Easy & Inexpensive Ways to Make Your Child's Birthday Special - A Recap of Kali's 2nd Birthday!! Part I

Hello friends!! 

I am SO excited to finally have everything that I need together, so I can share all the fun details of my little girls 2nd birthday party!! 

It was a blast!!  And we had SO much fun putting together all the details for the party!!  So.....without further delay.....here are my thoughts on......easy and inexpensive ways to make your child's birthday special.....  

I think that I will have to break these thoughts into two posts, since one might get to be a bit too long (like War and Peace long).....so let's call this Part I.....

So....the back story.....birthdays are a BIG deal around our house....and it all goes back to my Mom and Dad.....they made a BIG deal about birthdays!!  And when I say that I don't mean big lavish birthday parties or gifts.....actually there was very little of that......

We had very simple birthday parties and got a couple gifts.....but my parents made us feel so incredibly special on our birthday and they always got us gifts that we really wanted and had waited to get.....sometimes for a very long time......so it was a SUPER special day!!

So....I'm a little crazy about birthdays.....mine included....I still start a countdown with reminders to family members about a month out....LOL.....but seriously.....I do.....

So.....when we had our little girl.....oh boy.....was I ever excited about her birthday!!  So......I wanted so much to make here feel as special as I did as a kid on her birthday!!

So.....here are my thoughts.....

1. Start with an Adorable Invitation

Ok.....so your child may or may not be into invitations....some children love picking these out....some could care less....but either way....the invitation sets the tone for your party....so be sure to spend some time picking out something that will give your party goers something that will make them excited about coming to your party :)

Also....I am old school....so I love sending invitations in the mail!  I think there isn't much more special than getting something (besides junk mail or bills) in the mail.....and children get really excited when there is something just for them!!

So.....I use Shutterfly to make my cards......and I've already shown you the cutie patootie invitation that we sent for Kali's birthday HERE......but what they heck.....just for fun (and because I love it)....here it is again.....

 

Source:  www.shutterfly.com

2. The Party Theme Should be Something that They LOVE

Ummmmm.....Duh!!  This one seems like a no brainer....but I have to admit that I almost messed up on this one.....

I guess it's the fact that people kept asking me....what is the theme for Kali's party....and I started feeling pressure to come up with a theme....to conform.....and you know it would have been so easy just to pick something.....Strawberry Shortcake or Elmo or Princesses or whatever.....and don't get me wrong....those are all great themes for a party!  BUT....Kali isn't really into any of those things.....

So....instead....the Hubs and I sat down and talked about the party.....and what the theme should be.....and we ended up talking about things that Kali loves.....dancing, music, and balloons......yep.....that's my girl :)

I'll talk more on the balloons later.....but concerning the dancing and the music.....well....we decided to do something a little fun and a little crazy for a two year olds party!!  We decided to turn our formal living area into Club Kali!!  LOL!!  And....it turned out to be SO MUCH FUN!!  And the kids ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!

Here are some pics.....

We supplied some fun party favors to use in Club Kali....mainly glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets....and bubbles....lot's of bubbles!!  We had little containers of bubbles for the kids to use and a bubble machine for the room.....did I mention that Kali also loves bubbles.....oh yeah....she does!!

Here's our Club Kali sign and party supplies with the room before our party goers arrived.....

Oh yeah.....I forgot to mention....we got the lava lamp and the "disco" ball going too!!

And here's a pic once our party was getting started.....

My awesome sister-in-law took this picture...no idea how she did it....but I love it SO much because it truly captures the moment!  The kids were having a blast with all the glow sticks and the bubbles and the disco ball!!  We played Kid Jams....which my sister supplied.....which was really cool.....it is today's music, but with kid friendly lyrics.....

And here's one more....with the birthday girl joining the fun.....

The room isn't full here....but trust me....it was for most of the party!!  Kali had an absolute blast.....And she danced the whole time!!

And the best part.....this little set up cost us very little.....we did buy the bubble machine $10 and the glow bracelets / glow necklaces, which you can get at the dollar store and I think I spent $10 on those too.....so for $20 Club Kali came to life!!  :)

3. Serve Food that Your Child Loves Even if it's a Little Odd

Ok....first....we did serve a good dinner for everyone.....we had Fajita's and all the fixins (as we say down south)....AND we had chicken strips and french fries from Raising Canes for all the kiddos.....YUM....I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.....

