party – Page 4 – Myriad & Sundry

The Party

December 21, 2011 1 Comment

Saturday was The Party. Clutter was cleared out to the upstairs spare room, balloons were blown up, cakes were iced and decorated. It was a little bit of last minute chaos but it all came together.

My parents, sister and brother came up for the day, along with my brother’s girlfriend who I was finally able to meet.

The outfit Jameson has on, he had on for his photo shoot on Friday too. They were a clearance find, along with his first birthday bib, from Babies R Us. The bow tie was $2! Note the upside down polar bears on it though. Both my dad and Brian seem to have trouble putting it on right side up. Oops!

Jameson’s always a little uncertain of his grandpa he doesn’t see as often, but he warms up after just a little while. My family and Brian’s parents & sister kept Jameson occupied while we finished up the details. Like borrowing an ice bucket from the neighbors and getting help from said neighbor, my sister, and cousin Sam to work the balloons.

And then the guests began to arrive!

JP, Lisa and Jonathan in his adorable hat (he’s so good with hats) came with the nachos and taco dip. Jason and our other friend Lisa came with not as little Vivienne!

Carrie, Matt and their son Nicholas arrived too. We hadn’t seen them in a long time (not quite this long, but still long).

Cousin Nicholas who’s birthday was just last week arrived too with parents Jerry and Lisa and brother Nathan. (Lots of Lisa’s)

That’s a lot of babies!

After some play time (Jameson has a thing for water bottles right now), and food for the adults, it was time for cake!

Jameson didn’t blow out any candles this year. He also was quite a bit more delicate with the cake than I expected, though he enjoyed it! He was also fascinated with the balloons attached to his highchair.

We didn’t expect to open many gifts, but Jameson made it through all the gifts for the people who were there with us. First up, neighbors Kelly & Curtis and their daughter Lily. Then came Lisa, JP & Jonathan.

The babies wanted to help open the gifts they got for Jameson, it was so cute!

Jameson is learning how to clap, or maybe it’s patty cake (per his grandma). This is the very first time I saw him do it, and it was even captured on camera!

Uncle Ty’s girlfriend Emily took the camera from here and got some great shots. I was really excited to be in some photos for a change (open mouth and all).

Proof that some of the classic, old school toys are the best. Jameson wouldn’t let go of his little man peg (reminiscent of the Game of Life) the entire night from Jason, Lisa and Vivienne.

Here I am, trying on Jameson’s onesie from Aunt Holly. Captured on camera thanks to Emily, haha.

This used to be a card from his grandma and grandpa.

One of the last gifts of the evening, and one of my favorite photos. A frog hat, from my friend Teresa.

Jameson had a good time, but he missed an afternoon nap and was so tired at the end!

We had a great time! We opened more gifts, from us to Jameson and others who missed the party, on Sunday. Jameson really got the hang of opening gifts by the end. Some of his favorite things, of course, are the wrapping paper, bows and tissue paper. It’s the simple things, right?!

life with baby

Birthday Bash: The Party Details

December 20, 2011 1 Comment

This is all about the hard work that went behind the scenes of Jameson’s first birthday party!

THE THEME

Jameson didn’t care much about the theme (haha), so I decided on a “one year in a flash” style party I found inspiration for here. The colors I chose were blues, whites, silvers and a flash of bright green, and I planned on using his photos and the time capsule in the party as well. Here’s my original post on the party theme. And in the end, I even found a way to use his love of his little brown bear stuffed animal in his outfit.

THE INVITATIONS

The invitations were printed with SmartPress on their Felt Weave paper. Here’s a recap and more photos of the final invitations.

THE TIME CAPSULE

Each invitation included a card to fill out for Jameson’s time capsule. Jameson ended up with $15 in ones (hmm…); an Akron neighborhood map; lots of well wishes, and some sealed envelopes which I didn’t open even though I’d love to know what’s in them.

I still need to get a final box or jar to put everything in and seal it up for ~~eternity~~ 18 years.

