that's a wrap

This was a birthday gift for a little girl who had a red, star, and sports themed birthday party.  We gave her a pair of red sneakers that had white stars all over them!  I wrapped the gift in some red and white striped paper and then again with some thin tissue paper.  I like the way it turned out.  The red and white star ribbon and red star box (filled with star gummy candy) completed the gift.  Hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends.  We are leaving for the Cape tomorrow so I won't be posting again until the end of next week. 

that's a wrap

This week the wrapping paper is on the wall!  I found this adorable sheet of wrapping paper on my last trip to Ireland.  I wasn't sure what I was going to use it for until recently I decided it might look really cute in a frame.  I hung the one pictured above on the wall in the kids play room.  I also framed another one with different cakes on it for my studio.  I was telling someone about this project when they were visiting recently and she told me that she collects vintage scraps of wrapping paper.    I thought she should frame them and hang them all on the same wall for a wonderful display.   I may have to start keeping my eyes open for vintage wrapping paper now too!

we all scream for ice cream



I have always loved the quote: "Life is short, eat dessert first".   Our summer tradition follows this sentiment.  On the first day of summer we have ice cream for dinner.  Yes, just ice cream!  It is only once a year and it's fun.   I found these waffle bowls at the grocery store for tonight.  We will use them to make our sundaes in but I also thought they would be darling containers for our toppings.  You could also use them as favors for an ice cream party with a gift certificate for ice cream tucked inside and wrapped up in cellophane for your guests.  Do you have any fun traditions for the start of summer?  I would love to hear about them.  Happy Summer!!

we never "tire" of loving you dad

Since my husband just got a new car I decided that it would be fun to do a car theme for father's day this year.  I got three gifts for him- one from each of the children.  The first one was a travel coffee cup with a picture of the kids on it.  The second was a custom key chain with a shamrock and the third was a new CD.  I found a card from tiny prints that said "we could never "tire" of loving you dad".  On the first gift I wrote: "grab your coffee". On the second gift I wrote "and find your keys".  On the third "put on the tunes" and in the card I wrote "and head for the breeze".  We all got in the car and headed towards the ocean where we dined on delicious lobster rolls for lunch.  It was a fun day and my husband really loved spending time with the children.  After all they are the reason for the celebration.  I hope you got to spend the weekend doing something fun with those you love too!

king of our hearts

Since I did a "queen" theme for mother's day, I felt it only appropriate to do a king theme for my dad!  I found these adorable cookie tins (or only $4) and made some home-made crown shaped sugar cookies to put inside.  Since my dad went to graduate school at Oxford and met the queen of England once, he has always had a special place in his heart for the royal family.  He is the king of hearts in our family and I hope that he will love this gift as much as we all love him!

teacher gift

Just like last year, we contributed money for the teachers year end class gift.  And, just like last year, I also gave them a little something special from us too.  This year I gave them each a small cube of Vera Bradley paper (my daughter signed her name on the first sheet) and a flower pen that we made and stuck in a terra cotta pot.  I included a note with this quote: "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust
It was just our little way of thanking the teachers for all they have done to make our daughter love school.

that's a wrap

I found these cute little hopscotch kits at the dollar store.  Inside was some sidewalk chalk, tiny bean bags and directions on how to play the game.  I decided to give them to all of the girls in my daughter's pre school class on the last day of school.  The boys got some rocket balloons which were a big hit at my daughter's birthday party.  My wrapping tip for today is to repackage something to make it look even cuter.  I didn't love the original tag on the hopscotch kits so I simply took them off and used some fun patterned paper and stickers instead.  It didn't take me long and I loved the way they came out.  This is an easy way to take something and make it look even more fabulous!  It also shows that you took the time to personalize something for the recipient.  This would be a great favor for a summer birthday party too.  This would also be a great favor for a summer birthday party too. 

