Keep Calm and Plan a Party

Glitzy Cowgirl Party

2013-09-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Long time, no see! Sorry I've been away for so long! Just a little info. I've decided to only use this blog to post about parties and DIY party stuff. No more crafts, organization or anything else. Have no fear though! If you're into all that stuff and still want to see what I've been up to, you're in luck! I've started a new blog just for that! While I haven't posted my first project yet, I have several in the works. I hope you'll come over and check it out! Here's the link~ A Lazy Girl's Guide to Everything ~ Check out the All About Me page while you're there to learn more and don't forget to follow me on Facebook please!

Now, on to the really interesting stuff. Today I'm showing you a party that I absolutely can not take all the credit for. My friend Andrea asked me to help with the planning and styling of her little Lanie's 6th birthday party. The theme? I'm calling it Glitzy Cowgirl. Andrea wanted a cowgirl theme, with just a bit of a twist. Lanie had a pair of boots that started out as the jumping off point~ leopard print and pink. However, two days before the party Andrea decided that she was having too much trouble finding anything to go with that theme and so instead of brown and pink and leopard print, a new color scheme was born. Pink and black with lots of pattern and a little glitter thrown in for good measure. Let me tell you, I fell in love with this color/pattern palette! Also, I'm pretty sure I have a new addiction to glitter. I spent one evening covering some little horses in mod podge and glitter and then I wanted to glitter everything in sight! So cute! Unfortunately, the wind was blowing really hard the day of the party and I only had my phone with me because I hadn't planned on taking pictures. That means the few pictures I do have aren't very good, but hopefully you'll get the idea.

The Photo Booth!

Don't you just love the ribbon bow tied around the hay bale?!! And Andrea made the bow on top using part of a plastic tablecloth!!!

Lanie already had this barn and the blanket in the background. They fit the theme perfectly!

Aren't these cow print plates cute?!! "Grub" included a "Make Your Own Trail Mix" bar.

A wagon was used as the "Waterin' Hole" and was later filled with ice and water bottles.

Yep, this "city girl" spent time helping move these hay bales to make the kids table. The tops were covered with pieces of plastic tablecloths, but as you can see the wind didn't exactly cooperate. :-)

I threw together these frames at the last minute, but I think they may have been one of my favorite things! I made napkin flowers and added sheriff badges to two of them. The other two got the glitter horses I talked about earlier. Don't you just love them?!!

When Andrea and I finished setting up, we looked around and I think we were both really impressed with how it turned out. I really wish that the pictures did it justice. Maybe someday I'll be able to afford a professional photographer! :-)

So, what do you think? Is there a Glitzy Cowgirl in your life that would love this party? Do you love glitter as much as I do? :-) Leave me some comment love and let me know your thoughts. And don't forget to check out my new blog and follow me there and on Facebook!

Thanks everybody!

Wedding Fever!!!

2013-07-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

So here's the thing. I now have "Wedding Fever" thanks to my friend Tonya. She is a party planner in Alabama and she's been asked to plan a family member's wedding. We've been talking about it and it has officially sent me to that crazy place I go when I get something in my head and can't let go of it. Biggest problem I see with this? No one has hired me (yet!) to plan their special day. :-( Hmmm, how to fix this? I'm working on it. In the meantime, I asked the Handy Dandy Hubby if we could get remarried (after assuring him that I meant remarried to each other) he still said no. :-/ Wonder why he would have done that? Could it be because we only got married 2 years ago? Not exactly time to renew our vows. Another reason might be that I tend to go a little crazy when planning weddings (I've planned several for family members). I absolutely LOVE weddings. Seriously, do you get that I LOVE them? Ok, good.

So here's what I'm thinking. A lot of you probably don't follow me on Pinterest (shame on you) so I think I'm going to share some ideas that I've found on there with you guys over here on the blog. How does that sound? Good? Great!

The first thing I want to share with you is this beautiful Coral Country Wedding board I have. I've created it with the idea of mixing coral, mint and a gorgeous antique gold, but there are also lots of country aspects to this board that you could use with almost any color scheme. Burlap and lace would go beautifully with the country elements as well.

Speaking of burlap and lace. I am OBSESSED!!! If my hubby ever decides to let me plan a vow renewal (not that he has much choice) this is what the theme will be. Can you say gorgeous?!!? Here is my Burlap and Lace board with some ideas on how you can incorporate these details into your special day. I had to post a picture of this! How gorgeous is this bouquet from Gypsy Farm Girl's Etsy shop?! Be sure you check out her shop, she has some beautiful bouquets!

So, what do you think? Do you have a wedding theme, color scheme, etc. that you would like to see inspiration for on the blog? If so, leave me a comment and let me know. I would LOVE to put together some ideas for you! Not sure what you want? Let's talk and I'll help you figure it out. Hope you enjoyed this little peek into the Wedding Fever moment I'm having. Don't forget to check my Pinterest boards often as I am always updating them. Have a wonderful weekend!

See ya next time!

New blog series... I think

2013-07-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

So, I'm trying out a new blog series. Not sure if it's going to work out or not as I have a tendency to tire of things quickly, but we're going to give it a try. Ok? Ok.

This idea started when I saw the fabulous Miss Party Mom's new series, Five for Friday. If you've never checked out her blog, you're missing out! That chick is a riot! She's blunt and to the point and I think she's awesome. Go check her out!

Anyways, here's what I'm thinking. Every week, probably on Saturday, I'm going to post six things that I'm digging right now or that I'm wanting to try out. I'll have 6 different categories. For the Home, Party Inspiration (of course), Recipes/Food (yes, this from the girl who doesn't cook, I'm broadening my horizons folks), Just Us Girls (something special just for me) and then, here's where it gets a little crazy. I am going to have a category for teen girls and my daughter Wylee, is going to give her input. I am also going to have a category for boys where my son Levi, will give his thoughts.

