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.

Baby Girls Rock!

New baby's nursery inspired the theme for this baby shower. Or lack of a theme. We just incorporated coral  (which looks red on my screen for some reason) and grey into all of the decorations.

Monogram cakes are popular these days and I love them. This layer cake made by Danita had a wooden "G" on top that was simply painted grey.

Aunt Mandy made this cute framed wooden monogram with a chevron fabric background which now hangs above the crib.

The gift table was decorated with a custom banner, of course, and my birdcage with a mini chalkboard inside. We layered a paper polka dot table cloth with a lace runner on the table for a vintage look.

We used the birdcage to hold all of the cards.

Even baby girl gift baskets were coral and gray. 

I come from a long line of crafty people and it seems like EVERYONE helped prepare for this baby shower. My Aunt Sandy made this banner with her Cricut machine. I love the 3D look and the way it looks like lace doilies.

Aunt Sandy also made the baby shoe "goodie bags." We put tiny bags of Haribo gummy bears inside because that is expecting mom's favorite candy. 

The extras are available to purchase in my etsy store. Just click the link in the sidebar.

I made these simple centerpieces using paper table cloths because I couldn't find napkins that I liked to make tissue pom-poms. I stuck them in antique blue Ball jars stuffed with crinkle paper so that you couldn't see the wires and picks. In the top of the arrangement, I stuck a chevron monogram which was cut on the Sizzix machine. Baker's twine was tied around the top and pink pearls were draped around them.

Olivia made a very girlie diaper cake complete with frames and a tiara.

Even the food was color-coordinated. Icing and sprinkle covered marshmallows were too cute to eat. But we did. Cousins Dodi and Kori made these.

Cousin Lea made the coral cookies with hugs on top. I'm still not sure how she got them that color.

I painted this little picket fence box that I already had from a pinwheel party and used it for the fruit skewers. Little washi tape flags were stuck on top of each one.

Aunt Sandy made cones with doilies for popcorn in the "old" bucket.

Guests were asked to write advice for the new mom on these little dress cards made by Dodi and Kori.

These clothespins decorated by Dodi and Kori were used to play a game where guests lost their clothespin when they said "baby." Whoever had the most clothespins by catching people say the word, won a prize. 

I didn't win.

My mom, Andi, made the prize bags using scrapbook paper, old dictionary paper, doilies, baker's twine, and paper flowers. With a "G", of course.

Even the gifts were coral and gray. My mom used some of the leftover tablecloth to stuff into the gift basket. 

What kind of games do you play at baby showers?

Smash

Do you Smash? I love this new idea for scrapbooking.

It is so much easier.  You don't have to think about where to place a bunch of doo-dads.  Got pictures?  Got tickets?  Smash 'em in a book.  Done.  I love little pockets and washi tape.  This album is perfect for the tiny pictures from my Instax Mini Camera.

You can buy these little quote pages, also.  Love that.  I happen to have a pretty funny kid who says things that I like to record to embarass her with later.

  You could buy a Smash album, but I used this address book from Michael's.  I just covered the words "Address Book" with a chipboard piece from Basic Grey.

Gun Cabinet

                                                                Before-sort of:

You've seen these, right? Non-descript gun cabinets that some poor woman has been trying to talk her husband into getting rid of for years. This is a picture of a similar one so you get the idea.

After:

Need storage in a small space? Try refinishing refurbishing repurposing (what is the current buzz word??) a gun cabinet. They tend to be narrow and not as deep as other pieces. Take out the gun racks and add shelves and decorative trim. We used Annie Sloan chalk paint in grey and Briwax in clear and then light brown. By the way, it really helps to use a good wax brush to apply it. In this case, it is true what they say about using the right tools for the job. Hobby Lobby had cute clear glass knobs that look WAY better than the original black ones.

We have it decked out for Halloween with my BOO banner, mini flags, and apothecary jar full of candy, but eventually this will live in the bathroom.