A Fairy Good Birthday - Sleeping Beauty -Themed Party

I’ve had a lot of clients in my 19-year public relations career, but one of my toughest clients to date is my own kid.

We just wrapped another birthday party season for Miss Lennon and let’s just say the party for her classmates really challenged me.

Let’s recap our previous party themes (and I may have some blogging catch up to play):

1 - Flamingle

2 - Tea for Two

3 - Camp Lennon

4 - Strawberry Fields FOURever

5 - Frozen Fifth on Christmas in July

6 - Harry Potter

That brings us to the lucky seven. We invited a small group of family and friends over for a summer barbecue with a “Here Comes The Sun” theme - with some fun rainbow and sun decor. Of course, it rained right when the party was starting, but…then came the sun!

For her classmate party, Lennon decided more than a year ago that it would be “Aurora” theme. Also known as Sleeping Beauty. While a slumber party would have been the natural choice, due to the pandemic and maybe age, these girls weren’t ready for an actual slumber party.

Like I said, Lennon is my toughest client. So after some brainstorming, I decided to hone in on the three fairies that watch over Aurora - Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather.




I found the perfect location very close to our house - a floral cottage - which reminded me so much of the “cottage” where Aurora, or Briar Rose as she was known, grew up!

 

I went with some minimal decor - some pastel green, pink, and blue balloon garland and hydrangea centerpieces featuring each fairy. I also added just a garland of flowers matching the fairies that I stocked up on during the after-Easter sales! The benefit of prepping almost a year in advance is scoping up deals when we spot them!

“Make It Pink! Oh no. Not Pink. Make it Blue!” - Wing Station

When guests arrived, they picked a crown egg. Inside was one of the three fairies and that determined what color wings the little “fairy” would receive (blue, pink, or green). We honestly had no arguments about the colors! I found both the crown eggs and wings on Amazon.

“A crown to wear in grace and beauty, as is thy right and royal duty” - Flower Crowns

Next, the girls selected a flower crown. Amazon for the win again, and I purchased this pack of crowns.

 
“I’ll get the wands!” - DIY Fairy Wands

For the first interactive craft, girls made wants. My helpers and I added glue to wooden star wands and the girls decorated them with sequins and gems. For a final touch, we added glitter!


“I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam!” - Face Glitter

I probably could have gone a little bigger here with maybe a face painter, but we always wash that off a few minutes later. I found some face gems and glitter that are apparently very “festival-friendly,” so these girls were totally ready for Coachella by now.

After some chicken nuggets, fruit wands, and butterfly and flower-shaped sandwiches, the girls were ready for the main event - Fairy Gardens.



The floral cottage set up a DIY garden space. Each girl filled a glass bowl with magical gems, dirt, succulents, more dirt, and then some flair - and of course, fairies!

 

We had just enough time left for a DIY butterfly craft, cupcakes, and presents!

 


“Oh, you darlings. This is the happiest day of my life. Everything's so wonderful!”

It was truly a magical day for Lennon! After a nap and some rest, I’m ready to take on next year’s challenge!

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How I Homeschooled - Flowers & Bugs

Early in this quarantine / distancing / whatever this is officially called, my husband mentioned that it’s like living the song in the Rapunzel movie (Tangled). Last week, I realized we were going from painting, to reading to dance - we were literally living the song “When Will My Life Begin.” 

I heard from some readers that last week’s post helped, so here we go with a recap of our recent activities!

The sun was shining on Monday and we kicked the week of learning all about Flowers!

• We started with some YouTube videos on how flowers are made. Man, I learned some things that I totally forgot!

• Next up - flower painting. For our paintings, we’ve been using watercolor paper. It’s a bit thicker than normal printer paper. I had some 11x14 paper in my craft closet, and I’m totally going to Amazon some more.

• It was nice day, so I thought a fun activity would be to plant something. THANK YOU TARGET for offering curbside pickup! We ordered a Fairy Garden. There are also some options from Amazon, but those delivery dates aren’t trustworthy right now, but hey! Who knows how longer we will all become homeschool teachers!?