So, what do you think? Are you ready to see some epic fails with the Recipe category? Because, trust me, there will be some. What do you think I should call this series? I've been rolling around some names, but nothing makes me jump for joy. A Few of My Favorite Things, Saturday Super Six, blah and blah. Help!!! If you have an awesome idea for a name, leave me a comment below! Or, if you have a product, recipe, etc. you think I should check out, feel free to email me or comment with the name of it. I'm planning on starting this series within the next couple of weeks, so let me know what you think!

Front Door Sign and Paper Napkin Flower Tutorial

2013-06-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hey there girlies! How are you on this beautiful Saturday?!! I am feeling super creative today so I decided to make a little Fourth of July craft to share with you all. I have been wanting to make another wreath for a while now, but I wanted to make one with a twist... I wanted to use a picture frame. I have seen a few around Pinterest, but for some reason, the inspiration I needed never came to me. Until today. What I ended up with is less of a wreath and more of a sign, but it's going on my front door anyways. :-)

I started out with a plain black picture frame, but I didn't want black, so I grabbed my handy dandy spray paint and painted it white. The picture frame was missing the glass, so I decided to use some chalkboard paint and spray the cardboard backing with it. I messed up a bit on the chalkboard paint, but I swear, once I seasoned it and wrote on it, you couldn't tell. Anyways, Ta-Da!!! Instant chalkboard.

I couldn't just leave it plain though! Hmmm, what to do? I had these little pinwheels that I bought for the Fourth of July so I pulled three of them off of their sticks and hot glued them to the corner of the frame.

Then, I decided I wanted a big red flower to go in the top corner of the frame. I didn't have a red flower and I didn't have any red material or felt. I had red paper napkins though! I have never made a flower out of napkins, but there's a first time for everything, right? Here's a little how-to on the paper napkin flower.

Start with a small napkin. These are about 9x9.

Next, cut circles out of the napkin. I just freehanded it . You should get 4 circles out of each napkin.

Fold your circle in half and then in half again to make a triangle shaped petal.

Use one of your circles as the base for the flower and glue each petal to it.

Continue gluing petals onto your base until your flower is as full as you want it to be. I think I used about 5 napkins for this flower and it's pretty full.

And there you have it! A super simple flower made from paper napkins! I love it!

Back to the frame. Are you ready to see the finished sign?

There's a weird glare on this picture that I couldn't edit out, but you get the idea, right? I'm thinking that I could easily pull off the little pinwheels and use this at different times of the year too. Christmas maybe?

So, what do you think? Are you going to be making a napkin flower any time soon? I would love to see it if you do so leave me a link in the comments below. And remember, I love hearing from my readers, it puts a big smile on my face!

P.S. I added an "About Me" page. If you haven't checked it out already, please do and let me know what you think. You can find the tab for it at the top of the page.

Thanks for reading! See you next time everybody!

Vintage Airplane/Travel Baby Shower

2013-06-25T09:31:00.001-07:00

Hey there everybody! Thanks for stopping by today! I posted a couple of sneak peeks recently of a baby shower I had been working on and today is the day you get to see the whole shebang! Are you excited?!! I am!

Remember the Gender Reveal Party I did a while back for my sister? This shower was for that same sister. She and her husband picked out a nursery bedding set that had older airplanes and helicopters on it, so I got it in my head that I just had to do a vintage style airplane theme for the baby shower.

It all started with the Boarding Pass Baby Shower Invitation I created. I absolutely adored the little biplane on the invite, but I had a really hard time finding anything like it when it came time to look for decorations. That's when I decided that I would add travel to the theme instead of just airplanes. I am mostly happy with how it turned out although there are a few things I wish I had done differently. Then again, there always are. :-)

When guests first walked in the door, there was a table holding the "In Flight Activity". I had bibs and fabric markers laid out so that guests could create a personalized bib for baby Judah. For guests who didn't consider themselves artists, I had cookie cutters laid out so that they could trace designs onto the bibs. I wish I had gotten some pictures of the finished bibs, but by the time I thought of it, they were already packed away with the mommy-to-be.

The tables were set with map place mats that I tore out of an atlas and cut down to size and cloud and globe centerpieces. I also had little wooden airplanes resting on some of the clouds. I added brown paper plates and mason jars with striped straws to finish it off.

I decorated the dessert table with a combination of vintage suitcases, airplanes, globes and maps. Remember the new paper that I aged? I used it to make these map buntings! Sorry for the picture overload here!

The favors were "Complimentary Peanuts" that I put in these cute little treat bags. I added custom labels that said "Frye Flights- In Flight Snack" (that's the last name of the parents to be). These were a pretty big hit. :-)

So, there you have it. Sorry this post was so short on words and long on pictures. Like I said, there are definitely things I wish I could have done differently. I had grand plans for this party, but sometimes life gets in the way. All in all, I think it turned out pretty well. If you don't count all of the stuff I bought and ended up not using, I'd say I spent about $200 to $250 dollars including the cookies and brownies, but not including the rental fee for the building where we had the party. Keep in mind, that amount covers supplies for 40 people. What do you think? What was your favorite part? Leave me a comment and let me know! See you next time!

Making New Paper Look Vintage

2013-06-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! How's it going?!! I'm so glad you decided to come visit me today! I have a little tale of trial and error for you today. Here's the deal, when I started planning the Vintage Airplane/Travel Baby Shower I knew that I wanted to use old maps throughout the décor. One problem. Do you guys know how difficult it is to find vintage or even moderately old maps where I live?!! I put multiple pleas out on Facebook, I searched any store I knew of...nothing. So, I decided I was going to have to use new maps whether I liked it or not. I didn't like it. :-/ There was no way it would look right. Next option, make new maps look old. But how? I grabbed an atlas and took to the internet to find out ways to age paper. There are several different ways, so I decided to try a few and see which one got the best results. Are you wondering the same thing?

