In an old house in Paris....

...that was covered with vines lived 12 little girls that walked in 2 straight lines!
I wanted to share some pictures from my daughter's birthday party. She really enjoys the Madeline stories,  so I thought that it was a perfect idea to run with!
The colors are so very bright and fun!

 

My amazing sister was a huge help to me with this. She has a cricut and also has recently started a party business. The worst part is that she lives on the other side of the country, but that did not stop us! I mailed her the paper and she put that little guy to work! 

Check out her blog here:

 The Party Bees

When all of the cutting was done, I got this happy box filled with all kinds of goodies! All I needed to do was put them together. (I was trying to save her a wee bit of time!)
I embossed the Eiffel Tower just to add some glitz!

Here is the inside...I don't have all of it showing. I can't have everyone showing up to my house! But you get the idea! I also had made a little bookmark that went in with a picture of Madeline so they could get an idea what this was all about! Some of the girls had not heard of the story, so this was a perfect way to introduce them to this sweet story! Many of them headed off to the library to check out the stories.

The thing I loved about this party was the most of it was MADE, and it was made from paper! Just a few trip to the Dollar Store, and I was ready to go! Also, I used a lot of things that I had around the house. Want another way to add a real special touch to your event? Rent/borrow/beg to have nice linens at your party. I am so blessed to have a dear friend who has all kinds of different table cloths and chair tie's (if you want her contact info, send me a note in my contacts). You can even use scrapes of fabric to make a chair tie. Try an old scarf too. Don't forget to hit garage sales! You never know what kind of fabric that someone else might be getting rid of.  It could be perfect for your event!

 Here is a quick picture of what the table looked like before I added the rest of the chairs. How fun is the red and white stripes? The newer versions on the Madeline's story is a beautiful shade of red, blue, and yellow.

Here the table is set with all the rest of the chairs. Don't you love the colors? I had invited 12 little girls, but not all were able to make it. But that's OK, we still had such a wonderful time. And you know the best part? These little 4 and 5 year old behaved like such little ladies! I think that they just felt special and loved! It was a total little ladies party!

 The table setting...the plates are all from the Dollar Store. I love the squares! And the square chargers are 12x12 scrapbook paper that I got on clearance at Michael's. I knew that I was going to have a nice linen on the table and I thought that this wold be a great way to add a splash of color and protect the fabric from the little French gals!

I know that the milk bottles are really popular, but they can be pricey and hard to find. And then there are the mason jars. Fun, and you can use them again for canning or gifts filled with goodies. I got some cupcake liners in the same color and used them all over the part. I purchased them in 2 different sizes and used them as a base for lot's of the decorations. Here you can see a Eiffel Tower that my sis cut out. I used glue dots for them and added the girls name to each one as a place card setting and a gift.
I love the straws! And they were a bargain! .08 each! You can purchase them here at  thinkgarnish

The centerpiece were fresh roses and the iron Eiffel Towers were borrowed from a friend. I added a mini-flag banner. Thanks sis! So cute and I love the ribbon. I would wait till they were 50% to purchase the rolls of ribbon.

 Of course, you can add a little Madeline Doll that was a gift for her birthday. The perfect addition! You can find these on-line a different stores.

 

Here is another fun and ver inexpensive way to add a fun touch to the party...decorate the window. Again, a total of $2.00 from a trip to the Dollar Store. I got two rolls of yellow wrapping paper and used painters blue tape to attach it to the window. I thought that this would be a fun backdrop to the table. As you can see, it does not cover it in a perfect sheet. But I have big windows here people! Plus, I am pretty sure that they did not notice this.

I really wanted to the girls to feel like they were in the book, or Paris. Plus, it make for a fun place to take a picture of them! I got a sharpie marker, and held the Madeline book in my hand to draw. The fun part is the illustrations are very free and not perfect, 

so it was easy to draw. My daughter just loved it when she saw it. 

And that made it worth it!

It was hard to get a good picture of it, but you can get the idea.

Of course, this was a great place to add another flag banner. All made from scrapbook paper and the circut.

