Showers + Parties

http://farmgirlblogs.com/essays-on-gay-marriage/

July 1, 2016

1 Jul

how to write summary essayWe celebrated Scout’s first birthday party on a Sunday afternoon in June. As tradition, we had the party in my grandparent’s back yard. The rain held off long enough for us to celebrate, despite being a little muddy. The party was a dream and one of my favorites to date. We had sub sandwiches, fresh fruits and veggies, plenty of sweets, and iced tea. My Nana helped me bake my first homemade pie, the cake, and I pulled most of the decor from my store and house. It was special to make those memories with her and I enjoy decorating a party out of things I already have and items that have special family stories behind them.I wanted the theme to be laid back, simple, and sweet. Obviously, we love us some Farmer’s Market. I thought it would be a really fun party to plan and do-and it was! I got to be really creative and think outside of the box. We had most of the adult’s food and drinks on the back patio but the kids stuff was all sectioned together outside.

I wrapped one of the trees with Polaroids of Scout over her first year of life. It was fun to see what all we had done over the last year and how much she had changed. One of our deserts was mason jar strawberry shortcake that was super easy to make ahead of time and store. Below it on the shelf was homemade grape jelly for the adult guests to take home. I loved being able to incorporate something that I enjoy doing into the party. And who wants to turn down homemade jelly? Our little “sandwich wagon” had the meal and fixin’s for guests to come grab as well as our mini mason jar sippers for the kids to drink. They got to take those home with them as well.
I used my Nana’s farm table for the kids to sit at. It also served as the “sweets and snacks” area. I had coloring sheets for the kids as well as wooden berry baskets to use as their plate.We had homemade Italian cream cake (Nana’s special) with apple and cherry pies. The cake stand that the pie is on was my Nana’s grandmothers. I LOVE family heirloom pieces. I used a lot of burlap and mason jars that I had laying around my house to decorate with. I have an abundance of jars and probably need an intervention with my collection.
Chelsea always makes my sweets for parties. She is one of the most talented people on Earth. She has a gift with baking + again, knocked the cake, cookies, + macaroons out of the park. The kid’s table was fun and they really enjoyed the coloring sheets.I bought this high chair junking with my mom one afternoon for around $15. It was a really ugly green color but I gave it knew life with a little bit of Junk Gypsy Paint. I LOVE how it turned out.I love this picture of Scout and Nana. I have a similar one from my first birthday. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with the cake but enjoyed the cookies.The Farmer’s Market vision I had in my head came to life exactly like I wanted it to and I absolutely love how it turned out. I wanted the kids to experience their own “Farmer’s Market” and it was a hit! I bought cheap canvas totes and bushel baskets off of amazon. My dear friend, Cheryl, made all of the felt food for me. The kids also had little “market lists” to shop off of. The girls love playing kitchen at home and I knew most of their friends would as well. I love favors that you can take home and the kids will actually play with and use. The stand is a display in my store that we use to sell lemonade/hot chocolate throughout the year during main street events. My talented cousin made it for me.After all of the shopping excitement we had apple bobbing and the kids absolutely enjoyed it! It was so fun watching them (and a couple of adults) bob.My grandparents have an old teeter totter that we also had in the yard for play. So fun!Finally, we ended the day with mechanical pony rides and gifts on the back patio.

I can’t believe our sweet baby girl is O N E. I sound like every other parent on the planet but time really does fly, especially with a second babe. Our little Scout is such a doll and brings so much joy to us. I can’t wait to have more fun with her over the next year and years to come. She is loved!

You can see Scout’s Farmer’s market themed one year photo session here and her birthday letter here.

Photography: Aubrey Lisa Photography
One/Fabric High Chair Banner: Pearl & Jane
Printables, Invitations, Market Lists, and Stickers: Jumping Jax Designs
Cookies, Egg Macroons, + Personal Birthday Cake: Scribbles Bakery
Happy Birthday Cake Topper: Kawaii Toppers
Chicken Banner: The Little Green Bean
Scout’s Personalized Coloring Sheet: Frosting and Ink
Felt Chickens: Wawta Shop
Felt Food: CiCi Stitching
Most Displays: Farm Girl Boutique
Scout’s Dress: Gap
Paisley’s Dress: Matilda Jane

If you pin images (you can find them here) please link back to my blog!

