Tuesday, October 30, 2012

On Being the Tooth Fairy

On our way home from North Carolina (I really should post about my trip to my sister's!) Jocelyn started crying and saying her tooth was hurting. I was initially concerned (and I think she was, too) because she had a particularly bad cavity filled just a few weeks ago, and it had been painful prior to being filled. I had her open her mouth and show me the tooth. No cavity, it was just loose! I don't know who was happier-me or her! She was thrilled to finally have a loose tooth!
 
I forgot how it is when you are surrounded by tooth-losing friends, and you feel left out of their special "club". She was finally a member and she could not have been happier. She spent hours wiggling and wiggling her tooth-she even had our children's minister try to get it out (thanks, Mr. Jeff!). Then finally, about a week and half after we noticed it was loose, she was working on it and she asked her dad to try. He gave it a tiny tug and it popped right out! I was relieved-I had no idea that I was totally disgusted by the idea of pulling out a tooth. I flat out refused to even touch it after I realized it was loose!
 

 
She was absolutely ecstatic to finally have it out! She danced and laughed and practically couldn't even go to bed. I knew such excitement deserved a little celebration. I had already discussed with Joel that I planned on doing the "Tooth Fairy". We don't do Santa, or the Easter Bunny, but for some reason, I just like the idea of the Tooth Fairy. I think because there is no spiritual association with losing a tooth-it is just all in fun, and doesn't take the place of Jesus. Whatever the reason, I was eager to make it fun!
 
 
 
My dear friend, Kristan, suggested several months ago that I spray the money I gave Josie with glitter hairspray. It would make it sparkly fairy cash! Josie loves all things glitter, so I knew that would be a hit. Glitter hairspray is readily available this time of year, and it was only $2, so it was an easy and cheap way to make it fun.
 
 However, I didn't want to just hand over the money. I scoured Pinterest for ideas and came up with a combination of two different printables. First I printed off this "receipt" (I thought it was funny that the blogger says they only do the Tooth Fairy, too!). I thought it was a good way to identify that the gift was from the Tooth Fairy. I sprayed the note with hairspray, too.
 
I randomly decided to give her $3, probably because I had three crisp ones handy. I figured that was plenty for a 6 year-old! I only sprayed the front of the money, mostly because I didn't want a big mess. I would suggest spraying outside if at all possible- the hairspray is sticky and I had to take rubbing alcohol to my counter top to remove it all, even though I covered it with paper towels. Also, the can says to spray "in short bursts" and you should do that. It makes the glitter more even. Anyway, I know you can't really see it in the photos, but Josie recognized that it was sparkly right away!
 
After I had my receipt all printed up, I was just going to put it in a plain envelope that I had sprayed, but I decided that was too easy. After all, it was only 11 pm! I needed something better. I found this adorable set of printables! It also includes a precious note and envelope for the child to leave their tooth in. However, Josie was in bed already, so maybe we will use it next time. Aren't people so sweet to share their lovely work for free with computer illiterate people such as myself?
 
 


I put everything together and left it on the counter where she would be sure to see it in the morning. I was pretty pleased with myself and anxious to see what Josie thought. I don't even think she was expecting anything, and she was just happy to have lost her tooth!

However, when my little sleepy head found it she was very happy! She was not fooled by my tooth fairy act at all,so there was no need to keep up the subterfuge. I think the tooth fairy will keep visiting, though, just because it was so much fun! And she will come back soon, because guess who has *another* loose tooth already?!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Pumpkin Patch 2012

So, if you have ever read any of my previous pumpkin patch posts, and you aren't family (or very close friends) feel free to skip this one. Same pumpkin patch, different year.:) 
 
But we always have fun. And to me, it is actually really special to get to go to the same patch again and again. I didn't get to do the same things "every year" growing up-although we made plenty of special memories as a family, just in a wide variety of places! Anyway, I just love having our own family traditions, and getting to repeat them each year while watching our kids grow!
 
It is fun that the design and theme of the corn maze changes each year. This year it was a mining theme, and we searched to find the miners and their equipment. 

Carson was a total cheeseball every time he saw the camera. Josie and Joel, on the other hand, were all business about tracking down the clues. 

The corn this year was huge! I don't know what they are feeding that stuff, but we saw a ton of enormous ears. The stalks were really tall, too. 

The cuties and me in the corn. I love the stalks as a backdrop, and I love how peaceful the maze is. You feel isolated, yet in a serene way. Only cornstalks and blue skies as far as the eye can see...

And this ham! No, we did not pick any corn-I strictly forbid that! This piece was on the ground- great, since it looks like Joel is *actually* eating it!


Carson was in a hurry to get his pumpkin. He ended up choosing a green one (not this one, I somehow missed getting a picture of him with that one!), that looks like the "Squash" from Plants versus Zombies. He got the idea from his Uncle Steve!

Jocelyn was a little more choosy. She went for a traditional orange one.

One of Joel's favorite parts was the pigs. He was very enamored of them. I am sure they were handy to have around the farm to take care of all of the overripe pumpkins!

So, I picked a red pumpkin and a white one. And then as we were leaving ,literally- as we were pulling away in the car, I decided I *had* to have this gigantic pumpkin! Joel hopped right out and bought it for me-much sweeter than a bouquet of flowers, I think. My giant pumpkin is holding court on my porch right now over all the little pumpkins, and he makes me happy every time I see him. Joel too.;)
 
And we put a big check mark next to our annual family visit to the pumpkin patch!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Superhero Baby Shower

If you have followed my blog (or known me at all!) you know that I have decorated for quite a few baby showers.  I have to say, this one was one of my favorites! It was for a dear friend who deserved an extra special shower. This was probably the most time-consuming shower I have decorated for, but I think it was all worth it!
I thought long and hard about how to incorporate both "baby" and superhero without it being cheesy. I poured over different blogs and party sites. Most of them were more  comic book themed than actual superhero. I started by making the little capes and then realized they would be perfect with the onesies! I know, I know, my capes are all wrong (Batman's cape is black with no symbol and the Green Lantern doesn't even wear a cape! But it still looks cute!) I found the symbol templates here.

