Princess Party

Maddie had a great birthday and she was soooo excited to be transformed into a little princess along with a few of her friends. It was so fun to see the little girls prance around all decked out. And to hear their little conversations and seeing the smiles was priceless.

I had a lot of fun preparing for her party and I knew that I wanted things to coordinate. I'm not a foo-foo-la-la type of gal so I knew that I wanted to keep things simple. You might remember the invites I designed with the crown I drew. I wanted to carry that and the colors throughout.

I found these adorable pink star suckers that looked so much like wands. The girls even pretended as if they were so the thought was perfect. I tied a simple green satin ribbon around it to decorate it up a bit. I know I've mentioned that my daughter loves lip gloss. I found a few recipes online to make homemade lip gloss and this one was perfect. So simple with only 2 ingredients: Vaseline and flavored drink mix. I used raspberry lemonade Crystal Light. Just the right amount of pink flavor. All I did was mix 2 T. of the Vaseline with a dash of the Crystal Light and filled it into these great containers I bought from this Etsy store. I then made sticker labels for the top of them and voila!

They were a hit!

I thought how fun it would be to personalize a white tank top for the girls with each having a picture of the crown I designed along with their name incorporated into it. I bought inkjet printable iron transfer paper for white items and the design came out perfect on the tank tops. These were a hit with the Mom's. :)

I filled all the above along with a few other goodies..stickers and princess gummies into small pink bags with ribbon closures. They had so much fun going through it all.

The princesses had so much fun. I know my princess did since she went to bed very early that night!!!

Where has the time gone?

Our baby girl turns three tomorrow. It seems like yesterday she was this itsy bitsy baby...


Growing way too fast...


Turning into a little girl...

Right before our eyes!

Check back early next week as I will be posting some pictures of Maddie's birthday party. I had a lot of fun putting it together.

Is it the cow?

I love this package design I found here. Is it the cow? Maybe because it's organic? No...it's gotta be the jar?! I love the fact that it's ego-friendly. Buy the product. Spread it on bread. Eat it. Buy a refill for the jar or just run with it after the butter is gone. The label is pressure sensitive so it peels off easily.

Hmmm...now I don't know. I love the shape, colors and the cow design of the label - come on, I'm from Wisconsin.

6 years

Earlier this month my husband Tony and I celebrated our 6th year wedding anniversary. We had a beautiful outdoor wedding and we could not have asked for a better day. It was perfect! I cannot believe how fast that time has gone by. Two beautiful children later...life is good!

Too Cute!

I pretty much have everything squared away with what I need for my daughter's party this upcoming Saturday but, my son's is right around the corner in July. While browsing on Etsy I came across this adorable shop. Seriously, can you stand the cuteness of these candle holders???

DIY and Printable Labels

I finally got to page through the June issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. In the "Good Things" section was a page of Summer Sips. Yummy infused liquors of all sorts. It reminded me of last 4th of July when my sister-in-law had me hooked on her recipe for cherry vodka. A shot or two of that mixed with lemonade on ice. Ahhh...so refreshing and "oh" so darn good! It made me think of what a great hostess gift it would be to bring to all of those summer parties. So I thought I'd share the goodness.

The Recipe:

1 liter of vodka of choice

2 cups of stemmed and pitted cherries (I used frozen ones that were from my parents cherry trees)

1/2 cup of sugar

Mix the ingredients together and put into a 1/2 gallon wide mouth canning jar. Let it sit for at least one month in a cool place or in the refrigerator. Strain using cheesecloth or a coffee filter into a pitcher or bowl. (Hang on to the cherries and add them to ice trays for an extra kick to the drink) Use a funnel to pour back into the original vodka bottle. If you'd like to jazz it up a bit...fill a few decorative bottles and top it off with a cork. I designed a tag to share so go here for instructions and to print.

Give as a gift or simply enjoy!

Saying Goodbye to Grandpa

My absence from blogging for awhile...

Last Friday was a very hard day as myself and my family had to say good-bye to a remarkable person who had a great influence in my life. I know I should be very grateful that as someone like myself in their late 30's got to know her Grandfather. I know many people have not had the same opportunity of time to spend with a grandparent. My Grandpa F. was my last grandparent alive and the feeling is very bitter sweet. My Grandma died 14 years ago and I know since her death my Grandpa has missed her dearly(as we have). He'd often talk about her and their wonderful 50+ years together. The girl in the big white brim hat with the red lips he'd often say when he would tell us stories of the first time he laid eyes on her. He married the woman of his dreams!

I have so many fond memories of him. My Grandpa loved the earth as he was a farmer for almost all of his life. He practically lived in his garden and was so proud of that up to the day he died. When my siblings and I would spend weekend trips at my Grandparents house we'd play at the farm all day. At the end of the day my Grandma would get us ready for bed but, not until my Grandpa made popcorn and a chocolate malt for us. Spoiled, right? I traveled out west to Arizona and Nevada with him when I was 25 years old and he was the best flying travel partner ever. I got to spend a full week with him and I cannot tell you how much I loved that time together with him.

He had 7 children, 21 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. Now that is something to be proud of!

I miss your sweet smiling face already. See you and Grandma in heaven someday Grandpa F.

Princess Birthday Invitations

My daughter turns 3 years old at the end of this month. Hard to believe just 3 short years ago she was a teeny tiny little baby but, now she is this spunky little girl with lots of character and is definitely our independent one. She is like most little girls and loves too dress up, have her finger nails painted and loves to dance to anything that has a beat. So we are inviting 5 little girls to celebrate her birthday at a place near us that offers "Princess" parties. I've been brainstorming for a while now and all of my ideas are falling into place. I just sent out the invitations and thought I'd share the final design. I drew the crown, scanned and digitally altered it a bit. I'm very please with the way it turned out.

Keep checking back since I will post more fun planning details I have for the party!

Hello all,
I'm excited to let you know that Heather from Pea Pod Announcements contacted me over a month ago after seeing my designs on Etsy and asked if I would help out and create designs for their online company. I'm thrilled to be a part of the team. You'll see a few of my designs that are exclusively for Pea Pod Announcements in the Boy and Girl birth announcement sections. Today is actually Pea Pod's 4th anniversary so go and check out all the awesome announcements and invitations they have to offer.

Stay tuned for next week. I have a DIY project to share. I'm also working on planning my daughters 3rd birthday party and I'm excited to share the designs and crafts I'm doing for it. So next week and the weeks to follow check back often.

Have a great weekend!

Ice Cream Cupcakes

Perhaps it's because I live in Wisconsin or maybe for the fact that the weather has been nice but, I'm pretty drawn to ice cream these days. Not so much actually eating it but, seeing photos and recipes and thinking I gotta have some of that!

I was buying milk at a near by grocery store and saw a recipe for these ice cream cupcakes. I had to take a pull off recipe hanging on the door since it - well, looked Yummy! I'm going to give it a whirl this weekend. While you're here check out the rest of the great recipes they have to offer.

Enjoy!

Lovely Patterns

I love simple and elegant patterns especially when it comes to paper goods. I spotted this pretty branding design by a UK designer Sarah Walsh. It was designed for a tea company called Mallard Tea. I don't think I would be able to throw these cups away!!!