McClure Family Blog

PRINCESS PARTY DIY PRINTABLES

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of helping a friend with her adorable daughter’s 6 year old Princess Party. I designed the invitation and party printables using Creative Memories software, Storybook Creator found here to match decorations that she ordered from the darling company, Chasing Fireflies.  The Creative Memories digital kit Fabulous All Girl Digital Additions found here matched perfectly! CM also has Universal content found here for Mac users or those with other software programs.

My girl and I were also invited to participate in the Royal Festivities and we had a ball! She was most impressed that a REAL Cinderella arrived and hosted the party with games and crafts. The birthday girl’s mama made everything so special and pretty for all the royal guests. It was so much fun!

THE INVITATION FRONT:

THE INVITATION BACK:

I made Treat Bag Toppers, Cupcake Toppers, Hershey Bar Wraps, Water Bottle Wraps, and a Welcome Sign. I used a local printer found here for all the printables and printed the invitations from the CM Photo Center found here.  The invitations came printed on beautiful quality 5x7 double-sided card stock with matching envelopes. If you call Litgistix to print your party printables, ask for Steve and he will give you a great deal. He will also ship to you. :)

The cute paper straws can be found at the etsy shop, Crafts by Jilly found here.  She is getting ready to launch an awesome new event this week. I will keep you posted here for special giveaways and sales up to 70% off her party supplies!

The REAL Cinderella was awesome. She played games like “Hide the Apple” and “Duck Duck Goose” with the girls. She also brought crafts and treat bags for everyone to enjoy. 

These little princesses were so incredibly adorable. I love how they transformed into royalty when wearing their magical dresses. :)

Tomorrow’s post will feature the next party we attended that day.  Yes, we attended two parties in a row with a wardrobe change in between! This party involved spray paint, microphones, and Taylor Swift. Stay tuned! :) 

PS … if you are wanting help or tutorials on how to make the digital party printables, please visit the Go Digital Facebook Page found here. You will find all kinds of help and instructions on how to use this awesome software. Plus, they give away freebies (digital content) every Friday. :)

SHABBY CHIC SWEET 16 TEA PARTY & DIY PRINTABLES

After this sweet teen helped me with my girl’s Woodland Fairy party found here, she told her mom, “No offense, mom, but I want Melissa to plan my Sweet 16th birthday party.” Her mom was so tickled as she shared this with me, as was I, because her mom is an insanely talented interior designer! She can definitely throw a fabulous party well on her own.  However, she was so gracious to invite me and my girl to her daughter’s Sweet 16 birthday party and to include me in the planning process. It was so fun! Miss K requested a “Pinterest Party” and “a tea party with burlap.”  It turned out so cute!

I designed the invitation and party printables using the software by Creative Memories, Storybook Creator found here.  For most of the embellishments and backgrounds, I used the digital kit “Changing Seasons from Spring to Summer” found here. I uploaded them to this local printer who printed them on glossy, thick paper. The service and quality were outstanding and the prices were very affordable. If you call them, ask for Steve. He was great!

Her mom, the interior designer, made this the perfect Sweet 16 party for the only princess in her family. This is a rock star mom who has raised  four boys (3 of them being triplets) and one beautiful princess! It was such a fun event and I was so grateful my girl and I had the privilege of attending! My girl was so cute as she thoughtfully took in every detail. She enjoyed getting dressed up and having tea with all the big girls. And these precious girls have a special bond and friendship through a weekly Bible study they all attend together.

Candy bar wraps using Fabulous Milestones digital embellishments found here. There is a great tutorial on how to make these posted here.

I made these circle fans using instructions found here and layered them with a doily. The fan on the left was turned around backwards so you can’t see the printable created for it.

Isn’t she absolutely stunning?

Miss K’s mom told the story of how this vintage tea set was sent to her grandmother from her dad while serving overseas in the war. This was the first time it has been used in this generation!

Her mom found some great brunch ideas from pinterest.

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The little blue box contained a variety of tea. 

Her mom actually made this gorgeous pink cake from scratch!

I brought these gluten free, organic, all natural sugar cookies, which were a hit!

My girl was just a wee bit excited to be there. :) She dressed herself. 

Her first cup of tea.