Paisley’s 4th Cowgirl Party

February 10, 2016

10 Feb

Sunday we celebrated our sweet little cowgirl turning four with a wild west celebration! It was a simple but sweet party and she had a ball playing with all of her friends. And she seriously has the sweetest friends. Two of which drove up from Texas to spend the day with her. <3 Every year instead of buying gifts, Zack and I put together a fun party and she has loved it. We hosted at a local ranch event venue, the party was literally in an old horse barn. It was really cute! When we got home she kept talking about how much fun she had with everyone. I’d chalk that up as a successful day.Most people know how much Paisley loves, lives, eats and breathes being a cowgirl. The party was a total reflection of her. This year I only had to buy the food, cake, and a couple of utensils. Most of everything I borrowed from my house or used a couple of displays from Farm Girl. My nana let me use my great great grandmother’s lace table cloths and my mom used a few of her western bowls for some of the food. It was really simple and fun to throw it all together. My vision for the party was a western and rustic theme with pops of color and a southwest vibe.I loved “The Waterin’ Hole.” I used this lemonade stand and wash tubs for the drink station. Both are Farm Girl displays (we also sell them) and looked really rustic. The cotton, milk can, and crock are also sold in Farm Girl but I brought them from home.
We bought glass bottled cokes, orange crush, root beer, and her favorite, grape crush for the wash tubs. We also had water and tea served.Her cake table was so much fun. I had Chelsea from Scribbles Bakery do her cupcakes, cookies, and birthday cake again this year. She always amazes me with her talent. They turned out perfect and was exactly what I wanted.Every year I have the guests at her party write her a message in a book that goes along with her theme. When She turns 18 I plan to have all of the books wrapped up to give to her. The cookies were a hit! I love the cute designs and the hats + horseshoes were my favorite! The table decorations were some of my favorite touches. I used my collection of boots on all of the tables and around the venue with florals inside. I stuck a small mason jar at the bottom of the boot to give it some weight and water for the flowers. I also potted succulents and cactus in cheap pots to go along with my southwest cowgirl theme. I got the pots for 80 cents at Home Depot! Her cake was so fun! I L O V E D the fringe touches.The cake stand is also mine but I got it at Farm Girl as well as the turquoise one previously pictured.Our cousin made mason jar banana pudding and my mom made “cow patties” also know as no bake cookies. :)We had lil’ doggies (hot dogs) with the fixins’ and “horse chips” for our meal. I used pie tins for our plates to add western flair.My dad and papa. They grilled the doggies for us. :)Gift table.

I ordered the rope sign from a local shop a block from mine called The Rustic Ridge. She’s a business friend and makes some of the neatest stuff. I frequent her cute little store a lot. :) The banner behind it is from The Olive Grove Shop. I’ve bought several items from Sarah and she always does an amazing job.For the party favors, I had a friend of mine hand make stick horses. The kids absolutely loved them and the fact that they got to take one home. They used them for stick horse races, western games, and to play cowboys and cowgirls.Zack’s mom and mama made these awesome cutouts out of CARDBOARD for the kids to have a fun photo booth with. I am constantly amazed at what they can make. You might remember last years Cinderella carriage. All of the artwork was free handed and painted. So stinking cute! They made the cactus as well that’s now displayed as decor in Farm Girl.We had horseshoes, rope the dummy, and brought the barrels for the kids to have races. I was going to have a table for the kids to make their own brand but you know how parties go, not always how you plan. :)Paisley and her Papaw.Scout got her some new Anderson Bean square toes just for the party. She had a great party and we enjoyed celebrating our sweet girl!

Sources:

Cactus Garland

Rope Sign

Fabric Garland

Waterin’ Hole Stand, Washtubs, Milk Can, Cotton, Cake Stands, Barnwood Frame, Tractor Seat

Paisley’s Past Parties:

One: Minnie Mouse

Two: Olivia

Three: Cinderella

A Cinderella Birthday

February 10, 2015

10 Feb

I am still dreaming about the Cinderella party we had for Paisley last weekend. Everything was perfect and the party exceeded all of my expectations. I couldn’t have done it without both my Mom and Mom-in-love and also my sweet friend Aubrey for taking all of the photos and video. I have to start planning a little before Christmas because once the holidays arrive and end, I have all but 3 or so weeks to pull everything together. Paisley has been in LOVE with Cinderella over the last year so I thought a princess party would be a perfect way for her and her friends to celebrate. I thought I would share where I got most of our decorations and the vendors we used to make this party a dream come true.

I will never forget the look on her face when she walked into the party. It was priceless and I am so glad that she was amazed and loved every minute.

I bought Paisley’s dress, “glass” slippers, and crown from The Disney store for 40% off around Christmas time.

I decided I wanted the party to be a little more vintage. My friend Becca from Jumping Jax Designs designed our invitations, signage, and silhouette prints. They turned out beautifully!

We chose a local venue in our town for the party. This lodge was the perfect place to have a big crowd and I loved the natural light. It is hard to have anything outside in February. Last year’s party we had ice and snow, this year it was above 70. Welcome to Oklahoma.

My mother-in-law brought the buttons, and sewing items to use as table decor and the pumpkins are decorations we had at Farm Girl last season. We actually sell these neat pumpkins in the store during the fall. I love them because they are so imperfect. We also played the Disney soundtrack of ‘Cinderella’ during the entire party. :)

The whimsical table decorations were my favorite project!

