Birthday Gift Basket

Glitta and I have birthdays very close together.  If you are an avid reader of this blog (as I assume everyone is) then you'll know that Glitta surprised me with an amazing pedi party. 

What you don't know is that we had planned on throwing a joint party a week after mine, a week before her's TOGETHER.  We were thinking watermelon theme, since there's a bazillion cute treats for watermelons circulating the web right now, and we had a cute watermelon wreath and it's the summer, blah blah blah. 

So then that sneaky Glitta throws me an amazing surprise party with all of our friends invited and smugly tells me that she likes throwing a party better than being the recipient of a party.  I left my birthday pedi party thinking, "That was so fun.  Such a good idea.  Now w-t-h am I going to do for Glitta's birthday???!!!"

I couldn't compete.  But I did make a pretty cute little present.  So in case you need an idea of how a holiday snob gives a girlfriend a present, here it is:

I wrapped a cardboard box in purple fabric, hot-glueing to secure.  Then embellished it with ruffled ribbon and a bejeweled cupcake.  I made a pennant bday banner glued to twine to come up from bamboo skewers stuck into the sides.  And then filled with goodies. 

I themed the basket with, "On her birthday, a girl needs to:____________"

"A girl needs to relax" was with a cupcake bath bombe.

"A girl needs to bling" was with a cute pair of rhinestone bow earrings from Forever 21.

"A girl needs to shop" was with a J. Crew gift certificate for a thousand dollars.  Because I'm super rich and just a really good friend.  (hahahahahahaha - that's why I'm selling crafts on etsy, because I'm super rich!)  So maybe it wasn't a thousand dollars but it had some dough, ok?  Glitta is a J. Crew girl all the way. 



close up of the stamped banner



Cute, right?  Hopefully a good comparison to a surprise party.  Hmmm maybe not, but whadda do?  I did surprise her with yummy Lara's Donuts early for breakfast that day.  Still not?  Well, I'll tell ya what, I am NOT planning a joint party next year! 

Linking here:

Sunday:

http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/, http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com/

Monday:

http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/, http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/, http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/, http://www.skiptomylou.org/, http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/, http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/

Tuesday:

http://todayscreativeblog.net/, http://ladybug-blessings.com/, http://tipjunkie.com/, http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/, 

Wednesday:

http://eisymorgan.blogspot.com/, http://www.paisleypassions.blogspot.com/, http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/, http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/, http://www.mybackyardeden.com/, http://reasonstoskipthehousework.blogspot.com/

Thursday:

http://www.momnivores-dilemma.com/,  http://www.houseofhepworths.com/, http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/

Friday:

http://www.whipperberry.com/, http://www.thegirlcreative.com/,http://tidymom.net/, http://sassysites.blogspot.com/, http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/, http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/, http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/

Saturday:

http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com

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A Snobby Way To Show Off Your Big Day!

We have always been ones to celebrate with a bang and turning "60" is no small accomplishment. So when one of our friends asked us to put together a "Sweet 60" birthday package for her mom we got to work. She wanted her color scheme to be black but with some fun too...so we went with black, yellow and pink!! We included one of our birthday countdown blocks and wish banners, a yellow, black and pink balloon wreath, some crepe paper ruffled streamers, cupcake liners and toppers and then we made this "60" pin for the birthday girl to wear in honor of her big day!! (We did think of a party hat and decided there does come a time when you do need to pass on the party hats...at least in public!) So a party pin we felt was very chic and fun. The "60" charm is removable so when it is no longer her "big" day she will still be able to wear this fun pin either on her sweater or pinned to a belt. Either way, we hope she has a fabulous 60th birthday!!



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Linking here:

Sunday:

http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/, http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com/

Monday:

http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/, http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/, http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/, http://www.skiptomylou.org/, http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/, http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/

Tuesday:

http://todayscreativeblog.net/, http://ladybug-blessings.com/, http://tipjunkie.com/, http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/, 

Wednesday:

http://eisymorgan.blogspot.com/, http://www.paisleypassions.blogspot.com/, http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/, http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/, http://www.mybackyardeden.com/, http://reasonstoskipthehousework.blogspot.com/

Thursday:

http://www.momnivores-dilemma.com/,  http://www.houseofhepworths.com/, http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/

Friday:

http://www.whipperberry.com/, http://www.thegirlcreative.com/,http://tidymom.net/, http://sassysites.blogspot.com/, http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/, http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/, http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/

Saturday:

http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com

Birthday Shopping

Oh my goodness, you guys, I just found the cutest little store (with seriously low prices!) and I just had to share!  It's called Madeleine L'Amour, located in Centerville, Ut, and the owner is the next door neighbor to one of my favorite girls.  I went to check it out after my adorable friend Ashley wore an amazing skirt and I needled her mercilessly until she recommended I get myself one here:

all of the above photos are courtesy of Madeleine L'amour

"Madeleine L'Amour is a French inspired home decor and fashion boutique."  But they also have the most TO DIE FOR birthday accessories for women or girls.  It's very Parisian chic with silver glitter, pink tissue, marabou feathers, and old song sheets.  The owner I met (one of a pair) was Jeni and she was the cutest, nicest thing.  She said that they ship all the time because they have such low prices for their vendors.  They don't have a website with paypal, but you can email them with specific requests and shipping is only 5 bucks and next day for most locations!  I bought a plethora of skirts and handpainted silk flower pin/clips ($16 each, for hand-painted and hand-beaded giant gorgeous flowers!)  but I'm rationalizing this post by saying it's birthday shopping at it's best!

