Labor Day weekend packed into my parents’ SUV and headed for a road trip to Alabama. Our journey took us to a farmer’s market that had all the personality and lovingness of a true Southerner. Weren’t the girls cute with their uncle Jeffrey?

We bought a set of hard wood legs from this vendor. My grandpa will be making us a piano bench with it.

All sorts of signs everywhere. Antique signs, animal crossing signs…

All sorts of antique and vintage items for sale…

I loved these bottles. They would look great on my kitchen window sill.

Tools… New or used. Auto parts. They’ve got it.

Saddles and such for horses. They had cages for animals. There were dog food, leashes and clothing also for sale for your pets.

Which lead us to the animals… Chickens, turkey, ponies, pigs, puppies galore, hamsters, birds, geese and goats.

Fresh produce. Yum. We bought bread and a ton of fruits.

And they sold guns and knives too, of course with golf balls…

And for lunch, we ate homemade ice cream. We had peach, strawberry and cherry vanilla flavors that the four of us shared. It was out-of-this-world good. And because you are in the South, the ice cream was churned by John Deere machinery.

» Tell me… What did you do last weekend? Did you take advantage of the 3-day weekend and go somewhere?

I was roaming around Goodwill last week and came upon this book. It was half off. So for 80 cents I purchased our date night. When I got it home, I read on the cover that as a new book, it sold for 50 cents. Awesome. Anyway, the book was copyrighted in 1965. I thought it would be an interesting read. The title itself was pretty appealing. Lesson #1: Date can come from vintage inspirations.

The book was a compilation of short stories. Nathan and I took turns reading a story to each other. It was interesting the culture and ideology of dating in the 1960s. And most of these stories had great morals to them. It also got Nathan and I talking about disastrous dates we’ve been on. Lesson #2: I am so glad I am not in the whole single dating scene anymore.

Nathan said: The book was a fun read. Some of the contributing authors were better than others and most of the stories had funny parts that reminded us of dating faux pas and bad dates we’d both been on. I’ll also reiterate what Tiffany said above. I’m really glad I’m not looking for a first date every friday night.

» Tell me… What was the worst date you’ve been on?

Want to join Project 52: Date Night? Great! Start anytime. Go here for details about the project and print the pledge.

When you link up, please remember…

• Keep it clean and family friendly. This is a family friendly site. Anything inappropriate will be deleted.
• It needs to be a date. Not your latest projects or pictures of your beautiful children. I do love reading about your projects and learning about your family. But this linky is for date nights and date nights only. It is for us to exchange date night ideas.
• Link to a specific blog post about your date that week. Don’t just link to your site’s home page. It needs to be the direct link to the post. Anything not directly linked to the post will be deleted.
• Link back to Simply Modern Mom or put the Project 52: Date Nights button on your site. It’s common courtesy. Please be nice.

<a title="Project 52: Date Nights Index" href="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/category/project-52/" mce_href="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/category/project-52/"><img src="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/p52-badge.gif" mce_src="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/p52-badge.gif" alt="Project 52: Date Nights logo"/></a>

You’ve heard me talk about my friend Deborah who owns the fabric boutique Whipstitch in Atlanta, right? Whipstitch is one of the places you must visit if you’re ever in Atlanta, especially if you love to sew. And guess what? Now she’s published with her own sewing book! It’s called “Stitch by Stitch: Learning to Sew, One Project at a Time”. I cannot be more excited for Deborah. She’s fabulous with a deep passion for sewing. So seriously, if you’re ever in Atlanta, you have to go to Whipstitch and meet Deborah. You will learn so much from her just by engaging in a conversation with her.

You may be shocked to know that I haven’t been sewing for a long time. I just picking up sewing about 2 years ago. Everything has been pretty much self-taught for me. I do have a couple of seamstress friends whom I go to for my sewing questions. So when I saw that Deborah’s book was written for people at various sewing levels, I loved it instantly. The first 72 pages is sewing 101 with all the basics you need to know to start or freshen up if it has been a while since you had sewing 101. It breaks down different types of stitches, types of threads, sewing machine tips, supplies you need and so much more valuable lessons.

Then the rest of the chapters are sewing projects that will teach you a new sewing technique in each chapter. And the techniques get harder as you get deeper into the book. At the end of each chapter, she gives you ideas of other projects you can make using the technique you learned in that chapter. Brilliant, right?

Other things I like about the book… Deborah provides photos of the end result so I know what it is supposed to look like. The book comes with a CD with all the patterns you need for each of the projects.

You can get your copy of Stitch by Stitch and bring it to Whipstitch on September 24 at 7:30 p.m. for the book signing with Deborah. Really. If you live in the Atlanta area, meet me at the book signing! And that evening begins their Sew-A-Thon where crafters compete to see who can last the longest sewing through the night.

» Tell me… What is your favorite sewing book? Why?

August 24-28, 2010. Ever came home from a trip where you wished you stayed on vacation? This was one of those times. Everything went wrong. Maybe not everything. But just about everything.

