Monday, April 23, 2012

Now I'm a Florist???

My daughter's school was hosting a Father-Daughter Dance and my girl was beyond exited to go on a real date with her daddy.  We wanted to make it special for her so we thought a corsage was just the thing she needed.  Little did I know, corsages are expensive!  I mean, really expensive...Like $45!
  
Since buying one was out of the question, I went to my local Albertsons and bought some flowers; 3 bunches for $12.  I chose baby roses, Baby Carnations & Baby's Breath.  All appropriate for my sweet six year old.  And all the right size for her tiny wrist. 

Albertsons was super awesome and gave me the little elastic wrist bands (made of sparkly hot pink sequins) for free!  JoAnn's also sells them for just a few dollars.  The only other things I purchased were a pack of floral wire ($2) and a spool of ribbon ($2). 



Here's what I did...
I found some tulle in my scrap fabric and cut an 8 inch square.  I folded it into fourths and rounded it so that when I opened it back up it was a circle.  I pinched the center and made a stem at the bottom.  Then I put some hot glue on the stem to hold the shape.  After it was dry, I cut off the excess stem and glued the tulle circle to the wrist band to use as my base.  You could easily skip this step if you didn't already have the fabric.

Next I took my ribbon and looped it back and forth until I had 4 to 5 loops on each side.  I used a piece of floral wire to secure the middle.  Then I glued it on top of the tulle (on the wrist band).  

I cut the flowers at the base and began hot gluing them on top of the ribbon and tulle.  I started with 2 of the Carnations since they were biggest.  Then I used the baby roses to cover the Carnation's stems.  I continued to add flowers until it looked full.  The final touch was adding the Baby's Breath.  I stuck small pieces in between the other flowers to fill in any holes.  

Monday, April 9, 2012

It's a Jungle Out There!

My brother & sister-in-law threw an adorable safari themed party this weekend.  I know it wasn't my party, but it was so cute I had to share it here.  I have no idea what their budget was but I'm certain you can pick and choose some of their ideas to include at your own safari party.  

Here's a brief recap..
Upon arrival kids were able to choose an animal hat and bracelet (so it's already a hit in my kids' eyes).  My mom & I were recruited to paint animal faces on all of the kids.  Next, the kids went on an animal hunt and tried to spot beanie animals hidden in the bushes.  The grand finale was having a lizard man arrive with tons of creatures which the kids were able to hold!  They saw snakes, lizards, tortoises,  tarantulas, and a 40 pound Albino Python!  It was seriously fun!  They served lunch, cake, and opened presents.   Before leaving the kids were allowed to choose one of the hidden animals as a party favor (my kids were thrilled about that).  They also had the most amazing safari candy apples, that my friend Holly made.  You are going to flip when you see the them!  It was a really well thought out, exciting and fun party that my kids loved...and the adults had a great time too.  

I snapped a few shots on my phone...check them out.


This is the cake I made.  I thought it needed some sass for my niece so I added the turquoise.  Hot pink would have been cute too.