A Music Themed Bridal Shower Brunch

I'm finally getting around to posting the bridal brunch we hosted for my sister who is getting married in a few months! We wanted it to be "her", so we picked colors and a theme that matched her personality perfectly: elegant, feminine and classy. So many people said, "this is so Anna!" so I think we succeed!

 We stuck with gold, rose and mint colors. We also tied in a little bit of a music theme because music is a huge part of her life, and her fiancé has an amazing voice as well. The music theme was subtle because we didn't have the usual "black and white" that would be typical for a music theme but I think it tied in great in the places that we did incorporate it!

 We "DIY'd" just about everything to save cost, plus it makes it more fun to plan everything and work hard and see it all come together beautifully! As is typical in our family (haha), we all came down with the stomach flu and Anna actually had it the day of her shower... thankfully, it was mild enough that she could still function. We saved her a plate of food for when she could stomach it ;).

The "love notes" (get it? notes? hehe) table had small journals for guests to write little notes to Anna. They could choose from date night ideas, words of wisdom or just simply a little note to her. The chalkboard banner was from Target, and the we made pinwheels out of scrapbook paper that had little music notes on it.

My Mom, the beautiful bride-to-be, and my Grandma.

I ordered paper straws super cheap off Amazon for the glasses of orange juice. One of Anna's bridesmaids made the adorable heart garland at the top of the board, and another friend wrote love quotes from songs on cardstock. We clipped those and pictures up with twine and clothespins.

I got the glass bottles for $1 each (Target) and we labeled them (labels from Wal Mart) and filled them with flavored creamers for a coffee bar.

Centerpieces were made with mason jars that we glued scrapbook paper and a strip of ribbon onto. We filled them with flowers and placed them on a mesh circle of either pink or gold.

It's always daunting decorating a big stage, but it really turned out thanks to the creativity of my sisters and the other bridesmaids! Claire made the hanging garland wreath using a hula hoop, garland, lights and lace curtains. The backdrop was more lace curtains (can usually be found at thrift stores!) and pink plastic tablecloths and the heart garland was made by one of Anna's bridesmaids.

Claire, Anna and I have always had a special bond... a three fold cord is not easily broken ;)

We were so thankful that our amazingly talented friend came to set up tiered food tables, as well as the vases of flowers. All we had to do was add our plates of food and it looked gorgeous!

Our menu was mini quiche, breakfast pizza (made by none other than my dad), mini banana muffins, fruit salad, chocolate covered strawberries, mini cinnamon rolls and yogurt parfaits. 

One of Anna's close friends gave a really special devotional, which was a letter she wrote to Anna and read. It was very heartfelt and beautiful!

We decorated a bulletin board as a photo booth for the shower and it was a big hit!

Here is Anna with most of her sisters/bridesmaids (missing 3! Yes it's a huge wedding ;)

The guests (mainly all close friends because we're all just a big family up there!) were so generous and she got so much of what she will need for starting her new life with Jacob. We could not be happier and are so glad she loved this special day in her life! 

Nathan's Minion Birthday Party

I was really glad when Nathan requested a minion birthday party (from Despicable Me), because they are little yellow oblong creatures that are easy to replicate, even for someone like me that has 0% decorating skills. Because of our family and all the schedules to work around, we didn't actually throw the party until a few weeks after his birthday but it allowed time for his excitement to build. ;) He watched me very closely (as in, "you are too close to the cake, move away before your snot drips into it!" Close) as I made a minion cake and marshmallow pops and he was just so thrilled. "I'm gonna tell everybody I have a minion cake! I'm gonna tell everybody I have minion marshmallows!" Often times when we do things for our kids, it's hard to know if they truly appreciate it or not, but he loved everything and there was no mistaking that he was so thankful.

 The cake idea was from Betty Crocker. You can find it here. I didn't follow all of the steps perfectly, mainly because my grocery store was out of tootsie rolls and I couldn't be bothered going back to see if they had restocked. I also made my own frosting and colored it--so much better than the store bought stuff!

 Let me tell you--I have no cake decorating skills. Zilch. So if I can make this cake in a short
amount of time and have it turn out halfway decent, anyone can! It's not perfect, but it was cute and the kids loved it!

 The marshmallow pops were just as easy. Thankfully, the decorating section in the baking isle had candy eyes. They were my saving grace because I doubt I could have hand drawn all of those teeny eyes! I dipped the marshmallows in white chocolate that I added yellow food coloring to. I stuck them in the strainer holes so they wouldn't be flat on one side. Necessity is the mother of invention! Once again, nothing that would win me a job at Carlo's Bakery or anything, but cute enough for kids. ;)

As for the rest, I just bought yellow and blue of paper products at the Dollar Store. We blew up about 20 yellow balloons and I drew little minion faces on them and left them all over the floor. Sometimes they ended up underfoot while I was trying to cook, probably like real minions would. Ha! It was super easy, cheap and quick to put together. It's easy to go crazy once you get a theme in your head, but I have neither the time nor energy to spend more than a few hours on party prep and cake for a 3 year old.

He loves his cousins :)

So, so thankful for my sweet 3 year old and all of the joy (and sometimes tears!) he brings us every day! 

Princess Tea Party

On Brooke's actual birthday, we spent most of the day driving all over town looking at houses. We did start off her day with doughnuts, she got McDonalds for lunch, and I made her requested birthday dinner: Macaroni and Cheese (homemade, of course), bbq chips, grapefruit, apples and clementines. For dessert, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and rocky road ice cream. She kept saying she was so happy, but in my eyes it wasn't exactly all about her with us running all over the place all day and the house a construction zone with boxes piled everywhere. I love to make birthday's really special for my kids, so I really excited about her princess tea party with her friends in a few weeks that she had requested.

 I'll be honest--I didn't put much planning into this one but it ended up perfect. A Dollar Store run for basic party favor bags to fill with candy, cookies and girly notepads, tierra's and wands, did some simple menu planning (what kids like best!) and everything else was compiled with what we already had. My Mother-in-law came and helped me out which was a huge blessing!


I set out jewelry, extra princess clothes, lotion, body spray and lip gloss for the princesses to get extra pretty if they desired

We used real China, and it's special to me because it was my Grandmother's. She died when I was a few weeks old, so it's something of hers that I'll always treasure. The tablecloth was from a thrift store--perfect touch!

The tea was sweet tea bought in gallon jugs at the grocery store. I didn't want to mess with hot tea for an outdoor party when it was 90 degrees. We ate sandwiches cut into small quarters  fruit, snack mix and cheetos. Because, duh. Every princess needs her cheetos.

The games were ones I played at my birthday parties growing up and still remember how fun they were. Pin the Tail on the donkey and musical chairs. I resisted the urge to jump in and play myself.

After several attempts to light the candles outside, we went inside where they stayed lit and we sang "Happy Birthday"

Princesses and Presents

This day was so much fun, and I know Brookie is thankful for all of her great friends!

Nathan's First Birthday

 



Between our crazy schedule this month and Nate going out of town twice, we weren't able to have Nathan's 1st birthday party until almost a month after his birthday, but it worked out great because my Mom ended up being here! I didn't do anything spectacular--a cookout, streamers, balloons and a fun cake, but it was perfect for my cute little guy. Nate's family joined us as we celebrated outside on an absolutely gorgeous day.

 

On his actual birthday, he was cutting top teeth and not feeling well at all, so his party was a much better time for him to have fun and enjoy a few hours centered around him. Of course he crawled around like a crazy person afterwards, giddy and crazy from his cake.

Happy birthday to my littlest man who brings so much joy (and some challenges recently ;) to our lives! We love you with all of our hearts!