Party Time! Library Baby Shower!

Earlier this year (yes I am aware that it is only March but this party took place in January so give me a break!) I helped plan a party to celebrate that Best Friend is expecting her first baby!

As a little background on Best Friend and her Hubby I should tell you that they are both post secondary teachers, they are both supper geeky and supper fun! But most of all they love love love books! I mean LOVE books, Best Friend got encyclopedias for Christmas last year and she was so excited, I mean thrilled... that's how much they love books!

So when planning a shower for their little bundle that is soon to arrive what else could I do other than a library theme!


Best Friends mom provided a lot of the decor as she had picked up most of it at a big party store in Florida during her last trip down south! (It is my dream after seeing what was brought back and hearing about this store to go there and shop for every party I will ever plan!)

So here you have it the Library Baby Shower!

 These super simple centerpieces are simply my kids books straight from their bookshelves at home, I stacked them and used a bull dog clip to put the quote on top written on a library card!

I added the expectant parents as the authors on the library cards and made the due date the babies due date of course and then I used them for everything from the centerpiece toppers to the game cards. (we played Baby item Price is right! Daddy Knows best and the more traditional games like guess the baby's birth time and weight)

 I knew exactly what kind of cake I wanted to use for this shower and after trying to make it perfect and with only fondant I resigned to the fact that well... it wasn't going to happen, but I still got the look I was going for. (hardest part of this cake was trying to make sure that one breast wasn't too much bigger than the other... it was a riot!)

Best Friend and her fabulous Momma did up the favors and the poem from one that I had posted on my Pinterest party idea board and it came out so cute! I love the tiny Chinese food boxes and I think that the poem on the scroll really worked with the theme.

We also had the guest fill out wishes for baby cards (see link below) which I think was the sweetest part there are so many nice comments on them for both Best Friend and Baby J to read and re-read over the years!

To top this off I had written a poem for the invites which let the invited guests know that rather than bring a card we wanted to build a library for the baby and to bring a book! (so not my original idea but it worked for us!) I just have to share... (please if you like it use it but be sure to credit me or at least don't say that you came up with it in your brilliant little head... thanks!) We did most of our inviting on Facebook, which I know to some is considered tacky but hey it worked for us, so I don't have any photos of the invites to share.

Our favorite stories stay with us as we grow,
Both ____ and ______ love to read as we know!
So when planning a shower to greet Baby _____
There was no better theme for us to go with!

Lets build a library fit for this girl,
bring a book in place of a card, lets give it a whirl!
Write your message just inside of the cover
for Baby _____ to read and discover.

In just a short time she will learn how to read!
What a smart little girl and you helped plant the seed!
Join us for a game or two or three
and if a treat you'd like to bring please do check with me...

Were inviting you to share in the baby shower joy
Help us shower this baby and remember its NOT A BOY!
Meet us at the Hotel from 1 until 3
The beautiful Momma to be you will see!

Need help with a gift well that is just a snap!
If you prefer give your computer keys just a tap...
Online number: (fill in info here!)

Or if you are one to shop till you drop
At Toys-R-Us is where you should stop!
(fill in info here!)

We hope you will join us at this her first party
We will have lots to do so please don't be tardy!

Find the items that I used through the links below!
Library Cards
Wishes for Baby

If you would like the printable for the games that I used please email me or leave a comment and I will gladly email you the word document to personalize and print for your showers!

Our little shower went over very well everyone had a great time, complimented the theme and asked where did you get the library cards!

Hope this gives you some inspiration for your parties in the future!

Kid Craft! Thanksgiving Turkeys!

This Thanksgiving myself and Delaney took it upon ourselves to make a few super cool TURKEYS!

No we didn't make the dinner and serve it up for our family and friends but we made a few decorations for the dinner table to show just how happy we were that it was turkey day and what we were thankful for!

Now I'm not gonna lie I got inspired by many posts on Pinterest and I am sure that I am not the only Momma to think this up and post it on her blog so I will preface this craft by saying that I am in no way saying this was my own idea... lets face it I'm just not that smart!

So here is how we got our turkeys started...