We arrived home late Monday night, so we left all the unpacking and catching up for Tuesday. Tuesday wasn’t bad. Then it all hit on Wednesday. As I cooked dinner on Wednesday evening, we discovered fire ants in our kitchen floor. Huge red fire ants that bite. They were coming from our yard. They were all over our backyard. So the plan was Nathan was going to take the girls to Home Depot and purchase supplies needed to get rid of the fire ants inside and outside. I had to be at church Wednesday night.

As we were heading out the door, Nathan found his car had a completely depleted tire. He had two tires he needed to replace because they were pretty worn. But the depleted tire was not one of the worn tires. It was one of the newer ones, of course. That put us down to one car and I had to miss my meeting. Instead, we took a family trip to Home Depot and bought ant killers for the lawn. As soon as we returned home, Nathan spread it throughout the yard.

That wasn’t the end of it. Friday Nathan took his car in to purchase two new tires and have the hole patched in the depleted tire. It turned out that the hole couldn’t be patched. So $240 and five hours later, we have all new tires on his car. Five hours? Yes, people. The mechanic told Nathan it would take an hour. Well, he was wrong.

And Friday morning, I woke up with my body itching. I didn’t think much of it until I saw small red marks here and there. Then I freaked. Could it be bed bugs or fleas? We don’t have any pets and had no idea how either one of those pests could get in the house. So I washed everything on our bed in scalding hot water. Then dried in the dryer with the heat turned on high.

But then around 11 p.m. the red marks turned into hives. I started to break out in hives all over my body. After some backtracking and detective work, we came to the conclusion that it was the fabric softener that we used to wash our clothes in Washington. I never use fabric softener with our laundry at home. But Nathan’s mom had some at her house and it smelled fantastic. So I used it. Now I know. I’m allergic to it. I went through all our clean clothes to pick out the ones washed with fabric softener to rewash them. Twice. Fun.

Saturday Nathan took my car in for routine oil change and tires balance. The mechanic told him it would take half an hour. Three hours later, he came back with news from the mechanic that we need to have our transmission fluids flushed and there is a crack in the crankshaft and is leaking oil. We thought we would take it for a second opinion elsewhere.

» Tell me… Have you ever felt the series of unfortunate events happening to you? Share your stories.

I married into the best family in the world. And that’s the truth. From the first day I met them, they all were so welcoming and inviting. They accepted me as one of their own. They raised Nathan to be the best husband and father. Here are some things about my in-laws that will make you want to be a part of their family too.

1. Complete support for each other. No one gets jealous of what the other person is doing or accomplishing in life. If someone is going through a tough time, everyone try to encourage and support in any way possible. This is amazing in a family where there are eight siblings.
2. They know how to have fun. Whether it’s going out tubing on the lake or hiking a trial or watching the sunrise at a mountain top while eating breakfast or having a whip cream fight, these people know how to create fun memories.
3. My mother-in-law and father-in-law are the perfect example of eternal love. They are so cute together, even after being married for 31 years.
4. Everyone pitches in. Everyone helps out with whatever is going on. They often ask, “What can I do to help?” They know how to delegate and work together to make it happen. Even something as simple as dinner. Someone is setting the table, others are helping in the kitchen, another doing the dishes.
5. They know how to work. The children in the family doesn’t get things handed to them. They all work for the things they have or want. None of them thinks they deserve anything. They all know they must earn it.

» Tell me… How do you get along with your in-laws? What do you love about them?

Hi there! It’s Molly from My Favorite Things. I blog daily about all of My Favorites! Since I am currently pregnant with baby boy #3, Tiffany has asked me to share a few of my favorites regarding maternity fashion. I will tell you up front, my style is simple and comfortable but still fashionable. I hope you enjoy what I have to share and maybe even garner a few tips along the way.

My feelings when it comes to maternity fashion is make what you already have work for as long as you can. I always buy a couple of “stylish” lounge pants [ones I wouldn't mind wearing out, paired with a cute top], that can also be used after baby is born. Since I will be pregnant the majority of the summer, up until the very end, my focus is of course aimed at warmer weather fashion pieces. A few key pieces that I live in on a daily basis are :

stretchy skirts + maxi dresses

I do like to have a pair of maternity jeans [my preference is skinny] and a sassy dress! I also buy a few basic maternity tops and then scout my closet to find any loose fitting shirts that may work up until the last month or two. You know, before I have expanded to a gargantuan size!

I live in flip flops. Seriously I do. But I like to make sure I have a cute pair of flat sandals and some wedges that I can use to dress up an outfit and make me feel a little more put together. Below I have a few looks I want to share. Some of the pieces I actually own, other’s I threw in there to give you an idea of what I basically have stashed in my closet. I will also share a link to my favorite secret that I could not live with out. Could not!

Oh and here are a few tips to keep in mind…
Remember that cardigans can work no matter how BIG you are. Just don’t button them up.
Belts are great accessories to add to loose fitting shirts or paired with cardigans.
If you can sew, here is a great tutorial on how to change your current/old maternity jeans to skinny. [all for free!]
A lot of non maternity clothes work even while pregnant. All of my maxi dresses and skirts are NOT maternity.

