Ruler of the Elves

Hello out there! I can’t believe it is already July!

This poor little blog has been kind of neglected lately, but I have a good reason for not being around much. My wonderful sister and I started up a new DIY blog and we’ve been so uber busy getting that launched, that I have completely ignored everything here. You can check it out here (Elizabeth Joan Designs.)

Luckily, now that it is up and running I can get back to sharing about our little family here. School is out and we are in the midst of summer, which has been fun, but stressful at times. Trying to come up with activities to keep both Pinky and Sweet Pea entertained at the same time has certainly been a challenge. Thank goodness for Grandparents, visiting friends and the pool!

Photo via Grandpa & Grandma (aka Grandma & M)

I’m working on editing some photos from our family vacation (way back in May) to the Smoky Mountains. Hopefully, I will have those ready to share soon.

Did you know that you can easily transfer a graphic of your choosing onto fabric? Seriously, it’s super quick and simple. And you’re in luck because I’m going to tell you how.

I chose to make a pillow for Sweet Pea’s birthday party, but you could also use this technique for an abundance of different projects you may have. Start with some freezer paper and trace around a piece of card stock or regular 8.5″ x 11″ paper on to it and cut it out.

Pick an image you want for your project and print it out on the waxy side of the freezer paper. (I used my inkjet printer.)

Prepare you iron and fabric.

Lay the graphic printed side of the freezer paper flat on your fabric and iron it (without steam.) I placed a piece of card stock under my fabric to make sure that nothing would bleed through, since I had my pillow sewn and ready to be stuff immediately after my image was applied.

Admire your new pillow case and enjoy some of the easiest decor you have ever created.

Good luck to you and let us know if you use this technique for any of your own projects!

*Note: This project may or may not be washable, waterproof and rub proof. We have successfully had our pillow on the sofa for over a week and it is still going strong, but the intention was just to have something temporary. If/when the image smears or comes of, we will not fret.

I’m back to share the details of Sweet Pea’s second birthday. I can’t believe he is already two. The past couple of years have flown by, but we couldn’t imagine our lives without him and all of his cuteness!

The Invitation

The Décor

This year’s party theme was cows, since they are Sweet Pea’s favorite animal, or at least they were until he discovered his new found love for dinosaurs. Anyway, I decided to shy away from the overly predictable cow spots everywhere and opted for a more subtle black and white feel with a few cows thrown in. (Surprising, I know.)

Chris helped me make some faux cow bells out of miniature cups, screw hooks and some black spray paint. The table was thrown together with a quickly cut burlap table runner, flowers from the clearance section of the grocery store, a couple of mason jars with tea lights in them and some random “moo” and cow cards. I found a diagram of a cow and modified it to my liking then printed it out to make little paper napkin rings.

I also used the same cow diagram to make a temporary throw pillow (more on that later) and whipped up a pillow cover out a black and white chipper print fabric for a bovine feel.

The Food

We went with easy food this year. Maybe we do that every year…

Hot dogs, watermelon on a stick, baked beans, corn on the cob and pasta salad were on the menu, plus some cow pies (just pretzels and chocolate mixed together in clumps) and a strawberry layer cake. Yum.

I ran out of icing for the cake, so it was looking a little sorry. I hoped that the addition of chocolate chips would help cover the flaws. It really didn’t, however, the cake was still ridiculously delicious!

And what cow party would be complete without milk? White and chocolate, of course.

The Birthday Boy and His Cake

He was a little bit bashful when everyone started singing…

But he perked back up when it was time for him to blow out his candles, with a little help from Daddy.

Sweet Pea shares a birth date with his great-great aunt, who also showed up for the festivities, so it was only fair to let her blow out a candle on her cake too!

The Gifts

Sweet Pea received so many wonderful gifts and was so excited to open each and every one of them.

The Activity

Many parties for kids involve super fun activities and games for everyone. Since our soirée was small and the only kids present were our own, we opted for simple and science-y cow related entertainment. Makin’ butter. Yup.

We recycled some baby food jars we had saved back and Pinky helped decorate the tops in a moo-tiful paint pattern. Then we added a little heavy whipping cream to each.

Each guest took a jar and did this…

After a few minutes, the milky cream turned to fluffy whipped cream.

Finally, when everyone’s arms were about to fall off, butter was made. Some people ate it, others stared at it, a few gently tossed it in the trash and a couple kept shaking, with their arms of steel, which caused the butter to turn creamy again. Weird science.

So that wraps it up. Our little man is quickly turning into a big boy and we are so thankful that we had our closest family here to celebrate with him!

Just stopping by to share a quick photo from this morning of Sweet Pea and Maverick hanging out together during bath time. I will be back later this week with a big post about Sweet Pea’s birthday party this past weekend. Stay tuned!