ONE {DIY Birthday Shirt}

My baby girl is turning ONE in a week!  I can hardly believe it.  Time has gone by WAY too fast.  But, I must say, I am getting excited to celebrate, and to start things off, I made her this little birthday shirt.  I am going to do a "Pinwheel" theme party--so here is what I came up with for the shirt:

 Do you want to make one?  Here's what I did:
--Grab a shirt (I used a cute little tank from Old Navy)
--Print out your number & then cut it out.  Pin the pattern to your fabric, and cut your fabric out.

 --Iron some double-sided Wonder-Under to the fabric.  **Make sure you read the instructions and iron the right side, or you may iron the paper onto your ironing board (not that I would make that mistake personally-haha).

--Cut the shape out now with the Wonder-Under

--Peel the other side of the Wonder-Under off your shape.  

 --Place onto your shirt into place and iron on.

 --Now you are ready to applique it on.  I used a small zig-zag stitch all around the 1.
--For the pinwheel, I used this great tutorial.  I used a 2" square of fabric.  This was SUCH A FUN TUTORIAL!  I made SEVERAL that I will use for the party.  So cute!

Then, to finish things off, I made this fun matching headband.  I am hoping she will leave it on longer than 2 minutes (She has discovered that she can pull bows/flowers/ headbands off her head).  I made the headband like I made THESE.

I am so excited for her big day!  Happy Birthday baby girl!

My 4th of July Mantel

I know the 4th of July is coming up, so I thought I'd give you a quick peek at my Independence Day Mantel.

 Decorating with BEANS!!  Don't you love it!

 My sisters made me this fun banner.  Don't you love it!  I have the best sisters EVER!

Happy Independence Day!

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting {A Ninja Party}

My son turned 6, and what better way to celebrate than with a Ninjago birthday party!  What 6-year-old boy doesn't love a little Ninja mixed with Legos!  Well, here is what I did for those of you thinking about throwing a Ninja party yourself.

The Birthday Shirt:

Cole of course wanted a "6" shirt, but I didn't want anything too cheesy or childish.  I decided on a throwing star with a 6.  Then on the back, I did his name.  I simply printed out a template, then cut out the fabric (2 layers of knit).  Then I stitched them on.  I used the font "Last Ninja" for the lettering and the throwing star.  It's free--so just google it.

Ninja Headbands:

I followed these instructions for the headbands.  But, to make it EASIER (much), I sewed the right sides out & just did a rolled hem at the bottom rather than having to turn the tube inside out (I tried one that way, and it was going to take WAY too long.)

Throwing Stars:

 Beforehand, I had made throwing stars for all the kids using these instructions.  The boys got to decorate their own star, and then they took turns aiming and throwing them at some balloon targets.

Ninja Moves:

 We let each of the boys take a turn showing off their Ninja moves.  My husband held the balloons for them to use as a punching/kicking bag.  It was pretty funny watching them each with their own little Ninja style!

The Pinata:

No party at my house is complete without a pinata.  If you are interested in making your own pinata, take a look at this past post.  It was funny though.  I made the pinata pretty strong (thinking we could have 15 boys needing to get a good whack at it).  Well, the strings broke after round one, but the pinata was still strong.  So, we decided to let the kids kick it, karate chop it, and even head-butt it.  Very funny!

 The Cake:

After looking online for different ideas, this is what I came up with.  It wasn't quite like how I had planned in my head, but I was happy with how it turned out.  I used 2 cake rounds for the bottom.  Then used a large pyrex bowl to create the dome portion of the head.  For the eyes, I just used tootsie rolls (regular flavor & vanilla).  I just rolled them out flat.

What a fun party!  I sure love that boy of mine!  It's hard to believe he is 6!

Father's Day REPOST

Last year I made a Father's Day Questionnaire.  You can see the original post HERE.  Well, it is one of my most visited posts, so I thought with Father's Day just around the corner, I would repost it--And give you all a link to the questionnaire.  Hooray!

Here is a picture of what my son came up with last year:

I am excited to have my kids fill them out again this year.  I think it will be fun to compare them to last year.  I just LOVE seeing the things kids come up with!

Click HERE to download your own copy.  It might take a minute.  If it doesn't work, please let me know!

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Is it summertime for you yet?  My kids still have a week and a half of school left--ugh!  I think I was ready for school to be done a few weeks ago.  Oh well.  But while I am anxious, I know we will all go a little crazy in my house if we don't have some FUN things planned.  To help with this, I created this:

I love when a project comes together how I have planned in my mind!  This little project started brewing in my mind after seeing similar kinds of things on other blogs.  I have had these cute little buckets and the little rod for quite sometime--just been waiting for the right project.  Finally, I figured out what I needed them for!

Here is what I did:

I just used Q-Tips for this.  You don't need very much.  I just spread some along the corners, edges, and randomly through the middle of the board.

To paint the wording, I used the same process I always use when making signs.  Find out HERE.

After I painted the letters, I did a little more sanding over the whole thing--mostly just to give the wording that worn look to match the rest of the board.  Then I just hung the rod.  Simple!

For the buckets, I decided to have one full of activities for me to do with the kids while the husband is at work (or sleeping--he works nights), one full of Family activities, and an empty one to fill up with the activities we actually do (hopefully it will be full by the end of the summer).

I am so excited.  My kids are too--in fact, we did our first activity this afternoon.  We made THESE delicious cookies that I pinned a few weeks ago. Delish!

Hooray for summertime!