St. Patrick’s Day Libations

The idea of green beer has never really been that appealing to me but the festive fun surrounding St. Patrick’s Day is something I look forward to each year.   So the ScrapPop Popstars have compiled a few fun ideas to help everyone feel a wee bit Irish this St. Patrick’s Day! The Sparkling Shamrock Cocktail I like this recipe from Happy Healthy and Motivated is refreshing, fun and takes less than 5 minutes to make.  And who doesn't love a creative use of a garnish? Mike's March … [Read more...]

R.I.P Olaf — A Christmas Break Kid Craft

No, this isn't an anti-Frozen post, but who doesn't love to build a snowman.  The challenge here in Chicago is we haven't really had any real snow. So, I decided we could certainly at least celebrate with melted snowmen! I saw this clever idea for a melted snowman ornament on Pinterest and of course had to give it a try first at home and then as a room parent at school. It's quick and easy with very little clean-up! Do you want to build a snowman, a melted snowman that … [Read more...]

December Birthday Fun!

Kids December birthdays are hard! First, let's hope I don't forget it.  And second, it's hard to make it special with all the hoopla going around for Christmas. Earlier this week, my first born son turned 9!!! How is that even possible!?! In order to try and make it special, we created a couple family birthday traditions: 1. He always gets a special message from our elf on the shelf, Buddy. This year Buddy took full advantage of a banner to share his birthday sentiments and hung it right … [Read more...]

A Mixel Party Blast!

Six !?  I can’t believe my son is turning six already! While I am deeply flattered my boys enjoy my crafty homemade birthday parties I was a bit taken back by the request for a Mixels party. They aren’t exactly a hot party theme … yet? That being said, I knew I would need to make my own party décor. For those of you who don’t know, Mixels are cute, little collectible lego creatures that can be mixed and matched with each other. We picked the day a little more than two weeks out and had … [Read more...]

A Dragon Birthday Party, and a word about first birthdays

First? Can I say a something to you new parents planning your little anklebiter's first birthday? YAY YOU! You made it through the first year....I'd like to say the next years will be a breeze, but that would be a big friggin lie. Now, I'm sure you feel all this Pinterest-y pressure to throw a huge, perfect celebration with everybody and their brother invited. You know what I say? EFF THAT NOISE. Seriously, your kid is not going to care if you have 4 people or 400 at his first big … [Read more...]

It’s JAWSOME – Shark Themed Pool Party

A summer birthday celebration was made easy by hosting a private party at our pool a couple years ago. Rules didn’t allow for too many decorations so we had to get a wee bit creative to bring out our theme, but I think the kids had a GREAT time! Food:   We served fish filled jello cups, shark shaped fruit salad, veggies, chips and chum (watermelon kool-aid). TIP: When carving any shape out of a watermelon, the first step should be flattening what will become the bottom so that it can … [Read more...]

Best.5th.Birthday.Ever!!!

When we started thinking about Lo’s upcoming 5th birthday, she was still talking about meeting all her princess friends from our first ever trip to Disney World earlier that year. Out of all the princesses – even Frozen! – she was still talking about Rapunzel. So off I went into planning the BEST.BIRTHDAY.EVER! I always kick off the party planning process with invitation research and my favorite place to do that is on Etsy.com. There was no shortage of Tangled inspired invitations. The modern … [Read more...]

Birthdays Are For Making Memories!

We all know the famous saying "It's the thought that counts," and when talking about birthdays I find this to be especially true.   Now that I am a parent, I find myself looking back to my own childhood and our family traditions more often. One of the fondest birthday memories I have were these little funny packages my Grandma would prepare in honor of your special day. The contents themselves wouldn't cost more than a dollar or two but it wasn't the gift that was so special. As clichéd as it … [Read more...]

Prom Already?! I Still Haven’t Finished Homecoming

By now, you may know I am a busy mom of 5 so even though I enjoy scrapbooking I don't necessarily keep up with it.  In preparing to order some photos I am enjoying revisiting my daughter's first homecoming dance and all the party preparations.  I must admit, as I sent my oldest child to high school a popular saying became my daily experience. "The days last forever but the years are gone in the blink of an eye." She is now attending the same school that both her dad and I went to which … [Read more...]

Derby Party Win!

Thank you for some of the fun ideas and all the encouragement as I planned our Derby Party.  After sharing so many of the pre-party projects along the way, I wanted to also share some of the party updates.  I might be biased but I think the party decor was fun and festive. In addition to the vinyl horses and tissue pom horseshoe wreath you might have seen on Instagram, we also added paper lanterns and some circle garland from the Paper Lantern Store.  Once again,  3M command hooks saved the day … [Read more...]