Super Cutesy

My sister-in-law is having a baby in December and she had a baby shower last weekend. I'm so glad because I've been wanting to make a diaper cake for a while, so I made one for her. I think they are really cute and I wanted to give it a shot. There are different styles, but I got instructions for the one I liked best from this site. I put my own personality into it and this is what I came up with:

I layered three colors of ribbon and glued them in the back, but not to the diapers so I wouldn't ruin any. I cut colored scrapbook paper with fancy scissors and just laid them in between the layers. I got the little bear at Walmart for a dollar and just tied some ribbon around his neck. Then I hot glued white buttons on the front. I love hot glue!! The hardest part of the whole project was deciding what was the cutest way to do it. So many choices.

I think this is about the fourth cutest thing I've ever made. Can you guess what the first three cutest things are?

Exciting update!

We bought a townhouse!!

We are so glad to not be renting any more! Apartment life was getting old, so we decided we needed a change. We bought a townhouse just around the corner from our apartment and just moved about two weeks ago. So stay tuned for future posts about house updates and decorating projects. My list is long, but I'm excited to tackle it. I've already painted a bathroom and changed some light fixtures. Don't worry, I've taken before and after pictures. But you have to give me some time to post them. I haven't gotten all unpacked just yet. We've been here for two weeks and we have just a few boxes left to unpack.

We already unpacked Eli so he could go to school, much to his disappointment. I think he would have been happy sitting in a big box for a little more time. As for the other two, it's just easier to leave in their box. They get into less trouble that way.

Something funny from Leah's party

My friend, Esther, helped me out during Leah's party. She also took almost all the pictures during the fun. She took these and I just had to share them. These are totally going to show up in the slide show that will be played during her wedding reception some day!

How to throw a ROCKIN' Princess Party

The Basics

Ambiance: Classical music playing in the background

Decor: White Christmas lights, pink streamers and balloons throughout (you can see it in some of the pictures) and big mirror so the princesses can admire themselves

Guest list: Cute little friends



Dress code: Princess dress is encouraged, but not required. Also, each guest received a crown as they arrive.

Activities

1. Lots of twirling and dancing

2. Princess crafts and coloring. These girls decorated a doorknob hanger with glittery foam stickers. (I love the Dollar Store!!) Then they drew pictures if they wanted to.


3. Place the crown on the princess. First we hid the crowns throughout the living room for the princesses to find, then they took turns placing the crowns on the princess while blindfolded.

4. Decorating cookies and having a snack. Look at how great these sugar cookies came out!! I've never made them this good before. Usually when I make them, the cookies puff up and loose their shape. But with this recipe from my friend Brittney's blog, they came out perfectly! I also have to add that all the princesses had the BEST manners! Everyone used their "Pleases" and "Thank yous"! I was so impressed.

5. Find Cinderella's missing slipper. They played "Hot and Cold" with the fancy slipper. Each princess got a turn walking around in one slipper while looking for the other. It was easy to see that each girl felt unsure while looking but their faces really lit up once they found the slipper and got to walk around in the pair of shoes for a minute.

6. Musical Thrones. Leah was a little too good at this game. She won twice in a row, even though I was peaking the second time and tried to help the other princesses win. After that, I had Leah help me with the music so someone else would win.

And don't forget....

The goodie bags! Each princess received princess goodies wrapped in purple and white tulle and tied with a ribbon.

Leah's birthday

I guess I should post about this now. I think I have sufficiently recovered from her birthday-week. It takes a lot of work to have a family party and a friends party for a cute, little 5 year-old. Here's the recap of the events of her actual birthday and the family party in picture/caption form.

Leah woke up to a nice pile of presents and donuts. I didn't get a picture of the donuts, sorry.

I'm only going to mention two presents that she got, even though she got lots of cool things.

These are fairy wings from Grammy. She ordered them from Amazon and whoever was packaging the box accidentally put two sets of wings in. I think they'll get used though.

The wings in action

The second present is a nightgown I made without a pattern. The boys picked out the fabric and I used another nightgown she already has and kind of traced it and this is it. I can't believe it actually fits her! It looks super cute on her and it's very comfy. It's made of flannel and the butterflies are sparkly. The boys did a good job picking it out!

And here's the cake. I am very proud of how it turned out. I do owe it all to my awesome cake decorating skills......and to my sister-in-law's cake decorating tools that she let me borrow.

What a great way to start being 5!