By the way, we have not received any payment for endorsing this fabulous store so this is just pure gushing and compliments straight from my heart (ha!)

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Wish banner tutorial

If you can't tell, we've gone birthday crazy around here!  It started with our Birthday Block Craft Night.  We made a "Wish" banner to give away in a drawing and just got carried away!

We made the cupcake embellishments by layering a crepe paper rosette over a mini cupcake liner.

And I thought I'd show you guys how I made the birthday candle embellishment

Just a small roll of turquoise glitter paper, hot glued to stay.

Then I twisted one end of a crepe paper streamer until it felt sturdy then folded a larger piece out to make the "flame."  Don't cut it, just bring more down and wrap it around the base you've created.

Then just a dab of hot glue on the base and stick it in the "candle" roll.  

These banners are 6"x6" squares, with "Wish" cut out in the "Cindy Lou" font from Cricut in 3", all caps.  We distressed the edges with an ink pad of both the squares and the letters.  Then the paper was hot glued to ruffled crepe paper streamers.

Like?  Let us know :)

Linking here:

Sunday:

http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/, http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com/

Monday:

http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/, http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/, http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/, http://www.skiptomylou.org/, http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/, http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/

Tuesday:

http://todayscreativeblog.net/, http://ladybug-blessings.com/, http://tipjunkie.com/, http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/, 

Wednesday:

http://eisymorgan.blogspot.com/, http://www.paisleypassions.blogspot.com/, http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/, http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/, http://www.mybackyardeden.com/, http://reasonstoskipthehousework.blogspot.com/

Thursday:

http://www.momnivores-dilemma.com/,  http://www.houseofhepworths.com/, http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/

Friday:

http://www.whipperberry.com/, http://www.thegirlcreative.com/,http://tidymom.net/, http://sassysites.blogspot.com/, http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/, http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/, http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/

Saturday:

http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com

Birthday blocks tutorial

Okay, finally getting a chance to post about our last Craft Night, even as we have May's Craft Night happening soon!  We don't quite have a picture for EVERY step and all these were taken at night, so please forgive the quality!

1.  First you'll need about 80 inches of ruffled crepe paper.  We just fed the streamers through the sewing machine, ruffling manually.  

2.  We made the cake stands by using Gorilla Glue to attach a glass candlestick to a plate.  We Modge-podged paper onto the plate, but didn't include a picture of that.

3.  Next, use hot glue to attach crepe paper around the outside of the plate.  It will cover any uneven cutting of the paper :)

4.  For the blocks we used a 4x4x8 piece of wood, and then cut it into an 8" long rectangle, 6" rectangle and a 3.5" square for the top and painted them white.

5.  For the middle block, we covered it in two lines of ruffled streamers.  Use hot glue to make a line, then press the sewn middle of the streamer into the line of glue.  Wrap around all four sides.  Then repeat for a second layer of ruffles.

6.  The square and 8" rectangle were covered in paper.  For the square you'll need 6 different patterns, cut into 3.25" x 3.25" squares.  For the rectangle you'll only need two long pieces, 7.75"x 3.25", and two squares, 3.25" x 3.25"  The bottom of the block won't ever show and the top of the block is mostly covered by the ruffled rectangle above it.

7.  Mod-podge the paper on.

Here's a picture of the blocks finished through these steps so far:

Here's a picture of the Craft Night kits set up and ready to go.  (Which, by the way, we will be putting onto our etsy shop in addition to the finished sets.)

10.  We added vinyl to the bottom and top pieces of wood. We cut "days until my" in Simply Sweet at 1" and "Birthday!" in 1.5".   Then we cut numbers 0-5 in 3 inches

This set was made by Glitta's sister, isn't it cute??

And here's some pix of some of the crafters.  All the sets turned out so cute and we had so much fun!  Thanks ladies for indulging our snobbery!

