Monkeyin' Around

In my world, October is our Birthday Month. Between my family and Sam's we have 6 birthdays in the stretch of time between Sept 30 and Oct 16. SIX! Not the least of which is Kaitlyn's birthday (on the 14th), which has been part focus for the last few months. I can't honestly tell you how early I started planning her party, but it was probably sometime this spring. You know me, the planning and prep is my favorite part. And since Kaitlyn decided on a Monkey theme barely one week after her last birthday, I've had plenty of time to gradually piece it all together. And now it's time for the final preparations.

I'll do a big post after the party, but I thought I'd share the invitations with you now. These little babies are going out tomorrow, provided we can figure out who some of the people are that she wants to invite (anyone else have this problem with their kindergartener? She plays with kids every day at recess and on the bus but for the life of her cannot remember their names. That is, if she has even remembered to ASK their names).
I paper pieced the monkey face, making up the pattern as I went along. Not bad 'eh? He kinda looks like a bear but hopefully the pokey-out ears and the Monkey Around statement inside will tip them off to the theme of the party.

I also whipped up a card for Kaitlyn, because I loved this image. My friend Callie introduced me to the Dustin Pike images and I'm in love! I enlarged two of his other images for part of the party decor...but you'll have to wait to see those.

Harvest

Have you been watching the leaves turn colors? We've been marveling at that for a few weeks now, at least up on the mountains. I'm happy to say the trees in our yard are still green. I love the temperatures we've been having lately (70s and 80s I think) and the slight crispness in the air. But I'm really not wanting the leaves to fall off or the temperatures to drop and force us inside.

I do however, love to decorate for Fall (second only to Christmas...and maybe Spring). This harvest board is another one I made with Audrey during our marathon project day. I just finished it up yesterday and am wondering where I'm going to find space for it! The creative credit goes to Audrey's friend and neighbor Jen, who is about as crafty as they come. She was also good enough to provide the handles. Thanks Jen!

Linked to:
-Fall Inspriation Link Party at Thrifty Decor Chick

Witch's Hat

Fall! Yay!
Can you sense the forced enthusiasm? Oh good, I fooled you! :) I've been trying to get into the fall spirit but for some reason it isn't quite working. I even got all my fall decorations out this week and...nothing.
I am, however, excited about my most recent projects. I got to spend the whole day yesterday with my friend Audrey. This used to be a regular thing for us, but it's been harder and harder to coordinate schedules. So I was really excited when we finally managed it. And the day didn't dissapoint. I had a great time. Ty had a great time playing with her son (and they were surprisingly very well behaved and happy the whole time - bonus!). Kaitlyn had fun playing with her grandma (who was in charge of picking her up after school). AND we managed to get a lot done, despite the fact that we fully completed only one of our 5 projects for the day.

These witch's hats were my idea - or as close as I get to an original idea in this age of blogs and great crafts stores and tons of creative women. Since our (my Saturday Girls) visit to see the witches at Gardner Village last year I have been enamored with all the wonderfully fun and decorative hats everyone was wearing. But I can't really stand to wear hats, nor am I all that great at dressing up so I was having a hard time convincing myself to make one of my own. But when Audrey and I were discussing projects, this came to mind and we decided to turn them into centerpieces instead of hats we could wear. And I am very happy with how they turned out.

She just doesn't have a bad side, does she? :)

You'll have to wait to see the rest of our projects. I need to buy some more paint and stain and get them all finished...stay tuned!

Oh, in case you want to recreate these yourself: We used an inexpensive costume witch's hat and stuffed it with floral foam and some paper to give it shape. Covered the bottom with cardboard to hold everything in. And attached the embellishments with straight pins and hot glue.

Linked to:
-Fall Inspriation Link Party at Thrifty Decor Chick