A Boy Baby Shower

This weekend I threw a baby shower for my adorable new nephew Jamin Matthew.

I was inspired by this paper:

I have it in some frames in my living room.  It's so fun and whimsical.

I went to the fabric store and bought 4 inches (10cm) of a bunch of fun coordinating fabrics...

Parties aren't quite as easy to execute with 6 kids underfoot.  I take that back, it's the toddler and the two month old that make it a challenge.  I had it in my mind that if I got some cute favors made, a pretty cake and my house clean I'd be happy.  Once I got going, I was able to do a bit more.  I love it when things naturally come together and it's not forced!

The paper inspired this piece of art.

I'll be hanging this in my newly painted guest bathroom.

This painting {and frame} was hideous when I bought it at a thrift store a few years ago.

I painted right over the top of the hideous ocean scene!

Recognize the flowers in the yellow jar?  

Leftovers from Cait's Ducky Party.

The canister is a hot chocolate can covered with cute paper.

The thread was used to make the favors and I just popped them in the jar the morning of the party for a little extra "interest"...love how that worked out!

More randoms from around the house that came together.

Clearly I like that aqua color!

I have a frame obsession.

I also have a spray painting addiction.

frame obsession + spray painting addiction = fun colorful party decor!

The cute fabric flowers are hair clips.

Or broaches.

These were the favors.

 The ladies flocked to the wall to pick their favorites.

I think they were a hit!

A half hour before the party started {and before I had taken any pictures}

I caught my 2 year old eating the decorations off the bottom layer of the cake!

I was not pleased.

After giving my girl a talking to, I took some circles off a few cupcakes and added them to the sparse area.

Crisis averted.

Cupcake cuteness.

For a baby shower I always like to have a designated "area" for the mommy to sit so she can have her diaper bag and all her gear in one place.

Naturally there had to be something pretty near that area!

Food table had great food but wasn't especially pretty.

I was okay with that.

A girl can only do so much!

I used some of the fabric to make this cute banner.

The photos of the baby were a fun touch.

Here's the beautiful mommy with her handsome boy at is first party!

I saw this at Michael's and it inspired me to make this one...

Fun little touch:)

My two older girls decorated the deck without supervision and did a great job.

They were a really big help.  I love decorating for parties but I don't love doing everything by myself.  It is more fun to do it together.  I am really thankful that I have daughters who are starting to enjoy working with me!

{that is, when I ignore my inner "craft nazi" and just enjoy the process!!}

It was a wonderful day.

I love this little boy.

I can't wait to get to know him as he grows!

A Dirt Bike Boy Party

Caleb turned 4 the same weekend that Cait turned 1.  Lucky for me and my crazy party planning brain, he wanted to have his party at the park and asked only for a "dirt bike cake".  Now, just be to clear, I have "done it up" for my little boy a few times in the past, like this and like this and like this.  I do not have an aversion to boy parties AT ALL.  My son, however, does not care much for the big fuss.  I asked all the kids to bring their bikes and I bought each family a kite.  Who knew kites could be so fun?  Everyone had a great time even though the party was very simple and I did a much smaller amount of preparation in comparison to Cait's party.  This begs the question of course, as to why I spent 3 months fussing over the details of Cait's party when a scaled down party can be just as special and fun?  Hmmm... there's one for the psychologists..

Here's the promised dirt bike cake.  Notice the number on the guy...

 Cake and favors ready to travel to the park.

Bike shaped pasta.  How fun is that?!

 All the kidlers.

 Have you flown a kite this year? Have you ever?  It is seriously so fun!  You need to!

For more details about the dirt bike cake, go HERE!

Construction Party

Here are some pictures from my son's fun 2nd birthday party. We had just moved into a new house so he was obsessed with construction. The park across the street was the perfect location for the kids to dig and dump to their hearts' content!



The invitation said "come dig and play at Caleb's 3rd birthday!" and I asked them to bring their favorite diggers and dump trucks to use in the "gravel pit".

The birthday boy wit his "I love Dirt" shirt. I always try to find or make a shirt to fit the theme of the party.

Because my son is a younger sibling, a lot of his friends have older siblings. I chose to include all of the children so I kept the favors simple. They each got a construction hat, a bucket and a shovel with their name on it.

One of the games involved the daddies...there was a prize buried in the gravel that they had to search for! The kids loved seeing their dads get competitive.

The cake! mt son wanted a digger and a dump truck...I opted for making the digger out of cake and purchasing a dump truck to fill with cake "dirt". It was a hit, he loved it!