though this was a children's party, we still wanted things to LOOK nice, so we dressed up the food table with glass serving pieces, fun ribbon (also seen here) and lots of sparkle.

One of my favorite projects that we did were the tutu cake stands.  I'll be back with a quick tutorial on how we did these.  Really easy and SUPER cute!

We took store bought subs, cut them into bite sized "fairy bites" and cut peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into star shapes.

To dress up some Pirate's Booty, we portioned out single servings into cute cupcake liners (bought at Michael's with 40% off coupon) and served them on a silver tray.

Of course every good kids party has to have theme appropriate named food/drink.  We served:

"Fairy Bites" sandwiches

"Twirly Wands" pasta salad

"Pixie Puffs"  Pirate's Booty

"Magic Munchies" carrots and celery (with hummus and ranch dip)

"Tinker-berries" grapes

"Pixie Punch" pink lemonade

"Tinkerbell Tea" iced tea

"Dew Drops" water

And for dessert we brought out cake (which I totally forgot to take a photo of), wafer cookie bites and of course even the Hershey kisses got gussied up for the party!

Inspiration from here.  We didn't do the gumball topper (which is much cuter) because of the choking hazard.

Above the food table hung paper stars (like the ones I used here) and these sparkly damask ornaments that I also found in the Michael's post-holiday clearance section for $.30 ea.  It was hard to get a photo of (because of the windows), but you'll have to take my word for it that it was REALLY pretty!

Behind the food table, the medallion that I previewed here hung via suction cup hook from a window-- also REALLY hard to get a good photo of.

The fireplace area was dressed with lots of tissue paper pom poms.  Originally we were going to hang them  over the fireplace, but when I saw that giant black rectangle where a mantle must've been, I knew we had to cover it with SOMETHING.  I wish I'd done 3 or 4 more, but over all it was not a bad guesstimate either.

The handmade Happy Birthday banner also hung above the fireplace.

We tucked these glittery fairy ornaments (bought on post-holiday-clearance at Walmart for $1.48/12) all over the party. 

And used small frames that I bought during a post-Halloween-sale ($.50 ea.) last year to hold cute fairy quotes and inspirational words.

Balloons with Hershey kiss balloon weights were also strewn throughout.

Kim brought a lavender area rug from her daughter's bedroom and we moved a couch out into the space on a diagonal to help define a place for the kids to watch the balloon/magic act.

And before everyone left, they got to make their own magic wand.  To keep it gender neutral, boys made Dino wands.   Each child left with a set of wings, the wand that they made, a balloon creation from the balloon artist/magician and a star lollipop (from the centerpiece).

After seeing the space in person we scrapped a few ideas (that would've looked dwarfed in the space) and nixed setting up a photo booth type area due to the fact that with 51 'yes' RSVPs our space was filling up quickly, but all in all, the party was a great success.  The look on Sarah's face was priceless (and really that's all that matters right?)

OK one last time:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

And if you want to see more of my inspiration for this party, check out my Pinterest board - 'Sarah's Party Inspiration'.  If you care to follow along and want to be a part of the Pinterest craze, leave me your e-mail address and I'll send you an invite!