Happy Birthday Balloon Wreath

We have a busy fall around here, especially when it comes to birthdays. We've got one in August, September, November and December. Add in K-State football, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and we are running around like 'chickens with our heads cut off' for about 5 months."

So, in honor of each person's 'Birthday Week' I made this cute little balloon wreath to hang on the door.  Now, when you pass by the Whitesell household you know when we have a birthday to celebrate! :)

And the birthday wreath is up right now for the hubby's birthday! 

Here we are at a K-State basketball game last week.  I've told you we bleed purple! :)

This wreath is super easy to make.  

The supplies you need for this project are:

• Foam or straw wreath
• Floral pins (available at any craft supply store)
• Balloons in a variety of colors
• Fabric to cover wreath (optional)

I used a straw wreath for mine, but foam will work fine too. I left the wrapping on my wreath, which worked well. But if I could do it all over again, I would wrap the whole wreath in fabric to ensure that none of the straw will show through at any angle.

So, grab your wreath and start pinning the balloons on in no particular order.  The best part of this wreath is that you just put the balloons on however you'd like.  I used multiple colors so I kind of just threw them on there and didn't really have to worry about colors being too close together or anything. 

Add one...

And then add another...

And a few more...

Until the whole thing is covered...

Isn't it cute?! 

It helps to brighten up my sad little porch... ;)

Enjoy!

And Happy Birthday Joe! :)

Linking up to:  Sugar Bee Crafts' Take a Look Tuesday and A Bowl Full of Lemons' One Project at a Time.

Hannah's 4th Birthday Art Party

I have quite the little artist at my house. Seriously, this girl would paint or color all day, every day if she could.  So when we talked about what she wanted to do for her fourth birthday, we decided that we go with an art theme. 

Per my usual fashion, I went Pinterest crazy on decorations, food, etc.  It was really fun to put together, so here are some highlights from the party:

The hubs always makes the kiddos special Mickey Mouse pancakes on their birthday!

A little vinyl always jazzes things up!

Welcome to the pARTy! 

Our backdrop.

Loved the tablecloths for the backdrop (and so great that I can re-use them) and the balloon banner was so cute!  If I can find the link of the tutorial I used, I will update the post. I want to be sure to give credit - all the guests loved it!

We had a little mini birthday photo-shoot.  :)

I made her that shirt with printable heat transfer vinyl.  Truthfully it was a total fail and didn't transfer correctly, but I actually kinda liked the 'faded' look and I figured since it didn't really turn out as planned, it wasn't a big deal if she got paint on it. 

I set the tables up in the garage so that it wouldn't be a big deal if they made a mess on the floor. We just used washable kids' paint from Michaels. 

Each kid had a personalized smock, canvas (aka foam board) paintbrush, palette and cup to rinse their brush.

Rainbow colored fruit.  

And I used crayons, colored pencils and paint brushes in mason jars as decorations on the tables. 

My 'palette' of cupcakes. Don't mind that there are only three purple cupcakes - apparently I'm not very good at math. The hubs cut the palette out of carboard. 

My favorite creation for the party:  rice krispee paintbrushes dipped in 'paint' (aka frosting).  DELICIOUS!

I will be so sad when chevron goes out of style. I LOVE it!

Some 'creative juice' to inspire the kiddos. 

 

My little artist.

I think the parents thought I was nuts for inviting 12 kids over to paint, but it turned out really well! I was so glad some of the moms stuck around to help - it was nice having extra hands to combat the messy paint! :)

All the kids' art.

I also took photos of each kiddo painting and with their final artwork and am planning on throwing them in Hannah's thank you cards.

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My supplies - included a large number of paper towels and baby wipes! :)

I had planned some additional 'activities' - making a group piece of art using the big roll of paper on the right, and then just letting them color on the plain paper on the left, but it was such a nice day and the kiddos just wanted to play outside on this:

My hubby had just finished it the night before as a birthday present for Hannah.  The kids were all over it.  I am surprised we were able to get them to stand for a photo. Maybe we bribed them with cupcakes - I can't remember.  ;)

Love that grin.  Pure joy right there. 

I am going to try and remember to take a final photo in this same spot each year at the kiddos' birthday parties! Will be nice to see how they change each year!

Happy 4th Birthday Boo!

Linking up to:  Sugar Bee Craft's Take-A-Look Tuesday and A Bowl Full of Lemons One Project At A Time.

Luke's First Birthday

My little man turned one in August (I'm behind I know - better late than never right?).  I always try and throw a nice little party to celebrate my kids' first birthdays...and to celebrate Joe and I surviving that first year! ;)

My theme was simply 'One' - I did the same thing for Hannah's First Birthday - and I used the colors blue and green. Simple and easy.

We've been in our house a little over a year now, and we love having a space (the garage) to use for parties. We used to have parties at a local park, and it was a pain driving things back and forth.  The garage isn't the perfect backdrop but it works great and is perfect during nice weather. 

Simple banner made, of course, with my Silhouette.  Love the chevron paper! 

Sorry for the awful photo - the lighting in the garage is awful. 

I made a banner with photos of him month by month. I just mounted them on cardstock and used the same patterned paper as above to accent on the sides. We took his photo in a white onesie with monthly stickers in his 'Lucas' chair from Pottery Barn (LOVE those). There may have been a few tears shed while I made this - I had forgotten how fast they change!  

I saw this idea for a chalkboard type poster on Pinterest (search 'First Birthday Chalk Sign') and took it and made it my own. I picked up the huge frame at Hobby Lobby for 9.99 on clearance (again - I love my clearance finds!). One of the posts on Pinterest mentioned that you could print in black and white for just a couple dollars at Staples (it is called an Engineering Print).  I opted to do that instead of making some of it in color and paying an outrageous price to get it printed.  I think the board is 40x32.  I also could have drawn all that on there with regular chalk or a chalk pen, but let's just say I'm not that patient. ;)

I also used the frame for his one-year photos.  Isn't he cute?!

I had a lady in town make his the cake and smash cake. I would have normally tried to make it myself, but my high school class reunion was that weekend as well and things were a little hectic.

I made the party hat above with my patterned paper, a pom-pom and some ric-rac, but he refused to wear it (shocker) so I just sat it on the table.

He wasn't sure what to do with it at first.  

He wouldn't dive into the smash cake so I gave him a fork...

Even then he still wasn't sure...

He ate a little, but mostly just played with the fork. 

I don't think he really knew what was going on as we opened up his presents. Big Sis was there to guide him of course. ;)

Though he did seem excited about these cars. :)

I think everyone enjoyed themselves. The weather was gorgeous.

Can't believe my little guy is ONE! 

Here's a pic of him later on that night when he finally dove into the cake. What a goober!

I love party planning!  Have you hosted any great parties?!