FAVORITE ARCHIVE POSTS WEEK: Sophia's Sweet Shoppe Birthday Party

A favorites week wouldn't be complete without a favorite party...and without hesitation my favorite was my Sophia's 2nd birthday party!! It was a fun/crazy time...i did all the prep work while 8/9 months pregnant. haha. I had to keep myself busy. :)

Sophia was so excited when she saw it all together..

i'll never forget her face. :) 

I can't believe she is turning 3 in august!

it's craziness people, craziness!

everyone always tells you when you are pregnant..

"ooo..enjoy your little ones they grow up so fast...."

 and you nod and smile...but seriously. 

they grow. up. so. fast....

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So excited to share about my Sophia's 2nd birthday party!

it was a great celebration with family and friends!!

every sweet shoppe party theme needs it's own village! Welcome to Sweetopia!

I used free boxes from home depot (yay for broken trash compactors!) some cheapppp fabric from ikea, a leftover can of red paint and white trim paint and other items from around the house to create a whimsical play place for the kids! 

(and a few of the adults tried to squeeze in. ;) 

I especially loved the circle felt garland we made! (tutorial link below)

 all the busy work was totally worth it when i saw the smile and gasp on sophia's face and her skipping around saying "my houseeee my houseee! i wuv it!"

i saved up all of our food boxes/milk cartons to stock the grocery store! and used sophia's shopping cart from target.

 

my mom was my amazing seamstress who sewed up these adorable aprons with fabric from ikea! each apron ended up costing 50 cents. not bad for a custom party favor!

while i waited to go into labor with sienna i kept myself busy with my mom at night making up these fun felt food creations for sophia! they were our present to her.. i was all about giving her something soft for when they go flying at the new baby's head. :)

most sweet shoppe dessert buffets are stocked with candy..candy galore! but i wanted my dessert buffet to be approachable and kid friendly! especially for a 2 year old party. why tempt the kiddies with candy they can't eat! i think that if you were having a mainly adult or older child party you could do the hard and chewy candies and it would be more appropriate. i was so happy with how it turned out! 

i used a graphic i made up to be the backdrop. pretty good bang for your buck. the tulips i pulled from around the house. (artificial flowers?! ::gasp::) i'm all about using what i have though! and fresh flowers can get pricey. for a 2 yr old....these worked great.

 

some store bought some home made... mixed them in together! created fun cotton candy holders from marthastewart.com and added my own little graphic to personalize it for my sophia's sweet shoppe. also created wrappers to put around wilton's (bought at Joann's) white snack cups. 

 

i really wanted to make the drinks cute...without having to buy individual bottles (which i loveeee..but they add up.) so i made a cover to put over the soda bottles! i thought they were so cute. :)

menu wise it was home food..nothing to fancy. the kielbasa(with brown sugar) was a must on the list..gotta make my polish hubby happy. :) but i especially loved the cantaloupe(orange) and watermelon(pink)..my mom lovingly balled them up and they looked delicious! and pretty cute too. hehe. 

     

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the boys in my life were great at moving over the "village" to our party site (thanks guys!!)... 

and my mom was such a help baking up a storm with me in the kitchen!! (thanks mom!! i love you.) that's my little 3 week old sienna below.

and our fabulous friends chuck and debbie were cooking yummy food for us! 

(couldn't have done it without you guys! thank you!)

i would like to blame the craziness for the following photo but in reality... ever since i was little i was known for burning things in the oven.... still do.

I'll be posting tutorials on all of the fun party details...from how i built the village to the felt food! all on a budget. so be sure to stop by to learn some fun diy projects to throw a party without breaking the bank! i'll also be adding some of the party details to my etsy shop so check back for that! 

SWEET SHOPPE TUTORIALS:

-Circle Felt Garland

-Felt Food Tutorials

-Hanging Tissue Pom Poms

-Centerpiece/Wall Tissue Paper Flowers

FAVORITE ARCHIVE POSTS WEEK: All-Time-Best-Mascara

I don't know about you..but i'm always interested to see what makeup products girls actuallyyyy use.. 

not the items they have just discovered and love..

but the items they have used FOREVER!

My mascara is one of those things..I have used this product since I was in high school and I have yet to find something that works this well. ***my engagement/wedding photographer, who took the shots below, mentioned in his blog how he didn't edit my eyelashes at all...** 

so girls...go buy this mascara!

you'll love it.

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A recent commenter wrote me and asked what eye makeup i use.....

 i occasionally do a matte neutral eye shadow all over..smudging a darker color (soft purple/brown or just brown) along my lash line...sometimes i use liquid liner.. 
but a staple of mine that i CANNOT go without.... my mascara. 

so here you go my anonymous commenter. this is the stuff you need to buy. it's budget friendly. and amazing. it can make even the baby lashes look long! mascara is sometimes the only thing i have time for as far as eye makeup...so it's gotta be good! 
now go bat your eyes at your bf!

