My latest obsession

Lately I have had nail polish on the brain.  I can't stop thinking about all the colors I see on Pinterest.  As I am trying to go to sleep, I imagine my nails looking so glamourous.  

Here are a few of my favorite pins.

pin via Maryah Bell

pin via Lindzey Snyder

pin via Lisa Derus

Now people, this next picture is kind of a joke.  

Wait for it. 

 Wait for it...

I used my totally awesome and really expensive Sally girl nail polishes.

Yes, I am really that good.  Don't you love that nail polish washes off your fingers really easily in the shower!

Have a great weekend.

Doilies askew

My niece, Drew, turned six this week.  I've had this shirt idea floating around in my head for a while, and thought now is the time to try it.  

Drew this one is for you baby!

Supplies:

t-shirt - Kmart

doily - Dollar Tree

heat transfer doily — cut from my Silhouette

fabric paint - good ol' Joann 

iron

sponge

Yes, that is the side seam of the shirt.  I try not to make stuff too normal expected.  Rather than the traditional front and center placement, I went with the side.

Lay heat transfer on shirt. ;) 

Cover your shape with thin fabric.  I tried a towel and the heat didn't make it through, so I grabbed an old t-shirt to place between the shape and the hot iron.  Roll the iron around for a couple of minutes or so.

I would check it every thirty-seconds or so to see if it was ready.  There were this little tiny bubbles between the transfer and the plastic.  I don't know what the meant, but everything turned out just fine.

When you are sure your transfer is complete, peel off the plastic.

Here is a shot of a pretty little shirt.  I also added another doily shape on the back right scapula (shoulder blade) area.  I could have left the shirt and it would have been great.  However, I had a bigger vision.

I know less is more, but sometimes you just gotta do more.  For the next step, grab the rest of your supplies.  My sponge is pretty sad looking, but it was the best I could do.  I had to cut off the corner of a sponge Mike used for tiling.  Why don't I have any other sponges in my entire house?

I like to squirt my paint on to plastic container lids.  They are easy to peel off if they dry.  This color is?

I placed the doily half on the shirt - half off the shirt.  Right on the hem of the shirt.  Dab your sponge in the paint, then around the doily on to the shirt.  I made sure to get paint between as many of the holes as possible.  There was also paint past the edge of the doily.  

The party doesn't stop there folks. 

 Next, I dabbed yellow fabric paint all over the doily on a clean piece of paper.

Slap the doily, paint side down, on to your t-shirt.  Press down pretty firmly.  It kind of looks like a star fish to me.  

Bracelet swap

Have you heard about the...

I'm really excited about it.  My brain can't stop thinking about different bracelet possibilities.  You should do it too.

Click here to sign up and get more details.

Milk and Cookies

We celebrated Mike's 34th birthday this weekend.  Just so he can't say we didn't do anything for his birthday, I'll list his activities for the day.

- 30 mile bike ride

- Worked on the home improvement project in back yard

- Pizza

- Swimming at the pool with family and friends

- A round of golf with brothers and son

- Apollo Burger

- Movie

- Ice Cream

I thought it would be fun to break away from the traditional "happy birthday" sign decor.

We went with a little playful bike and balloons garland. There were a few different bike designs to choose from on Silhouette, but I needed a bike that was one solid piece.  Really, who doesn't love the shape of a cruiser bike?

I love the combination of lime green, grass green, and bright yellow.

For my main man's cake it was all about the Oreo's this year.  I stacked and re-stacked this pile of cookies five times.  I had three Costco boxes of Oreo's on hand, but only used one box to make this "cake."  My stacking and arranging skills are lacking and it did not look anything like Kevin Sharkey's cake.

Nevertheless, it tasted wonderful.  Exactly what you would expect.  Good old Oreo.

Hooray for birthdays.  

From one party to the next

We have a birthday party to attend tonight.  One of our favorite little girls turned 4 this week.  

I contemplated on what present we could get her, but nothing was screaming "PICK ME!"

I decided to go with my old fall back.  A home sewn bag filled with a few little goodies inside.

My inspiration was the cherry scrapbook paper.  I originally used the paper for this project.  While I was cleaning out my fabric stash, I found a couple of cherry fabric strips left over from something my mom made.  

And so it all begins...

There was a little sewing and some braining storming to create this fun present!

I fancied up a simple composition notebook with the cherry paper on the front and back covers. 

Personalizing things is always fun, so I added Eva's name to front cover with some letter stickers from SEI Lifestyle.  The scented Hello Kitty crayons have been in my stash of things to give away when I find a worthy cause.  Secretly I was holding on to them for myself. The red packaging matched, and fit the gift too perfectly not to include it.  Sigh.

A present wouldn't be complete without an accessory and some candy.  

I sewed up a simple ribbon head band from some cherry ribbon I had on hand, and grabbed several Smarties from our candy stash.  I actually had a handful of candies, but the kids ate some.

Wrap up your wares in some colorful tissue paper and washi tape.

Throw together a simple tag with more washi tape.

And now we are ready for the pool party!

Did I mention tomorrow is my hubby's birthday?

We love parties around here.  I share my birthday surprises with you soon.

Icing on the cookie

The first thing I did, after deciding to throw a mermaid party, was order some fondant sand dollar cookie toppers from Lady Cupcake's Corner.  Lady Cupcake is a sweet gal that I met a couple of months ago, and I was dying to order something from her.  I'm so glad I did.  The sand dollar cookies really made my party pails perfect.

This is how I put it together...

1. Bake up some round sugar cookies.

2. Slather a little frosting on the top of each sugar cookie.

3. Set your ultra adorable sand dollar cookie topper on top of the cookie.

Press down slightly.

4. Package up in a clear bag with some twine and you are golden.

Each party goer received a small purple pail with 

a shell necklace, sand dollar cookies and some extra sea shells.

I used my Shilouette to cut some cute sea creature shapes and attached 

them with sparkly tulle and twine.

Who wouldn't want a bucket of sea shells?

I hope you have enjoyed my party recap.  This really is a great theme, and One Charming Party  is a great resource to help you get your party going.  

For mermaidens or penguins

When Collin saw this necklace he yelled out "PENGUIN!"

It took me a second to remember Cody Maverick, from the movie Surf's Up, wears a necklace like this.

So, for Collin this was a penguin necklace.  For the sake of my mermaid party, it was a mermaid necklace.

I wanted to have something fun for the kids to take home from the party and this idea was born.

Supplies:

Hemp twin - Joann's

Hot glue gun

Split rings - Joann's

Sea shells - Dollar Store

I had all sorts of plans to make this with clasps and what nots, then decided to simplify.

1.  Take your sea shell and add a dab of hot glue to the small end.

2. Carefully set your split ring half way in the hot glue.

3. Repeat as needed. ;)

4. Cut your hemp twin to the desired length.  I cut my strands about 18 inches long.

5. Tie the loose ends of your twine together in a knot. 

6.  Tie the twine to the shell by slipping it through the ring and back over again.

Easy easy.  Cute enough for a mermaid or penguin!

Mermaid Party Games

Our party games were simple, but the fun was out of this world.

And in case you were wondering, I did buy Tess' outfit to match the party.

All photos by Noelle Reynolds Photography