Young, Wild & Three

 Duke turned three in August but with the move on the 10th and all of the packing and craziness that goes along with moving we decided to hold off on his birthday party until September when we had settled in a bit. Plus we sort of made it a house warming event as well. I'm so glad we decided to go this route, it was a great way to kick off the memories that will be made in our new home!

 At the front door I put out some head bands. These were super simple but INSANELY time consuming to make. I cut them all out in one go which made things a bit simpler. So many little pieces. We had just shy of 20 kids show up but I made up 20 head bands which each took about a hour to rock out start to finish. Like I said, time consuming but each head band cost $1 and who could argue with that price?  

 I love how they turned out! Each one unique with different patterns and colors!

 This guy is my personal favorite. 

 Next to the head bands we had a picture of the birthday boy and his little fox. I also typed up an eye spy game. 

 I love having an I Spy game, especailly for the older kiddo who can read. It is easy to type up, and they can do it on their own. That is a win win in my book! 

 The super cute fox pinata. (Click here for creative process.)

 I set up the very wrinkled diy teepee in the living room. (Creative process here.) We put the little sheep rug inside and the big fox. 

 I knew I wanted a camp fire all set up but I wasn't sure if I was going to make it out of wood, streamers? a table cloth and fan with Christmas lights? So many cute options so I headed to Pinterest for some pinspiration. That's when I stumbled on this fire. Only it was $44 and there was NO way I was spending that much when I knew I could make it. So $5 worth of felt later... voila! It turned out super cute. 

 The whole reason for making this chalkboard was so that I could write this on it for the party! 

 The food table with the cake. I knew I wanted to have some wooden logs on the table. And while this picture doens't do them justice they really made a huge difference! They were a pain in the butt to get/ cut but for the price of free, they were TOTALLY worth it!! We used some brown packing paper as a table cloth/ runner. I also loved how perfectly that striped wall in the new house went along with the theme!

 Food time!

 Then we went on a bear hunt. The kids had to go around the tree....

 ... through the river...

...through the tall grass...

 ...over the hill...

 ... shoot through the hoop... (these DIY bows and arrows were a huge hit!!) 

 ... into a cave (which was a large wardrobe box, not pictured.)...

 and then they took pop guns and shot their bears! Such a fun favor for the kiddos. I got them all at the thrift store, tossed them in the wash with some ammonia and they looked fabulous! the kids were super excited to have their own little bear. 

 Then it was time for some magic cupcake!

 Pinata time!! Get it little man!

 

 

 And cake time!!!!! I could stare at this cake forever! That lit campfire is the bomb-diggity!

 Happy Birthday to You!!!

 Part of the crew!

 Our little family!

 Present time! He was over the moon! Thank you friends!!!!!!!

We are so in love with this sweet little boy. This was a pretty low key party but we had a great time! Thank you to everyone who came and a special thank you to Mom Tobler who stayed to help with the party, the cake, and made all the food!!! I don't know what I would do without you! Happy birthday Duke! You deserve the world! Run wild, my child. You are loved!

Mermaid Piñata Tutorial

I really get a thrill out of making my own piñatas. And while they aren't a perfect as one that you would buy there is a deep sense of satisfaction that comes from rocking out your own piñata! However they are not for the faint of heart. In total this piñata took me over13 hours to complete. They are a labor of love but if you are up to it they are SO fun! Here are some instructions of how I assembled my mermaid piñata, if you want further detail you can also click here.

1.  I made my mermaid in three parts; body, head and arms. for her body I took a nice piece of cardboard the size I needed and drew out my mermaid.Then I cut around her body to get my silhouette and traced around that onto another piece of cardboard to make the back. Cut out the back.

2. Cut out long strips of cardboard as thick as you want your pinata to be. I made mine approx 3. inches.

4. Grab some tape and start taping around the edge of your silhouette. Be sure to make it nice and secure! Also be sure to leave an opening at the top and at the arms so that you can attach the head and arms.

 6. You are now going to tape the other silhouette to the other side of your box to close up the back. Once again tape around the edges. 

7. I wanted her shells and her waist fin to be 3D so I shaped some tin foil and taped it to the cardboard as desired.

9. Set her aside.

10. For her arms I used a animal balloon and curled it as desired. Then I paper mached around it for some arms. 

11. For the head I used a balloon. Once you have finished covering the arms and head with paper mache. Let dry completely. (I left mine over night.)

12. Using masking tape I attached the arms and head to the body in the desired position.

 13. Then I covered the entire mermaid really focusing on the arm holes, neck hole and her fins and seashells. Let dry completely and add several layers until you reach your desired thickness. 

14. For her fin I used green tissue paper cut into scalloped strips.

15. Cover the fin in light green first and then attach the scales on trow by row using a hot glue gun.

16. Paint her body a flesh tone color. 

17. Paint seashells desired color.

18. For the hair, cut strips of tissue paper. Mine are about 1 1/4" wide. Starting at the base of the neck glue the hair on row by row. 

(hair is complete)

19. Paint on a face and cut a hole in her back (where the hair covers) to put in the candy. Put a string through her shoulders to hang her. Sit back and admire all of your hard work!!

I am so in love with her! It almost feels wrong breaking her after so much effort but the best part is, me daughter loves her too!!!