The first method I tried was the wet coffee grounds method. I put two scoops of instant coffee in a plastic cup, added water and stirred it around until all the grounds were wet. Then, I spooned the coffee grounds onto the map and let it sit for a few minutes. I then had the totally fun (not) task of spooning up and wiping off all of the coffee grounds. This was by far the messiest method I tried.

I'll be honest, I'm pretty sure I did something wrong here. After wiping off all of the coffee grounds, the map came out looking like I had rubbed mud all over it. Not exactly the look I was going for. :-/

I think maybe I left the grounds on for too long and I definitely think that wiping the coffee grounds off was a bad idea, that's what made it look like I had rubbed mud all over it, but I'm really not sure how else you would get them off. This is a method I may try again, just because I'm curious.

The next method I tried was another one using coffee. This time, I used a little bit of the coffee I had bought for my hubby at Sonic that morning (I was too lazy to actually make coffee... I took his coffee and did I mention, it was Father's Day? Sorry honey!) Anyways, I poured the coffee onto a 9x13 baking sheet, just enough to cover the bottom, and then I laid a map on top of it (it kind of floats). I spooned a little of the coffee onto the top of the map and then let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then I transferred it to a dry baking sheet and put it in the oven at 200 degrees for about 10 or 15 minutes.

Here is a picture of the map before...

This is a shot of the map during the process.

This is how the map looked afterwards.

Here is a side by side comparison of the way the map looked before (it's a different map, but it looks exactly the same) and how it looked after. You can see that the after (the one on top) is quite a bit darker and a bit wrinkled. It just looks older.

By the way, when you go to put it in the oven, make sure that there are not any puddles of coffee left on the map. If there are, you end up with a paper that looks like this... Not pretty. Unless that's the look you're going for. :)

The next method I tried is one I didn't see anywhere on the internet, that doesn't mean it's not out there though. I thought, hmmm, I've got some tan craft paint and also some brown, why not try that. I grabbed both colors, a cup of water and a small paintbrush. I barely dipped the brush in the tan paint, wiped off the excess and then dipped it in the water. After that I painted it on the map and then took a paper towel and wiped the map to give it a worn effect. I also crumpled the paper up some so that it would look even older, but this is not something you have to do. Just a side note, I preferred the brown paint to the tan. It was just a bit darker and I liked that. It just depends on what your preference is.

Here is a shot of the painted map.

Given the choice between these options, the painting method was definitely the easiest and quickest and since I usually go for whatever is easiest, I'm thinking that I'll probably use it to do my project for the baby shower. I think that the one done with coffee in the baking sheet is a really good option too. Hmmm, I might do that one instead. Which one did you like best? Wondering what I'm going to use my aged maps for? Stay tuned! The Vintage Airplane/Travel Baby Shower is coming up soon!!!

*Update- I went with the coffee in the baking sheet method, I just thought it looked a little bit more "vintage".

Boarding Pass Invitation

2013-06-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! So sorry that I've been MIA for a while! I'm working on a series of blog posts, so hopefully, that will change soon! No promises though! :) For today, I have a sneak peek at a baby shower that is coming up very soon. The theme is a Vintage Airplane/Travel kind of thing. I am super excited to show you all the details...just as soon as I get them all figured out! You see, when I first started planning for this theme, I had tons of ideas. But sometimes, I just hit a wall in my creative process. Does that ever happen to you? You run out of ideas, every idea you have seems to fall flat or the budget just doesn't allow for all the creative things you've dreamed up (this is usually what happens to me). I'd love to know how you deal with this. As for me, I tend to shut down for a while before bouncing back. That's the thing though, I always bounce back and usually, the event turns out better than I could have hoped. That's what I'm hoping for with this shower. I am starting to bounce back now and I am hoping that this shower will be one for the record books! We will soon see! :) In the meantime, I thought I'd give you a look at the Boarding Pass Invitation that I whipped up. It's supposed to resemble an airplane boarding pass. Let me know what you think! And if you have any tips for getting past that creative slump I was talking about, let me know! I'll be back soon!

Circle of Moms Top 25 Party Planning Moms of 2013

2013-05-27T09:40:00.003-07:00

Hey guys and gals! Just wanted to stop in and let you know that I entered the "Top 25 Party Planning Moms" contest over at Circle of Moms. Of course, I don't expect to get 1st place since I'm just starting out, but it would be nice to get a couple of votes. :-) Please take the time to click over and vote for me. Right now, you can find me under the "pending approval" tab. Just click on the link below to be taken to the website. Thanks so much!

Circle of Moms- Top 25 Party Planning Moms of 2013

Saydee's Spa Party

2013-05-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

Warning!!! Reading this post may result in picture overload!!! You have been warned.

Ok, I promise, I did not realize how many pictures I had planned for this post until I had finished editing them, but I just couldn't bring myself to cut any of them out. :-)

Alright, I'll get on with it already. I am sooooo excited! My coworker and friend Lacresa asked me to plan an 11th birthday party for her daughter, the beautiful Miss Saydee.

Actually, Saydee and I pretty much had it planned before she ever talked her mom into it. :-) Saydee knew I planned parties and we have discussed it off and on for a year now. I have to say a HUGE thank you to Lacresa for allowing me to do it though. Love that lady!

So, Saydee decided that she wanted a "Spa" themed party. This was really fun for me to plan and I think she and her friends enjoyed being at the party as much as I enjoyed planning and executing it.

