A Fairy Fourth Birthday for Munchkin!

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Mae

OK I am behind on my blogging…. Munchkin just celebrated her 4 1/2 birthday so this is OBVIOUSLY late! But it was a blast, so I felt like I should share it with you.

Munchkin went back and forth about what she wanted to do for her Birthday party. She wanted a pool party, or a Build-a Bear party, or a gymnastics party…. the list went ON! We finally settled on a small party at our house. The theme… FAIRIES!

I instantly popped over to Pinterest the land of everything! There are a MILLION ideas there (even a few of my own!). I also checked out Disney Fairies and there were LOTS of cute ideas on their too!

Here are is what we ended up with for Munchin’s special day!

Decorations:

Even though Munchkin is a little girl she invited several boys. We picked two colors to focus, blue as an addition to the main color, her FAVORITE, purple.

I always try and buy the bulk of the decor in colors instead of the ‘theme’. This saves a TON of money. I usually pick up the small cake plates and one pack of napkins

The adorable Paper Poms came from Paper White Designs. The beautiful paper straws are also from Paper White Designs all the kids LOVED them. I found some silver frames at the Dollar Store and printed a couple of silhouettes of Tinker Bell on color coordinating card stock. Tip: Pick easy to cut images. I was SOOO glad I stuck with easy ones.

The Feast

Make your Own Fairy Houses:

I found this cute idea in a Family Fun magazine. I couldn’t find the correct size cups in paper so I ended up with foam instead. We decided on these colors because they were ‘Fairy-like’ and gender neutral. I found a multipack of Fairies and they fit into the houses. I cut the door from the cup. I spray painted both parts and then glued them!

Little bowls of things to decorate their houses

A dino cave from one of the boys!

Fairy Dust:

I found these little bottles and corks at Hobby Lobby. I bought a bottle of sand (Hobby Lobby) and some packets of glitter to add to it from the Dollar Store! Each kiddo picked their packet of glitter and their sand color. They helped me dump the sand and glitter into the bottle with the help of a funnel. We glued the cork with a bit of hot glue and glued the tags around the top. I made the tags simple but they looked great! I would suggest gluing the corks because I think they would be very tempted to sprinkle fairy dust otherwise!

Munchkin’s Dust

Lunch for Fairies:

Munchkin wanted Hotdogs as her main food item. Another very important part for her is ALWAYS fruit, so we made Fruit Wands. I took kebob skewers and cut the fruit to fit. We used a star cookie cutter to make the tops. Fairy wing toast was a bit hit too! I just toasted the bread, spread jelly and cut up some fruit!

Fairy Wing Toast- Found on Disney.com

Pixie Dust ‘Mallows

Marshmallows dunked in white chocolate and purple sugar!

The Caterpillars in Cocoons were hot dogs in crescent rolls.

For her Birthday cake her fabulous Aunt J made a cool Tink topper out of paper that we stuck into the cake. Munchkin is known for asking for tricky cake flavors. This year… WATERMELON. I found this recipe on Pinterest and it is AWESOME! It tasted amazing too! I covered it in purple marshmallow fondant. We found some sugar butterflies (by: Wilton) and added those for an even more Fairy-Feel.

Sooo moist!

I made a simple punch with pink lemonade and some berries. It went over very well with ALL the kiddos!

Fairy Punch!

Goodie Bags:

I try to avoid the traditional bag when possible. This was fun and I think the girls loved it! For our two boys we bought trains.

Games:

Found this wall cling at the Dollar Tree. We cut our purple fairy wings and played “Pin the Wings on the Fairy”.

Pin the Wings on the Fairy

As I mentioned before we always as that friends who come to our parties bring gifts for a place we as a family have chosen to donate to in honor of our kiddos’s birthday. Munchkin wanted to help a dear friend who has a daughter battling cancer. After several calls we decided to put out the word that we were collecting gift cards to be used at the cancer center where she was being treated. The gift cards are given to the kids throughout their treatment for birthdays, families in need and special days.