*i own the stripped shirt, jeans & skirt in this set*

*i don’t personally have any of these pieces but it fits my style perfectly*

*i own everything pictured here, except my flip flops are black*

And I can’t leave without sharing my absolute favorite secret that I la la la LOVE. It makes layering over a growing belly super comfortable. It is my all time favorite layering basic and the awesome part is, you can use it before, during and after your pregnancy!

ps. If you would like to view my outfits, you can find them on my Polyvore profile.

Thanks Simply Modern Mom!

Molly

I just realized that I gave you all the Ice Cream Party stuff and it’s kind of everywhere on this site. So I decided to wrap it all up here so you can find what you are looking for. Click on the photos or the links to go to the tutorial or post for more info. Thanks for loving my ice cream party. It was so much fun and Kaye had a great time with her friends. It brought smiles to their faces and isn’t that what it’s all about? For a mom it is.

Party Tips and Ideas

• An overview of the ice cream party.
• How to serve lunch at a party for $1.75 per person.
• Tips for hosting a children’s party.
• Children’s party food ideas.

Ice Cream Party Tutorials

Homemade ice cream recipe with a secret ingredient…

DIY ice cream party invitations and envelopes…

Ice cream banner tutorial…

DIY ice cream piñata…

DIY lunch sack goodie bags…

Wrapping astronaut ice cream party favors…

Ice cream bowls tutorial…

Ice cream bar, party activities and other party details…

The ice cream garland. Well, that’s one of my own designs. So I hope to be able to sell kits or ones already made for you to purchase. If I can get my act together, I hope to put it in my online store soon.

Hope you enjoyed the ice cream party tutorials and information. If you put on an ice cream party using ideas from any of my posts, please post it onto the Simply Modern Mom Flickr group to share with everyone!

Our main reason for going to Washington was to visit my in-laws. Nathan grew up in Washington and his parents still reside there. I know. That’s clearly diagonally across the country from us in Georgia. Thanks goodness for video chats, right?

I love being with Nathan’s family. We always have so much fun together. Did I mention that Nathan is the oldest of eight kids? The week we were in Washington, five of the eight children made it home. Two of his siblings were out of the country and one is seven months pregnant in Connecticut.

As of yet, Nathan and I have the only grandchildren to the Bird family. Our two girls received all the attention. And grandma and grandpa loaded them with toys.

They also revived the sandbox just for them. Grandma and grandpa’s house was so perfect for little children. They did raise eight of their own children in this house. So they had all the fun stuff – swings, pools, a goat, sandbox, treehouse, a garden and beach toys.

One of the days we rented a boat to go tubing. Both girls loved it. They didn’t want to stop. They were so brave.

The adult kids got a little crazy on the tubes. Some times they flipped and fell.

One morning we ate breakfast at the mountain top over seeing the town. Catching a few breaths of fresh air. The city was gorgeous. All so lovely.

We celebrated a birthday of the youngest Bird sibling. Michelle turned 19.

We also celebrated a wedding. Nathan’s best friend from high school was married that weekend. Stunning yet very personal wedding with a fantastic reception at a vineyard. We enjoyed being there with them on their special day. So memorable.

Of course we had to play some basketball. Look at all those tall guys and gals.

And what’s a trip without a whip cream fight? That’s how fun my in-laws are!

Nathan got his mom and his sister pretty good.

» Tell me… What are some fun and/or crazy things your family likes to do when you get together?

Downtown Seattle, I love you. Your streets are aligned with gorgeous architecture and homes built with personality. I happened to visit Seattle on one of the most beautiful days of the year. You called it hot, but I soaked up every moment of Seattle sun without 60 percent humidity like in the South. And the biggest shock about Seattle? People don’t have AC in their homes! That’s inconceivable to someone who came from Georgia.

However, the salty sea breeze… I can sniff that all day. I wanted to bottle that smell up and take it home with me. I miss the smell of the ocean. It flooded my mind with memories from my childhood in Hawaii.

Last week we were vacationing in Washington. It was the first real vacation we’ve had in two years. Sad, huh? Well, that’s what happens when Nathan has been chugging away at his MBA by going fall, winter and summer semesters. But as soon as he was done, we were ready to go somewhere. Anywhere. First we took a short trip to the beach. And then we went to Washington to visit Nathan’s family.

We spent a couple days in Seattle. I have been to Washington four times now and this was the first time I actually looked around Seattle. It was too bad our kids had a hard time at first adjusting to the the three-hour time change. So really, it was sleepless in Seattle for us that first couple of nights.

While we were there, we ate lunch with the seagulls at Ivar’s. Yummy fried seafood. Fish and chips, right? The fish were delicious and the fries were perfection, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

The girls had a great time tossing fries to the seagulls. Those seagulls are professional beggars. They yell at you until you give them food. Maybe even a few threats of fly-by droppings.

We also visited an awesome beach park. It had playgrounds, a beach, picnic tables and grills, gorgeous views and even Wi-Fi. Couldn’t have asked for anything better. The girls ran around chasing birds and dipped their toes into the cool water.

