Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I'm still here

March has been a CRAZY month! I have hosted 8 Party Wishes parties, 5 of them were Mad Hatter parties :) I am Sheridan's Brownie leader and we have been selling cookies outside of WalMart and the troop visited a vet and went to a scrapbook store to do some page layouts of the past year's activities.
We have had dance classes, baseball practice and games, Boy and Girl Scout meetings, PTA meetings (I'm in charge of Women in History at the elementary school), orthodontic appointments, speeches and presentations for Cleopatra biography (3rd grade) and Chasen was in a class play about Geology.
Unfortunately, I am just skimming the surface here!
As you can see, my blog has been on the back burner for 2 weeks and now you know why.
From the picture above you can tell that Chasen decided to break his arm because not EVERY moment of the day was not taken up with some type of activity.

During all of this fun we have been having, I am in the middle of re-decorating my family room and adjoining kitchen. At present, it is done in green walls, Waverly Old Country Roses slipcovers and red toile window coverings. Since the cushions were a bit worn on the couch that triggered me to design a whole new room. Above is my "plan". We are purchasing a white slipcovered IKEA sectional with an extra slipcover, I bought a new rug from Land of Nod and I am making new curtains for both rooms and all of the accent pillows. I have also re-painted my kitchen table and chairs and stapled on a new oilcloth blue with white polka dot tablecloth. I will also be painting the walls blue.

I am also going to paint the kitchen cabinets bright white (they are cream now) and the island Fire Engine red (it is now Barn red). I also replaced all 3 of my chandeliers with new ones that I painted bright white and had adorned with Cath Kidston tea cups and a tea pot.

I hope to be done by next week to show you what I have been up to.

Now, I am off to get things organized for our garage sale this weekend. I am having a special "preview sale" for friends on Friday night so they get first dips on the "good stuff".

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Bring On The Ants!

Are you ready for Spring? It's going to be in the 80s today in Los Angeles and I think I'll take the family on a picnic.
All of these lovely plates are made out of melamine.

That means you can take them on picnics to the beach or the park or...


by the pool or your very own backyard! They can all be found here.




Monday, March 15, 2010

Mad Hatter at CafeMom

My Mad Hatter Tea party is featured at CafeMom along with Lollipop Events and Design. What an honor!

St. Patrick's Day Crafts

The Toymaker has wonderful print, cut and fold projects for your St. Patrick's Day celebration.
I love this coin box!

Come on, People!

Jokes.com
Paul F. Tompkins - Daylight Saving Time
comedians.comedycentral.com
Joke of the DayStand-Up ComedyFree Online Games

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Camping Anyone?




I found this adorable 1st birthday celebration via The Creative Hostess
So many great details...the hostess even decorated the bathroom with evergreens, balsam scented soap and river rocks in the bottom of the sink...LOVE it!

Monday, March 8, 2010

American Girl Felicity Party

I hosted my first American Girl Felicity party at the Tea Gardens on Saturday. I made the colorful banner that hung above the tea table and the sashes for the chairs.
The table was set with lace tablecloths, mismatched china and silver mint julep cups filled with fresh flowers and colonial flags.

As the guests arrived, they were given mob caps to wear and played a game of Clothespin Drop.

During the party, I taught the girls how to sew an apron and the language of the fan. The guests had a great time learning a traditional dance called "The Hat Dance".

To improve their posture, they balanced books on their heads. I was happy to teach the girls how to be "proper young ladies" and give them skills that they will use in the future. After the party, the birthday girl's father told me that this party was much better than the American Girl store. What an amazing compliment! I really look forward to hosting more of these special parties.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Mad Tea Party

To celebrate the opening of the Alice in Wonderland movie, Risa, The ParteaPlanner, hosted a mad tea party at Disneyland Friday night. I was a very small co-host who brought the paper lanterns with battery operated tea lights, the Cheshire cat and centerpieces.
Risa brought the entire tea spread of scones, cookies, cake, tea and lemonade with "Drink Me" tags on the glass bottle.
Guests wore tea hats and went on a scavenger hunt in Disneyland. "Alice" buttons were hidden all over the park and clues were given via iPhone.
After the tea party and scavenger hunt, some of us attended the screening of "Alice in Wonderland" in Downtown Disney. It was a great movie!
It's 1:30 am, do we look tired?
Thank you Risa for the invitation! We had a blast!

Friday, March 5, 2010

16 Years

16 years ago today I married my hubby at the Island Chapel in Las Vegas. We met through Great Expectations (before there was a match.com or eHarmony!) I was his 1st and only date through the service. He said I was the most expensive date he has ever had :)
Yesterday, we celebrated at Disneyland. Happy Anniversary Michael! I love you more today than on our wedding day OXOXOXOXOX

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Felicity Party Favors

I love these favors for the American Girl Felicity party I am hosting on Saturday. I made the fabric favor bags and filled them with colonial-inspired toys. There is a wooden box of dominos, jacks, marbles, wooden yo-yo, candy sticks and a silk fan. I am also going to include a card that explains the language of the fan.
For the craft, I'm going to teach the girls to sew an apron. I bought inexpensive flour sack and cut it in half. Then the guests are going to hand sew a grosgrain ribbon to the unfinished edge to make a tie for the apron. This is also part of their favor as well as the sewing kit complete with scissors!

Monday, March 1, 2010

Felicity Party Banner

On Saturday, I am hosting an American Girl Felicity party. I have been quite busy sewing things for the party.
The first thing I finished is this banner to decorate the party space with.

I bought several different colonial-inspired fabrics and cut triangles with pinking shears. The triangles are then stitched into double wide seam binding. Stay tuned for more fun things for the party!