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.

Easter Gift Ideas

IWith Spring in the air, so are the things that make me sneeze and my eyes itch, and my nose itch. A LOT. So I was scratching my nose like crazy and my daughter says, "at least you don't have Bill Cosby's nose." 

Well, yes. That is true. For a variety of reasons.

I feel much better now that I bought myself one of these little bunny cake stands. Actually, that would be a really small cake. So what are these, cupcake stands? Candle stands? Should it have one of those glass cloche thingys on top? I don't know or care. I like them and I thought my family might also, so I bought several.

Several of my relatives use lots of sticky notes in their line of work, so I thought these from J Crew were perfect. I love to use butterflies as tags for Easter gifts and I got these cute little sticky flowers from Target Dollar Spot.

If you are on Instagram, you may have run into some planner addicts. I'm thinking they would love this Easter stationery set with Target Dollar Spot items. This is listed in my Etsy Shop, SissyBoomsPartyRoom.

Valentine's Gift Ideas

Need a Valentine's Day gift idea?

If your husband is sporty or owns a boat, this Speedo submersion sports towel is a great gift. I found this at Target.

 

My sweet neighbors are getting cones stuffed with Dove chocolates.

 

I used more of my Crate Paper Love Notes stash from Tuesday Morning to make these Valentine's Day tussie mussies.

 

I made this little cutie for my little cutie. Now that I have a sewing machine, this was unbelievably easy. Flipagram tutorial on my Instagram account.

 

Inside, I stuffed a manicure kit complete with a set of Valentine's Jamberry nails, alcohol wipes, an orange stick, and a rice pillow to heat in the microwave and apply the nails.

 

The planner lover in your life will love this paisley paperclip. Listed in my etsy shop.

 

What are you gifting this year?

Valentine's Day Teacher Gifts

 

My kid's teachers are getting these for Valentine's Day. Can you guess what it is?

 

 

It is a velvet heart shaped scarf hanger! I love it. Who doesn't need a place to hang scarves? I think they are the perfect teacher gift for Valentine's Day.

And what doesn't look cuter with a ribbon and tag on it?

I found these at Tuesday Morning.

 

Class Valentines

Class valentines this year are handmade, handsewn by me. Because I got a new sewing machine from my mom for Christmas.

 

                        

 

And too much time on my hands, apparently. I made twenty-five of these.



                           

 

Want to know what is in these sewn hearts?

                                  

 

 

I found tiny notebooks and mini colored gel pens from Target Dollar Spot to stuff inside. The kids simply rip them open to get the treats.

    

 

 

 

I had this cute red basket for my daughter to bring them to class in.

 

I would do a tutorial on how to make these, but if you have a sewing machine, you probably know how to use it much better than I do. My biggest tip is to remember to stuff the treats into the heart before sewing it all the way closed. I may or may not have forgotten once or twice.

 

 

Linked up at www.carissamiss.com.

Elf Hunt

Sometimes it is really hard to find teeny tiny stuff to fit in the advent calendar. In all of my infinite wisdom, I purchased the really cute advent calendar with the tiniest compartments ever because I thought it would be less expensive to buy miniature things. So not the case.

 

So, little girl had to go on a hunt for her gift as well as the Elf on the Shelf this morning because the gift wouldn't fit behind that miniature door.

 

 

I made clue cards in little envelopes because my daughter is a TSL like me. Tiny Sh@# Lover. Go to www.kellehampton.com to find out more. This is part of why I convinced myself that tiny doors on advent calendars are awesome. But in all seriousness, what is cuter than tiny envelopes? With tiny notecards inside?

 

Nothing, that's what.

 

I wrote clues on the little cards. Micron pens came in handy for writing on these tiny spaces.

 

 

I used mini alpha stamps and red mini glitter numbers.

 

 

Let's face it. This was as much for me as her. I would've LOVED this! I put some snowflake "glitter" (basically confetti) inside each envelope and in front of the final hiding spot. Miniature snowflakes. Love it.

 

 

The last clue led to our elf and a reusable hand warmer-great for cold mornings at the bus stop.

 

*My daughter is old enough to be able to read the clues and figure them out. She is also old enough to know not to climb inside of the dryer. I am not recommending that you send a young child on a hunt to the inside of a dryer. I also followed my child around just to make sure. *

 

Are you a fellow TSL?

 

linked up at www.mabeyshemadeit.com

 

 

Christmas Teacher Gift Basket

I have to post conversations with my kid because sometimes I wonder if everyone has these sort of talks with their children. Please tell me this is normal.

Her: Mom, would you eat a fried ant for $10?