THE DECOR

You probably didn’t forget these lovely garlands on the chandelier. Here’s a recap on how they were made.

I also did one that I hung Jameson’s 12 months of photos on over the fireplace, so there was a festive garland in just about every room.

We had balloons everywhere. We rented a helium tank from ABC Rentals. You get more helium for the same price it costs for a tank from a party store. I actually think the balloons did the most to shout “birthday party!”, more so than the garlands of dots and snowflakes. Everyone loves balloons!

THE PHOTO WALL

In addition to the garland with 12 months of photos, I had a photo wall in the shape of a 1 for Jameson’s party. This was my favorite part of the whole party and everyone loved to look at the photos. It was hard to select the ones to display.

THE FOOD

We decided to do a couple stations of food to try and break up some of the crowd since we had this in our home. A lot of people attended, and it only felt crowded for a little while when people first were getting food. It was all easy food too:

meatballs in Brian’s special sauce
spiral ham & buns
pasta salad
mini hot dogs in crescent rolls
veggies & dip
nachos & taco dip
chips & pretzels
cheese & crackers
relish tray (pickles & olives)
m&m’s

THE CAKE

Brian and I argued over the cake a few times (to say the least). I was planning on a mini bundt cake for Jameson, and I wanted to do a (or a couple of) regular bundt cakes for the adults. Bundt cakes would mean I could make a homemade cake myself, but they’re practically pre-decorated so I wouldn’t have to do anything sophisticated to decorate.

In the end we compromised with a store-bought cake for the adults that I decorated with frozen pound cake cubes to make blocks. It is clearly homemade decoration, but no one seemed to mind.

As for Jameson and the other baby cakes? They turned out fabulous. I made them on Friday night and I followed this recipe with carrot & peach baby food and applesauce to the T and was very happy with the results.

I baked them in the 6 mini bundt cake pan for 19 minutes. (P.S. I doubled the recipe and got a ridiculous number of little cakes, some 19 or so, I didn’t realize how much it would make). The icing was also great and I would make both again.

Jameson was pretty neat with his eating, but he liked it! In fact, I think he liked it all.

THE FAVORS

Finally, everyone got to leave with a photo (of course) and hot chocolate peppermint bag that Brian and I made on Friday. I couldn’t have done it without his help. The cocoa powder made a mess of the bags and made the marshmallows look “dirty” so the bags needed scrunched up close to a funnel to keep it fairly neat. My brother had his last night and said was good, so it was worth it. I followed this recipe.

The best part is the leftovers can be used as gifts for Jameson’s daycare teachers and co-workers.

THANK YOU

Thank you’s are doubling as Christmas cards this year, so I’m knee deep in getting them done by tomorrow. I am so happy with how everything turned out and we had so much fun! We have such great family and friends.

life with baby

Birthday Bash: Circle Garland Finale

December 15, 2011 1 Comment

I finally finished the circle garlands for the chandeliers, but I have to be honest: They looked a little incomplete. So I added cheap snowflake ornaments from Target (4 for $1!) and wa-la, finished product. I love them, and I’ll probably leave them up until Brian tells me to take them down.

They were very hard to photograph so you can see the details. I paid a lot of attention to the background of the photo because if it was too busy, it was too hard to see the snowflakes.

Each room of the first floor is decorated with the subtle garland and snowflakes (with a surprise one I haven’t shown here in the living room). Even in the entryway swing the large snowflakes from the banisters upstairs.

I’ve also been careful with the red this season. Jameson’s party colors are blues, whites, silvers, and a touch of bright green, so I limited the red ornaments that went on the tree and decorated around the house with as much blue & white as I had.

I hope everyone is ready for the ridiculous amount of photos I am going to take tomorrow, Jameson’s BIRTHDAY, and this weekend for his PARTY. I am so excited.

life with baby

Cousins

December 12, 2011 1 Comment

Saturday, we went to Jameson’s 2nd cousin’s first birthday party! Nicholas and his parents, my cousins, live less than 5 minutes away but this is the first we’ve ever been to their house. Life really does wrap us up sometimes, but we were happy to finally meet Nicholas, see how big his brother Nathan has gotten, and see relatives all gathered who I haven’t seen all together since my grandpa passed away a few years ago.

