a small surprise 50th b-day party

Welcome to my wonderful mother-in-law's very girly surprise 50th birthday party!

I was all about the streamers for this party. Goodbye, standard, plain, old store bought streamers and hello, customized, funky, cutesie ones! I took 3 small spools of streamers in yellow, pink, and red, and cut them by hand to have 3 different looks (fringy, wavy, and skinny).

 

I couldn't go overboard with making lots of banners for this surprise party as I normally do because I had to keep the decorations minimal and tucked away, out of sight from the front door. I didn't want the b-day girl to pick up on any clues upon entering until she caught sight of all of us jumping out, yelling, "surprise!" 

 

I love how this banner turned out! Can you tell I was going for the Chinese lantern look?





How festive are these left-over streamers running down the table, especially with the color coordinating flower arrangements?!? Carnations are the birthday girl's favorite flower and yellow is her favorite color, so of course it had to be a focal color throughout all of the decorations.

I made this birthday princess crown from some of the same scrapbook paper I used in the banner, continuing on with the yellow and pink color scheme. (I removed the temporary bulldog clip as soon as the guest of honor arrived and I was able to staple the crown to fit hear head perfectly.)

I hand-cut pale yellow, pink, and red tissue paper strips in 3 different sizes and edging styles to make this fringe garland for the chandelier and then I swagged thinly cut, bright yellow and pink streamers over it. A little time consuming, but extremely cheap and easy and talk about adorable! The pale pink zigzag strips were my favorite part!

my little balloon wall - another cheap, easy, and super cool scene-setter that just takes a bit of lung power :)

I had intended for this to be my photo booth backdrop for pictures, but once the party got rolling, I forgot all about it! Oh well, it served as an excellent decoration piece none-the-less!

I had to throw in just one cliche, black and white, "over the hill" item.

This was too funny! One of the 50 year old paraphernalia that the b-day girl had waiting for her at the table.

wall letters & pic frames

I was so pleased with the wall initials I made for my new little nephew's nursery, I just had to make some for my son's play room.

I fell in love with these scrapbook papers a long time ago and have been holding on to them, just waiting for the perfect way to incorporate them into my house.

quick, cheap, & easy little project that brings some major color/pattern pop into my son's playroom - love it!

5x7 wooden picture frame gifts I made for my cousin's bridal shower, my sister in law's b-day, and I couldn't help but throw one in for myself ;)

I love colorful, patterned picture frames and I'm all about the finishing touch that a big bow adds.

I made this frame for my cousin's bridal shower gift. I chose this soft red and blue damask pattern and painted the outer edges chocolate brown to coordinate with the red, brown, and blue damask wall initials I made her.

I made this frame for my sister in law's b-day gift. I went with this faded green and blue damask pattern and painted the edges sea foam green to coordinate with the soft greens, creams, & earth tones in her living room.

I made this frame for yours truly to go in my son's play room where there are pops of orange here, there, & everywhere.

wooden wall initials I made for my little cousin's bridal shower gift

I went with these subtle, coordinating red, brown, and blue damask patterns and bordered them with natural jute rope after getting a sense of her home decor style - neutral browns with pops of red.

nursery goodies for a baby boy

I made these faux painted fence wall initials for the newest little man in my life, my very first nephew, who I'm head over heals for (and haven't even met yet). I LOVE the paper I used for the decoupaging! The old painted wooden fence look has the rustic, masculine feel that a little man's room should have, while the vibrant blue and green coordinates perfectly with the nursery's fabrics and color scheme.



The fabric backdrop here is one of the main textile patterns in the nursery.

After first trying to border the letters with antique bronze decorative tacks and then brown grosgrain ribbon with coordinating blue and green stiching, I finally landed on natural jute rope - a perfect match, if I do say so myself! I love how these wall letter turned out so much!

decorative, ceramic letters I painted in the three main coordinating shades of the nursery's fabrics and color scheme = super duper easy little project that will add so much to Little Jeff's room. It's a must for every child's name to be showcased somewhere in their room, right?

airplane baby shower

the paper airplane baby shower invitations I made for my sister's airplane themed baby shower (my brother-in-law, the daddy-to-be, is a fighter pilot)

I lOVE the par avion (air mail) style and I'm so pleased with how these turned out!!!

Welcome to my sister's airplane themed baby shower!

I played off of the par avion color scheme and pattern throughout the decorations and clouds were a must of couse!

I just had to throw the fighter pilot, daddy-to-be's F18 hornet into the mix here and there even though it is a bit wicked looking for a baby shower.

I matte framed the invitation in red and bordered it with airmail tape and twine.

Guests' favor bags (or shall I say, complementary, in-flight snacks) were filled with honey wheat pretzel twists and honey roasted peanuts as a nod to the good old days when such airline treats were free.

My favorite part! I hung WW II fighter gliders and puffy clouds from the light fixtures and topped them off with 2 shades of pale blue tulle to give off the sky effect.

I was so pleased with how my clouds turned out - so fluffy!

I LOVE these awesome airplane cake toppers I found online, especially since one of them was an F18 fighter jet!!

This sign designated the beverage area. I LOVE these straws that I came upon! They have the same look as the paper ones that are so big right now, but they're hard plastic, so you don't end up guzzling down soggy paper chunks - yuck!

paper airplane garland here there and everywhere!

some personalized onesies I made for my first little nephew's arrival - "nugget" refers to the first timers on an aircraft carrier (where my brother-in-law is currently deployed) and "sausage" refers to the daddy-to-be's fighter pilot call sign.

the 12 month onesies I made for my little nephew's monthy photo op

These prop plane clothes pins were another great online find and were a quick and easy craft project for me!