Rustic 40th Birthday Party for the Hubs

Sumer time is here and that means it’s prime BBQ season! So I thought I’d share with you my husband's rustic, 40th BBQ birthday party!

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Here is the table display! The wrapped soda bottles are IBC root beer bottles, and the galvanized tins are filled with chips and popcorn. Everyone got their own brown paper bag filled with peanuts to much on while we played games and socialized during the night. Of course we had BBQ, but that food isn’t show here. We had it catered from Dickie’s BBQ and it was delicious!

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My husband Justin is a creative director and graphic designer so he designed his own custom party logo as well as all the printables to go along with the theme. we printed out the larger poster at our local Office Max and put it in a rustic fame my husband made from old stained fence wood. Justin also built the shelves used for the table display out of wood from Home Depot.

We wanted an old time, country feel, so we went to Walmart and bought the burlap and the glvanized tins. (I found the burlap to be cheaper at Walmart than at local craft stores.) The picnic table cloth, sunflowers, brown paper bags and faux lemons were bought from the dollar store. I already had the bandana fabric, so I cut it up in 8 inch squares and wrapped a fork, knife and red and white papers straw in each one. Then I placed each wrapped silverware in a mason jar with a little tag attached. There were names written on the tags to know who’s glass was who’s.

We had fun picking out all sorts of different flavored soda in glass bottles. The only place we could find lots of these sodas was at Albertson’s grocery store.

We had fun picking out all sorts of different flavored soda in glass bottles. The only place we could find lots of these sodas was at Albertson’s grocery store.

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The wrapped soda bottles are IBC root beer bottles.

Not the best photo, but the flowers and are from the dollar store and the lantern was around $4.00 at Walmart (in the camping department).

Not the best photo, but the flowers and are from the dollar store and the lantern was around $4.00 at Walmart (in the camping department).

A Party Fit for a Princess

Happy first Birthday to our little Miss Annalise! Since my oldest daughter is now fifteen, I hadn't thrown a little girl themed party in years! So I knew when Annalise turned one, I wanted to have a super elegant, storybook, dream birthday party fit for a princess!  

I started planning weeks in advance. I loved how everything turned out! It was just what I dreamed! The gorgeous custom made banner was the key to the whole table setting! It's from SweetGeorgiaSweet, and it was the perfect focal point! I love it so much!

Read more below.

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I started planning for the tables cape by searching for ideas. I knew I defiantly wanted whimsical princes tulle skirt! So that was the first thing I started working on. The first thing I started making was the ribbon and tulle table skirt. I was lucky to go to Hobby Lobby on a day when all their ribbon and tulle was half off! 

What would I do without my handy, talented husband Justin? He photographed some of these photos and edited them all for me. He's an Art Director/Graphic Designer by trade - therefore I am one lucky girl! He also built the decorative box with the gold crown on it. In fact, the crown was originally hot pink from my oldest daughter's room - so we spray painted it gold. We used the pink trimmed sheer fabric to drape the table to create a "storybook" look. (I sewed on the pink trim) The box with the crown, and fabric drape are actually from above Annalise's crib in her nursery. We just took it off the wall and nailed it to the bead board backdrop (which Justin also built). Justin and I also designed the thank you tags and personalized circle crown printables that went on the glass apothecary jars.

I ordered the cake and cupcake toppers and wrappers from Amazon. I just picked up the cake and  cupcakes from a local grocery store bakery - and added added the gold pearls and sprinkles. 

(It's much cheaper then going to a specialized bakery.) 

My favorite part of the table display was the roses cascading down the cake. There's something about fresh flowers that makes everything so beautiful! 

Cake Smashing Time!

So this isn't my typical blog post, but I had to share these fun photos of my daughter's one year old photos and cake smash photo shoot.

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We did the shoot in our home using a back drop my husband built several years ago. For the floor we used a piece of white board we bought at Lowes. 

I wanted to add some pizazz to add to the background, so I added the gold poka dot ribbons. The tissue flowers were from Party City, and the cake and balloons were from Alberson's grocery store. 

The darling custom banner is from SweetGeorgiaSweet! I love the the banner so much! I'm going to put it up in my daughter's nursery!

Kay-Lynn's Wonderland Birthday Party!

Welcome to Kay-Lynn's Wonderland!

My daughter came to me a few months ago and said she wanted an Alice in Wonderland Birthday Party! I was excited to plan such a whimsical event, and felt this party would stretch me creatively-it did!

Kay-Lynn didn't want a tea-party, but rather a Queen of Hearts look- with a vintage feel.
We were on a tight budget so a lot of the table decor came from my party storage closet!! (Including, the chess piece, the picture frame, the green rabbits, the clock, the topiaries... I even pulled the tea cups from my own dishes!) I did buy few things like the paper balls that hung from the ceiling and the cupcake wrappers. My husband even built and painted the "The Which Way"
sign with left over pallet wood in our garage!

The fourteen girls loved the decor and had a blast making edible tea cups and playing games.
It was a wonderful night had by all!

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A huge thank you to my friend Jamie Wing for making the most beautiful cookies! The girl raved about them all night long!

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My daughter found these small, 3/4 inch vials on Amazon.com, and we they filled them with strawberry soda. The girls thought they were the coolest thing in the world!

My husband and I also designed all the custom printables for all the signs. It's a huge blessing having a husband who's a graphic designer by trade.

Below are pictures of the goody bags, the card banner I made that hung on the fire place, and some more table decor. 

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Because it was a slumber party, for breakfast I turned the table around and took off some of the decor from the prior night. Then I set a place setting for each one of the girls. I put two different kinds of cereal in glass containers, and added extra touches with the ribbon and decorative sign. 

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Because my daughter wanted to be Alice, and have a Alice in Wonderland party, I thought, "Why not the whole family be Alice in Wonderland characters for Halloween?" So that's exactly what we did :)

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Scored a Home Run with this Baseball Party!

One of my favorite parties I've thrown! My son Cayden wanted a baseball birthday party- and I was thrilled to start planing it! I bought almost all the snacks at the Dollar Store, and the decor hanging from the ceiling at Party city. Once again, thanks to my husband, Justin, his mad illustrator/photoshop skills- he did an outstanding job designing the custom printables and scoreboard sign.

The eleven children had a swinging good time playing Base Ball Bingo, hitting the Baseball piñata, playing, "pin the ball in the mitt," among other fun games. It was an afternoon enjoyed by all. 

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