For our Thankful turkey I cut out feather shapes from cardboard that I felt were Fall colored and I asked Delaney and all of our family members what they were thankful for.... notice that even little Max got in on the action... (Delaney insisted that we include some from Max and then said what she felt he was thankful for)

Then with double sided tape I added them to the back of a toilet paper roll but you could very easily replace that with glue....

For our other turkey I had Delaney trace her hand on more Fall colored cardboard and then I cut them out and we stuck them to the back of another roll... (sorry I was kinda busy watching a 4 year old eye the scissors to take any photos but its pretty self explanatory anyway...)

Finally we added googly eyes and a beak and then drew on the feet!

Presto two adorable centerpieces for our Thanksgiving table!

Sesame Street Party! DIY Balloon Wreath!

So as you likely already know Max celebrated his BIG FIRST BIRTHDAY this past weekend if you follow Momma Made It on Facebook you may also know that Max had a party on Sunday that was Sesame Street Themed! (Yes I like theme parties and yes I start them young!)

So as with all parties (which you can see here, and here) I like to make some if not all the decorations as well as the cake and the food and the invites and the list goes on... so since both our kids have August birthdays I have been crafting and DIYing for months trying to get everything just right...

One of the first things that I wanted to make was one of those cool Balloon Wreaths, with the logic that 1)It looks awesome and 2)I can reuse it every year no matter the theme.

So I pinned one (similar to the one above) on Pinterest and thought nothing of it until it was time to get crafting.

However when you click HERE to check out the cool project and start to DIY it wasn't quite what I thought.... you actually buy a straw wreath and floral pins then pin the balloons into the wreath....

Well since I couldn't find a straw wreath in my budget (yeah that means at the dollarama) I bought this ugly thing that apparently keeps up flowers that you plant in your garden... I have a black thumb and don't plant so clearly I needed to find a new use for it.

So away I went with bags and bags of assorted sized of balloons, this interesting thing and an IDEA!

Once home I (and by I, I mean Robyn) sorted all the assorted balloons into color groups.

 Then I actually tied each balloon around the wire hoop....

From there you just alternate colors and and keep tying... I watched a whole episode of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe while doing this, it goes quick and doesn't take any more skill then tying a knot... I found that the assorted sizes made for more interesting texture on the wreath, some are large and some are flat and some are the twisting balloons... its just more FUN!

Soon you end up with this... and you can jazz it up a little by wrapping a pipe cleaner around the wreath and twisting the end so that it is a bit more forward than your balloons...

Then it's just hang it at your party and enjoy how pretty it is and all the complements on it when you tell friends, family and other adoring mothers that "Yes I made it and it was so easy!"

So even though its not your traditional balloon wreath I think it looks good and will as I hoped suit any party we have for Max in the future... I can see it now.... Lego, or Rainbow, or The Very hungry Caterpillar or Pirates or, or, oh man do I dread the day when the kids don't want to have theme parties anymore....

Do you DIY your party decor? or do you DIY/ make it your own other DIY projects for your kids parties? Share your party ideas in the comments I'd love to hear all about your theme parties!

PS Look for a full over view of the party before the Weekend and then more DIY projects next week!

50th Birthday Party! Record Cupcake Stand!

As I have mentioned before we celebrated my Mom's 50th birthday with a great party with family and friends and a super fun purple black and gold/record theme...

And if you have been reading for a while you will know that when it comes to parties I love to make as much of the decor and anything else that I can... not only because it makes it more cost efficient but also because it makes it more personal. If you make even the little things you are making things that show your guests a little more about the person you are honoring.

For my mom's party I knew there would be cupcakes... what's a party without cupcakes!
And when there are cupcakes you need cupcake stands... These were super easy to make and pretty frugal too!

This is what you need!

(Yes I have a zebra glue gun! It's kinda awesome! hehe)

We got our records at a second hand store for $1 or less, the spacers are just plastic disposable cups we got at the dollar store and the glass filler is just Easter grass... so total each stand cost about $2 or less.

I just hot glued the cups to the records after I filled the cups with the Easter grass... took about 5 minutes for each stand!

But we didn't just use them for the cupcakes but also as center pieces on the tables with the favors as well!

Simple, fast and cute too! 

I still have a few more projects to show and I can't wait to share them!

Halloween highlights! Halloween Bat Decorations!

I don't know about you but our Halloween decorations have been up for about 2 weeks now! We really like Halloween around here! 