Hmmmm, not so much. She took one sip and gave the rest to me. :)

My girl had the seat of honor next to the birthday girl! The weather was perfect to have our tea and brunch outside, which is a gift in our part of the country. The temperatures had previously been in the 100s the days before the party!

I made these name plates with Storybook Creator software and used a font I had on my computer.

Miss K’s mom found these frames at a thrift store and painted them for photo props.

They turned out so cute!

I made the birthday banner using Storybook Creator software. You can find instructions in a tutorial posted here. 

There is nothing more beautiful than the bond between a loving mother and daughter. Both these girls are dear and precious to my heart. What a gift to participate in their special day with them!

DIY LITTLE MONSTER DOLLS {party favors} …

WARNING: If you are an accomplished seamstress, and by accomplished, I mean if you can read and use a pattern, you will probably NOT like (or approve) of this post. 

I have always been more of a kinesthetic learner, retaining information more efficiently by doing something rather than hearing or reading the instructions. So again, here is another “jimmy-rigged” project, one I made up as I went along. I also took as many short cuts as I could because starting and completing any project around here while chasing a 2 year old and entertaining a 4 year old is quite a challenge! I know it is not perfect and there are plenty of better ways of doing this, but here is my version of Little Monster Dolls.

Most of the materials I already had at home. I bought a few felt squares to have a variety of fun colors, but essentially, each little monster cost me less than $.50 each. I gave them as party favors for my boy’s Little Monster party featured here.

Materials Needed:

1. Felt fabric squares ($0.25 each at Hobby Lobby)
2. Cotton stuffing 
3. Some sort of pattern if you don’t want to free hand draw your pattern
4. Sewing Machine
5. Scissors
6. Pins
7. Needle & thread
8. Fabric glue
9. Buttons 

I googled “monster doll” and “ugly doll” until I found a retail site with simple monster shapes I liked. I printed off several “dolls” and cut them out. You could also hand draw if you are an artist. I am not.

I folded each felt fabric swatch in half lengthwise, because that fit my pattern best, and pinned my pattern to the fabric.

Hmmmm, voodoo anyone? :)

Next comes the part where every Home-Ec teacher (including my mother-in-law) will want to turn their heads …

Slowly sew stitches around your pattern, not caring one bit if it doesn’t match it exactly.

Leave a 2” or so opening somewhere on the doll …

Un-pin your pattern …

Carefully cut around your stitches …

Remind yourself, the uglier and more imperfect it is, THE BETTER! Yay!

Using the opening … 

turn your monster inside out …

Oh no! Where are his arms?? Maybe it was the voodoo?! 

Use your magic wand (or a pencil, or any type of long stick) …

to poke the arms outside the body.

Ta-dah! Now it’s time to fatten that bad boy up … with stuffing. Cotton, not turkey.

The tinier the fingers, the better. So I recruited the tiniest, smartest little fingers I knew …

She plumped up those little monsters until they were about to pop.

Ta-dah! Leave a little space and reserving a little more stuffing for later so you have enough room to hand stitch buttons for eyes.

Cut out some mouths and teeth out of felt scraps, glue them on with fabric glue and sew on some google button eyes. Then continue stuffing those little critters to the max and hand stitch the opening shut. I recruited stronger, more experienced fingers than mine for this job. Thank you mom, for sewing up all our Little Monster Dolls!

Enjoy! You can find the inspiration for these monsters here. 

DIY PARTY PRINTABLES {how to make a paper rosette fan} …

Paper rosette fans make a great backdrop for dessert table or even a photography shoot. I googled instructions and made my own for my boy’s two year old party featured here. I admit, I did not have all the correct crafting tools … so I made due with what I did have. 

Materials I used:

1. Three sheets of square decorative paper you can find here.
2. Scorer (I used a little scrapbooking tool used for picking up stickers, but the pressure required to score paper damaged the tip of it).
3. A larger trimmer with scored lines for measuring (I used a Fiskars because of the large surface and grooves for scoring).
4. Bone envelope folder (I used a plastic paddle/stirrer/scrapper thing I had in our kitchen utensil drawer).
5. Stapler
6. Twine, yarn, or sturdy thread.
7. Hold punch.
8. Tape or glue.
9. Optional: cupcake liners or doilies. 

