Pirate Party: How To's

Here's a closer look at how I did some of the projects for the Pir-ette Party.

Pirate Props

No Sew Pirate Flag: 

You'll need: Black Felt, Red Felt, marker and Glue Gun 

- Cut out a large rectangle of black felt making one side jagged ( my flag measured approx. 3 ft x 4ft)

- Draw a number/letter with a marker onto red felt and cut out

- Hot glue number/letter onto black felt

- hang or prop up with sticks in desired location

  

No-Sew Eyepatch:

You'll need: Black felt, black thin elastic, and glue gun

- measure around a childs head with the elastic, cut a length so that it will be snug.
-  fold over the felt and cut a patch shape (giving you two identical shapes)
- Hot glue the ends of the elastic to one piece of felt, making sure the ends are touching
-  take the other piece of felt and hot glue on top of the other, hiding the elastic ends in between the two layers.

Telescope from recycled materials:

You'll need: Toilet paper rolls, Yogurt drink containers (Danino brand fits perfectly, not sure how the others would), duct tape, and spray paint.

- cut out the bottoms of the drink containers
- put container inside toilet paper roll so that it is snug, duct tape in place
- spray paint.
* the spray paint did start to scratch off of the plastic container eventually, I was just happy they held up for the party. Wasn't intending for long term use.

Pirate Costume

No-Sew Pirate Shirt:

You'll need:  a white tshirt in the child's size, scissors and red ribbon. 

- cut the sleeves jagged and cut off the collar
- cut a slit going down the middle (about 4 inches down)
- cut small holes on either side of the slit and weave a piece of ribbon through, starting at the bottom and tying together at the top.

Skirt:

You'll need: Elastic top Long sleeve shirt close to childs size and sewing machine.

- cut open the sides of the shirt at the seam as well as on the seam of the arms
- sew together the one side of the arm to the adjacent side piece. (a total of 4 lines of stitching) Look at picture below.

 * For the sash I just used a thick strip of black fabric.

Hopefully these mini-tutorials will be helpful if you end up planning your own Pirate Party! 

Check out the original post HERE.

Pir-ette Party!

 I thought it was about time that I posted about S's 3rd birthday party. We did a Pir-ette theme this year. S has been enjoying the 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates' show, as well as pirate books and such. So I thought it would be a fun theme to do!

I really wanted to stay away from the skull and crossbones as much as possible. When I found these cute FREE Pirate party printables offered at Cottage Industrialist, I thought they would work perfectly as my inspiration. The pennant banners above are from there as well as the invitations below.

 I redecorated the foam wreath for the front door, welcoming the party goers with a 'Ahoy!'. There was also a plank of wood at the front steps with a sign 'Walk the Plank'.

 I was lucky enough to find a little pirate girl doll (in the first picture) so she was part of the decor along with a couple pics of S, some old books and a bottle of pirate brew. Other decorations included balloons and streamers, as well as some 'ship' fabric that I got at Ikea for a backdrop at the table.

 I whipped up a simple Pirate costume for S to wear (out of a couple old shirts).

I almost cried while making the cake due to frustration, but it turned out great!

 We ate 'Captain Kerr's catch of the day' as well as the sugar cookies I had made (from this post). We also had S's favorite, popcorn twists. And... I ordered pizza for lunch!

P.S. If you've ever been to Craftiness is not Optional you know that she makes awesome cookies (like here and here). I emailed Jess to see if she would give me the recipe, and she did! Thanks Jess! If you would like to try em' out it's actually posted here! They are soo yummy and pretty! Can't wait to make them again for another shindig.

For our big activity the kids did a treasure hunt!

I drew up a treasure map with three stops (I had cardstock red X's in each spot):

1st stop: S's room -  felt eye patches

2nd stop: TV cabinet - swords

3rd stop:  Outside flower pot - buried treasure

I found the tin treasure chest at a garage sale for .50! 

I filled it with chocolate coins and necklaces from the dollar store.

For the treasure hunt I had made little telescopes for the kids to use. 

(Made out of a toilet paper roll and a yogurt drink container.) But I actually forgot about them and ended up bringing them out afterwards, the kids still enjoyed them though.

Isn't this a cute looking party crew!

For the take home loot bags, I decorated brown paperbags and filled them with 'gold'.

The gold being spray painted rocks and gold foiled chocolate (almond kisses, mini reese cups, and another gold coin). The kids also got to take home an eyepatch, sword, and telescope as well as any treasure they acquired from the chest.

It was a great day and the little girlie was pretty tuckered by the end of it all!

* UPDATE* Check out my post Pirate Party: How To's for a closer look.

linked up at:
Sugar and Dots

insta-pics #28

1. S has been decorating 'cupcakes' everyday since she recieved this late birthday gift.
2. My bro-in-law built a 34 ft climbing wall in his shop, I had to try it out.
3. All my fall decor is in storage so I put together a wreath that is sort of fall-ish.
4. Hubby took S golfing with him and a friend, she had so much fun.
5. This past weekend my mom-in-law watched the girls so that hubby and I could go on a little get away together. We had a blast hiking and hanging out just the two of us in Jasper.
6. I tried gnocchi for the first time, sooo yummy!

and yes this is late...Happy Monday!

Toques and Mitts from Old Sweaters!

 Yay we are into fall!! Fall is my favorite season. I love the crisp fresh air, the changing leaves, layering an outfit with sweaters and scarfs, and bringing out the boots! I even buy something from the back to school supplies for myself! (nothing quite like opening up a new package of pencil crayons!) Besides the odd warm day, it has become quite chillly here. And a couple of weeks ago I went digging in my old clothes pile to make some cute toques and mitts for the girls (inspiration from Make It Love it) in preparation for fall.