I refrained from dragging along my monster camera, but I couldn’t help but take some photos with the iPhone. Here’s a few shots of Nicholas’ Mickey Mouse themed party!

Would you believe that cake was made and decorated by Nicholas’ mother Lisa and her mom? Jameson loved it, his mouth went all black with Mickey Mouse icing. He wasn’t sure about the ice cream, it was a little cold. That’s him at the end pulling his sock off with his teeth.

He was a champ the whole time, and kept his great Aunt Carol entertained by showing (not sharing) his toys. That’s his new thing, so show off the toy and then take it back. Jameson also is enjoying sticking his fingers in other people’s mouths, so hopefully he doesn’t get sick again before his birthday at the end of THIS WEEK.

In other news, he woke up this morning at 4:30 crying, we’re not really sure why. He fell back asleep on me propped up on my shoulder, rocking. I kind of loved it, even at 4:30 in the morning. Except that he woke up when I went to lay him back down, so I did what any other mother in my shoes would do and I gave him to dad. Haha.

life with baby

Birthday Bash: Invitations, Check

November 3, 2011 1 Comment

They’re done and mailed! (Well, almost all of them. You know there are always a few that trail behind mass mailings, right?)

A few weeks ago I showed you my design, but no one called me out on my math fail. I said that I wanted them to be 4.25″ x 5.5″ (half a regular sheet of paper), which is not true at all, that’s like a quarter of a sheet of paper and far smaller than I wanted.

So I had to reinvent the wheel and enlarge my design.

I did go with Smart Press as was my original plan, but I decided to splurge a little on some nicer paper. What can I say? I love paper.

I even did everything the proper way: First I purchased their sample paper pack, which they offer for free with a promo code, afterwhich I chose my paper and placed my order. I chose their Felt Weave, Soft White for my invitations, and I love how they came out with texture.

In the past, I have done a poor job guessing how many invites I would need, and since increasing quantities didn’t affect my order total significantly, I pulled the trigger and purchased 75! invitations (oh no, we are not using them all, for sure!). They all came with nice envelopes (though I should note they are thinner envelopes than for example a wedding invitation of course).

$53 was my total including shipping, which may be over someone else’s budget but remember I’m having the party at home with mostly DIY decor and food. Oh, and I should mention the stamps. They’re forever stamps, and they’re winter themed, and are in his colors of greens and blues. Score!

As a final touch, I followed my inspiration party theme and included a card for guests to write thoughts, future hopes, blessings, or even draw pictures for Jameson’s time capsule. I’ll have extra cards at the party as well, but I want everyone thinking about a fun thing they can put in the capsule ahead of time.

The best part about these is that I printed them at home on scrap cardstock. Who has scrap cardstock? Yep, that’s me.

Invitations? Check.

life with baby

Birthday Bash: Circle Garland

October 18, 2011 5 Comments

On Sunday, I finally had a chance to test out my proposed circle garland from here which I found on Pinterest while Jameson napped!

Early last week, I went to Home Depot and ~~stole~~ acquired some paint sample papers. I was convinced that this would be the best, cheapest (read: free) method for creating a decorative garland for Jameson’s birthday. Midway through acquiring the samples, I realized they only had color on one side and I’d have to glue two sides together.

That’s okay, it ended up being kind of an awesome feature of my garland.

My favorite thing about this garland is that I didn’t need to use the sewing machine. I originally thought I would follow the same method shown here, but realized I would probably spend more time threading the sewing machine and unraveling jams because of the thickness of my glued-together-circles.

I didn’t want to deal with it. I mean, I know you get better with more practice, but… for a project like this, I didn’t want anything too time consuming.

