Our Little Monkey Turns 1!

It was a big weekend in the Newman household! Beckett, our youngest (and final, according to my husband) child turned one. We had a wonderful day on Saturday celebrating with family and friends. The party started at 3 and our last guests left at 10:45...so I'm hoping everyone else had a good time, too!

Now usually when I blog about a party, I give you the inspiration the client sent me for the party to show you where I started. The inspiration for Beckett's monkey party came from 2 places. First of all, he sleeps with a monkey that his aunt Kasey gave him when he was a baby. He loves to cuddle him to fall asleep. Secondly, we call him "our little monkey" because he's always climbing and crawling around on everything, trying to give me premature gray hair!

So after doing a little looking for a good monkey to use, I found one that looked a lot like the monkey he sleeps with, only it was wearing a party hat...perfect! The color combo I used are just colors I love, so I changed the monkey that I found so that his hat matched the decor.


As far as party pictures, there were far too many to choose just a few, so here are 33 of my favorites. I tried to include mostly pics that included decor (since that IS what this blog is for), but couldn't resist putting a few others in, too...hope you don't mind! All you other mothers will understand that in spite of my best intentions, I took very few photos at this party. Thank God my sisters and Mom were there to step up to the plate! Thanks, ladies!

I made everything you see except the bib, which came from my friend Rachel at Golden Shop...isn't she talented?! A PERFECT match. It was "the icing on the cake" as they say!

During the process of making Beckett's party items, a client requested monkey items, too. So, I changed the hat color again and made Coen's blue and brown monkey items. Click here to see how they turned out!

Thanks to everyone for being patient last week as I prepared for the party. It was a whirlwind but a good time. Now it's back to work...right after I clean up the party hangover which we call our family room!

It's a girl!

If you remember a few months ago I made these decorations for one of my best friends from college's baby shower. Well fast forward a few months and Georgia Lorraine Olson is here! We are so excited for Molly and Rick because they will be such great and FUN parents.

I ordered my favorite baby gift for baby Georgia, but it won't be here for a week or so and I couldn't go to the hospital today empty handed. I decided since the rooms are so drab the way it is, why not make one of my banner minis? I will be adding both this and "it's a boy!" banner minis to my shop soon. Here it is before we left my house:

It was the perfect size for the wall at the hospital:

My kids could just not get enough of her! They were actually petting her. I couldn't get them to look at the camera because they were so into holding her. It is hard to imagine just one short year ago Beckett was that small!

Congratulations, Olson family!

Just as a side note...I am not going to be posting again until Sunday night. Though I still have 5 projects to blog about, I just HAVE to get ready for Beckett's big day on Saturday! So...more next week!

A little birdy told me...

...that its hot in Florida these days! This customer wanted a few of the things I normally make, but she also had me make a few things I'd never made before, including some handheld fans for the hot Florida weather.

Here is what she sent me as a starting off point for her daughter Harper's 1st birthday party in a birdy theme:
The bib was made by Rachel at Golden Shop, who actually sent this client my way. Adorable, as always!

I was able to find lots of cute paper in the pink and orange sherbert colors and I even found the same font that was used on her invitations. Here is how her collection turned out:

The banner...
A cake topper for her "smash cake"...
A cake topper...
Cupcake toppers...
And the hand held fans...
Aren't they fun? They would be great for summer wedding favors, too!

Time flies when you're having fun...

After our fun weekend of birthday partying and spending one last day on the boat, let me just say today was not the best of days! Bad luck, a crabby 4 year old, almost getting in a car accident, and a shady manager at Office Max contributed to the events of the day. Let's just say I hope time "flies" this week with days better than today! :) Praise God there are always tomorrows.

I did this airplane theme earlier in the summer. A girl from my hometown decided she wanted to do the same theme for her son Owen's first birthday. I sent her to get her invitations from b|e creative and then got to work on the rest. Jen is so easy going that she said "Just do what you think looks good." Yes! Music to my ears.

So here it is, Owen's airplanes:
The banner...
The crown and party hats...The cake topper...
The door sign...
And finally, the confetti...
Then another client also wanted me to do an airplane theme, but wanted me to make invitations that were a little "busier" (her words, not mine!). I went in search of the kind of plane she wanted and sent her a few samples. After I found something she liked, I redrew it in the colors we wanted to use and added the details. Sara loved the invitations, but she said "Simple is not my way...can we add some of the papers you got to the back instead of just the solid?" Of course we can! So here is how they turned out:
There will be a lot more coming in the next few weeks from this party, too!

Addie's Sweet Shoppe & Lollipops

It's been a busy weekend for our family, which is the reason for no post in the last couple days. The weather has been beautiful and so we've been taking in a lot of outdoor activities. Yesterday we attended my niece's birthday party. Do you remember these invitations that I made last month? These were the only actual things I made for the party, but it turned out too cute not to share...especially for people looking for a cute theme for a party!

