Made ~ Vintage Bluebird of Happiness Birthday Party

My little girl, Caleigh, celebrated her first birthday last month. I knew that I wanted a vintage feel for her party and to use her signature colors, aqua and pink. With it being spring, an idea flew into my head to center the party around the bluebird of happiness.  Caleigh is such a happy, little girl and loves music. It would be the perfect theme.  

I designed her invitation using a digital paper from the Ellah Rose Collection from hellolovetoo and with one of my favorite bluebird images.  Then I attached a strip of pink ribbon at the bottom of the invitation. 

The focal point of the party was the shabby chic bunting I created with fabrics from JoAnn, Wal-Mart and Hancock Fabrics.  The majority of the fabric was from Wal-Mart and cost a whopping $1.50 a yard!  I cut 3-inch wide strips x the length of the fabric.  Next, I tied the strip of fabric to a length of rope.  I hung the bunting from two Command hooks that I could remove later.

The candy bar was draped in a light pink ruffled sheet from the Simply Shabby Chic line from Target.  I wrapped my silverware cabinet in a remnant of aqua fabric from my fabric stash.  Then I placed white chocolate eggs wrapped in blue foil, plain M&Ms (aqua and pink) and chocolate dipped pretzels in apothecary jars. 

Peanut M&Ms in the signature colors were placed in a small birdbath type ceramic dish I found at Michael's for half off. 

The aqua and white swirl lollipops came from Oriental Trading.  I tied pink seam binding bows to the sticks and placed the lollipops in a pink wooden tray from Target's Dollar Spot. 

Blue Peeps were displayed in a bluebird accented plate (TJ Maxx) next to a vintage children's book.  Tiny bluebird ornaments from Pier One hung from the topiaries.

Pink lemonade was dispensed from a glass beverage dispenser (Belks, half off) that had a chalkboard necklace of sorts.  I attached a metal bird ornament (Hobby Lobby) using glue dots for easy removal later. 

Plastic milk bottles from Sweet Lulu were dressed up with strips of fabric from Fabric.com.  The pattern is called Spring Hill Birdy.  The blue version is shown but the fabric also comes in pink and white.  The pink polka dot paper straws from Cakes and Kids Too.

Since the party was mid-afternoon, I didn't have a lot of heavy food options for guests.  Chicken salad croissants and spinach dip were offered as well as yellow cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese icing (tinted aqua), bird-shaped sugar cookies and candy pops, cake pops, bird nests and bluebird cookies.  The bluebird cookies were Nutter Butters dipped in blue Wilton candy melts.  Their eyes were mini chocolate chips and their beaks were a dot of yellow frosting.  Bottles of water were also wrapped in fabric and placed in an aqua metal tub that I found at Target's Dollar Spot.  (It also came in pink.)





The birthday cake was homemade and placed on one of my late mother's cake plates.  The cake was made of chocolate with white chocolate cream cheese icing. To continue the bluebird theme, I created a banner on card stock featuring bluebirds.  I cut the banner out and attached it to two lollipop sticks.  I added aqua and pink seam binding to soften the look.  One pink candle was all that was needed to make the perfect birthday cake for my little girl.

For party favors, I used aqua cupcake boxes that my late mother had a supply of.  Inside I placed a stuffed chick and a wooden bird whistle, both from Oriental Trading, and a carton of Whoppers shaped like robin's eggs. 

I wrapped the boxes with ribbon made from the white Spring Hill Birdy fabric and attached a gift tag that said, "It was TWEET of you to come."

To say the least, Caleigh's party was a hit.  Not to mention, is that I can use a lot of the party decorations in Caleigh's room.  The bunting will go on the wall over her bed.  The aqua and pink metal tub containers will hold hair bows and other accessories.  The wooden trays can help organize her dresser drawers and the bird accents can decorate her room. Essentially, I killed two birds with one stone.  No pun intended.  Thanks for stopping by!