• Funny story about the Fairy Garden. I was so worried about not touching anything that once the girl put my Target bags in my truck, I drove home - only to find out that we didn’t have a Fairy Garden, but some Drain-o, Slim Fast, and something else in a large jug. I immediately drove back to Target and received my Fairy Garden and dish brush.

• While we were waiting on the Fairy Garden, I had to keep the kid busy, so I broke out this flower puzzle thing that I bought when she was like 1.5 and way too young to care. SO, if you are in the market for a gift for a 3-4 year old - I’d recommend this!

• My kid is giving me a big NOPE on my worksheets now, but I did my best to integrate in this flower-themed one focusing on sight words.

The flower activities got us through two days, so thanks to an Amazon delivery we moved on to BUGS!

Let’s take a quick trip back to two weeks ago. I had a great butterfly day going. Lennon painted this awesome butterfly, we watched some Eric Carle on YouTube - you know, The Hungry Caterpillar - and other videos about how butterflies are formed. That night, she woke up because she had a bad dream - about bugs.

So heading into these activities, I had to go a little softer on the bug content.

• Amazon delivered this little Melissa & Doug butterfly magnet painting activity (for just under $5!), so I used it to set the tone for today.

• Easing up on the hardcore bug videos, we revisited a favorite Netflix show - BEAT BUGS! A perfect way to introduce the kid you named Lennon about the Beatles! The Beat Bugs website also has some great coloring pages and printables for kids (just click on each character).

• We brought out our Beat Bugs toys that include a Yellow Submarine and Magical Music Beat Bug Keeper.

Guys - my lessons, or days, for that matter aren’t perfect. I had a project to get out the door, so bug day took a turn and Lennon watched some Ladybug and Cat Noir on Netflix. That’s still bug themed, right?

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Add Substitute Teacher To My Resume

There’s a part of me that always wanted to be a teacher. Like most kids, I would play “school” by setting up my stuffed animals and teaching them assignments. 

Fast forward to Great Social Distance of 2020 and I find myself playing the role of preschool teacher. Things started out okay, then my student began to rebel. My worksheets were no longer fun and she learned the term “I’m bored.”

This marble run game counts as STEM or STEAM or whatever, right? 

So what did I do? I channeled my inner kid and decided to take things up a notch with theme days. Sharing here in case you too are in a homeschool rut.

Last week, we had two big theme days - Space and Boutique.

Our kid’s preschool is sending home some activity suggestions and asking us to keep a journal. These two ideas are tweaks to their suggestions. 

Space Day

• Ironically, Lennon woke up wearing unicorn space pajamas, so it really helped set the tone for the day.
• I’ve been hoarding this spaceship pop up tent for almost two years now, so what better time to bust it out. This Toy Story tent is super cute too.
• While finding planet printables to laminate, I discovered some fun planet songs via Netflix Junior on YouTube. Search around there and you’ll find several cute songs that explain the planets. 
• After the excitement of the new tent started to wear off, the kid said “I want to paint,” so we gathered up anything circular shaped around the house and made our own little solar system. We used the flash cards to determine what color each planet would be and Lennon painted them. You know we touched this painting off with some glitter. 
• When you ask Lennon what she wants to be when she grows up, sometimes she’ll say “An astronaut,” and I know that NASA has a YouTube channel - sadly the videos were a little too advanced for our preschooler. 
• Warning - space lessons can get a little confusing in regards to whether Pluto is a planet or not. In this house, Pluto is a planet! 

Lennon’s Boutique

• One of the school activities was to “make a grocery store.” Knowing that we have plenty of princess dresses, I took things up a little notch by working with Lennon to create her own store.
• First order of business was to create a logo. Using PowerPoint, Lennon typed her name and the word “boutique” herself! I used a font that she could color in. 
• While Lennon colored, I made clothing tags and faux money. We also made shopping bags!
• I’m trying to teach Lennon what I do for work, so I printed a Facebook post template and had her help create an advertisement for the store. 
• Next, it was time to get our store ready. We rearranged some clothing racks, shoes, set out accessories, and finally, priced the clothing with the tags! 
• Finally, it was time to open! 