Lastly, we walked through only a part of Pike Place Market. We didn’t have enough time to go through the entire market. Although I would have loved to see all the shops underground. I couldn’t believe how cheap these breathtaking flowers were.

Really?! Only $5 for a bunch? I would be there every week for new flowers. You could use these for weddings. They were that nice.

If I lived in Seattle, I would shop here all the time. The fresh fruits and veggies made me drool. And the seafood… I love seafood. Need I say more?

The place was shop after shop of marvelous wonders. Even a whole stand dedicated to honey. Local honey. That’s the best stuff.

And at the end of the day, we all went home happy. Especially if grandma found a princess tiara made of jewels and feathers and a long pink train on the back. And people gave you free flowers just for being cute.

» Tell me… Have you been to Seattle? What is your favorite thing about Seattle? Do you live there? What is it like to live there?

I have to admit. At first, I didn’t think much of this date when Nathan told me we were going to listen to music. I thought we should play games while listening to music. Just sitting there listening to music seemed a bit boring to me. However, it turned out better than I thought and we stayed up until midnight going through all our music. Lesson #1: Give dates a try, even if you think they may be boring.

We have over 4,500 songs in our music library. When we were first married, our CDs and iTunes music joined in union also. It was interesting to see how our music matched or mismatched. We had a great conversation on what music we listened to in high school and in college. And where we first heard of certain singers or bands. It was amazing to us the memories music created in our past. Lesson #2: Want a walk down memory lane? Try going through your old music.

Nathan said: I was actually really excited about this date. It was simple and would allow us to talk and relax. Tiffany wasn’t as excited – at first. But after a while things really picked up and we had a good time listening to new and old music. Did you know Tiffany went through a hard rock phase? Ha!

» Tell me… What kind of music do you listen to? How is it different from what you listen to in high school?

Want to join Project 52: Date Night? Great! Start anytime. Go here for details about the project and print the pledge.

When you link up, please remember…

• Keep it clean and family friendly. This is a family friendly site. Anything inappropriate will be deleted.
• It needs to be a date. Not your latest projects or pictures of your beautiful children. I do love reading about your projects and learning about your family. But this linky is for date nights and date nights only. It is for us to exchange date night ideas.
• Link to a specific blog post about your date that week. Don’t just link to your site’s home page. It needs to be the direct link to the post. Anything not directly linked to the post will be deleted.
• Link back to Simply Modern Mom or put the Project 52: Date Nights button on your site. It’s common courtesy. Please be nice.

<a title="Project 52: Date Nights Index" href="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/category/project-52/" mce_href="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/category/project-52/"><img src="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/p52-badge.gif" mce_src="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/p52-badge.gif" alt="Project 52: Date Nights logo"/></a>

Last week I did a tutorial for Sew Mama Sew. They asked me to be a Sew Mama Sew contributor for their Back-to-School series that has been going on the month of August. I was stoked. I mean it’s Sew Mama Sew!

Even though I don’t have a child in school this year, I made a pleated uniform skirt tutorial because I thought it was cute… school or no school. And the skirt turned out so easy that you can make it in under an hour. I used a fleece material that is perfect for the fall.

Please visit Sew Mama Sew to see the full tutorial. And I made it on their contributor page too.

This year I decided to keep it simple with the food served at Kaye’s ice cream party. I spent so much time with the decorations and activities that I knew I wouldn’t have time to make the food fancy. And I was able to feed 25 people for about $1.75 per person by serving the 5 things below. Everyone had plenty to eat with leftovers. I made it nice with fancy paperware found at Michael’s clearance section.

1. Little Ceaser’s $5 pizzas. We only needed 5 cheese or pepperoni pizzas to feed 25 people. And the plus side about it was I didn’t need to heat up our house on a hot summer day by baking them in our oven.
2. Easiest fruit salad. Cut up strawberries, peaches, grapes and bananas. Coated bananas in lemon juice to keep it from browning. Then tossed it all in a bowl to mix with a little bit of sugar and almost a whole tub of whipped topping. Simple and delicious.
3. Chips and dips. I made some guacamole to go with tortilla chips. Then had some potato chips to go with favored sour cream dips.
4. Vegetable tray. I did one side cucumbers and another side of baby carrots. In between were French onion and bacon and onion dips.
5. Water and juice. Gave some color to the water with lemon and lime. Then I also provided the option of apple juice and the colorless CapriSuns. I don’t have to worry much about children spilling on my carpet.

» What kinds of food do you like to serve at birthday parties? How do you keep food at parties simple and cheap?

P.S. Here are other party food ideas.

I hope you have been enjoying all the tutorials from Kaye’s ice cream party. I hope it at least gave you ideas to other things you can do at parties. I tried to keep Kaye’s party small and simple. So the schedule for the party went like this…

When the kids arrived, I had a little animal puppet craft for them to make on popsicle sticks. And of course the kids smothered themselves with toys in the playroom. Then lunch.

After lunch the kids went outside to hit the piñata. Once all the candy was cleared from ground, everyone came back in to escape the heat and for the gift opening. While Kaye opened gifts, I worked on setting up the ice cream bar.