A good Mascara does wonders! 

What I use... Maybelline Full N' Soft. I love love it. I spent my money on plenty but I always go back to this one. I use the Waterproof kind as well.. (it's a little more drying, obviously) but when i know i'll be weeping it does the trick. not that i weep often. but i'm known to be emotional.. waterproof mascara is a must at weddings. mine or anybody else's. haha. the best part about it... super cheap. 
Do you have any favorite products you want 
to share?? 
pass along the wealth of knowledge ladies!
I'm always looking for stuff to glam me up!

 

FAVORITE ARCHIVE POSTS WEEK: Felt Food Tutorials

This was one of my all time favorite DIY projects 

since i started blogging...

1. Because it was easy and for the

most part mindless creative fun!

2. You can find soo many amazing tutorials out there..

which i linked up so check out below!

BUT it's mainly my favorite because it made sophia

 SOOO HAPPY when i gave them to her on her birthday.

She still plays with these and they are perfectly soft so when they go flying in the direction of her sister...there are no tears. and a day with as few melt downs as possible..

 is an awesome day. ;)

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For Sophia's 2nd birthday this year i wanted to give her something very very soft to play with because of the new baby's arrival! and at the same time she lovessss all things kitchen and cooking. "watcha cookin??" that's all i hear when i'm in the kitchen. over..and over...and over again. haha. :)

so with the help of my fabulously talented mom...we whipped up some fun felt food! she brought up felt that she had since i was a little girl! so we used up the scraps big and small. already had thread. and only ended up running to Joann's to get some fun thread for "sprinkles" and other cupcake toppings. 
talk about a budget friendly birthday present!

below i've listed some links to my favorite felt food tutorial sites i came across! for most of them we used the basic patterns found on the sites..some of them you just end up winging it and seeing how it ends up. i was loving making them with my mom.. and sophia loves playing with them! her uncle daniel (my little brother) was genius enough to throw the felt donuts in the air and she thought that was hilarious and has decided that that is now the official way you play with the donuts. throwing them. :)

MY TOP MAMA PICKS:

FELT FOOD TUTORIALS 

(some link to one pattern/tutorial while others link to lists of tutorials!

have fun!)

http://snazzlecraft.blogspot.com

http://www.u-createcrafts.com

http://torreadora.livejournal.com

http://turkeyfeathers.typepad.com

http://keeperofthecheerios.com

http://joeandkristenolsen.com

http://breadandbuttons.typepad.com

http://americanfeltandcraft.wordpress.com

http://maedchenmitherz.wordpress.com

have fun! and get crafting!
BIG THANKS AGAIN TO THE AMAZING MAMA OF THE BUSY BUDGETING MAMA. :)

ps. this is how i blog now.....haha. on the bed. very quietly. with a sleeping bambino in my lap. :)

VLOG: Our Easter Morning Bunny Tea Party

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Here's a new Easter Morning tradition for us and our girls this year!!....
I used items from around the house and
 previous parties to put together a fun Easter Morning Bunny Tea Party to celebrate Jesus!
I only had to make a few small purchases to create this fun and festive tradition!
Nothing says a party like a garland, cupcake toppers and some party hats! ($1 bin at Target)
I found a great Tea Set at Toys R Us. $14

i grabbed up some easter-y stuffed animals that she had..i almost bought her more at the store...but remembered how we can barely contain

the stuffed animals that she already has! they are multiplying.

I put out some jelly beans, peeps, (all from the dollar store) 

goldfish(chickies actually & fruit snack bunnies (both from target)

strawberries..and one cupcake. i think in the end only the strawberries and one peep were eaten...and the jelly beans were used as play food haha. 

she kept calling them jumping beans. hehe.

Table cloth I purchased a while back from Target..pretty sure it was $5. 

I used the garland from Sophie's 2nd birthday party (Sweet Shoppe Theme)..

My Step by Step Circle Felt Garland Tutorial can be found here.

the little hostess came out of my sophia..

everyone got a taste of the tea party goodies! hehe.

I printed out some free Jesus is Risen! Coloring Pages.. keyword..FREE!

We have been enjoying the warm weather in 

between all the crazy amounts of rain!
Here's some shots from Easter Weekend.

Sophie insisted on pushing her sister..
which started the crashing into each other and non-stop giggles!!

I barely have any photos of later Easter Day..
things got busy with family!
But here are a few.. some from my camera and some from my phone.

I'm going to dress them up again later and re-create Easter

 morning all dressed up for church haha. a photo op at that moment 

just wasn't going to happen.  I don't have a single photo of me from Easter Day..

 but that  is a typical mommy thing right?? ;)