Valentine's Decor

I don't decorate much for Valentine's Day. I think it is because I have just taken down Christmas and my house looks so clean that I don't want to clutter it back up. However, this year was going to be different. I wanted sweet little accessories sprinkled throughout to remind us to love one another. Then, I went to the dentist and discovered he is taking all of my money. Boo!

This cute scarf is likely my only Valentine's purchase this year. I ordered it in light pink. Isn't is precious?

So, enjoy this posting of items I would buy if I wasn't having 2 root canals this week.

Love comes from the Bible and these signs are a great way to remember how He intended for love to be.

Love this personalized tree and "tweet" couple from etsy. My husband actually carved our initials in a tree at a park we visited while in college. Such a romantic :)

Pottery Barn Kids is my favorite place to buy seasonal items- this chair backer would be fun year round for giving your child notes of support, praise and encouragement.

This nesting boxes have just the right combination of colors and vintage appeal! A simple soft heart pillow on my denim sofa would look lovely.

Happy Decorating!

New Custom Necklace

I used to make jewelry all the time. Once I started scrapbooking and blogging more, jewelry became a back burner hobby. But, I do love wearing pieces I created. Knowing there isn't another one like it. Making it match one outfit so perfectly. This necklace is an example of that- needing the perfect necklace to match my new purple sweater and wanting that necklace to bring together all the colors of my daughter's birthday party to be able to capture the perfect family picture.
I even ordered my husband the perfect blue shirt (called Beach Umbrella by Gap) to match us all. He's a good sport who even wore baby pink on the day our daughter was born. Hello, my name is Anna and I am a matching freak.

Capturing Time

Everyone told me being a parent makes time go faster and I agree. My first year as a parent has flown by. I wanted to capture that time and used a frame with monthly photos to try and remember how much Abby grew and changed each month.

This was super easy and fairly inexpensive to do. When she was a newborn I bought an 18x24 frame 1/2 price at Hobby Lobby. I had them cut a mat with 12 4x4 squares. They left the back open and I added her picture each month. Just remember to leave open space when taking your picture so that you can cut it down. My husband and I also starting taking pictures on our anniversary each year holding up the number of fingers that represent our years married. We frame the pictures in a collage and enjoy looking back at how much we've changed and grown through the years. I originally bought three frames which held the first 9 years. Recently, we celebrated 10 years and I bought new frames. We are good for 2 more years and then I'll need to combine both frames and mix them up. I think it'll really be fun when we've been married 30 years and our children laugh at our fashion, but respect our marriage.
Happy Framing!

Free Wrapped Canvas!

I saw another blogger post about a free 8x10 canvas giveaway and I submitted this picture from my daughter's photo shoot this summer and my canvas is being made! Click here to order yours! You will have to pay $14.95 shipping, but that still makes for a great deal!

Abby Cadabby Birthday Ideas, Decor and Crafts

This past weekend we had my daughter's first birthday party. We kept it to a simple cake and punch party so that we could enjoy our friends and daughter and not fret over food the entire time. But, I just couldn't keep the decor simple.

Her name is Abby, so we went with an Abby Cadabby theme. Abby Cadabby is a fairy in training on Sesame Street. Her colors are bright pink, purple and turquoise. She has a star fairy wand and wears a tutu. All things I love! I saw another blogger do an Abby Cadabby party in the summer and emailed her. She sold me her leftover decor for $25. A steal for me!

This is the sign I made hanging on the front door. Step by step directions are here.

  This is the view when you enter my home. We hung Martha Stewart Crafts tissue puff balls and Abby Cadabby items from the two foyer chandeliers. We also had balloons scattered about.

This is the cake table in our dining room. The tablecloth is a plastic party store cover that I added ribbon to the edge. I attached it with glue dots used in scrap booking. At the top of the picture, you can see the birthday garland I made here.

The punch was a great recipe I found online here. As I made it an hour before the party, I discovered I had bought red punch and not blue. It was tropical punch in a blue packet, but was red. The ice cream blended in made it more pink- thank goodness. The punch jar is sitting atop a cake stand wrapped with lots of tulle.

This is the cake and cupcakes for the party guests. The cupcake above the cake was just for my daughter. The inside of the cake was pink and blue swirled- a fun surprise! It tasted great- very light which I appreciate it.

The cake was made by Billa Cakes, a friend of mine. Here are cake details if you live in the Austin area. She did a great job and made it fun, too!

The cupcake toppers came from Sevencupcakes on etsy. I bought them to save time- a holiday birthday requires more planning than I allowed. They could easily be made with scrapbook paper and punches, lollipop sticks and glue.

My cake stand is a vintage milk glass piece from eBay and the cupcake stand is from Crate and Barrel. It is a must have piece in my book.