The toppings were mini ice cream cones, syrups, Oreo cookies, baby gummi bears, mini M&Ms, sprinkles, waffers, white chocolate chips and chopped nuts. I made special signs for each topping using calligraphy and embossing. Then I taped them onto large popsicle sticks. Finally I made it stand by sticking the bottom end of the popsicle stick into white playdough.

I also decorated the ice cream bowls by using clear plastic cups and covering it with coffee filter that had the bottom of the filter cut out.

Next I used double-sided tape to keep the filter attached to the cup. Then used bakers twine to add a hint of color.

I also made some extra ice cream invitations without the birthday info and glued them back-to-back to make some ice cream hanging for decorations.

Lastly, the cake. I made cupcakes in ice cream cones. I make them in mini cones for the children and regular sized cones for the adults. The trick with these is to not fill them up too much. The cake will overflow the cones and make it mushy.

» Tell me… I want to know what kind of cake you have made for your child. Do you make your own or do you get the store bought? Do you make two cakes so they can mess one up then serve the second cake?

I mentioned last Friday’s post on party tips that I like to give out useful and fun party favors. To go with the ice cream party theme, I ordered astronaut ice cream online for the kids to take home and enjoy. It was the only ice cream they could take home without it melting on the way. It was a big hit… both with the parents and children. The parents thought it was so cool that they wanted to keep it for themselves.

I packaged it nicely and matching to the ice cream theme and colors. If you make packages like this inspired by Simply Modern Mom, please upload pictures of it in our Flickr group to show it off to everyone. You may be featured on Simply Modern Mom.

Supplies:

• wrapping paper
• astronaut ice cream
• bakers twine (I got mine from here.)
• wax paper
• fabric tape
• clear tape
• thank you cards
• scissors

1. Make your own thank you cards to match the theme. I used striped paper from the ice cream banner, ice cream stamp and calligraphy the thank you note.

2. Wrap the astronaut ice cream in wrapping paper. Tape edges in place with clear tape.

3. Then wrap with wax paper but slide the thank you card in between the opening flap at the front of the package. Tape the flaps on the back with clear tape and the front with fabric tape.

4. Wrap and tie bakers twine around it. And done!

» Tell me… What do you like to give as party favors? And how do you package it?

The children needed goodie bags to put all the candies from the piñata we had at Kaye’s ice cream party. I used the same white paper lunch sacks from the party invitation envelopes to make these goodie bags. And if you made something inspired by Simply Modern Mom, please upload pictures of it in our Flickr group to show it off to everyone. You may be featured on Simply Modern Mom.

Supplies:

• lunch paper sacks
• bakers twine (I got mine from here.)
• zig zag scissors
• small hole punch
• stamps or other embellishments

1. Trim the paper bag shorter using the zig zag scissors.

2. Using the hole punch make two holes at the top of the bag for the handles.

3. Gather some bakers twine and braid or twist to make two handles for each side of the bag. Tie both ends of the twine on the inside of the bag making sure the knot is bigger than the holes.

4. Decorate it or in my case I used an ice cream stamp.

» Tell me… Have you used bakers twine before? How do you use it?

So last week I was in Washington (state). After two years of Nathan going through his MBA program, we were finally able to travel. So the first trip was out to Washington to visit his family and attend the wedding of his best friend from high school. It was a family trip but one of the nights we had a babysitter watch our children while we attended a play that starred another one of Nathan’s high school friends. Lesson #1: Date night can be possible even when you are traveling.

The play was How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It was hilarious. Nathan’s friend Jeff had the lead role. And the lead female role was Jeff’s fiancée. The play was also so fitting for Nathan who just finished his master’s in business. We just enjoyed a night out with Nathan’s family and childless. And even though we didn’t have to we still dressed up because it was our date night. Lesson #2: Dressing up can make a difference to the feel of your date. We sure felt fancy that night.

Nathan said: Going out to see the play was a lot of fun. We were worried about the kids adjusting to the time difference but it all worked out and Tiffany and I enjoyed being out of the house (and away from the kids) for an evening. I was also able to see a good friend I haven’t seen in a long time which made the night even better.

» Tell me… Do you like to watch plays and attend theatrical performances? What about your spouse?

Want to join Project 52: Date Night? Great! Start anytime. Go here for details about the project and print the pledge.

When you link up, please remember…

• Keep it clean and family friendly. This is a family friendly site. Anything inappropriate will be deleted.
• It needs to be a date. Not your latest projects or pictures of your beautiful children. I do love reading about your projects and learning about your family. But this linky is for date nights and date nights only. It is for us to exchange date night ideas.
• Link to a specific blog post about your date that week. Don’t just link to your site’s home page. It needs to be the direct link to the post. Anything not directly linked to the post will be deleted.
• Link back to Simply Modern Mom or put the Project 52: Date Nights button on your site. It’s common courtesy. Please be nice.

