The Forest of Arrendale - A Frozen Birthday

Jilly Turns 5!

My youngest turned 5 this past month.  We went to see the movie Frozen the weekend it premiered and have seen it 2 other times since.  She and her sisters are BIG fans.  They know every song, dance, and trivial fact about the characters, so it didn't surprise me when her long talked about "Care Bear" birthday party turned to Frozen.  Lucky me Christmas was winding down and all things snowflake were on sale.  Yippee!

I'm not one to go all store bought and obvious, so my party hosting partner in crime and I got busy and put together this Frozen theme party.  No castles and frill here.  Jilly's party took place in the Forest of Arrendale.

The Dessert Table

Pine Trees, cotton batting, and kraft paper create the backdrop for this forest scene.

 

This forest wouldn't be complete without Olaf looking on in the background.

Party Foods included:

Snow Topped Timbers (candy topped pretzels)

Coronation Cupcakes

Sven Snacks (carrots in ranch)
North Mountain Nuggets
Forest Fruits

Blue Waters of Arrendale Punch

The remaining foods were set up in the kitchen.  To continue the forest theme wood grain wrapping paper covered the island and pine cone food labels were used to present the food.

Decorations

We had one main table to eat at, and I wanted to make a special centerpiece.  I am a fan of vintage Mason jars.  I have whole collection which I keep my buttons for crafting.  Here is the centerpiece I came up with to celebrate the birthday girl.

Party Fun!

To keep the kids busy a table was set up to paint the very own snowflakes to take home. 

Remember in the movie when Elsa throws her glove off into the forest?  The kids spent time searching for Elsa's lost glove.  The finder won a special door prize to take home.

Party Favors

Finally as the party wound down and guest began to leave they had their very own S'mores party favors.

 I used my favorite line in the movie to express our thanks and created an Olaf paper pieced tag to decorate the bags.  Jilly had a ball, and I was really sad to take down all the decorations.

Products used;
Party staged and paper decorations: Jilly Bear Designs
Snowflake decor, tulle, ceramic snowflakes: Hobby Lobby
Wood grain wrapping paper: Home Goods
Cardstock for paper decorations: Papertrey Ink

Back to School Giveaway - Sponsored by Wise Decor

Labor Day is over and for anyone who works in education, is going to school, or has school age children it is back to school time.  I started back 3 weeks ago, and I’m definitely ready for the “routine” to kick in.  I still feel like I’m on summer time. 

Well to celebrate “back to school” and maybe get a few of us motivated I was contacted by Wise Décor and given the opportunity to host a giveaway.  They have a HUGE selection of wall words and designs to choose from.   Their website is arranged such that you can search by room, theme, style and much more.  They also have color and font options to personalize your order and many example photos.

For all you teachers out there check out the Classroom Wall Decals.  They have a ton of humorous and inspiration quotes and decor for the classroom.  There are lots of examples of fun quotes that will jazz up any area of the school.  Another great thing about wall words is they are removable if you move classrooms or switch subjects.  No worries about having to repaint or repair holes in the wall.  As I was browsing this school section I found the perfect wall words to finish a project a year in the making.

We have wanted to set up an art board for each of our girl’s art work.  They are always drawing and crafting and have wanted to display their work in their room.   About a year ago I “pinned” a clothesline style art display that I thought was cute.  Just this summer we finally got around to getting it set up, but it was missing something.  I didn’t want to paint on the walls or make more holes for another frame, so a wall decal did the trick!  Check out Addy’s art display with the Picasso quote wall word received from Wise Décor.  When the package arrived the wording was securely wrapped and included thorough directions on how to apply the wording.  They also included a sample word to practice with before we applied the real thing.  We followed the directions step by step.  It was easy and turned out perfect!!  It looks like I painted the wording directly on the wall. 

Addy really enjoys swapping and arranging her art work.  I know as this school year goes on she will bring home plenty of creations to hang on her wall.  No bulletin board or pin holes needed.

Do you want to try out some wall words for home or for your classroom?  Well now is your chance. Follow the links below you will be entered in the drawing to win a $75.00 gift certificate from Wise Décor!  That’s $75.00 to choose whatever wall words you would like.  Entries start Saturday, September 7th and run through Saturday, September 14^th at 12:00 a.m.  A random winner will be chosen and announced on Sunday, September 15^th.  Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Silhouette Sunday - Back to School Edition

August is just around the corner and it's time to start thinking about Back to School.  This year will be a little different for me.  All of my girls will be in school (First grade and Pre-Kinder), and I will be going back like normal but to start a new position.  I will be moving out of my 5th grade science classroom Monday and starting a new journey as our campus Gifted and Talented Coordinator.  I get to work with all ages K-5 including my twin first graders.  I've been Pinning away and am very excited to implement some of my new found ideas. 

Well to help all of us get in gear and in the school mindset I've put together some fun school related things for this Silhouette Sunday.  Enjoy!

  

Balancing Act - by The Pair of Birds on Etsy



I just loved this art print from The Pair of Birds on Etsy.  It is much different than my usual style but the colors and design are great.  It does a great job showing what a balancing act the school year is for everyone.



Peeking Animas - Printable Playtime cards by Snappy Printables

With my girls so excited about reading and writing on their own these alphabet flashcards made me smile.  These are a very afforable printable file that you purchase and can download instantly.  They would look great on a nursery or playroom wall.  Snappy Printables has other great items for early literacy in their shop, so stop by and take a look. 

