Trolls Birthday Party!

Violet and Lucy had their shared birthday party this past weekend! I can't believe they are four and seven! Where has the time gone? They both thankfully wanted the same theme this year - Trolls! So much easier for this busy mama. Here are some of the photos from their party, taken by my dad <3

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Sources:
Number Balloons: Party City
Marbled Balloons: Shop Sweet Lulu
Rainbow Decoration: DIY
Rock Candy: Party City
Cupcakes: 874 Cake Studio
Troll Headbands: DIY

Violet & Lucy's Minecraft - Dinosaur Birthday Party

I'll admit that I actually wasn't planning on letting the girls choose a birthday party theme this year. It's been a rough year - I started a new full-time job, which has me completely exhausted and beyond stressed at the end of the day every day. The first half of the school year I was coming home crying almost daily. Add to that fact that Violet started school this year, we moved into a new house (on the day that Violet started kindergarten and I started my new job), and that Lucy is two (just turned three!), and it's a recipe for wanting a simple, easy birthday party! Much to my dismay, the girls remembered choosing their themes before, and announced without being asked that they wanted a "girly" Minecraft (Violet) party / dinosaur (Lucy) party. So I mustered what little I had left and this is what I came up with. In the end I'm glad that we did it, and I'm happy that they were both happy!

We had a dinosaur bean bag toss that Violet helped me to paint onto a cardboard box using some leftover paint testers, and a pin-the-tail on the Minecraft pig that I made out of paper. I had some other fun ideas (Pinterest!!!), but managed to reign myself in and not overwhelm myself with unnecessary details. It was a really fun day and we got SO lucky with the weather (I think every other weekend has been cold/rainy so far). I still can't believe I am the mother of a three and six-year-old! Happy birthday girls, we love you to the moon and back! xo, Mommy & Daddy

P.S. If you want to see a few of the girls' past birthday parties here you go! 2015 . 2014 . 2013

Violet & Lucy's Birthday Party

We had another joint birthday party for the girls this year. It's definitely sooo much easier to plan one party than two, but the girls did try to make things a little more challenging for us this year by requesting specific different themes from one another! Lucy wanted a Peppa Pig party (her fave - she goes around snorting and saying things like "post" and "swimming costume"), and Violet wanted a mermaid party with a very specific pink cake with strawberries and a mermaid on it.

Not to be deterred from my one party and done plan, we managed to make it work - we basically just split the table in half and had Lucy's side and Violet's side. We didn't want to spend a lot, so we went with a basic pack of balloons along with the gold number balloons that we do every year, I painted a backdrop on some butcher paper, made table runners out of gift wrap, and made the (slightly lumpy) cakes myself. For the Peppa Pig theme we found some cute printable cupcake wrappers and toppers on Etsy which we cut and assembled. For the mermaid theme it was an Ariel doll and Pinterest to the rescue. I found some easy looking oyster/pearl cookies, bought some rock candy at the local party store, and plopped Violet's Ariel doll on top of the pink-by-her-request cake. All of the other decorations we re-used from previous parties - yippee!

Luckily the girls were thrilled with everything and the only squabble was who got to each which Peppa Pig character :) I call that a success!

Happy birthday girls - love you to the moon and back! xo, Your Mama

Super Simple Last-Minute Halloween Bash

 We're having people over for Halloween night on Friday and I really wanted to put up a few decorations, but I've been so busy I haven't had time to give it much thought. Today I decided to just go for it, so I raided my party box and stole some pumpkins off of our front porch. Twenty minutes later and it's looking a lot more festive at our house! I may still add a few things here and there over the next few days - bats? cute witch hat cups? But I'm pretty happy to have something. I think my favorite part are the tissue paper ball decorations - a little black construction paper and tape and voila! Instant Halloween party decorations.

 Happy Halloween! xo, Lauren

I am the Mother of a Four-Year-Old!

I'm not sure how it happened, but on Saturday I became the mother of a four-year-old in all her crazy, sweet, hilarious, whiney-yet-adorable glory. She is four going on fourteen, already chasing the boys at playgroup (literally - I don't know how she can run for so long!), wanting to drive the car, being super-particular about her clothing, and changing her mind constantly from one second to the next. And yet, she NEVER wants to grow up. In fact, four is the oldest she will ever be. Next year she wants a party, but it will not be a birthday party because she not aging another year. If only we could freeze ourselves at our perfect age! I'm not sure which I would choose. I'm actually pretty happy at 32!