 $3.00...yes, that how much it cost for this banner. How much time? A bit, but it was worth it when I saw it up. I was originally going to have a total of 4, but that might have a been a bit much, and I was running out of time! Fishing line and crape paper! 2 rolls for a $1! Twist, twist,twist,  pull...twist, twist, twist...that is how you make this! :~)

Of course I made these! Did you think I would not? I did...I was going to give up it, then they day before here party I just to make them. A couple of yards of felt, red ribbon, coupon, check! Leftover white trim and a hot glue gun and I am good to go! They were so cute on and Shelby loved handing them out to each girl when they arrived. They hats are...yes, Dollar Store. One set of paper bowls and one set of paper plates. I had some blue satin ribbon leftover that was perfect to tie them off with!

Let's eat! A cupcake tower is always fun, easy, and cute! With the help of a very excited birthday girl, she was all about icing and sprinkles! I made the pinwheels and the little cards.

 

Here is how to make the pinwheels: DYI on PinWheels

Sorry about the pencil lines on this picture! Yikes! Guess I forgot to erase those ones. Folks, this is what happens when you do these things at a very late hour of the evening...

 More food...another pretty linen draped over the counter!

Here is a fun way to add some color...for almost free. These are some glass containers that were a hand-me-down. My son, who was a great helper that day, took on this project. A few drops of food coloring to water and you are good to go!
And for some reason, I had a whole other table filled with food, and I did not get a picutre of it! Such a bummer. I had croissants, a pretty tray of meat and cheese. A veggie tray and a bucket of waters. Oh well, by the time I was going to take a picture of that, the guests arrived it was gone from my mind till afterwards. Oh well!

Let there be favors! I am always on the hunt for something different and fun!
Plus a good deal!

These fun berry boxes are from the same place as the straws: think garnish

What a deal for .60! I had to dress them up a bit! Nothing that a can of spray paint won't fix. Add a label and there you go!

One of my favorite things were the Eiffel Tower crayons. I was going to make them myself...and etsy came to the rescue!!! Please visit:MyLittleOtter

Do you not just love these crayons! She has them is a ton of different styles! By the time your try do this yourself, it's just not worth it. She does all the work for you! And she has just the sweetest designs. Plus she can make custom colors for you and your party to match the theme! They even came in a little bag. I just tied a bow on them!

 

While the girls were eating I read them the Madeline story and we played Bingo. It's one of Shelby's favorite games!

Hard to believe that she is 5 years old! Love this face! Even though she has a silly smile going on! She loved her party!

 Thanks for looking and I hope that this will give you some ideas!

Our Fairy Garden Get's Published!

 Check out the cover of our local Kids Celebrate Magazine! We are just so excited that our Little Boo is on the cover of this sweet publication!

 

Click on the link below to see the full article!  

You can also search my blog for more details on how we built the Fairy Garden! Look to your right, and there is a link for "Popular Posts." Or you can search for Fairy Gardens!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit! 

Please leave a comment if you found me from Kids Celebrate!

/http://www.kidscelebratemagazine.com/

How to age a Terra Cotta Pot

Well, it's been forever and a day since I have posted anything. School stared, then preschool, PTO, and the list goes on!
I did this a while ago, but I still wanted to share this. It's a great way to age your plain terracotta  clay pots. This would work on a new one, or even some that you may have laying around your backyard!

Here is what the set looks like. Now, these for some centerpieces at that I did for our church. When they were done, they had some silk flowers in the saucer. We thought that it sort of has a birdbath look to it.

Here is how to get the look:

Get yourself a clay pot. You don't have to add the saucer if you don't want to.

You will need:

1) All Purpose Joint Compound. This stuff is a miracle in a bucket. They are so many things that you can do with this product!
This bucket was from Home Depot for under $7.00

2) Cream paint or any other shade to your liking. Any water based paint would work. Plus you will want some earth tone colors for the aging process.

3)Sea Sponge. Remember when these were all the rage for faux finishing?

4) "Knife" or blade to spread the Joint Compound onto your pot.

 

First, you want to give your clay pot 1-2 coats of paint. Make sure that you get a nice even coat on. Let this dry...here in AZ that takes about 20 minutes! In this photo, you can see that I would just put the Joint Compound on in certain places on the pot. I used the blade to add the compound and then use a damp sea sponge to lift and give the mud a little more texture.
Now it's time to say goodnight and let this dry until the next day.

If you feel that your "peaks" might be a little too high, take a sanding sponge to knock and smooth this off. Make sure that you do this step outside and wear a mask. 

Drywall dust can be nasty!

