Happy Birthday Blake!

Somehow my oldest turned 10 today! How is that possible?

Shoudln't he still be a baby?

Happy Birthday Blake!!

Carmex Winner!

Sorry for the delay - the winner of the Carmex giveaway is #14 - Julie! Congrats!!

Football Invitations

Blake's 10th birthday is coming up and this year he chose a football theme. How surprising. I was kind of hoping he'd find a printable on Etsy that he liked, but no, he wanted me to make them myself. So I got busy paper piecing 30 invitations.

Somehow I forgot to take any pictures before this step, but basically I just did a Google search for a football coloring page. Once I found one that would work, I resized it in Paint and printed it out. I used the whole football as a pattern to cut the balls out of brown cardstock. Then I cut off one white strip at a time and did the same.

I used the leftover piece above as a guide for gluing the white strips down.

And then I went back and trimmed off the excess.

I used a white paint pen to draw on the stitches. Much easier than cutting all those little pieces!

I typed up the wording in Microsoft Works, printed it out and glued them to the back of the footballs. My edges aren't perfect, but that's what happens when you do everything by hand. I need a craft cutter!

He likes them, so I'm happy. More party posts coming soon!

Linked to:
Catch As Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home, Friday Favs at Naptime Crafters, Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now, Delicately Constructed Friday at delicateCONSTRUCTION, Watcha Got Weekend at Lollyjane Boutique, Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots & Jello, Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table & Dreaming, Sundae Scoop at I ♥ Naptime, College Football Saturday Tailgate Party at Mom Endeavors, Creative Bloggers Party & Hop at Homemaker on a Dime

Dimple Prints Halloween Party

I recently had the opportunity to set up a party display for Dimple Prints. I was really excited because I love Halloween and planning parties! Not to mention the awesome products that Dimple Prints has. I used her invitations for Layla's Ice Cream party.

You get SO much in this set. I was surprised by just how much you get! (haha, didn't mean for that to rhyme!)

Since I wasn't having an actual party, I just did a table display. But I am dying to have a Halloween party one day, and I will definitely be using these again when I do.

You get several banners and spacers.

(I love those owls!)

Lots of cupcake toppers/party circles, too. Everything from pumpkins, to cats to haunted houses.

Can't forget to say thank you.

And lot's of signs! Wouldn't this one be cute next to a hat rack covered in witch's hats? I wanted to display it that way but I couldn't find out hats. (I'm sure if I hadn't been so afraid to run into a spider, and dug more, I would have found them).

If you've got hats, you can't forget about the brooms. (Thankfully those were easy to find).

A party isn't complete without some treats!

I made those bottle brush trees a few years ago. Aren't they cute?

And Halloween isn't complete without some tricks! Aren't those eyeballs & fingers amazing? A former coworker made them out of clay.

Buntings are everywhere these days and I love this one!

There is so much in this set that I couldn't include everything. And this set is an amazing deal being priced at only $5.00! It's available for purchase here. And don't forget to check out the Dimple Prints blog!

Linked to:
Fall Frenzy at Craftaholics Anonymous, Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Talent Tuesday at Vintage Wanna Bee, Show & Tell at Blue Cricket Design, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Link Party #69 at Tea Rose Home, Idea Sharing Wednesday at Women Who Do It All, What's Up Wednesday at Sew Woodsy, Inspired By You Wednesday at Eisy Morgan, Hookin Up With HoH at House of Hepworths

Carmex Review & Giveaway!

If you're anything like me, you constantly have to have lip balm on hand. I've never a lipstick, or even a lip gloss person, but I always have lip balm. And Carmex is one of my favorites, so I was very excited to be able to try out the new Vanilla & Lime Twist flavors! I wasn't surprised to find that I love them. They are the same, high quality you'd expect from Carmex, and the flavors smell great. Plus, they are SPF 15. You can find them at Walgreens, Walmart and CVS. So how would you like to win the set you see above? Two Carmex lip balms in Vanilla and Lime Twist, and a picnic blanket?

To enter:
1. MANDATORY: What's your favorite food to have at a picnic?
2. OPTIONAL: Be a public follower or let me know that you already are.

Giveaway will remain open until 9/16/11.

I was provided with products to review by the makers of Carmex, but ideas & opinions are 100% my own.

Oozy Cauldron

Several years ago, we made these oozing cauldrons for Halloween decorations. I love how they turned out! But they do take some maintenance when you get them back out each year. I think that's why I never really blogged a real tutorial? I did a quick post on them here. But would you guys want a full photo tutorial on these?

Project Sneak Peek

I really am trying to get back into the swing of things! I have a few things I need to finish before I can share, like the photo above. I also have at least one giveaway coming up. I'm trying to adjust to the kids being back in school, ME being back in school and juggling those with football & gymnastics practice. I think I'm getting there though! If you'd be interested in guest posting or sponsoring a giveaway - please let me know!