To get Lennon excited, I asked for her help to brainstorm some themes for the upcoming days/weeks. I'm going to work on my "lesson plans" later today. Here’s our preliminary list - and, if you have any fun ideas for these themes or in general, PLEASE send them our way!

• Rainbows
• Cooking - Goal - To have her cook a dish start to finish by herself. Think PB+J or maybe a quesadilla 
• Life Skills - Laundry, maybe some banking, writing an email, etc. 
• When I Grow Up 
• All About Me - making sure she learns phone numbers, addresses, etc. 
• Health Day 
• Take Your Kid To Work - yes, this has become the everyday, but like really learning about our jobs
• Magic 
• Gardening 
• Friendship Day - the kid picked this one! 
• College - WVU, duh. Thankfully, they made some resources for parents!
• Music - When mom’s in charge, we about to learn about some hip hop. Stay tuned for a Tootsie Slide. 
• United States - exploring the states

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The Smiths' Social Distancing Survival Kit

Today I’m bringing you yet another post about things that are helping us survive social distancing! Yes, I know there is an abundance of information being shared, but I have to be honest - some of the posts are helpful, so I thought one of these suggestions could spark something for you!

Without further ado, here’s how we are thriving during the great social distance of 2020.

Guess Who: Yep, I ordered this classic board game and it’s provided hours of entertainment. Not only in our house, but by allowing our kid to play via Facetime with her cousins! Best $8 spent so far on Amazon!

Kid Made Modern Craft Box: I suggested this as a gift for my daughter and my uncle purchased it for her two years ago. It’s been great to have on hand for random crafting. Additionally, my years of hoarding craft items has finally paid off - and then some. We have construction paper, paints, canvas paper, beads, and markers in full rotation up in here.

Printables: Thank you lord baby Jesus for the people that made printables in just about every theme available online (just use Google and then go to the images tab). When my preschooler watches a movie, I try to incorporate a learning activity. She’s watching Aladian? Let’s color our own magic carpet. Toy Story? Let’s do a maze to help Bo Peep find her Sheep. I’m also using the Miss Kindergarten pages to help Lennon learn how to read.

My Laminator: This goes hand in hand with the printables. When I discovered that we were going through a lot of pages - especially for writing activities - I busted out the laminator and started covering our entire household. Yes, my to do list is now laminated. Best. Investment. Ever.

Palomas: Several years ago, I worked with a tequila client. I learned how to make just about the best tequila cocktail - The Paloma. Fast forward to our honeymoon in Cabo and Paloma’s were on heavy rotation. I bought this drink back around Christmas and recently got my hands on one of the key ingredients - Squirt - so I’ve put the Palomas back in rotation. You seriously just need some tequila and Squirt (bonus points for lime). Goes great with tacos and quesadillas - or any day that ends in y!

Online Workouts: I recommend free trials from Amazing Yoga and Obe Fitness. I also hear Peloton workouts are free. For my birthday in February, I asked for gift cards to purchase a spin bike for my house - since I love a good CycleBar workout. Boy, I didn’t realize how much those cards would come in handy! My under $300 bike arrived this week and I’m loving the classes from my studio. If you are looking for a bike, my checklist was something that was small, cost-effective, could record speed and hadipad holder. Amazon has a lot of options, but sadly they keep selling out given everyone being at home!

Just Dance: My daughter's dance studio has been earning their tuition with daily dance combos. When my kid didn’t want to dance alone, I took one for the team and purchased my own tap shoes from Amazon. I mean, I’ve always wanted to take up some adult tap. Let’s just say I’ll be ready to go on stage in June if they need an extra dancer - especially for the “peanut butter jelly.”

