Rainbow Party {activities}

 I'm back, as promised, with the activities from Charly's Rainbow Party.

As I said, we did 7 activities.  One for each color of the rainbow.

But I couldn't just leave it at that.

No.  I had to make a little poem for the kids to read to take us from activity to activity.

So, here we go!

Each station was labeled with the color and activity.

I used fabric, paper, whatever I had in my stash to bring as much of that color's activity into the area.

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, and Pink.

We'll get the fun started in just a blink.

On the red table is a creative task.

Grab some glitter and glue and decorate a mask.

Orange comes next in the rainbow, it's true

An orange box is up next for you, too.

Find the orange box and open it up.

Our next bit of fun is a little dress up.

Yellow is the color of the sun

And for you it means some ring-toss fun.

Out on the patio you will go

To practice your ring-toss throw.

 Across the green grass we will go

to crawl, jump, hop, and even throw.

To start the race, find the giant green arrow.

To reach the finish line, follow the rainbow.

 {There were 7 parts to the obstacle course:

1.  tip toe through the red flowers

2.  weave through the orange cones

3.  leap through the yellow "sun" (hoola hoop)

4.  crab walk through the green grass

5.  run under the "blue sky" (tarp)

6.  toss the purple eggs into the basket

7.  hop over the pink finish line

We've worn ourselves out with our little race

So let's slow things down with a change of pace.

Grab a drink and a snack, then take a seat.

Charly will open presents and we'll have a little treat.

 A rainbow of colors to adorn our nails

is what fills this little pail

So head on over to the purple flower

To paint your nails and get some girl power!

At the end of this rainbow is a great big explosion

Don't worry, it won't hurt you though it may cause some confusion.

So grab a bag and meet by the pink wall

For a down pour of candy, you'll bring home quite a haul!

If you have never experienced a candy cannon you are missing out!

It literally BLASTS candy across the yard.

They have become a tradition in our family on most holidays that the weather permits.

(I'm guessing brown slush covered smarties aren't the best ;)

I hope you enjoyed Charly's party and found a little inspiration for your child's magical day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Rainbow Party {decor & food}

I have a confession to make.

Ready?

This party was clear back in APRIL!  I know.  Shameful.

I had totally lost my blogging mojo.

But it seems to be back now, so let's get on with this, shall we?

Charly requested a rainbow party this year.

SWEET!  She already had a cute little outfit to fit the theme.

And there are so many ADORABLE rainbow party ideas out there!

Check out my Pinterest board that is dedicated to all things rainbow-party-goodness here.

Because it was the end of April and was SUPPOSED to be a nice Spring day, 

I went with an outdoors-y, spring is in the air Rainbow theme.

I got the rainbow kites in the $ Spot at Target and used pink string to write Charly's name between the two.

My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE decorations were these pinwheels.

I just love how they turned out!

I used this pattern found here.

No, I did not cut them all out by hand.  Are you crazy? ;)

I wrote the designer and asked for permission to convert the pattern into a Silhouette template.

They very graciously said yes.  Thank you!

I can't even tell you how much time that saved me!

(I recently found a pinwheel that looks similar to this in the Silhouette store,

if your interested.)

I used this tutorial to color the bottles.

I used sand to weigh them down, but I don't think it is really necessary.

Over time, the sand has absorbed all the color off the bottles.

I hung balloons from the ceiling for a simple, fun photo backdrop.

The table skirt was a total last minute idea.

It needed more color, so I folded some tissue paper in half

and taped it like pennants around the table.

Easy Peasy!

We went really simple on the snacks this time.

Each girl got to fill a bowl with jelly beans and popcorn.

They also had their choice of Kool Aid drink mixes

 There were also otter pops

 and rainbow cupcakes.

Talk about a sugar rush!

It was definitely a sweet way to end my sweet girl's 6th birthday party.

Come back tomorrow to see what we did at the party.

We're talkin' 7 different activities!  One for each color of the rainbow.

Back to School {t-shirt dresses}

Today's the day!  We are officially BACK TO SCHOOL!  Yay!  They are so excited.  They got up and got dressed before I even got Daddy's lunch made.  This is saying something because Kota is totally NOT a morning person (she gets that from me.)  And we were an hour and a half late getting to bed last night. WHOOPS!

