Mint and Gold Party

You know what they say if you are throwing a party. If it can go wrong, it will. 

In this case, I decided to get ice cream cake. You know, because this birthday party had a mint color scheme and mint chocolate chip ice cream is awesome. Notice there is no cake on that cute little cake stand from Hobby Lobby.

That's because ice cream melts. Especially on a hot day in May.

It melts very quickly, actually.

So we took it out, snapped one quick picture, and put it back in the ice chest.

Where it melted anyway.

But it tasted great.

I filled apothecary jars with mint chocolate chip meringues from Tuesday Morning, pearl gumballs, and Ferrero Rocher with the stickers and bottom wrappers taken off. They were perfect with the gold streamers we sewed and fringed. (Want some? Convo me on Etsy @ SissyBoomsPartyRoom.) A milk glass footed bowl was filled with brownie bites.

I made a mini picture banner with tags from Target Dollar Spot and Teresa Collins frames with Instax mini Polaroid pics. I cut out letters on mint paper to spell Happy Birthday.

The goody bags were from Target and Target Dollar Spot. I believe these were part of the Christmas stuff. Inside the treat bags was a L'oreal lip gloss from Dollar Tree and Jamberry nail stickers.

My daughter had to have the milk bottles with mint chevron paper straws and chalkboard labels. She added paper flowers from Michael's and labeled them with each guest's name with mini gold alpha stickers from the Dollar Spot. 

The tassels are Teresa Collins.

Invitations were mint and gold dot note cards from Target Dollar Spot with Party spelled out in more mini alphas. I just printed the party info on labels and stuck them inside. Super easy. Also added a few gold sequins to the envelope.

Thanksgiving Chalk Art

My chalkboard is sporting a Quote by Oprah Winfrey that I thought entirely appropriate for thanksgiving. 

 

 

  

 

Linked up at www.uncommondesignsonline.com.

 

Halloween Chalkboard

You may remember the history behind this repurposed chalkboard from here and here . I am so glad I left the frame gold. I love it in my dining room. My walls are not khaki, btw. It's amazing how paint colors change in different light and on the computer screen.

I'm so so ready for Halloween! I cannot wait to trick-or-treat in my new neighborhood. And my daughter has the cutest costume this year. 

So I can't help but want to copy all of the cute chalkboard art that comes out at this time of year.  You can purchase the original on etsy.com. It is much, much smaller than this one, so it would be super cute on a fireplace mantel or wherever you have your Halloween vignette set up. A dining room buffet, maybe?

The flies came from Dollar Tree! I love them! They are so cute and glittery.

Now to finish my outdoor display and mantel...

Chalkboard Art

Saw this: 

Made this:

This is the huge chalkboard in my dining room. I love changing the message. Next up-something Halloweenish! Yay! I can't wait for Halloween. I just moved to a neighborhood where people decorate and celebrate, so I have been buying decorations like crazy. I need to put them out!!!

Gender Reveal Party

New babies are cause for celebration!

The baby quilts in this antique dresser drawer were special because one was Mom's baby quilt and one was Dad's. How sweet is that?? Perfect for the vintage theme of this gender reveal party.

Every party needs a banner.

Rolled tissue flowers on foam core were used for this question mark on the old reclaimed barn wood wall.

I love this old door with the shelf added to make it functional. One basket held tie pins. One held tutus. These were cut out with the Cricut machine. Each guest guessed (ha!) boy or girl by choosing a pin and wearing it.

I don't know why I don't have a picture, but we revealed the gender with tubes of confetti thrown at the couple. 

The Rest of the Wedding Story

Sparkly chandeliers with antique armchairs and burlap make me want to describe this wedding as 

Rustic Vintage Luxe.

The bride and groom's table was set with lots of flowers. Two antique chairs were used as seating with wooden plaque signs for Mr. and Mrs.

Jackie's awesome table arrangements. I loved the droopy greenery and wildflower sort of look to them. Because we could not find anything but silver or gold, we spraypainted candelabras oil rubbed bronze.

Guest tables were draped in burlap with moss runners. We continued the vintage look with old Ball jars and glass baby food jars as vases.

 The wedding cake was displayed on my great-grandmother's old table with mason jars. The bridesmaid's put their bouquets in the jars when it was time for pictures. We made a wall with old pallet wood to hang the chalkboard on and spray painted a chandelier that I got for $12, yes $12, from a consignment sale. It was a bright gold color that is not fashionable so Jena ripped out the light bulb sockets and we stuck candles in it.

Fleur-de-lis groom's cake was displayed on a burlap skirted table decorated with enormous fishing lures and ducks. We used a lot of burlap, ya'll.

Every groom should have a cigar bar at his wedding. With a chalkboard to point the way.

At a rustic wedding, you need old doors laid across old wine barrels to display the buffet. What's behind the white curtain? Well, it ain't Oz. That is how we hid the kitchen.

Strings of lights were hung on sheperd's poles (potted plant hangers?) to light the way from the church to the pavilion.

View from afar of the reception pavilion. I love the huge burlap curtains, lights draped from the ceiling, and moss covered monogram.

I loved, loved, loved this drinks table. What could be more fitting at a rustic wedding than extra large mason jar punch, water, lemonade, and tea dispensers? With burlap skirting on the bar, of course. 

  

The wedding took place at Acadian Village, so chalkboard arrows directed guests to the chapel. Instead of the school. Or stables.

Pew decorations were simple greenery tied with-you guessed it-burlap.

You can see more details from this wedding here.

A great time was had by all! Maybe we'll invite you to the next one!

Owl Party

Yoo-hoo!  It's that time of year again!  Time for a birthday party! 