Me: No.

Her: Would you eat a fried ant for $100?

Me: Ummmm depends on the day. 

Her: I would do it for five. 

Me: Nice.

Anyways. My parents have a Satsuma tree and we all hate to see them go to waste. It makes more than all of us can possibly eat.

So I thought it would be nice to make a gift a basket with some of the satsumas and some pecans for the faculty at my daughter's school. My daughter eats one for lunch everyday. They are not too sour and really yummy. Plus, they are really easy to peel. 

The plastic glittery snowflake that I already had was perfect to use as a backdrop for the tag. I used a chipboard ornament and paper from the Sleigh Ride Collection by Crate Paper with some other chipboard. I found the plastic crate in the dollar bins at Target. I hope the faculty like this gift basket!

More teacher gift ideas coming soon!

Linked up at www.littleredwindow.com and www.thehankfulhouse.com. 

Ugliest Christmas Sweater Award

Tis the season to be tacky and what better way to do that, than to throw an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.

 

If you throw an Ugly Sweater Party, you might want to reward your guest with the Ugliest Sweater with this badge. If you reward your guest, they might give you some of their eggnog.

 

Click the link to the right to find it in my etsy shop.

 

http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=233920&m=12808&u=1031675

If you click the link above, I get paid a small amount.

 

Give Thanks Banner

This Give Thanks banner has circle tags for family and friends to write what they are thankful for. I added feathers cut with my Slice machine. I think it would be cute with photos added to it as well.

This one is available to buy in my Etsy store.

Chore Chart

Around here it is pretty hard to get little people (or big people, for that matter) to do chores. Especially without complaining. 

              

After searching through heaps of chore chart ideas, I finally decided to go with the "work for hire" idea. There are some chores that just need to be done because you live here and you are part of this family. Like putting clothes in the hamper, not on the floor and walking the dog and picking up toys. I don't want to raise a child who grows up to be a dissatisfied adult because life doesn't hand her everything she wants. Also, this way I don't have to nag. Visible cash is a pretty good motivator.

                                                                

Myloveforwords.com had a good list of chores and prices that I got some ideas from. I used a receipt holder to clip chore tags and cash. The chore tags were decorated with a Cosmo Cricket scrapbooking kit that had tons of little letters. I also use my mini alpha stamps again.

Help enforcing chores:

• Don't expect perfection. This one is hard for me. I believe if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right correctly. See what I mean?? I have a hard time not correcting people.
• Give praise for good work. 
• Be consistent. Even if you are tired. I promise it is less work in the long run to make sure your child follows through.

Maybe now my house will stay clean so that when someone stops by and wants to see my craft room I can say yes, of course, and not have to cringe at every dirty sock and ding dong wrapper on the floor.

Linked up at chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com.

Fall Tussie Mussie

I recently saw a BOO cone and thought it would be cute to make one with my Crate Paper Acorn Avenue Collection kit. So I did. But I am not leaving it on anyone's door. Although I might make one for my daughter's teachers. I filled this fall tussie mussie with autumn colored Sixlets. Wouldn't this make a great teacher gift?

Good news: It's available in my etsy store. Just click the link in the sidebar.

Linked up at jordansonion.blogspot.com and paperissues.com.

http://diyshowoff.com/category/other/that-diy-party/

Graduation and Birthday Combo

My daughter's birthday and my sister's graduation happened to fall on the same day this year, so we decided to let them share a party.

Paper cups were used as a target for Nerf gun competitions.

I love the mint green bike Jordan got for Christmas and it went with the decor, so I used it as a backdrop of sorts.

The gift table was decorated with a paper chain. I love pulling out furniture at parties that coordinates with the decor. This little antique table was the perfect green color. I think maybe it was a child's table, but I'm not sure. It is too low to be a side table, but higher than coffee tables.

Thank you gifts were tiny magnetic clipboard note pads from Michael's. I love the yellow ombre crepe paper.

Of course, we had to have some old pictures of the graduate to embarrass her.

I combined a banner from a Studio Calico kit with Neapolitan scrapbook paper to make more of an impact.

Party lollies were easy to make from the Dear Lizzy kit to stick in candy buckets.

The cake was simple with a miniature Happy Birthday banner. I love these! My mom made the cake, of course.

My daughter seems to leave a trail of Calico Critters wherever she goes. I found this one in front of the paper chevron straws. She loves all small things. Wonder who she gets that from?

Remember this bucket from the baby shower? We used it to ice down root beer.

Cookies made by Aunt Mandy were a huge hit. I didn't even get a chocolate one!

Linked up at lollyjane.com.