Kindergarten Blues and Peg Doll Friends

Have you seen the Kindergartner crying when it's time to go into school? Yep, that's my little guy. He is having a hard time adjusting to this all day gig. Yesterday he said it was fun, but didn't want to go back today. Sigh.

I painted a special peg for him to take to school. Something that would fit in his pocket that would remind him to be brave, fearless, and confident. Yes, for 6 year old boys Lego Ninjago characters are the way to go. So far it has helped him. Full day Kindergarten is a big change, I feel better knowing he has a little piece of home with him (the Ninja was even tucked in his right hand during pictures). 

How do you help your kids transition back to school?

Do you know someone that might like a peg doll?  I do make and sell custom pegs! Visit my peg page for lots of pictures and more information. 

DIY: Divine Twined Up Bitty Bags

I am sharing this project over on Whisker Graphics today. The bitty bag is personalized with divine twine and filled with back to school goodies for my soon-to-be Kindergartner. It's boyish and simple, yet extra special for his big day.

Materials:

Lemon Divine Twine

Black Diagonal Stripe Bitty Bag

Glue

Scissors

Directions:

Write name on the bag with a pencil. Then trace over the pencil marks with a thin line of glue. 

Add divine twine on top of the glue, adjust string as needed. Let dry. 

Fill bag with goodies. 

Roller Skate Party: Full Party Post

You've seen the magazine feature, behind the scenes, and craft fails... now it's time to share the full party post. Bird's Party sent her brand new Roller Skate printable collection for me to work with. I immediately loved the colors and fun graphics. I wanted to make this party retro and very girly.

Party Colors: Red, Pink, and Turquoise

Party Theme: Roller Skate 7th Birthday Party 

Desserts: 2 Tier Cake, Cupcakes, Cupcake Marshmallow Pops, Balloon Cake Pops

Party Favors: Gumball Necklaces, Tube Socks, Flavored Lip Balms, and Balloons. 

Party Highlights: Handmade Wood Skate Signs and Kusudama Paper Flowers

Cake and Fondant:  Samantha's Sweets created a two tiered cake with red and turquoise fondant ric rac at the bottom of each layer. I called in my "fondant dream team" for this project, Love and Sugar Kisses created the pink fondant ruffle flowers and the number 7 cake topper and Edible Details created the adorable pink roller skates and flower cupcake toppers. 

Decorations: Origami Delights handmade two different sizes of Kusudama Flowers in red, pink, and turquoise for the table. Whimsical Printables created the adorable matching bottle caps that adorn the milk bottles as well as the gumball necklaces, balloons, and glittery spoons. And last but not least Small Town Myrtle Brown handmade the wood skate sign and the "Roller Skate" signs. The signs added a retro vibe and special WOW factor to the table. 

Crafting: My personal craft projects for the party included the backdrop, drink flags (placed on Got Moo strawberry flavored milk straws), tube sock vases, and "dessert" favors. 

And of course more desserts: Samantha's Sweets created the most beautiful and delicious desserts for the table including cake, cupcakes, cupcake marshmallow pops, and balloon cake pops. Everything matched the collection perfectly. Sam totally surprised me with inside of the cake, I die. 

FAVORS: The favor table was designed to look like a second dessert station. The gumball necklace cake, tube sock cupcakes, flavored lip balms, and balloon filled push up pops were all displayed on classic Mosser Glass milk glass cake plates. Pink polka dot and striped favor bags were displayed on a beautiful balloon tassel made by The Flair Exchange. 

A Huge Thank you to my Fabulous Team of Vendors:

Roller Skate Printable Party Collection: Bird's Party

Desserts: Samantha's Sweets

Wood Signs: Small Town Myrtle Brown

Kusudama Flowers: Origami Delights

Fondant Cupcake Toppers and Roller Skates: Edible Details

Fondant Cake Topper and Flowers: Love and Sugar Kisses

Balloons, Spoons, Bottle Caps, Gumball Necklaces: Whimsical Printables
Balloon Tassels: The Flair Exchange

Milk Glass Cake Plates (Favor Table): Mosser Glass 

Lip Balm Party Favors: Zaaina

Styling and Photography: Jenny Dixon

Leap Frog Get Ready for Kindergarten #LeapFrogTag #spon

Thank you to LeapFrog for sponsoring this review.  For more information about LeapFrog Tag Get Ready for Kindergarten, please visit their website #LeapFrogTag #spon

My oldest son starts Kindergarten in a few weeks, and my youngest starts next Fall, so I was particularly interested in trying out the Tag Get Ready for Kindergarten.  The program teaches mathematics, social studies, reading, and science in fun, interactive, age appropriate ways.  My kids were totally engaged from the start. I waited for them to ask for help, but they never did. They listened to the directions carefully and proudly navigated through the book parent-free. 