I asked my daughter Wylee and her friends Lilly and Mallory to help out with the make overs. I also asked my friend Alecia and her girl Haven. Huge thank you to all of these girls! Without you, I couldn't have pulled this off!

Saydee knew she wanted pink and zebra print, so that's where I started. I layered zebra print table runners over pink tablecloths, mixed zebra print plates with smaller pink ones and added some fun pink plastic "wine glasses" for the girls to drink out of. Don't worry, they were filled with pink lemonade. :)

This was Saydee when she walked in and saw it all. Do you think she liked it?

I covered the backs of the maroon chairs with white pillow slips and my daughter alternated tying zebra print ribbon and green tulle around them for me.

For the cake table, I used my trusty backdrop that I always use and just changed out the cover and added the birthday girl's name. I found these great wooden letters already painted in the perfect color at Hobby Lobby. Saydee got to take them home with her to hang on her wall. I also hung some tissue poms and balloons around it and some lanterns from the ceiling. I love the zebra print lanterns and will definitely be reusing them for other parties.

On the gift table, I put a jar of bath loofahs and a sign in banner. The girls each got to take a loofah home and Saydee has a way to remember who was at her party.

I had several activities for the girls to do and I think they really enjoyed all of them. I set them up at different tables and the girls went to one "station" at a time.

The first station was "Makeovers". First, my daughter and her friends did the girls nails and while they were drying, they did the girls make up and hair. I wish I had gotten some pictures of the girls hair, there were some really cute styles!

Next, we decorated our own flip flops. They got so creative with this!

Then, we made our own body glitter. The girls took these home as part of their party favors. Please excuse the way I look in these pictures! I tried to stay out of the shots as much as possible, but somehow I managed to get in a couple and the angles are awful!!! I do NOT look like this in real life...at least I hope I don't!

We also played this awesome game that I found on Pinterest. It's kind of a nail polish version of spin the bottle. You spin the arrow and do whatever it lands on. The options were- Lose a Turn, Paint 2 Toes, Paint 3 Toes and Pick Your Favorite Color (1 toe). There were different colors at each option, so the girls ended up with multicolored toes. The first one to paint all ten toes was the winner.

I also set up a "photo booth" of sorts. The girls had so much fun posing for this. They had giant sunglasses, feather boas and these cute leopard and zebra print hats to try on. Keep an eye out for the littlest one, the camera definitely loves her. :)

The girls also played freeze dance and had a blast, but I didn't get pictures. Before they left, we had a little extra time, so I let them try applying their own makeup. It was... interesting. :)

I snapped a quick pic of the birthday girl after she had done hers. Still beautiful!

I really think they all enjoyed themselves. I know I did!

I hope you all enjoyed reading this post, even if it was a little picture heavy. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think! By the way, I am sorry I haven't been posting more often. I'm really hoping to do better now that summer is here and I'm not working. I hope you'll keep reading! Thanks guys!

DIY Chalkboard Bunting

2013-05-11T19:56:00.001-07:00

Hey there! I wanted to pop in and show you guys this little project I did the other day. A teacher friend of mine asked me to set up her room for her "Muffins with Mom" Mother's Day get together. I didn't really get any pictures of the room, but I did get some pictures of something I made for the backdrop. A chalkboard bunting! I have been wanting to make one and I decided that this was the perfect excuse.

I'm just going to jump right into the tutorial. I haven't done a whole lot of tutorials, so I'm definitely open to pointers if you have any! Just leave me a comment!

Ok, so I started with these chipboard bunting flags that I found at Hobby Lobby. They came 9 to a package and I got them on sale for around $3.50 a package.

Next, I grabbed some chalkboard spray paint and followed the directions (shocking, I know) to cover each flag with the paint. So here's where I tell you my little secret. The can said to wait 24 hours for the paint to dry completely... Ummm, I am just not that patient. I think I might have waited 12 hours...maybe. Guess what? I don't think it made a bit of difference. I had no problems with the paint. So, here are the flags after the 2 coats of paint. Sorry they don't show up very well. I was painting them on a trash bag. :-/

After waiting as long as I could for them to dry, I seasoned them with a piece of chalk. To season them, you simply take a piece of chalk and rub the side of it all over the flags until each one is pretty much covered with chalk.

Next, I just took a dry washcloth and rubbed off most of the chalk. I left a little on the flags because I liked the way it made them look. They looked more "used", not brand new.

Luckily, these flags came with prepunched holes already in them, so all I had to do was string twine through them. You could really use anything for this. Ribbon, fishing line or even tulle would work. I used the twine because I plan on reusing this bunting over and over again and I felt like the twine would go with just about any theme.

After that, it was just a matter of writing my message on it and then hanging it on the backdrop I had created.

So there you have it. A super simple diy chalkboard bunting. I have a feeling I'll be using this for lots of different things. When I went to erase the message, it came right off, no problem! So, what do you think? Will you be making one of your own soon? What will you use it for? Any tweaks you might make? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Thanks for reading!

Jungle Theme Baby Shower

2013-05-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

Hey there everybody! Sorry it has been so long since I last posted! Baseball season has started up for my son and it keeps us pretty busy. I do have a few pictures to show you of the jungle theme baby shower I did the other day. I'm sorry to say, I still haven't learned how to take decent pictures and my daughter was at school, so she was unable to take them for me. The fact that the party was held in the school library didn't really help matters either. :) Needless to say, these are not the best pictures, but hopefully, you'll get the general idea. I did get lots of compliments on the decor, I even had a couple of people tell me that I should start a business (I'm trying!). I always wonder if people are just being nice because they know how much I like doing it or if they're being sincere. Does anybody else have that little insecurity? ;) Anyways, enough about me, on to the party!