 

Nailed It!: We’ve been watching this show nightly Netflix and decided to recreate our own Nailed It Challenge for Easter by making a bunny cake. The premise of the show is that mediocre bakers are challenged to create extravagant cakes. The winner receives $10K! While not all of our bunny cake supplies arrived on time from Amazon, the key ingredient was here - fondant! For the cake, I used Duff’s white cake recipe and *tried* to make Magnolia Bakery buttercream icing. However, I only had granulated sugar and let’s just say it’s totally not the same as confectioner’s sugar. I’d give us a C+ on appearance here and the taste...well, I may not even go there lol.

I’m hoping to try a few more survival tactics this week and I’ll let you know how they go! That list includes:


MadMex Big Azz Margarita Pick Up

Firstleaf Wine Delivery (just waiting for my order to ship!)

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A Magical Non-Candy Valentine Treat

Further proof that my child is really my child, she loves holidays. For Valentine’s Day, she selected an adorable unicorn card from Minted.

She now attends a school that doesn’t allow food-related treats for holidays, so while brainstorming treat ideas, I stumbled upon the idea of making our own crayons. I’ve always wanted to try this and we have an abundance of less-than-perfect crayons laying around the house (and in my purses).

When the molds arrived from Amazon, I was so excited to get started. However, my 4-year-old had a breakdown. It took a few minutes to understand what happened, but she thought we were making unicorn CROWNS vs. CRAYONS. Perhaps a little Pittsburgh-ese misunderstanding.

To compromise, she handed out two treats - CRAYONS & CROWNS.

Back to the crayon making.

This was so easy and I can’t wait to try it again. First, you need some old crayons. Peel off the wrapper. Or, like i found out too late, use a knife or scissors to help get the wrapper off. I don’t suggest allowing the kids to use the sharp object to do that!

Then, break the crayons down into the mold. I tried to match some colors together and towards the end I got fancy with our molds and put some yellow or gold near the horn of the unicorn!

Once you have the molds full - but not overly full - bake at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes - or until the wax has melted.

We had one batch that had some non-Crayola crayons that just wouldn’t melt as easy. Just a warning if you are using some of those unwanted restaurant crayons!

After the crayons were done “cooking,” I let them cool off a little and then put them into the freezer for another 10-ish minutes.

Once they cooled off, we popped the crayons out of the mold. We did have some break, put jsut popped them back into the next batch.

Overall, it was a super easy craft that we could do together! Lennon was very proud that she helped make a gift for her friends!

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Strawberry Fields FOUR-Ever

Before my daughter turned three last year, an idea for her 4th birthday party hit me. Her name - Lennon - was of course very closely inspired by a certain musician / band. She’s a fan of the Netflix show Beat Bugs, so knows most of their songs. I knew we’d have to do ONE Beatles-themed party at some point in her life. And, this was the perfect time.

I give you - Strawberry Fields FOUR-ever! 

I scoured the internet and it doesn’t appear that anyone ever used this exact theme (or posted about it), so I thought I’d show some of the party elements here for others!


I’m typically not a fan of double themes, but I was able to make these two work with each other vs. against.


I kept the decor strawberry themed. For the “field,” I made about 30 strawberries out of construction paper that I actually had on hand! I printed a pattern from an internet search and spent a rainy afternoon cutting. I then hot glued the strawberries to sticks. Super easy. 

I decided against helium balloons this year and thank goodness I did. Apparently that helium shortage is real. Most of my usual places are out (i.e. multiple Party City locations, Dollar Stores, etc). The day before the party, I used a little hand air pump to blow up balloons. Then, I added little black dots and green construction paper stems. I created small bushels of balloons for the pillars of the picnic shelter. 

In case of rain - WHICH we totally had - I made a little “Join the band” craft. Kids could color their own guitar, get a faux tattoo, pick a pair of John Lennon glasses and walk Abbey Road. I cut the guitars out of poster board and added string so they could "wear" them. I had a vision of taking each kids’ picture to make a “backstage pass,” but my husband brought me down a level! 

Knowing that we’d likely face elements - like wind and rain - I kept the table decor simple by printing out quotes from Beatles songs. 