HOW TO MAKE A PAPER ROSETTE FAN:

Score your paper every 1” by pressing your scorer firmly on the backside of your paper and running from the top to the bottom along the grooves of your trimmer.

My paper was too big for my trimmer, so I scored half way down, turned my paper, and scored the second half to meet in the middle. If you get a little off, that’s OK. These creases serve as a guide when making the folds on your fan.

Fold your paper along the score lines like an accordion fan, forward and back.

Using your bone folder (or orange scraper/paddle/thing from the kitchen drawer), press firmly along the folds to crease them.

Fold your fan from end to end.

Staple the inside ends together.

Staple it at least three times, getting as close to the middle as possible. This is kinda hard, but have patience! The cuteness is worth it. :)

Repeat the above steps with two more sheets of matching paper.

Be sure and staple as close to the middle as you can get. 

Thread some yarn, twine, or string through the openings of your three “fans” and tie them together tightly.

Ta-dah! Your rosette fan is ready to be embellished!

In the middle of my fan, I glued a little cupcake topper I made using Creative Memories Storybook Creator 4.0 software found here. Tutorial for that coming next week. :)

You can add even more embellishments using a doily or a cupcake liner.  I used this cute polka dot cupcake liner from etsy shop, Crafts by Jilly, found here.

To use the cupcake liner, fold it in half, and snip a small “X” in the center.

Open up the liner and fold tiny creases in the middle until it lays flat.

Glue it on top of your fan and layer a cute embellishment on top.  Punch a hole in the very top of the fan and tie a string, twine, or yarn from which to hang your fan.

Ta-dah! Enjoy! More party tutorials coming next week! :)

Didn’t my cousin do a fabulous job on the above picture? She has an awesome growing photography business. Go like her Facebook page here to see more of her beautiful work!

LITTLE MONSTER PARTY {my boy turns 2} …

I think I’ve found a new hobby. I really like planning children’s birthday parties … especially my own. Since my girl’s first birthday party, I’ve sorta become a birthday party fanatic. It is seriously so fun and brings me so much joy to do something fun for my kids that is tailor-made to their personalities. 

I admit though, I am a HUGE copy cat. I can’t come up with one original idea on my own. But when I see something I really like, I can usually figure out how to do it, especially with this awesome software by Creative Memories called Storybook Creator 4.0. You can find it here. 

When I saw this Little Monster party, I contacted the event stylist, Elissa, (who also inspired my boy’s Vintage Red Wagon First Birthday party) and asked for advice on planning my own. She was so generous to sell me her used supplies and brainstormed with me AGAIN on how to pull it off by myself. She is awesome. She also helped me with my girl’s Woodland Fairy 4 year old party. :) THANK YOU, ELISSA!! Go “LIKE” her on Facebook. She creates amazing parties!

Later this week, I will post DIY instructions on how to use Storybook Creator 4.0 to make your own party printables. I will also post how I made the “mostly-organic,” gluten-free, artificial dye-free, all natural birthday treats. Yes, it can be done. :) And, YES, everything was very yummy. :)

THE TREAT TABLE … 

DIY paper rosette fans …

DIY Little Monster dolls out of felt squares & repurposed buttons …

Hee-hee … these guys cracked me up …

Repurposed “2” from Big Sis’ party two years ago …

Gluten free Monster cupcakes with natural food dye …

Gluten free Sugar Cookies with natural food dye …

BOOBERRY (blueberry) Frosting Shots made with Coconut Milk …

Homemade Marshmallows sweetened with honey

(google eyes not artificial dye free but were easily peeled off. My etsy friend, Jillian ordered them for me! The candy in the beakers were not organic, but were offered as optional take home treats at the end of the party) …

Homemade Marshmallow Fondant Swirl Pops made with natural food dye …

When will I ever learn from this mistake??? Buttercream icing MELTS in the sun! LOL

THE DRINK TABLE … 

DIY water bottle wraps …

Paper straws ordered from THIS awesome etsy shop …

DIY paper pinwheels …

DIY can wraps …

Pottery Barn Fall clearance Halloween buckets bought also with the Birthday Boy’s clearance Monster Halloween Costume (plus I used my Storytime Book Club cards that gave me $10 off each purchase making the buckets free and the costume less than $10) …

THE BANQUET TABLE …

DIY water bottle wraps …

Cute candy/cupcake cups from THIS  etsy shop …

THE PHOTO BOOTH clearance rugs from Hobby Lobby and felt fabric eye balls …

SMILE MASKS …

MAKE YOUR OWN MONSTER STATION …

COLOR A MONSTER STATION … 

MONSTER BALLS ORDERED FROM ORIENTAL TRADING COMPANY …

GIANT BALLOON DRAGON TO PULL AROUND THE YARD … SO FUN!

