Gretchen turns 3!

Posted in entertaining, etsy love, family by Julia

Last week we celebrated Gretchen’s third birthday. Timehop likes to remind me every day how tiny she was this time three years ago! Also how hot it is, summer 2012 was brutal. This summer is a different kind of brutal with all the rain.

As much as I love hosting parties we decided not to do a big party this year and took Gretchen to Omaha for a weekend of fun back in May. We did have a Daniel Tiger birthday party with family, including 5 of her cousins that were in town at the time. She was SO excited for her Daniel Tiger party and everywhere I took her on her birthday she asked if it was her party (sorry kid, party is not at Scheels). My friend Renata designed the custom Daniel Tiger decor. Check out her shop on etsy!

I ran out of time to make the Texas sheet cake I’d planned on so I picked up this chocolate cake from 3 Women and an Oven and it was delicious!

Discussing the big plans they have now that they are both 3 years old.

posing with the cousins

needed help blowing out her candles this year, although she did try!

the balloons we picked up at the store were a huge hit, as was the wrench we tied them to in order to keep them from floating away!

9Jun2015

2nd Birthday Party- Red, White, and Two!

Posted in entertaining, etsy love, family by Julia

OMG yes I know my daughter will be 3 in less than a month but better late than never, right?!

Since Gretchen’s birthday is right after the 4th of July I thought this theme would be perfect. With so many toddler friends we wanted to invite we knew there was noooooooo way we could host the party at our house. We decided to do the party at Deanna Rose Farmstead, one of Gretchen’s favorite places. We got there early to set up and when her friends arrived we encouraged them to go explore and play for about an hour and then come back for food and mini pies (Trader Joes FTW!) Deanna Rose gives the birthday kid a cowboy hat, t-shirt, and then each of the guests gets a ticket good for a pony ride, hayride, or mining. It does not have to be used the day of the party. One of the great things about the party corrals at Deanna Rose is that it’s in an extremely shaded part of the park, so even though it was a hot July day, the shade and a breeze kept us mostly cool. We had a great time and hopefully our guests did too!

invitation design by misspokadot on etsy

For food we got sandwich trays from Mr. Goodcents and then had veggies, cheese and crackers, and watermelon to go with it. I cut the watermelon and cheese into star shapes using a mini cookie cutter. For dessert I had star shaped brownies and sugar cookies made by Smart Cookies Bakery. In lieu of cake or cupcakes we served mini pies from Trader Joes. They are in the freezer section and come in cherry, blueberry, and peach. Super yummy!

The red, white, and blue serving platters and decor were from Michaels. Balloons from my friend Adriane’s shop in Shawnee, FUN Party and Wedding Shop.

For favors I bought some blue and red striped bags at Michaels and filled them with stickers, custom cookies, fruit snacks, and red, white, and blue sunglasses from the Target $1 spot.

Gretchen’s dress is from hazelbeebaby but sadly she has closed up shop 😦

Our corral was right next to this big goat’s pen and he got a bath during the party. He wanted to come join the partyThe kids loved it!

I think the sunglasses were a hit!

21Jul2013

Gretchen’s 1st Birthday Party

Posted in crafts, entertaining, etsy love, gretchen by Julia

First birthday parties are definitely more for the parents than for the kids. I had a ton of fun planning and executing this party. It was a great way to celebrate surviving the first year of parenthood! Originally I was planning on some kind of whale themed party since I love whales, but then I ran across some inspiration photos on pinterest that made me change everything. You can see my planning board on pinterest here. Behold, Gretchen’s pink lemonade party!