Munchkin collected nearly $800 in cards from our family and friends! She LOVED this and to this day talks about how much we helped Maya and the other children at the center.

You can follow Maya’s Journey here Healing Maya or here HealingMaya.org

We had an awesome day celebrating our sweet little 4 year old! Happy 4th Birthday Munchkin!!!

Crazy Friday

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Mae

Ahh it is finally the Christmas season! Part of me feels like this isn’t new… Target took down Halloween and put up trees! Both girls are super excited and there really isn’t anything better then Christmas with children.

If you don’t live in a cave some where you are WELL aware that Friday was ‘Black Friday” and today is ‘Cyber Monday’. I used really love Black Friday. There actually a rush that you get standing in line waiting to get into a store. Something inside me has changed.

In the past year I have been doing my best to downsize, simplify, and enjoy life for moments we have. This year we skipped the rush (which started on THANKSGIVING!!!) and did just that… enjoyed our family time!

On Friday, I ran out at 7am and grabbed two things… new Thermal Curtains (which we needed for a while!) and Brave for the girls. We decided to venture out and grab a handful of things if they were left. Rand mostly just ran into ‘office stores’ and within seconds walked out with exactly what he needed (a new keyboard/home phones). I did spend a couple minutes in line at Old Navy. I left saving almost 50% and had 3 outfits for our Angel Tree children and a pair of Christmas PJs for each girl! After that we ran to Five Below and I grabbed a couple educational games/puzzles for the Christmas tree kids and well that was it!

Since we decided to do The 4 Gift Rule Christmas seems easier. I found myself walking around on Black Friday but I didn’t buy just to buy… because it was a good deal. We didn’t get a new computer, blu-ray player, gaming system or TV. Why? We simply don’t need them!

Here are the girls final Christmas Lists:

Peanut

Want- I found a used ‘laptop’ which she will LOVE
Need- I made her a flannel board.. I will post some instructions soon!
Wear- Still up for debate… might be something like new socks or hair bows or a pair of sparklyToms
Read- Tag Junior (which we are including many books that were Munchkins!)
Santa-Crying Baby

Munchkin

Want: Magformers
Need: A Purple Jewelery Box
Wear: A dress she can wear and one that matches her American Girl Doll- Probably from Kohls
Read: A Lion King Book- found 2 for $3 at yardsales
Santa- A Pink Star Turtle

I have been doing really well with creating and making a LOT of Christmas gifts! So be prepared family and friends..

Surviving Christmas: The 4 Gift Rule

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Mae

Yes, this is a post about Christmas in September. No I am not completely off my rocker. I am a planner I do my best to get the majority of things done early so I can enjoy the real reason for the season.

I have been trying to get ideas from the girls so I can start stashing things I find on sale! We have a new plan this year…. we are scaling back gifts.

Last year I really thought I did well I think each kid had maybe 10 gifts from Mom and Dad, 1 from their sister, and then their ‘Santa’ gift. It still felt like too much.

This year I am making it MUCH easier. We are sticking to the 4 Gift Rule!

Something you:

Want
Need
Wear
Read

We are going to stick to this rule for adults too! I am really excited about this. I don’t have to fret about what I am going to buy. I have already some ideas going for the kiddos.

Munchkin (Age 4):

W: Magformers- These awesome squares/triangles ect. that you can build 3D shapes with!

N: A star ‘turtle’ in pink

W: A dress for her and her American Girl Doll (Purple and sparkly of course!)

R: This is up for debate… she is reading so maybe some ‘easy readers’

Peanut (Almost 2):

W: Her own ‘laptop’. She would LOVE something to ‘type’ on!

N: Still thinking!

W: Not sure!

R: Tag Jr. Reader and Books (we actually have these from Munchkin but she will LOVE them!)

So what is on your Christmas Lists?

My Easy $10 Wreath!