Learning Highlights

Reading: The ABC Snack Time starts with the basics of letter and sound recognition. My 6 year old went through this section fairly quickly, because he is reading at this point, but it was perfect for my 4 year old. He stayed on this page for awhile until he had found all the letters correctly. He loved the illustrations and thought the animated facial expressions on the foods were especially funny. 

Next came the vowel show, a great reminder for my 6 year old and great introduction to short vowels sounds in words for my 4 year old.  Each page would get a little harder as they moved into The Word Circus and the Consonant Blend Gallery. For now the kids spent most of their time on the beginning pages. I like that the book offers room for them to grow and be challenged as they are ready. 

Mathematics: This section  focused on pattern building, skip counting, and counting sets. The kids both loved counting sets where they were asked to help monsters fill  up their bags with candy. Who doesn't love counting candy with monsters?!

The months and seasons page was a great refresher since we haven't been talking about them enough this Summer.  Other sections included My Community, a feelings fun house, and a dinosaur class photo where children can learn all about characteristics of dinosaurs. 

Overall, I loved the variety that the book offered. The kids stayed engaged for over an hour and then picked up the book again after dinner. I have a feeling this will be a book that will continue to captivate their attention as they delve into the different sections in greater detail. 

For more information about the LeapFrog Tag Get Ready for Kindergarten and behind-the-scenes videos, visit here!

I was selected for this opportunity as a compensated member of Clever Girls Collective and received free product from LeapFrog to review. The content and opinions expressed here are all my own. #LeapFrogTag #spon

LeapFrog Human Body Discovery Pack #LeapFrogTag #spon

Thank you to LeapFrog for sponsoring this review.  For more information about the LeapFrog Tag Human Body Discovery Pack, please visit their website #LeapFrogTag #spon

My kids were very excited to open the Human Body Discovery Pack. The set comes with a two-sided chart, game board, stickers, and interactive growth chart. There are over 300 interactive responses and over 40 learning activities that cover body systems, body facts, health and nutrition. The long, fold out pages caught my eye first, they are so different than a regular book. My 6 year old jumped right in and within 30 minutes he was reciting exactly how the nervous system works, seriously! 

We started with the body systems. The pen navigated my son through the pages by asking him questions and telling him where to go next. I wanted to see if he would ask me for help and he didn't He could open the book and do everything himself. A total win/win for both of us.

The Making Healthy Choices game was awesome-- I watched my son answer questions like "Should you wear a helmet while riding your bike?" So glad to see all our safely lessons paid off. He was thrilled he knew the right answer and it reinforced all the safety lessons we as parents try to teach!

The jumbo sized inside your body chart is so easy to read and learn from. At bath time my son stood up and pointed to his lungs, liver, heart, and phalanges.  Quick no peeking, do you know where your phalanges are?!!!! I love that he was able to figure out where on his own body the organs were located from a 2D model. 

The growth chart was a really nice bonus. It came with 3 sheets of stickers (including glow-in-the-dark bone stickers, a huge hit!) that the kids could also run their Leap pens on! They loved applying the stickers carefully to the correct places. Then we hung up their chart and measured how tall they each were. The growth chart brought all the concepts about healthy living and nutrition full circle. Clearly my son was thinking about this because he announced he was ready for bed. He needed good rest to grow!

The human body is complex and LeapFrog has found a way to make it simple, understandable, and fun. I am astounded by how much information my son absorbed in a short amount of time. Honestly, I never would have thought to buy this book. If I saw this in the store, my son would have steered me to the Scooby Doo or Cars book. This book has sparked an interest in Science for my son and I am so grateful. It has taught me to walk past the character books, he is ready for more advanced topics than I had realized. Our family gives the Human Body Discovery Pack an A+++!

Excited that he won the game with his "healthy choices"

For more information and a behind the scenes video about the Tag Human Body, visit here!