This is the main table. I went with a very natural color scheme, browns, greens and animal prints. I used plain kraft paper to cover the backdrop and draped some vines around the edges. You can't see it very well, but I made the giraffe print bunting that said "Welcome to the Jungle". I used moss balls and what I'm going to call ummm, wicker balls? My mind is totally fried! I can't think of the name for these little balls, but I love the texture they added! I used a burlap runner for more texture.

Here is another view. I made some green punch to add a little more color and to coordinate with the cake. I also hung leopard print lanterns above the table. I loved being able to mix animal prints!

Of course, I alternated green and brown plates and green napkins with brown zebra print napkins. I don't know if you can see it, but I bought this great wooden "thing" at a craft show and it is the perfect silverware caddy! Not sure if that's what it was made for, but it works. :-)

Here's a shot of the cake and a better look at the bunting. Wish I would've taken that silver thing out from under the cake, but, oh well.

This is a table I set up for people to sit at. I started with strips of burlap that I used as a runner and added vines, wicker ball thingies :), and these cute little wooden animals that I got at Hobby Lobby for next to nothing.

This was a sign I sat on the gift table reminding people to fill out a Wishes for Baby card and take a favor. The favors were probably my favorite part. I wrapped little candles in tulle and added a poem I found on Pinterest. It said, "Here is a candle for you to light, once baby Braxton has arrived. With the flicker of the flame, say a prayer in baby's name."

I didn't really get a picture of the gifts that we gave the mommy to be, but you can kind of see them in the bottom corner here. I put together a Hospital Survival Kit, Bath Time in a Jar and a Diaper Quick Change Kit, all found on Pinterest, of course. :-)

So, there you have it! Sorry for the crummy pictures! I promise, I am working on getting somebody else to take pictures of the parties I do! Anyways, hope you guys liked it! Remember, if you haven't followed me on Facebook yet, be sure to click on the link up at the top and follow, follow, follow!

Thanks for reading!

Jungle Themed Baby Shower Sneak Peek!

2013-04-09T18:49:00.002-07:00

Hey everybody! I just wanted to drop in and show you what I'm working on. I am so excited to be planning a Jungle Theme Baby Shower for a girl I work with! The shower isn't for another couple of weeks, but I thought I would give you a little sneak peek when I can. Today, I'm starting with the invitations and Wishes for Baby. I hope you like them!

This is the invitation I created using Microsoft Publisher. I am addicted to Publisher! It is so easy to use and for me, that's the most important thing.

I also created these "Wishes for Baby" cards. I made two different ones, just for fun. I used the same graphics on these that I used on the invites. I got the clip art from Clker.com. It's a great place to find free clip art.

So, there is your sneak peek for today. I'll try to post another one soon. Hope you like it! If you have any great ideas for a jungle theme baby shower, leave them in the comments below!

See you soon!

Bow Ties or Bows, Soon We Will Know!

2013-04-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a Gender Reveal Party for my sister Harlibeth and her husband Derrick. It was so much fun! I think it was a fairly new concept for most of the people that attended, but they all seemed to enjoy themselves, so I'm considering it a success. Unfortunately, I didn't end up with a lot of good pictures this time and I'm really disappointed about that, but, what can you do? I'll show you what I have. :)

The theme was "Bow Ties or Bows, Soon We Will Know!" My hubby helped me make this chalkboard for another party I did and I decided to use it for this one when the backdrop I had made, ummm well, let's just say it kind of fell apart. Just keepin' it real here, I am not perfect! Sometimes my ideas just don't work the way I want them to. :) Anyways, see the tulle pom poms on the sides? I'm thinking there's a tutorial coming up soon on those! They were so easy to make and the are sooo cute! I also made a bow and bow tie garland to hang at the top of the chalkboard. I framed an ultrasound picture and added it to the backdrop as well.

I love these letters I found at Joann's. I just painted them white and added bow ties and bows to them. I'm hoping that since I painted them white, I'll be able to pull off the bows and reuses the letters.

For the table settings I had pink plates and alternated between solid blue napkins and blue ones with white polka dots. I added pink forks and we drink from mason jars. I found the blue striped straws at Michael's for a dollar per package! Score!!! I also had the chevron table runners made and I plan on reusing them for other parties.

We had sandwiches, chips and blue and pink juice. I cut some white lunch bags with scalloped scissors and added bows and bow ties to them.

This was probably my favorite part! I printed out a paper for each letter of the alphabet and asked everyone to draw and color a picture to go with the letter they chose. At the end, we put it together to make Baby's First ABC Book! Everyone had so much fun with this and Harlibeth loved it!

I kept the kids table really simple, just these little packages with crayons, a coloring book and stickers. This is definitely something I would change next time! It didn't keep the kids occupied for very long and let's just say I used a lot of stain remover getting crayon out of the tablecloths. Definitely gonna rethink the kids table!

The cake.

Team Pink.

Team Blue (plus one little girl in pink who just wanted to be by her daddy.:) Don't ask me why the big goofball in the middle (my brother) wore a red shirt. He's an attention hog. ;)

And for the win.....

Team Blue!!!! Introducing Judah Knight Frye!!!

I am so happy for Harlibeth and Derrick and I can't wait to meet my newest nephew! Now it's time to start planning the baby shower!!!

