party time

Last week, the day our house closed we celebrated my oldest boy's 5th birthday.  It was angry bird birthday party.  I am not one bit fond of these birds.  It was a party truly for my child - not for me (though I suppose I added my own touches ;)

I made the angry bird cupcakes.

 I hadn't even started decorating until after we signed the contract to sell our house at 3:30, so it was a bit rushed, but Sister came over to help and we managed to pull it together festively enough.

 And he was thrilled.

 

 

All the funny, sweet cousins.

loved using these empty Frappaccino Starbuck's bottles for milk, with stripey straws, of course.

 We set up a table in the sunroom for the party - don't know why I hadn't thought to do it before - the light was so nice.

And look! we even managed a family picture!  too bad I'm the only one looking in the "right" direction ; )

So thankful for five years with this little man. 

And yes, very glad I gave him the angry bird party of his little boy dreams.  

birthday brunch & gifts for girlies

This weekend Sister threw such a lovely party for her twin girls.  One girl loves doggies, the other bunnies.  One girl adores princesses, the other aspires to piracy.  It's amazing (and adorable) how adamantly different they are, yet I love how Sister blended the themes and absolutely thrilled each little girl's heart.  She's such a thoughtful Momma.  I just snapped a few pics, so go over to Meg + Andy for more pretty details. 

A "Princess Bunny" cake (there was also a "Pirate Doggie" cake :)

For gifts, I put together little writing boxes for each girl.  Four may be a tad early for something like this, but they're already really sweet about composing "letters" that Sister transcribes for them, and I fancied it would be a start to encourage cousinly communication when we move. 

I was so happy to find these little boxes at Target.

And I just filled them with a couple choices of stationary, stickers, an envelope of stamps, and these crayons.  {Have you seen these themed crayons at Target?  There are all sorts of adorable-fun sets}  The whole "box" cost under $10.   An address book would be a natural addition - I suppose I'll get them one when they're just a bit older.

Here's one for the girlie who likes pink and princesses. 

So that was our weekend fun!  We also finally got our house on the market, which means I completely cleaned and took pictures of our Entire House.  It was a definite first and felt like quite the accomplishment.  Looking at all the pictures, I was surprised how much of our home I've never posted about here...some areas I just never got to.  So anyway, I suppose I'll show you the whole thing - bathrooms and all - later this week. ; )  Also finally going to celebrate my boy's birthday on Wednesday.  Ahhh, good times.

Hope you had some weekend fun, too.

love, cailan

Time for a St. Patty's Day Party

Seeing as it's about a week before St. Patty's Day, I thought it might be a good time for a little party inspiration.  If you have been wanting to throw a little dinner party for awhile, St. Patrick's is a perfect excuse to go ahead and do it.   Just cook up some corn beef and cabbage and add a little green to your table!

Here are pictures from the party my mum threw last year (granted, she does things a little grandly, but take a couple ideas from it - like green ribbon around the napkins and make it simple and your own)



She used a few yards of burlap for a wide runner, and then went to town layering.  A gold (plastic) charger, under a rattan charger, under a white dinner plate, followed by a napkin tied up with green ribbon from Hobby Lobby.

For a centerpiece she got a little clover plant from the grocery store and used moss rocks and candle votives from Wal-Mart for extra decoration.

For dinner you can serve corned beef of course, just get the slightly more expensive cut of pre-corned beef at your store (can't remember what it's called but there's always two different cuts and the more expensive is generally worth it - the cheaper one is tough and fatty) and boil it up according to package directions with your cabbage or use this recipe from Ms. Martha to make your own.

 

 http://www.marthastewart.com

Then I would roast or steam some vegetables and maybe make some soda bread if I'm feeling ambitious. ; ) It's really pretty easy  - no kneading or rising involved.  Below is a sweetened version from Ms. Martha.  Traditional versions are also on her site.

http://www.marthastewart.com

For dessert, of course you will want to make this Guinness Chocolate Cake.  I made it last year and oh, it was so good.  Recipe {HERE}.

To top it off, you'll want to make a little Irish Coffee.  Very simple, very special, very yummy.  If by some reason you convince yourself to skip the cake, Irish Coffee could certainly suffice as dessert, served with little shortbread cookies or shamrock sugar cookies you made with your left-over dough from Valentines. : )

http://www.marthastewart.com

So, on the Menu for a St. Patty's Day Party:

Corned Beef & Cabbage

Roasted, Broiled or Steamed Vegetables

Soda Bread

Guinness Chocolate Cake

Irish Coffee

Let me know if you go for it, and a happy weekend to you!

love, cailan

Vintage Party for Baby Ben

Thought I'd share a couple photos from the charming party Sister put together for her sweet Baby Ben's 1st birthday.  So thankful to live close by and share in the joy of family celebrations.
 

