lily's 7th birthday: inspiration

i started planning lily's 7th birthday a year ago (yes, it's weird, i know). she wanted an owl party. the owl party has now morphed into an owl/woodland party.but i didn't want a traditional brown, green, red color scheme.

the inspiration and colors came from a set of vintage camping plates

the colors are unexpected but they work so well together




i also wanted a really beautiful, quirky, vintage-y invitation. suzanne of SHE Paperie was the perfect gal to design it.
the only instructions i had for suzanne were the four colors, an owl and a pennant.when i saw the proof, i gasped and screamed! she is GOOD!
i want to be a paper designer just like her in my next life...
here's a little sneak peek:


there's more owl party inspiration on my pinterest board here

can't wait to show you more details of the party...

easter: the aftermath

we had a wonderful easter but i didn't manage to take many photos.

i did get a few snapshots of my cute bunny cart centerpiece

(tutorial via martha stewart)

i found these cute candies at the dollar store

the colors are so charming

then on tuesday morning when i woke up i found this...

hmmm...i still don't know who the culprit is...

easter place settings

when i received these adorable little chicks for my birthday, i knew exactly what i wanted to do with them.


i filled pink milk glass egg cups with rice, added sheet mossand made a little name flag








they are so cute and easy!
original inspiration came from here

do a little jig

happy friday and st. patty's day!
enjoy some cookies!

i do so like green eggs and ham!

celebrate dr. seuss's birthday friday march 2nd with some seuss-inspired cookies

here's a cute and simple treat for the kids to do too.

green eggs and.....bacon???

just three ingredients:

white chocolate chips

green m&m's

pretzel sticks

voila! perfect snack to send to school for dr. seuss's birthday

or even st. patty's day

and the original version...how cute!!

image {the girl who ate everything}

downton abbey

have you seen the show downton abbey on pbs? i love it! i didn't start watching until this year but was able to catch season 1 on netflix. the only downside to the show is there are only eight episodes per season! i need more. now i have to wait practically a whole year for season 3.




i just stumbled across these cute paper dolls on pinterest via danyelle. these may just help me and my friends get through the next ten months...


thomas and o'brien always up to no good!

love mr. pamuk down there in the corner!


you can print these off here and create your own downton abbey stories until season 3 begins!
do you watch downton? who's your favorite character?

100th day of school self-portraits

today is the 100th day of school at my children's school. i came across this adorable self-portrait idea on pinterest and thought it would be a great classroom activity for my daughter's 1st grade class. her teacher agreed! we did some practice portraits at home first; one for each of my children.
what will i look like when i am 100 years old?






aren't they cute? and they are so easy.
here's what you need:
black card stockpatterned cardstockmanila folders (for faces)white painters penpaper doiliesbuttonsbeads cotton ballsgoogly eyes




i cut each piece of clothing and let the kids draw their own faces and arrange their hair




i love how each portrait had its own personality






wouldn't they look darling in a shadowbox frame and hung in a mudroom or kitchen?