From Dream to Reality

2013-03-27T17:50:00.000-07:00

Hey there! So, I've been thinking. I know, dangerous, right? I have all of these ideas for parties and no one to plan them for, but really, why do we need an occasion to celebrate? Why can't we have a party, just because? Shouldn't we celebrate the fact that we're alive, that we have great friends, or just that we've made it through another week? I have been dreaming of throwing a party with a shabby chic, vintage vibe, but I just keep waiting for someone to ask me to do that. The truth is, not a lot of people would want a party with that theme, so the chances of anyone asking me to do it anytime soon, well, they're pretty slim. So I'm wondering, why do I have to wait on someone to hire me to throw my dream party? Why not just do it myself, just because? What do you think? Do you have a dream that you're waiting on someone else to fulfill? Stop waiting! Get out there and make it happen! That's what I'm going to do. It might take me a little while, but before too long, you guys are going to see pictures of a beautiful, shabby chic, vintage party on this blog. I hope you'll comment and let me know what your dream is, whether it has anything to do with parties or not. :)
Remember,
Create the life you love

Let's try that again

2013-03-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so obviously, the link in my previous post did not work. Sorry about that!!! I have fixed that mistake and I will also put the link in this post. Again, sorry for the inconvience. Here is the link. Can't wait to connect with you on Facebook!!!

Keep Calm is now on Facebook!!!!

2013-03-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! Just dropping in to let you guys know that I have set up a Facebook page for the blog. I haven't quite figured out how to add a link for it to my sidebar, so until I do, here is where you can find it. I hope you will all head on over and "like" it!
See you soon!

Liebster Award Nomination!!!

2013-03-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

Heather at Love To Be Busy has nominated me for a Liebster Award!!! This gives me the chance to let you know a little bit more about myself. Yay!!!

The Liebster Award is given by bloggers to other bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers (that definitely qualifies me!) I am supposed to nominate 11 other bloggers! Yikes! I don't know that many bloggers! I am hoping I can come up with enough, but if not, hopefully you'll like who I do come up with!

Here are the rules...
1. Each blogger must answer the questions the tagger has set for you.
2. Choose 11 new bloggers to pass the award on to and link to them in your post.
3. Create 11 new questions for the chosen bloggers.
4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.
5. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.
6. No Tag Backs!

Here are the questions Heather asked me to answer...
1. What is your favorite treat? Definitely anything chocolate and if it's chocolate with walnuts or pecans, I'll take seconds!!!
2. Where is your dream location to live? Hmmm, a quaint New England town like the town in Gilmore Girls. Remember that show?!! I love that you can walk to everything in that town!
3. What is the favorite place you've visited? Unfortunately, I haven't traveled much at all, but if I had to choose a place, I would love to visit Italy. It's always been a dream of mine!
4. What is your favorite scent? Coconut in the Summer and Hazelnut or Vanilla in the Winter.
5. Do you prefer flats or heels? Haha! Flip flops!!! I wish I lived somewhere that I could wear flip flops year round. I would be one happy girl!
6. Favorite meal? I love food period, but it definitely depends on the mood I'm in. I have a serious love affair with food. If I'm in the mood for steak, then somebody better get me a steak. If I'm in the mood for pizza, you better get me pizza. As long as I get what I'm craving, I'm happy. :)
7. Favorite movie or tv show? Anything on HGTV! I'm also loving Body of Proof right now.
8. Best thing about yourself? My passion to create things.
9. Cooking or Take Out? Hahahaha! Definitely take out! But I wish I cooked! I'd save so much money!
10. Sweet or salty? Both! Sometimes you'll see me with pretzels in one hand and Reeses peanut butter cups in the other.
11. What is your favorite part of blogging? I'm still new to it, but I really like connecting with other bloggers and I love getting my parties out there for people to see!

The bloggers I'm nominating are...
1. Courtney @ A Daughter of the King
2. Alecia @ Make Me Twirl
3. Susan @ Achieving Creative Order
4. Lindsey @ Happy House of 5

I wish I could have nominated more bloggers, but I really don't know any more. Maybe this will help me to meet more!!!

Bloggers, here are your questions...
1. Where is your dream vacation spot?
2. Favorite place to eat?
3. Where is your favorite place to get decor for your home?
4. What made you decide to start blogging?
5. Casual or Dressy clothes?
6. Favorite type of craft to do?
7. Favorite craft supply?
8. What is your favorite color?
9. Favorite date night activity?
10. Favorite color to use in your home?
11. Dream home style?

11 Random Facts about me...
1. I LOVE spaghetti!!! I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2. I have a slight addiction to black and white. I seldom wear or decorate with anything else, but I'm trying to change that.
3. I love mysteries and would read them constantly if I could.
4. I must have the tv muted on commercials.
5. I have to have a snack every night before bed. So not good for my waistline!
6. I get cranky if I haven't had meat. Yes, I know, that's weird.
7. I love musicals! Even the Disney ones.
8. I love funky hair cuts! My current one is really short and asymmetrical.
9. I collect cake stands.
10. I would rather stay in than go out.
11. My toes and fingers are always, always, always cold!!!

Thanks Heather for nominating me!

Valentine's Day Bunting Freebie!!!

2013-02-12T08:51:00.001-08:00

Hey everybody! Sorry it's been so long since my last post! Hope you've all been doing lots of creative things while I've been away! I am going to try something new today and see if it works. I've never done this before, so if I mess it up, please let me know. :-) I love making printables, especially printable decor. It's one of the least expensive ways to dress up your home. Today I've created a Valentine's Day Bunting and I'd like to share it with you.... The only thing is, I'm not sure how to do that. :-/ Here is a sneak peek at what it looks like.

By the way, on my screen, the heart looks bright pink, but when I print it out, it's red. Not sure if that's my printer's fault or mine. Click here for the link to the bunting. You should be able to print straight from this link. If not, let me know. If you do print this out, please, please leave me a comment and let me know!!! I would love to see how you use it to decorate your home or maybe even a Valentine's Party!
Also, I am using Google Docs, but if any of you fabulous bloggers out there could tell me an easier way, I'd love to hear it!

Please let me know if this works for you guys. Like I said, this is a first attempt. Hope it works! Have a great day!

