Sparkle and Shine, It's Lea's First Birthday!

I can't believe our little squiggly is one year old! This past year has been a whirlwind and we've come a long way since we first brought her home. She is such a ray of sunshine and has brought a ton of laughter, smiles, and joy to our lives. Such a personality and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate her first birthday than with a  "SPARKLE and SHINE" theme birthday party.

I had such a great time planning her birthday party and so glad I got a head start on it. I'm a big fan of Pinterest! It's a great resource, but it can be a curse. You look for inspiration and before you know it, you've pinned over 100 ideas and want to do everything. I don't know if that sounds like you or not, but for me, it can be exhausting. I did attempt to do it all and almost killed myself. But, I did have a blast in the process and was able to get my creative juices flowing. I had so much fun getting crafty and loved seeing it all come together.

{Gold Balloon: Sweet Lulu, Tissue Tassel: Etsy, One Onesie: Etsy, Pettiskirt: Etsy, Leggings: Old Navy,
Polka Dot Socks: HM, Sparkle Sneakers: Buy Buy Baby}

{Balloons: Sweet Lulu, Streamers: Walmart and Party City}

Starting a new birthday tradition and decorated her bedroom door the morning of her birthday.

{Made by Grandma Ni Ni}

Welcomed guests with this wreath my mom made. My mom made it to put on our front door after she was born and now her first birthday, changing up the design for each occasion.

{Sparkle and Shine Print: Etsy, Gold Polka Dot Wrapping Paper: Paper Source}

A friend loaned this beautiful "1" made from cardboard and cupcake baking cups. It made a great backdrop for the favor table in the entry.

The tray I repurposed and spray painted gold and added the gold glitter ribbon at the bottom to dress it up. I came up with the idea of the pinwheels and found a store on etsy who was able to custom make these with the gold glitter paper tying into my "Sparkle and Shine" theme.

{Gold Sparkle Pinwheels: Etsy, Signage: Etsy, Mixed Ribbons: Joann's, Clear Bags: Michael's, Jelly Belly's: Candy Store}

I played around with the idea on how to package the pinwheels and came up with the idea of using Jelly Belly's in her party colors to weigh the bag down so that the pinwheels could stand up alone. Finished it off with a ribbon and a tag. I found the saying on Pinterest somewhere and a shop on Etsy helped me customize these, along with some other signage for her party.

{Flower Poms: Etsy, Confetti Paper Garland: Etsy}

You can never go wrong with flower poms! They are such a great way to dress up a room for a party. I left making these to a professional who I've used before for Lea's flower poms in her nursery. She did a fantastic job, as usual, and highly recommend her shop on Etsy. I selected the colors and sizes I wanted, and she is super accommodating, and sends color samples for you to look at before purchasing. I loved the whimsy effect of the confetti garland and strung that on the chandelier over the dining table. 

I found this great idea on Pinterest, yet again. Take a print of your child's hand and footprint each year and have guests leave a birthday wish. I thought it would be fun to start another birthday tradition, and start building a scrapbook of photos from all her birthdays.

{Glitter Vase: DIY, Gold frame: Walmart, Signage: Etsy, Mini Birthday Hat: Etsy,
Polka Dot Wrapping Paper: Paper Source}

I loved the idea of the mason jars with glitter, but instead, found these glass vases at Home Goods. They were $2.50 each, so opted to use these instead. They worked perfect. Sprayed the outside of the vase with gold spray paint, and then used superfine gold glitter and clear modge podge to get the glitter to stick. So much fun to make!! The mini birthday hat was a great find on Etsy. Made for great photos and was able to customize it in her birthday colors. I found some great wrapping paper at Paper Source in the gold and white polka dots, and got the idea to use it as a table runner. A nice and inexpensive way to add some interest to your table if you don't want to use a tablecloth. Oh, and can't forget my $3.00 frame I found at Walmart.

{Printable Chalkboard Artwork: Etsy, Easel: Tuesday Morning}

I loved the chalkboard idea and had to do this for Lea. So much fun!

