Monday, June 30, 2008

Meow if you love to PAR-TAY!!!!

The kitty cat invitations were sent. A vintage image was copied & 'glitterized', & some cat-like wording was added inside to lure potential feline partiers to a meowing good time!
(Cat graphic was found HERE.)
And I found an excuse to use my old-school label maker!

Finally, the day of my 4 year old's cat party had arrived!!! We decorated the sidewalks & steps with our usual festive chalk art & birthday greetings...
& I stamped some appropriately themed images onto brown kraft paper that I measured & wrapped around the little tables that the party guests were going to be sitting at.
When the wee guests arrived they did a craft. I wanted them to make "cat collars" so I purchased metal circular tags from an office supply store. I wasn't sure about what to tie them on---string? ribbon?----UNTIL I spotted these candy necklaces at the grocery store. SCORE!!! They were purrrrrfect! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)


For a game I decorated Easter eggs to look like mice. Why is it that plastic eggs seem to multiply in my basement? Am I the only one? For the mice ears I used this really cool felt I got at the dollar store--the back side is sticky! Whiskers, eyes, a nose & mouth were drawn on with a permanent black marker.
The hind ends were embellished with leather string tails--just hot glue 'em on.
And the mice tummies were filled with coins--dimes, nickels & pennies to be exact!


I hid the mice in the front yard before the party cats even arrived. I told each child to look for the same amount of mice so it would be even & we wouldn't have any "cat fights". (Geez, I can't help it!)

One of my favorite parts of the party were the hats I made! I could've gone the "cat-ears-on-a-headband" route, but my daughter's previous birthday was a puppy party & we did the whole "ears thing" then. I glued pom-poms on the top of paper cone hats & added tiny little pointy ears to resemble a cat. Just a subtle touch, but I loved how they turned out. I couldn't find any cat paper to make the hats from, so I went with something fun & celebratory instead.
I always make sugar cookies for my girls' birthday parties--for the adult party favors. This party featured goldfish cookies.


I loved how they looked in the cellophane bags. They reminded me of the bags of fish you win at carnivals. I was lucky enough to find this adorable ribbon on clearance at Walmart.


OK, the cake is always a bit stressful. The decorating part I LOOOOVE. It's just the initial frosting layer that is the un-fun part for me. And I admit that my cat cake looks kinda like a bunny. For starters the ears are too close together. And secondly, my daughter wanted a red cat cake. I couldn't do it because I just pictured red frosting stains everywhere. So, she then requested "light red" which is really pink, right? So, it could very well translate to a spring bunny cake.
The really long striped candles came from Target. I love them! The kids ate their cake & ice cream out of real cat bowls bought at the dollar store. They thought that was super silly! They also got to take the bowls home. I even created my second pinata EVERS! The first pinata I made was 2 years ago at Pazely's "Bug Party". It was a bee & it ended up being HUUUUGE. This cat pinata was rather simple. I'm giving a tutorial tomorrow on my blog, so stay tuned!


Sadly, I barely got any pictures of the pinata bashing because I went inside to grab bags for the kids to collect their candy in, but when I came out, eager Mr. WhiMSy love had already led the troops to battle. This poor cat was destined with only one life.
The kids were so adorable in their party hats. I actually bribed them to take this photo for me. Some didn't want to wear their hats & some were falling off & some were comlaining that the string was too tight. I took about 10 photos of them & they actually held the word "Cheeeeeeeeeese!" for that long! HAHA!
The goodie bags are always my favorite part of any party. I should've taken pictures of the items BEFORE they went into the bags, but oh well. I purchased some sweet little stuffed mice from spidercamp, I made some kitty buttons with my 1" button machine using images from vintage children's books, some goldfish cheese crackers, glow-in-the-dark cats from the dollar store (like the stars you stick on your ceiling), chocolate Kit-Kat bars, tons of stickers, real-looking mouse candy & the tags are from time2cre8 (they look just like my little toothless birthday girl!). Oh! And the ribbon, with cat paw prints, is from the Dollar Store.


I attached yarn to each birthday guests goodie bag & we draped & looped the yarn over sofas, behind lamps, down the stairs, etc & hid them in all different spots when the kids weren't looking.
The kids had to wind their yarn around the cardboard tubes to find their goodies!
YAY for birthday parties! MEOW!
Oh & next year she tells me she wants a mouse party. Um, I'm gonna have to break the cycle somehow. Pretty soon we'll have the whole animal kingdom covered. Where does it end? Amoeba?

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Busy June

Green Grass Companion

I am DYING to sit down & get crafty. I've got ideas swirling around in my noggin for projects to create. But, I have no time to get them done. June has been such a busy month for me. In fact, I can't sit here long & chit-chat because I've got a pinata that's been drying in the backyard & needs another coat of newspaper strips dipped in a homemade glue of flour & water. (My 4-yr old's birthday party is on Saturday.)

