Getting Back In The Groove

Life has been pretty busy since my last post. I excepted a new job and had to put my daughter in daycare for the first time. After being home with her for three years and working the night shift it has been very challenging for all of us for adjust to the change of me working days and her being in daycare. She seems to enjoy her days there and has made a few friends,  but morning drop offs are still a nightmare six months later! I thought by now she would have adjusted to the change but she is still having a hard time.

My goal is to post at least once a week to my blog. Trying to set a reasonable goal for myself. I am starting to plan my daughter's 4th birthday party and thought it would be a good time to start blogging again. I can not believe that she is almost 4!! My how time flies! This year she wants a Princess birthday party. My worst nightmare comes true. She is such a little girly girl and I am so far from that that planning this party will be a challenge for me.  When she told me she wanted a Princess party this year I had no idea were to start. I knew I wanted something different than the typical princess party. I didn't want princess plastered all over the place and those bright princess colors are a little over the top for me. So I started researching and thinking of ideas that were outside of the box. Then it came to me! The ideas started flowing and I created an Inspiration Board to keep me on track! I can't wait to start sharing all my ideas with you.

Mother's Day Printables

I know! I know! It has been forever since I have posted anything. But what better time to start back up, just in time for Mother's Day!  Now that I am a Mom myself I realize all that my mother has given up for me over the years. The sacrifices that she made just to provide for me and give me a better life and for that I am truly grateful! Thank you Mom! I do not know where I would be today if it was not for you!

So in honor of my mom I found these awesome printables by Amy Mattes Design over at Catch My Party . My mom and her friend enjoy going to tea together and when I saw these printables I thought how perfect for a little tea party.

Invite

Party Circles

Cupcake Toppers

Straw Flags

Happy Mother's Day Banner

Click HERE for the Printables

ENJOY!

Spring Banner Free Printable

I think we all are ready for the Spring! I am really loving the Pink and Green Combo for Spring this year, so when I came across this banner by At Second Street I just new I had to use it for free printable day. I know, I know it was yesterday but whose keeping track! 

Image by At Second Street

This banner is simple and elegant!

Image by At Second Street

Click HERE for your free Download

ENJOY!

Catching Up!

 This has been a busy week and I have not had much time to do any posting so tonight I am catching up!


My favorite Printable this week was from The Girls at Eighteen25! I love all of their Subway Art. I printed out the one that they designed for Christmas and put it in a nice white frame and it looked awesome! I will so be printing out this one for Easter too! I love the bright vibrant colors. So simple but yet makes a big statement when you frame it! 

Image by The Girls at Eighteen25

Click HERE to get your free printable

My Tip for the week :

I find that when planning a party it is best to keep it on the small side. I like the fact that it is more intimate and you are not running around like a chicken with your head cut off. They say that for a kids birthday party  you should invite the number of children of your child's age. I find that a little hard to do but I still keep it small. My daughter just turned three and I needed to invite more than three children to the party. We have two really close family friends that between them have four kids and then my daughter has made a couple of friends and knew that I had to invite them because she would be so excited to have them at her party. So including my daughter we had six kids at the party. Which was a perfect amount of kids. I was able to do a craft, read stories, and play a game with them without feeling overwhelmed.

DYI Project: 

 OK now this is just too cute and super easy and best of all super budget friendly! Paint sample egg garland by Maddyson's Lane!  Just head on over to your local Home Depot or Lowe's and pick up some paint samples. What is better than a free project?

Image by Maddyson's Lane

Click HERE for the instructions!

Enjoy!

Marshmallow Peeps and Bunnies:

I have a soft spot for those marshmallow peeps and bunnies that come out this time of year! If a package appears in my house (I will not buy them) the first thing I have to do is cut a few holes in the package and then put them in the cabinet for a week or so until they are hard and crunchy on the outside and nice and chewy! So good!!  I have been wanting to make my own marshmallows for some time now but have not had the time to do so.  I just may have to make time after seeing these homemade cuties by The Idea Room!

Image by The Idea Room

Click HERE to get the recipe!

Enjoy!