Brush on the earth tone colors in a random patter. I made sure that the acrylic paint was watered down a bit so that there was flow to it. And I also tried to keep the color on the "mud."

Time to bust out that sea sponge again! Make sure it is damp also, and blend in the brown color to give it a soft look. You could add a couple of different shades at the stage too. When the browns were about dry, I added a green just with the sea sponge to make it look like moss was growing in certain places.

So there you have a fun and really inexpensive way to age your pots! This gives them a look like there were in a garden for centuries!

How to attract a Fairy to your backyard...

My daughter is in love with all things Fairy. She has such a great imagination! So I thought that this would be a good way to keep that going. She is always asking questions about Fairies...where do the live? Where do they go to the bathroom, and so-on. So with a few things that I had around the backyard and a couple of Dollar Store supplies, we made our very own Fairy House!

This really has to be about the most fun that we have had in a while. OK, so I admit, I went a little nuts with this one. But I could not stop. It was SO fun to dig through things and come up with things for this Fairy House!

Here is how you want to get started...It would have been cute to build this right at the base of a tree, but I was worried about the elements. Plus I wanted something that she could sit at. I found this old plastic pot in my garden. You could use any container. You just need to make sure that it is large enough to hold a good amount of dirt for your plants. I actually have this hooked up to our drip system, so it will get some water every few days in case the fairy mama forgets to water it.

Make sure that you fill the bottom with a hand full of small rocks for drainage. And add some good potting soil. ( I never have to buy this because we compost)

We had so much fun picking out "miniature" plants. I wanted a couple of things that would trail off the side of the pot. So that is why I got the ivy. But this little beauty works perfect for something small. I headed over to where the succulents were for something small. Doesn't this make the perfect fairy plant or what?

 I am lucky enough to have a brother-in-law that does wood working. He always has scrapes of wood and bark around. He saved a few pieces for me and they worked perfect! You might be able to find scrapes in your own yard. Or a park, the beach, hiking in the woods, or maybe scrapes of wood from your local hardware store. I nailed a couple of piece to the top to form a roof. For the inside, I used wood glue to attach the different levels. I had some extra silk leaves that I hot glued to the roof. 

S loved putting all the decorations around the pot. I got the moss covered rocks from the Dollar Store. We found some miniature wood craft sticks that we used for the picket fence. Gems and stones make up the different paths.

The swing was made from some grape vines that I cut back from the winter. I saved some because I knew that they would be perfect for fairy construction. 

We have tons of shells that we have saved from the beach, and they are just the perfect accessory for building fairy furniture! I used some floral wire to attach the shell to our swing, Some extra silk flowers I had were hot glued to the top for some color.

Garden gazing ball.

Our fairy bed was a hoot to make! We found a small gift box lid. The added some batting and a scrap of fabric for the blanket. The mini-craft sticks make up the headboard. Flowers and beads finish it off.

Shells, flowers and sticks with a sunflower middle make up this sweet kitchen chair!

Little shells make great dishes! We used more craft sticks and shells to make the table. I am loving those little things!

 A chandelier over the table.

 A pedestal sink and a bathtub! We want our Fairy's to be clean! 

 S wanted a light on top of the house so that the Fairy's could find the house!

Let the fun begin! S loves her Fairy house! It's so fun for her to go and check on it every day to see if we have had any visitors! There are a lot of web sites that sell Fairy accessories. So if you feel like you can not come up with your own furniture and other fairy things, you can always order on-line. But for us, it was more fun to create our own with what we had!

Sorting out Summer!

Kids are on summer break here! So it's time to get creative with things to do! I wanted to have a craft station for the kids. I usually keep things in the closet, but this is a fun way to 

have it out to get those creative juices going!

 

I have seen a few ideas out there for organizing a craft station. But this was super cheap! Almost free!

I got the blue tray from the Dollar Tree. I try to always save and wash small glass jars and the lids. There are so many things that can be used for. So now, when it's time to make a craft, I can just pull this out and they are good to go! I am for sure going to go back and get more the of the glitter glue! You get 10 sticks for a $1! Plus they have a lot of other random crafts things that you can get. Why pay for a summer camp when you can do your own?

Sure, this is not very fancy at all. But the kids liked making it with me! I have a link here:eighteen25

These ladies have given you a print that you can print out yourself and frame it! 

 So cute! I hope that this can give you some ideas of ways to keep your kids busy!