Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Sweet Girl's 5th Birthday Party

Sweet Girl had so much fun planning and decorating for her party this year. I think she enjoyed the planning and decorating just as much as the actual party! She wanted a Hello Kitty Party but it became a Hello Kitty-Dress-Up-Tea-Party instead. :)

First we made invitations with paper, stamps and ribbon we had on hand. She had the idea of having every girl bring their favorite stuffed animal or doll.
She LOVED every minute of making these!

All of our decorating was made from things we had on hand and I think that made it even more fun! I used the Pink Ironstone dishes, a platter bought from GW in the center with two tea cups and a creamer filled with flowers left over from her Ballet Recital.
(she set the table all by herself!)

I cut the paper flowers and she glued the centers on and then we hung them from the chandelier. We swagged a little tulle from my fabric stash around the bottom of the chandy as well.

I cut out Hello Kitty faces for the place cards and she drew the whiskers, eyes, nose, etc and then she wrote each girl's name on it.
Every year she tells us what she wants on her cake. I bake and ice the cake then her Daddy decorates it.
It has been so much fun to see Daddy get into the decorating (I can't draw stick figures) and then to see her face light up when she sees what Daddy has done for her.
The only money I spent on this party was for the food! We had "butterfly" sandwiches, carrots and dip, fruit and cheese shaped like flowers and cake. At this age, most little ones are going to pick at their food anyway and this menu worked out really well!
The Mommies had spinach and bacon pinwheels, cucumbers sandwiches, cheese cubes, veggies, and fruit.

I think about the money end of things like this a lot of times...it's not that we do not have the money to spend on things like a party but somehow I think Sweet Girl will remember making decorations versus me running to Party City and buying every Hello Kitty item they sell. I want to instill in her the value of money and also creativity. Who's to say that next year we won't be at a bouncy place living it up but this year, at this time in my life, it was easy to have her party in my home and to spend time making decorations with her.

~Victoria~

Monday, June 21, 2010

My delightful finds!

I love to shop yard sales. Give me an old neighborhood any day over a new one and it's even better if the people have a barn or outbuilding that they are dragging stuff out of. :)
Friday I stopped by a yard sale and over in the spider webbed corner of their outbuilding were dishes covered in dust! Ironstone and all manner of old dishes. :) I was in hog heaven.
I picked up all the Ironstone and a few other things and asked how much the dishes were. "Ummm...how about 10 cents each" was the reply! I nonchalantly replied "okay, I think I might get a couple other pieces". Boy did I have fun!

This heavy white pitcher set me back a whole 50 cents!



Love the stack of 7 dessert plates ...

Most everything has markings on the back of it and they are old pieces. I don't really look for any particular dishes ... just ones that I like!

If you aren't into white dishes, I also picked up this piece for the director of my daughter's school since she collects green glassware.

and this bowl with a poppy painted on it...

For now most of my finds are stacked in my corner cabinet.


I am looking for a small china cabinet that I can paint and distress and then load with my random dishes!
I do use the platters and plates. In fact, for my Sweet Girl's birthday party I put all of the food on various sized and colored platters and plates.


~Victoria~

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

My Sweet Girl turned five today! Wow time flies....

She asked me last night before bed if she would need bigger socks in the morning. :)






She is really a precious, tender-hearted little girl. She always wants to please Mommy and Daddy and she loves to use her manners! She is a little lady, loves to dress up, loves to draw and make crafts, loves wearing dresses or skirts and really, really fights Mommy on wearing shorts or pants. :) She is definitely ALL GIRL!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! Your Mommy loves you more than you could ever know.

~Victoria~

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Pink Ironstone

Yep, you read that right! PINK Ironstone is what I found last summer at a yard sale. I snatched up the whole box for $8! I knew it would be hit or miss on what exactly was in the box but from what I could see I was in love!

Don't you just love the detail and the pretty pink flowers?
I ended up with 5 good cups (the 6th has a hairline crack),

8 saucers, 2 dessert/salad plates and 7 dinner plates.

Love the shape of the cups...

I am more of a white ironstone kind of gal but I have a Sweet Girl whose favorite color is PINK so I figured this would be perfect for parties in the future.

What about you? What color ironstone pieces have you come across?

Also, if you find white ironstone that you pick up at yard sales and Goodwill and pass up pieces with dark spots and discoloration, I read a blog post over at Red Door Home that gives you step by step instructions for getting the discoloration out.


~Victoria~

Thursday, June 3, 2010

How I Have Used My Thrift Store Finds

Recently, while editing pictures, I realized that most of my photography props are Goodwill and garage sale finds. Most of these have been shown here on the blog at one time or another.

A brown picnic basket found at Goodwill. No painting, just add a precious newborn and a barn gate.

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This little stool has been painted twice and I'm sure it will get many more coats of paint. Check out the before here. Huge difference from the early nineties fabric and paint.

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Sweet baby in a basket. Check out the basket before a creamy coat of white paint here.

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When not in use for photo shoots, this basket is often filled (or partly filled) with towels in my bathroom. Other times it holds books or magazines.

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Oh and I used the stool above as a prop for sweet Annsley. This stool was a scary laminate brown table in its previous life. See here.

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Love putting my finds to good use. Now to find a great place for the new Goodwill baskets that I brought home today.

Christina