But I know some people wait till the day of or the day before, so are you looking for an easy Halloween decoration?

 Sparkly Flying Bats!

You could certainly make these with your older kids or you can do most of the work and get your younger kids to help out with the decoration of the bats!

These are super simple!

Just cut out a bat shape on black paper.

Then decorate with glitter or googly eyes and put them up on the wall. Try to cover up how you stuck them on the wall (I used painters tape on the back of my bats but you could use sticky tack as well.) and they will look like they are flying up your wall!

Easy Peasy and super cute!

How do you decorating for Halloween? Do you make decorations (on your own or with your family)? I'd love to hear all about it in the comments!

Inspiration for the Kiddos room!

As I have mentioned before Delaney and Baby Max (whose arrival may seem far away to some, much closer to me as I get bigger and bigger and less able to walk the length of myself without 1. having to pee and 2. stop to catch my breath....) will be sharing a room for as long as we are living in this apartment. 

As I very well know he will not be spending lots of his time in there but, I still want to redecorate the room which is now purple so that its not an obvious GIRLS room when he gets here. 

I mentioned here that I am planning to paint the room green (we finally picked the perfect green  "New Grass" by CIL and picked it up today) and that Max's side will be accented with Blues and oranges, and Delaney's side with Pinks and Purples! 

Well here is a better idea for you of my "vision..." Whether it looks like the photos below or not when complete I can not guarantee but here is what I see in my head... 

I am in love with the owls and the circle/bubble themes available right now and I think that this "Retro" owl from WallFry is the perfect combo of the colors I love and the owl and circle theme I am liking for Max's side of the room.

Photo and art credit: http://wallfry.blogspot.com/
 
This one is a close up of a canvas for sale on etsy its actually very big and is a picture of three trees, but I am thinking I just like the bubble look up close.

 

Photo and art credit: http://www.etsy.com/listing/52173614/modern-orange-aqua-poofy-flowers-fabric

 

And this was just too cute not to add plus this was the song that we used as the processional song at our wedding... well "All you need is love" but I think this is such a cute idea!

photo and art credit: http://thecolorbee.blogspot.com/2011/04/owl-you-need-is-love.html

 

I plan on incorporating these ideas in the art work I make myself because as we all know I like to do things myself!

However the other side, Delaney's side may look a little more like this as she is a bit obsessed with a certain girl who is berry sweet....

Photo from and item available at: http://strawberry-shortcake.allaboardtoys.com/strawberry-shortcake-live-to-dance-pillowcase.html

Photo from and item available at: http://www.roommatespeelandstick.com/walldecals/strawberry-shortcake-wall-stickers.aspx?affid=cj

However in all honesty I will likely be just putting up the art work that my sister made for her as well as her butterfly 3d art (my sister made these too and I will be posting about them very soon!) and maybe a Strawberry Shortcake picture or two... 

So there you have it bubbles and owls in orange and blue opposite Strawberry Shortcake in purple and pink. 

I only hope that it turns out as cute as it is in my head and not completely opposite and disjointed as it looks here on the blog....

Cool Kitchen Art!

A few years back when Robyn and I were living in our first apartment together I found it hard to find something nice to hang in the Kitchen that went with everything and that was super cheap.... 

So I made these great shadow boxes for our Kitchen....

And they have moved to every place we lived and have looked great in every place!

Since I clearly wasn't blogging then I figured I'd give you the run down in 4 easy steps (without pictures) as to how I made them.

First I bought three wooden shadow boxes at the dollar store. 

Second I painted them white 

(but you can really paint them any color that suits your kitchen.)

Third I picked up a few cheap metal kitchen utensils and hot glued them into the shadow boxes 

And fourth I placed the glass back in! 

Super cheap at about 2 bucks each, one for the box and one for the utensil and super easy, just paint and glue! 

The best part is you can choose what ever utensils you like and personalize it to your Kitchen, as long as they fit in the shadow box! (I love the idea of doing all baking things for bakers or cooking tools for a chef or cook!)

Here again are mine close up!

 The whisks

The peeler 

And the measuring spoons

(sorry about the glare even in daylight I couldn't get a good picture!)

Have you made anything great for your kitchen? It's so hard to find kitchen projects that can spruce up your kitchen in a rental...