Move over Martha!! A party and a tutorial...

My niece, Ashlyn, had her tenth birthday party this weekend and wanted me to help decorate for it. I took what she said she wanted, pink and black polka dots, and ran with it.

I took this picture and modified it. I love the Wal-Martha tissue paper flowers and did buy a kit on clearance, but the colors did not go with our theme.

Here is the Birthday Girl herself. Happy Birthday, Ashlyn!!

Here is the table all ready for Ashlyn's friends. My sister in law was having the girls make and decorate the cupcakes so we set the sprinkles out on the table. Now, if this party had been at my house for my girl, we would have put those sprinkles in a glass cheese shaker or something. I used a Wal-Martha scalloped circle punch{bought on clearance thankyouverymuch} for the confetti on the table.

Ten candles...Black and white polka dot napkins from Target complement the theme.

A shot of the tissue paper flowers and garland I made. Scroll down for a tutorial...

Ashlyn and I came up with the idea for the girls to tie fabric strips onto flip flops. Cory and I tore fabric strips the night before and got everything all put into these cute polka dot goody bags. The girls also got glow bracelets and nail polish.

I made the banner for Ashlyn's present from us, but it will also look great when her parents redo her room for her. She wants it hot pink with black polka dots and I get to help!!

Here Lilly is helping me make the garland that was hanging with the tissue paper flowers. I used that same Wal-Martha punch and glue sticked those paper cut outs to thin satin ribbon.

Just sandwich the ribbon in between the circles.

Now onto the tissue paper flower tutorial...

You will need tissue paper. Several packs. Pipe cleaners. Fishing line to hang.

To make a large flower you will use all 8 or 10 sheets of tissue paper, whatever comes in your pack.

Fold it accordion style, like a fan. Back and forth.

You can see the folds, just keep going back and forth until you reach the end.

Once you get it folded, you will want to cut the ends. You can either round the corners or cut the corners off, making a pointy end. I did a little of both.

Here is a round edge.

Don'tcha just love it when the lights come on??

Okay, so here you are going to fold it in half lengthwise.

You will then cut the corners. Do not leave out this step. It will result in a flower that is very hard to open. I found this step missing from most of the directions I found.

Here is what it will look like opened back up.

Here is where you will take a pipe cleaner and wrap it around the middle. If you are making smaller flowers, you can cut the pipe cleaner in half. You will also want to make a loop with the ends of the pipe cleaner to make for easier hanging.

Now you will just open the fan up and start pulling the papers apart.

Just pull the single layers apart carefully, working toward the center.

Repeat on the other side.

There you have a pretty tissue paper flower!!

If you want to make a smaller flower, just cut the paper in half and use half the amount of papers. Like, if its a pack of ten, use five sheets.

To hang the flowers like I did in the top photo, get a dowel rod and screw two eye hooks into the top, string fishing line through the hooks and just tie on the flowers with fishing line. You can hang it from the ceiling with teacup hooks, or like we did using pushpins since it was temporarily in the kitchen.

One thing I would also recommend is to paint your dowel rod white. That way it will not show as much in case you don't cover it well.

Hope y'all like it!! I would love to know if you replicate this look!! Let me know if y'all have any questions.

Falloween Swap with Jenny

Jenny and I love{an understatement} to swap with one another, as I am sure most of you know by now!! I couldn't wait to do another fall swap with her. She is awesome!!
Above is some Halloween stuff I made. Jenny requested the bucket after seeing the one I made for Emilie last year. The silver acorn plate came from Bath & Body Works, by way of Goodwill. I got a set last year and was so excited to find one at GW. The cute Trick or Treat plate came from GW also. I got a set of seven back in the summer.

Jenny also wanted a cloche and I was happy to oblige.

A close-up of the BOO letters. I just mod podged the paper to the letters and painted the sides, sanded and inked, then glittered them.

A little detail of yummy ribbon and trim...

Had to make a halloween towel. There are black pom poms at the bottom.

Onto the Fall stuff...Found the acorn cookie jar from GW. Unfortunately it didn't survive the trip. Even being wrapped very well. I had included a heavy brass owl and the little booger broke the jar. Boo...

