Birthday Party Wrap-Up

{can you spot the birthday boy?}

Thanks to a lot of preparation, a lot of behind the scenes things getting done (mostly by Tyler), and a LOT of help from our family, Levi's first birthday party couldn't have been more perfect. The only thing that could've been better is my documentation. I am not used to hosting large crowds - I loved it, but I'm still not used to it, so there was a lot to do, and after the guests were here there was no time to clock out and take a million pictures. Oh well, we had a great time and that is what matters!


It was interesting cramming 30 people into our 1300-sq. ft. house - and that was only family. We wanted to invite some of our friends and extended family members, but there was no way of housing them all. I am sad to say that I got a few pictures of the party decorations and Levi, but I never went around and photographed our family members!


Here are a few favorite snapshots from the big day:

{a dear friend from Church made Levi this neat sign for his campsite-themed church baby shower}

{fascinated with balloons}

Project Post 13: Thankful Tree

My original plan for the Thanksgiving Season was to have a "Thankful Jar" - which works the same way as a Thankful Tree, except with the tree, the things we are thankful for are displayed, so I changed my plan and went with the tree.


I love traditions, and the idea here is to have this tree every year, for the members of our family to write things they are thankful for on little "leaves," and hang them on the tree, so that when we walk by and see a few of the "leaves," we are reminded to give thanks.


I sent several "leaves" to work with Tyler and asked him to bring them back to me filled out, and I filled out some myself. Since our only child is a year old, his dear 'ol mom filled a few out for him (we might break out the crayons and color on a few to hang later).


I was inspired by this tree, and also by several "Thankful Trees" that have flooded my Pinterest homepage over the last few weeks. It's such a great idea for a tradition, so I hopped on the bandwagon. Here is a look at some of my inspiration:

{Image via}

{Image via}

{Image via}

For our Thankful Tree, I gathered some sticks from our yard and put them in a large mason jar. Everything I used to make it I already had. The best projects are free ones! Here is our tree:

Project Post 12: Lamp Revamp

{Small lamp renovation}

When I bought these lamps, I sort of broke my own rule. Generally, if I want something - a piece of furniture or accessory, I will wait until I can afford what I really want and then buy it...and sometimes this takes years, but the goal is to accumulate nice things that I will want to keep for a long time, and not end up with a house full of cheap stuff that is always on a list to "replace." Shortly after we got married, I needed a "quick fix" in the area of bedside lamps, so I just went out and bought a couple of very cheaply made, cheap-looking faux-wood lamps, from a place-that-will-remain-nameless (hint: think better than Dollar General, but not quite Target). I also grabbed a couple of the only drum shades they had (this was before they got really popular and the stores started selling cute ones), and came home with two lamps and shades for somewhere close to $25.

Since we moved into our new house, our bedroom has been on the back burner. After living here two weeks, I found out I was pregnant, so the nursery became priority #1, followed by the other common areas in the house (because it's what guests see).

I'm just starting to think about working on our bedroom, but I couldn't stand the lamps any longer. Several months ago, I found a couple of burlap shades for a great price, so I brought them home. This past weekend I finally got around to my little lamp revamp, and I am happy with the results. I had some oil-rubbed bronze spray paint in the garage, and I took the lamps out back and got rid of the gross, gold, faux-wood finish. After it dried, I switched out the shades and my lamps were revamped!

{Closeup of the new shade - closeup of the new finish}

{Burlap shade inspiration, via Pottery Barn}

{Burlap shade inspiration, via West Elm}

{Bye bye, ugly lamps}

H A P P Y   M O N D A Y !

Nail Spotlight - Special Edition {Birthday Camo}

Like I told you before, several months ago I typed in "camo party" on Pinterest, and got a whole page of results. The cupcakes were one result I pinned and planned to create, and this was another:

{Original source here}

Notice my Pinterest caption...and that is obviously no joke. So, I knew I needed to buy at least two colors (my adaptations of camouflage "dessert tan" and "olive drab" as I frequently hear my husband refer to them), and I knew I probably had a third color that would work out - a dark brown or something.


I ended up buying "Westside Warrior" by China Glaze and "A-Taupe the Space Needle" by OPI (they have the best color names), and I used "Naughty" by Orly (they do not have the best color names) for my third color. I think the results were great! I got a lot of compliments (at the party) and few weird looks (at church the next morning), and I'm positive my little one-year-old pumpkin really appreciated the effort his mom made for his party :)

{Like the trailer in the background? We are high-class around here}

I know this is a large assortment of pictures...but I wasn't able to capture how they really look (high gloss top coat = glare, anyone?), so I just took a bunch and hope at least one comes close.