My sister-in-law had everything decorated SO CUTE!! Their living room was decorated like an old time candy shop. There was literally candy EVERYWHERE! Here are some pics...

The candy decor...
Avery couldn't resist eating the decorations...right down to the sour skittles in the vase. Yep, that's my girl!
We gave Addie this outfit to wear for her birthday...

The monogrammed shirt is from my friend Abby at Persnickety Me...I have been buying shirts from her for quite some time and they always turn out fabulous. They are such a fun gift and I always choose a pair of Babylegs to go with them...they're my absolute fav! I made the tutu myself to match the colors of her party.

You know I can't resist a good theme!
Everyone needs a cousins picture at a birthday party!
I love this picture...she's waving like a beauty queen and Tate was obviously just eating some sour candy!
This picture is exactly why Beckett is having a MONKEY party on Saturday...
Back with more tomorrow...I'm getting behind with posts of the customs I have to show you!

A banner for Princess Kylie!

This all started about a month ago when I was involved in a giveaway on On the Dot Creations. And by "this" I mean a daily go between with Rachel from Golden Shop on Etsy. She was the giveaway right after mine and was giving away the cutest bib. So that got me thinking about her making one for Beckett's upcoming birthday. So I convoed her...a few times that day and a few times a day every day since! She keeps the same crazy hours as me so we provide a little comic relief for each other at 2 am! We also figured out we've worked with a few of the same clients over the last few months. You will definitely be seeing more of her in some upcoming "projects" we have planned.

Her daughter's birthday was coming up, too, and if you want to talk about over the top birthday parties, this was it! She had a Disneyland theme with all hot pink and purple decorations. She had hand painted signs, 10 "rides" and decor galore. I thought of buying a ticket to California just to attend.

Rachel asked me if I'd make a sign to use for the jumping castle. It was so fun because she sent me a picture of the fabrics and said to just do it...she was swamped with the rest of the details of the party, so she let me go crazy.

Here are the pictures of the fabric and her favor stickers that she sent me for inspiration:

Although it was a Disney theme, she was going more for the princess and castle look than the actual Disney characters. So here is what I came up with in action at Kylie's party:Kylie is even crawling in there on that one! Look at that cute dress!

She plans to hang it above Kylie's bed now that the party is over.

Visit Rachel's Blog to see more of Kylie's party and her Etsy shop to see her awesome work. If you have a baby turning one (or any kid for that matter) it is a must see! I'll be back with more from her soon, too.

Get Well Soon, Kasey!

So you all know I had knee surgery #4 a couple weeks ago. I had my first ACL reconstruction during my senior year after a volleyball injury and then my other ACL 2 1/2 years later doing the exact same thing. Unfortunately I'm not the only one in my family who has bad knees (thanks, Dad).

My sister Kasey has followed pretty much the same path as me...except she is MUCH better at volleyball than I ever was and was hoping to play college ball, so it has made it all the more frustrating and disappointing. She tore her first ACL last summer while gearing up for her junior year season in high school. She rehabbed to get ready for this season, only to repeat with her other knee at the same camp this summer. She tried to play through the injury, but it just wasn't working, so today she had reconstructive surgery.

What does this have to do with parties, you ask? Well, not much. But it has been weighing heavily on my mind because I know how she feels and I know how much work it is going to be for her over the coming months...all during her senior year of high school. But, I also have spent the last week or so getting a few things ready to try to lift her spirits. The kids and I drove to my parents farm while she was in surgery and made over their family room. Then we hid the car and my dad called to warn us when they got home so we could hide. First she was surprised by the decor, then she was surprised to see us!

I made her a "banner MINI" which is a smaller version of my banners...it turned out really cute and I'm thinking of making some to sell in my shop (if I ever get some "free" time!):
We also brought her lots of treats, balloons, kid-made cards, and some of my favorite movies. Tate and Avery each picked something from Target to bring her as a gift. Tate picked pencils...the kind that have replaceable lead that you pull out and stick in the back when you need a new one (teachers LOVE those by the way...or NOT!) and Avery picked a Star Wars yo-yo. Yes, nice, I know. They both gave very good reasons why she should have them. Tate said she needed to do homework, and Aves said she needed to have something to do when she's laying on the couch. Not sure that's going to work while laying on a couch, but logistics mean nothing to a 2 year old!
Doesn't she look good for just having had surgery? She'll kill me that I posted these pictures, but I think she looks good. To be fair, she just got her senior pictures back so I will show you a scanned picture of what she "really" looks like...BEAUTIFUL!

Love you, Kas. We know you'll recover wonderfully. Just don't pass out for mom in the shower. Again. :)