Made ~ Christmas Candy Basket

Here is a super cheap and super chic idea for Christmas.  I purchased an oval basket from Target's Dollar Spot.  The basket was covered in Christmas candy images.  I added some pleated ribbon I found at Hobby Lobby, some vintage lace and the bloom from a floral pick I got at Michael's for 50% off.  For under $2, here is a pretty basket to hold a small gift.

Made ~ Bunny Artwork

Remember the cute bird cut-out I found at Michael's?  Well, I also found some cute bunny cut-outs as well. 

I took the bunnies and their super springy colors and gave them a coat of American Accents in Heirloom White. 

Then I took an 8 x 10 canvas and painted it with Krylon's Blue Ocean Breeze. 

It's too glossy for my taste but with the bunnies in a matte finish...it turned out to be a great compliment.  I glued the bunnies onto the canvas and here I have a cute piece of springtime artwork for around a couple of bucks.  I can't wait until next Easter to display my creation. 

Made ~ Yellow Bird, Yellow Bird

I've been busy with several little projects around the house but have been a slacker in the blogging department.  My apologies, ya'll!  Anyway, here is one of my most recent projects.  I found these cute little wooden cutout birdies at Michael's after Easter.  I paid a whopping 25 cents each for them.  Too cute and too cheap-cheap to pass up!

I took a piece of scrap wood about a foot long and six inches or so wide, painted it with some Krylon Chalkboard paint.  Then I glued the yellow bird cut-out to the board using Gorilla Glue. 

I attached a hanger to the back and voila!  The cutest chalkboard on the block.  I love it!  What do you think?  Tres cute!

 










    

Made - The littlest football fan

My son Asher will be turning one on Thanksgiving Day. Instead of competing with the holiday, we chose to have his 1st birthday party the Saturday before. Check out these cute invitations I picked out from Tiny Prints. They are so adorable!!! I am so in love with them.

To continue the football theme, I chose green, brown and white for the color scheme. I made a banner using a variety of cardstock and scrapbook paper (found at Hobby Lobby)including one that had the texture of a football (found at Michaels). I accented the banner with green grosgrain ribbon.

I purchased a cake from Publix that resembled a football field. I was so elated that the figurines had green and white jerseys. It was like I had them custom made for Asher's party! Talk about a theme coming together. Because it was Asher's first birthday, Publix threw in a smaller cake especially for him. I chose chocolate so it would show up better in the photos. The baker said I was only the third mom EVER at her bakery to order a chocolate cake for their child's birthday. Seriously?

For the menu, I chose typical game fare and a few other items...hot dogs, chips, buffalo chicken dip (instead of hot wings), spinach dip, veggie and fruit trays and brownies. The brownies were in the shape of footballs thanks to my new Wilton cupcake pan I got at Wal-Mart. I had white chocolate pecans and green and brown M&Ms. I also had a kiddie cookie tray filled with animal crackers, Nilla wafers and Goldfish.

On the gift table, I had blank cards waiting for party guests to fill out with coaching advice to the rookie Asher. Thanks to my friend KD for the inspiration.

I also created cute party favor bags filled with a small football, stickers, green and brown M&Ms and Teddy Bear Grahams. I attached a cute football tag that I created with cardstock and the football-textured paper.

Asher wore an adorable green jersey I ordered from simply colors. I love it! And it's something Asher can wear until he turns two. His "great" Aunt Brenda sent him a crown to wear on his special day. I think it's too cute!

Thanks to the nap he had prior to the party. Asher had a wonderful time with his friends and family. He didn't dive into his birthday cake as much as I thought but he did get messy enough for a costume change. His most favorite thing at the party was the balloons. Here's a photo of him about to give one a hug. Overall, I think the party was a success and I had a ball (no pun intended) planning it for the littlest football fan in my life. Happy Birthday my sweet Asher!

Read more: http://birdcrafts.blogspot.com/2010/04/party-link-party-and-sneaky-peek.html#ixzz0kHLdQLiX