But where we had some fun was setting up our dessert table....ok....our girl LOVES cake....but she also has a few other favorites.....she also LOVES chocolate and marshmallows.....

Anyway....we had so much fun setting up our party table....here's a look at our "Chocolate Bar".....

And here's a look at our "Candy Bar"....complete with LOTS of marshmallows.....

In case any of you missed it....you can find out how to make the little chalkboard signs HERE....

And here's a look at our whole party table....

Ohhh....so happy with how this cute birthday party table turned out!!  And.....again....it wasn't expensive....I used glass containers that I already had around the house.....so really the only cost was associated with the cost for the chocolate and the candy.....the little DIY chalkboards.....and I did buy a few paper plates and napkins too :)

4. Outsource the Things that You Aren't Good At....

Ok....so maybe outsourcing isnt' cheap....I'll admit that....BUT....if you outsource things (especially those you aren't good at), then it will GREATLY reduce your stress level and even better give you more time to spend with your child on their birthday and during their party.....which is sure to make your birthday girl or boy feel SO special!!

So....I outsource the cake and cupcakes for our party EVERY year....and of course....every year I think....we'll maybe I could make it this year....and then I think....are you crazy!!  LOL!!  Don't get me wrong....if you are skilled at cake making, then by all means do it yourself!!  I would too!!  I however have no skills in this area....so outsource it is....

And this is what we got this year......

Soooo cute!!  We got the cake at a bakery called Cakelicious.....and it was SUPER delicious!!  So many people raved about how delicious this cake was.....it was chocolate and SO good....YUM!!

And we also got some of these delicious birthday cupcakes....

They were really good too!!  AND a huge hit with the birthday girl!!  I think she ate three of them....and by ate I mean she licked all the icing off and then gave the cake back to me....LOL!!

Here's the birthday girl enjoying on of her cupcakes...

That girl!!  She is such a hot mess!  LOL!!

5. Set the Tone for the Party with Your Front Door Decor

Decorating your front door should be fun!!  So....don't stress!!  You can use almost anything!!  The key here is to set the tone for your guests and of course to let everybody know....woo hooo.....we're having a PAARTAAY in here!! 

A super easy way to decorate is with balloons and streamers....a banner....something that ties in with the theme of your pary (think picture of Elmo, etc)....

Or if you are feeling a little creative, then you can make something!!  Since we were having a little girl's birthday party....I decided to make a super girly wreath for our door......and here it is.....a deco mesh happy birthday wreath :)

I added the "K" in the middle to give it a more personal touch.....and the cool thing....this baby can be recycled for say.....an Easter wreath.....oh yeah.....I love things that can do double duty!!

Of course....you guys know I've been on a deco mesh wreath kick for a while.....but if anyone is just tuning in for the first time.....then you can see the other ones I've made (and how to make them)  HERE , HERE, and HERE.

I made this one a little differently than all the others.....and here's how.....

First I made a wreath form.....using two crafting circles and some pipe cleaners.....then I covered the crafting circles with some tulle to make it look a bit prettier....

And then....just like all the others....you just fold and bunch the deco mesh.....and attach it to the form by tieing the pipe cleaners around the mesh....

Here's a close up of the the mesh tied onto the form....

And here's a look after adding the purple layer and then the pink....

And soon......TA-DA!!  You've got yourself a cutie patootie little wreath for your front door!!

Sooo....whew......with that we've covered my first five easy and inexpensive ways to make your child's birthday special..... 

So....I've got five more to go.....but since it took me like a week to get these first five ready....well....it might be a while.....

I'm curious though.....what do you all do to make your child's birthday special?  Do you have family traditions or are you making it up as you go?  Do you follow a similar pattern each year or is every birthday completely different?  Ah....please do share :)

I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas!!

Until next time.....

XOXO-

Kristal

DIY Deco Mesh St. Patrick's Day Wreath

Hello friends!! Well....we are on the downhill slope now heading into the weekend!! Yahoo!!

And the weekend means St. Patrick's Day (better get your green on!).....of course I've already showed you guys our St. Patrick's Day Mantle and front door decor HERE.....and I promised in that post that I would show you guys how I made the wreath for the front door.....

You might remember that I made a ton bunch of deco mesh wreaths around Christmas time.....you can see those HERE and HERE if you missed them the first time.....

And.....after Christmas I got this cool green deco mesh type material half price (score!)....