watermelon whale

Last week my daughter had her pre-school graduation and I signed up to bring watermelon. Since her school mascot is a whale I thought it would be fun to carve the watermelon into the shape of a whale.  I found the directions in the book "Summer" by Susan Branch.  It was actually quite simple to do and the kids got a kick out of it.  This is a great thing to bring to a potluck or BBQ because you can throw away (or compost) the watermelon when the fruit salad is all gone!

that's a wrap

The photo above was taken on my son's birthday last week.  I didn't get to fancy since I knew he would rip them open quickly and because I had quite a few to wrap!  I choose this picture becuase it goes with one of my wrapping tips which is to stock up on patterened wrapping paper in a color that you love.  Red is my favorite color of choice.  It works for any occasion especially on Christmas and Valentine's day and it is the perfect color for a girl or a boy.   I have red/white paper with stripes, polka dots, stars and even hearts.  It works for everything!  If you can buy the paper in bulk- even better!  I got this particular paper from BJ's wholesale club and it has lasted for a very long time.  If you have a fun wrapping tip let me know.  I would love to hear about it.  More on wrapping next Wednesday.

the favors

We gave our guests CARS m&m's and pajamas.  I packaged the m&m's in some red tins and put a picture of the birthday boy inside.  The pajamas were placed inside the red paper bags that I tied with some CARS ribbon.  I put both into a red tin picnic basket and wrote "sweet" dreams with white stickers.  So that's the party- a little bit Disney and a whole lot of homemade for my sweet little man on his third birthday.  I hope you enjoyed it!

the activity

The main activity for this party was showing the movie "CARS".  As the children headed downstairs to our home theatre I gave each of them an orange glow necklace and some play money to use at our homemade concession stand.  I had mini candy bars and popcorn and small red boxes with Lightening McQueen on them that the children used to put their treats in.  The children loved making their own selections and then quickly found their seats to watch the movie.

the food & table

To keep things simple we decided to order pizza for dinner.  I also served some construction cones (baby carrots) and stop lights (watermelon, cantaloupe, and green grapes on skewers) for the kids.  I found construction cone sippy cups that we filled with water, personalized with stickers, and placed  on each plate.  One of my favorite details from the party was the snacks that we served in "Mack" the hauler truck.  For the grown ups I made two green salads and a pasta salad to accompany the pizza.  We also served a few different appetizers and a signature cocktail: the sidecar which is pictured above.  I also made my own tablecloth with some racing flag fabric.  I love parties where I am able to do all of the prepping of food ahead of time so I can enjoy my company at the party.  That was this kind of a party. 

CARS

My son turned 3 yesterday!  We decided it would be fun to do a pizza & a movie night.  He chose the movie"CARS".  The good thing about choosing a Disney movie is that it is EVERYWHERE. The bad thing about choosing a Disney movie is that it is EVERYWHERE.  What I mean to say is that by choosing such a popular theme it can be helpful because you can find everything from juice boxes to pretzels in the shape of many of the characters but, in my opinion, it is easy to get carried away and have to much Disney.  I decided that the best option for me was to use a little of the Disney stuff and a lot of the homemade to find just the right balance.  I also used the colors red, black, and orange.  Here are some of the non Disney decorations I used.  I found red felt cars that I put around our dining room with pictures of my son at the age of 1, 2 and 3.  I put a lightening rod and the age that he was in the picture on the side of each car. I hung black chalkboard stars around the big screen and wrote the names of each of our guests on them.  I also got black star shaped balloons that I tied to the back of each chair.  All week I be sharing more about the food and favors and some other fun details.  I hope you will come back to check them out!

that's a wrap wednesday

I LOVE to wrap presents.  In fact, I think it might just be one of my favorite things to do!  I wrote a post with some tips for buying gifts for children that you can read about here.  I thought it would be fun to post pictures of gifts that I have wrapped along with occasional gift ideas and/or wrapping tips on Wednesday's.  The gift pictured above was for a "rock" star!  It had a CD of music and a rock star t-shirt inside.