Ryan's Sunshine Themed Birthday

As I mentioned in the last post, Ryan just had his first birthday and we decided to celebrate with a Sunshine themed party.  I decided to go more in the direction of vintage suns vs. cartoony suns.  As you will see below, I went a little crazy with bunting and found all sorts of different ways to incorporate it into the festivities. 

Here are the invitations.  They are self enclosed to make things easy.  I used a Martha Stewart scoring board to create the 6x6 envelopes from 12x12 scrapbook card stock paper.  Because of the square size, they did cost extra to mail.  I used a clear stamp with metallic gold ink on the outside and inside of the envelope to make the vintage suns.  

envelope creating using 12x12" paper purchased at Michael's

I had the stamp and ink already in my inventory.

The inside paper is also 12x12 scrapbook paper that I found at Michael's.  I created the messaging in MS Word and printed it on 6x6" pieces of paper that I cut down using my rotary cutting board.  I used a Krylon Silver Leafing pen to color in Ryan's name.  I purchased that bad boy for our wedding invitations back in 2007 :).  It's still going strong. 

Up next...decorations.  I love bunting, as you probably have noticed in previous posts.  It makes me feel so happy when it is around.  So, I went to my handy, dandy stock of scrapbook supplies and pulled all the 12x12 paper that made me think SUN.  I got out my sweet rotary cutting board...also Martha.  Here is what I created.

For those of you interested in how to make these little guys...it was really easy, but slightly time consuming and since they are paper, not very durable for more then a few uses.  I didn't take pictures of the process, so you'll have to close your eyes [well, don't really close your eyes] and use your imagination. 

• Take the 12x12 sheets of paper and use your rotary trimmer to cut them into 3" wide strips. 
• Next, fold the strips in half lengthwise with the pretty side of the paper in the outside. 
• Then, take the folded strips and place them back on the rotary trimmer.  You are going to make two cuts to turn your folded rectangle into a triangle.  Do this by placing one of the folded corners along the cutting edge and the bottom unfolded corner 1.5 inches past the cutting edge.  This will give you a diagonal cut that ends at the halfway point along the bottom unfolded edge.  Did I lose you?  It may take a couple of trys to get it just right...but once you figure it out, its a breeze. 
• Ok, next, flip it over and do it again.  And you will have your triangle shape that unfolds into a diamond. 
• Now, unfold a bunch of the triangles and run some glue along the fold.  I found that by doing this in batches saved a lot of time. 
• Get your string out and place the fold with glue over the string. Press it together and let it set for about 10 seconds before moving on to the next.  Leave about a 1/4 inch between the triangles. 

I made about 200 feet of bunting and still had more of the triangles left over.  Here is where they ended up.

Bunting Wreath

I had a craft ring left over from Christmas that never got used.  I glued the triangles onto the craft wreath and hung it from the door with ribbon.  We still have it up. 

I went around the wreath twice with the triangles. 

Once you get through all the cuts, you will be left with a ton of little scrap triangles.  I couldn't let them go to waste, so this is what I came up with.

I made about 25 of these with the intention to put little photos of Ryan in the center and hang up all around.  I got them hung, but ran out of time before I got the photos glued on.

This Sun was created by gluing the triangles onto a paper plate.  I made a few of these to hang up on the outside of the windows that faced the back patio where we had the party.

We served hot dogs, hamburgers, and grilled chicken along with potato salad, SUN chips, and a veggie platter with dips and hummus served in yellow sun shaped serving dishes that were bought for $2.50 at Target (woohoo).  [I would love to show you a photo, but I forgot to snap one]. 

Instead of a cake, our awesome baker friend Tina, made the most awesome cupcakes.  She needs to open a bakery in town.

The weather was amazing.  We had 70 degrees and sunny in mid March in the Northeast.  Perfect weather for a sunshine party. 



The play list for the party was...



It was such a happy party perfect for such a happy little boy. 



First Haircut with Lots of Squirming

We've had a lot going on here at the old abode.  Birthdays, peninsulas, door makeovers, spring cleaning, and lots of yardwork.  We are busy, but a good busy. 

To get ready for his birthday party, Ryan had his very first haircut. He squirmed so much that it really didn't look like he got much done...but that's ok. 

Ryan's party was this past weekend, and that deserves it's own post including the best cupcakes made by our friend Tina.   Here is a little preview...

Nana came into town just to celebrate with us!  We had such a great time hanging out. 