MY BIG BOY TWO YEAR OLD!

THE WOODLAND FAIRY PARTY Part 3: more DIY decorations & party printables

These are a few photos of some other little DIY projects I made for my girl’s 4 year old Woodland Fairy Party. You can view photos of the decorations and food here and photos of the kids and activities here. I’m hoping (fingers crossed) that my cousin and good friend (both professional photographers) got some better party pics with their suped up super-duper-cameras. Maybe … if they were so kind to pass what they captured on to me (hint, hint), I will post them here too. :) 

I found this idea off pinterest. Isn’t this little gnome cute?? I used a vase and river rocks I already had and found the little gnome and moss mat on sale at Michael’s. 

Another great pinterest idea … this was by the flower planting station: paper mache letters on sale  50% off at our craft store, sheet moss, jute twine, flowers from my personal craft stash, and glitter spray paint. Tip: we had to staple the skewers on the back because hot glue and tape would not work.

My little mushroom friends I found growing in our yard a week before the party! Poor little guys look a little tired and shriveled after the party!

DIY vases made from repurposed bottles, spray adhesive, jute twine and yarn. These would be so pretty in a group of three or four in an old shallow box or crate.

You can barely see them because they are almost invisible, kinda like real fairies, but these are sliver glittery fairy ornaments my friend let me borrow that she got on clearance after Christmas.

Close up of DIY printable birthday banner made using Creative Memories Storybook Creator 4.0 software. The digital kit I used is called “Once Upon A Time,” perfect for our Woodland Fairy party!

Close up of the DIY party hats made using Creative Memories Storybook Creator 4.0 software and Dollar Tree flowers. I bought a package of Dollar Tree hats, took one apart, traced around it to make my template, scanned it into my computer and saved it as a jpeg image. I then imported that image into SBC 4.0 project and filled it with the paper from the Once Upon a Time kit, printed, cut, and glued around the Dollar Tree hat as my base. Then I took apart the flowers from Dollar tree & glued them to the top and base of my hat. Last, I added a little dab of glitter glue in the middle of the flower to hide the little hole were the stem was. These sound way more time consuming than they actually were. I had already created my hat template in my software program from another party I did last year. And my girl and I spent some quality time together as she helped me pull apart all the flowers before I glued them on. :)

DIY party printable sign made using Creative Memories SBC 4.0 software …

Another DIY party printable sign using Creative Memories SBC 4.0 software. I glued some ribbon along the top to make a banner.

Martha Stewart glittery gold butterfly stickers on clearance at Michael’s. I loved these. :)

Several people have contacted me about how to get started on a gluten free diet. So tomorrow I hope to share with you a gluten free resource I am attempting to put together via pinterest. I am really learning to like pinterest as a helpful resource tool. :)

THE WOODLAND FAIRY PARTY Part 2: little gnomes & fairies

When I look at these pictures, I can almost hear the soundtrack for the movie Steel Magnolias playing in my head. These little fairies and gnomes were about as sweet as cotton candy and ponies. It was like a movie watching them play and interact. 

