The Very Hungry Cateripllar Birthday Party Part 2!

I finished the final details of this Birthday Party for my 1 year old little man the DAY before! That was NOT easy with a 6 week old fusser and Mr. Get Into Everything 1 year old, but I did it! (Thanks to my parents who came and basically played with/held babies while I finished everything and my husband who helped with the other kids!) Some might think I over did it for a part that a 1 year old will never remember, but I had so much fun with it and it was such a great creative outlet for me! (I miss that when I'm not teaching.) Here are the final touches of the party!! (Might add, not including food I spend less than $40!)
We started by reading the book!

Caterpillar out of balloons!

Can't have a party without streamers!

Made food and butterflies out of construction paper to decorate the walls. All things the caterpillar really ate of course!

Caterpillar Cake (Bundt Cake cut up)

Butterfly cake! (Chocolate!)

Birthday Boy's smash cake!

We ate everything the caterpillar ate: Remember he had Strawberries, Apples, and Oranges. (and some AWESOME fruit dip. 1 jar Marshmallow Creme, 8 oz cream cheese, and small container boysenberry yogurt.)

 

Cheese and not shown, Watermelon, Sausage (hot dogs), pickles, and

Lollipops!

Also found these cute critters at Zurchers to decorate the table with:

It was a LOT of work but the result was this:

So I am thrilled!!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party Part 1

So, I realize my last post was TWO months ago. If you don't know me, I had a baby in April. Now I have two babies.... 10 1/2 months apart! So.......crafting has not been at the top of my list.  This baby (not my babybaby, just my baby) is turning ONE this week!!!

 I got some cute ideas from a friend of mine for ideas for a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed birthday party. I used the book as my template and wrote my OWN story (invitation) of "The Very Hungry Baby." Anybody who knows my baby knows he LOVES to eat and is a total oinker!! Here is the invitation.

The partyis in FIVE days....and I have nothing ready. It'll be cute though, I have it all in my head. It's just a matter of getting both babies changed/fed/sleeping at the SAME time. For long enough!

Magazine Boxes!!!! FINALLY!

SO, I picked up these babies MONTHS AND MONTHS ago at my local Smith's.

I had been looking for magazine boxes to Mod Podge but they were all too dang expensive or cheap (Like made from cardboard cheap....definitley not going to hold up with Mod Podge.) Lucky me these babies were on sale for $5 a piece (Instead of the $20 regular price.) These suckers took me FOR-EV-ER to finish but I finally did it!! (At the request of my husband....too many unfinished craft projects lying around I guess!)

Finished and they turned out SO CUTE!

I picked paper that came coordinating in colors, so none of the boxes are the same. I opted not to label the boxes because once the words are on they aren't coming off and I don't want to re-cover these EVER. The down side to this project was that the paper is 12 inches tall, the boxes are 13 inches tall. So each one has a strip at the bottom to cover the box. Not noticable in the picture but I can tell at home. (I'm anal about this kind of thing.) For now they will do and hopefully my guests won't look too closely!  

Girls Wall Shelf

Here is another junker I picked up at the DI and recrafted into something better! (Ok they weren't really that junky before, but they look much better!)

Before:

After!

I repainted it with DARK brown paint, Mod Podged the top and sides with matching paper, and sprayed the whole thing with Acrylic Spray when it was dry! I did have to put in my own stuff on the back to hang it up on the wall but that was a cinch!

Shelf #2 Before:

After:

Perfect place for my girls to show off their necklaces and a picture or two! I kinda wish I would have picked a different color, seeing as it really blends in with the walls but whateva! It was a fun project anyways!

Name Signs

So I have this new obsession.....the DI! My husband is embarassed and my mama is proud! You can seriously get some GOOD stuff to re-craft at the DI! I got these pieces of wood for $1 each. (Sorry, I forgot the before photo but TRUST ME, they were ugly! They were pastel easter colors with words like "Beautiful" and "Bloom" in white vinyl lettering, Yuck.) I decided to make each of the kids a little name plate to hang in their rooms. I'm sure if I had more time I would have done more than just paint and stickers, but I was short on time so I whipped these up in a few hours.

I don't have a Cricuit (hint hint husband!) so I use Thickers from American Crafts. (Having a MIL who works for them pays off! I get free craft supplies all the time. Bonus!) The awesome thing about Thickers is you can spray acrylic over them and they still look great! (Even the glittery ones still sparkled!)

Also it's important to note.....drilling holes in wood only works when the drill is not set on 'reverse'. Although I actually DID get one hole in on reverse, I completely broke the drill bit into 4 pieces. Sorry honey!!

Photo Album Redo

I bought this photo album at Nickel Auction for FIVE cents!!! I mean really that was paying too much because this thing is hideous, I mean putrid. This fabric looks like something that belongs on your grandma's couch, not on a photo album. I decided to give Fabric Mod Podge a try and it worked out great!! It's a little bit thicker than the normal stuff and more expensive but it did the job wonderfully. I was able to disassemble the whole photo book and cover it with new fabric.

Old and NASTY!

New and Beautiful!!

One thing I would have done different is to not use fabric that had white in it. The white parts look dirty because you can see the old stuff underneath. For a first time using fabric + Mod Podge, I LOVE IT!! You don't have to worry about it ripping or bubbling. Don't be jealous regular Mod Podge, I still love you too :)

Wall Shelf

So I got this wall shelf at the last Nickel Auction in my neighborhood. Nobody wanted it, so it was 5 cents. I decided to give it a little face lift and put it in the baby's room.

Old:

New!

(Yeah the little animals make it cute, but notice the Mod Podged paper and new paint job.)

What I did:

1. Didn't bother sanding it because I just spray painted 3 coats of brown onto the existing wood.

2. Measured my paper for the top and Mod Podged it on.

3. Let it dry for a day before spraying it with Acrylic Spray.

SO EASY, and so cute!