With all of the cute owl stuff out there, I could not resist doing an owl party.  I made these owl invitations to match.  I love how the wings move by using mini brads.  (I actually had to do that so they would fit in the envelope.) 

                    Foam squares under the eyes make them pop.  Inspiration came from here.

So glad I decided to use a round table this year.  I found the plastic tablecloth at Target and was so happy that it was long!  (That is not a cute table under there.)  The napkins were held down with a wooden 8 from Hobby Lobby.  The forks were contained in a small flower wall vase, which I have a small collection of.  My sister, Jena, and I made the  circle streamers with a circle punch, scrap paper,  and sewing machine.

Good thing my mom knows how to make cakes, cause I am not prepared to dish out big bucks for something that gets eaten!  The owl on top was a cookie. 

This is one of my favorite birthday banners ever.  I used real doilies under the letters for more texture. The letters were cut with the "Vintage Findings" cartridge for the Slice machine.  I love this color scheme.  Love the long satin ribbons (my sister's idea.)  The best part?  I already had all of the supplies for it! 

Treat bags this year were a lot of work, but I loved them!!   I stole the birdcage idea from a friend at work. She had a very similar cage with a chalkboard stuck in at a baby shower. I thought it would make a perfect spot for the goodie bags (since owls are birds, after all). 

Party favors were paper owls sewn together to form a pouch with friendship bracelets and bottlecap magnets inside. The kids had to rip them open to get the treats.

You can't see it, but the little card said, "It's been a HOOT!" My daughter wrote those, and made the magnets with owl stickers and Glossy Accents (sold at Michael's.)

This "Use Your Noodle" game didn't work so well.  Turns out, balloons don't like heat or dried out spiky grass.  The kids had other games to play, thank goodness.  But man, that was a lot work putting "M" stickers on those and cutting noodles. The important thing is, it was cute, right?

Owl Make and Take

I found this idea on Pinterest.  I tried to make a link, but could not find this project.  You just hot glue the top of the toilet paper tube down to make the shape of the owl.  The kids get to paint and decorate.  I used scraps of paper for wings and beaks and bought colored eyes from Michaels. 

The ice block was a hit!  I filled a plastic container with enough water to cover several trinkets and let it freeze.  I then added another layer of water and toys and let that freeze.  The problem was that the sides would melt when you poured more water on it, so we had to lift out the block, put toys and water under it, and then freeze again.  This takes several days to complete.  I bought a meat tenderizer for the kids to take turns breaking the ice.  The tool broke after a few hits.  I bought the $5 one from Target.  Maybe a more expensive one would work or just a hammer.  I didn't think an ice pick would be a good idea.  An adult (or several) needs to stay close to supervise so that no one gets hurt.

Ballard Knockoff Chalkboard

              The enormous chalkboard is finally finished!  I even hung it on the wall.  Well, not really me.  My husband hung it.  Not because I couldn't, but because he does not trust me to keep the walls of my new studio intact, evidently. 

I am very good at keeping things intact, actually.  But, I let him win this one.  Plus, I don't really enjoy the hanging of items.

I painted right on the plexiglass with Rustoleum chalkboard paint.  It took three, maybe four coats.  I lost count.  I used green Frog Tape to tape off the frame and it worked GREAT.  Love that stuff.

My plan was to write some really trendy quote that maybe I found on Pinterest on the board.  (Maybe then I would fit in with the cool kids.)  But, then my handwriting looked all crooked and I got tired of erasing.  Nobody really talks about how not fun that part is.  Maybe it's cause I have antique chalk.  I don't know, but the words do not want to come off.  And dealing with all of the chalkdust.  Not fun, either.  But it looks really good, right?  Hard to tell, but just trust me.  Or, maybe I should paint the frame...

Chalkboards

Remember these ugly frames from my daughter's birthday? 

I decided to add hardboard to them and paint them with chalkboard paint.

I know lots of folks out of blogland have seen these, but lots of my people have not. 

not sure why this pic is fuzzy

The purple one is hanging in my classroom and the other is up for grabs.

I might possibly be addicted to chalkboards.

To-Do List

Sorry I have been MIA for awhile.  You can pretty much expect this every year at this time.  Because I am a teacher and it is BACK TO SCHOOL time if you haven't noticed all the school supplies available for you to purchase in stores.  (Although I did notice that Hobby Lobby got a jump on CHRISTMAS ALREADY  for Pete's sake.  I meany really, who buys wrapping paper in August.) 

So here are a few projects I have been working on.  Or at least thinking about starting on.

Not sure how I want to paint this FREE hutch that I recently acquired from my neighbor.  The knobs will have to be changed.  I already bought pink crystal knobs, but I was sort of thinking of trying out Antibes Green Chalk Paint from Annie Sloan. 

This is the mirror for the bathroom sink in my new studio.  It will probably be painted the same blue as on the chandelier since I got a gallon of OOPS paint for five bucks. 

My grandpa got a new table so I got this one.  I am almost certain this was the table we had when I was little.  My parents must have swapped out a long time ago and I never really noticed that we got a much bigger table and large hutch.  Huh.  I may leave this one alone for awhile. 

Have you seen these monsters in the Ballard Design catalogs?  Love them.  But not the price.  The big one (the one I would want) is $400.  So when I saw this at Goodwill I pushed and shoved it in my car.

It has plexiglass inside.  Must have been used to frame a poster.  I am going to paint right on the plexi glass with chalkboard paint and make a ginormous chalkboard. 

Here it is with a bucket (not a miniature bucket) so that you get an idea of how large this thing is. There was an even bigger one, but I did not think it would fit and I was right.  I could barely get this one in without whopping my kid's head off.

 I may even leave the frame gold.  I LOVE this thing!!  And the best part is it was only fourteen buckeroos!!!