{ONE Letters: DIY- Inspiration came from Etsy, Paper Confetti: DIY}

Yet again, inspiration again came from Pinterest. Originally, thought to buy these, but they were super easy to make. I bought the letters at Joann's and then used glitter and spray paint. The glitter dots I made by using a circular hole punch and glued them on. I looked up tutorials and video on DIY glitter letters and found step by step how-to videos. I also used the hole punch and made the confetti using glitter and colored  paper card stock.

{Tissue Garland Tassel: DIY, Signage: Etsy, Monthly Photos: DIY}

The fireplace was a great place to display her monthly pictures. I backed each picture with glitter card stock and made the number tags with a cloud shape hole punch, stickers, glitter, and glue. I secured each picture with a gold glitter clothespin and hung them to a ribbon. I found another DIY tutorial and made the tissue garland to dress up the fire screen and add some additional color.  Just a little tip.. when making the tissue paper garland, don't use scissors if you don't have too. My first round of streamers looked awful... all jagged and uneven. I bought a rotary cutter at Joann's, and they looked so much better. Plus, saved so much time! 

Balloons always seem to bring it all together. I went with light pink, hot pink, aqua, and gold. 

{HB Banner: DIY, Tissue Garland: DIY, Glitter ONE: DIY, Tissue Poms: Etsy}

I loved the idea of a banner and after pricing them out on Etsy, I decided to make my own. I found card stock and these gold glitter letters at Michaels, and started cutting. Was pretty easy to make and love how it turned out. 

{Tissue Paper Tassel: DIY, Sparkle ONE Letters: DIY}

The tissue paper garland and the glitter "ONE" I made to dress up her highchair. I made a stencil of the letters "ONE" and tied it using gold string. When placing my order for the flower poms, I had her send extra sheets of tissue paper so I didn't have to worry about trying to find matching tissue paper. 

{Pinterest Inspired Birthday 1: Printstagram}

This was one of my favorite things to put together. I want to keep this up year round. Need to think of a creative way to display them and keep adding to it each year for her birthday. 

I bought 5 rolls of each streamer color and ended up using not even one roll of each color. I liked the idea of having some streamers, but not totally overdoing it. Plus, it was already 9:00 and Chris and I were both beat.  Bed was calling our name!! I added the flower poms in here as well.

{Glitter Candle: Etsy, Cake and Cupcakes: Cake Carousel}

Cake and cupcakes!! So yummy. I thought about making my own cake, but time was of the essence. Turned out so yummy and Lea loved it. I definitely enjoyed it too. 

{Cupcake Heart Toppers: DIY}

The wrapping paper came in super handy! I used the wrapping paper to also dress up the cupcake tower and super glued the gold ribbon to the edges. I topped the cupcakes with the heart cupcake toppers using toothpicks and a heart hole punch.

Cookies!

Food menu consisted of tea sandwiches, veggie platter, pigs in a blanket, party cheese ball, fruit salad, and a baked brie with orange marmalade and nuts. Was just enough food for an early afternoon party.

{Cups: Party City, Gold Scallop Cups: Sweet Lulu, Gold Polka Dot Napkins: Paper Source, Straws: Tuesday Morning}

The gal who did all the signage for me, also customized this great banner for me. I found the idea and she did the artwork for me. Just gave her the size I wanted and had it printed at Staples. I also used Staples to print the chalkboard sign as well. They did a great job!!

Let’s just say, best thing ever and worth every penny. I didn’t know they made bounce houses for small toddlers until I started looking. The kids loved it!

The day couldn’t have been more perfect celebrating with our friends and family. Their first birthdays are pretty special. Such a fun time, and by the look of this picture, I know Lea had a blast and that makes me happy!!

HOPE CHEST TRANSFORMATION

I'm so excited to finally be finished with Lea's new hope chest. I'm a "trash to treasure" type of gal and when I saw this sitting in front of my neighbor's house on the sidewalk waiting for the trashman, I knew I had to rescue it!

I thought of transforming it into a toy chest for Lea and then thought of making it a hope chest instead. I love this idea so much more. I plan to fill it with mementos from Lea's birth on up. It will be fun to add special things like her favorite blanket, stuffed animal, homemade cards, etc.

I started the process by cleaning it first. It had a lot of dust, dirt, and lovely spider eggs underneath it ready to hatch any minute!! GROSS!!! I sprayed it down with the hose which knocked all that off. The hinges were shot so I took those off.

