Making Birthdays Special

Who doesn't love celebrating a birthday? Especially with a little kid. I'm finding that kids really don't need big, fancy, over-the-top parties, expensive gifts, or an impressive cake that no one wants to cut into because it's too pretty (As much as the party planner in me wants these elaborate things for my own children.). All that extra fluff is really just for the adults! This year as my little boy turned 4, I have discovered that with just some simple and inexpensive touches a child can have an amazing birthday.

As my son's birthday approached I wanted to give him a memorable birthday but was feeling a little overwhelmed with my life as a mother of 2 children. I contemplated planning a big party with all his new friends from preschool but I just didn't have the energy or the time to pull it off this year. I decided to SIMPLIFY, but still keep things SPECIAL.

I thought about the highlights of my birthdays as a child. I don't consider my family the best at celebrating birthdays, at least not to the extent that I want for my own children, but there are two things that stand out. For some of my earlier birthdays, I got to search for my birthday presents using clues in treasure hunt fashion. As I got older, I got to go out to lunch, at the restaurant of my choice, and do a little birthday shopping with my mom - just the two of us.

So using my past birthday experience, here are some of the special yet inexpensive things that we did for my son's birthday this year:

Using a $1 bag of balloons from the dollar store, Jeremy and I filled Spencer's room with balloons while he was sleeping the night before his birthday. Now this is not for the light sleeping child! You wouldn't think it at first, but balloons are loud! Not just when you accidentally pop one on a toy with a sharp edge, but also just trying to carry multiple balloons at a time. They rub together and are very loud when trying not to wake a sleeping child. But I will tell you - it was worth the effort! Spencer thought it was the coolest thing ever, to wake up on his birthday with a room full of balloons. Add in a special party hat and balloon wand from the dollar store and you have one happy boy - all for $3!

For the 2nd year in a row, I made a treasure hunt for Spencer to find his presents. Here are the clues for Spencer's treasure hunt. He has been watching Blue's Clues recently and was really excited about the blue paw print I free handed with a blue crayon on note cards. 4 clues for birthday number 4. It was such a small and simple touch but really took the treasure hunt over the top!

Look at that excitement at finding a present! If you haven't tried a treasure hunt for birthday presents with your kids I highly recommend it. Such a simple idea that brings such joy!

Another special touch: I ordered this personalized birthday banner using a tip from my favorite money saving blog, Hip 2 Save, for only $7.95! You can see the details of this deal HERE. They run this special occasionally for Hip 2 Save readers and it came at just the right time for me to order in time for Spencer's birthday. It is a nice, heavy-duty, vinyl banner that I personalized with Spencer's name. I can reuse this banner every year, so for $7.95 I felt that was quite the catch! Spencer thought it was fabulous that the banner had his name on it...

The simple, homemade cake. You can see some of Spencer's past cakes HERE, HERE, and HERE. In the past, I have always tried to be an over achiever in the birthday cake department. I am not a cake decorator so that would usually leave me feeling disappointed by my lack of skill. However, I have come to discover that I prefer a homemade cake to a store bought one - they are cheaper and taste better in my opinion. Spencer said he wanted a Toy Story cake this year and I was really intimidated. If you search for Toy Story cakes online you will find some amazing and very detailed cakes. I was definitely not in the mood to slave over a cake this year. As I questioned Spencer more about his cake desires he said he wanted a chocolate cake with Toy Story toys on top...wait...what? Toy story toys on top? Wow! That is super easy! I can do that! The end result: I put some small Toy Story figurines on the top of a homemade chocolate bundt cake and Spencer thought it was the best cake ever. It was pretty darn good cake too. I'll share the recipe soon in case you're interested.

Another tip: invest in a special plate exclusively for birthdays that you can serve the birthday cake on or the birthday boy/girl can use for their special birthday dinner/cake eating. Spencer's birthday cake was served on our special plate. I bought it from The Pampered Chef since I am a consultant and sell their products, but I have seen special plates at places like Hobby Lobby and TJ Maxx that don't cost much. It's such a simple thing but children will think it is so special.

Thanks for taking the time to read my long-winded post. I hope you have found something useful or at least found some inspiration. It really doesn't take a lot of time or money to make someone feel special on their special day!

Happy Halloween....uhh...2 weeks late. I know. Lame.

So I officially stink at blogging lately. Here are my ridiculously late pictures from our Halloween party this year. It was definitely not the large affair it was last year. In fact, it was rather lame. My motivation to dazzle my party guests plummeted as couples continued to bail out on us up until the afternoon of the party. Of the 10 couples I invited only 3 came (and they were all family members). I didn't even dress in costume. I hope that those who did come weren't affected by my lack of enthusiasm and bad attitude. So enough with the complaining - here's the food spread:

What was on the menu?
Creamy Chicken Taquitos with guacamole and salsa for dipping - love these things!
7 layer dip - courtesy of my sister-in-law, Erica
Bacon wrapped lit'l smokies
Brownies - courtesy of my sister-in-law, Shanna
Mini Oreo cheesecakes - courtesy of my sister, Roxanne
Lime Slush
Apples with cream cheese caramel toffee dip (I can't find the link for this recipe)


I promise to do a better job of blogging! With the holidays approaching, I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities.

