DIY...Yes please!

I love love love to DIY!!! I am a "do-it-yourself" kind of gal.
I love to give gifts that I have made by my own two hands...I love to make things for my kids...I love to decorate my house in things that I have made. But I have to say that I am not great at coming up with ideas myself. I also don't have a ton of money to spend on books and magazines where I can get ideas and instructions.
So what is a girl to do???
Google, blog search, and ask friends who are crafty savvy.
This is how my son's fifth birthday was created! I am now preparing for Princess party for a very special little girl...my own Lizzy Jane who is turning three very soon. So I have been googling away and looking at the many websites and blogs that come up and have been having a ball thinking of all the possible invitations and decorations to have. I am excited and ready to get to work.

Handy Friends

So I know I haven't posted in almost two months...and boy do I have a bunch of things that I need to get out there when I get the time to think them out.
But I just had to share what a great friend just made for my son.
First I have to say that one thing I love are homemade things...whether it be costumes for Halloween or furniture that will last a good long time.
So my friend Jim, who is very handy, offered to build me a much needed toy chest for my son! I can't tell you how excited I was to have him do this.
So here it is...

Now I just need to reorganize Jake's room. Let the fun begin!

A Hero Birthday

So Jake really wanted to a Transfomers birthday...and me not wanting to go "commerical" with his party I decided to find a way to mix the Transfomers and the Fire truck ride we had already planned to have. I thought a good mesh of the two would be the Hero factor.

With that idea I went to the internet to look for decorations and activities. My fab friend, Tracey, is a great party planner and internet savvy so I started running ideas by her and searching through her blog, HiddenCupcakes.com, to find some good ideas. In a previous post I listed where I was able to find some of my ideas. But here are the results.

Decorations

 Home made bunting                                 Streamers

    (DIY to follow)                                                                          

The table

After getting some advice from a friend, we used a large industrial table that we normal use in the basement. I kept the legs of the table folded and used paint cans to prop it up. This way there was enough room for all the kids to sit since we don't have enough chairs for all of them.

I tucked the plastic table cloth under the paint cans...I think the kids enjoyed our picnic style dinning!

Fire Station

 The Birthday Boy

 They got a little wet

Even the adults got in on the fun

Photo Booth

I made superhero capes for all the kids and had the great idea that a photo booth would be fun for them to showcase their best super hero posses....but it wasn't as big a hit as I hoped it would be. I was able to get some really cute pictures of those who were ready to take on this challenge!

 Great Cupcake! I ordered some really cute cupcake papers from Cupcake Social on etsy.com

 Great friends made this day such great fun



Happy Last Day of Summer :-)

I have to say that I am ready for Fall to begin...it has always been my favorite time if year. What with all the pumpkin picking and hay rides, what's not to love.

But, with one last summer holiday to celebrate here is a cute idea from Martha. I love any new ideas to help make any celebration fun!

I love love love this one!

Happy Labor Day Y'all!!!

Summer Lovin'

Now that summer is coming to an end, and our crazy month of August is over, I can sit down and look back at what a wonderful time we had. My greatest pleasure, and blessing, was to host/celebrate the birth of my first born, Jake. He turned five this August and we spent a good part of the month focusing on him.
My fab friend, Tracey, over at Hiddencupcakes.com took some amazing pictures of Jake's kids party. We had such a great day starting with a tour and fire truck ride. Please take a look at her site for those fab pics until I can get all my pics, and thoughts, together. There was so much going on I want to be able to share all  my idease and the sources of a lot of the crafts.
Oh and be sure to take a tour of Hidden Cupcakes...Tracey has some great ideas and dyi and even a shop so you can have your own hidden cupcakes!!!!

Love Crafty Moms!

I love to find other moms who make really neat stuff!

I was watching the Nate Berkus show in passing today and he was interviewing moms who work out of their homes. One of the moms, Kierstine Hathcock, who makes amazing kid furniture that are great storage, too.

Pricey yes, but totally adorable...a mom can dream, right?

Take a look at her blog and shop site (modmomfurniture.com) to check out her  hand -made products.

What would you pick?

Thank goodness for the internet....for inspirations!

Here's a little taste of where I got my inspiration to celebrate this August! We have many different celebrations in less than two weeks.

I use the internet to get all my ideas and I want to share some of my favs...I will be posting more specifics as soon as our August celebrations are over. 8 parties in 8 days! I am going to be tired, but I will have tons to share soon!


hiddencupcakes.com
Not only is Tracey a great friend of mine, but she is an awesome party plannner. Martha has nothing on her!



thelongthread.com
I found a very easy sewing tutorial for super hero capes to give away! But she has many other diy ideas that are so cute and I can't wait to try!


Photo booth idea didn't really work out for our party but check out Hip Hip Hoorey for much more!


Birthdays aren't the only things I have going on...baby shower!
So I went to Martha for a little inspiration.


Love inspirations!
Stay tuned for all of these ideas put into action. Three parties down...five to go!

It's a blog summer!

So the summer has brought many fun experiences but has taken me away from the blog...and much needed organizing!!! But as I get back in the saddle I thought I would put together a little pictural of what we have been up to this summer!                                            

 Sprinkler fun!

 She didn't stop for a second!

 Not one second!

 And, he just wanted to play in the mud...such a typical boy!

 Water for the mud!

 Finally warm enough for the pool.

 Even the big brother loves the little kid pool.

 We saw an end to preschool for our little guy..which means kindergarten in the Fall!

That's him on the right with the coonskin hat...he was William Clark for the end of the year concert.

 We have also gotten some time to spend with family....cousin Carter James

My little God son swinging! 

Jake was excited to see a real plane up close...this is the plane that miraculously landed on the Hudson River in New York City. It was passing through our town on its way to North Carolina. Very impressive site to see and I got to share it with my four year old! 

 A day at Dutch Wonderland with the Holland clan...these two are twin cousins...born on the same day only hours apart. Can't believe they will be five soon. Time really flies!

 We had to spend some time at the water park.

 Ah, and the trip I had been looking forward to  for months has come and gone, but not without some amazing images to look back on!

"Oh Nantucket, if I were to get on thy soil again, I do think I'ld stay."

 Brant Point Lighthouse

 And it was everywhere! For someone who is deathly afraid of getting it again I was very careful everywhere we went. Still didn't take away from any of the absolute beauty of the island.

 Our mode of transportation.

 The sites on the streets have really inspired me. Loved the bold colors.

 Blue doors...need I say more? Coming soon to the Holland household. I just need to figure out how to paint a metal door.

 An amazing surprise to me was just how much I loved my Christmas present from my parents. As many who have known me since I was 10 know...I was obsessed with New Kids on the Block. Finally after twenty, yes I said twenty, years I got to see them in concert...with Back Street Boys. We had great seats with amazing views of the guys. I felt like that 10 year old who so wanted to see her favorite band just once...thanks Mom!

So most of my summer so far has been working in the yard with the kids. We have planted many gardens and had so many fun times together. But that is all for another post!