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Mae

I will admit I have had my wreath hook up on my door since last Christmas. Which has been sad and lonely since I have no other wreaths for it! It did have a nice Valentine’s Day wreath on it for about 10 days.

I was wondering around Hobby Lobby tonight and decided I could make one! There are about a million varieties on Pinterest. I sort of meshed a couple ideas together to make an easy version.

Not only is this wreath VERY easy to make, it is pretty inexpensive as well. Most wreaths will cost you about $25 or more!

Check out my breakdown of cost:

Grapevine Wreath- $4.99
Flower (get one with a wire stem)- $3.50
Letter- $1.50
Spray Paint – $4.00 (Free if you have the right color)
String/wire/twine (You have some sitting somewhere in your house!)

So for about $10 you have a great wreath!

I will give you the instructions on how to make it. The best part is everything is interchangeable. So when you are over the Letter color or the flower switch it! Seasons changing, holidays, birthdays all can be easily done with one $4.99 wreath!

How To:

First get a grapevine wreath of the size that will fit your door or wall.

Then take a flower of your choice (you can substitute whatever decor you might like apples, wire beads, ect) and cut off most of the stem. The amount you cut off will depend on the size of the wreath. I left about 3 1/2-4 inches of stem on my blue flower. This was enough to shove through vines and bend back. It ‘locks’ it in place so it doesn’t just fall out.

You will want to pick out a letter that floats nicely inside your wreath. I picked this swirly “S” and I think it looks great! I painted it a light cream color so it will pop off the blue door. Be sure and pick a color that will show against your door or wall. I also chose a color that could work with LOTS of decor changes. Spray paint (or use acrylics) to achieve the color you desire.

After the letter is dry, attach it to the wreath. I used some wire that I had laying around. It was SUPER thin gauge and I actually painted the part that is wrapped around the “S”. You could use fishing line, ribbon, floss, string, ANYTHING really. I wrapped the wire around a few branches to secure it but not make it permanent. I don’t plan to ever change my last name but… I thought “Ho,Ho, Ho” or “boo” would look cute!

The $10 Wreath!

There… that is it! My $10 Wreath! There are SO many ways you can make this yours and because there isn’t any glue, if you hate it CHANGE IT!

Kid-Friendly Egg Dying

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Mae

So besides the obvious Jesus’ Resurrection, Reese’s Peanut- Butter Eggs and Jelly Beans; egg dying is a HUGE Easter tradition.

You can find about ANY type of dye kit these days. There are HUNDREDS of ideas on Pinterest on how to make the most beautifully decorated eggs.

Now I am going to be completely honest with you. We usually get a box add our vinegar and scribble with crayons and voila EGGS! So don’t expect me to give you some AMAZING decorating techniques.

I am however going to give you something I learned when Munchkin was MUCH younger. The coolest kid-friendly Easter Egg dying technique.

Behold the wire whisk!

Simple and yet SOOO amazing!

You know the cheap wire ‘egg holders (droppers)’ that come in the kits. They are SUPER kid friendly. They really aren’t even adult friendly! I read on a parenting message board about using the wire whisk.

Last year we did and we will NEVER attempt to let Munchkin use an Egg Dropper again!

What you need:

Wire Whisk(s)

Egg Dye in Plastic Drinking cups

You choice of crayons, stickers, other things that make eggs pretty (see Pinterest!)

Note the plastic drinking cups allow for more dye coverage

This is so simple. Place the Egg inside the wire whisk. Allow the toddler/preschooler to dunk the egg in the cup. Wait until the Egg reaches the desired color and then remove.

Removing the egg from inside the whisk can be messy but isn’t too terrible. This should be done by an adult. Rinse whisk before switching dye colors.

Munchkin waiting for the right hue on her egg

This was fun and easy to do. It really allows the toddler to be a much more ACTIVE egg dyer!

Success!! A pretty Easter Egg!

I hope you have fun this Easter! This is Rand McNally’s favorite holiday, and the day he officially asked me to be his girlfriend a LONG time ago . Enjoy your family and friends this weekend!