Mickey Mouse Birthday for a four year old!

This last weekend, my sweet little guy turned four! He requested a mickey themed birthday party four days before the party was scheduled. On a small budget and a short amount of time, it's so easy to throw together a nice little party!

First up, was the mickey balloons that Daddy surprised the birthday boy with (and he only went in for one balloon. my husband is a total kid at heart):

We rented a small pavilion at a local park and did a bbq there. It was so easy to have the party at the park and to decorate a small space! 

To do the mickey stickers, I cut a bunch out with vinyl and applied where needed. I had left over red buckets from a spider man party, and the red and yellow paper I purchased at Dollar Tree. Besides BBQ food, we also had red and yellow drinks (kool aid and lemonade). We could have done the mickey cheese shapes and other mickey foods but we kept it simple.

Each utensil bundle had a spoon and a fork of black and yellow and the red napkins were tied with yellow polka dot fabric and a black paper mickey head.

The banner was cut out on red poster board, and then the mickey heads were black poster board. 

For favors, we thought it would be fun to do a pinata and the kids fill up their goody bags with the pinata "guts"! This was the high light of the party for these little ones! I used the tutorial over at At Second Street and it really took hardly any time to put it together. The entire cost of the pinata to make it including the bags and the contents to fill it was only 13 dollars and I got everything at Target! They were having a great clearance sale on all different types of party favors and I bought a bag of the mixed tootsie rolls and also a box of fruit snacks.  The wine bags were only .24 cents a piece, so I bought a bunch of those and put a red ribbon and a mickey head on those as well. Easy Peasy!

The birthday boy was the one to break it open!

I think my favorite of the day was the birthday boy's outfit:

(He had on his ears too, but safety before fashion!) 

The shirt was from Target and I painted the hand on using freezer paper. How many fingers does Mickey have? Four! 

The shorts were made from a clearance tshirt I had also picked up at target for only 1.25.  I used a pair he already had here and made my pattern. Then I sewed on Mickey's "buttons" with a yellow tshirt scrap and then sewed the shorts together. Quick, and very inexpensive, plus super comfortable for him to play in that day as well. 

For the cake, we went simple and did Mickey Cupcakes. I got the idea from Disney Family. The red cupcake liners were purchased at Target in a primary color pack in the baking aisle. I cheated and used store bought frosting and had sprinkles with it that I rolled them in. 

Sometimes, less is more. We enjoyed this birthday a lot!

Happy Birthday, Jackson! Hope it was your best yet!

Ruffled Tights

I saw this idea on pinterest and decided to whip up my own. I had the supplies on hand and it was such a quick little project!

I used an old pair of tights, cut off the feet part stretched leg onto sewing machine and then sewed on the lace row by row until it filled up.

Not sure about the boots with it, but I adore the ruffles! I might hike them up a bit more and just put mary janes on her like the picture showed.

and the model is even cuter ;)

Ruffle Cardigan Tutorial

As usual, I get busy, distracted or bored and move on and forgot to post the tutorial I had promised.

I was on pinterest tonight and stumbled across this tutorial that reminded me I had never posted it!

So if you'd like to make a ruffle cardigan, this tutorial is the perfect way to do so and I don't feel bad not posting the one I was going to do! ;)

Let It Rain

Last night,  the kids and I were driving and a song came on that asks God to "let it rain" and to "open the flood gates of Heaven".

 My oldest asked me why would we sing a song to ask God for it to rain? It boggled his mind why we would want it to rain if we don't need it.  I explained to him that when we sing that song, we are asking God to show us His love, and that its to "pour down on us" of how much He loves us, and that we feel it. I explained to him that opening the flood gates would be a rushing out of love, like water running really fast.

Today, God answered a prayer, one that has been on my mind for two years at least. Sometimes, I feel like when I pray for something, when it's not answered right away, or the way I want it to be, that it gets discouraging. Last night, I wrote a journal entry in a book I have that was almost two years to the date of a previous entry dealing with the same problem. I prayed about it, seeking to find an answer. I woke up this morning, praying, thinking, seeking. God always sends a message at the right time, because during a conversation today, He gave me an answer on how to deal with it. Although I still don't know what He is trying to teach me through this, I learned one important thing that I think we don't realize. Just because God says to give it to Him and He will help us through, does not mean at that point dealing with the problem is easy! Maybe this is just totally obvious to you, but it was a giant light bulb to me. I always think, "Well, I gave it to God. Why am I still dealing with it? He didn't answer that prayer." Then, like the song, I saw His glory. I felt His love. The problem won't go away over night, but thank You, Lord for helping me through it. Today, I felt You rain down Your love, and I felt the flood gates open.