Cowboy Birthday Party!

Here are some highlights from my daughter's birthday party!

Invitations: I made them out of old jean pockets. My mom is making a bluejean quilt, so they were readily available. I used cardstock and added a "hankie", just a cut piece of fabric, for color. I hand delivered as many as possible to cut back on postage.
Main Street: I used cardboard boxes from Lowes (they'll give them to you for free, just ask) and made a Main Street. My husband thought I was crazy, but the kids loved it. All it took was paint, an exacto knife & a little imagination. The kids ran in & out of the General Store & pretended like they were in jail.

Stick Horses: I was set on having stick horses (which doubled as party favors), but I could not find any ANYWHERE that we're under $20 a pop. So I made my own. To see how I made them, click HERE. I set up an obstacle course (really just 2 hay-bails) and the kids had horse races.
Firepit: With a few more hay-bails, I set up a firepit, which we used to grill Smores after the sun went down.

Pinata: As a finishing touch, I hung a cowboy hat pinata in the barn doorway.

I know I'm biased, but it was a fun party. And with so much of the work done beforehand, getting everything ready the day of the party was a cinch. We relaxed, ate hotdogs & let the kids run wild.

Pajama Party!!!

Way back in February, our twins Hudson & Hallie celebrated their third birthdays. We had a party with a pancakes & pajamas theme. It's really hard to come up with themes that aren't too girly or too boyish. So, in my internet searches I came across this idea and ran with it! I've waited this long to post because I wasn't happy with my photos of the "stuff"! Seriously, so many were blurry that I was too annoyed to even try to post... I'm getting better with the camera, but could really use a lesson! :)

I set up the table to (hopefully) look like a bed.

I made cupcake toppers to go on the cupcakes. I hesitated doing them since the pancakes are pretty sweet by themselves and what parent really wants to load their kid up with sugar all before lunchtime!? Well, shoot me... :)

Juices and milk



Inside the party favor bag I put a plastic cereal bowl, a small box of cereal, a juice box, and a granola bar. I used my Silhouette machine to do the tags.

A friend of mine made these cute PJ tops. She has a online boutique you should check out... The Purple Pecan.

The invites told the kids to wear their PJs to the party -- here's big sister.

TOPPINGS!

Our oldest turns FIVE (how did that happen?!) this July so hopefully I can come up with a fun theme and master my camera by then! :)


Linked Here:
Fingerprints on the Fridge

DiY Stick Horses

Here are some stick horses that I made last month!

I had this grand idea of handing them out as party favors for my daughter's birthday party (I'm not sure what I was thinking?) and after searching endlessly online for inexpensive ones, I finally just decided to make my own. To see the rest of the party, click here.

So here's a quick tutorial of how I made them.

I would NOT suggest trying to crank out 16 before a party (again, what was I thinking?), but making 1 is super easy & super cheap! By my 3rd one, I was able to complete one, start to finish in 20 minutes. The most time consuming part is getting happy with your pattern. It's all down hill from there.

Step 1: Draw a head pattern out of a paper bag and cut out your material.

Fold yarn into the seam of the mane and sew everything together, inside out.

Step 2: Flip the head right-side out and trim up any yarn pieces.

Step 3: Cut pointy ears out of felt and glue together with a glue gun, pinching the bottom until the glue has dried.

Step 4: Hand-stitch the ears on, but then cheat and use fabric glue for the eyes and bridle.

Step 5: Stuff the heads.

Step 6: Push the dow rod (covered with Gorilla glue or hot glue) all the way into the horse's head. And then finish stuffing the neck of the horse.

Step 7: Use fabric glue and fold-in the material at the bottom. Try to keep the glue on the inside. I used clips to hold it shut for a few hours until the glue was completely dry.

And there you go. Your very own stick horse!

Your kids will love it!

Good luck!!

If you need more clarification, dimensions, etc, just let me know!!

Updated: 
I've received a lot of emails asking if I make and sell these horses in different fabrics. As much as I would like to, I just don't have enough time to be taking orders right now.

I will however, cut out a pattern for the horse's head & ears for $12 for you. If you'd like me to do that, you can email me at benandtiffany@gmail.com

Thanks!

Halloween treats

For simple Halloween treats, I dipped apples and pretzels in caramel and chocolate candy melts and then added some nuts and sprinkles! Yum!

They are super easy & delicious!

Can I claim this as a healthy snack??

They're just apples right??

we all scream for ice cream!

Sydney's ice cream birthday party was this weekend!!

We held it in our backyard and prayed for good weather. There's nothing like cold ice cream to beat the Texas heat!

For simple decorations, I strung ice cream cones in the trees.

An idea I got from TheTomKat studio.

I had fresh, cold watermelon sitting out as the guests arrived. Whether eaten or not, serving a healthy snack cleared my conscience about all of the sugar that was about to be inhaled! I borrowed this shutter from my hallway to add color & interest.

The main attraction was of course, the ice cream table!

Campbell Ryan designed these adorable labels for the cups and toppings.

Inspired by Martha Stewart, I even tried to incorporate the ice cream theme into the cupcakes.

Kids grabbed bubble wands from 1 pail & wet ones from the other.

This pinata, from Hobby Lobby, was a huge hit with the older kids.

For the younger ones, I laid out toys on this rug

(a garage sale find from years past).

As party favors, each family took home their own ice cream shoppe.

A great idea from Polkadots & Pirates.

Just add ice cream!

Everything went over so well, we may be having ice cream parties every summer, whether celebrating birthdays or not~