Yes, we threw a recession themed party for our two year old.

So as you know, Mazie’s birthday party was this past weekend.   Each year (yes I know, all two years now) Robbie and I try to come up with something timely as a theme.  This year it was a recession.  Nothing says fun like a recession themed two year old party, but believe me it was fun and effective.  Last year it was a campaign theme of sorts where her invite was a Mazie for President in 2008 campaign poster and her campaign slogan was Make Cupcakes not War, a nod to Johnny Cupcakes, and great inspiration for a cupcake themed birthday party.  We’re going to try to do something timely like this until she demands a Hannah Montana themed party or something like that.

So this is how the theme started off with our two dollar bill, featuring Mazie’s adorable picture.  Note the subtleties in both of the “seals” on the bill: One being a gluten free birthday reminder and the other a bit of white where we’re replaced the white house with the red house, which is of course the color of our house and looks just like this little icon.  PS I know Saturday is spelled wrong, we missed it because we were busy congratulating ourselves on the great job we did in creating this invite and coming up with this theme.

Below has to be the most adorable picture of Mazie pre-party in her party prep mode.  She’s wearing a cute birthday hat my brother in-law and his family sent to us and wearing her apron (made by a friend of mine) so she can help out with all of the pre-party prep, including cake frosting.

Cakes in progress.

The finished product. Not so bad if I do say so myself. On top are these lovely little German, wooden candle holders that are from a larger set given to my as a child from my paternal grandmother.  They are each little soldiers or members of a band.  These two were a perfect match for the green icing used to continue the green and pink money theme we had going.

Now for the crafting icing on the cake: The Goodie Bags.  I’m very proud of this idea, which I’ve called the Baby Bail Out Bag — again as a nod to all things timely in this economy.

Thank goodness my mother in-law was in town to help because these would not have turned out so well and I would have been up late into the night sewing away, resulting into a cranky mummy the next day. She lovingly stitched up the bags, even adding a decorative stitch at the top.  She was so smart in her process as well.  She folded/ironed over the top edge on the entire length of yardage and stitched it down before she cut out each individual bag, making the process much easier and faster than my approach which would have been to cut and sew each one individually.  This way she had a couple of nice long sewing seams and then only had to stitch up the edges of the bags once they were cut from the longer yardage.  Note: the fabric was from my stash and was formerly curtains in our living room.  Yahoo I get recycling points on this one too.

Robbie then drew $ signs on them with Sharpie and we stuffed them with this great play money I found (one big set for ~$20, which we divided up) and some chocolate coins that I carefully researched to make sure they were not ones laced with Melamine from a scare earlier this year.

To sum it up, this party was a huge success.  We have such a wonderful group of friends and family who make events like this truly enjoyable.  The kids were great — no major meltdowns, confrontations, etc.  We had just the right amount of food.  Mazie recieved lovely little treats from her friends — books we didn’t have before, great art supplies, or thoughfully made handmade gifts and wrapping which are all truly appreciated in this house.  So thanks to all those that came.  Hope this post inspires those who might be throwing parties soon.  PS. To a few guest I forgot to give you a bag in the nuttiness and and to one quest we found a bag of cash on the step the next morning.  Feel free to let me know and you can claim your prize next time we meet.

Filed under Cooking, Entertaining, Food, Gluten Free, handmade, homemaking, parenting | Comments (3)

A dose of spring in the winter

I’m so excited about the completion of my latest project.  It was my first attempt at making a pair of socks.  Just a simple knit three purl one rib and a stockinette foot, but look how great they turned out.  I’ve always heard people say there is nothing like a hand knit pair of socks and you know what?  They are totally right!  They feel so good on my feet.  One is a little bigger than the other because I was a loose knitter at the beginning of my sock adventure.  However, once you put them on, no one is the wiser and my feet don’t seem to notice either.

This yarn (I’m sorry I can’t remember what it is or find the sleeve) is such a lovely dose of spring color in the middle of winter.  I’ve already started my second pair of socks.  I’ll give you an on the needle preview soon.

This is another nutty week in our house.  I’m only just starting to recover from this HORRIBLE bug plaguing me for the last couple of weeks.  Mazie’s birthday is tomorrow and I can’t believe she is turning two.  I’m having a harder time with two than I did one.  When she turned one I thought oh this is so great she’s one, but two seems like such a big milestone for me.  It seems like a transition from having a baby to having a kid.  Part of me feels like oh my god she’s been here for two whole years and the other part feels like I can’t believe she’s only been around for two years.  Life would just not be the same without her.

Party festivities will commence this weekend and she is very excited.  She keeps talking about how at the party we’ll have cake and ice cream, balloons, all her friends will come, there will be presents, and we’ll sing and dance.  Seriously, could you ever ask for more than that in a birthday?  What a great thing to be turning two and to be surrounded by singing dancing friends and family who are all eating sweets.  Anyhew, lots of preparations in the days to come.  I’ll share the results with you in the coming days.

Filed under Entertaining, Fashion, Knitting, handmade, homemaking, parenting, you know she's my daughter when | Comment (0)

It’s in the details

I’m convinced that my dad had so many children so it always seemed like a party — he loves to entertain — that and the fact that with 5 kids he was sure to always have some sort of manual labor around.

Anyhew, I too love to entertain. I’m most happy at a party not necessarily when I’m socializing, but when I’m hostessing — running around checking on drinks, refreshing food, pulling things out of the oven, answering the door bell, etc. The party prep is great too. I always enjoy figuring out the presentation for the food or the table. I have a wealth of interesting platters, dishes and linens, and enjoy pulling them out for my friends to enjoy as well.

Stumbled across this designer today and just had to share some of her wonderful work. Hopefully some of you will see these items at my next party.

Also what a sweet yet sexy gift these handkerchiefs below are for the man in your life.

Filed under Entertaining | Comment (0)