When I do have a spare moment, it seems I'm running off to play in the park with my kids, being "pool mom" while my girls are in swim lessons or shopping for the perfect ingredients to make the best dessert in the universe. What else have I been up to?....Making s'mores (& eating them), playing with sidewalk chalk (I am a champion you know), making flower chains, reading tombstones on a stroll through a graveyard, crafting with friends, building sand castles, people watching in the park...just to name a few....

I suppose my days are still creative. And I am enjoying the random break from being in the constant mindset of "crafty money-maker".
I'll get back to the "money making" soon enough--with exciting projects to share & new stuff in the shop. I just love these lazy summer days & my tasks at hand--profitable in their own right.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Breakfast in a Bag!

Gather some eggs & all the appropriate omelet fixin's for a super fun, simple & practically mess-free breakfast!! This meal is a fantastic way to have some fun with your kids & it's a part of my "Summer Fun Ideas" series. This would even be great to make while camping! I learned to make these last weekend at my MOPS (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) retreat & I think we may even have all the mommies cook their own at one of our monthly meetings.

The first thing you want to do is find plastic freezer bags. They HAVE to be the freezer kind---'cause they're heavier duty. Have everyone write their name on their baggies with a permanent marker. Next, crack your eggs into the bags--however many your tummy desires.

THEN, you get to toss in any or all toppings you want! We had precooked bacon & sausage, red peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, cheese, green onions, mushrooms, olives & cheese.

Next is the fun part! Zip up your baggie & smoosh it all around! Massage that baggie full-o-breakfast until it's ooey-gooey & all mixed up.

Carefully drop your bag into a giant pot of boiling water. As you can see, more than one bag can cook at a time.
Keep watch on your bag-o-omelet to see if it is firm & not runny. We took our bags out (use tongs!) after 5 minutes or so & carefully smooshed it around again to get the runny eggs in the middle all mixed up. We put the bag back into the pot. Cooking time will vary depending on how many eggs & fixin's you chose. If it looks firm & not runny, it's done.
Open your bag & your omelet slides right onto your plate!

Sprinkle with salt & pepper & MORE cheese & then dig in!! Wasn't that fun & adventurous???

Team Spirit!




I've been featured this week on the Eastern Washington Etsy Team's blog! Cool, huh?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

How Awesomely Dorky Am I?



Supremo dork here. After all the fun I had last weekend at the sidewalk chalk art festival, I got together with some new friends for a BBQ & my first introduction to Guitar Hero. Oh. My. Golly. It's my new favorite thing now. I felt like I was the coolest person on the planet. I was rockin' out like a dweeb.

THEN, we saw 'Horton Hears a Who' at a free outdoor event called "Summer Movies in the Park" by the river. There was free popcorn, free sodas, free carnival games.....& free light sticks for the kids (& me).
We cuddled in blankets or sat in lawn chairs & had an awesome time. MAN, I love summer!!

And THIS weekend I'll be on my annual MOPS retreat (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) planning for the next super fun year. Being the "creative activities" leader on my team I've been busy putting demos or samples together to show my team. I have SOOOOO many fun little crafty projects that I can't wait to share with you! Tutorials, here we come!

Have a happy summer weekend!! (Tomorrow is the first day of summer ya know.)

Ta-ta my little WhiMSy love-ers!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival

On Saturday I was so excited to participate in the 9th annual Chalk Art Festival in my city. It was SO much fun! I talked my friend into chalking it up with me. Our kids were getting creative beside us & it was a super fun way to spend the afternoon...
It took us about an hour & 45 minutes to create our masterpiece. Do you even have to ASK what we drew? Yep, a cupcake!!
How did I get so messy & Tia stayed squeaky clean?
Here are the chalky ladies & their sweet results!! And guess what??? We won 'Honorable Mention'!!! We didn't even realize the event was being judged, so that was a nice bonus to top off our happy afternoon.

The most fun part was when people would walk by & "Ooooh" & "Aaaaah". One lady even said, "That is just FABULOUS!" That was my favorite comment of the day.
And THEN, to make things even MORE exciting, there was a random llama walking around. How cool is THAT? Her name is Sunshine & the kids fed her bagels.
This was one of my favorite chalk drawings as we walked around & admired the other artists work...






This one made me laugh & I loved it---it's Otter Pops!!





And when it was all done I looked down at my feet. I was covered in chalk & my toenails were not looking too sassy. It was all worth it. Tia & I are already planning next year's design & hope to move up in chalk art ranking.