A Trip to Paris... Part 1

WARNING:  Super looooooong post and lots of pictures.



I have never been to Paris, France {yet}.  But is is already a dream of my friends' little girl to go there someday.  In fact, she wants to be married there when she is older.  And so, her dream of going to Paris was brought a little closer at her recent in-home birthday party.  This is one of the most amazing birthday parties I have ever been to.  I secretly wanted to be one of the little school aged girls dressing up with a feather boa and strutting my stuff on the runway... 

Walking up to the front door (and the picture doesn't even do it justice)

Three topiary plants were magically transformed into Can-Can Dancers,

and the door was of course fancified to satisfaction.

INSIDE THE CHATEAU...

Inside the Chateau, there were pieces of Paris in every corner and on every mantle. 

Jewels, feathers, boas and even Eiffel towers galore!

The birthday girl herself designed and painted artwork for the party as well!

The Food

  No party is complete with out cupcakes.

And of course, they were adorably fancy.

All food was labeled with it's french name;

"la creme souffle", "french fries", it was so cute.

I probably ate too many fancy treats...but I did it quick!  No one saw me.

Outside the Chateau

Lanterns hung above, fancy lemonade, a pink punch fountain, and boas and hair clips for each girl.

"Shoe" boxes with candy inside, and each girls name at their seat.

The Runway
{Yes...I said R-U-N-W-A-Y}

This was the most amazing part of the party!

Flanked with 6 foot tall painted Eiffel Towers.

This was an actual T-shaped Run Way...girl sized!

Can you believe it?  Don't you wish you could have been there? 

Come back for part 2 to see what the party entailed!

Cheers,

Mini Tutorial: Tiny Lantern Banner

For those of you who like plain and simple things (and easy and fast I might add), here is a tutorial for you!

Also, I am taking the advice of my readers and just trying out writing below the picture.  Wish me luck...this could end up awesome - or really confusing.

What you will need:

A Bare Boring Wall

Cute Paper Circles (Or any shape)

Sewing Machine

Thread in a color of your choice

A tiny bit of free time

1. Start with a bunch of shapes.  I used 6 duplicated shapes for each tiny lantern.  These little ovals were so cute with a scalloped edge.  My Cricut machine was so nice to cut them out for me.

I played Go Fish! with the kids for a few minutes first...

2. Split them up.  You can use the same paper in each lantern or mix it up!  

Split it into two piles of 3 ovals each.

 3. Put the two piles face to face...

4. Sew them together!

Make sure you sew s-l-o-w-l-y...paper has a tendency to rip.

Do it again and again until you reach the length you want.

You can choose how far apart or close together you want your shapes.

5. Once they are all sewn together you can open them up!

Just fold each tiny page open and press on the seam.

You have a fun 3D Banner in the works!

I think it was just what our little Halloween wall needed.

I did go a little crazy and made a super long banner with just one single oval sewn to the next over and over...

I think I like it!

What are your favorite scary decor ideas?

Cheers,

The do's and don'ts of my family photo shoot...

A close friend of mine was just visiting from Southern California.  She is a photographer and suggested we take some family pictures while she was here!  How could I pass that up?  She is very talented, and we hadn't had family pictures since my little man was 6 months old.

After our family photo shoot, I realized how many things there were that I would like to remember the next time around.  Since I am pretty sure that I like you all...I thought I would share!

Here are a few Don'ts...

1. IF YOU HAVE GIRLS...Don't forget shorts or leggings if they wear dresses.  Telling your daughter to pull her dress down just doesn't make the picture look as cute.

2. Don't give your two-year-old an entire case of orange Tic-Tacs and expect him to stay calm.

3. Don't take the Tic-Tacs away...

4. Don't loose your cool, it just makes for more tears.

5. DON'T be surprised when all of the reverse psychology you have used in the past backfires.

Ordering them to smile, might make them frown...

And frown some more...

6. Don't use phrases like "princess smile" if you have a class clown like my middle child. :)

I still love this picture though, it is so "her".

Now for the Do's!!!

1. DO bring a cute chair or any cute something to sit on!

2. DO let your kids have a little bit of fun!

3. DO let your kids pose.  They might be good at it, or at the very least...

it will make you smile.

 

4. DO bring props!  These frames were so cute and fun for the kidlets.

5. DO let your husband live out his Cowboy fantasy just once, because...
well isn't it a fantasy of yours too?

6. DO act like newlyweds...

There is no harm in a few kisses.

7. Do show off your favorites!

I am already working on our Christmas Card.

Thank you Winter!

Do any of you live in Southern California?  

You might want to book your own photo shoot with Winter Collins.

Cheers,