Mums and pumpkins add some autumn cheer

I am behind on my blogging! I have several recipes I still owe you and I need to post pictures from my Halloween party...until then, here are some pictures of our front porch planters with a little autumn flair. Nothing says "fall" more than a pile of pumpkins and some mums!

My sweet potato vine is still going strong! I love that stuff.
It has been growing like crazy and I had to trim it back to make room for anything else.

This planter just makes me smile every time I walk in the front door :).
I kept the dracaena spikes from my spring planting and added a yellow mum and a cabbage plant. And of course I had to nestle in a little pumpkin to add more color...

Has your front yard/porch/planter(s) been given a touch of autumn?
Happy Fall Y'all!

Are you ready for some football? Food that is...

Here is the spread from our Texas Tech vs. A&M football game party.
Tech lost, but the food was definitely a winner!

Table centerpiece:
The Football Subway Art can be found HERE and is available in other colors too.
Dollar Tree hurricanes adding some red candy color to the table

I was so excited to find Texas Tech plates and napkins in the clearance bin at the grocery store for 50 cents a package!

I picked up these cute red and black pom pom toothpicks in the dollar spot at Target.
They make my sausage balls look really festive!

Here's a rundown of the menu:
A big crockpot of chili
chips and queso/salsa
sausage balls
apples picked from the apple orchard with caramel dip
"Elizabeth's 1st prize at the fair" cookie bars (recipe coming soon!)
spinach artichoke dip - courtesy of Joanna
red velvet brownies - courtesy of Roxanne
bread bowl dip - courtesy of my mom
(I will share the recipe for this soon! It is always a winner!)
chocolate chip cookies - courtesy of Shanna
Puppy chow - courtesy of Roxanne
veggie tray - courtesy of the Cluff family
tamales - courtesy of my mother-in-law

As you can tell, we had a TON of food! But it was oh so delicious!
What food do you like to eat for football watchin' / tailgating?

My fall wreath was featured!

The ladies at Lemon Tree Creations featured my Pinterest inspired fall wreath! This is my first time to be featured on another blog so I was pretty excited! You can see my wreath and other Pinterest inspired projects HERE. To see more details about my fall wreath, check it out HERE.

Wire Pumpkins...courtesy of Dollar Tree!

I'm joining the "Under $10 and Under 1 Hour" party over at 320 Sycamore with these easy-peasy wire pumpkins using wire from Dollar Tree.
The inspiration comes from Jessica @ Mad in Crafts.

They are so quick and easy to put together...

Using this floral wire from Dollar Tree (comes in several different colors), wrap it around a cylinder shape of your choice - a toilet paper roll, a prescription bottle, a hairspray bottle, etc. Whatever you have on hand.
The smaller the cylinder, the smaller yet more full your pumpkin will be.
I used a can of air freshener for the larger pumpkin and a prescription bottle for the smaller pumpkin.
Remove the coil from the cylinder and using a twist tie (reuse the twist ties that come with the wire!), tie the middle of the coil together.
Leave some excess wire out to make the twisty stem of the pumpkin.
Then pull the wire around to round out the pumpkin shape.
You can get a picture tutorial of this process over at Mad in Crafts.

Aren't they so cute?
(please excuse the dusty shelf...)

$1 for each pumpkin.
Maybe 5 minutes to put together.
Definitely Under $10 and Under 1 Hour!
Thanks for the inspiration Jessica!

I think I'll go dust that shelf now...

A fall mantel with my new wreath

Ahhh how I love this. Doesn't my new wreath look great over the mantel? I usually go for more of a Halloween mantel this time of year but my wreath needed a home...and I loved all the amazing fall mantel decorating going on in blog land right now. I decorated with items I already had, with the exception of the cute ceramic owl. Owls are quite popular this year for fall decorating and though I originally was not a fan, this little guy has grown on me.

I used popcorn kernels in the hurricane to fill the space around the orange candle.
I love the touch of gold color it adds.
The white pumpkin came from Dollar Tree
and the gold leaf plate I found for $1 on clearance at TJ Max a couple years ago.

More beaded pumpkins, leftover from my wreath decorating, stacked in a Dollar Tree Hurricane.

Isn't he cute? I love that wide-eyed look!
(I found him at World Market.)

I love how the wreath looks layered over the mirror.
Displaying a wreath over a mirror is one of my favorite ways to showcase it.

My love for all things fall continues...

I am linking up to The Lettered Cottage's Fall Mantel Link Party.