Love Journal

When my husband and his sisters took on the heartbreaking and arduous task of going through his mother's  belongs after she died, they found journals she had written about her children. There weren't that many entries, but I thought how beautiful that is. So I decided that I would do the same when I had kids. A year later when I was pregnant my husband bought me a journal. However, it wasn't until my first baby was born that I began to write in the journal. I just pour out my heart to my kids. I write how I see them and how much they mean to me. I feel overwhelmed by the love I have for them and I want them to always know how much they are loved.  Writing is a powerful thing, I show them everyday that I love them and I tell them often, but once something is written down the truth embedded in the message becomes solidified. I hope that when I pass they will find these journals a comfort to them as well. I don't write everyday, it is more a spontaneous action and I haven't decided when I will give them the journals. Maybe I will wait and give them one when they graduate or get married or have their own kids.  I guess I have some time to decide.

Journal topics
My love for them
My perspective on their personalities
Major milestones in their lives
Things they do that make me proud of them
Their birthdays

You are my sunshine birthday party

At first this was going to be a fun in the sun party. I began to search pinterest for a fun in the sun party and stumbled upon you are my sunshine. I fell in love. This theme epitomized what I felt about my baby girl. So I changed themes and My little one's first birthday theme became you are my sunshine. I really liked this theme. We used pink, orange and yellow for the color scheme and it came out better than I thought it would. We also used the the create a critter cartridge from cricut to create most of the decorations.

The Outfit

She wore a tulle skirt with a white onesie (for the photo shoot), a yellow shirt (for her birthday party) with a large flower attached to a head band.  So cute!

Dessert table

We combined the cake table and candy table.  Behind the cake table we hung a sign that had the lyrics to you are my sunshine.  One of the favorite treats of the table was the sunshine chocolate covered oreos.

The high hair and the cake

We used tulle around the tray and created a sign with her name on it.  She had a two-tiered cake with a fondant sun on the top.  We also served cupcakes to the kids.  The cupcakes were topped with sun pics.

The Mantle

We placed pictures of our little one from her first birthday photo shoot on the mantle a long with lyrics to you are my sunshine.  The sign on the mantle said Our sunshine the sign above the mantle said happy first birthday. We created a tulle wreath for above the mantle and for the door.

Fruit Tray

We created a sun out of pineapples and raspberries.  Next time I would and Mandarin oranges around the edge of the sun to make it more defined.

Plasticware

We wrapped the eating utensils in a paper napkin and created a napkin ring out of ribbon and a paper sun.

Outside Decorations

We created a tulle wreath and yard signs to greet guests as they arrived.  To create the tulle wreath bend a wired hanger in a circle and use a wire cutter to cut of the hook. Then cut the tule to the desired length and tie around the hanger. The yard signs were created from the pendant and create a critter cri-cut cardridge.

Balloon towers

I love how this birthday turned out.  You are my sunshine is a great theme for any little one.  They are only one once and so precious, it is such an honor to demonstrate how much we love our little ones.  Please share your ideas for a You are my Sunshine party.

Brave Birthday Party

It has been so long since I have posted any ideas.  My life has just taken off. I don't have much time now that I have a 6 month old and a 5 year old. To all of you mothers out there, I just want to say kudos! You are awesome. So it is that time of year again. My oldest's 5th birthday just passed and I like to share some of the fun things we did. I got most of the ideas from Pinterest! Oh how I love Pinterest.

             

Will o' the Wisps

  

In the movie, wisps led Merida to the crafty carver and to the site of the former king turned bear. They led Merida to her fate. I created "wisps" to direct guests to the front door. They were made from a blue balloon covered with blue cellophane. I tied curling ribbon around the bottom of the balloon and cellophane. Then I cut a small whole in the tail of the balloon and inserted a golf tee to hold them down on the ground. 

 The Cake
 

 A Merida doll was inserted in the cake and covered with fondant. The accessories came with the doll. The doll was washed and then wrapped with plastic wrap before being placed in the cake. The cupcakes were bear claws made with chocolate frosting and almond slivers. The little cakes were a take on Scottish sweet bread. They were made from 6 inch mini rounds and covered with warmed vanilla frosting topped with a cherry. The three black bears are just toys.

Candy  Buffet

   

I just chose a few different candies in the color scheme that I was using and placed them in clear containers. There were also cookies and cake pops. 

 Games 

Triple Haggis Toos

  One of my favorite parts of the movie is when the triplets are supposed to eat their haggis and they just don't want it. I used our Monster toss game to create the Triple Haggis Toss. Kids toss haggis (bean bags made from nylon stockings and raw pinto beans)through the holes in the board. I added pictures of the triplets and their names to the back of the board. Natalie loved this one! 

 We also played miniature golf, since golf was invented in Scotland, caber toss and archery. 

 Decorations

Centerpieces

   

The Mantle

The Mantle consisted  pictures of my daughter in her brave costume and in a frame a saying that I would always want her to remember.  Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.  Around the mantle is the Be Brave mini banner from printabelle.com.

Happy 5th Birthday

 I created targets for the centerpieces and I used Georges and Basic Shapes on the Cricut to cut out the squares for the Be Brave and Happy  5th birthday sign.  The background of the Happy 5th Birthday sign was plaid, another tie into the Scottish theme of the movie/ party.