Truth be told, no one really took advantage of my “Penny Lane” game, but again, rain. Lol. I purchased a bundle of strawberry graphics from Etsy and had a large sheet printed at Sam’s Club. The idea was kids could throw pennies and try to get them on a strawberry. Apparently I didn't even take a picture of this, but I wanted to share the idea!

Now, for the best part. I love a good pun and this menu was FULL of puns. 

For drinks, we had:

• Help, I need some water
• I feel wine 
• Lovely margaritas 
• Helter Seltzers 
• Here, beer and everywhere - and even a beer called 8 Days a Week! 
• Hey, Juice (we needed something without alcohol for the kids!) 

The shelter is next to a small playground where the kids spent most of their time. We also had a strawberry piñata per the request of the birthday girl! 

Last, but not least, my mom made favors for both the kids and moms! Kids received a strawberry-themed basket of goodies, while moms got a strawberry candle!

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Dancing Queen: Dance Class Treat

We are closing out another year of dance class and that calls for a celebration! I’m always trying to brainstorm ideas for a class treat that isn’t just a piece of candy. I know that some schools request a non-food treat and that can be tricky for parents too!

With the help of my almost 4-year-old, we picked out these princess crowns from Amazon that come with a small wand and ring. I put the want and ring into a bag and tied them to the crown with a bow and card.

BTW - is TGFA a thing? Can it be? TGFA = Thank god for Amazon!

For the card, I wanted something clever that tied the item into dance class - so low and behold, I give you - DANCING QUEEN! Lol. I purchased the crown clip art from Etsy. Paper Sphinx is my go-to for clip art!

Anyways, this was an easy, cute, item for those end of year dance class favors!

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What I’m Doing While Not Blogging Part 2: Crafting

When my daughter was a baby, we started doing a Mother’s Day craft together for her grandma’s and great-grandma’s. Keeping the tradition alive, this year we made succulent vases!

I picked up a 4-pack of these ceramic vases, gave the kid some acrylic paints (i’m crazy) and let her have at it without much instruction (i.e. don’t get paint on my table). 

She chose to paint each vase 1 color. Once they dried from the multiple coats of paint the kid used, we added some flair. I used a hot glue gun to add the gems, but the kid picked them and told me where to glue! 

I found the mini succulents at Home Depot!

I added a little homemade Q&A card with each gift and voila! A homemade Mother’s Day gift!

We started crafting for the "pun-niest" party that I've ever hosted - my daughter's 4th birthday! I can't wait to share with you the details!

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Ra! Ra! It's a Pom Wreath

Today we are going to talk poms.

I have a little history with poms. I guess the cheer ones came first in the early ‘90’s. Then, I moved on to the yarn ones in high school. You see, as a majorette in the band, a rite of passage was making your first pair of poms for your boots. This required a lot of yarn. We wrapped it around our legs, tied the bunch with a string and then cut them. To finish the look, we added a sequin wrapper!

 .    


Fast forward to today.

I’ve been seeing pom wreaths, poms on shirts, poms on hats...poms are having a moment. I thought - I could make that. Then, I discovered the plastic pom makers. No legs required!

During a snowy, cold weekend, I bought some yarn and pomed away. Before I used my fancy pom makers, I did watch this super helpful tutorial.

I paired pink, red and magenta yarn together for a heart wreath (I already had the wire wreath at home). I’d say that this first attempt is missing something. Perhaps white poms? Or, maybe a multi-color yarn?

This is probably a no brainer, but when you tie the pom, you leave some extra yarn to then tie on to the wreath. You can see that I used a wire wreath. Some poms went a little rouge, so I had to work hard to place them on the wreath.



By the way, I barely scratched the surface on these big rolls of yarn. I have so much left! If you are making a small wreath, no need to invest in the big rolls.

I’d say, with the plastic pom makers, 3 rolls of yarn and the wire wreath, I made this for under $25. Next time, I won’t need the pom makers!

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