When little guests entered the magical woods, they were transformed into a fairy or gnome by donning a tutu, wings, and a fairy hat or a gnome hat & beard that I made. The wings were from the Dollar Tree that I embellished with some flowers I found on clearance and the hats I made with SBC 4.0 and Dollar Tree flowers and felt. The boys each received a bug catcher, also from my favorite store, Dollar Tree. :)

Father Fairy Matt & Baby Gnome greeted guests as they arrived under the woodland branches that were overhanging our gate & adorned with fairy ribbon streamers. I salvaged the branches from our neighbor who had a tree cut down down last month. Special guests, Granny & Papa surprised us with a last minute visit from the farm. My girl flew arms spread wide with delight to greet them. My boy was so overwhelmed that THE legendary Papa Sam, the great farmer who drives “a twatcer” was actually there, he literally melted in his arms. :)

These three precious 9th grade girls came to help at the party. They were so sweet to even dress up fairy fashion! Kelsey worked the planting station, Allie worked the painting station, and Lutie worked the games. They were perfect & Lily loved having big girl fairies at her party! I have taught these girls in Sunday School since 7th grade so they are extra special to me! I love these girls so much!

This is my childhood friend Danette. She is crazy. She is zany. She is fun. She is artistic. She was perfect for this role & exactly how I envisioned she would be, the Star of the show!

This face painting Fairy was a hit! The kids loved her! My boy wouldn’t be still long enough to get his face painted though, but he had a blast at his big sis’ party! And don’t these little baby fairies and miniature gnomes make you want to squeal?? They were so precious!! 

We had crafting stations where they could paint a fairy house (thankfully with washable paint my mom brought at the last minute … good thinking mom!), color a fairy picture, or plant a fairy flower …

After face painting, crafts, & games, Father Fairy Matt took all the little fairies and gnomes to the front yard to play the games my girl requested: Red Light/Green Light, Father Fairy May I?, and Simon Says. It was so adorable watching them play in their tutus, wings, and gnome hats & they really got into the games!! 

This is where the magic fairy dust really began swirling for me. I absolutely loved this part of the party … watching my little girl play with her friends and cousins was almost more than my heart could take before it burst with joy. I still grin ear to ear each time I look at these pictures. Oh, and to see Matt, I mean Father Fairy, in charge of it all  … I mean seriously, what a great dad?!! I love that guy so much.

After games in the front yard, we all flew back to the Fairy Banquet Table to feast on fairy treats! Serious cuteness to see those little creatures sitting on tiny tree stumps at a tiny table Matt fashioned just for them. :)

We are truly blessed with an amazing support system of friends and family who love and pray for us and our kids. I thank God every time I remember each and every one of them. To stand back and take account of each life God has brought into ours is staggering and humbling. I am so thankful to the Lord Jesus for blessing us with such awesome friends and family during this season of our lives. It is such a sweet time that I want to savor & cherish forever.

After our fairy feast, the little mythical creatures gathered around the birthday fairy to bestow gifts upon her. She sat like a perfect princess on her little stump & received each gift graciously.

A few people have asked “how much time did you spend on this?” Well, that is kind of hard to answer. We just incorporated a little bit of into our lives, dreaming, crafting, planning since the day we began talking about it. I tried to teach her about gracious hosting and gratitude toward others in the process too.  I guess it is sort of like running a marathon. Many do not understand why in the world anyone would want to go through extensive training that to others seems like a daunting task. Well, after training and running two marathons (pre-kids I might add), the journey is half the fun and the work is TOTALLY worth every effort. And when you finally get to race day, and especially when you cross the finish line … what an indescribable celebration?!  It is an awesome feeling.

Well, I want to celebrate life, the goodness of God in every good gift that comes from above, from the Father of Lights. I’ve learned through studying the Old Testament that God commanded His people to celebrate through annual festivals and feasts to give thanks for what He had done for them. We are talking big parties here. That is my heart behind celebrating my kids. Not just to throw them an annual party, but to live out the essence of a grateful heart for  who He has entrusted to me. This little girly girl is the daughter of my dreams. She is all things pink, dainty, dramatic, artistic, sweet, generous, nurturing, and kind. She is so intense that she does not sleep (thus depriving us of sleep), and can throw whoppers of a fit, wailing loud enough to bust an eardrum.  But I know each of her traits has been woven into her by a God who loves her and has tremendous plans for her life to bring Him glory. Thank you God for Lily Faye!

I have a few more decorations and DIY photos I forgot to include in yesterday’s post of the party. I will post them tomorrow.  

PS … all pages made using Creative Memories Storybook Creator 4.0 software. You can find it here, and it is on sale 35% off right now!

