If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I’m a psycho party planner and that I’ve been excited about an Alice in Wonderland tea party for one of Daphne’s birthdays. I didn’t think the theme fit for her 1st or 2nd party, so I’ve been researching and planning for her 3rd birthday, which is now less than 3 months away. Ack!
According to my spreadsheet (what, doesn’t everyone have a party planning spreadsheet? lol!) I should be in full party mode… stalking thrift stores for mismatched china, sewing costumes, designing invitations and centerpieces. Basically getting the handmade stuff out of the way, so I can focus on edibles, favors, paper goods, flowers as we get closer to the big day.
Just a few problems- I just haven’t felt like myself lately and have no desire to make anything. Sad but true. I’m like that little blob/pea in the old Zoloft commercials. Sigh. Also our guest list is growing. Daphne has more little friends to invite. And I know it’s going to be 100 degrees in August and the idea of making costumes and wearing hats and all that makes me hot just thinking about it. We’re going with Plan B. A big ice cream social party. More on that later.
So, instead of wasting months of Alice in Wonderland research, I thought I’d pass it along. Especially since it’s a popular party theme this year. Hope it helps someone!
Decor- Here’s the easy part… thrift store mismatched china cups (and if they break, who cares?!), paper lanterns, cards, croquet sets, “painted flowers.” Love this pic with the teacup wands. And this one with the card house. I had planned on doing my giant teacup in the center of the table with red and white roses (either real or felt) and maybe a playing card tucked in here and there. This giant teacup:
And completely off topic, but why didn’t I pull that giant weed before I took this pic? I need to clone that out in Photoshop.
The birthday girl’s outfit- There are lots of options on Etsy. I was going to do a blue peasant top and white apron/shorts set. Or something like this from Lil Blue Boo with some Japanese fabric.
Activities- Since I knew it would be horribly hot, I purchased an indoor foam croquet set at Tuesday Morning for $7. I had also thought about decorating foam teapot frames.
Cakes and cupcakes- I didn’t think too much about cakes, since I hate make them, but I did have a few cupcake ideas. The latest What’s New Cupcake? book has instructions for a skunk/squirrel cupcake using the s shaped breakfast cookies as tails that I thought would be perfect for a Cheshire cat cupcake. And these cupcakes from Flickr are amazing.
Meet Oliver. Until we can get a proper photo shoot in, here are some snapshots from today’s Houston Zoo trip.
I love seeing the differences between my siblings children and Daphne. Daphne was a skinny, wrinkly, hairy monkey baby. Oliver is the perfect little chubby cherub, who at 4 months weighs as much as Daphne did at 18 months! We’ve had so much fun with him over the last few days.
I have the worst habit of saving posts in my Google Reader to a point where they become completely unmanageable. Currently, I’m up to over 700 starred items. Some I want to keep, some I was just putting off reading. Time to do some spring cleaning. Here are a few links/posts I wanted to share:
-Completely in love with this studio tour, and home tour. Can I move in? I used to be a big fan of really saturated colors on the walls, but I’ve come to love the simple, clean white wall with lots of art and photos.
-Cute Fairy themed party. Daphne has just started to like Tinkerbell, or Tinkbell as she calls her.
-Too many cute party ideas, not enough occasions… love these meringue message cones from Hostess with the Mostess. You could stick a small rolled up invitation inside the cone for a summer ice cream party.
-And another Star Wars link… free book Goodnight Forest Moon. None of that old lady whispering shh, and bowl full of mush crap. (Can you tell I dislike Goodnight Moon? Dull.)
-Adjustable waist pant tutorial. Going to be very helpful, since D’s no longer in diapers and her pants keep falling off.
-Very cute monster art tote tutorial for little boys, or little girls who like monsters. Filing this away for future gifts.
-Oh, you know I’m a sucker for a cute headband. But cute flower and feather headbands on a newborn? So cute I can’t stand it. Check out this post by Peekaboo Photos. LOVE the peacock feather headband.
-Or maybe this vintage cat eye glasses onesie will just push me over the edge. Hmm… maybe a shirt for Daphne. Or one for me. But that would probably look dumb since I do wear cat eye looking glasses.
It’s a rainy, blah day here in Houston. Perfect weather for staying inside and watching TV, reading, and planning this week’s menu. Here’s my stack of books for today:
First up, recipe search and menu planning. I have 5 pounds of apples and am looking for ideas, preferably savory. Thinking of trying this- Rosemary pork tenderloin with harvest apples. Do you have a good apple recipe to pass along?
- Frank Stitt’s Southern Table. Stitt is an award winning chef from Birmingham. This book is just gorgeous.
- Stop and Smell the Rosemary. Junior League of Houston cookbook. Supposedly contains the best tortilla soup recipe ever. I need to try it. Some of my favorite cookbooks are from Texas Jr. Leagues, like Austin’s Necessities and Temptations, which is out of print. But if you are ever visiting Austin, you can pick up a copy in the capitol building gift shop.
- Barefoot Contessa Family Style. I adore Ina Garten. She’s my favorite celebrity chef.
- And just for fun, Julia Child! I grew up watching a bunch of public television, including Julia Child’s show. This was a birthday present from my sister and I’m trying to figure out what I will make first. Nothing involving gelatin, bone marrow or tripe
- Pop Goes Crochet. What a fun book! 36 crochet projects inspired by pop culture. The first project that caught my eye was a retro, felted purse inspired by Dita Von Teese. I love Dita’s sense of style and she is one of my favorite people to follow on Twitter. She’s always off on some fabulous adventure. I’m also thinking of making the Doris Day scarf in an olive green wool yarn I’ve had for ages. I just need to find my hooks.
Waxing Poetic Posted on November 17th, 2008 @ 10:31 pm
Mom and I had a good time at the Nutcracker Market on Saturday. After 2 1/2 hours we had only made it through maybe 25% of the booths. I didn’t buy much, in fact I only spent $25 on a hat and 5 hair bows for Daphne. And then I spent another $20 on a mimosa (for brunch, I guess) and a baked potato and Diet Coke for lunch. $4 for a 20 oz. Diet Coke. Don’t you just hate how they screw you over on concessions?
The place was packed!!! And honestly I didn’t see much I was interested in, with the exception of this charm from Waxing Poetic.
I have all my mom’s old sealing wax and seals (from her high school days?), so these charms remind me of them. In case you didn’t know, I’m a necklace person. I pretty much wear necklaces all the time and the more unusual or interesting, the better. Maybe I’ll put this charm on my wish list for Valentine’s Day or something.
While I’m on the topic of my wish lists, I’ve added another item: a commissioned watercolor portrait from Sitting Pretty Studios. How awesome would it be to have a watercolor portrait of Daphne as a toddler? I’d LOVE it and it would be something I’d hold onto forever. Grosgrain is giving away a 9.5″x11.5″ custom portrait. Unfortunately, I never win anything. Ok, I take that back. Once at a women’s retreat they were giving away door prizes and I happened to be sitting near the front and had to draw the names. I drew my own name. Then I felt like a big cheater. Then the woman handing out the door prizes made a joke about it. I mean, like I orchestrated my own win or something. Please.
I love Worth1000’s Star Wars Photoshop contest because it merges my slightly geeky sci fi side with my love of fine art. I can’t pick a favorite- maybe the Yoda Bouguereau or the little girl holding the AT-AT, and the Adam & Eve with Chewbacca is pretty funny. I’m so impressed with the Photoshopping skills (well, in most of the entries)!! Check it out!
A Very Merry Un-Birthday
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Crafts · Daphne · Etsy · Links