Party On A Budget:

Looking for a cute idea for a table setting for Easter? Take a peek at this adorable table setting by The Hostess {with the mostess}.  The table setting is done with scrap book paper. I may have to take a little trip to Micheals or better yet plan a me day and take off to my favorite scrapbook store A Time for Memories in Grafton MA they have the BEST paper selection that I have ever seen.

Image by HWTM

I really like that the table setting is not overly Eastery but more along the lines of spring time colors. I am very much digging the owl paper too.

Image by HWTM

PHEW!! All caught up! I hope you enjoy all my selections for the week.  Have a great weekend!



DYI Wednsday - Wall Art

I love wall art! Decals. Vinyl Letters. Anything that I can put on the walls without damaging them is a plus since we live in an apartment.  It is also a very easy way to make a statement on your wall.  I wanted to do something similar for Ella's birthday party but was not about to use vinyl. I didn't quite know what I wanted to do and then it came to me while I was reading her The Cat in the Hat. I thought why not take a paragraph out of the book and make a boarder around the living room with it.  The best part is I did it for $2.00.  

I used my cricut and cut out 5 inch letters out of black paper (on sale at Micheals for $1.99). I wanted to be sure that they were large enough for people to be able to read. I then took some craft tack by Aleenes that I had in the house and put a little bit on the back of each letter. My husband then helped me put them on the wall because my 5ft self could not reach where I wanted them to go. 

So far I love how the boarder is coming out!

Will be finishing it tonight when I get home

from work.

Tip Tuesday - Paper Goods

Paper Goods

I find that when planning a party things can add up quickly.  I have found a way to save money on paper goods.  We usually do not have a lot of people at our parties and so I avoid the party store where I will end up with more than I need at a higher price and head on over to Walmart. They always have a nice selection of colors and in the amount that I need.  You can always check out your local dollar store too.

I picked up these paper plates and napkins.

Perfect for a Cat in the Hat party.

18 Count Paper Plates

30 Count napkins

Total Cost for both $3.00

While I was there I checked out the tissue paper. I knew that I wanted to make tissue paper pom poms at the request of my daughter who wants them at her party. I have ordered them in the past and knew it would be expensive to order them again. I did not want to spend a lot of money on tissue paper in case I failed at making them. Again I found the perfect colors and at $1.00 a piece I bought four packages.

Total cost for 4 packages of tissue paper

$4.00

The good news is I figured out how to make the tissue paper pom poms and saved myself a lot of money!

When I ordered  them in the past it cost me $30.00 plus shipping for seven pom poms. I will be able to make at least seven if not more for $4.00.

My trip to Walmart $7.00. Not bad!!



Ella's Birthday Week - Cat in the Hat

This week is birthday week in honor of Ella turning three on Thursday.  Each day this week I will share a little detail of her birthday with you. 

Last week on Tip Tuesday I said that I made one Big Mistake this year while planning her party. Today I am going to share that with you.


If you have been following me you know that I am a huge fan of printables! Since my daughter wanted a Cat in the Hat birthday this year I figured that that was the best route to go. I thought I hit gold when I found a Cat in the Hat party package at Dimple Prints on Etsy. The whole birthday package cost me $10.00 and I thought that was a great deal considering all it came with. 

 But I learned a valuable lesson when it comes to printables. I have never printed out a whole party before and I was so excited to start printing off what I needed to decorate her party with.   I started printing and not even half way through what I wanted to print my ink ran out - off to Staples I go to buy another ink cartridge. Thinking OK I can print the rest off and I should have enough ink - NOPE I was wrong. I was still not done printing off what I needed and now needed to buy a third ink cartridge. So needless to say something that I thought I was being smart buying has now cost me $60.00, which is a huge chunk out of my budget! I am using my In Laws printer since ours died and we are in need of a new computer so have not replaced ours yet. They have a small printer so the ink cartridges do not hold a lot of ink, so someone using an ink friendly printer may not run into this same problem. Don't get me wrong I still LOVE printables and will continue to use them just not print out a whole party with them!!

Here is a little sneak peak of her Invites!

At the end of the week we will see if I managed to stay on budget. Keeping my fingers crossed!