THE WOODLAND FAIRY PARTY Part 1: the decorations & food {gluten free birthday party-healthy post monday} …

I refuse to take off my wings since our party two days ago. My Fairy Queen wings that is. I want to live in the magical world of sweet fairy birthday dreamland forever. Remember how magical birthdays used to be as a kid? It was like electricity in the air. That is what I wanted to create for my little pixie girl for her 4th birthday. About 6 months ago, she chose the Woodland Fairy theme and we began “shopping” for ideas off pinterest. You can see all the great ideas we found and gluten free recipes I used here. She picked out her dress, cake, and cookies she wanted me to make and chose the games she wanted to play with her friends. We had a ball planning together. I also gained a lot of inspiration and suggestions from following ‘One Stone Events’ on pinterest. Her pins are amazing!!  She was also SO kind as to suggest the idea for the DIY floral centerpiece and backdrop for my dessert table. What a nice and gracious gal!!!  I also have to thank my parents who helped behind the scenes during the party, my mom who watched my kids the day before, our amazing friends from church whose tremendous work helped the party run smoothly, and my four special guest fairies who made the event just perfect for all the little fairies and gnomes who came to play! Most of all, I have to thank Matt, who without his help I may still be covered in powdered sugar and icing or moss and glue. He was the cleaning crew, building crew, set up and take down crew … and the handyman who put man-power and elbow grease in all the special touches and props. :)

Because my kids and I are gluten sensitive, I made every treat gluten free, free of artificial dyes, and mostly organic. All the recipes I used are pinned on this pinterest board. I also designed and made all the party printables using Creative Memories Storybook Creator 4.0 software. You can find it here and it is on sale right now! I used this local printer to print them. It all began with this invitation I made with SBC 4.0 …

FRONT

BACK

The pictures were too yellow and the sun was glaring on the front page picture, but we managed to get these without our usual meltdown! Yay!

The Dessert Table … .

DIY Cupcake stand …

I made the cupcake stand using cans, wood rounds from the craft store, and a moss mat. I would highly suggest using sheet moss, though. It would have been easier and less messy!

DIY Mini Cupcake Wrappers using SBC 4.0 software …

I used Sprinkles cupcake & icing recipes and substituted the baking flour for a GF four mixture of equal parts tapioca flour, sweet white rice flour, & coconut flour and 1/2 tsp of xanthum gum per one cup of GF flour. I also used turbinado raw cane sugar and natural food coloring to make the pink sparkles on top. They were so cute and very delish.

Her “pink flower cake with butterflies” per my fairy girl’s request & chosen off pinterest …

I learned how to make the rosettes from my high school friend, Janette, owner of All Things Cake, an awesome local bakery. You can find the tutorial by clicking here. She also suggested the butterfly mold to make the butterflies. It was so easy: just paint on gelatin with food coloring, let dry, then peel butterflies off the mold. They were perfect cake toppers! What I know now, I didn’t know Saturday morning, was that this yummy Sprinkles buttercream icing WILL melt when left in the sun! LOL! It already looked a little wonky with it being my first time to use a pastry tip. How do you pipe flowers on the sides of a cake anyway? The GF cake was really good though. Even my brother-in-law told me it was the best cake he had ever eaten!! Now that was a compliment.  :)

Poor melty pink flower cake. :(

Magical Mushroom Meringues … these fooled a few folks, but were a favorite for many!

Mythical Macarons, without the filling because I was too tired to make it and made with a flower pastry tip because my other tip kept clogging. They were super yummy though  …

Pixie Sugar Cookies … 

These were almost the death of me. I had never really worked with royal icing before and didn’t really know what I was getting into. By the end of the game, I swore I would never decorate another sugar cookie with royal icing again until I took a class. I thought they were the ugliest cookies ever, until my sweet, wonderful, ray of sunshine cousin told me she thought they were from a professional bakery. Haha! I wanted to hug her neck because just the night before, Matt had told me what he thought the pink mushrooms were pink tutus. 

