Hand made necklaces

(disclosure: the blue animal above is a giraffe, not what you're thinking in your head)
Again, another excellent idea from Pinterest.  We decided to make our own necklaces for Mother's Day gifts and end of the year teacher gifts.  I thought making the necklaces ourselves would make it just a little more personal and something extra special for the Grandmas.  I picked up some Shrinky Dinks (I used to be obsessed with these as a child) at Michaels, along with some colored pencils, and pre-made necklaces.  I had all the beads and jewelry tools to put the rest together.  We cut out 3.5 inch circles and punched a whole in the top and I let the kids color whatever they wanted.  We baked them in the oven,  one of the funnest parts of the project.  Then they chose which ones went to which person.  I think they turned out so cute!  And they were a hit with everyone.  

My niece Lauren made some book marks out of the left over pieces.  They turned out cute too!

 

The Party

Here was the beautiful party set up for Chloe's first birthday party.  Decorating for this little shindig started about a month in advance.  I did however enjoy the wall paper made from wrapping paper in our dining room.  As you can see I went all out and it turned out beautiful.  The Sweet Shoppe theme was so cute and all the kids loved the loads of candy they got. 

 

All the kids shared her smash cake and it was sure delicious.  She didn't seem to mind at all.

Our attempt at a family picture...good luck with that one.

 

 

Presents were total chaos, good thing I had about 10 kids helping me open them.  And hopefully everything got written down correctly.  If not, thanks everyone for the wonderful and amazing gifts.  Our friends and family are so incredibly generous.  

 

 

 

 

 

All partied out!  It was a perfect party!

Props

I had found a super cute picture of a 1 year old with a smash cake in a bright colored high chair and really wanted to do something similar.  But I really wanted it to be somewhat meaningful.  I was determined to find a really cute antique high chair that I could paint turquoise.  I searched on Craig's list for a while trying to find something cute and just couldn't find anything I was looking for.  I was discussing this vision I had with my super trusty mother that has everything, and she said I could have her antique high chair.  I couldn't believe it, the boys actually used it several times and she was ready to get rid of it.  What timing that was!  I asked over and over if she was sure she was okay with me painting it and of course she was perfectly okay with it.  I really wish I had a true before picture.  She has had it for several years and it doesn't have a tray.  So Aaron had to get out the old saw and create a tray that would work for the smash cake.  So here it was getting a several coats of primer.  Note to self...spray paint in the grass, now a section of our rocks are turquoise.

Here is the final product.  It turned out absolutely perfect and I can't get over how cute the pictures turned out.  Now it is sitting in our dining room and I just can't bare to part with it forever.  Man, now I have 3 high chairs.

Soap Crayons

Here is another one of our random Pinterest projects.  I found this pin for soap crayons.  The boys always love crayons in the bath but they tend to ruin/stain our grout.  I thought it might be better to try to make out own.  I figured they would either work great, dye my children like little Easter eggs, or not work at all...

We added a little lavender essential oil we picked up in wine county on one of our trips.

We filled up some molds that are turtles and frogs then had plenty of extra so we used some ice cube trays.

Chloe just hanging out watching us and having a little bite to eat.

Ut oh... getting a little more worried the homemade soap crayons might dye the children like little Easter eggs.

Didn't they turn out pretty!

Well turns out they did not end up dying the kids different colors and they don't color on the walls in the tub, but they do entertain them for a long time while getting them sparkling clean.
So I guess they are still a success.

Chalkboard Mason Jars

So I've become totally obsessed with Pinterest.  Man it can suck you in for hours upon hours of just looking for more stuff to do, more tasks to complete, more crafts for kids, everything you could ever imagine is on Pinterest.  So if you have tons of extra time, (just like I do, oh wait, I don't) hop on the ol' computer and waste some precious time.  You will be happy you did.
I however recommend actually doing the projects not just pinning all day!  I thought these mason jars with a little chalkboard square to write you name were so cute.  It was perfect for our first Thanksgiving Day dinner at our house.  You see, Aaron (my amazing chef husband) was in charge of cooking and I was in charge of decorating and getting everything organized.  Teamwork!  So I started my project over the weekend.  It really didn't take that long, I also suckered Aaron into helping me tape.

I had to put 2 coats of chalkboard paint on.  This was a 2 day process, because it got too late for me to stay up and wait the four hours between coats.  Needless to say, I had 2 little helpers the next morning painting the second coat.  They did a pretty good job and didn't make too big of a mess.

I cut out cute fall fabric strips to tie around the top of the glass to add a little fall flair.  I love flair!  Luckily my mom seems to have everything on hand and brought me over several options of fall fabric.  So I got to avoid another trip shopping spree at Hobby Lobby (which might be my new favorite store, that happens to be about 3 miles from my house).  

Here is the final mason jar chalkboard glasses.  They looked so cute and were a huge hit at the party.  Everyone got to write their name on their cup, there was no mistaking your beverage this time.  I recommend using liquid chalk, which I also picked up at Hobby Lobby.  I doesn't smudge easily, but wipes off with water.  

I'm so happy these turned out so well.  They will get used often.  I can just change the tie to be festive for the occasion.  I can't wait to use them again!

Spice It Up

Another fun Pinterest project.  Our little tiny thermostat hangs sadly all by itself, right smack dab in the middle of a perfect decorating wall.  For this reason I haven't been able to find anything to put here.  I always sit and ponder what might be perfect here with the little thermostat (I really don't have a ton of extra pondering time right now, but it is in such a noticeable area I can't help but to see it or walk by it about 20,000 times a day).  So I found this little idea, spice up this sad little baby with an awesome frame.  It actually started out bright fuchsia pink with sparkles (yes, it did hang there like that for about a week until I had time to paint it).  It looks really cute, and I'm considering putting a small gallery of white frames around it.  I think it might work...

Crayon Melt

So I'm totally into this Pinterest thing.  Really I'm obsessed and can't get enough.  There are so many cute and fun ideas to do with the boys (and for our house etc.).  So here is one of our first projects together.
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I picked up a huge box of crayons and dug this fabric covered canvas out from under our stairs.  It was the perfect size for where I wanted to hang this master piece.  I cut part of the fabric off so when we were sorting the crayons and gluing them on, the canvas didn't accidentally get tagged by a 2 year old. 

We sorted all the different colors and decided what order to put them in.

I hot glued the crayons on then pulled off the rest of the fabric and headed outside to heat it up.  It was really hot outside I probably could have just let it sit for the day.  But we busted out the blow dryer and whipped this baby out in no time.

How awesome did this turn out?  I love it!  We hung it in the play room and it fits perfect in the octagon shaped room above Big Mouth Billy Bass.