Thursday, November 14, 2013

Manly Man Birthday







What says "manly" more than pine trees, deer heads, and wood slices?!  We celebrated Bennett's 3rd birthday over the weekend, and I still don't know how to classify the party.  It was going to be a lumberjack theme, but I would say it ended up being kind of "woodsy", and maybe even "hunter-ish" with the deer heads...which is fitting, since our last name happens to be Hunter!  

Anyway, I chose to simplify the prep-work on this one.  The biggest project, if you can even call it that, was the faux cross stitch deer bags.  I bought little trees for cake toppers, and ordered the birch paper straws from Hey Yo Yo.  My mom offered to make the cookies, so I just had to clean my house, make dinner, and bake the cake!  Not too shabby, ehh?!  I felt super relaxed, and really enjoyed the party since I didn't stress too much about the details (for once).  I was pretty happy with the outcome, and more importantly, Bennett thought it was the "BEST.  PARTY.  EVER!!!" 

Sources:

Birch Paper Straws - Hey Yo Yo
Cake trees - Hobby Lobby
Cookie recipe - Pixel Whisk
Glassine Bags - Confetti Sunshine

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

DIY Faux Cross Stitch Deer Bags





Creativity takes time, my friends...and it has been a BUSY month!  It feels like we just hosted Kalia's kitty party, and this coming weekend, we are having family in town for Bennett's 3rd Birthday.  Whew!  I didn't leave myself very much time to plan for poor little Bennett, so I decided to re-invent some old ideas.  This was going to be a lumberjack party, but it kind of morphed into a woodsy, "hunter" type theme -- which is fitting, since our last name is Hunter!  Sooo...these little faux cross stitch deer bags came about.  If you would like to make your own, please visit my tutorial for some DIY foxy faux cross stitch bags over at Confetti Sunshine. 

I used this deer, and pasted him into Word to shrink him down to the size I needed for the bags.  I think these would be cute for a Thanksgiving or Christmas party too!  I'm planning to put a handful of trail mix in each little bag.  Wish me luck!

Monday, November 4, 2013

Kitty Party ~ Part 2






This is "part 2" of Kalia's kitty party!  I took some detail shots before the big day, and just wanted to share.  Be sure to check out "part 1" for some beautiful shots taken by Dawn of Details Portrait Art

The Purr~fect Party








Kalia asked for a kitten party for her 9th birthday, and I wanted to make it sweet, but not too sweet!  It is one of the last few parties we will be having before the pre-teen years, so we're getting close to the time when I won't have a valid opinion about the party decor!  I also feel like this is the year when the girls are starting to distinguish between "cool" and "lame", so I figured if I added a few of the trendy geometrics, it would be the perfect juxtaposition of sweet and edgy.  The decor itself isn't exactly "edgy", but it is for a kitten party, right?! 

Each girl got a cat-ear headband and collar, and of course we painted whiskers and a nose on their faces.  I was a little worried about doing anything too babyish, but they were all thrilled to dress the part, and my husband and I got to hear lots of meow-ing for the duration of the party!  We went on a scavenger hunt for (candy) mice, and played a lot of kitten-themed games.  They also painted some cat faces I found at Michael's, and we put magnets on the back to make them somewhat useful.  We sent them home with their headbands, collars, magnets, candy, journals, and a little mouse. 

I will be sharing party "details" in the near future, so if you're interested, be sure to check back for some DIYs, individual shots of the decor, and a more detailed source list!

Sources:

Honeycomb balls & paper straws:  Shop Sweet Lulu
Cupcake liners: Cath Kidston

Photography:  Dawn of Details Portrait Art

A very special thanks to the talented Dawn, for taking such beautiful photos of Kalia's special day!  Be sure to check out her facebook page for her current photography projects and info.