I did use all natural food coloring and the cookies themselves were very yummy. Just not what I had envisioned in my head. :)

Magic Marshmallows …

What I know now, I didn’t know then, marshmallows melt in the sun, even when it is cool outside. The sun wasn’t even hot, but they were soft mush by the time we raided the dessert table. Oh well. One of Matt’s co-workers has a love affair with these little treats. She will be so happy Monday morning when he brings her the left overs! I did make them with Agave Nectar and natural food coloring instead of corn syrup. Next to the mallows are “Pink Robins’ Eggs” or Jordan Almonds. I did not make those. :)

The Woodland Feast Table …

One of my bestest college friends and roommates gave me this cool dish towel from Anthropology. I thought it fit the theme perfectly!

I got this cute pink and white twine from this etsy shop. She has really cute party supplies and shipped lightning speed fast!

Woodland Trail Mix …

Fairy Berries …

Pink Ladies …

Glittery Grapes …

Toadstool Tomatoes that would not stay together …

Dew Drop Nectar and Fairy Dust … graphics made with SBC 4.0 software …

More cute twine from this etsy shop.

The Banquet Table …

My blog-world friend from One Stone Events, sent me the inspiration for this centerpiece I made with one of my girl’s shoeboxes, sheet moss, azaleas from my parents’ house, and roses from our yard and our neighbor’s yard. The stumps were given to us by our neighbor who sells firewood in the winter time.

These are Dollar Tree square plates I covered with sheet moss and the little gold, glittery butterflies are Martha Stewart stickers I found on clearance.

These are repurposed Starbucks frappucinno bottles and the cute pink and white paper straws from this etsy shop.

I found this little gal on clearance after Easter and changed her little sign to say “Happy Birthday.” Isn’t she cute? Perfect for my little fairy ballerina! And don’t you love the Fairy House behind her?? I want to set up little fairy furniture inside and have fairy tea parties on it’s porch. :)

DIY tent I made out of a repurposed sheet, bamboo sticks from Dollar Tree, and fabric I purchased. The flowers were hair clips I had already made for my girl. I found the idea and tutorial online & pinned it on this pinterest board …

Ok, this DIY mushroom is a long story, but basically we rescued it before it went to the dump. I wrapped the bottom with Dollar Tree paper and painted the top. It made a perfect stand for gifts and I decorated it with fairy books I checked out from the library. I especially LOVE the book of fairy poetry by Laura Ingalls Wilder. :)

Plant a Fairy Flower …

These mushrooms & roses came from our yard!

DIY vases: I wrapped two repurposed bottles with yarn and jute twine.

Paint a Fairy House … 

The little houses came from the Dollar Tree and the wood is from my neighbor.

DIY game: hula hoops & red bowls from Dollar Tree painted with white spots and glued to wood scraps. Once again, THANK YOU neighbor, Tom!

DIY game: Wand & fairy pic from Dollar Tree colored by my little pixie.

Thank you gifts & treat bags …

I tea stained these little canvas bags from the craft store then printed my graphics made with SBC 4.0 software on to iron-on paper.

Chocolate bar wrappers made with SBC 4.0.

DIY Fairy & Gnome party hats made with SBC 4.0 & Dollar Tree flowers & felt …

More printables made with SBC 4.0 …

Ok, so I know that is about a billion pics, but I have about a billion more. I will post pics of all the littles tomorrow. They are so sweet and cute. And please excuse the pictures. The sun was so bright that morning and I am still learning to shoot manual with my camera. 

In the midst of all this woodland fairy party planning, I read a verse during my Bible study one day that captures the essence of true supernatural power, not just mere mythical fairy magic from the storybooks. “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness,” found in the Bible in James 3:17-18. For some reason, these verses struck a chord with me and I want to strive daily to grow in that heavenly wisdom.

I also learned a little bit about myself through this experience. I really need to not be so hard on myself. Even though everything was a dream, and God seriously allowed me to accomplish more than I ever could on my own, after it was over, I kept thinking about all the things I wanted to do but ran out of time, energy, and resources for. Matt made a great point to me. He said when being truly creative, you can never do everything you want to do. Each time you achieve something, that threshold the next time just reaches higher. You just have to do the best you can with the time and resources you’ve been given.  It was such a joy putting this party together and the end result was worth every effort exerted. One of my most favorite moments of the entire event was when my girl came up to me after thoroughly savoring each bite of her mini fairy cupcake and said, “Mommy, you’re the best” and gave me a huge hug. She seriously melts my heart.