Hoe-Down Birthday Bash

Head on over for an Old Fashion Hoe-Down

My daughter loves horses, so we decided on a hoe-down theme for her 6th birthday.  This was so fun to put together.  Not only can you find western themed party supplies everywhere, but everyday accessories such as burlap, denim, sunflowers, daisies, cowboy boots, cowoy hats and even toy horses can also be found.

You just have to google parties and you will find these glass jars everywhere filled with candy.  I added my own twist by using beef jerky sticks, and trail mix.

The cake.

The buffet.  We served BBQ sandwhiches, chips, potato salad, a veggies tray, and served Orange Crush & Root Beer for drinks. 

For party favors, I found a horse puzzle for $1 at the Dollar Tree, then added some m&s and other cute items and tied them in a bundle with bandanas and twine. Then I added a cute tag that I created in photoshop that says "Thanks Partner for makin' it to my party.  Sure hope you had a Rootin Tootin good time!

For activities we hired a pony service that brought out two ponies for the kids to ride.  For games we did a three legged race that was huge hit.  A grape spitten contest.  Pin the tail on the Horse.  And of course we had a horse pinata.  We did set out bales of Hay in the back yard as well for additional outdoor seating.  It was also the perfect prop for a group picture.

This was such a fun party that both kids and adults thoroughly enjoyed it.

A&J

Digital Scrapbooking

We have been busy little girls working feverishly on our family's 2009 photo books.  Each year we both create a scrapbook of the year's highlights.  This year we taught ourselves Photoshop and vowed to do all of our scrapbooking digitally.  Wow, how addictive can one program really be.  It's insane! 

Just like the old fashion way of scrapbooking, it's so hard to come up with ideas for pages. 

My partner in crime is so darn creative.  I love all her stuff and even bring my attempted pages to her to fix.  Here is my favorite one and a few others to get your own creative juices flowing.

To get started on your own addiction here are a few sites that we have gotten all our kits from:  Several on Shabby Princess are actually free too!
Shabby Princess
Designer Digitals

Shabby Princess also has a very handy photo shop tutorial that is extremely helpful that will show you step by simple step how to create your pages.

For printing, we have had several books printed with Shutterfly and have been very pleased with how they turn out. It's so easy to just drop your pages into a book and order.

A&J

Canvas Art

I was cleaning up my craft area last week and ran across some little 6x6 inch blank canvases. They've been there for a few years now, just waiting for the right spark of creativity to hit my brain. I have seen how other crafters doll them up with paint and paper and I always think how easy that would be to do. So I started painting, and modge-podging (yes, that's a word I just made up) and came up with these.

Not too shabby for my first attempt.
Good thing you can't see up real close,
cause there are definitely flaws.
Not too hard to do though.
And kinda fun.

I may just have to try a few more...

A&J

Christmas Scavenger Hunt

A totally fun idea for the kiddos to add to the excitement of Christmas is to create your own scavenger hunt. This year, we are going to have one on Christmas Eve. I've created several cute clues like this one.

Of course I had to make it super easy because my participants are itty bitty.

I'm going to have them running all over the house for clues. The last one will lead them to one present that they can open that night. It's going to be matching Christmas pjs and a couple of Christmas books.

Kids are so much fun. I can't wait!

A&J

Zoo Membership for Gift

Need another gift idea. Give the gift of a membership to your local zoo. This is great for families and especially new parents that haven't figured out yet how many times they will be going to the zoo.

Just make a cute tag.

And tie it to a cute little guy like this one.

Something for the whole family to enjoy.

A&J

Christmas Card 2009

As always, we are in search of "THE BEST" Christmas card ideas. There are so many creative people out there, the competition is crazy. Even though we've created our own pressure, it's still something we plan months in advance. I love funny ideas. The funnier the better. Ones that will make you smile or even laugh out loud. Here's a cute and funny idea that we used this year. Hope it makes you smile.

A&J

Snow Day Bucket

Trying to find the perfect gift for those friends who have EVERYTHING. I made this snow day bucket for a couple of our friends this year.

I found this snowman kit at Gordmans. Added some Starbucks mugs, some hot chocolate, the perfect movie "It's a Wonderful Life," and some movie candy. I did hide some butterscotch rum in the bottom for the parents to spike their hot chocolate. Depends on your recipients of course. The bucket I chose looked so cute with the theme, but it was a tad small. I would have liked to add some gourmet popcorn, but it just wouldn't fit. This was a huge hit anyway.

Now Bring on the Snow!!!

A&J

Christmas Reindeer Chow

One of my favorite treats with some Christmas color.

Reindeer Chow (aka Puppy Chow when it's not Christmas time) is one of my favorite snacks and is so good you won't be able to stop eating it. I have made the traditional recipe and just added red and green M&M's. This is an easy and great idea to make up and hand out to friends and/or neighbors.

Here's the recipe:

1 stick of butter
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
8 cups Crispix cereal
2 cups powdered sugar
Christmas M&M's

Melt butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter in the microwave. When melted, pour over Crispix; mix well. Put powdered sugar in large brown paper bag and add the Crispix. Shake until well coated. Add more powdered sugar if needed and shake some more. Add M&M's and you're done!

A&J