Here is our update on the peninsula.  It is almost complete...all we have to do is decide on the paint color.  We'd love to hear your comments on paint color ideas!

we added base moulding and trim to complete the look

here it is from the outside

and here is is from the inside

That's what has been going on over here. Check out Ryan's Sunshine Birthday party.

house stuff at a bit of a standstill

Hey friends and family...it's been a bit since I've posted an update.  We have been busy with lots of things, just not much with the house lately.  I've been doing quite a bit of painting which you can check out here.  The boys are good - Ryan is able to stand up now on his own, but no steps yet.  Eric has made a prediction that Ryan will take his first steps on or before Feb. 5th.  I think it will be more likely that he will walk closer to his first birthday in March.  Let me know if you want to get in on the pool.

This is what I found waiting for me this morning :)

We have some guests coming to stay with us in a few weeks - so my goal is to get the guest room painted before then.  I am still deciding on the color - Anjou Pear (Sherwin Williams) is on the short list as well as a light grey and a neutral.  I'll post pics when I make some headway.  It, as well as almost all the other rooms in the house is also paneling which requires a base coat of primer (I use Kilz).  So, I am sort of dragging my feet because I HATE priming.  Did I mention that the guest room is also drop ceiling which also needs a few coats of primer.  Wish me luck!

Halloween

Ok, so I am a little late getting these posted.  I know.  I've been working on a few different projects which have been eating into my blogging time.  We had such a fun Halloween night.  Owen was so excited to be able to walk door to door with his cute little pumpkin bag that Nana brought for him on her visit that weekend before.  We decided a few weeks prior that Owen would be a Fireman. 

First, he is obsessed with fire trucks (which he calls wee-ooo-wee-ooo-wee-ooo's). 

Second, we went to First Friday in October in Phoenixville and it was Fire Prevention night.  All of the local fire departments were there and Owen got to tour the fire trucks and ambulances and even got a souvenir hat which was going to be part of the costume.

Finally, the night before Halloween, there was a 3 alarm fire on Bridge St. in Phoenixville that was pretty impressive.  Us houses on the hill had a front row view of the 3 story high flames.  Owen was in awe.  He spent the next hour saying "Bye-Bye wee-ooo-wee-ooo-wee-ooo's".  Luckily, no one was hurt in the fire.

So, here are some pictures of the evening.  Ryan was Tigger and only made it a block before he fell asleep on Daddy's shoulder. 

Owen tried to run off with our neighbors ghost. 

We tried to get a shot of the boys together, but Owen couldn't wait to get to the next house.  Special Note - see the snow on the ground!  We got 7 inches the Saturday before!

Our little Tigger.  He only made it a block before he was out cold.

Owen's fireman costume worked out really well and only cost me $4 to make.  Nana and Grandma brought Owen that coat on a previous visit.  I believe they found it at a rummage sale.  So, I bought some duct tape (I didn't know which color I wanted so I bought a silver and a bright yellow).  We thought the silver would be best because it really reflected the light well making him more visible at night.  I used a sharpie to write Fire Chief on the back and made a name tag for him on the front.  Because it was so cold that night, the plastic fireman hat that he got from the First Friday event wasn't going to work.  So, I just slapped on a piece of tape on the front of his hat and grabbed my sharpie again. 

Tigger was obviously a store bought costume - but it is so perfect for keeping the little one's nice and toasty.  And he looks pretty darn cute if I do say so myself!

Backsplash Update

Although I loved the way the kitchen backsplash came out, I was really disappointed with the grout color that was chosen.  I knew when I was talking to the tile guy at HD that I was making a bad choice - but he insisted that they beige would be perfect.  So, I tested out a small swatch in a much lighter shade after I finished the entire kitchen and knew that I needed to regrout.  I finally tackled it this week and am super pleased with the results.  Here is a side by side view of the tiles...on the left is the area that I regrouted - on the right is my first choice in beige. 

I am withholding a wide angle shot becuase of some work that we are doing on the kitchen as we speak and want to do a nice reveal once we finish up the projects :)

On a side note, Ryan cut his first tooth this week, and has become a cranky, drool faucet.  Poor kiddo.

Owen is chatting like crazy, repeating everything that we say.  It's pretty amazing.

Connected again...

The Verizon Fios truck rolled in this morning at 9am.  I have been incredibly frustrated with the cable companies over the past two weeks and was expecting another snag in the install plan.  I was so pleasantly surprised!  Kevin was our tech.  He was able to install all of the tv's exactly where we wanted them.  He removed a bunch of old wires that were left over from previous people.  He even fixed a light fixture that was malfunctioning...yes, a light fixture!  He had mentioned that he was an electrician in his former life, so I asked him why a light fixture would work one day and not the next.  He whipped out his tools and had it fixed in about 5 minutes.  I was so grateful and thrilled with his service that it pretty much made the wait worth it.  The kids are both napping now, so I figured I'd check in quickly with news that we are back up and running.  I cannot wait to get caught up on the news and HGTV design star.

Here is a little update on the boys. As you can see, Owen has already started tormenting his baby bro.