I made the FALL blocks and the tassel.

Some acorn goodness from Hobby Lobby. Those west coast girls don't have one. Isn't that sad??

Close-up on the blocks. I cut the letters out with my cricut and made them patchwork style.

Yummy pumpkin tassel goodness...

I found this towel, brand new, at a yard sale over the summer. Jenny likes her G's you know!!

This jar holding pumpkin pods has a G engraved on it, but I couldn't get a good photo of it. Surprised??

This is all the loot Jenny sent to me. I was going to take my own photo but the batteries in my camera died. You can go to Jenny's and see great photos. I love it all!! One of my favorite things is Mr. Bones. I have wanted him for a year and I finally got him!! That framed squirrel silhouette...be still my heart!! In LOVE, I tell ya!! October 31 sign...Awesome!! Oh my word-she had a stamp made for me with a squirrel and my mailing address. A super cute Boo cottage and pumpkins that she made. Lots of fun, fun goodies in my box!!

Thank you for being such a fun swap partner, Jenny!! That's what my kids call her. One day she called and Lilly answered. She handed me the phone and said, "Its your swap partner, Miss Jenny." Oh, they are so funny!!

Channeling Fall...

I am so over summer!! I just want my beloved season, FALL, to come already!! Yesterday, I decided to make Oatmeal Cream Pies. They are divine!! You can find the recipe here.
I also baked pumpkin bread. My mom called and I told her what all I was doing and I said, "If I bake it, it will come." Right??


Over the weekend I was trying my hand at some candy corn bowl fillers. I awoke Monday morning to this sight. A little "elf" had stuffed my corn for me. So sweet...Do you know that song on Noggin...I don't like candy corn. Moose sings it. Such a cute song. Click here to view. You will love it!!
Are y'all decorating for Fall yet?? I am sooo ready...Oh, tomorrow I will share what I received from Jenny for our seasonal swap.

Super Summer Swap-what we received...

The kids loved this swap so much, as is was just for them!! Lilly was partnered with a little girl named Holly and this is Lilly's box of goodies. The presentation was so cute!!

Lilly opening her things. She let Skeletor play with the kaliedescope. In the middle of opening her box, Lilly said, "She's cool. And her mom, too." I think she was happy with her treats.

All the loot. Lots of fun fairy stuff and a very cute painting by Holly. Sorry that got cut off...

Thank you so much Holly!! Lilly loves everything!!

Onto Jackson's goodies...

Love the pawprint wrapping paper!! Y'all might remember me telling you I never heard from Jackson's partner's Mom, so Jenny so kindly let her son swap with Jackson. I know you aren't supposed to take photos with the window behind...

Playing with his I-Spy fish Jenny made for him. This was Jackson's favorite thing. Jackson said, "Dey are the best!!"

Super cute wrapping.

All Jackson's loot.

Thank you Jenny and Tanner!! Jackson loves it all!!

In other news...Cory and I hung the microwave finally!! I love it!!

Super Summer Swap-What we gave...

When I saw that Hadley, over at Life of a Dairy Queen, was hosting a swap for the kids, I knew I had to join!! Lilly got partnered up with Holly. This is what all we sent to her. A sign I made with her name, yo-yo hair clips, fun flip flops, bubbles, and some crafty stuff. Holly's favorite color is orange so we went for mostly orange goodies.

I put the hairbows in this fun, embellished box.

Here is the sign I made.

Now, Jackson's partner's mom never responded to my email, so my dear friend, Jenny, offered to let her son Tanner swap with Jackson. Here is what all we sent to Tanner. Y'all remember the banner I made. A "T" covered with patriotic paper, a pizza pan turned magnetic ABC board, some fun/gross boy stuff, and some crafty stuff.

Here is the "T" I made.

For the pizza pan, I just sprayed it red, and mod podged paper on it. Some ABC's from Target will give Tanner lots of fun!!

Next time, we'll share what we received.

Thank you, Hadley, for coordinating this swap!!