A 50¢ Makeover & a Lisa Frank 8th Birthday Party

A couple of weeks ago I shared this picture over on the Facebook page of a dirty little, ugly, neglected, ceramic unicorn that I bought at a thrift store for 50¢.  I asked if anyone had a guess as to why in the world I would buy such a thing.  Most people didn't have a clue why I would do that, but one person guessed right.  It was for a birthday party.

My daughter wanted a Lisa Frank birthday party this year and to help save money I usually try to be the one to do their cakes, even though I'm amateur at best.  She decided she wanted the inside to be rainbow colors and she picked out hot pink frosting for the outside.  We ordered a Lisa Frank cake topper to finish it off.  But.....I didn't bother to pay attention to the dimensions of the topper, I just assumed it would be a decent size.  Nope, it was tiny.  More like a cupcake topper.  Now what?  But one day at the thrift store I found this little unicorn and decided that for only 50¢ I could experiment with painting it and possibly use it as the topper instead.  

I took it home and cleaned it up, then sprayed it with a couple of coats of white spray paint I had.  Then using craft paints I also already had I got to work copying the Lisa Frank horse that was on her invitation.  Once I finished painting it I gave it a coat of glossy clear sealer and we ended up with this.

It certainly wasn't perfect by any means, but she was in love with it and so excited about it, especially because I told her she could keep it even after the party!  :)

I'll go ahead and share a few more pictures with you from the party while we're at it.  They aren't the greatest, I was running late and the party had already started by the time I could spare a few minutes to snap some.  I didn't want to hold the whole thing up because I was trying to stage every picture and make it "perfect", so I just quickly got a few.  I'm still sharing them though because I enjoy doing parties and accomplishing them on a small budget, and I enjoy sharing them with you all.

 A few months before her birthday we found Lisa Frank party supplies on clearance at our local Dollar General and she decided that's the theme she wanted for her 8th birthday.  We found some plates, napkins, invitations, and a banner marked down.  Later on we found a couple more matching banners at the thrift store for 25¢ each.  We even found favors and prizes on after Easter clearance that were bright and colorful as well.  She had fun picking out the rest of her party supplies from the party store.

She also decided she wanted to have a water party since August is SO very hot down here in Florida.  We prayed every day that the rain would hold off until after the party and it did, we had beautiful sunny weather and were able to do everything outside.  (This mama didn't want no soppin' wet kiddos traipsing through the house.)  We set up tables on the deck for food, drinks, and gifts, and set up chairs in the shade of our big tree for the adults.

I didn't realize until later that my camera was on the wrong setting and some of the pictures got washed out.  : (  

She had so much fun finding colorful and rainbow themed items to use.  This is the first year that she has really had a desire to have an input on her party, other than choosing a theme, and it was fun working together to plan it.

Everything looked so colorful and festive.

We found these little favor bags in the after Easter clearance stuff and they fit in with the theme perfectly.  I painted the words on with white paint to look like chalk.

We filled up one of those snap-set pools for the kids to play in, and also put a sprinkler under the trampoline which was a lot of fun for them.  There were also water guns and tubes of bubbles to blow.

We played a couple of water games, ate pizza, and had a great time.

The day before the party my two little helpers assisted with the birthday cake making.

Since she wanted the inside to be rainbow colors we bought a neon food coloring set and two cake mixes and made 6 different colors of batter.

We layered the multi-colored batter into the pans and hoped for the best.

The finished product!

We used purple frosting between the layers and then I piped the purple in a decorative edge around the bottom and also around the topper.  We found the colorful candy flowers at Walmart and used those to help bring in some more of the rainbow colors of Lisa Frank.

This is how the inside of the cake turned out and she thought it was awesome.  :)

I so enjoy planning parties and being creative to accomplish them on a small budget.  If it was left up to only me I would probably go overboard and decorate to the nine's and plan every little detail.  But my husband keeps me balanced and reigned in and has helped me learn to simplify things so that it's not so stressful for me and therefore ends up being more enjoyable for everyone involved.  :)

Little Man is already planning what he wants his party to be when it's his turn for a big party next year. He changes his mind almost daily, lol!