I interspersed the masks with the capes to give it some interest- this banner was probably one of my favorite elements. (Free mask template printables here!)And it looked perfect over the backdrop that Sarah (and her helpful hubby) created out of a plain white sheet! She also put together the canvases- they printed the symbols on paper and then put them on canvases wrapped with ribbon. Wasn't that clever? 

I thought it would be cute to use a coloring book as a guest book. I set it up with some crayons and invited guests to color a page and leave a message!

 My dear husband donated vintage comics from his own collection! Seriously, the comics we used for the banner, the runner and the whole books we used as additional decor were all circa 1990's. I didn't take any really great pictures of the banner, but it looked really fun. Joel cut the triangles with a paper cutter and I hot glued them to ribbon. It was a snap!

 In stiff competition for my favorite part with the onesie garland was the candy table. I loved looking at all the different candy set-ups on Pinterest, and I decided to make my own. I wrapped various boxes in paper, free-handed "windows" and "doors" and set up my little "city". I picked up all the candy at Walmart and the Dollar Store! That is also where I got the Pez dispensers.
The favors were a bit of work, but they turned out so cute. I cut all the capes out of felt and used a hole punch on the symbols, which I had printed on card stock. I printed labels that said "Thanks for celebrating Super Baby _______" with us!" I found the free templates for the symbols here.

All this candy came from the Dollar Store! The "popping candies" were a huge hit! I couldn't believe that they had so much stuff, but it probably didn't hurt that the Avengers movie just came out.

 The "Rings of Power" found a happy home amongst Mike and Ike bubblegum pieces- which were also surprise hit. They were the perfect colors.
 I love, love printing Scripture and framing it. I feel like it is so appropriate to have the Word around-especially for such a special occassion. I chose Isaiah 40:25-26, and 28-31 because it talks about so many of God's "super powers" and how He gives us His "super" strength! You can click on the photo to enlarge it.


Pretty perfect, right? But then again, isn't that how the Word is?

My sweet friend, Christy, made the beautiful cupcakes. The colors were absolutely perfect! I threw together the cupcake toppers out of card stock and toothpicks.

Sarah framed the invite, and another friend made the "spider bites"- just Ritz peanut butter sandwiches with pretzel sticks shoved in. I always think it is fun to incorporate the food in the theme.

 I think I finally have the water bottle thing figured out. Two things are necessary: packing tape and a paper cutter. I will share later on how I wrap them-I found it to be trickier than I thought. I really appreciated the free water bottle label printables, but unfortunately I didn't pin it and I can't find it!

I tried a new technique with the streamers, and I wasn't overly impressed with how they turned out, but I thought hanging them all vertically was a nice change over the traditional draping. I also made a runner out of comic book pages hot glued together. I realized you can't see it  very well in the photo-ugh!

I realized that, as usual, I forgot to photograph some things, like the cute prize bags ( superhero notepads, Pez dispensers, and stickers!) and I am super bummed that I didn't get a better photo of the comic book banner or runner, but I still think you can get a pretty good idea of how it turned out. Pretty super, right?;)


If you are interested in any of the sources I have the mask templates, superhero symbol templates, lollipop favor printables and lots of other ideas I didn't even have a chance to use, all pinned on my "Bump Bashes" Pinterest board!




Wednesday, October 17, 2012

"Candy Corn" Tulle Wreath



I have seen these tulle wreaths for a while now, and have even helped make one, but I hadn't had a chance to do one myself. I was pondering ideas for a fall wreath, and I decided it would be really cute to do a tulle take on candy corn!
 
 

These are so simple to make and only require a few "ingredients"-all from Hobby Lobby:

-An extruded foam wreath, you can use any size you like, but I chose an 8 inch one.
-Tulle in the colors of your choice. I picked traditional candy corn colors-yellow, orange, and white sparkle! I absolutely recommend using the rolls. It is sooo much easier than trying to cut full yardage tulle. HL puts them on sale for half-price and they are only about $2 per roll. I didn't use all of any of the colors except white (sparkle is only sold in 10 yard lengths, versus 25 yds for the regular colors)
-Candy corn ribbon
- I found these fun candy corn decorations in the fall section. They are basically like the hardened "Fimo" clay.

Start by cutting your tulle in 12 inch lengths. I wrapped mine around a ruler and cut it at both ends. It is quick and easy.

I found it easiest to hold the wreath between my knees to keep it steady. I used two layered pieces of tulle. I alternated orange, white and yellow to make it look like candy corn!
 
 



All I did was simply tie the tulle on- I didn't knot it. There really isn't any need. The tulle is stiff enough that it stays in place.
 
I pushed the tulle around as I went to make sure it was nice and full. It is easy to make sure that you end on the right color by simply pushing it closer together.
 
 
I made a simple loop bow- I did three figure eight loops and hot glued them to each other. I put a small single loop in the center. I glued two of the candy pieces in the center and then made ties with pieces on each end. I always attach my decorations with straight pins- especially with a wreath like this, I can remove all the components and reuse the wreath!
 
 
I used a longer piece of the ribbon for a hanger and it was done! This is such a quick and easy project- I would say it probably only took me about an hour start to finish. And it makes such a "sweet" decoration!:)
 


 
 


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