Banners & Birthdays...

Whew... What a wonderful weekend in Astoria... On Saturday we celebrated Lucy's 1st birthday with lots of close friends and family. It was a GREAT day! The best part about the day was that the weather was A-mazing... I mean people left my house and ventured into the back yard... Where they enjoyed our finished deck. Wouldn't you know it...?  I took zero before and after pictures of our deck. My Mark worked all day Saturday to finish the second level of it. (It was our Christmas present) I also didn't take any outdoor photos. My head was in the clouds I guess. I want to share a few details from her party with you and another craft I made for her party. So I will start with the banner I made her.

Last week I set out to make her a banner. I recently purchased some great oilcloth scraps and knew I could do something cool with them. After I made her banner I realized I didn't like it because it looked Hawaiian which was not the theme of the party so I set out to make her a better one...

 I decided that on  my second go around I would back the letters with burlap. I just had to decide which oilcloth I liked better for the letters. I decided on the blue/green one.

Then I went to the computer to find a font I liked. I used "storybook" I think. Then I blew the font up to like 500+. I cut out the letters and placed them strategically on the fabric. I don't want to waste any of this stuff cause its too cool.

 I traced around the letters...

 Cut them out...

 Then I cut out some large triangles from some of my coffee sacks. Still the ones I scored for $0.99. Even though people have been telling me that I can get them for free from one of the local coffee shops in town.

 Then I glued them on with my hot glue gun and strung them up with yarn and mini clothespins and wouldn't you know after they adorned the party as a decoration I hung them above Lucy's crib. Pretty stinking cute huh?

 Close up on the mini clothespins. I love these...

 This picture is pretty washed out from the sun (and I am no pro-photographer)so you can't tell how awesome the banner really is but it looked neato hanging at the party next to the poms I made here.

I really like the banner and I love that it is not a one time use piece cause now it decorates the little ladies room. I might be a new found banner freak and make banners as gifts for all of our upcoming parties... Watch out...

Lets take a peek at some more b-day highlights... (Keep in mind Buckaroo theme)

This was the dessert table my Marcia, Mommy and Sis made cupcakes and I made a cream puff topiary... Very addictive...

 Long time love of my life Lynds and Lucy's future husband Charlie... Matching hats from her hub...

 Check out Lucy's dress. I mean I think its the cutest thing ever. It was a Target score. One of Gwen's pieces you can buy here. Also Lucy loves candy now.. Thanks Grandpa...

 I had this really cute little station that asked the guests to take a second to offer Lucy some words of wisdom to live by. Yet No one did it. It was really my fault though because I was sort of a lame hostess and didn't tell people to do it. Once everyone showed up I kinda shut down. I walked around like I was in a dream. I usually love being the center of attention but I think I was overwhelmed by the thought of my baby being one. Birthdays are crazy and emotional and exhausting.

 This was the goody bag/ stick horse table. Here are Lucy's boots which she refused to put on so we used them as decor. They are still too big so I guess it was ok.

Here are the poms hanging...

I really don't like this picture of myself but I have to share it because it shows the headband I "tried" to make for Lucy. It was a craft FAIL. Last week I made felt flowers for her headband.... They were cute, until I put it on her head. It popped out like something you see on a roast Turkey leg. She hated it so I ditched it. (This is also the only picture I could find that showed my awesome new tablecloth, its a yellow oilcloth. LOVE

Ok so I didn't take nearly enough pictures of Lucy's party. I didn't even pick up the camera really but I did clean before the party and I wanted to share a clean house pic with you guys. Also this picture shows the new chairs I got from Craigslist for $30....For the Pair!! I love them and I cant wait to reupholster them...someday. For now I added a decorative pillow to fancy them up.

All in all we have a one year old now, and the sun was shining all weekend. What more could a girl ask for...Oh yeah a flowerbed, which I got yesterday after some hard man and woman sweat... I will post more on that later cause it is pretty impressive...

Lucy's Room

There is one room in our whole house that is completed to our perfection. Of course this room is our baby girl Lucy's room. Long before we ever moved into this house, let alone picked it out or visited the inside, I had a vision for her nursery. I knew the walls would need to be that beautiful vibrant Tiffany blue and and her crib would be dark brown to match her sheet set. From there, everything else just kinda came together. All we needed was a room. After we purchased our house, we received a lot of help. My family made multiple treks from Portland to help get us get situated and moved in. Cole's parents live locally so they were able to come over after work most evenings to help paint or even take care of Lucy so we could work. The home was a foreclosure and needed (needs) a lot of love. Most people that helped us made it their personal mission to make sure that Lucy's room was ready to be lived in long before the others were. The upstairs was carpeted with miss-matched styles. The worst part about the upstairs carpeting was the amount of nasty pet stains. Or what we think were pet stains... So we knew that before we moved in upstairs we were going to rip out and replace the nasty stuff.

Here is a view looking into her room. This picture doesn't give the old carpets the dirty justice they deserve.

This is a view looking back towards her closet and the entrance to her room.

Once the carpets were torn out we were able to paint the room. We also upgraded all the trim by sanding and painting it white. What a pain in the you know what too! Unfortunately, I have no photos of the painting crew but let me tell you, boy did they look good! The dogs have also taken a personal liking to Lucy's room. I'm guessing it's because they think she might throw food at them from her crib like she does from her highchair, who knows. ( pictured: Lola our oldest daughter)

This is a picture looking left from the room's entrance. Lucy's room has become a bird haven. It wasn't intentional but we seemed to collect a lot of bird lovin stuff from others. Personally, I love it. Check out the knobs Cole installed on her dresser. Aren't the awesome! We scored them at this great store locally called Vintage Hardware.

This is Lucy's bookshelf that was given to her at her baby shower. Several of my good friends/co-working teachers threw me the most amazing shower ever. They made the bookshelf and had the guests fill the shelves. Best idea ever!

And the view to the right. Check out the awesome mobile one of my closest friends Molly made me. Homemade stuff is truly the best stuff!

Above you can see a close up of the new carpet and her shoes. I mean, she is my daughter and if you know me you know addiction runs in the family. And below you can see my sass master eating her crib. This picture is an older one. We used to have a super cute mobile in her crib. However, there was a short period when Lucy took up bird hunting and we would catch them laying limp in her crib. Yikes!

Lucy's new mobile, a lovely higher version of the first one.

 

To wrap this post up, Lucy would love to share with you her view. You really can't beat this view.