I was selected for this opportunity as a compensated member of Clever Girls Collective and received free product from LeapFrog to review. The content and opinions expressed here are all my own. #LeapFrogTag #spon

Helium Shortage {Behind the Scenes of the Roller Skate Shoot}

Has the helium shortage impacted your parties? All the stores around here are out of helium which means I had to get a little creative with my party styling. The party must go on and I still needed to get a good shot of my favor bags attached to the balloon tassel and 36" round balloon!

So I had a little helper...

My helper stood on top of the wall and held the balloon!

Creative, no?

Backdrop FAIL {Behind the scenes of the Roller Skate Shoot}

Yesterday, I posted a picture from my Roller Skate shoot for Bird's Party Magazine. Today I thought I'd share a few behind the scenes moments. One thing is for sure, my creative process is just that, a process. I find that my sketches don't always translate into great designs. My original idea was to create a backdrop that looked like a laced up skate using ribbon and fabric. I started with a big piece of white foam board...

Then laced red ribbon through the fabric, nope not quite right. 

Maybe a big tie at the top will help? Nope.

 I had another piece of fabric, maybe the lace needed layers? The lacing looked better, 

but it was still a huge FAIL. Looked too much like a corset.

I tore everything apart after hours of lacing (painful, yes). Then I had a light-bulb moment, crepe paper!

Instead of actually lacing the backdrop, I created the same look with pieces of crepe paper. 

The crepe paper was much wider than the ribbon and created a much bolder look. 

Finally, the backdrop was complete! If only I had thought of that first I would have saved myself a lot of time and ribbon!

You can read more about this party in Bird's Party Magazine, Fall Issue #6

What has been your worst craft fail?

Bird's Party Magazine- Issue 6 Now Out!

It's the most wonderful time of the year, well it is for me because it's Fall Party Magazine time! Come check out the latest and greatest issue of Bird's Party Magazine
Browse Bird's Party Magazine - Issue 6

View Larger - Buy Paper Issue - Past Issues
My Roller Skate Party is featured on pages 19-24 Hope you will drop by to see all the details!

A huge shout out to my fabulous party vendors:

Styling and Photography: Jenny Dixon

Printable Collection: Bird's Party

Desserts: Samantha's Sweets

Wood Signs: Small Town Myrtle Brown

Kusudama Flowers: Origami Delights

Fondant Cupcake Toppers and Roller Skates: Edible Details

Fondant Cake Topper and Flowers: Love and Sugar Kisses

Balloons, Spoons, Bottle Caps, Gumball Necklaces: Whimsical Printables

Balloon Tassels: The Flair Exchange

Milk Glass Cake Plates: Mosser Glass 

Lip Balm Party Favors: Zaaina

Olympic Inspired 4th Birthday Party

Lil Bugger's best friend turned 4 during the Summer Olympics this year. His mom decided to throw him an Olympic Inspired Birthday Party. We collaborated on some ideas, but Emily gets ALL the credit. She did the entire party prep herself (I just took pictures and ate lots of food!) on this adorable, FUN, activity filled party. The Olympic Medal Gold count for this party: 12 for USA!

Party Theme: Olympics

Party Colors: Blue, Black, Red, Yellow, and Green

Activities: Opening Ceremonies, Olympic games, and awarding of the medals

Party Highlights: Olympic Cookie Medals, Official Olympic Podium, and Olympic Rings Cupcakes

Color while you eat, design a flag activity 

Let the Games Begin!

Opening ceremonies began with the kids marching out waving flags to our National Anthem 

Games included a bean bag toss, discus throw, baton relay, javelin toss, and balloon relays

Left, my lil bugger getting his medal, couldn't be more proud! Right, my buggers in the balloon relay race

Each child stood on the podium and was awarded an Olympic Medal of Participation, 

an Olympic COOKIE medal that is!

The birthday boy and his sister receiving medals

Party Sources:
Olympic Party Printable Collection: Bird's Party

Olympic Medal Cookies: Frog Prince Cake and Cookie Design

Cupcakes: Samantha's Sweets
Official Party Planner: Liam's mom, Emily
Podium Builder: Liam's dad, Adam
Photography: Me

The Lorax Peg Doll

Is anyone else excited about The Lorax coming out on DVD? We are!

Lil Bugger requests this book every single night. He has memorized it and says the lines along with me. 

{Keeping it real}

J Bugger was not happy that I painted the Truffula Trees on the Lorax, ha! He thought I should paint some pegs separately as trees. 

Point noted.