Made By Me Monday - a DIY Birthday Party

Charlie's first birthday is coming up, and we had a small party for her on Sunday with family and closest friends.  We were trying to keep the entire thing under $100, so that meant endless DIY projects for me.  (And some commissioning...thanks Meg for cupcaking, Dad for pizza and super glue provisions, Chie for Jordan Almonding).

I'll share party pictures later, but here are the decor shots (mostly taken after the fact, cause I was too busy leading up to the party to care about documentation.)

The theme was either "Birdie Birthday" or "Put a Bird on it", depending on whether or not you're a Portlandia fan :)

Here goes.  The front room.

I made endless amounts of paper pennants, using scrapbook paper I already had, relating to either birthdays or birds; yarn; and a paper cutter.  Simple, yes.  Time consuming, yes.  With the excess paper from the solid colored pennants I cut out little abstract bird shapes and perched them on every ledge I could find.  These items were through out every room , tying it all together. 

I put up a folding table and wrestled a giant disposable tablecloth onto it, strategically taping to keep the size under control.  This table held had table scatter (reusing the holes I punched out of the pennant garland paper); a rubber ducky; and a Jellybeans free download of two birds in a tree.  So far, I spent $3 for the table cloth.  Everything else I already had.
Streamers were placed here and there, since nothing says party like a little crepe paper, and bird toys that Charlie had were placed on every surface.

The entry way door and front window with pennants and bird. There was also streamers, a photo from Charlie's birth and 6 month photos, stuffed birds, and polka dot rubber duckys.

 

I hung paper lanterns leftover from a bridal shower from our chandelier, and to make it over the top, hung birdie stroller toys between them.

Chie had given me a book of beautiful postcards before Charlie was born, and I was able to find a bunch of bird ones to hang from our (overcrowded) bookcase.  I also added various pictures of Charlie, blocks spelling her name, and stacking blocks with bird images.  All stuff I already had, so our running total is still $3.

The table:

Here you can see the banner (held up by two birds, Disney style), artwork and duck.

I made some sugar cookies from a mix ($3, plus $2.50 for sprinkles - $5.50 total), but I forgot to take pictures before they started disappearing.  Most were birds, but I made "One" for a change of pace.

Chie brought me meringue cookies the week before and those were added to the mix, and Meghan made vegan cupcakes with strawberry jam frosting (yum).  I didn't want to introduce Charlie to new foods at her party, just in case, so vegan was a good route to go.  I made the cupcake toppers with a free download, though I did buy the circles, for about $5, bringing us up to $10.50.

Not pictured - we also served pizza and nachos, care of Papa, Mike's Hard Lemonade ($20), pretzel sticks ($2) with Jordan almonds (from Chie) on top (to look like eggs in a nest), pasta salad ($6), Caesar salad, ($10), lemonade and cucumber water ($4), plates and napkins ($7) bringing us to $59.50.
The family room:

 This room was done simply, with pennants and birdies on the fireplace and a banned I made for Tim's birthday over the window.  Little bird books and toys were here and there.

The kitchen and dining room:
I took these pictures the next day, so picture heaps of food, and pink polka dot table cloth and Settlers of Catan laid out of the table.

So, there were streamers that I already had, pink and green lanterns left over from a baby shower, the table cloth from the same baby shower, bunting and birds.

The high chair was in the living room for the party, but regardless:

It already had a bird on it, so I added tiny bunting to make it festive.

When everything was said and done, the entire party, including gifts, was at $100.  If you have questions on anything you see, let me know.  Also, sorry for the weird lay out, I haven't gotten used to the new blogger format yet.

The Final Selection

I spent over an hour narrowing down my favorites of Shutterfly.com's many, many holiday cards. When I finally chose one, I spent an equal amount of time selecting the pictures to feature on it (with some help from Tim, of course.) But I'm so happy with the end result, especially considering they were a gift from Shutterly (a $104 value!). I can't wait for them to get here, and I also can't wait to send them out! What a wonderful experience!

Charlotte's First Christmas

is coming up, so naturally I'd like to document it with as many photos as possible. One thing that is really important to me is to send out a photo Christmas card. Since she's so new (and wonderful), and changing and growing so quickly, I want everyone we love to be able to have a picture of her, and this is the best possible way to make that happen. So, with the help of Shutterfly.com, this years Christmas cards should be amazing! Here are some of my favorites:


I love the bright colors and simple styling of this one. It's sweet and festive.

This one feels so modern to me, and it can have multiple photos on it.

Again, I love the modern feel of this one, that it can have three pictures, and the colorful lettering.
Some possible card worthy shots from our days in the snow:

Having a snow ball fight with her grandpa (while blowing bubbles, a favorite past time of hers.)

Snuggling with me to keep warm,

And getting squishy smooches from her mommy and daddy.

Right now, Shutterfly has a promotion for 50 free holiday cards (what more could a new mom want?) All you have to do is blog about it! Simple enough. I'm thrilled that at a time when so many people are strapped for cash and are having to do away with certain non-essentials (for us, one of those things was going to have to be Christmas cards, actually), this wonderful company is making it possible for us to share with our friends and family. Thank you Shutterfly!See here for details.

Found - Barbie Shoes

While I couldn't get my first choice in shoes for my Barbie Halloween costume, (somehow I couldn't justify a $100 shoe choice for one night, unless it was a wedding or something) I found some good stand ins (get it? Stand ins? Ha!) See for yourself:


First Choice:

And Choice #2:

So, while they're not quite as perfect, in my opinion, here's what did it. Pair 1: $100. Pair 2: $10 minus 15% = $9.50. Yeah. I'm good with the single digit dollar amount.