party decorated in 2 hours

well, my nieces are in town and their birthdays just past. they were expected home from the water park yesterday and due to have some family over at my mom's house for some cake and ice cream. the horror to my ears knowing there wasn't going to be any kind of decorations... i had to put together a couple things. i didn't spend any money, just used things i had at house and had a friend come over to hang out with laken while i got a couple things together.

if you'd like to try any of these simple crafts out just to spruce up a dinner party or celebration, i hope you find these tutorials helpful.

Pinwheel







with the desired inside-pattern of the paper facing to you, you will choose a corner of scrapbook paper and push the brad through the punched hole coming from the backside of the paper. you'll have to pull it towards the middle and bring the other edges going clockwise or counterclockwise into the brad. (these will layer underneath the first edge).

i used different lengths in size dowel rods to position them in the vase better. i used marbles for the bottom, but you can get creative with your vase... just letting you know how to make a pinwheel.

Bunting Flags





you will then take your twine and tiny cloths pins and pin the triangles. pick a pattern if you're using different colors/patterned triangles. i spaced mine about two inches apart. you can make a more permanent bunt by using thin ribbon, painters tape, and a sewing machine. the only thing you'd do different is tape the triangles in place on the ribbon and then run a straight stitch through the ribbon and then remove the tap. (the tape will be sewn too, but you'll remove it.. be careful when removing it too - don't want to tear the paper).

Napkin Holder



i decided to make this this way because wrapping the silverware wasn't looking too good with the way the napkins themselves were folded out of the package.
then you stuff the envelope with the napkins, fork, knives, spoon... chopsticks, whatever! :)

Tiffany & Ben's baby shower!

Tiffany is my cousin. We are the same age. I was born in March and she was born in April. Well... She is pregnant as well... Her son Sidney will be born in March and my son will be born in April! I was excited to be apart of helping with her shower. Her mom, Veronica, and my aunt Teresa were the big spender/planners though. The theme was Safari.
I was in charge of the Guest Book... Wish you wells... "Its a Boy" banner... and creating and ironing on the label for the Koozies. It was fun playing with Animal Print because its something that isn't what I normally prefer. There was tons of really great idea. Tiffany had people write on the diapers little messages that she will see when she actually puts them ON baby sidney! The messages were funny!! It was co-ed so it was funny seeing the guys get involved with the games. My uncle made amazing brisket, my Aunt made amazing sloppy joes that Laken and I enjoyed very much. The desert table was adorable with the pudding cups we made from a picture we saw off of pintrest. My aunt, the future grandma, made adorable corsages and my other aunt made cheek pinching cute diaper cakes for the scattered tables. I think everything came out amazing, and I hope everyone had a good time. I can't wait to meet baby Sidney!!! :)

Nana's 50th Birthday Party

I decided instead of dwelling on shambles of things not worth saving... I need to focus on more positive things and keep my hands busy. One of the first things I got my hands on was my Mother's 50th Birthday. Invitations, Menu, & some help was in order. My sister handled most of the food, while I did my best to do the decor and Invitations. My mother even got a little involved in organizing the Spa packages.. oops. :) It turned out to be successful. It was nice to do something for my mother.
I had to consider the location, which was at my tiny little place. I made it just a handful of girls. I decided to use my dinning room table, bring it into the living space. Since my chairs are green I had to consider using colors that would mix well. I chose solid colors of Pink and Purple. I wanted to make it a little ritzy, because my mom loves the Real Housewives, but i wanted to keep it down to earth, so I used burlap... I mean, how expensive and ritzy can you make plastic place and utensils? I think it turned out adorable for the money I had to spend and the amount of time. I couldn't of pulled it off without Laina. Especially her helping me make the Pom Poms and getting up on that ladder. Also, food, this pregnancy and I weren't getting along so well at the time. Life saver she was! The only downside to the whole entire party was that Laina left back to San Antonio right after we returned from the spa and I had pink and purple Pom Poms in my house for the rest of November!! and a little bit of December!! (that and the massage was horrible... who gives a deep tissue massage to a pregnant women asking for a prenatal massage?!)