Instead, I followed this method (or lack there of, since this is as easy as it gets)

Supplies:

shape puncher (particularly cool when you have two sizes)
paper (or paint samples)
glue stick
needle and thread

A couple quick notes: if you’re doing the needle and thread method, I think stiffer paper works the best (or in my case, two papers glued together). Also, this method tangles very easily, so I have my finished garland on a hanger in the closet until the big day.

Aside from a little hand cramping, this was really easy.

I punched out some circles. I randomly (and sloppily) glued them together (because the needle and thread will really hold them together, so don’t stress over the glue).

Each side was a subtly different shade of blue, with a jolt of green or darker blue every foot or so. I strung them together with needle and basic white thread.

I’ve only made about 6 feet of garland, and have decided that one more garland for a total of 12 feet will be ideal for my each of my lights. It’s just a little sparse right now.

Total time spent: Jameson’s nap, which was a little longer than usual 😉 about 2 hours for one garland, but I think I’ll get quicker as I go along.

Total money spent: Free, assuming you have a shape puncher already.

life with baby

Birthday Bash: Invitations

October 13, 2011 4 Comments

Jameson’s first birthday is right around the corner. He’ll be 10 months this weekend, so that leaves me a just a couple weeks to get out invitations which friends tell me should be mailed 6 weeks in advance.

So I went to my inspiration friend, Pinterest, and looked at some invitations I had pinned a while ago. I immediately was sold on the “One Year Old in a Flash” invite from The Macs because it seems so appropriate for my photo-happy self. Because, you know, first birthdays are more about the parents than the kids 😉

My original plan was to DIY the invitations myself from 8-1/2″ x 11″ cardstock, cut in half, attached to another layer printed at home with the party details and tied with a bow or something else clever but simple. But, after designing it in Photoshop, I thought the easiest and best way may just be to get the whole invitation printed.

I’ve selected Smart Press to print them, mainly because I designed it in at 4.25″ x 5.5″ (half a regular sheet of paper) and they can print that size. Plus, I can get A-2 envelopes for reasonably cheap, and the more I buy the cheaper it gets. Right now, I am just waiting on some paper samples from them since they have a wide variety of choices at a reasonable cost.

Without further ado!

My adorable winter baby’s party will be in light blues, silvers, whites and a touch of the lovely green. I’m hoping to imitate some more decorations from the One Year in a Flash party, like the paper circle garlands which I can hang from a few chandeliers and the time capsule.

We’re also going to do appetizers instead of a full catered or cooked meal, so that we can invite other people without needing to seat them for a meal.

Who’s excited?!

life with baby

Chili Cookoff

October 4, 2011 No Comments

Saturday we had some friends over pretty last minute (this was all planned out the week of). Surprisingly, we had a nice turn out, some great food, and good times for our First Annual Court Chili Cookoff. Capital letters, italics and all.

Jameson got to meet little Vivienne, who Brian and I just met last week. Vivienne wasn’t super fun to watch, apparently. Don’t worry Jameson, she’ll be awesome and active just like you sooner than you might think!

Check out Jameson’s crazy hair! He always looks like he has a bed head now, hehe.

Little Jonathan, not so little anymore, is getting mobile too. He and Jameson really seemed to interact a lot more this visit.

The boys played nicely in the kitchen (only a few diversions needed from the dog dish) while we had chili.

At our house, we had 3 different kinds of chili. The weather didn’t cooperate, so only the boys shuffled back and forth to the neighbor’s house while us ladies and babies stayed in. Next door, there were two chilis to judge.

The winner, I’m so proud to say, was Mr. Brian’s.

I confess, I tried to get Brian to share his recipe with me, but he tells me it’s his own secret recipe. I can say that it was the healthiest of the bunch with only real peppers and ground turkey.

Neighbor Curtis’s was pretty good too, a sweeter chili (but still with heat). Kyle’s was obscenely hot. But all the chilis were really unique, and we had a lot of fun.