It was in pretty good shape, but I wanted to make a change. I thought the two pieces of wood strips going down the center of the chest didn't do much for the piece and dated it. I decided to remove the wood strips and use that place to stencil something or find an appliqué.

Now it was time to fill some minor cracks and areas seperating.  I used just a basic wood filler I found at Lowe's. This stuff works great and so easy to use. I just apply the stuff with my finger. It hardens up after 20 minutes or so and it's then ready to sand down.

After sanding the piece with my handheld sander, I thought I better prime it using the stuff below.  I didn't want to take any chances with the blue showing through and affecting the color. I used a foam roller for priming and painting as well and a small brush. The foam roller gives a nice, semi smooth surface. Will just depend on how smooth your piece is. Using a roller speeds the painting process up and you don't have to worry so much about brushstrokes.

As I mentioned earlier, I removed the old, beat up hinges and replaced them with these Rockler soft close hinges I had read about. A little pricey for these, but found them to be worth it. They were super easy to screw on and fit perfectly! Also, I sanded the inside with a little steel wool. This helps raise the cedar oils to the surface and revive the wood.

Now all pretty and primed, I was ready to start painting. It took me awhile to decide on the color. I knew I wanted to put it in Lea's room and I thought a pink would be pretty to bring in a pop of color. I've been using Benjamin Moore on most of my painted pieces now for years. For me, if I find something I like, I stick with it. I can count on BM to give me nice coverage. It's long lasting and can withstand being beat up a little bit. I've never had to apply any top coat. 

So here she is! I went with Vibrant Blush and absolutely LOVE it! I added an appliqué I found here on Etsy to give it a shabby chic feel. I adore how it turned out. I just love the idea of a Hope Chest. Something we can fill together in the years to come. 

The pink really ties in nicely with what I already had going on and definitely adds the pop of color that I was looking for. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out Lea's Hope Chest transformation. Do you have a hope chest or now thinking about creating one? Tell me about it. Love to hear from you!

KEEP IT COZY,

ALLISON

Installing FLOR Carpet Tiles for Lea's New Playroom

Happy Friday and August!! I've been working on transforming our "Sitting Nook" area into Lea's new playroom. It hasn't been a room that we've really used, and lately it's been more of a storage room..hence the exercise ball, the swing she no longer uses, and the vacuum. It will be a great space for baby Lea to play and keep all her toys in! It's crazy how toys can accumulate so quickly!

{Sitting Nook Before}

To begin, I did some searching around and I found these great carpet tiles at FLOR. They are perfect for kids! They are individual, carpet tiles and if one gets dirty, they are easily replaceable and easy to clean. Just hose the individual tile down if it's really bad or spot clean. Can't get easier than that. I bought enough tiles plus a few extra to make an 8' x 10' rug, and the installation was super quick and easy. You have the option of cutting these to fit your room, but I opted to create an area rug and keep it simple.

{Image via}

{Image via}

I loved designing the rug and picking out the colors. On their website, you're able to design the carpet and see how it will look. I'm a visual person, so this was very helpful. We have a store in Dallas and I was able to bring some samples home with me to make sure I liked the colors in the space. I tried a couple options before deciding on this design layout and colors.

{Flor design program allows you to design your carpet and visually see how it will look.}

{Program will calculate the number of tiles you need for the size you want. Takes the guess work out for you.}

{Count your tiles to make sure you have the correct amount.}

{Find the center of the room and work out from there.}

{Start laying out your tiles and wait to adhere the stickers until you have the tiles placed. Hubby makes a good helper!}

{You'll want to purchase a couple extra tiles just to have for an emergency.}

Once you have placed the tiles exactly where you want them, it's now time to start sticking the tiles down to the floor using these stickers. Nothing is permanent in this process (unless you are cutting your carpet tiles) so don't worry. You can adjust the tiles if need be and move pieces around.

{Registration marks help make lining pieces up easy.}

{Lea says, "Let's play daddy!!"}

I'm so happy we went this direction. The whole process was really fun and allows you to get creative. It's the start to a fun, cheerful room we can all enjoy playing in!

Have a great weekend!!