I had plans to use it next Christmas.....but then a little old thing called St. Patrick's Day came around and I remembered that I had this stored back....and I started thinking that this stuff might make a great St. Patrick's Day Wreath.....

And then I hit a snag in my plan.....What was I going to use for the base of the wreath???

Hmmmmm.....the Christmas wreaths were so easy....those little fake pine/cedar wreaths made a perfect base with all their bendable branches!!

But....I just couldn't see myself using one of those types of wreaths this time of year.....

SO.....I did what I always do when I need to know something.....I googled it.....LOL.....but seriously.....I did.....

And I found these things....

It is a Work Wreath Form and it can be found HERE at the Mardi Gras Outlet and it is pretty cheap at just $7....

BUT....I would have to order it.....and wait for it to come in....gah!  I was in the mood for some DIY action!!  SO....I decided to improvise.....

SO.....I headed out to Michael's and I found just what I needed to make my own Deco Mesh Wreath Form.....

It is a basic floral wire form plus some colored pipe cleaners (tied onto the form)....yep.....looks a lot like the ready made wreath form that I saw online.....cool!!

Once you have the form put together....it's really simple to finish out the wreath.....just take your deco mesh and attach it to the wreath form by tying the pipe cleaners around the mesh......like so.....

And then you just simply continue folding / bunching the mesh up and tying it onto the form with the pipe cleaners.....

And soon you'll have this.....

Ohhhhhh....Love It!!

And then I added the little cross with an Irish blessing to the middle.....

And....I've already shown you the finished product....but just for fun....here is the wreath hanging on the front door :)

Soooo.....this is a St. Patrick's Day Wreath.....but.....you can use the same process to make any type of wreath that you like....and you know Easter is just around the corner..... ;)

So....anyone else made a wreath like this one?  Anyone thinking about making one?  I'd love to know about it and see some pics if you want to share....

But for now....it's late....so I better run....

Until next time....

XOXO-
Kristal

I'm linking up here.....

Thrify Decor Chick

Happy Birthday Kali Part I - Making Miniature Chalkboard Signs

Well.....it's been two weeks now....and I still haven't posted about my little girls birthday party.....it was SO fun.....so I'm really excited to share the details :)

But the truth is that I am waiting to get pictures from my brother and sister-in-law's camera....they always take most of the pictures (and I am SO thankful) b/c I never have time to take any.....I'm always running around like a crazy person trying to make sure everything is going ok and everyone is having fun!! 

BUT....I do have a few pictures that I took before the party.....so I thought I would share one of the fun little things that I put together to decorate the birthday girls table of goodies :)

SO......what am I talking about.....well....here's a hint.....

Yep.....that's right....I made some cute little chalkboard signs to decorate our party table :)

I was so happy with how they turned out.....and they were SUPER easy to make!!

I started out with some very cheap picture frames from Wal-Mart.....I think the bigger one (black frame) was $2 and the little plastic one was less than $1....

And then I got some Krylon Chalkboard Spray Paint......Ohhhh....yeah.....ya'll know about my love for spray paint :)

This was my first time to use chalkboard paint.....and I've wanted to try it for a while.....so I was pretty excited to finally have a reason to try it out!!

SO.....I just took the glass out of the frame and gave it a good spray paint job.....if you've forgotten my tips for a good spray paint job.....then go HERE to get a refresher......but of course....no need to sand the glass :)

And soon.....I had these.....

TOO CUTE!!  BUT I can't take any credit for the cute chalk work.....my sister did all of the "writing" on the chalkboards.....and I thought she did a great job.....chalk can be a little difficult to work with.......

And....then I decided to add a little ribbon with some double sided tape, so that the chalkboards would have some coordinating color......

Here is one after the ribbon was put on......

AND....just for fun.....here's a little sneak peak at our birthday table with our chalkboards in place.....

The Candy Bar......those little SweetTart Gummies were delicious.....people just kept talking about those.....I think they might be addictive....LOL......

And my favorite.....The Chocolate Bar......

YUMMMM.....Lot's of Hershey's Kisses :)

And the really cool thing....since they are chalkboards.....you can just erase them and use them again....so I used them for the Hubs birthday too......after I removed the ribbon of course :)

Super cool....I'm thinking you'll see them show up again in the future....perhaps in my holiday mantle decor....or something.....

