Emma's 8th Birthday

Emma turned 8 years old on January 24th.  It was a Sunday so we actually got to have her party on her birthday again this year.

Emma really wanted to have a rollerskating party so that's what we did! :)

I would say the day was a HUGE success!

Emma's 6th Birthday

Emma turned six on January 24th.  To celebrate we went to the beach and stayed at a condo that has an indoor water park!  It was freezing cold the entire weekend so we did not get to spend any time on the beach.

Before Emma's birthday, she did let me take her out for a photo shoot.  She did so wonderful for me!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Happy 5th Birthday Emma

Today is Emma's 5th Birthday!

Since it was a school day, we took Dunkin' Donuts Munchkins in for her class.  I picked her up early, and then we ran some errands.  She opened her presents from mom and dad as soon as JC got home!

Emma got to pick where we all ate dinner before Brendan had basketball practice!  We then rushed back home to sing "Happy Birthday" and blow out candles!

Emma has decided that she wants to go to Great Wolf Lodge instead of having a big birthday party this year!  That is just fine by me!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Rule of Life #8

Never Miss A Very Important Party

Emma turned four the week that we moved from the house we sold into our rental house. She did have cupcakes at her school, but we waited to have a birthday party until we were a little more settled.

Emma's first cousin, Carson, also turned two in February so we decided to have a combo party on February 25th to celebrate these two little girls. The theme was Olivia the Pig!

To get ready for the party, I made a couple of serving platters since a lot of my things are still boxed up. For under $10, I was able to make two cute pieces.

Starting with a cake plate and glass, I made a large stand for the cake...

I actually spray painted it red to match the colors of the party.

I also found a clear crystal candlestick and plate that I just glued together. It worked!

My sister, Katie, did a lot of the work as far as decorating. She came out a couple of times to help put up custom decorations.

Emma and Carson's MiMi made everyone Olivia "ears". They were so cute.

Since the party was from 2:30 to 4pm, we just had cake and a few treats.

Look how cute the Olivia cake topper is...Katie found it on Etsy.

Emma and Carson wait patiently for guests to arrive...sadly this is the only photo I got of the girls. They would not stand still!

Here is a picture after the party...I think the children had a good time playing:

Happy Birthday Little Ladies!

Friday Finds

While planning Emma's birthday party, I had envisioned small cake stands displaying the treats that we would serve...just like these beauties from Sweet and Saucy Supply.

I was not, however, interested in spending a fortune for these decorative serving pieces. Although aren't they just beautiful???

Before Christmas, I had seen a blog post on making your own cake stands using old china. I even made one from a plate and coffee mug that I bought at our $ store...you may remember seeing the photo:

I decided to go to our local Goodwill and see what I could find in the glassware department. There was no "china" to be found, but I did spy these cute aqua plates by Silvestri (I think...the bottom of the plates are now covered).

There were four plates, but I only purchased two for $0.50 each. I then searched for something to use as the base for each plate. I knew that I wanted the two stands to be different heights, but I wasn't sure exactly what I could use. I first spied this glass for $0.25. I decided to buy it because it was only $0.25...if it didn't work, at least I would not be out a small fortune.

I then went down the rest of the home goods aisles, and I saw this VERY tarnished silverplated candle stick for $1.

It was the perfect height and size. My plan was to spray paint it if I was unable to get it polished nicely.

I think it turned out quite nice considering its future as the base to a cake stand.

My next step was to use Liquid Nails to secure the bases to the plates.

And...VOILA

Not bad for $2.25 + tax, huh?

I think they turned out great. I forgot to take specific photos of these platters the day of Emma's party, but you can see them in the following cropped photos.

What do you think?

THREE is TERRIFIC

January 24, 2011...Emma turns THREE!

Our celebrations started on Saturday. Emma hosted several friends and her cousins for a Snowflake Princess party.

Although there is not snow on the ground here right now, guests were greeted by snowflakes galore!

Emma's Patsy made her a beautiful Snowflake Princess dress just for her big day.

And Emma's MiMi and her great-grandmother made her a princess castle cake:

It was so yummy! Those towers are made out of rice krispies so that you could also eat them...delicious!

I worked with Amber from Party On Boutique to create the printable paper decorations! She did a great job, and the colors were exactly what I wanted.

We had so much fun creating original works of art with pre-painted blue canvases, snowflake foam stickers and snowman sponges.

I had a few other activities planned for the princesses, but they just wanted to play with Emma's kitchen instead.

Look at these sweethearts...the most grown up and the youngest princesses at the party...

After playing, we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Emma, and she blew out her candles...one.at.a.time!

Everyone waited so patiently for the cake...

Like I said, it was yummy...

Emma especially LOVES icing...she left the cake, but not a spot of icing was left on her piece.

And the ladies took home a treat bag with a snowflake wand, snowflake tiara, candy, and custom paper doll set from Studio 71 Designs.

Emma actually told me last night that she loved her party. I am so happy that she did. Since we missed Emma's first birthday with her, I hope that all of her birthdays are wonderful for the rest of her life.

Happy Birthday Emma. We love you sooooo much!