A friend of mine made our cake a cookies. She is an amazing artist and I am so thankful she took on this project. I couldn’t have bought a more perfect cake or cookies. You can visit her blog and see her post on our sweets here. The “three banner” I bought from a cute little Etsy shop called Paper Trail and the glass slippers are from amazon.
The cake stand is mine from Farm Girl. You may notice them from Magnolia or off of Fixer Upper but we also sell them in our store. I bought the glittered ‘3’ and wand for Paisley from The Enchanted Princess off of Etsy. She was extremely reasonable and Paisley loves her wand! I’m excited to continue to use most of the items from the party as well as pass them down to Scout. I am using the ‘3’ in Paisley’s room.

I borrowed the lace tablecloths from my Nana. They were my great great grandmother’s. I love using old family heirlooms.

The banner I had bought for Paisley’s room and pulled it out to use as a backdrop for the cake table. You can find one similar at The Olive Grove Shop. Her room is in these fun colors and I thought it would look great for the party as well.

This book was one of Paisley’s gifts from her Daddy and I. Since we are putting together a “big girl” room for her, we decided to just get a few books. We can never have enough. She has a James Marshall book for ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and it is one of her favorites. I decided to use this as a guest book that she can look back on one day. I also did this at her Olivia Party last year.

The balloons are from Party City. We bought them and had our own helium tank from last year’s party to blow them up.

I found the Fairy Godmother from Amazon before Christmas for SUPER cheap. It’s really old and I think I paid under $10 for her. She was a steal.

Each friend got a tiara/crown, wand, a pair of dress up earrings and a favor bag full of candy. I bought the crowns and wands from oriental trading which I highly recommend because you can get a large quantity of favors for under $10.

The beads are actually dress up necklaces for the girls. Paisley’s favorite candy is candy corns so I bought these flavored pumpkins from hobby lobby as well as the gumballs. Both were on sale.

I got the clear cups from SAMS and added stickers. I do this every party just because you can get 200 or more for $9. We always have tons left over and use them at home or for other events. The cream cake stand is mine from home and the cream pitcher is also mine and bought from Farm Girl.

The fork and spoon holders are actually planters. You can also get those at Farm Girl. The lantern was from Zack and I’s wedding that we have in our home. All of the platters and punch bowl were borrowed from my mom and mother-in-law. Two of the platters were cheap ones from Dollar Tree. You can find our ‘Princess Punch’ recipe here on the blog. It is a party favorite and very sweet.

I wanted to incorporate the food into the theme of the party. I bought this crown cookie cutter for $2 and decided to do PB+J sandwiches for the kids. I also did Jaq and Gus’ cheese tray. The scene where they sneak cheese behind the cat in ‘Cinderella’ is a favorite of Paisley’s. My husband and mom made the fruit kabobs that we called magical wands.

My mother in law brought the “Royal Coach Dip.” I actually snagged this idea off of Pinterest.

The carriage was made by my mother in law out of cardboard. If you follow me on Instagram, I posted some sneak peeks of it in the beginning stages. The pumpkins are from Farm Girl as previously mentioned as well as the small standing chalk board.

I bought these fun prince props from Perfectionate and the princess props from Let’s Get Decorative on Etsy. I am sure we will use them for years to come.

Paisley’s sweet friend Sadie came from Texas to party with us! You can check out her mom’s blog here. :) We had a coloring station set up for the littles too.

Her friends began to show up and the party started. We dressed the little princesses with a crown and wand.

I also set up a costume garland in case a little princess forgot her dress. :) Paisley loves to play dress up so we had a few extras.

My mother-in-law made her Fairy Godmother costume and dressed up for the kids. I think they were all pretty amazed. :)

My mother-in-love and mom are the cutest.

After the Fairy Godmother arrived, it was time to open gifts! Paisley got some of the neatest things, including a mop and broom set {so Cinderella} from her Nana + Papa and a brand new pair of boots from her little “boyfriend,” Stran. Boots are the way to this little princess cowgirl’s heart. :)

After gifts, we sang our sweet three year old Happy Birthday and watched her blow out the candles. :) Each candle she had to count to “3” and blow them out with Papaw’s help. It was the cutest and I am so thankful to have videoed that moment.

After cake, cookies, and snacks, it was time for some more photo booth fun and for the kids to play.

The adults even jumped in on the photo booth. :)

She has a pretty fun Moe Moe and Papaw! :)
With our girl on her big day. :) We had a blast putting this sweet party together for her.

A HUGE thank you to Aubrey for taking the photos for me and for the sweet video she did. I will cherish them forever. :)

I absolutely loved this party. It was so much fun to design and come up with ideas to make it adorable. I couldn’t have done it without the help of my mom and mom-in-law. I am not sure if we will ever be able to top it. I am so glad Paisley had a blast as well as her friends. Sweet memories made.

If you missed my video post yesterday, here it is again of what Aubrey shot. Feel free to pin images for inspiration and link back to our blog please. You can find the images already pinned here. :)