Strawberry Birthday Brunch

I'm finally getting around to sharing pictures from Hannah Rose's first birthday! I used a lot of leftover decorations from Ellie's Fairy Party. I did not have a clue what kind of theme I wanted to use for her party but when I found matching strawberry dresses for the girls at Target (for less than $4 each), I planned the party around them :) The dresses aren't a traditional red/green strawberry but are more pink and aqua - which worked out well since those were the two main colors I used for Ellie's party. I invited only a few guests that we consider our "family away from family." This was a Saturday morning affair so we made it a brunch - but more on the food shortly. First, here are the pictures!

Tablecloth tutorial here

Birthday Banner Tutorial here

The girls in their matching dresses. No one wanted to cooperate for a picture. Can you tell?

Daddy and the birthday girl

The birthday girl did not appreciate all the picture taking.

More decorations...

The weather cooperated so we were able to eat outside.

Straws and napkins were leftover from Ellie's party. You can order the straws here.
The napkins and caddy are from Target.

To display pictures, I covered an old cork board with fabric.
Then I took plain, plastic push pins (thumbtacks?) and spray painted them.
If you stick them in a piece of styrofoam or cardboard, it is very easy to paint them quickly!

A good friend supplied the flowers from her garden.  Love!

For brunch, I served two types of breakfast casseroles and Belgian waffles. To fit in with our strawberry theme, I included a homemade strawberry syrup as one of the many choices on our toppings bar.

For party favors, each family received a strawberry basket with a miniature strawberry plant and pink soap wrapped up in pink tissue paper and tied with my favorite cotton candy pink baker's twine. No picture can be found, sorry!

What kind of party are you hosting for your kids? I need some ideas for the coming year!

DIY Shabby Chic Layered Tablecloth

I originally shared this over at Stardust Decor & Style. Just in case you didn't catch it, I'm sharing it again today :)

My daughter, Ellie, recently had a whimsical fairy party. Today I want to share with you how I put together my shabby chic layered tablecloth. It was exactly the "look" I wanted and sooo easy to put together. Check it out:

The base of the tablecloth is my old duvet cover. I starched it to help stiffen it up a little. I like the color and texture of this fabric.

 The middle layer is actually a bedskirt. The crocheted flower details give the table an extra touch. Kinda grandma chic :)

 The final, top layer is a sheer, white piece of fabric. To give it a little more texture, I twisted the fabric up like this and let it get all nice and wrinkly.

Ta da!

What's in your closet that you could use for a layered tablecloth?




Sharing this with...
A little inspiration * bear rabbit bear *Bubbly Nature Creations 
French Country Cottage *Home Stories A to Z * House of Hepworths 
I can teach my child *I {heart} naptime *It's Overflowing * Oopsey Daisy  
Positively Splendid *Ruby Jean  *Six Sisters Stuff * Tatertots and Jello  
The Delectable Home * The Girl Creative *The Grant Life 
The Southern Institute * Whipperberry

A Birthday Banner

Now that the party is done, I have time to share some of the projects I've been working on. My favorite is this birthday banner I made for Ellie's party.

I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out two coordinating scrapbook patterns that I liked - a pink polka dot and a pale blue stripe. I also grabbed a pack of kraft cardstock. The cardstock keeps the banner from being too flimsy and will allow the banner to be used over and over again. 

Next, I cut out three oval shapes for each letter (yeah, this step could be a lot easier if you have a fancy craft cutting machine like Cameo or Cricut!). I made this template which you can download and adjust the print size to your project.  The font I used is called BB Petie Boy Medium  and can be downloaded here for free! Doesn't it look like the letters are stamped on the cardstock? I used font size 150 for my banner. {Side note: Did you notice that the "H" is upside down? Neither did I until I glued them. I think I like it better this way. Or at least that is what I'm telling myself.}

After tracing all my ovals and carefully cutting them out, I used a glue stick to compose the different layers. 

To hang the banner, I used mini clothespins and pink cotton candy twine. 

Whatcha think? It may not be perfect to the eye, but it is perfect to me :) I love it and look forward to using it again.

Sharing this with...
A little inspiration * bear rabbit bear *Bubbly Nature Creations 
French Country Cottage *Home Stories A to Z * House of Hepworths 
I can teach my child *I {heart} naptime *It's Overflowing * Oopsey Daisy  
Positively Splendid *Ruby Jean  *Six Sisters Stuff * Tatertots and Jello  
The Delectable Home * The Girl Creative *The Grant Life 
The Southern Institute * Whipperberry

The Birthday Blessing

Last year, I shared how I used the principles of Gary Smalley's book The Blessing to honor my husband on our anniversary {click here for a recap}. Smalley also stresses the value and importance of blessing our children. This basic idea is that the child experiences elements of a blessing from the parents. It may happen any number of times a year. With my girls still being young, I haven't implemented this concept as much as I hope to in the future. 

