Lil Light 'O Mine

My kids are now 17, 13 and 11. Sheridan is still hanging on for dear life of believing in Santa which means the big Christmas morning extravaganzas will soon be coming to an end in our home. Over the last few years, I have noticed that the kid's gifts have gotten smaller but more expensive which makes for a pitiful pile under the tree.
This year will be different. I asked my oldest what he wanted for Christmas and he said "Nothing". Great! Now, do you think I can convince your brother and sister with the same idea? Probably not. But this has offered up a wonderful oppurtunity for our family to give gifts to our community instead of ourselves. It does seem that a lot of people need lifting up these days and small things seem to make such an impact. Just giving a unsung hero some recognition goes a long way.
I stumbled across this wonderful post via a friend from Facebook and it has all the tools and fun printables that this ADHD girl needs to make a lot of people smile this season.
Please check out this post if you would like to pay it forward.

Little Miss Homemaker Party

 My daughter turned 11 on Sunday and we celebrated with a Little Miss Homemaker party. She wanted to cook and sew at her party so I just added a retro twist to the idea. Serendipity Soiree provided the adorable retro invitations and set the tone of the whole party.

 At each of my kid's parties, I have guests sign a scrapbook page. I also attached a copy of the party invitation.

 I hand embroidered each guest's name on an apron for them to wear during the party.

 I custom made the party hats by color copying some fabric and using the circles from Serendity Soiree that matched the invitations. The crepe paper trim is from Bake It Pretty.

 I made a cupcake/coffe filter/doily garland on each of my dining room hutches. (yes, I have 2).

 I made the Devil's food with raspberry cream fill ruffle cake myself. I learned how to make the ruffles via YouTube. I also used the same circle tags to decorate the milk bottles for when the girls had their cake. I made the cake topper from pom pom trim from a local scrapbook store and I made the "eleven" banner with my Cricut.

 One of the items the girls made were rosette headbands. I got the sewing kits from the Dollar Tree and added the SS circle tags again. The each picked out 2 fabrics to make a double rosette that I hot glued to black headbands that I also got at the Dollar Tree.

 I used to same tissue trim from Bake it Pretty but in pink to edge the favor bags and used my Cricut machine to make the tags. The font is Little Days to match to one used on their aprons.

 I covered small mason jars with doilies and baker's twine and filled with candles for the party table.

 Since it was a retro inspired party, I got the girl's their own make up since 1950's housewives always looked their best even while doing their daily chores. The girls really liked this part because they would touch up their make up after every activity.

 Next, we moved into the kitchen to bake pies. Since we didn't have a lot of time, I used refridgerator dough and the girls got little rolling pins to roll out the dough. I bought some ramekins from IKEA to make the mini pies in. The girls got to pick from apple or cherry filling and I taught them a lattice technique for the top of the pie.

 The guests really love making the pies and getting creative with the dough!

 As the pies were baking, we moved into the dining room to enjoy some cake and wear the cute little hats I made. Yes, fresh lipstick was applied prior to eating as well! The crepe paper curtain behind my daughter was ruffled by me on my sewing machine.

 Didn't the pies turn out well?

Happy Birthday Sweet Sheridan!

Embroidery Transfer Tutorial

 I am hosting a 1950's Happy Homemaker party for my daughter's 11th birthday on Sunday. I decided to get aprons for the girls to wear during the party and as their favors. Instead of spending hours making the aprons, I got these from Oriental Trading Company and I decided to embellish them. I was originally going to write the girl's names on the apron myself but I really didn't trust my hand at getting the names perfectly centered and all the same size. So I decided to use Little Days font on 96 pt and print out the names on regular copy paper.

 I put the apron in the embroidery hoop and centered the hoop on the edge of the ruffle and between the pockets. The material was thin enough so I could see the printing really well.

 I then just taped the name where I wanted it.

 Next, I used a regular colored pencil in black. The only reason I used it is because my kids were working on a school project at the same time at the same table, so I just grabbed it. You can use a washable fabric pen, too. I held my fingers behind the paper and lightly traced the name unto the fabric.

Then, I used 3 strands of hot pink embroidery floss with an outline stitch. I was lucky enough to have my Grandma teach me how to embroider when I was 9 but there are great tutorials on line if you need help with some stitches. I made 7 of them in 1 day while waiting to pick up kids at school. I hope the girls love their new aprons!

I linked up!

Mad Hatter at Disneyland

 I was contacted by a pharmacist in Orange County to host a Mad Hatter party for the CSHP at the Disneyland Hotel. It was to honor the volunteers of the organization that supports pharmacists around California. The amazing woman honored is a Dr. and teaches pharmacology at USC and is a leader in women's studies and emergency contraceptives.


All of the guests loved the decor that I had made myself for the event. Since it was a much larger event and venue that I usually do, I had to make a lot more decor and think outside the box with such a tiny budget.

 I made all of the Mad Hatter hats including the one on my head out of poster board and fabric. It took me 8 hours to make 12 hats. ( I made 20 total!) The hat stands were made from Dollar Tree candlesticks and wood trims from Home Depot. I also painted all of the tea cups and saucers stacked on the tables. The pharmacists supplied green medicine bottles that had "Drink Me" stickers on them.

It was difficult to decorate this room since I couldn't put anything on the walls or hang the paper lanterns from the candelier. There is also constrution going on in the pool area of the hotel (where the room overlooks) so the windows were frosted over and there was no view. :(

 The big hit of the night was the photo booth. I painted a canvas blue and hung it on a frame of PVC pipe. I decorated it with flowers made from colored lunch bags and google eyes. The guests acted like little kids picking out their hats and posing for the cameras. There was a professional photographer and a pharmacist with her cmera as well. I will be getting "better" pics from them later :)

 The hat I am wearing is the original size of the pattern. I had to enlarge it 150% to have the hats big enough for the cocktail tables. I attached the hat to a black elastic headband and no one could tell how it was attached to my head.

 It also poured rain when I made my 5 trips down to my van to get all of the decor. This is why I look like a drowned rat. I'm so glad I had the hat to distract.

One of the bartenders said she noticed all of the details I had put into everything and said I should work for Disney. That was the greatest compliment I could have gotten!

Dream Job

 Right now, I am putting the final touches on a special Mad Hatter party. It's not a birthday party for a one-year-old or a Sweet 16. It's not a bridal or baby shower.

It's a party for 250 pharmacists at the, wait for it...

The Disneyland Hotel in the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion!

It can't believe I am "working" at Disneyland! When I was 16, I desperately wanted to work at D-land but it is about 70 minutes away from my house so I ended up working at Six Flags Magic Mountain which is 3 miles from my house. A much better commute but not the same.

I will post pictures this weekend so come back and take a peek!