Linking up at
Clean and Scentsible
Lil' Luna
twelveOeight
Tatertots & Jello

A Little Something New

2013-01-30T15:02:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody!!! I am trying to find more things to blog about when I am in between parties. With that in mind, I have decided to try to start putting together mood boards for parties that I would like to throw. This is my first attempt.

If you guys have been following along, you probably know by now that I LOVE mixing patterns and colors. With this party I would mix chevron, stripe and polka dots in red, white and black. I think this would be a fun, modern Valentine's Day party. I'd start off with this tablecloth in red and white chevron and add in the polka dot balloons and plates. The striped straws add just a bit more fun to the mix and the solid forks and cups keep it from being too busy. I would definitely add some red, white and black tissue poms and possibly even some patterned ones. Wouldn't this be great for a school Valentine's Day party?!! Hmmm, maybe I should become a homeroom mom... :-) Would you like to see more ideas like this? Let me know what you think!
Remember....Create the life you love

Organizing- Challenge 4

2013-01-24T16:44:00.000-08:00

Hey there everybody! For the final challenge, we are moving on to the living room. It can be a small area of the room or the whole space. I am starting out small with just my craft area (which is located on some shelving in my living room). If I get really motivated, I may add to this post and completely overhaul the entire room, but we'll have to wait and see. So, let's get started with some before pictures, okay?

Basically, I had started out attempting to organize my craft supplies, but somewhere along the way, I gave up. This shelf is not that bad, but it was hard to get to a lot of things.

Ok, I lied, now that I'm looking at the picture...it's pretty bad.

I condensed some things down and moved some things to a few different containers I had recently purchased. On the bottom shelf, I have two big boxes. One holds all of my gift bags and tissue paper. The other holds pictures that I'm hoping to go through and put in albums soon. The next shelf up holds all of my ribbon, yarn, decorative tape, etc. Yes, I have an addiction to ribbon. On the next shelf, I have these awesome containers that are made to hold scrapbook paper. I use them to hold my paper scraps, stickers, felt and more. I love these things!!! I got such a good deal on them at Joann's! It makes me happy every time I look at them. :) The top shelf holds boxes that have miscellaneous craft things in them. I am hoping to get all matching containers at some point and to label them, but for now, this will have to do.

Now for the second shelf. The before picture of this one is pretty bad too. I understand if you need to avert your eyes.

Some of this stuff wasn't even craft related. It was just a catch all for random stuff.

And now for the after.

Much better, right? The bottom shelf holds all of my greeting cards, labels, etc. It also holds some jars of craft supplies, my adhesives and a box of miscellaneous craft and party supplies. I'm going to skip the next shelf and come back to it, because it's my favorite. :) So, moving up to the shelf above that, it holds all of my wood and cardboard letters, my sticker machine (which I LOVE!) and some party supplies.

Now for my absolute favorite thing about this shelf...

Aren't these little containers awesome?!!?

I saved these from the trash! The cafeteria at the school where I work was going to throw these out!!! I took one look at them and knew I could put them to good use. I think they held little packages of grapes before. Now they hold all of my small craft supplies, such as, beads, buttons, glue sticks, etc. I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!!! Ok, you're probably thinking I am such a nerd for getting so excited over something like this, but I can't help it.:)

So, there you have it. My little organized area of the living room. I wish I had gotten around to the whole living room, but it just didn't happen this time. Maybe next week! Oh yeah, please don't forget to go and vote for me!

Remember...Create the life you love,

Organization-Challenge 3

2013-01-16T18:06:00.000-08:00

So, for the third space in the Organizing Challenge that I am taking part in, I'm tackling a closet. My bedroom closet, to be exact. If my typing becomes jumbled, it's because I am buried under an avalanche of clothes.... Please send help.

Of the three bedrooms, our closet just happens to be the smallest. Doesn't seem fair, does it? The things we do for our teenage daughters. :-) She would never survive with the smaller closet... Not that she really uses her closet. Most of her clothes just end up on the floor. Anyone else have this problem? Sorry, I'm rambling. Back to the point of this post. One small closet + Two people using it = One big mess.

Here is the before picture. As you can see, we were not using this space to its fullest potential. The set of plastic drawers was really just a big waste of space.

The hanging clothes were just shoved into the back of the closet. It made them really hard to get to and I forgot half of what I had.

Handy Dandy Hubby's clothes were just thrown up on the top shelf. This drove me NUTS!!!

I did have my purses hanging on Command hooks on the door. They kind of got in the way when we opened the door though.

Some of hubby's clothes were shoved in the other corner of the closet and there were things just piled on the floor. Not cool. :-/

Now for the after. I took everything out and got rid of anything that doesn't fit or that I no longer wear. I bought 2 shelves from WalMart (for only $20.00 each) and put them in the place where the green drawers had been before.

I folded the clothes that didn't have to be on hangers and put them on the shelves. Since these shelves are much shorter than what was there before, I am able to slide the hanging clothes with no problems.

Before, I didn't have a place for shoes in the closet. Now, the top shelf is the perfect place for them.

I still feel like there is a lot of wasted space on that top shelf. I'm working on coming up with a solution to that very soon. Until then, this closet organization has definitely improved the function of this closet. Please don't forget to go and vote for me over at A Bowl Full of Lemons!
See you soon!

My Budget Binder

2013-01-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

Hey girlies! Today, I'm showing you how I keep track of my bills and some other important paperwork. It's simple and it's what works best for me. Hopefully, you'll find it useful too. I don't have any really good before pictures of my bills because I started doing them this way before I ever even thought about starting this blog. I had slacked off a little, so I do have some pictures of my before binder and the way it looks now that I've organized it a bit better.

The front cover of my binder before. I hated that the scrapbook paper didn't cover the front completely. I couldn't get a good picture, but I slid a full piece of scrapbook paper in the front and it looks so much better.