At Ellie's recent Whimsical Fairy Party, I invited individuals that have played an important role in her life. Most of these fall into the step-in grandparent role since our family is so far away. These are the people near and dear to our hearts who have made room in their own hearts for our sweet girl. Therefore, my favorite party of Ellie's birthday is the personal blessings we video record from each of our honored guests. Some of our guests recorded their third video birthday blessing for Ellie this year! We enjoy watching these after the party with Ellie and hope she will appreciate them for years to come.

Here is an example program including some of the ways I have shared with my daughter Ellie the love and value I have for her and others I plan to use:

• Praying together for her future
• Count down the days to the party - half the fun for a child is in the anticipation
• Ask her what food she would like for her special day
• Make her a homemade gift
• Bless her with a spoken message using various elements
• Putting together a slideshow including pictures for each year of her life
• List several specific things that each parent appreciated about her over the past year
• Explain how certain character traits will help her become a godly or loving person in the future. {Basically, give her the blessing of hope for the future. For example: "You are such a good helper with baby sister. Someday you are going to be a great mommy.")
• Write out her birth story starting with the nine months before birth, trip to the hospital and the joy experienced when holding her for the first time.

I hope this gives you some ideas for blessing your children. Would you share your ideas too?

Sharing this with...
A little inspiration * bear rabbit bear *Bubbly Nature Creations 
French Country Cottage * House of Hepworths * I can teach my child
I {heart} naptime *It's Overflowing * Oopsey Daisy * Positively Splendid 
Ruby Jean  *Six Sisters Stuff * Tatertots and Jello  *The Delectable Home
 The Girl Creative *The Grant Life *The Southern Institute * Whipperberry

A Fairy in a Tutu

 I purchased the following for Ellie's party from Halo Heaven:
Peach ballet tutu: $2.50
Peach and cream fairy ribbon wand: $0.90
Peach pixie wings: $1.70

For more details on the Whimsical Fairy Party, go here.

Faith, trust and pixie dust

If you read my initial post of Ellie's Whimsical Fairy party, this is meant to act as a follow-up with more details. Now that I have had a chance to recover. Whew!

Here is the set up of the tables. I got the turquoise paper plates and pink polka dot napkins from Target. I snatched them up right away!

I used miniature glass vases filled with pixie dust (a.k.a. glitter!) and fairy wands I saw over at Icing Designs. 

The party favors were these simple vintage pink roses. Can you believe they are soap? Yep, just pull off a petal and add water! Wouldn't they be perfect in a guest bathroom? Or even better, a bed and breakfast. And you can get this same romantic charm at, you guessed it, Dollar Tree! 

 I just happened to stumble upon these mercury glass candlesticks at World Market. They were in the Christmas clearance and I scored them for $1 each.

I ordered my straws from Jilly Bean Kids.

I spotted strawberry malt balls at Walmart a day or so before the party (probably seasonal?). My mom had just given me these vintage sundae dishes and I thought they were perfect for putting on the tables.

I printed placemats on cardstock. And if you would like to use or edit it, you can download it here. I was inspired by Martha Stewart's placemat/name card combo.

Since the whole fairy theme was based on Ellie's love for Tinkerbell, it was only fitting that she make an appearance. Ellie would have loved the beautiful jars that inspired me over at Heidi Swap's Sprinkle it with Fabulous.

I dipped some strawberry wafers in white chocolate after seeing them on Art Mom's blog. And I made a "Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust" printable for the table which you can also download here.

I really do have more to share BUT I have got to call it a night! Please feel free to leave a comment below or email me privately if you have any questions. More of my inspiration for this party can be found on my Fairy Party board on Pinterest. Nighty night :)




Sharing this with...
A little inspiration * bear rabbit bear *Bubbly Nature Creations 
French Country Cottage *Home Stories A to Z * House of Hepworths 
I can teach my child *I {heart} naptime *It's Overflowing * Oopsey Daisy  
Positively Splendid *Ruby Jean  *Six Sisters Stuff * Tatertots and Jello  
The Delectable Home * The Girl Creative *The Grant Life 
The Southern Institute * Whipperberry