26 July 2013

Pinned It & Did It: Baby Swing

I'm going to give you a brief break from birthday party Pin-spired creations to show you the new addition at our house. This isn't so much my project as it was a collaboration.

Before I get ahead of myself, here's the pin that started it:

Pin. Original Source.

I made the fabric bits, all double sewed with heavy duty thread, and I ordered the hardware parts from that-online-store-that-makes-our-lives-so-much-more-convenient. For the wood pieces, I turned to Madeleine's Grandpa David, the expert woodworker. He turned out some beautiful dowel rods. George did the majority of the final assembly. Madeleine shared her joy to wrap up the project.

Ta-da!






Ours twists a little bit, but it's still safe and sturdy for our wee girl.




24 July 2013

Yum.

This week, I'm starting several pieces for a custom nursery for a dear friend of mine. I just have to share this delicious stack of fabric before I cut into it. Didn't this mama-to-be pick out some fun stuff?! 



22 July 2013

Family Pictures!

As I mentioned, our favorite photographers, Aaron and Meg, came along to the first birthday party. Getting the party shots was actually just icing on the cake because we'd originally asked them to come and shoot family photos for each of the families.

I'm thrilled with the results and so excited to share our favorites with you!

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

19 July 2013

Pinned It & Did It: Balloon Wreath

This was one of those projects where I probably wouldn't have done it if I'd known exactly what was involved. However, it's been a big hit and will be reused for future celebrations and birthday.

First, I saw this cute picture on a pin.

Pin. Original source unknown.

I found several similar projects on Pinterest to give me some guidance. Then, I went to town buying my supplies. In the end, I used 200 floral pins, 400 balloons (10- and 12-inch latex), one foam wreath, a stock craft store number (sanded and painted white), and a bit of white ribbon.

I didn't take photos of the steps, but here's how it went down:
   1. Marked the foam wreath form into seven sections so that each color would be (mostly) evenly represented.
   2. Placed two balloons of the same color (one "facing" each way) on a u-shaped floral pin and then pushed the pin into the wreath form. I didn't pierce the balloons, so that I could (theoretically) reuse them if I wanted to.
   3. Repeated step two until I was getting close to the line. At that point, I did roughly a half dozen pins with one balloon of each color (current color and next color).
   4. Repeated step two with the next color until it was time to repeat step three.
   5. Once the wreath was very nearly full of balloons, I attached the number (previously drilled, sanded, painted, and attached with a ribbon) with a ribbon.
   6. Then I attached the hanging ribbon.
   7. To finish it off, I added a few more of the first and last color balloons until it looked continuous and full.

Ta - da!


Photo Credit: Evantide Photography




What are you making out of balloons these days?

17 July 2013

Rainbow First Birthday Party

Madeleine didn't have her own birthday party. Instead, we chose to celebrate her birthday along with her six PEPS friends, all born within six weeks of each other. Because I was really anxious (in a good way) to craft up a storm, George and I hosted the festivities. 

When we were doing initial planning, one of the clever moms (that's you, Erin!) noticed that there were seven babies and seven colors in ROYGBIV. Thus, the theme was born. In the interest of full disclosure, we substituted pink between red and orange and got rid of indigo (too close to violet). Each "baby" was assigned a color according to birth order, with red being the oldest.

{There are some cute kiddo photos at the bottom of this post, but I'm going to make you wade through the decorations first. You're welcome.}

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Inspired by Misha

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Here are the seven, in reverse age order, last October.

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

'


Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

So, yeah, the party was rainbow themed, using as many balloons and buntings as possible. If you ask me, it doesn't get more festive.

{Pssst - Want to know how to make your own bunting? Check out my tutorial.}

About a minute after ROYGBIV was suggested as a theme, another clever mom (that's you, Kelly!) suggested that each kid have a cake of their assigned color for a group cake smash. During said cake smash, the kiddos would have their assigned color of balloon waving behind them.

With just balloons, we had five happy boys and two grumpy girls:

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

I can't speak for the others, but I seriously doubted our ability to pull off this feat, especially after the meltdown that resulted from the babies being dressed in their matching shirts and set down with their balloons. (Oh yeah, this was after six of the seven babies had been through a family portrait session on this reeeeeeeally hot day, too.)

You know what? I was completely wrong! Are these the cutest, happiest babies or what?!

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Madeleine was super into her banana cake with lemon blueberry cream cheese frosting. 

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

The kiddos ate and played in their cakes for quite a while. From there, we moved them toward the water table and hose before wrapping up the celebration with some more play and lounging. It was a fun, fun day despite the heat and a few being ill and jet lagged.

It was an honor to get to host the party, and it is even more of an honor to get to share so much of the parenting journey with our PEPS family. A year ago, I was just getting an email about our group forming in late July. Now, they're an integral part of our local network. (If you're in King County and having a baby...or already have a baby and need a support network, hook up with PEPS.)

Photo Credit: Evantide Photography

Special shout out to Aaron and Meg (of Evantide Photography) for capturing the memories of such a momentous occasion. You guys are the best!