Too Cool for School Glasses necklace by Too Cool For School

This necklace was another item I found while browsing.  They remind me of the "teacher" glasses from the 50's and 60's.  I couldn't resist including them here.  How cute would those be for the first day of school??  Make Pie Not War has lot of other beautiful handmade jewelry pieces, so stop by and check out her shop.

Looking for more unique school items?  Check out the Back to School Treasury of items I found and put together for the occasion.

Stepping Back In...

I am sorry to say it has been nearly a year since my last update.  Time just got away from me:  school started up, my Etsy shop, Christmas, a crazy Valentine's season, school wrapping up and now it's summer again.   I'm going to have a go at this again and see if I can stick with it once school starts. 

Well, what I wanted to share with you today is an invitation design I was asked to work on.  I had never heard of this show, but little Alexis is a fan.  Her mother wanted to make this the theme for her 1st birthday party.  How could I say no?? 


Cast from The Chica Show on PBS Kids Sprout



Anyone heard of  The Chica Show on Sprout?  Neither had I.  I had to do a little research and watch a few episodes to get the gist of it.  I find it hard to believe that there is a kids show out there that I didn't know existed (considering I have 3 kids under 7) but there was. 

I've gotten much more comfortable with my Silhouette diecutting  machine and its' design program.  I started with my own hand drawn version the characters (Mom, Dad,and Chica).  After some scanning and working on the layers the dicuts were ready.

Since these are chickens, I used the barn backdrop from my Farm Birthday Invitation design and added in the little chickens in place of the other farm animals. 

Viola!  A super special invitation for a sweet little one year old.  I hope her she can recognize her favorite characters.

    Products used:    Papertrey ink cardstock
    Stampin up alpha stamps
    Barn diecut designed by Samantha Walker
    Chickens and banner created by myself
    May Arts - Natural twine

If you are throwing a "Chica" themed party and looking for ideas I have set up a Chica Birthday Party board on Pinterest with some ideas I've found as I've worked on these invitations.  Take a look and maybe they'll help you in your party planning.

Enjoy!

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Crafting with Kids - Summer Foods Challenge

It's time to get busy crafting with your kids again.  This month our challenge is to make something with a summer food theme.  Here is a photo of what the girls made for you. 

All it took was a couple simple cirlces cut with my Cricut and they could do the rest.  How easy is that!  Below is another example from a junior member of the Bugaboo design team.  Looks like we both think of watermelon when we think of summer! 

Scrappy daughter from the Bugaboo Design team

Not it's your turn.  Any creation having to do with a summer food.  Blog about it and then link up here.  You could win 7 free images from our generous sponsor, Bugaboo Digi Stamps.

Introducing Jilly Bear Designs!

It's summer time and I've had some stress free time to really think about my Etsy shop.   With our recent move, new craft space, and increased sales I really wanted to get everything organized before school started again and I had more responsibilities on my plate. 

I contacted a Becca over at Jumping Jax Designs.  She makes printable invitations as well as blog design and business branding.  With her help, patience, and expertise we created the new logos, banner, and business items for Jilly Bear Designs!  Before I show you her wonderful work I wanted to tell you a little about the name. 

My youngest daughter (3) is named Jillian.  It had gotten shortened to Jilly pretty much immediately and then soon I was calling her "my little Jilly Bear."  That has been my pet name for her for the last 3 years and it just seemed logical since most of my designs are kid and baby oriented that the name would fit for my shop. 

Jilly is a Wizard of Oz (or if she pronounces it "Lizard of Boz") fanatic.  If she's not falling to the ground "melting" she's prancing around the house singing "we're off to see the Wizard."  We are currently decorating her new room.  The Owls have flown out the window (to my sorrow) and are being replaced with blue gingham, poppies, scarecrows, tinmen and Dorothy's.  Anyway... you get the picture.  I have Oz on the brain.  

So in her honor the inspiration behind the new logos and banner are Dorothy related.  Without any further delay why don't you take a look and see for yourself.

Here's the Etsy banner:

                               


Shop logos:

We are still working on the business cards and mailing labels, but I'm very please with what she has done so far. 

Another change in store is packaging.  I've finally had a little time to try different bags and packaging.  In addition to making the packages adorable and very attractive to buyers, I've actually designed some more tags for my own shop. 

Here are a few of my favorites:

I'm still working on a few more things in the shop, so keep watching for more changes.  So far I'm really liking how things are looking.  It has been a productive summer so far!



Time for some new cards

Somehow over the last couple of days I've been on top of things.  I've actually found myself with a little time to try out some new stamp sets and themes I've been want to do for a while.  Here's a little of what I've been up to.

The first two are baby cards.  I had this paper combination on the table from an invitation design and liked it so much I ended up making two more cards. 

This little sweet pea card was from a Papertrey Ink stamp set that was on my Christmas list.  I hadn't really gotten a change to play with it.  I ended up paperpiecing the pea pod because I didn't like the plain stamped look.  I thnk it worked out pretty good that way.

The last one is my current favorite, but at the moment that doesn't mean much.  My favorite tends to change every day.  LOL!  Anyway  The sentiment is a combination of 2 stamps.  Sweet Smile was a stamp from Close to My Heart that I just bought off Ebay.  The Summer was part of a Papertrey Ink sentiment.  I had to do a little piecing to get the phrase together, but I think it fits the card perfectly.  Watermelon slices are definitely summer smiles.