Anyway, considering that her party was the previous weekend, on the actual day of her birthday I still wanted to do something special. I considered some ideas that I came across on Pinterest like filling her room with balloons while she slept or taping balloons or streamers at her door for a wake-up surprise, but considering that she often wakes up in terror in the middle of the night after dreaming that wolves are eating her feet and runs to our room, I thought that might not work out so well. So instead I woke up early, whipped up a batch of good ol' Bisquick pancakes, and decorating the dining room with some simple classic party decorations in her favorite colors (she likes blue again!). She was absolutely thrilled when she came down in all of her bedhead glory and blew out the candles.

I can't wait to see what this year brings! We love you our sweet, special one-of-a-kind little four-year-old girl :) They broke the mold when they made you! xo, Lauren

P.S. Violet and Lucy's shared birthday party and Violet's birthday pancakes at age two (my how she's grown!)

Violet & Lucy's Birthday

We celebrated the girls' first and fourth birthdays this past weekend - with Lucy's birthday being in April and Violet's being in May it just made sense to celebrate their birthdays together. When they get a little older, they can each have their own little party with friends, but for now one party is perfect. When I asked Violet what kind of birthday party she wanted this year, the only information I could get out of her was that she wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate icing with her name on it in chocolate and that Lucy should have a pink cake. She also requested pin the tail on the donkey. I was completely expecting her to ask for a princess party, Dora party, or Hello Kitty party, and I even suggested those things to her, but she was set on her chocolate cake.

So with those simple requests, I decided to use a lot of party supplies that we already had stored from previous years to save a little money. We reused our DIY fringe banner, "YAY" plates, cupcake toppers, and honeycomb decorations and bought just a few new things. I love Joy's new line of party decor for Targett, so we picked up a few plates and napkins, ordered some fun tasseled balloons and mini balloons from Shop Sweet Lulu, and bought some gold foil balloons and cupcake wrappers. I made a scalloped table cover out of brown kraft paper from our Christmas wrapping and used some leftover gold paper to make a "Happy Birthday" sign on the wall inspired by Angela's. I baked all of the cakes myself, and they're certainly no professional job by any means, but Violet was happy with them. She loved all of the fun, bright colors but was mostly thrilled with the candy. She definitely made up for being sick on Easter, that's for sure! Here are a few pics from my trusty iPhone:


Happy birthday to my dear, sweet little girls! xo, Lauren

A Thanksgiving Kids' Table (Plus Free Printables!)

If you're looking to make something a little special for the kiddos this Thanksgiving, here's a fun and simple set up for you...

1. Kraft paper makes a fun table cloth and bonus: the kids can color on it! Fill a jar, bag, or pouch with crayons and trust me, they'll figure it out :)
2. Kids can write what they're thankful for on paper pennants and pin or tape them onto a mini tree. This one's from a season or two ago, but here's a similar one, or if you fill a vase with pebbles and use a few branches from your yard it would work just as well. 

3. These wood-veneered leaves give the table that special Fall feel. You could write kids' names on them and use them as place settings if you'd like.

4. Free printable place mats to add a fun dose of color. (download below!)

5. Wrap your plastic or wooden cutlery with washi tape to make them fun and festive.

6. Add a colorful garland in the background to add that party feel! 

And here are the printable place mats for you:

Click here to download the red placemat printable.
Click here to download the white placemat printable.

P.S. Don't forget to download our friendly paper dress up turkey to keep the little ones entertained!

Xavier's First Birthday

My super adorable nephew just had his first birthday! I couldn't be at his party because he lives in Australia, but luckily my sister hired a photographer so that I could live vicariously through the gorgeous photos:

Love him sooo much! He is the sweetest, happiest little guy, and I only wish he lived closer so I could just squeeze him all of the time. My sister planned the party and designed/printed the invitations herself - didn't she do a great job?!

And I totally just noticed that I don't have a photo of his smash cake pre-smash, and it's super cute (my sister made the cake herself as well!), so here is an extra photo:

Happy birthday little guy! We love you so much and can't wait til the next time we see you again in person!!! xo, Auntie Lauren, Uncle Kevin, Violet, and Lucy

Photos: Candice Van Moolenbroek

Also, Violet's first birthday party, Ruby's rainbow party, and a DIY fringed banner

Invitations: Designed by my sister

Pretty Party Supplies

There are a ton of fun places that I like to look for pretty party supplies. Here are three lovely Etsy shops:

 michiemay paperie

Sucre Shop

Caramelos

I thought maybe I'd share a few of my faves each week? Happy party planning! xo, Lauren