<a title="Project 52: Date Nights Index" href="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/category/project-52/" mce_href="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/category/project-52/"><img src="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/p52-badge.gif" mce_src="http://www.simplymodernmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/p52-badge.gif" alt="Project 52: Date Nights logo"/></a>

Kaye was set on having a piñata at her ice cream party. That was pretty much her only request for her party. The last time I made paper maché was in elementary school. But if elementary school age kids can do it, I was sure I could make one. Plus, this way I can have the colors match the party and stuff it with good candy that the kids will actually enjoy.

Tips about making a piñata: Start at least a week before the party. Just about each step requires about 24 hours of drying time. I did most of the paper maché at night so it can dry over night and through the next day. Remember, if you made something inspired by Simply Modern Mom, please upload pictures of it in our Flickr group to show it off to everyone. You may be featured on Simply Modern Mom.

Supplies:

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup multipurpose glue
• balloon
• wax paper
• packaging tape
• poster board
• newspaper
• large masking tape
• glue sticks
• crepe paper
• unbleached coffee filter
• cord, rope, or string
• exacto knife
• candy or other fillers

1. Make your adhesive mixture by combining the flour, water and glue. Mix well and do your best to get as much of the lumps out.

2. Tear newspaper into 2-inch pieces. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

3. To make the cone of the piñata, get a poster board and cut the length in half. Then roll it to cone shape and tape together using packaging tape. Blow up the balloon and use that to measure the opening of the cone. Trim the top of the cone so that it is even.

4. Cover the cone in wax paper so the poster board cone and wax paper can be removed later. Tuck wax paper in the bottom and top of the cone.

5. Start the paper maché by dipping a piece of newspaper in the adhesive mixture. Stir often because the flour and glue settle. After you dip the paper, run the paper between 2 fingers to remove the excess. Cover the cone from top to bottom one layer at a time. Don’t do more than 3 layers. Any more than 3 layers will make it too hard for the kids to hit open.

6. Allow to dry for 24 hours then remove the poster board and wax paper from the inside of the cone. The wax paper should peel right off the paper maché.

7. Blow up the balloon and have it fit on top of the cone. Set the cone in something, like a large vase. Then paper maché the ice cream. Do 3 layers like you did with the cone. Paper maché over the cone to connect the ice cream with the cone. Allow to dry for at least 24 hours.

8. Once everything is dry, cut an opening flap with the exacto knife, only cutting 3 sides, on the ice cream part of the piñata. Make sure the opening is big enough for you to stick your hands through. As you cut the opening, that should pop the balloon. Remove the balloon.

9. Stuff the inside of the piñata with candy and crepe paper so all the candy doesn’t all settle at the bottom.

10. Using the knife again, cut an X at the top of the ice cream for the rope.

11. Thread the rope through the hole and tie a knot on the inside of the piñata. Make sure the knot is large enough that it doesn’t pull through the hole. You may need to double knot it. I used twine and braided it to make it stronger.

12. Tape the 3 sides of the opening with masking tape. I discovered that the clear packaging tape doesn’t stick to this surface.

13. Cut out the bottoms of the coffee filter so you only use the ruffled sides. Then use glue sticks (I used the strong permanent glue sticks) to glue the coffee filter to the cone part of the piñata. I found it easier to work the layers from the bottom up. I used unbleached coffee filter because I couldn’t find brown crepe paper.

14. Once you reach the ice cream portion of the piñata, start with the crepe paper. Also using the glue stick, work your way up to the rope. And done!

» Tell me… Do you make your own piñata or do your purchase them? What kind of candy to you like your children to eat?

Like I mentioned earlier today in the party tips, I like to do just a couple of main decoration pieces for parties and make those really stand out. So for this ice cream party, I made this ice cream banner then a garland. And if you made something inspired by Simply Modern Mom, please upload pictures of it in our Flickr group to show it off to everyone. You may be featured on Simply Modern Mom.

Supplies:

• coffee filter
• scrapbook paper in pink and blue stripes
• white cardstock
• glue stick
• tacky glue
• 10-20 feet ribbon

1. Make circle templates by using something round. I used bowls from the kitchen. Cut out 8 to spell out “ice cream”.

2. Sketch and cut out lettering templates. Trace these onto the white carstock paper.

3. Using glue stick, attach the carstock lettering to the circles from step 1.

4. Cut out the inner circle of the coffee filters.

5. Use the tacky glue to attach the coffee filter to the back of each circle. Allow to completely dry. You may also want to apply pressure to ensure that it is on there good.

6. Use the amount of ribbon you need for where you want to hang. You will probably want to use at least 10 feet of ribbon. Glue the ribbon to the back of each lettering evenly spaced. And done!

» Tell me… Have you used coffee filters for crafts before? How did you use it?