A Rustic Themed Christmas Banquet

Has it really been almost a full month since I last posted anything?!?  I'm so sorry you guys.  Life just got crazy busy all of a sudden and I just couldn't juggle everything I had going on.  Last week alone I had 3 big events at church that I was involved in back to back and it kept me hoppin' the entire week.  Add in soccer games twice a week and my class I teach on Wednesday nights and we felt like we were barely ever home.  But things will start to slow down a bit this week thankfully.  All the big events that I was in charge of are over now, and Lil' Man's last soccer game is tonight so that should help slow things down a lot!  

One of the things I was in charge of last week was our church's annual Christmas banquet.  A couple of months ago our pastor asked me if I'd be willing to be in charge of the decorations and the food.  An excuse to decorate for a party?  Of course I said yes!!  I had it all planned out the next day, lol!  

Fast forward about two months and it was finally banquet day.  When I got to the fellowship hall this is what it looked like.  Pretty much a disaster because we had been working on stuff for our Christmas parade float in here the day before.

All the float signs and paint and other paraphernalia were still around the room, as well as the stacks of wrapped boxes for the float.

The ping-pong table was in the corner and extra tables, etc, etc.  In short, it was a mess.  And I didn't bring anyone to help me because when it comes to decorating I work better by myself.  I just hadn't planned on having to do SO much cleaning up first.  But thankfully the pastor and his wife came and helped me move all the float stuff out, and extra tables, and such and get all the chairs up so I could clean the floors.  That was a blessing.  But after that was done I was on my own to transform the place into some semblance of order suitable for a banquet.

After 8 hours of cleaning and decorating it looked like this.

I wish I had more time to set up a tripod and get better pictures, but people started showing up early and I had to just snap what I could and be done with it.  I kept some of the wrapped boxes from the float and stacked them to fill one corner over by the back door.  Notice in the back of the above picture, on the right, the drink table.  I never did get a closer picture of it, but it looked cute with a wool plaid blanket spread over it and the drink dispensers sitting on top.

 

I used the lattice that was leaning against the wall to cover up the unused piano and organ over against the far wall.  

Against another wall I set up a photo-op area.  It's kind of a "thing" with our church that every party or banquet has a photo area, so of course I had to uphold the tradition.

I strung white lights up and down the wall and then hung a white sheet over them.

It gave off the most beautiful soft glow and made a wonderful background for pictures.  The lanterns were glowing too, but you can't really tell in these pictures.

I brought in stumps of wood from our wood pile at home and set the cute battery operated lanterns on top.  My mom was sweet enough to let me borrow these for the banquet.  At the time she told me I could use them I had no idea what I would do with them, but I knew I could figure out something cute.  They looked great on the wooden stumps.  The empty red frame was a photo prop that people could hold up and put their faces behind for their picture.  I got it for $2 at a thrift store and just gave it a few coats of red spray paint that I already had.   I picked up the cute little chalkboard signs from Walmart for $2 each and they were photo props as well.

I already had the little tree and actually threw it up there at the last minute as part of this vignette.  It's propped up on an old wooden drawer that I brought along.

Now, let's take a closer look at the centerpieces.  

This picture from Sweet Something Designs was my point of inspiration.

(source)

Now here is my version.

Over the couple of months that I was planning I began collecting Christmas colored plaid scarves.

Some I already had, some I found at yard sales, and the rest I scoured eBay for and bought the cheapest ones I could find to keep it as low budget as possible.

I laid the scarves down the center of each table as my table runners, then I layered in the wood slabs.  Each table had 3 of them.  Hubby was kind enough to cut these for me from his wood pile in his work shop.  Did you know that just ONE of these wooden pieces like this costs $15 at the craft store?!?  I got 21 of them for FREE from our own stash.  :D

I poured Epsom salt into canning jars (brought from home) to resemble snow, and tucked a little unscented votive candle into each one. I layered in fresh greenery all around, and then tucked in faux berries for some color.  I finished them off with cute little jingle bells from the dollar store (a pack of 9 for only $1!).  In keeping with the low budget, I already had all of the faux berries in my own personal stash, and as for the fresh greenery, when we went to buy our Christmas tree I told the owner of the tree farm about the upcoming banquet and asked if they had any extra greenery they wouldn't be using for their fresh wreaths.  She said she couldn't let me have any of the Fraser fir branches, they needed all they had, but she said they couldn't use any cuttings from the Scotch pines because they were too pokey.  So she gave me a pair of clippers and told me to go around the lot and that I could clip and have any branches that were touching the ground.  They were indeed very pokey, and I had sore hands afterwards, but hey, I had a huge pile of FREE greenery!

