Halloween Crafties!

Hello Friends!

 The haunted holiday is fast approaching and Little and I have been crafting it up to decorate for the occasion.  Michaels is kicking it with some amazing craft kits this season.  They include everything you need to make a cute craft and they're super affordable.  Win win!!

We started with these super cute bat and spider friends.

We had a big debate over whether or not the bat was really an owl.

Little thinks it is definitely an owl, although the packaging clearly states 'bat'.  He is convinced they made a mistake.  I'll let you decide for yourself!

 After a little gluing, we had some fun little friends to decorate our counter top!

Have you done any crafting this season?  We have some fun Thanksgiving crafts on deck for next month.  Thank you Michaels for understanding life with an artsy four-year old!!

XO,

 Sara

Style Files - Little's Fall Must-Haves

Like any fashionista momma, my little one has to have fresh fall clothes too!  His are more out of necessity than being on trend.  He grew a good 4 inches since the end of spring...Mini Mister?

This year, I got most of his clothes from Gymboree.  Boy do they know 4 year old little boys.  Little is into all things bugs, dinos, and space right now and Gymboree knew it...

Since I am still a girl and new to this whole bug thing, I shied away from these items, but brought home some adorable space and prehistoric finds.


 
These shirts were right up his alley...and they had some adorable little shoes to coordinate.  Hey, I have to take advantage of getting to dress him while I still can!



Today we actually had our first rainy day since acquiring these and you'd better believe they went to preschool!


 How cute are these?!?


And for cooler weather...





I also picked up a few staples at Target.  They have great clothes for little kids.  I do have to say though, I am less than enthused with the bigger boy selection.  My son is tall, but still young.  I'd rather not cover him in Tony Hawk gear and anime characters.  Just me?

Carter's had a few shirts that passed my exacting standards.  Hee hee.  I'm kind of picky when it comes to what goes on my child.  I thought this was cute, not to mention, accurate!



For bottoms, we go for GapKids jeans.  They hold up really well and come in great washes.  We usually need at least 3 pairs as this is usually what we wear all week.  We do have some track pants and khakis for play time/dressy.  I try not to go too crazy as he'll outgrow it all next week! ;)

What are your kiddos wearing?  Do you let them pick their clothes out yet?  Little has started too.  He's doe a pretty good job, but if he had his way, he'd wear basketball shorts every. single. day. of. life. Love that boy.

XO,
  Sara

DIY Piggy Bank

A certain little man of mine is completely fascinated by all things money.  This is probably helped by the fact that he finds a coin everywhere we go.  Everywhere.  If I found money the way this boy does I'd have a lot more projects to show you!

When Little Man was born, he was gifted a beautiful ceramic piggy bank with the words "count your blessings".  I loved this bank.  It was so sweet.  Little loved it as well.  Loved shaking it to get the coins to fall out of the top.

As you can imagine, this method promptly led to a broken pig.

Rather than replace the glass pig with another glass pig, I opted to use what I had to give the wee one a place to store his coins.  Here was my criteria: shatterproof, easy to get into

Enter the leftover jar from my "Handful of Everything" trail mix (sidenote: that stuff is delicious! Target if you want some!).  

I peeled off the label from the jar (definitely the hardest part) and Little helped me pick out a piece of scrapbook paper he liked.  I cut it to size and wrapped it around the jar.  The adhesive leftover from the label held it on perfectly.

Next, I created a quick label on an Avery template and popped them on the jar.

Little added his coins, and our homemade piggy bank was ready!

Now he can screw and unscrew the top as much as his little heart desires.

I do realize that this is not a long term solution.  The paper will start to curl up and may suffer some wear, but for a free option for a 4 year old, I'm happy.  Maybe when he's 5 he can be trusted with the glass dinosaur piggy bank he's fallen in love with...

XO,
  Sara

Dino Party - The Mantle

I promise this is the last post on the Dinosaur Birthday Party.  There were a lot of parts!  It would have shut my blog down if I'd put it all in one post...hope you don't mind! :)

I told you yesterday I love to set the table first for any party or holiday event.  Second, the mantle.  These are just the natural places I go to add a touch of whatever festivity we have happening.

I used a Target garland to start and then shopped my house for the rest.

The wicker vase is from Big Lots and I filled it with curls of the same wrapping paper I used to run the dining table (you can see that post yesterday).

The dino is a DIY attempt out of poster board and markers.  I think he turned out okay!

I had the graphic already and I think it was from Pinterest.  

My Mister's aunt gave us the cute dino cookie cutters.  After I baked all the cookies, I used the cutters to spice up the mantle.  I love the extra texture they add.

The two yellow candle holders are from Kirland's and I made the chalk quote bubble out of poster board and chalk spray paint.

It was a fun and spirited way to great our guests and pay special tribute to my favorite little dinosaur!

Do you see the blue painter's tape holding up the bubble?  We had some difficulty!

I hope you've enjoyed the dino series.  I am officially dinosaured out.  It was a blast and it sure made Little happy and that's the whole point!

XO,
  Sara

Dino Party - The Table

The first thing I do when planning a party is come up with the theme and/or colors.  Then...the table!  I love to set the table first because it sets the tone for the rest of the party and usually takes me in a direction I hadn't anticipated going.

