How to Host A Construction Themed Birthday Party!

How to Host a construction Themed Birthday Party! 

My little nephew turned 4 this week and his mother simply out did herself on the party scene! I can't tell you enough how much fun the kids had at this party! I know this party was a success because all 15 boys and 5 girls had a blast! Totally kid approved!

Let me walk you through it!

Let's start with the Construction themed invitation invitation. You can get something like this on etsy.com from Fancy that Studio. Look for a deal that comes with construction party signs! We got it in the mail about two weeks prior to the party.

 Now let's move onto the decor. Do you need some Construction themed birthday party designs? Why yes, yes you do. You can find them on etsy.com. Don't forget to hand lots of "caution tape" on EVERYTHING! She also had a real tractor parked in her back yard which you will see pictures of shortly. That is something that won't work for everyone, but hey, if you have the connections- use them!

So in decoration summary: Lots of construction signs (she even had one on the bathroom door that said "porta-potty!"), lots of Tonka Trucks, cones of ever shape and size, caution tape and plastic construction hats.

Let's  move onto the entertainment! For a group of four year old's the fun couldn't have been any better.
She created an obstacle course. It was awesome. I will explain it, then show you the pictures! You can adjust it to what works for you.
1. Weave through the construction cones.
2. High knees through the tires.
3. Go through the tunnel.
4. Walk across the bridge.
5. Go under the caution tape.
6. Run up the stairs. (not one of the kids tripped)
7. Cross the finish line.

The weave

Through the tires

Go through the tunnel

Across the bridge

Under the caution tape and up the stairs

 Cross the finish line

The kids did this for 40 minutes straight. Over and over again! No one got hurt or tripped or fell, it was a ll just good fun.

Next on the list, a real live Tonka Truck and make shift wrecking ball! This is another thing that kept the kids entertained forEVER! they would run back and forth between the obstacle course and this wrecking ball!

 Timber!!!!

In other entertainment:

A sand box full of trucks and...

A hammer table! She filled two cups up with gold tees and let the kids hammer them into some foam board with plastic hammers! They LOVED this. My little boy always wants to hammer "stuff!"

Now for the cake and cup cakes!

Party Favors:

Orange and black bags full of goodies that said, "Thanks for making my birthday party loads of fun!"

I had to share this because it was AWESOME! What a great way to make life special! I was so impressed! I would never be able to do all the same things that my sister-in-law did for this party, but there is a lot I could do.

I hope this gives you inspiration for your own party!

XOXO,

 Amy

DIY: Conversation Shirt!

                                                                                                                       DIY: Conversation Shirt
I hate spending money.


Bwuaahahahaha!
Ok. you got me.
I LOVE spending money.
But only on the things I really want to buy using the money I have saved. I am the wife of a teacher so I gotta be careful about how I spend our funds. Frugality is key. The philosophy for our family of six, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." I heard that from an old college friend and I loved it!

I love these shirts! They make me happy every time I see them!

One of the things we save money on is pajamas. Our sleep wear usually consists of over sized t-shirts and cut off sweat pants. Nothing fancy.

So when we have pajama themed pancake breakfasts at out church, I get a little stressed out because no way are our p.j.'s acceptable to wear anywhere but between our sheets in the confines of our own home!

What to do? What to do?

Run to Walmart, buy a $3 dollars shirt and a $3 dollar pair of polka-dot legging and create my own "presentable" jammies.

Here is what you need to make your own DIY: Conversation Shirts!

Shirt

Freezer paper

Puffy Paints

Exacto Knife (you can use scissors if you can be really precise)

Hot Iron

Small Paint brush

Directions for creating your own DIY: Conversations Shirt

This really is quite easy. I don't like to do hard crafts. I promise you can do it.

First, on your computer, type the word you would like on your shirt in you desired font.

Second, Print it out and trace it on the non shiny side of the wax paper.

Third, cut it out to create a template. I used my exacto knife.

Fourth, Iron the shiny side of the wax paper to your shirt. You should be able to read your word. If not, then you did it wrong. Please start again ant number one.

Fifth, paint on your desired color of puffy paint. Remove the wax paper before before your paint is completely dry. If you fail to do this, pieces of your wax paper may become permanently stuck to your puffy painted word. I won't tell you how I know this to be true, but, you should trust me on this.

Once your shirt is completely dry, you are ready to enjoy your shirt!

Notes:

If you will notice on my above shirt, I used both parts of the template because I got tired of cutting out the words. 

The thicker the font the better. Swirly fonts are hard to cut.

This also got me thinking...this style of  DIY:Conversation T-shirts opens up so many possibilities! This of all the simple shirts that you could are sold for so much money on etsy. Like the cute little birthday shirts that have the child's age on it. You could totally do that. Scroll down to see what I mean.