SO.....I can't wait to show you the rest of the party details!!  As soon as I get the pics....I promise I'll share :)

SO.....anyone else out there experimented with chalkboard paint?  PLEASE DO TELL!!  I have to say....I'm diggin it!! 

Well....it's getting late.....so I guess I better run....

Until next time.....

XOXO-
Kristal

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Thrifty Decor Chick Before and After Party
Thrifty Decor Chick Spring Fling Spray Paint Party

Master Bathroom Update & How to Tile a Bathtub Backsplash Part II

Hey guys!  I hope your week is off to a great start!!  I'm tired, but it's because I only slept a few hours last night....totally my own fault....but still.....ugh....it made for a hard day today!!

So....I'm hoping to get in bed a bit earlier tonight.....hmmmm.....we shall see how things go.....

But anyway....enough of that.....

So....the Hubs said I was "mean" to leave everyone hanging at the end of yesterday's post......linked HERE.....

SO....as a peace offering (ha, ha!).....I thought I would go ahead and give you all the conclusion of our little tiling project :)

SO.....let's start with the fun stuff first......here is the "After" picture with our bathtub backsplash looking so modern and fresh with its new glass tile :)

And yes.....you may also notice that you are getting a little sneak peak on our big Board and Batten project too :)  Much more to come on that very soon.....I will just say that it turned out even better than I expected!!  Yahoo!!

But....back to the new tile.....

I have to say that I do love it!!  There were a few times during the process that I had doubts....especially when the tile was all up on the wall, but we hadn't grouted it yet....I was wavering....thinking we might have made a mistake......

BUT.....once the grout went on.....I got really excited.....it is SO cool!!

So....if you are first time tilers (like we were).....I'll say to you.....jump on in......the water's just fine....LOL.....

But seriously.....we were pretty intimidated by the idea of this whole project.....and actually laying the tile was a big part of it!!

AND.....I will say.....it does take a lot of work to get this all done.....BUT.....it is totally a doable DIY project.....seriously......trust me......you can do this if you want to!!

So....first.....pick out your tile.....we are really loving glass tile right now, so we decided to go with the glass tile that they sell by the sheet.....we bought ours at Lowe's....

Then you need to take careful measurements of the area where you will be placing tile.....and then lay out your tile somewhere (we used the floor) to make sure that you know where you need to make your "cuts" on the tile......

You will also need some of these tile spacers to make sure that you account properly for the spacing between each tile sheet......

Once you know where you need to cut the tile, then go ahead and mark it on the tile (see the red line on the tile in the picture).....this will be your guide while cutting the tile.....

Next....."cut" the tile.....in truth you cannot actually cut the tile.....what you will do is score the tile and then break it using this handy little tool (they cost about $20 at Lowe's)......

Here's a pic of the Hubs in action.....

Once you've got your tile ready to go.....then it's time to mix the mortar.....

And you'll need a Floating Device to put the mortar up on the wall......

And now the magic begins....time to put the mortar up on the wall.....

Please note....for all you first time tile layers....you've got to drag your floating device across the mortar to created a striped sort of look....this will give the mortar somewhere to go when you press your tile onto the mortar.....I hope that makes sense....it's a little hard to explain in words....

Here's an upclose look....

And soon you'll have this....

If you use this type of tile, then you will most likely have a few places to fill in at the edge, so we just "cut" some tiles into small pieces to fill in the gaps......and then we turned some tiles sideways to give a really clean edge.....

Here's an upclose look (this pic is actually after grouting too).....

Yahoo.....we're on the home stretch now!!

The mortar will need to dry at least overnight.....and then you'll be ready to grout!!

You'll need to get some of this (grout)......

And then you literally just smear the grout onto the tile until all of the void spots are filled.....and then you use a wet sponge to wipe of the excess grout that is on top of the tile.....it will take several wipe downs to get all of the grout off of the tile.....

Not sure why, but I didn't get any pics of this step.....

AND.....then you are finished!!  Yay!!  And you'll have something really awesome like this.....

I was SO excited with how this turned out!!  I've said it before, but I'll say it again....my Hubs did a GREAT job!!  He is truly amazing!!

So....what do you guys think?  Anyone inspired to start a tile project?  Anyone already tackled a major tile project?  Please do tell!!

I guess I better run.....so much for the early bedtime :)

Until next time....

XOXO-
Kristal

Sharing With....

Thrifty Decor Chick