These plates I found at Hobby Lobby were absolutely perfect.  I had been to a few different stores looking for the perfect ones to go with this theme.  I had some criteria.  They had to be big (our church likes us some food!), they had to be sturdy, and they had to match the theme without having Santa or anything else too cutesy on them.  I didn't really know exactly what I wanted, I just knew that I'd know when I saw them.  And I did.  As soon as I saw these on the shelf I knew they were the ones.  I couldn't even remember at the time what colors were in all of the scarves I had bought because I had collected them over time and actually hadn't looked at them in awhile.  So I was really excited when I got the plates home and pulled out the stash of scarves to compare and I realized they matched perfectly with all the reds and blacks!  I also loved how they had sort of a chalkboard look to them.  It matched my "naughty'' and "nice" chalkboards really well.  But probably nobody but me noticed that detail.  :D

The forks were actually plastic (no extra dishes to wash, yay!), but I loved how shiny they were and that they had a "real" look to them (also found at Hobby Lobby).  And I found nice plastic cups that were just a bit more fancy than plain old clear plastic ones or even styrofoam ones that dressed up the table a bit.

I ended up with 7 different scarves that had 7 different patterns, but all coordinated very nicely on the tables.

There were 35 people signed up to come, so I bought 40 of everything and made 40 place settings, but what I forgot to take into account was the generosity of our people.  Some invited extra family members, some invited neighbors at the last minute to come and join the fun and we ended up with closer to 50.  We just pulled extra chairs up to the ends of the tables and got out the white styrofoam plates that we always have on hand and it all worked out just fine.  The more the merrier.  : )

Over on the dessert table I set up this little display using my long wooden ammo box turned upside down and a bit of decor from my own home.  The tables were slightly different heights and I had to prop up one end of the box, so the greenery helped disguise the height difference.

The rustic decor was a hit and many people were so kind to tell me how beautiful it all looked.  All the hard work of cleaning and setting it all up was worth it.  

One lady even told me at church on Sunday that it was the most beautiful she had ever seen it look in the fellowship hall.  And that's why I enjoy what I do.  I love transforming a space from something plain and boring into something beautiful and festive.  And since I used so much that I already had on hand or that I was able to get for free, and since we did the food potluck style, I was able to keep this banquet budget right around $115.

I hope to be back again with another post before Christmas, but if for some reason I don't then I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!  And if I don't get my Christmas decor pictures shared before, don't worry, they may be late and Christmas may be done and over with by then, but I'll get them shared.  :)

                                                                  

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Construction Themed 4th Birthday Party

This past weekend was my son's 4th birthday party.  We alternate each year on which child gets the big party and this year was his turn.  I'm all about doing up cute parties, but within reason.  They still have to fit into our one income budget.  Thankfully, I had a few Etsy sales beforehand so I had a little bit extra to spend.

Months ago I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday and he and I perused Pinterest for ideas and when he saw this one from Fredillicious that was it, that was the one he wanted!  He had that exact same backhoe already so this was "his" cake!

(source)

So that's how we came up with our construction theme. 

We found this cute set of plates at Hobby Lobby and that's what I based everything around.

Simple and Budget Friendly Pool Party

 I don't know about you all but I am d.y.i.n.g. for some sunshine and warm weather!  I've just had it with all this snow and freezing rain and dreariness.  It's horrible.  Who in the world chooses to live here permanently is what I wanna know?!?  

Anyways, in trying to pull myself out of my winter-blues-induced-almost-depression, I was looking through some old photos from our life in Florida and I realized I've never shared my daughter's 3rd birthday party here on the blog.

