DIY Gift Ideas

I'm sure if half the world is like my other half you haven't got a single gift yet. Well, before you go out in the madness I have a couple ideas for you.
1. Pedicure in a Jar

This was oober quick, easy, and cheap. I got all the items inside the jar from the travel section. So every item was less than $1. The nail polish was even $1. The brand was Fergie so I figured it had to be halfway decent. I used a little drawing tool in Word to make a label and tada all done.

 

 

2. Vanilla Olive Oil Sugar Scrub

 

 

I originally got this idea for a scrub from Amber at WillsCasa. Her entire DIY Christmas series is AMAZING and will make you feel like a slacker. Be warned :)This was one of her easier DIY if you are sewing challenged like myself. But, no fear if Santa brings me that sewing machine. Amber promises to help me step my DIY skills up to her level .(Amber if you are reading this remember boystown 101, accept the compliment my friend you are amazing) Anywho, I only had Olive Oil and Dark Brown sugar. I did a little reading and figured that could work all the same. Once again this was oober easy and quick. I literally had everything in my pantry. So, the cost of this was practically free except the two bucks I paid for the jar. I didn't follow a recipe. I just used a ratio. I did 2 parts sugar to one part oil. I also used 1 tablespoon of vanilla. The Olive oil smell was pretty strong. But, the Dark Brown sugar smell was the most potent of all so no worries. It smelled amazing by the end of the week when we gave it to her teacher.

 

3. Something for the toddlers

 

 

Layla's class did a book exchange but I also got small gifts for each kiddo. It was about $3.00 per kiddo. I found the oober cute little stocking totes in the dollar bin at Target. They had tons. Next, I got each little friend a train ornament and a teething toy. I put both of those in the stocking and did I little monogram initial with glitter glue from my craft stash.

 

That's all folks!

P.S.

I did my first Black Friday to get myself an awesome Cannon Rebel. I literally got the very last one :) I must say it takes beautiful pictures!!!

Strawberry Party First Birthday

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When I thought about party themes it came down between strawberries and rubber duckies. Her rubber ducky was her first favorite toy and strawberries were her first favorite food. I'm not a big fan of "themes". You know like where you go into any store and pick up plates w/characters on them. Then everyone and their mom can have the same thing. I prefer to just go with colors. I did the same thing with her nursery.

So I decided to do a strawberry party and just use pink, red, and green. The only thing that had an actual print of a strawberry were the cupcake wrappers. I just thought they were cute :) My friend Katie took pictures. I told her it should be her side job! I'll walk you through the details of the party.

The first thing guest saw was the wreath on the door. This was the only thing that didn't match the color scheme. I wanted a wreath we could use year after year. Unfortunately, it fell apart by the end of the night. I think the weight of the card didn't have enough support. When you opened the card it sang Celebration and had a little note saying come on in!

Once you walked in there were balloon streamers. These were a lot of fun for the little ones to reach up and pull down as the party went on. We already had a picture of it so whatever made them happy!

I made two banners to hang from the arch thingys. The thought popped in my head when I thought about those happy birthday banners you buy at the store. I took all of our favorite pictures from her first year. I taped the pictures so they were two sided. I punched two holes at the top of each picture. Then I used fishing line to make the banner and hung them from a 3mm hook. It came out super cute if I may say so myself.

I made two separate favor bags. One for toddlers and one for school age kiddos. I cleared off the mantle and placed them on top. I made some mini poms to hang there also.

I wanted the menu to be very toddler friendly and full of Layla's favorites. We served mini corn dogs with strawberries and bananas. We had juice bottles and mini water bottles also. I made Neapolitan cupcakes and a strawberry coconut cake. Ohhh so good!!! Now I want to bake more just writing about it.

I also served Sprite and pizza for the adults. I put food coloring in the Sprite cups ahead of time. I wanted the drinks to match the theme. They came out really cute!

I used ribbon and hot glue to make a highchair banner. Cute little detail that was super easy.

We had a ball pit and balloons all over the floor the kiddos to play.

I also cut out strawberries for the kids to decorate. They could use stickers, bingo dotters, or an ink pad to do their finger prints.

I made a DIY photo booth with Dollar Tree stuff. We had everyone pose for a picture before heading out. There's Layla with Grandma.

Well that's all folks! I hope this makes you feel like you were there :) I'll leave you with pictures of our party girl! You can find my inspiration on my pinterest board.