Andy's Mission Farewell

So eight months later...here are some pix of the birthday party/mission farewell  we had for Andy.  This is a terrible pic, but as usual, my camera was no where to be found so I had to use my phone.  I drew out the colors of the Uruguayan flag, white, yellow, and royal blue.  It was the end of August so there were sunflowers everywhere, a perfect addition to the table.

I did a picture display on our entryway bench with some mini flags in a garland.  We used pix from birth up to graduation and opening the mission call.

I set out some cards and pens for people to write some wishes/goodbyes for Andy.  We put them in his scrapbook after he read them.

This was a super easy detail but added a lot of drama- I took strips of crepe paper and cut them in varying lengths and then stitched them together on my sewing machine to create a garland.  They mimic the stripes on the Uruguay flag.

The AWESOME cake that my friend Karen made.  




One more shot, close up.  The detail was amazing and it was delicious!  She is super talented!



A little thank-you- mixed kisses and hugs in little paper sour cream containers with a sticker on it that had the address of the blog to keep up with Andy.

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Another craft in the car!

I am back with another fun craft in the car!  I was still working on my huge project, so I needed every spare minute of crafting I could squeeze in.  This project:  a mini pinata!  Here is what you need:

Tissue paper.

Twine-doesn't matter what color. 

 It will be hidden.

Cardstock

Super tacky glue, scissors.

something to fill the pinata with

This cone pattern,  you can get it here

Cut two cones, one of each color of cardstock.
Fold the tab.

Roll the cardstock into cone shape,
 gluing along the tab.

Repeat, so that you have two cones.





Fill the cone with your choice of candy.

Glue the cones together.  This step is messy and awkward, unless
your cones are perfect.  Mine weren't, so I just held it together until
the glue set, about 2-3 minutes.

Cut a strip of tissue paper, about 2 inches wide and long enough to wrap around the middle of the pinata.
Fold in half lengthwise.  Dot some glue every couple of centimeters along the fold.  Cut a piece of twine
about 4 inches longer than the tissue paper.  Place in the crease, and fold over the tissue.  

It should look like this.

Take the scissors, and cut from the outside edge of the tissue
about 3/4 of the way to the fold, creating a fringe.
Repeat with another color of tissue.  Glue them around the
pinata to hide the seam.  

Ta da!  A super cute, mini pinata!  

Just don't use a big stick to hit it!  Maybe a spoon?

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Ellie's Mustache Bash!

So the other day I gave a sneak peek of Ellie's birthday party  with this invitation.

party pix

Here are some pix from the mustache bash!  I found lots of ideas for baby boy showers and little boy parties, but nothing for a little girls mustache party!  Go figure!  Anyway, I put on my thinking cap and this is what I came up with.  We picked one color to go with black and white, and she loved the lime green.  I found some great houndstooth ribbon and some lime and white striped ribbon and we went to town!

I had only my iphone to take pix with, so they aren't the greatest, but at least you can get the idea!

 Clear glass votives with ribbon glued around the bottom.  Added a mustache for flair!

Not only were these mustaches on a stick a cute centerpiece, but they were a hit with the girls.  We spent about 45 minutes taking mustache pix! You can get the template for these mustaches from easy makes me happy.  I used sticky back felt and cut two of each, then stuck the dowel in the middle.

Even daddy got in on the action!  Here he is with the birthday girl.  Doesn't he look like Mario?

The girls also wanted to do some mug shot style pix.  This is the rear shot!  :)

Our food table.  I tried super hard to come up with lots of puns!  Or mustache-y names!  We had Black Tie cupcakes, Puttin-on-the-Ritz crackers with  dip, Walking sticks (pretzels) with 24 K dip (cheese dip), Rainbow suspenders (extreme sour strips), and Mr. Goodbars (peanut butter bars).  I also set out some candy for the movie in little buckets-tuxedo buttons (jr. mints) and mother-of-pearls (green sixlets), plus chocolate and cherry twizzlers.  I had no creativity by this point, so they just got labeled twizzlers.  :)

                                    

For decor I used black and green and white.  Mostly tissue poms and streamers.  My pix didn't turn out, so use your imagination!  But I did put these mustache posters all over the mantel.

  You can get these mustache posters here!

We played stick the mustache on the man for a game.  It was so easy- I drew a face on my dry erase board.  The girls pulled down a hat over their eyes and stuck on their mustache.  They kept playing this through the night.  Simple is best!

It was a great night! We sent the girls home with these favors made out of clear candy tubes, filled with sixlets and decorated with ribbon, mustache sticker, twine and tag.

The favor bags were just simple green bags with a mustache sticker on them.  We also put in a chocolate mustache, a wax mustache and tootsie rolls!

I have to say this was my favorite design element.  I just took a clear cup, put on a mustache sticker, made a bow tie out of ribbon, and topped it off with a green stripey straw!  The best part-each mustache/tie combo was different so the girls were able to keep track of their drinks through the night.  Thanks for coming to see our 'stache bash!

linking up to tatertotsandjello

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My latest project.

I just had to show off my growing graphic design skills--ellie's party invite turned out so cute!  Of course, I just realized I didn't put our address on the invite!  ARGGH!  Oh well, it was late!  And I can always call everyone.

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