 The party had a fun vintage vibe without being so themey.

She used a thrifted atlas to make the bunting and the little flags in the cupcakes.

The adorable bow ties she made for everyone to pin on were a big hit.

My kiddos still clamor to wear them!

Here's the sweet little cake, complete with mini-bunting.

Oh Baby Ben, we think you're the most wonderful one-year-old ever.

And you're mommy throws lovely parties.

Wish I got more of the details - like all the bow-ties and the cute-cute map notebook favors Sister sewed together.

I really just got too caught up in the fun of it all. :) 

Wednesday Walkabout (in a pink dress)

Loving my girlie in this favorite dress.

Loving those little, happy feet.

And that little tongue. 

Oh, and this little man very much, too.

Loving these remaining barefoot, sundress days.

{Linking to What I Love Wednesday}

Party Details & No-Spill Mason Jar Tut

 So here's some some of the details from the twin's Ice Cream Party in yesterday's post. One of my very favorite details were these lidded, no-spill mason jar cups for the kiddos.

This idea is not original, but I did make them my own way.  This lovely lady used a drill to make the straw hole and then a file to file down the sharp ends, but I always try to avoid using power tools if at all possible! So I wondered if just using an everyday paper hole-punch would do the trick.  

Here's all my supplies.

 

It worked beautifully. This is just a picture to show you, and the lid is already painted.  You'll want to make the wholes first and then spray paint the lids.

The lovely part was that the paper straw fit the punch hole perfectly - nice and snug to truly provide no-spills.

 

Now here are the little party favors.  These are ice cream bottles of bubbles found in the party favor section at Target.  I wanted to tie ribbon on, but the angle of the cone was such that it was impossible, so I just ran a line of hot glue around the cone and attached the ribbon that way.

The kiddos were completely smitten.

Other party details and sources:

Straws: Garnish

Ice Cream Bubble Favors: Target

Ribbon: Hobby Lobby

Bow-Tie: Sister

Hair Flower: Sister

Bunting: This Post

Yellow Stripe Fabric: Thrifted

Food

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Strawberry Wafer Cookies

Maraschino Cherries

Coconut

Mint Pariels

Wilton's Sprinkles

Chocolate and Strawberry Syrup

Sugar and Regular Ice Cream Cones

See other Tutorials {HERE}

{Linking to Funky Junk Interiors & The Lettered Cottage}

Ice Cream Party for 2 & 1/2 Year Olds

Over the weekend we celebrated our 2 and 1/2 year-old twins.  No, we do not think our children need more than one birthday a year!  But since their actual birthday is December 29th and nobody seems quite ready for a birthday party four days after Christmas, the last two years we've had a party for them on their half-birthday {or thereabouts :)} instead.  It feels a little odd, and I don't know if it'll fly when they get older but for now, it works and it's quite lovely to be able to be celebrate outside on a warm summer day.

Here's the little Ice Cream Party we threw.  I decided to do ice cream to make it a little less formal since we did have a little cake with singing and candles on their birthday in December {just no party or presents}.

It worked out superbly.


My greatest satisfaction with the party details was the colors.  I started with this little dress from Janie and Jack for inspiration.  


 
Then got the fabric for the bunting I showed you last week.  The fabric behind the table is actually a thrifted duvet cover my Sister found awhile ago. Perfect.
And the little man's bow-tie was made by my Sister out of left-over bunting fabric. Love it!
{And no, I did not force my little man to wear a tie on his birthday - by some happy chance my boys are actually excited to get to wear ties. I think they see it as their compensation for not getting girlie things like nail polish and purses :)}




It was quite fun finding foods and supplies that worked with the color scheme.

I'll post about the details, including a couple other little party projects and sources tomorrow... and more pictures, of course. ;)

My greatest dissatisfaction with the party came from the challenge of trying to both throw a party {i.e. manage and enjoy it!} and photograph a party... many hurried, blurry ones.
Does anyone else find this nearly impossible to do?
And though I tried prepare wisely and early I still ended up throwing everything on the table in the last ten minutes without as much thought as I would have liked.  Oh well.

It is worth considering why go to this amount of work for birthdays!  And honestly I do it largely just for the creative satisfaction of it - it's just very great fun to put together.  But I hope that if not fully now, someday my kiddos will look back at their childhood pictures and see that their mother counted it a great joy to make big to-do for them. 

Overall it was a happy, sweet time together.

And getting to see the happy delight on these two faces...

...that, of course, was the cherry on top.

See the Party Details, Sources & Lidded Mason Jar Tutorial {HERE}

{Linking to Life Made Lovely Monday ,Bowl Full of Lemons 
Tip Me Tuesday ,Lollipops, Just a Girl, Funky Junk Interiors, & Serenity Now}