Having hosted a few children’s party for my kids, I learned something from each experience. This last ice cream party turned out the best for me as far as hosting and having everything run smoothly. The hardest thing for me is trying to play mom, host and photographer all at the same time. So here are some tips I learned…

1. Have the food cooked and kept warm or cold half an hour before the party. I always thought I want to cook until guests arrive so that it can be hot and ready to go. But now I know to have it done and just kept warm so I am not scurrying around the kitchen while people are arriving. This is a major sanity saver.
2. Keep the decorations nice, elegant and simple. Pick two or three main decoration pieces that you want to showcase. You don’t have to have every inch of the room jazzed up for the party. Save time to make the few decorations stand out and look nice. For the ice cream party I just kept with the ice cream banner and the ice cream garland as the main decorations.
3. Spend your money on a nice party favor. I’m not saying spend all your money on the party favor. But if you are going to do party favors, the rule I go by is get one nice thing rather than an accumulation of cheap junk things. I think that the cheap junk things just get tossed away as soon as it gets home. And often times I find I spend less when I get one nice thing. The astronaut ice cream I gave for the ice cream party came out to be $2.50 per person. Whereas I found some ice cream knick-knacks at a party store I thought about using, but to get enough of those to fill up a goody bag would have costed about $5 per person.
4. Go with a theme. That usually helps me come up with ideas for decorations, invitations, food and party favors. It doesn’t always have to be a character theme. It can be simple as polka dots. Then it helps you come up with ideas for everything else… polka dot wall decals, sandwiches cut in circle shapes, melons in ball shape using a melon scooper.
5. Take pictures before the party. Do a mock party if you have to. Have your child stand with the cake. Take pictures of you and your birthday child. Get some good shots of the decorations. Do this all before the party because usually you are so busy hosting and playing mom during the party you forget about the photos. Or you can even assign someone else to be the photographer. Give them a list of shots you want to make sure those are not missed.

» Tell me… What are your tried and true children’s birthday party tips?

I’m Brittany, the mother of four kiddos who has always loved planning her kids’ birthday parties. I have since turned this into a “real job” and now I’m an event designer. You can see some of the parties I’ve planned over at One Charming Party. Since we’re all about parties around here, Tiffany asked me to post a list of food to serve at a child’s party.

I often hear of people serving pizza or hot dogs at birthday parties. These are pretty much the old standbys. But I hate the stereotype that kids will only eat junk food. I think we can do better than that. Why not offer simple, delicious foods that match the theme of your party?

Yummy treats at a Tea Party: chocolate dipped strawberries, tiny rice crispy treats, and mini cupcakes.

Apple pie tarts are just one of the things the guests made at this Baking Party.

Mini quiches and pancakes topped with glittery syrup at a Pajama Party.

A whole table of options at a Wizard of Oz Party: a platter of fruit, heart shaped sandwiches (for the tin man), and yellow brick road mac & cheese.

Picnic lunches served in buckets at a Mermaid Party included pb & jellyfish sandwiches, sea cucumbers, oyster pearl grapes, goldfish crackers and crab-leg carrots.

Easy peasy jam sandwiches wrapped in paper and pink juice with heart shaped ice at a Raggedy Ann Party.

Gourmet desserts at a Love themed party: mini chocolate & peanut butter cupcakes and tiny tarts.

Homemade popsicles made from fruit juices & yogurt and rainbow fruit skewers cooled down the guests at a Water Party.

And of course, just plain old cake will always do.

I hope this gives you some fresh and fun new ideas of what to serve for food at your child’s next birthday party. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and skip the boring old standbys. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Images by Brook Andreoli, Nicole Gerulat, and Casey Hyer.

I hope you love ice cream as much as I do because I am spoon feeding you ice cream all week this week and next. Like I said earlier this week, my daughter Kaye had her 4th birthday party last week. And with it, I put together a ton of tutorials for you. Yesterday was the homemade ice cream recipe. Today I’m showing you how to make homemade ice cream invitations and envelope. Remember, if you use any of my tutorials, upload photos onto SMM’s Flickr group to show it off.

I decided to make these invitations because I thought they should be simple enough to make pretty quickly. And since I only invited six families to the party, I didn’t have too many to make. And the envelopes. That was a last minute idea that got put together and worked out. I love it when that happens. And I made both the invitations and envelopes with cheap supplies that you probably have around the house.

Supplies:

• cardstock in ice cream colors, white and kraft or brown color for the cone
• scoring board (optional)
• tape
• bakers twine (I used the pink and blue colors from Divine Twine.)
• Mod Podge
• scissors

1. Draw an ice cream pattern with ice cream and cone as two separate pieces. Use the pattern and trace ice cream pattern on the ice cream colored cardstock. Cut them out.

2. This is optional but gives the invitations a cool effect. I used the scoring board and made diagonal scores on the cone colored cardstock.

3. Trace cones on the brown or kraft color cardstock. Then cut them out.

4. Write your party information onto the ice cream cut outs. I did mine in calligraphy.

5. Once the ink has dried, tape the ice cream to the cone on the back.

6. With the ice cream and the cone together, trace each individual set on the white cardstock that will be used as the backing of the invitation.

7. Using the bakers twine, I wrapped it around the cones a few time and taping it each wrap around the cone to keep the twine in place.

8. I used Mod Podge, but you can use just about any kind of glue to attach the invitation to the white backing.

For the envelope…

Supplies:

• paper bags
• glue stick
• zig zag scissors
• hole punch
• bakers twine

1. Cut off the bottom portion of the paper bag with zig zag scissors.

2. Fold the zig zag then glue it close using glue stick.

3. With the invitation inside the envelope, fold over the open end. Then punch two holes about 1 1/2-inch apart.

4. Cut a piece of bakers twine and put one end of the twine in each hole. The the ends of the twine into a knot or bow.  And done! I was able to mail these with regular first class U.S. postage stamps.