I thought it would be fun to seat the kiddos in the dining room for Little's 4th Birthday party.  They thought it was pretty cool to be at the big table while the mom's ate in the kitchen.

I started by using a roll of wrapping paper from the Target $1 spot for the runner.  I also used some of this paper for the juice box covers.

Next, I used two of Little's favorite toy dinos as a focal point, some flowers and a birthday balloon.  Because how can you not have a Happy Birthday balloon at a child's birthday party?!

Last spring I DIY some chalkboard chargers.  These were the perfect place to give our guests their very own dinosaur name.

I topped each charger with a yellow paper plate, a red dinner napkin, and some very cute blue and white rugby striped appetizer napkins.  The plastic dinos were another favor the kids could take home.  They came from the Target $1 spot.  Got to love that place!

The whole table probably cost me $15, with the cost of all the dinosaurs and the flowers.  Not bad for a very cute, very festive table!

The little ones sure seemed to like it...

Up next, the mantle.  Then I promise I won't bore you with my dinosaur birthday party anymore!

XO,
  Sara

Dino Party - Decorations

Welcome back!  I hope everyone had a great weekend.  We were running all over with baseball, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Did I tell you my Little Man was awarded the game ball after his very first game?!  So proud!

                                       

Last week I revealed the Dinosaur Party we had for my son's 4th birthday.  Wow.  Four.

If you missed any of that, you can find the cookie favors here, menu here, and volcano cupcakes here.

  

Today I'm sharing the decor.  It was pretty easy and very DIY.  I started with some clearance Target party pennant banners.

I have three so I used them in the entryway...

In the dining room...

and on the mantle.

On a whim, I decided it would be fun to make giant dinosaurs.  I bought big white poster boards and drew a T-Rex, Triceratops, and Brontosaurus on them.

  To tie them in with the fun patterns on the pennants, I rugby striped and polka dotted them in coordinating colors.  I was pretty happy with how they turned out!

Two dinos stood on the dining room hutch to welcome out little guests.

The T-Rex took over the mantle.

Once the dinos were up, I felt they needed to a little something.  Actually, I felt they needed to be saying something, so I used some leftover poster board and made three quote bubbles.  Then, I spray painted each bubble with chalkboard paint.

The Tri and Bronti say "Roar!"  and "He's 4!"

Rexxy says "Happy Birthday Japhasaurus!"

They were very easy, and made a great impact.  And, they're reusable!

Of course, I had to pull out my balloon wreath again.

 I just changed the circle label to say "Happy Fourth Birthday".

Fresh flowers are always a must for any party.  I got mine at Kroger and split them up to make 2 bouquets.  I had the vases already.

Little absolutely LOVES balloons.  Actually, I've never heard of anyone who loves them more than he does. So, naturally we had out own balloon tank and blew up a ton of balloons.

 We also took a trip to the store where he got to pick out his own Dino balloon.  Very exciting.

Tomorrow, I'll break down the birthday tablescape I put together, as well as the birthday mantle.

See you then!

XO,
  Sara

Dino Party - Volcano Cupcake

The last few days I've been sharing the details of my son's dino party.  If you've missed any of those posts, check out the cookie favors here and the party menu here.

Today, I'll be showing you what I came up with in a moment of desperation for the cupcakes.  You know you can't have a child's birthday party without cupcakes!

My first thought was just to make regular cupcakes and pop a little plastic dino on top, but I knew I could do better.  Hmmm...  It was actual Little who gave me the idea.  "Volcanos Mommy!"  Why son, I think you're on to something.

I found a recipe for lava cakes filled with melty chocolate, however, this is not what I needed with a bunch fo preschoolers!  I just made chocolate cake and bakes it in a mini bundt pan.  The little bundt cakes resembled volcanos enough...

                                  

The tricky part was getting the lava.  The lava cake recipe provided a recipe for a glaze, which I tinted with orange food coloring.  However, when I tried it out, it was not nearly opaque enough to look like anything.  This mistake worked out though, because the glaze sunk into the cake and made them extra moist and flavorful.

* Disclaimer: I absolutely HATE the word "moist", however, since it is in written form here, I'm writing it and moving on.

I wound up adding some powdered sugar, a bit of corn syrup and a little more orange coloring.  The result, a volcano cupcake fit for an almost 4 year-old.

I stuck the dinosaur toppers from the Meri Meri dino cupcake kit on top and we were in business.  The kids loved them and the parents thought they were delicious!

We made a little family version too!

I'll try and tell you my icing recipe below.  You may have to play with it a bit.  (I doubled this)

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/8 cup of milk in a sauce pan.  Let it come to a boil and then remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of white chocolate chips till melted.  Pour over cakes.

This is the part that sank into the cake, but it worked out and made them delicious!  Save some icing back and then do this...

Add in about 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 Tablespoon of corn syrup.  I also added orange food coloring.  Stir together and drizzle over cakes.  Sprinkle red sprinkles on top.

I hope this works out for you if you try it.  Remember, I was in desperation mode!  If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar.  You can't really mess it up.  It will taste delicious!

Have a great weekend friends!  Next week I have a few more party things to share, as well as my Easter mantle and tablescape.  It will be here before you know it!

XO,

  Sara