luv is in the air...

So Ruthie's #3 is March 10, but we are celebrating early with a v-tine party and this is all she talks about. She's been decorating for it already. Heart stickers all over the kitchen windows. We are both so excited. Ideas I've gathered below, not sure if they will all happen, but at least gets me going.

I have limited energy these days...baby boy due March 11 & my body is giving out on me. But a party can always energize me!!! Got one of those nifty belly braces and everything. And sporting a fever blister, which doesn't look that great on a heavy breathing, big bellied woman. Mandy, you can feel my pain & all the sistas out there who cannot hide when they are stressed because of these loverly tell-tale signs.

To clarify, this post is not about my fever blister, it is about getting excited about Ruthie's party!!!

ROBOT party

so little henry turned 4 & we had a ROBOT party. He requested a roller skating robot party, but we settled on a robot party. We've been dancing the robot, talking about robots, building robots, etc. for the past couple months. I get a little crazy-I can't get a grip. it is complete fun for me.

So my starting point for Henry's 4th bday was to start spraying painting all in sight SILVER, to raid Tim's utility closet, & purchase home improvement items I had no idea what their actual purpose was.

 

 Marshmallow/pretzel craft: Build your own robot (& eat it of course). Marshmallows are like crack to Henry.

  

Robot foam beads from oriental trading & others from Michael's.

  

Can you see tell how large this cake is? I started with the body & everything else had to be in proportion. I think some children were afraid of it when I brought it out.

It was easy to make. I used loaf pans, 9x12 & square pan to make the body. I decorated with sprinkle (to hide my icing job) & various green/blue candy. I used colored marshmallow creme for the icing (not completely ideal), but again Henry luvs m-mallows. cake tip: I made all the "pieces" beforehand and froze them & pulled them out a couple of days before.

My white IKEA picture frames-not sold online =(  you'll see those again.

 Our girl & boy robot!!! Thanks to my stash of USPS mailing boxes they came to life.

 jello in clear cups with duct-taped spoons.

 

one of the favors: some flashing things I found at $ tree & added the sticker & "necklace" string. Also gave wind-up robots (oriental trading) & pop rocks. 

we had a robot part hunt in the backyard. i divided the group up boys/girls & they found hidden robot parts (random silver painted objects: yogurt containers, tin & aluminum cans, etc.).

afterwards, the bigger kids tapes their parts together and made ghost buster backpack things. my sweet uncle pat was the ringleader & thankfully did not melt.

ruthie's sunshine party

So for the past few weeks, YELLOW has been all around! And lots of talk about Ruthie's SHUNSHINE PARTY. It was impossible NOT to be happy about planning Ruthie's sunshine party. A very special day celebrating our ray of sunshine.

^ Ruthie's cake: A simple 1 layer yellow cake from Kroger. I added yellow sprinkles to top and made the rays with candy sticks & some cheapy sunglasses. ^

 

^Yellow "vases"-I spray painted wine bottles & added ribbon/button detail.^ Found this vintage yellow/white table cloth at my mom's house-my treasure trove! 

MENU: goldfish, peeps, lemon drops, yellow jelly bellies, pimento cheese & PBJ finger sandwiches, pineapple/cantaloupe skewers, nilla wafers, old fashioned yellow/orange candy sticks. Fun tip to keep food cold, a last minute improv: I put a layer of popsicles (in the clear plastic sleeve) in the bottom of my dish that had the fruit skewers. I used yellow/orange popsicles.

 

I now like my letter press cookie cutters. I found the sugar cookie recipe that works with them great. Thanks Rebekah. No sad faces after they came out of the oven. Don't you love seeing ruthie drooling over the candy & cookies.

 

^ The crafts: Sunshine paper plates & then paper sunglasses. White paper plates are so cheap & such a good starter for a craft. We will keep these in stock from now on! ^

 

A little foam crown I fancied up with plastic jewels. Then forgot to have Ruthie wear it for "happy birthday".

^ Made these circle/ribbon thingies... Found a sunflower calendar on clearance and cup the pages in circles, made 2 slits to weave the ribbon through it. A simple decor idea you could do with any size ribbon or circles. These yellow lanterns my sis found at dollar tree & I spiffed up with hanging ribbon from the bottom of it.

Not a super pic of it, but I made Ruthie's shirt. I printed a little sunshine on canvas with fabric backing. No sewing over here, so it is rigged up with fabric glue and a little hand stitching. One time wear shirt, but Ruthie loved her shunshine shirt.

^ Favors: lemon drops & candy stick.

^ This was a book that my sister Meg gave Ruthie for her bday. Quirky, cute little book-Ruthie is lovin' it.

the SUNSHINE PARTY PLAYLIST (you were prob wondering-right?)

Blue Sky: The Allman Brothers Band
Here Comes the Sun: The Beatles
Ain't No Sunshine: Bill Withers
Blue Skies Again: Jessica Lea Mayfield
Walking On Sunshine: Katrina & The Waves
Keep On the Sunny Side: The Low Anthem
Sunshine: Matt Costa
Sunday Sun: Neil Diamond
You Are My Sunshine: Ray Charles
A Place in the Sun: Stevie Wonder
You Are the Sunshine of My Life: Stevie Wonder
Island In the Sun: Weezer

I was so sad about saying goodbye to all this yellow after the party, I decided to paint our bathroom a bright happy yellow. Literally I started painting the Saturday afternoon after the party. Tim was a sport and went with it, no "crazy lady" comments.

you're my blue sky, you're my sunny day

Having soooo much fun over here. Getting ready for Ruthie's 2nd birthday! A sunshine party. All this yellow is doing my soul good. I'll post pictures after we celebrate this ray of sunshine. She has no idea how much joy she brings to our family.

jen's bday partay

okay, she said no facebook postings, but didn't mention MY BLOG! she'll never know. don't tell her.

my friend jennifer was being a little dramatic about her age & her bday this year, so she needed a little gathering. A party is the perfect way to start off the new year. And it was a surprise, EVEN BETTER.

yes, that's another caramel cake. i get stuck on things sometimes. i fancied it up with dum-dum pops on top & then white fondant "J" & scallop detail at the bottom, I watercolored the fondant pink & added pink sprinkles (and just peeled it off prior to cutting before it was consumed!!!). I rolled out the fondant & cut it with an xacto. Made the little skinny pennants in background with scrapbook paper. And more of the paper flowers. Greenery from my yard.

 Made wine charms out of Ruthie's christmas dollar tree rings. They are split in the center, so they fit around the stem of the glass.

 The "Jen" sign with another holiday gift: alphabet cards from anthropologie.

 And I made sugar cookies with icing, the first time I've done this. Like this recipe for my icing.

about the wig....Jennifer made the comment once that she if she could, would really love to rock an afro. It makes me laugh where our conversations go sometime-you know how girls skip around. I had to tuck this info away & make her dream a reality.

 

and of course we needed a pinata. don't you always want a turn to hit the pinata at kid parties? it was freezing outside & we were giggling the whole time.