Linking here:

Sunday:

http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/, http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com/

Monday:

http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/, http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/, http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/, http://www.skiptomylou.org/, http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/, http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/

Tuesday:

http://todayscreativeblog.net/, http://ladybug-blessings.com/, http://tipjunkie.com/, http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/, http://blackberryvine.blogspot.com/

Wednesday:

http://eisymorgan.blogspot.com/, http://www.paisleypassions.blogspot.com/, http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/, http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/, http://www.mybackyardeden.com/, http://reasonstoskipthehousework.blogspot.com/

Thursday:

http://www.momnivores-dilemma.com/,  http://www.houseofhepworths.com/, http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/

Friday:

http://www.whipperberry.com/, http://www.kojodesigns.blogspot.com/, http://www.thegirlcreative.com/,http://tidymom.net/, http://sassysites.blogspot.com/, http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/, http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/, http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/

Saturday:

http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com

So You Say It's Your Birthday....

Today is Dot's Birthday!! That's right....cat's out of the bag!! So for a little birthday surprise a post just for you. I thought it would be fun to wish you a happy day with all of your favorite things....or all of the things I wish for you on your day (or all of the things you pinned that you wish for! So be sure to click on each picture to take you to the site for more info on each!!) So shall we..

First on the list is a new little outfit for the birthday girl: you would look fab in this and I think you should go buy the whole thing (I don't think hubby would mind because it is your birthday right?)

Next up, I am hoping your house has been decorated by the birthday fairies to look just like this!!

I know you have been wanting and so I am giving....too bad it is only a picture..sigh!! But think of all the calories I am actually saving you ( that is the best kind of friend right??)

Now a birthday is never a birthday around our house without a party favor right? So because we love all of you so much and want to thank you for sharing in Dot's big day here are a couple of party favors for you!! 

Two different printables for you:

both are 5x7

The first one is a birthday printable of course...

Celebrate...with me!! (and thanks for celebrating with Dot and maybe even leave her a bday message)

The second printable is from a pinterest  qoute that Dot and I saw and both thought was 

hilarious and so true at the same time. I don't know who the original author was but here is our version of it and yours to print for yourself.

Now there is one last thing Dot...on Tuesday night at 7:00pm you and 12 of your besties are having a party!! For you!! At Sweet Nails!! The salon all to ourselves--we will have dinner while we get our pedis and then have Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes to top the night off!! 

So this OPI color you have had your eye on might be a must buy now--wink wink!!

Happy Happy Birthday To You!!

Linking here:
Sunday:
http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/, http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com/
Monday:
http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/, http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/, http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/, http://www.skiptomylou.org/, http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/, http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/
Tuesday:
http://todayscreativeblog.net/, http://ladybug-blessings.com/, http://tipjunkie.com/, http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/, 
Wednesday:
http://eisymorgan.blogspot.com/, http://www.paisleypassions.blogspot.com/, http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/, http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/, http://www.mybackyardeden.com/, http://reasonstoskipthehousework.blogspot.com/
Thursday:
http://www.momnivores-dilemma.com/,  http://www.houseofhepworths.com/, http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/
Friday:
http://www.whipperberry.com/, http://www.thegirlcreative.com/,http://tidymom.net/, http://sassysites.blogspot.com/, http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/, http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/, http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/
Saturday:
http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com

Birthday Party Mantle Display

We're having a birthday at Dot's house in a few days, well, 4 days as you can tell by the countdown cake!  The block has five days on it (the last side has a "happy birthday" instead of a 6), so I got this up yesterday and I'll leave it up through the birthday and then FINALLY get my Memorial Day/Summer decor finito!

So I stuck glue dots on a couple balloons and stuck those to push pins since they wouldn't stay on the wall.  Then there's the cute birthday banner that Glitta made for a my 30th birthday a couple years ago draped across the front.  I have a "Wish" sign that I actually got as a Christmas gift from one of my cute neighbors.  It was just the silver sign, and then I stuck it on the stand I made and put the glittered candle on top of it (with glue dots- my go-to temporary adhesive around the house!)  There's my FABULOUS birthday hat that I ordered from Silver Spoon Scraps etsy shop.  And of course my balloon wreath.  If you want a tutorial, this is a great one!  I embellished mine with a cupcake on ribbon bow.

How do you decorate for birthdays?  Hope this gives you some ideas!

Linking here:

Sunday:

http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/, http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com

Monday:

http://craftomaniac.blogspot.com/, http://makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com/, http://diyhshp.blogspot.com/, http://www.skiptomylou.org/, http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/, http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com

Tuesday:

http://todayscreativeblog.net/, http://ladybug-blessings.com/, http://tipjunkie.com/, http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/, 

Wednesday:

http://eisymorgan.blogspot.com/, http://www.paisleypassions.blogspot.com/, http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/, http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/, http://www.mybackyardeden.com/, http://reasonstoskipthehousework.blogspot.com

Thursday:

http://www.momnivores-dilemma.com/,  http://www.houseofhepworths.com/, http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/

Friday:

http://www.whipperberry.com/, http://www.kojodesigns.blogspot.com/, http://www.thegirlcreative.com/,http://tidymom.net/, http://sassysites.blogspot.com/, http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/, http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/, http://www.findingfabulousblog.com/

Saturday:

http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com