A girl and her kitties...

In May our daughter turned 7, the theme of her party was cats. When she came to me with the idea I didn't think it was a great idea at first, but she knew that our two kittens were one in may, she thought we should have a party for them too, so when I did a little research, I found lots of outlets to bring this party to life. The first thing I saw was "kitten adoptions". I tried to find cheap stuffed animal kittens online, although there was a great source for bulk stuffies, they of course did not ship to Canada, boo. So being a crocheter, I decided I would crochet the kittens, all 12 of them. Yeah, well, a daunting task it was, I started on them in February, very slow process, until shopping one day at our local dollar store, I found stuffed kittens for $1.50 each, couldn't beat that price, so scrap the crocheted cats, 12 stuffies bought, phew.

the kittens are ready for adoption

 That was the biggest element for the party, now to start the planning.  We discussed colour themes, went back and forth, found some nice stationary at the dollar store.  Black damask and fuchsia, very girl inspired.

 

black and fuchsia decorations.

 I made adoption certificates, invitations and signage on my computer.

each girl received a certificate with their adopted kitty

Our little adoption centre, tres chic.

The table was the focal point,  we made cat cup cozies, and there was cheese and toy mice.

cup cozies made with black bristol board

mice and cheese

goldfish crackers in a fish bowl

the birthday girl presenting the party table.

For the birthday cake, I wanted to get someone to make it but I was too late getting it ordered, so I had to make it myself, of course cat themed.  On the internet I went, nothing was catching my eye until I found a dual cat cake, with coconut for the fur, mind you, I omitted the coconut as children are not fans of this.

these are the colors of our cats. 

To make this cake I started with a 13x9 cake pan.  Then I made a cat template the size of the pan, with a serrated knife, I cut around the pattern.  With the left over cake, I made a tail.  I colored some icing orange and black.  A big hit with the kids.

Kitty mascots cut out of foam board.

Birthday girl with the mascots.

At Easter time for decorations, I cut out giant sized bunny peeps.

peeps

So that gave me the idea to cut out cat mascots for the party, as I knew our real cats were not going to be very good party goers with 13 little girls running around the house.
Lastly, we made our treat bags and put a couple of pixie stixs in them, along with their newly adopted kitten and adoption certificate and sent them on their way.

a very successful party.

Side note:  The morning of the birthday party, I woke up with strep throat.  A very rough day, but I made it through, crashed on the couch after the girls went home.

Summer is finally here...

I haven't been around much lately..work, end of school and birthday party kind of kept me away.

Us Canucks just celebrated Canada Day and I decorated our mantel, to keep with our calendar mantel this year.

The main focus for this theme is the wooden Canadian flag.  I made this out of old trim, nailed them together. When it came time for painting the maple leaf, which in my opinion is one of the hardest things to do, I just took some thin cardboard and folded it in half, drew half of a maple leaf to assure that it was symmetrical on both sides, traced it on the wood and painted free hand.  I then scuffed it up a bit to have it look rustic.

To attach this fairly heavy flag to the mirror, I used Velcro.  The rest of the elements were purchases from the dollar store, the moose crossing sign,( cheesy I know), but us canucks see a lot of these signs on our roads, and how do you celebrate Canada day without mini flags?  I also found a cute wood frame, very woodsy looking, I just used some bristol board for the back and painted the word EH! as we are known for that catch phrase, eh?

I also made some leaves out of tin pie plates. I was going for that 3D look.  I wasn't totally thrilled how they turned out, but they were kind of cute, so I used them.

                                                                          I punched holes through the leaves. Originally going to hang them as a garland but it did not work out.

I made a triangle bunting for our spring mantel in April...

                     I printed out the letters for spring and glued them to the triangle burlap, so for the Canada day theme, I printed out Canadian flag inspired triangles and replaced the letters with them and hung them from the mirror..I really like this triangle burlap bunting alot, I plan on using for my summer mantel...

Lastly, I found a melamine Canadian themed plate at our local grocery store for 3 dollars, and glass floral to mimic fireworks somewhat...Hope this inspires you to get in the patriotic mood..

Happy Canada Day