 There wasn't any reference for this, but you could easily do it with puffy paint.Think how fun this would be to do for a slumber party or a birthday party with kids old enough to do their own cutting. Otherwise it would just be too much work for you!

 

$14.99 at Target and you could make one way cuter and even add a boy for a girl.

From: Pricelesskids for $16.00. Of course, buy it if you don't want to make it!

or this is fun too: Your last name with a decal.

 

Ok. You get the idea. Endless possibilities. Lots of fun!

Happy Crafting!

xoxo,

 Amy

Why You Shouldn't Spray Paint Your Door

It's been one of those days...

There are so many reasons why you should never spray paint your front door. So, so many.

Let me explain.

I think I am having a mid life crisis.
 That is strange in and of itself because I am only 35 29.
What led to this crisis you may or may not have asked? Well, today I am not pregnant. Again.
After almost 10 months of trying. Yeah, boo-hoo. Everyone has his or her own sob story, I know. Remember I am just trying to give you an insight into my crisis. Had I attended my exercise class today, all of the madness that was to ensue today might have been avoided because I would have got a fix of endorphins. But alas, it is canceled until after Christmas.
So madness ensued.

Since I was not pregnant, I needed a change. I considered making throw pillows for my couch. I have the fabric and have been wanting to do this for some time. But instead I decided to paint the front door.

 I painted it black.

With spray paint.

Why? Because I had black spray paint in my laundry room. Had I had a quart of black chalk paint, there would be no need for this post.

Something I will never be accused of is being a perfectionist. Good enough has always been, well, good enough for me.

I began by taping off my door frame to protect all the places I didn’t want painted. This part of the job went quickly enough. I taped plastic sandwich bags around the hardware and taped computer paper to the small window and called it good.

I began to spray. My three year old helped.

At first I thought, “Hey, this ain’t half bad.”

Then I realized we were standing in a cloud of black mist.

That black mist settled on my white tile floor like a soft blanket of new fallen snow. Maybe a more accurate description would be "like new fallen ash."  It also stands to reason that that gentle mist also covered my nearby carpet and furniture (though I can’t see it.)

I quickly retrieved my Swiffer Mop and Clorox wipes and irritably cleaned the mess.

Then I blew my nose. You guessed it. Black.

But all in all, the door looks good. At least it looks good enough. My friend, Ashley confirmed this for me. Another plus, it took less than 45 minutes. (unless you count cleaning up the black mist- in that case it took 2 hours)

Then other problems arose. Have you read that book, “If you give a mouse a cookie?” Here is my adaptation:

If you spray paint your front door you re going to realize that you also need to paint the trim.

When you paint the trim you are going to realize that you really want new hardware to make your door look just right.

When you get the new hardware you are going to want a new red chevron print throw rug to place in front of the door.

When you get your trendy throw rug you are going to realize that you want to trim your door frame with a fresh cut garland because it is Christmastime and you spent too much time on Pinterest going on virtual “Christmas Home Tours.”

When you remember that it is Christmas, you will remember that you have spent all of your money already and that is why you used the spray paint that just happened to already be in your laundry room.

Once you realize this, you will agree with yourself that for now, simply painting your door black is good enough. You can get to the rest next year.

In summary, if you are going to spray paint your door, take it off the hinges and do it outside. And be prepared to want to make over your whole entryway. And maybe you should just make a pillow instead.

Happy Crafting and Merry Christmas,

Xoxo,

 Amy

Free Printables: Christmas Subway Art

Merry Christmas! It actually feels like Christmas here in the desert because it is actually COLD! There is even snow on our mountains! Last year at this time we were enjoying weather in the 70's.
I just wanted to let you know something...
I have found a new creative love!
 Designing subway art and the like on my photoshop elements! It is a great artistic outlet because there is no cost! I can create and create and not spend a dime on supplies!

I wanted to give you a gift of free printables. I don't know how to create a download I could Google it, but right now I am feeling a bit too lazy to do so.

Instead you will just have to right click and save this little picture. It is a hi high resolution 8x10 and I hope you enjoy it!

 I got the chalk board background from We Lived Happily Ever After.

She has tons of designs and fonts and fun stuff that she offers for free.

I honestly can't remember where I got the fonts but I have a link to them on my Font Pinterest Board.

You can find all the fonts and link that I used to add them to my computer on that beautiful little board!

I made this one for my friend, Ginger to use in a lesson that she is going to give at her church. I love the colors on this and I think it is something that you could leave up all year!

Anyhoo,
 Merry Christmas!
xoxo,
 Amy

Family Photography

Wow! Tis the season to be busy! This is my busiest time of year for my photography hobby. It is actually supposed to be a business, but I live in a small town and it is hard to make a living off of my friends. In essence, it is my non-profit organization....
This is what I have been up to: (plus two more that I already erased from my hard drive!)
To see more, you can go to my photo blog: Amy Davis Photography

Happy Crafting!
xoxo,
 Amy