» Tell me… Do you usually make your own party invitations? Do you order them or are they store bought?

We made some homemade ice cream for date night a few weekends ago. I discovered a secret ingredient that will rock your world. I promise, you’ll love me forever for this. It’s that good.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 tablespoons your favorite flavored liquid coffee creamer
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• lots of ice
• 1/2 cup rock salt

1. In a quart-size ziplock bag, combine sugar, half and half, coffee creamer and vanilla extract. Seal the bag allowing as much air out as possible. You can double bag it just to make sure the bag doesn’t puncture or rip. Then mix well by squishing it with your hand so the sugar doesn’t clump at the bottom.
2. Using gallon-size ziplock bags, fill it half up with ice and mix with rock salt. If you may want to double bag it. Bury your quart-size bag with the ice cream mixture in the middle of the ice. Then seal the bags while allow as much of the air out as possible.
3. Shake it for 15-20 minutes. It might help to wrap a kitchen towel around it or oven mitts so your hand doesn’t freeze.
4. Rather than using ziplock bags for the ice, you can use large containers with lids. Just make sure you fill up the entire container with ice. Shake and/or roll your container to freeze the cream.

» Tell me… What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

I spent the majority of Friday making cupcakes for Kaye’s birthday party. While making the cupcakes, I decided to double the batch and deliver some to our friends. When Nathan came home that evening, we ate an early dinner then made the deliveries. We had five stops. That also meant we didn’t get home until around 9:30 p.m. Lesson #1: Cupcakes are a great way to bring smiles to friends.

We did break one of our date night rules. We had our kids with us. Since this cupcake thing was a total last minute idea, we didn’t have time to set up for a babysitter. The kids were very patient making all those stops. And they also got to see some of their friends. Lesson #2: This will be the last time we break the “No kids” rule.

Nathan said: This date also felt like Christmas time because the kids had Christmas songs playing in the car and we were driving around delivering goodies. Had we caroled at each house that would have topped it off  - but we didn’t, thankfully.

» Tell me… Have you ever made treats for friends and delivered them unannounced? What do you like to do to bring a smile to your friends’ faces?

Want to join Project 52: Date Night? Great! Start anytime. Go here for details about the project and print the pledge.

When you link up, please remember…

• Keep it clean and family friendly. This is a family friendly site. Anything inappropriate will be deleted.
• It needs to be a date. Not your latest projects or pictures of your beautiful children. I do love reading about your projects and learning about your family. But this linky is for date nights and date nights only. It is for us to exchange date night ideas.
• Link to a specific blog post about your date that week. Don’t just link to your site’s home page. It needs to be the direct link to the post. Anything not directly linked to the post will be deleted.
• Link back to Simply Modern Mom or put the Project 52: Date Nights button on your site. It’s common courtesy. Please be nice.

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Last week, this little girl turned 4. Really? I have a 4-year-old? That can’t be true. I set out to make her day special. I started planning for a party a couple of months ago. My heart was set on an ice cream theme because it is extremely hot outside. What a fun way to cool off.

On the day of her birthday, I took her out for a quick photo shoot. Quick as in she lost interest after 15 minutes. I tell you. The older they get, the harder it is to get candid shots of them. But Kaye gave me a few good ones.

Later that afternoon, we took her to the movie theaters to watch Toy Story 3. I thought my kids wouldn’t sit through the movie without getting scared, but they both did wonderfully. We all loved the movie. So cute. And since it’s an older movie, we almost had the entire theater to ourselves. Only two other people in the room.

We partied later in the week with a few of her friends. I only invited six families, Kaye’s favorite friends. We still ended up with 24 people at the party, 15 of them aged 5 and under. Kaye had so much fun with all her friends. An hour into the party Kaye exclaimed, “Now this is how we celebrate!”

Going with the ice cream theme, I had a little craft where the children made animal puppets on popsicle sticks. Then we served lunch. Took a quick escape to the backyard to hit an ice cream piñata.

Came back in to open gifts. And ended the party by singing “Happy Birthday,” eating ice cream cone cakes and attacking an ice cream bar. The kids had the best time getting sugared up before heading home.

And I sent everyone home with astronaut ice cream as the take home gift.

I will be posting tutorials and party details this week and next. By the end of all my party tutorials, you will be able to host your own ice cream party. Even though it was a party for my 4-year-old, the party wasn’t all childish. In fact, I kept everything and saving it for next summer. I am thinking of making it a tradition. An ice cream party every summer.

This was the after party…

» Tell me… How do you throw birthday parties for your children? Do you go all out or try to keep it low key?

Boys

Outfit #1

Outfit #2

Outfit #3

Outfit #4

Outfit #5

Girls

Outfit #1

Outfit #2

Outfit #3

Outfit #4

Outfit #5

» Tell me… Where do you like to shop for your kid’s back to school clothes? What kind of styles do they like?