Above is the two sweaters I used. I was still wearing the heart one, but when I realized I had bought it probably in grade 11, I figured it was time to repurpose it! haha.

And this is what I made them into.

For the toques I simply folded the sweater in half (right sides together). Drew around a bowl on the bottom of the sweater. Pinned into place and stitched on the line, cut out leaving a bit of fabric on the outside of the line, and then flipped right side out.

 For T's mittens I just guessed, but for S's I traced around her hand on paper. Cut out and pinned to the cuff of the sweater (which was inside out). I wanted the cuffs of the mittens to be long (either to go under a jacket, to stay on, or to be folded over). I stitched around the outside of the paper, cut out and flipped right side out.

Aren't they cute?

 I added a pink fabric flower to T's toque as well. I also made another green toque that was much to small, so it will either go to my little niece or become a dolly toque. 

Of course this didn't use up all of the sweater material, a post coming soon on what else it became! 
(...come on I couldn't just throw it in the garbage!)

insta-pics #27

1. Tried a new recipe this past week, breaded zucchini sticks (so good!) from Eat Yourself Skinny. (I've also tried her quinoa stuffed bell peppers, yum!)
2. Been working on stitching the names for the girls stockings.
3. Baby girl is cruising now!
4. S hanging upside down at the park.
5. The Barbie aisle is hard to get away from these days.
6. Exciting news: This week we officially started the next house!* The basement is being dug! Bonus, I can see our lot (aka. the progress) from the back deck!

*For those of you who may not know, we have been building houses and selling them since we have been married. We've been married 5 years and this will be our 4th house we've built. (Add together our places in-between houses and that's a total of 7 moves, yikes!) I'm not sure how many more we will be doing, this mamma is slowin down, haha.

Happy Sunday!

Sunshine Award

I was pleasantly surprised the other day, when Anna of Beanbug crafts notified me of an award she gave me on her blog.  Those kind of things just make my day! Anna is so crafty and I can tell we have similar taste since we follow each other on pinterest and repin ALOT of each others pins. Thanks Anna for the award, you rock!

Now onto the particulars ...The Sunshine Award

- Thank the one who gave you the award (check)

....although I would have done this anyway!

- Answer the 10 q's

- Pass on the award to 10 blogs

 The 10 Q's:

1.  Favorite color- at the moment, yellow. But that can change at anytime to pink, coral or teal. 
2.  Favorite animal - Dogs, but we don't have one.
3.  Favorite number- 22, because that is my birthday and was my number all through highschool for sports(unless it was taken then I was 2). 
4.  Favorite Drink- COFFEE!COFFEE!COFFEE!...ahem, coffee.
5.  Facebook or Twitter- Facebook. Never tried twitter, never will.
6.  Good book or good movie- Good book. And when it's made into a good movie= a perfect combination! A quick fix if you want to relive the book without putting in the time.
7.  My passion? Creating and making new things for myself, family, and friends.
8.  Giving or getting gifts- Giving, especially if it's a surprise.
9.  Favorite day- Friday, it just seems relaxed since the weekend is coming. I would say saturday or sunday but sometimes they are just too busy.
10. Favorite flower- Hydrangea's and Peonies. 

These are the 10 blogs I would like to pass on the award to (in no particular order). These ladies are all so sweet,  they have been inspirational to me through their crafts, good eats, and their kindness. Stop by their blogs and say hi!

Amy at Love on High Heat and Happy Out Loud

Becky at Scrappin' Becky B

Kay at Jerry and Kay

Kimmie at Sugar and Dots

Allison at Little Lovelies

Jess at Craftiness is not optional
 ChiWei at One Dog Woof
Natasha at Little Pink Monster
Landee at Landee See, Landee Do
Mollie at Wild Olive

Happy Thursday!

insta-pics #26

...a lil late today...

1. Me and my little girlie dancing up a storm at our friends wedding last weekend. It was a casual/outdoor/camping wedding...we danced in a corral covered in sawdust! So fun!
2. My bloggie friend Amy was at the wedding too ....and I was able to test out the totally awesome SUPER chair!
3. S turned 3 this week! She crashed really hard that night, her party totally played her out!
4. Took the girlies out for some McDonalds, just for fun.
5. On Friday, S had a sleepover at Grandma's so I was able to start halloween costumes and my first Christmas project of the year (stockings!).
6. This morning we spontaneously decided to go to the hot springs a couple hours away (we skipped church, shh) for a family day. We stopped for lunch and this little guy was literally in the garbage can finding food. He totally freaked me out! 

Hope you had a Happy Sunday!

3 - a letter to my little girl

My little girl where has the time gone? It seems like I was just planning your 2nd birthday party, now we are celebrating your 3rd. Who hit fast forward?

I am told that once school starts, time will go even faster (and those years are fast approaching!).

I am truly blessed to have such a sweet and caring child. I am so impressed with how you act around T. You are such a fantastic big sister, you include T so often in your games of make believe and lately you've been helping her learn to walk (so sweet, it melts my heart). You also make sure she is included with any treats or kisses that are given by others. At your age it is really something special.

You have become my little helper, my side kick. You are always there to lend me a hand, whether it be grabbing the broom and 'sweeping' or a cloth and 'cleaning'. Your favorite though, is probably helping me make popcorn. You like to draw pictures for me, cuddle and give me extra, unexpected kisses. 

It has been so great to watch you gain independence. Although I do like to help, you haven't let me, saying a very firm 'no mommy, it's my turn'. The way your face lights up when you do it yourself...well, it's priceless!

You love to dance, watch shows, swim, play dress-up, play house (watching you be a little mommy is precious), read, and go for walks. 

You are so full of energy and love. Your beautiful brown eyes just make me smile.

I love you little girl. Time go slow.