I decorated with lots of ribbon, tulle, star garland, crystals, feathers, and flowers- not over the top Abby Cadabby. The silverware was placed inside a jar I normally use in my kitchen. I added tulle inside, garland on the outside and clipped an Abby Cadabby hairbow on the garland.



This is the treat bag table and honestly where I had the most fun!

The far left is 2 dozen fairy wands from Oriental Trading company. I tied ribbon and tulle to each wand and placed them in a vase.

The far right was a basket used in my daughter's room filled with Abby Cadabby sippy cups from Target filled with puffs. These were for the babies and littlest ones at the party. I decorated the basket with tulle, ribbon and small wands.

For the bigger kids, I filled Abby Cadabby buckets with glitter pencils, index cards, crayons and small slinkys. All of the items came from Target. They had Abby buckets in the dollar spot a few months ago. Score!

We also had treat bags for the biggest kids with crayons, index cards, pencils and candy.

We had Abby Cadabby temporary tattoos for everyone and pictures of my daughter smashing cake from her photo session a few weeks ago.

The dining room chandelier was transformed into a big pink over-the-top fixture. I just played with tulle until it was full. I added stars, feathers, and another tissue ball.

I also hung fake plastic crystals from the curls. They were $4.99 in a big carton at Michael's. I'm sure I'll find lots of use for them in the future.

I decorated the fireplace mantle with various pictures of Abby, ribbon, streamers, tulle, and tissue balls.

I hope you had fun touring our daughter's first birthday.

UPDATE: She is now almost 5 years old and we've thrown some great birthday parties! See them here:

2nd birthday- Milk and Cookies Party
We served milk and cookies as you'd imagine with a little Cookie Monster decor. The kids decorated felt sugar cookies for playing took pictures with milk mustaches. We gave them cookies to go and Nestle powder for making chocolate milk.

3rd birthday- Dolls and Doughnuts Party
This was a brunch party and the kids all came in their pajamas. We served doughnut holes, kolaches and yummy homemade breakfast treats including a rice krispies birthday cake. The kids made necklaces from Fruit Loops cereal and competed to eat a whole doughnut hanging from the ceiling without using their hands! I made the food table look like a bed complete with pillows and her favorite dolls.

4th birthday- Merry and Bright Christmas party
For her 4th birthday, we held it just before Christmas and Santa came! He read the kids a story and using wrapping paper we set up a little photo booth for everyone. We snacked on cake that looked like snowglobes and presents and simple party foods. The kids made snowglobes with baby food jars and their green handprints made a Christmas tree for Abby's room during future holidays. The guests took home advent calendars building Santa's beard with cotton balls and treat cups filled with Christmas cheer!

Oyster Crackers

I served these at my daughter's birthday party and lots of people asked for the recipe. Here it is for all of you- they are a great easy snack to share at parties or keep in your pantry! My daughter also loves them, your kids might as well!
Mix together:

1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Mix powder
1/2 t. lemon pepper, dill weed, and garlic powder
3/4 c. vegetable oil

Pour over 20 ounces (2 bags) of oyster crackers and mix up until all crackers are glossy. They'll dry up from the glossy look in a few hours. I put my crackers in a gallon baggie and then just mixed them up inside the baggie.

Enjoy!

Birthday Party Welcome Sign

This weekend is my daughter's first birthday party! I have been looking online for party ideas and found this great welcome sign on another blog. She made her sign with a ceiling tile, but I was impatient and didn't want to go to a home improvement store, so I improvised and used styrofoam from Hobby Lobby.

Her 1 is made from a cardboard number sold in the wood area that is covered in scrapbook paper. It used mod podge to attach the paper and a second coat to give it a good glaze. I then glued an Abby Cadabby (her theme) face that I cut out from one of the party hats.

The styrofoam was spraypainted blue and then I used my apply corer to make 2 holes in the top that will be used to hold the ribbon for hanging the sign.

I used inexpensive craft paint for her name and the polka dots.

Since it was styrofoam, I used straight pins to add some beads and sequence to the polka dots.

Next, I used straight pins to attach crazy trim around the outside.Finally, I ran ribbon through the holes punched earlier and tied big knots to keep the ribbon in place. I plan to hang the sign on our front door to welcome our party guests inside the celebration.

This could easily be done for other holidays or celebrations. Overall, it cost under $20 to make a big statement!

Digital Scrapbooking Slideshow

Here is a compilation of the fun you can have with digital scrapbooking- I use it for notepads, stationary, digital scrapbooks, holiday cards, and more!

Winner!

Congrats to my friend Erica who won the stamp set. I took 5,681 pictures in 2009. Dana came in a close second.

My husband's coworker claims my child to be the most photographed in America.... please tell me someone out there has taken more photos than I have!

January 2010 Desktop

Happy New Year!