Happy Birthday, Abi!!!!

A good friend of ours turned 2 on Sunday. She is the daughter of our really good friends, Josh and Steph. Not only that, but we have high hopes that she will one day marry Ethan (I must make mention that when they see each other, they squeal joyful squeals of delight. . . it is so much fun!). I really wanted to do something special for my son's best friend, but I also had a slightly selfish ambition. . . I wanted to make something girly. I was going to make a dress, but she would soon grow out of the patterns my mom had, but then I found this pattern by the Oliver + S pattern company. I will also mention that this pattern (off their blog) is totally awesome because it was FREE! You just print it off their website and go! Now, that's my kind of pattern! The fabric I used was American Jane Apple Pie. . . with it's bright reds, yellows and blues, I just couldn't resist! I may have gotten a tad carried away, but I couldn't help it. . . it was a gift for a girl!

Like most girls, Abi is a purse girl (I think she takes after her mommy), so she needed a cute little purse to match. I came up with this mini drawstring bag. . . the perfect size for throwing a couple of little people animals in and maybe a light snack.
Here's a close up of the fabric. . . . so cute, don't you think?

She had to have a #2 shirt to tell the world, she's officially 2 and why not some cute barrettes to match? (the barrette holder is cardstock with a stamped lady bug because her birthday party was a lady bug theme).
The cute skirt and shirt combination. The shirt was long sleeved baby Gap shirt that I found on sale (after searching high and low for a red short sleeved shirt. . . it's still hot here.). But it worked out, because it was a thinner shirt (great for fall) and she was able to roll up the sleeves in an attractive way.
And the birthday girl. . . decked out in cuteness for her birthday!

Happy Birthday, Abi!!!!!

Ethan turned 2!

So, just as I reappeared from hiding, it feels like ages since the last time I blogged. Don't worry, it has. I have been VERY busy and have so many things to show you (I also have been incredibly nauseous STILL (We are 4 months pregnant!!!!). So, here is Ethan's birthday.

We did a train theme, because Ethan LOVES Thomas and his IKEA wooden train set. We are even planning a trip soon to go to the Sacramento train museum and ride a train. I am sure if he knew what was going on, he'd be so excited!

I really wanted cute trains for Ethan's birthday, so I went on a mission to find some. . . it was harder than I thought.

Favors (kids): We gave goody bags with train whistles (I found them on Amazon for so cheap!). I tied them with ribbon and attached with a tag. The train punch came from Martha Stewart.

Favors (adults): CHEW CHEW chocolate chip cookies. I made large batches of my browned butter and Mrs. Fields cookies and placed them in DVD envelopes. The ribbon was tied at the top, so the cookie didn't fall out.

I had so much going on and wasn't working at the top of my game, so centerpieces were kind of a last minute thing for me. In fact, my mom was the one who came up with the idea and went and dicut all sorts of trains to put in the plants.
The banner. I used the CM circle cutter and cut circle after circle and tied each one together with red and turquoise ribbon. I picked the font for the letters because I thought they looked like train tracks.
Cupcakes: I just did chocolate and white cupcakes with a super yummy vanilla buttercream frosting (recipe will be posted later). Sprinkled sanding sugar over them and topped them with flags made out of coordinating cardstock from his party invites.