P.S. Last night, I processed all these photos, naming them Chilli. That’s with two L’s. I didn’t even bother to check… so here I am, with 100+ photos named wrong and already uploaded. I’m too lazy to update them. So please, if you are combing through my flickr photos like a ~~stalker~~ admirer, ignore the misspelling.

P.S.S. Apparently, Jameson is pulling up in his crib at daycare now. Here we go!

diy, wedding

Bridal Shower Inspiration

September 20, 2011 3 Comments

One of my oldest friends, Emma, is getting married next June in New Jersey. I am the matron of honor, and I’m very excited to be helping plan her bachelorette party in Vegas and her bridal shower which will actually be in her (and my) old hometown.

I’ve been using Pinterest to remember things as I see them, and today I put together a mood board with my ideas. I think a mood board should be all one color or theme, but I don’t pretend to be a mood board expert, so it is what it is! Emma’s colors are jewel tones of teal and blue.

Up-cycling wine bottles (and baby food jars) are just a few of the ways I’m planning on saving money while still planning a fabulous shower. Of course, ideas are all good, but I still need to get down to the actual planning (the ugly details of who can help out). Luckily, I have plenty of time left. I’ll just keep pinning away!

life with baby

Fajita Party

August 30, 2011 3 Comments

Brian and I have decided our go-to party theme is all about the fajitas. It was easy, fun, and everyone likes it because you can put whatever you want on them.

One of Brian’s old friends came up to visit from Florida, a perfect excuse for a party. Bonus, we finally got to meet their son Bobby, just turned 6 months old.

He was really mellow (lucky parents!). He loved just laying in the grass.

How could you not love that adorable face and big blue eyes?!

Okay, I should probably back up a bit to tell a better story. I was impatient! Rewind…

Friday night, we cleaned and I washed all of Jameson’s toys in preparation for the party. Brian uncovered some old toys he had collected in the basement so those needed cleaned too (back when we both used to work for a toy company, Brian decided to collect some for the future… he’s such a ~~cutie~~ great dad)

Saturday, Jameson decided to be a sleep monster. What do they say about best laid plans… he slept for a total of 45 minutes all day long. Luckily though he was a champ for the party. He had to go to bed earlier than the other boys but I couldn’t believe how good he was for having little to no sleep.

It was so fun to watch Jameson interact with the other babies like he must at daycare though I never get to see!

I think maybe he’s going to crawl soon? Maybe that’s why his sleep patterns are all funny. Look at this fabulous move, below.

He started doing that this past week, where he spins around in a circle while sitting, getting a leg under himself. AND, he went from the belly position to sitting on Sunday! Perhaps because I had him in the grass, he felt like he couldn’t plop his face down so he did the only other thing he knew.

And finally, a good teeth shot!

Do you like these shots? Dear readers, we finally broke out the new flash we bought for my camera before Jameson was born. I can now get crisp shots indoors without them looking flashed! Just point it at the ceiling and WA-LA! indirect light brightens the room. I love it, I can’t believe I never used it before.

Okay, I am not a pro at it though. This shot straight down flashed at the glass on the fireplace and made it look funny. Some editing made it salvageable, but I was disappointed.

Would you believe that Jameson is the oldest of the bunch? I was going to break out the plaid on him too, to match, but his is dirty. Jameson, Bobby and Jonathan.

Jonathan is becoming so smiley and happy, he’s a cutie too.

Can you believe he started out smaller than Jameson, like this? And now he’s bigger than Jameson!

Bobby was small too: Jonathan was 4 weeks early; Bobby was 3 weeks early; Jameson 1 week early. The boys are getting so big.

But finally, a girl has joined the band! Our friends Jason and Lisa had their baby girl Vivienne Saturday before last (not early). It was a surprise, but Jason said statistically speaking he knew it was going to be a girl, ha. Brian and I can’t wait to go meet her (leaving Jameson behind, you know he’s a daycare-germ-filled-snotty-baby now).

It was a great time with friends. Brian couldn’t remember the last time they had all been able to get together like that. Treasuring these last summer days!

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