Jenny's Shower and Valentine's Day

My sister in law got married this year and it was so beautiful! My other sister in laws threw her shower and asked me to make the invitations and the decor, two of my most favorite things! We went with a very cute pink and coral invitations that had a bunch of little umbrellas on it. It was the perfect inspiration for the decor. The color pallet was taken from the invite. I was sick of making the tissue paper garlands and giant balloon tassels I make for everything, so I thought I'd spice it up and gather some other ideas. I hit the web! I went online and googled shower ideas and found so much inspiration. From that, came the following ...

Paper Dot Chandelier:
I used 250 one inch paper dots in four colors and
150 two inch paper dots in four colors.

I then strung them on bakers twine in different lenghts, and tied them onto a 12 inch embroider loom.
The embroidery loom is divided into 8 sections with four pieces of bakers twine. I alternated sections with 2 inch circles and 1 inch circles.

Using two different sizes of circles makes a big difference in my opinion because it adds another level of depth. Instead of having just one size all the way around, you get the illusion of many different sizes. I hate anything that is TOO uniform, I like a more wonky look.

Tissue Paper Mural:

I used 6 pieces of tissue paper per flower. 

And made about three different sizes of flower poms.

I then grabbed some thick floral wire and created the shape in which I wanted my flowers flow.

I then hot glued the flowers onto the wire, the flowers only need to be open on one side, so the other side is flush and can be hot glued easily. You create the shape as you go.

This piece was going over a mantel, so I had to make sure it was the right size. It ended up working out great!

In order to add a little more color into the room I decided to make these little banners.

I just got paper and felt and cut them into strips, then ran them through my sewing machine. 

The more colors and textures you have, the better, in my opinion.

I even added some glitter and metallic paper!

 The end result was fabulous!

This is my sister in law, Jill's, home. Isn't it fabulous!?

 I was really happy with the color scheme of Jenny's bridal shower decor because Valentine's Day was just around the corner, so I was able to reuse a lot of the decor around my house for Valentine's Day!

I made this felt banner earlier in the month. I used Red and White felt, cut the letters out on printer paper and then pinned them to the felt as I cut it out. I then used embroidery thread to sew the letters onto the triangle, and then ran a blanket stitch all the way around the triangles. It was a lot of work, but it's a banner that I will be able to have for forever, and ever!

Happy Crafting!!

Bonnie's Baptism

My niece, Bonnie, turned 8 this year! In our religion, when we turn 8, we get baptized! It's such a fun and special time in ones life. It's so special that I wanted to make sure she had some special decor at her party. Earlier this year I made the decorations for my sister in laws bridal shower. I made a circle paper chandelier. I took that idea, and embellished it a little. Instead of plain circles, I thought daisies would be cute. And I think I was right :)


I used aqua bakers twine, one 12 inch embroidery loom, yellow and white construction paper, and my trusty Cricut!

I used the Paisley Cricut Cartridge and cut:
8 five inch flowers
8 four inch flowers
8 three inch flowers
8 two inch flowers
8 one inch flowers
75 one inch circles (in yellow and white)
75 one and half inch circles (in yellow and white)

Putting it together:

I tied four pieces of twine across the loom creating 8 pizza slices. These will be used to mark where I place the daisies, and where the center circle dots will be hung from.

I then strung the daisies together and tied them to the loom. Placing one five inch daisy in the pizza slices.

Then I strung four different lengths of circle paper chains and tied them to the center twine, one on each piece of twine.

Be creative, use your own personal taste! You don't have to follow my rules exactly, I just look at it and go with whatever I feel looks good. Trust your eye :)

I made 24 6 inch Daisies and made two Daisy chains to hang as banners.

And I took a few sheets of 12 inch paper and cut that into four equal pieces.

From there I made half of them into triangles and half of them into two triangle flags. Putting those two shapes together made for the most beautiful banner! We see triangle banners all the time, so it was fun to change it up a bit and add a different shape to the mix.

I was so proud with how everything turned out! I love making decorations for parties! I can't wait for the next one.

Danny's 30th Birthday

This year Danny turned 30!! The big 3 - 0! I wanted to throw Danny a birthday party, he hates birthday parties, but he LOVES pizza parties. So, I took an idea Danny has been talking about for a while now, and made it come to life. Danny has been talking about having a party where everyone invited had to bring a pizza from a mom and pop pizza shop. That way we could try a ton of pizza places in just one spot! It was a genius idea, Danny loves trying new pizza places, and this was a way to get to try a bunch of new places at once. I sent out the invitation, it said that instead of gifts, please bring a medium or large pepperoni pizza from somewhere that isn't a major chain (Danny's favorite pizza is pepperoni pizza, so we ate that). The party was a huge success! 

I made most of the decorations for the party, I started by making a felt pizza banner.

I got ivory, red, beige, and dark brown felt and created little pepperoni pizza slices.

I used my hot glue gun to put it all together. No sewing needed!

I asked my friend Jill to make the tissue paper garland to add some color to the party. The two banners went perfectly together! 