As you can see, I really hadn't kept up with the paperwork like I should have. I knew that meant it was time for an update. :-)

Before, I only had one big section for utilities, I didn't separate them. Big mistake! Now, I have each section separated by type of bill (rent, cable, etc.) and I think this is going to work a LOT better.

I now have dividers for each bill. I also have dividers for banking, check stubs and tax info. When I finish paying a bill, I write the confirmation number on the bill, hole punch it and stick it in the corresponding section. Easy peasy!

Look! I made it prettier! I saw these folders at WalMart and had to have them! I three hole punched them and Ta-Da, they are now my new binder dividers! Love it!

So, this is how I organize my bills. How about you? How do you keep track of your bills? Do you have any tips for me on how I can improve my system? Let me know!
See you soon, Jamie

Fridge Organization

2013-01-10T18:51:00.000-08:00

So, this Organization Challenge has really inspired me! I now want to organize everything in sight! I'm not sure I should post this, but I'm going to anyways. Please remember when you see the before pictures, everybody has a dirty little secret somewhere in their home. Some people's secrets (mine, for example)just happen to be a bit dirtier than others. Are you scared yet? If not, you should be. ;) You are about to see the most frightening before pictures ever.... pictures of the inside of my fridge. Stick with me though. If you can make it through the before pictures, the after pictures will be worth you being scarred for life. ;)

The before picture: Doesn't get much worse than this, does it? There are no words...

Pretty bad, huh? Do you think you'll survive after seeing that mess? Does it make you feel better about the "mess" you thought you had in your fridge? Are you ready to see some after pictures so that you can get the awful images out of your head? Here you go!

As you can see, I added some shelf liner to each shelf. Maybe it will help me keep it clean! I also prettied up the outside of the fridge.

Soooo, what do you think? Do you think I have a chance of winning the challenge? Maybe not, but either way, I'm happy I did it. Makes me smile everytime I open the door or walk in the kitchen. :)
Hope I've inspired you to pretty up or organize your space! See you soon, Jamie

Organizing- Challenge 2

2013-01-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! I told you in my last post that I am participating in an organizing challenge hosted by some amazing bloggers. Well, today I'm showing you the results of the second challenge, the kitchen! Let me just tell you up front, my kitchen is the size of a shoebox. Now, you might be thinking that a small kitchen should be easy to organize, less space, less stuff, no big deal, right? Wrong! See, for some reason, I didn't get the memo that said less room = less stuff. I seemed to think that I could have enough stuff to fill a kitchen the size of the Grand Canyon. Don't worry though, I came to grips with reality. I needed to do some serious purging. I mean, let's be honest here, if you know me, you are already laughing because you know my dirty little secret. If you don't know me, let me fill you in... I don't cook... like, ever. Why did I have all this stuff taking up space when I NEVER use it?!! Someday, when I have a bigger kitchen, I swear, I'll start cooking. Until then, some of the chaos must be tamed. Please don't judge me when you see the before pictures!!!

The snack cabinet before. Everything was just shoved in there and we never knew what we had.

The snack cabinet after. I got rid of anything outdated, poured the cereal into some containers that I already had and sorted the snacks into a tray I had in my "supply closet".

I don't have a before shot of the baking cabinet, but I did get a few after shots.

Canned food cabinet before. I know...it's bad.

After: I moved the canned goods to another spot and transfered the pasta to some jars I had on hand. I also put all of our miscellaneous stuff and our hot chocolate and drink mixes into baskets I had on hand.

This is the mess I was left with after I had emptied out everything that was outdated or being moved to other containers.

Ok, you're going to think I'm crazy... I moved my canned food to a drawer and I love it!!! It's a pretty deep drawer so I am able to see what I have at a glance. So different from them being stacked in a cabinet and hard to see!

My bottom cabinet before. YIKES!!!

And after a LOT of purging...Much better!

Ok, now for some random pictures. :-)

Have I ever told you how much I love labels?!!

Well girlies, that's all for today. Hope this inspires you to organize a drawer, a cabinet or maybe your whole kitchen!
See you soon, Jamie

Organizing- Challenge 1

2013-01-02T12:29:00.001-08:00

So, I might just be the tiniest bit obsessed with a website called A Bowl Full of Lemons. Toni (from Bowl Full of Lemons) ,along with some other AMAZING bloggers, has issued a challenge. Get organized during the month of January one space at a time. The first space is supposed to be your office/desk area. Hmmmm, I don't have an office, but I do have what passes for a desk. Now, I'll be honest, Handy Dandy Hubby uses the desk much more than I do, but he really just uses it when he's on the computer. As I got going on this challenge, I realized that the desk really wasn't being utilized as much as it could be. I started to question why we even had a desk. It had become a dumping ground for miscellaneous papers and other things and there was nothing pretty about it either. I also had a small bookshelf that I used to hold some office supplies, but it was definitely NOT organized. Time to change that! :) Some before pictures (sorry for the poor quality, still working on that).... I hated the blank wall above the desk!

The desk "organizer"... Haha!!!!

And now for the after....

I used a poster frame I had collecting dust in the closet and backed it with wrapping paper. As soon as I make it to Walmart to buy some clips, it will become my memo board. I have one like it at work and I love it!

I organized the shelf and moved the printer from the floor to the top of the shelf. Much better!

I recovered a chair I had sitting around in my favorite pattern...Chevron!!!

My Household Binder. You'll be seeing more of this soon.

My desk organizer went from that awful before picture, to this. Much better!

I forgot to mention, this project cost exactly $0.00!!! Everything I used was stuff I had on hand! So, there you have it. My newly organized and decorated desk area. Hope this inspires you to organize or pretty up a space of your own! See you soon! Jamie