Adventures raising "A" family: 2014

It isn't a secret to my family and friends that I enjoy throwing themed birthday parties for my kiddos. I spend hours perusing Pinterest looking for ideas and inspiration. After every party I promise myself that I am going to blog the party...but I never do. Let's face it - life with a 3 and 4 year old is busy - VERY busy. Somehow I manage to find the time to do projects for their parties but yet never can find the time to blog about it. So that stops NOW. Over the next few weeks or perhaps month (remember I am not so great at timeliness of blogging these days) I am going to blog each of the parties I have thrown the kids. Some parties were great and full of fun projects. Others were just basic parties - I just wasn't this crafty back when Austin turned one.

First up - Aubrey's 3rd Birthday - Cinderella Party

Birthday girl

Invitations: I designed these invitations myself. It took several tries to get exactly what I had in mind but I am so happy with how they turned out. With the help of my super awesome silhouette cameo I was able to design and cut the invitations. I liked the invitations so much I added them to my etsy shop. I decided to go with blue and purple because those colors match the current Cinderella party supplies being sold at our local party store. And, Aubrey happens to love everything purple and blue.

For centerpieces I wanted to stay simple. The venue we chose for Aubrey's party was an indoor playground with an attached party room. The only time party-goers would be in the party room was while eating snacks and cake. There was no reason for me to spend hours on decorations and centerpieces. After much debate I decided to cut die cuts of several cinderella themed shapes - a castle, crown, carriage, glass slipper, and Aubrey's name. I attached the die cuts to sticks and put them in a vase I made with purple glitter. I also made tulle pom poms and attached them to sticks for the vases. I purchased the Cinderella die cut from my local scrapbooking store. (One day I will learn how to make these - one day)

For the glass slipper, I had found on Pinterest the idea of painting a high heel with silver spray paint and then adding silver glitter before the paint was dry. I ran to my local Goodwill to find a pair of high heels for this project. To my surprise the perfect pair of silver glitter high heels were for sale for $6 - no crafting needed. That is what I call a win in party prep.

I made a simple Happy Birthday Aubrey banner with coordinating scrapbooking paper. I have no idea why I have never made a banner like this before. It was super simple and quick.

Close up

It is hard to read from this far away but the banner says "Happy Birthday Aubrey"

The second banner I made using cinderella theme die cuts and Aubrey's name. I used silver and purple glitter cardstock and really loved how this banner turned out.

For food table decorations I painted three wooden frames (purchased from Michael's) using a glitter silver spray paint. I made die cuts of two Cinderella silhouettes from purple glitter cardstock. And I simply attached them. I intend on adding these to my etsy shop in the future. On the third frame I attached a photo of Aubrey with Cinderella and Prince Charming from a Cinderella tea we attended last Spring.

The last craft I did for the party was make Aubrey a hair bow. Thanks to Pinterest I found this wonderful tutorial. It was the perfect touch for her Cinderella party.