But we made it.  Early.  It was amazing!  And that was including our photo shoot!

 I went all out and made their whole outfits this year.

It was my first attempt at t-shirt dresses.  Crazy.  I know!

I LOVE how they turned out.  And they were pretty quick and easy

(once I fixed a little issue with Charly's ;) )

Dakota accessorized with a headband, earrings, and a necklace all made my Momma.

Charly got all dolled up in her FAVORITE from head to toe.

I used Beads in a Bottle to make the "jewl" kitty head on her shirt.

They were so much fun to use!

I made a template on my Silhouette so I could space the jewels evenly.  Worked like a charm!

(I originally used some of the pink fabric for the waistband on Charly's dress.  BIG MISTAKE!  It took all the stretch out of the shirt and made it nearly impossible to get on.  But all was well after a little quality time with the seam ripper and a trip back to the sewing machine for some stretch ruffle.)

 Charly's accessories included a fun GIANT ric rac and tulle flower clip,

 and some simple button earrings.

This girly-girl is over the moon with her Hello Kitty dress, back pack, and shoes.

What's not to love?

 Mom, please, can we go now?  Are you done?  We might miss the bus!

{even though we are 20 minutes early. ;) }

 AHHH!  I can't believe how grown up they are getting!

1st and 2nd grade.  It boggles my mind!

Okay, I swear I am almost done.

Pinky promise!

Just a couple of things to make my Momma heart sing for a minute.

I hope everyone's school year is off to {or will be soon} a great start!

Back to School {teacher gifts}

Hey y'all!

Just poppin' in to share a quick back to school project with ya.

 What teacher isn't a little in love with Dr. Seuss?

 I found these cute snack containers in the Dollar Spot at Target.

Who can go wrong with the Dollar Spot, am I right?

 I instantly knew they needed a tag in honor of the rascally duo.

Each girl picked a favorite picture of themselves.

I whipped up the tags in the My Memories program and printed them as 4x6 prints at Costco.

Don't they look darling tied around the boxes?

We filled the containers with bite size Almond Joys and Kit Kats to keep with the Seussical red and blue theme.

And speaking of darling.

Aren't these two little dolls growing up so fast?

Too fast!

 

I can't believe that I have a 1st and 2nd grader!

Oh, and the treats were a hit with the teachers.

Nothing like making a great first impression!  ;)

Baby Shower {Queen of the Jungle}

Oh my goodness, I am so excited about this party, I don't even know where to begin!...

Okay, I should probably start with the invite, right?

My sister-in-law is expecting her first baby, a girl, the end of this month.

Her nursery theme is Jungle.

You know how I love a theme, so we matched the shower to the new little monkey's room!

I got the cute little animals from Hobby Lobby, then GLAMMED them up a bit with some tiny pink bows and little rhinestones.

I am so in love with the banner and backdrop!  The hubs thinks the backdrop looks like seaweed, but I still love it!

I used this free preschool pack from 2 Teaching Mommies for the banner and fun activities for the kids:

The kids thought it was great to have a table all to themselves with activities just for them!

They had puppets, coloring books, animal size sort, and animal matching, all to go with the jungle theme!

 We had a few games for the adults, as well.  We played Price is Right: High or Low

We put price tags on several common baby items.  The guests got a sheet of paper to write down whether the price on the tag was High or Low.  The person that got the most right got a prize.  We used Scent Bars as the prizes for this game, and Baby Gift Bingo (sorry, I didn't get pictures of that one.)

We also played Candy Bar Matching.

On the green cards were common terms that went with pregnancy, labor, and newborns.

On the pink cards were candy bars that matched the terms.

If you made a match, you got the candy bar.  We had so much fun with this one!

I got this idea from Lil' Luna here.

Refreshments were a banana split bar, served in adorable Zoo Pals Safari Edition Bowls.

The guests left with a sweet little box of "Monkey Mix" and a heart-felt

"Thanks for Monkey-ing around with us!"

I hope you enjoyed this shower as much as I did.

I had so much help putting it together.

Thanks Mom, Aunt Phyl, Jen, Rebecca, & Candace!

And I can't forget the manual laborers.

Thanks Babe, Dad, Blair, Kaleb, Austin, and Nate for helping with the setup and tear down.  Couldn't have done it without you!