I bought some number balloons and had our friend Joey fill them up, they're the easiest way to decorate a party! They add some fun metallic color to the room and a different texture. 

Being from Argentina, spanish is my first language, so I thought it would be fun to have a banner that read, "feliz cumple" instead of "happy birthday." It's just a little different and fun!

So many of Danny's friends and family came out! His sister, Jessica, even came from San Diego and brought a pizza from Lucadias (one of my personal favorite pizza places). 

The party was a big scuess, and as party favors we just let people take home a box of pizza (we had TONS of left overs). I highly recommend throwing a pizza party like this! So many yummy pizza places from tons of different locations, it's the best gift money can buy :)

Danny also has a love of dinosaurs, so Erika made sure to add tons of them to his birthday cake.

Our friend Jill took the best picture of Danny that night!

The Pizza King

 Danny's Birthday Outing:

After Danny's pizza party we took him to an airplane museum, another one of Danny's favorite things. 

Here are some pictures from our outing.

 I hope my love had the best 30th birthday! He deserves nothing but the best, best, best!

Catching Up (once again): 2013 Holidays

Okay, I was awful at blogging in 2013! And 2014 isn't looking too good either, considering it's April 1st and I have yet to blog. BUT I am going to try harder, I say that every time, but this time I kind of, sort of, mean it! :) I will start by blogging about old things I have to blog about, which are Halloween and Christmas in 2013. 

Halloween ...

It's no shocker by now, but Danny and I LOVE Halloween. Danny's creative juices flow around this time, he is a great pumpkin carver! I love decorating the house, Halloween decor is just so interesting to me. I don't love scary, I like more cute Halloween. I enjoy a very PG, even G rated Halloween. Quirky spiders, cute bats, and beautiful pumpkins. I don't love ghost, unless they're friendly, blood, or anything dark around Halloween. 

We always start with a visit to Tanaka Farms. We try and go the first few days it opens, and then back again towards the end of the season. That's when all the wonky pumpkins are found. No one ever wants those poor guys, but they actually make the best jack-o-lanterns! 

 Up next, I decorate the house. We bought a few new decorations this year, and plan to keep growing our collection of spooky decor!

On the Eve of Halloween we go over to my mom's or Danny's sister's house to carve pumpkins! This year we went over to Danny's sister's house. The girls always love to see the pumpkins come to life! 

 Then it was time for Trick or Treating!! We love passing out candy, but this year I went with the girls door to door. It was so fun watching them say, "Trick or Treat" and "Happy Halloween!" 

Being a kid is the best!

Hope your Halloween we just as fun!! I already can't wait for October : )

Christmas Time!

Our Christmas traditions are some of my favorite traditions. We have so many of them, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

One of my most favorite things about Christmas is Disneyland at Christmas time! It is so beautiful, and magical! It even snows every night. I loved going with my nieces this year, and watching their reaction to the snow, my niece Bonnie said, "My dream came true! [I saw the snow] Now I have to find a new dream." I love her so much. 

 The park looks gorgeous during the day and night. Beautiful either way!

 Bonnie and the snow

Ash and I at Disneyland. Our favorite place.

The only thing I don't love about Disneyland, are the crowds! The crowds are crazy at Disneyland around Christmas!! But it's worth it! I promise. 

 Our house at Christmas is also one of my favorite things. We got a real Christmas tree, and some new ornaments for it. Our house always looks like Santa's Village, Danny thinks it's too much, I think you could never have enough Holiday decor!

 Shopping for our Christmas tree! I like them a bit more bald!

My little baby cat died the day after Halloween : ( Christmas was his favorite, so I placed a picture of him under the tree. He LOVED falling asleep on the tree skirt, under the lights. I loved seeing his picture there every night when I looked over at the tree. It made me feel like he was really there. I still miss him constantly. 

Our tree didn't last very long! It stopped drinking water! Next year we are going to buy that plant grow stuff they sell at the tree lots! 

One of my favorite things about this Christmas was that we got a real wreath for the door!!! I loved it so much! Next year I am going to get one for the side door too! and maybe even some garland!

It was the perfect little spot to watch Meet Me in St. Louis. Another one of my favorite Christmas traditions. 

 I love how crazy people are getting with their Christmas lights, because it makes our next tradition EXTRA fun! Christmas light cruising! We try and go at least once a week, and check out fun neighborhoods with crazy lights!

Yale St. in Fullerton has a few neighborhoods that put up giant spheres in their trees, and it just feels like it's raining lights!

Anaheim has a house we call the "Ho Ho Ho House" They decorate with sexy mannequins in lingerie, and anything that has anything to do with Christmas. 

Brea has an amazing neighborhood that goes ALL out. There was even a house that was selling street tacos! And they were delicious. So, so good. 

 Lastly, we always try and make it down to Naples in Long Beach. There's a house down there that copies the Griswold's house! It is truly amazing. 

We always to to the Nutcracker, this year we went back to the Long Beach Ballet's version. It's always really good!

I made Danny take a picture with my on Christmas! It was a Christmas miracle ha ha ha

Hope your Christmas was just as fabulous!