SevenOneSix

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Monster Party Planning: Yarn Balls

When I first decided to do a monster theme'd party I had to quickly decide on a color scheme. Many of the parties I used as inspiration used blues & greens, etc. I saw this pin on Pinterest and knew I had to do the DIY, but also knew then that I'd want to do ROYGBV as the colors - the colors of the rainbow. At first my husband was concerned it'd look "girly", but as things are coming together he's now realized how awesome this is going to be!

Back to the yarn balls.

Would you like to see my first attempt at creating a yarn ball? I have to show you my failed results, because it was just pathetic.

A big 'ol heaping pile of tangled, stiff yarn. *insert sad face here* I was determined, though, I was going to make this work!

I perused Pinterest (does anyone else use this site like google images now? I search for just about everything there!) for other yarn ball pins and found this blog post with a tutorial from Wednesday Custom Design. There are many, many tutorials out there in blog land but this one was pretty detailed so I gave it a try.

**Side Note** The Wednesday Custom Design blog is full of inspiration for DIY, weddings, etc. I think after finding this tutorial I spent an hour straight browsing!

So, here's how I did it.

(I forgot to take a photo of the finished purple yarn ball)

I must reiterate - DO NOT POP THE BALLOON UNTIL IT'S COMPLETELY DRY! You remember my failed attempt above? I'm impatient, you see, and that's what happens when you just *have* to see what happens when the balloon pops. Also, I must add, I didn't use petroleum jelly on my first - failed - attempt and the glue/yarn stuck to the balloon. When the balloon deflated, so did the yarn. Moral of the story? Use petroleum jelly! It's messy and feels soooo gross, but do it.

Stay tuned for part two of the Yarn Ball tutorial. Next up: Let's pop some balloons!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Monster Party Planning: Menu & Decor Plans

Before I get into the Menu & Decor Plans, I have to post the finished product of C's invitations! I ordered them postcard style on mpix.com and they came so quickly!

What do you think?

Okay, our original plan was to do a mini burger bar at his party - sliders to be exact. However, I realized after talking to the in-laws that the club house we're having the party at doesn't have an oven or a way to keep things warm. It'll probably be snowing or really cold at this time, too, so BBQing really would be a pain in the booty. Plan B.

The Menu:

Sub Sandwiches

Rainbow colored veggie & fruit trays

Chocolate Colored Rainbow Oreos & Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats - decorated as monsters

Chips & Dips

We'll also have a mix of drinks available for the kids & adults.

The Decor/Paper Products:

Oh man, this list is a mile long, it seems like. I have so many ideas!

- Invites - DONE!

- Birthday Banner

- Name Banner for the front door

- Monthly photo banner

- "cupcake"/mason jar cake toppers

- Food labels

- Dessert labels

- Napkin rings & tags

- Favor bag tags

- Straw flags

- Balloon Charms

- Rainbow colored string garland

- Highchair garland

- Thank you cards

- Custom shirt

Seems as if I have my work cut out for me, yeah? Whew, it's a good thing I've already gotten started!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Monster Party Planning

Little Monster is going to be a year old in a month and a half. Which means I'm in the midst of planning his birthday party. I can not believe this is actually happening. HOW?

I began gathering inspiration on my Pinterest months ago. I knew I wanted to do a Little Monster theme for his first birthday because we've always called him Little Monster. That and I wanted to break away from the Cookie Monster a little bit. Everyone expects Cookie Monster now. While we'll always be a Cookie Monster family, I wanted to do something a little different.

So, you want to see some ideas I have? Okay, but first I must show you his invitation I designed last last night.

Of course I got the inspiration for the invitation on Pinterest as well (here). I ordered vertical post cards from mpix.com and plan to do either a red or orange photo mat behind the post card before shipping them off to their respective recipients. The monsters were designed by me, too, using my Silhouette Studio software. You should see my list of decor I'm doing for his party. It's ridic.

Anyways, the color scheme we're going for is all the colors of the rainbow. I didn't want to get too matchy with the colors because when I think of my little monster his personality is full of life, full of color. So, there you have it.

Here are some inspiration photos for your liking. I'll try to post updates as we get things done (but you all know good and well how terrible I've become at this blogging thing) and things come together the closer it comes. I've linked each photo to my pins in case you want to repin or find the original source.

Mason Jar Cakes (pint size). Will have Cupcake toppers sticking out the top

Mini jars of home made playdoh for the kids - favors

crocheted monsters from Grandma Made This for decorations

Next up: The Menu & Decor by One Cute Cookie (the list)

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Saint Louis/Illinois Trip

As I mentioned before, Collin and I visited some friends who live in Illinois - about 20 minutes from Saint Louis. We went to meet a group of mommies that I have become really close to via an online message board. When I had my miscarriage there wasn't any resources locally so I looked to this message board for comfort & support. Out of that tragedy and devastation has come some really strong friendships that I am so thankful for!

Megan and I met some girls at a local park Friday night and had Imo's Pizza (YUM!). Collin enjoyed his first ever swing ride and flirted with all the girls present!

Saturday we headed to the Saint Louis Zoo. This was our "big" activity for the weekend - there were 9 mommies and something like 15 kids there. I wish I would have had more time to visit with everyone but eventually we kind of got broken up.

(That's me all the way to the right)

We also had Ted Drewe's Frozen Custard on Friday night which was sooooo good! Megan also introduced me to Bully's BBQ - which I had again the next day because it was that good! Sunday we had plans to go to the Arch but we (mommies & babies!) were just so exhausted. Monday Megan introduced Collin & I to The Little Gym which was also a great time.

I am so thankful for Megan & Jeff's hospitality and already miss that little sugar Cecelia a ton! I am even more thankful to have had the opportunity to built life-long friendships from this weekend!