This was pre-blogging days so the pictures aren't quite what they would be now, but I still wanted to share it.  

It was simple and very budget friendly, but the kiddos still had a blast.

So let Lucy do some 'splainin' here first.  I was 8 months pregnant (very very pregnant), I was huge, my feet were swollen, and I tired easily.  I knew I would need something really simple, easy, and cheap (hello...baby on the way!).  My original plan was just to pay McDonald's $75 to have them host the party and let the kids play their little hearts out on the Play Land.  But as it turned out none of the McDonald's in that area participated in the birthday parties.  So...I had to come up with plan B.  This was August...in South Florida.  August is the hottest month of the year down there and the temperatures can be sweltering.  The only option for an outside party was for it to be something involving water.

So I decided on a very simple pool party with pizza and cupcakes.  We kept it really small with just close family and a few little cousins.  My husband's grandma's house had a pool and she kindly consented to let us do the party there.

Most of the decorations came from Walmart or the dollar store.  

Colorful pennant buntings were hung, beach balls were added for color and to play with while swimming, and....

See these balloon clusters the arrows are pointing at?  They were actually punching balloons.  At the end of the party the kids got to take them home as a favor.  Double duty = wallet friendly.

This table was setup with plates, napkins, and favors and more bunting was added around the front.  The huge sunglasses served as decorations at first, and then the kiddos got to take them home as another favor.

The centerpiece was a dollar store bucket filled with sand with colorful lollipops stuck down inside.  And yep, you guessed it, they were favors for the kiddos.

I found cute paper goods at an online store that went along with our pool theme.

Another small table was set up for gifts.  

(Can you see the wall thermometer in the background?  It's pointing at 90....degrees....in the shade.)

(We're a very conservative Christian family and we don't do mixed swimming so after the moms and kids had their turn swimming, the men joined us for the pizza, cupcakes, and present opening. Then they had their turn swimming after us ladies took the kiddos home for their much needed naps.)

 After the pizza was devoured I cleared off this table and brought out the desserts.

Very simple cupcakes that I made myself.  The sun toppers kept the theme going, and were actually little rings....that served as favors.  :D

I also made these  cute little flip flop "sandals" laid on a folded up washcloth that was supposed to resemble a beach towel.  They were just Nutter Butter cookies, frosting, and those sour gummy worms cut into pieces and split open.

And here's Birthday Girl immensely enjoying the pool!

{Sigh}...I've had fun reminiscing about the sunshine....and heat....and being tan, but now it makes me miss it even more.  I'm getting so excited for our upcoming move back to the Sunshine State! 

 (The smart ones don't stick around if they don't have to, lol!)

I hope you enjoyed another simple and budget friendly party.  You don't have to go overboard on decorations, and food, and every little detail for it to be special.  Fun and good memories can be made even on the simplest of budgets.  

                                                          

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Vintage Inspired Ice Cream Social

I am SO excited about today's post! 

 If you follow me on Facebook then you probably saw this little teaser picture I shared about something going on at the Farmhouse this past weekend.

Did you guess it right?  

I have wanted to host one of these for forever, but never had the excuse opportunity to do so until now. Hubs and I hosted a get together for our church's young adult/teen group at our home and I was finally able to do it. Everyone helped out by bringing different kinds of ice creams and toppings, and I did all the decorating (I just couldn't help myself!).  I went with a red and aqua vintage theme.

I had so much fun going through my stash and coming up with the decor to fit the theme.  Let's take a closer look shall we?

A Very Froggy 2nd Birthday

This week was my lil' man's 2nd birthday.  It was supposed to be his turn to have a big party this year since his sister had her turn last year with her Pinkalicous party.  I was planning {in my mind} a really cute construction themed birthday, BUT...I changed my mind.  I just wasn't feelin' it.  I've been very homesick for our family and the thought of a big party without them there was just too depressing, so I didn't go through with it.

Instead, we celebrated with just the 4 of us.  He loves frogs and green is his favorite color, so that's what I went with.

He has a little collection going on of stuffed frogs he's found at yard sales this summer, so I put those on the table as part of the decor.  I found cute plates at Hobby Lobby, and the rest came from good ol' Walmart.