Frozen Birthday Party

Decorations were as inexpensive as possible. My brother brought the snowflakes from America, so I didn't have to cut anything up. I bought lace and fabric at the Fabric Market. We poured sugar in vases and placed figurines inside as well. We printed off free banner printables and hung those as well. 

I really am serious about blogging again. Why is it so impossible to find the time? So...I've been meaning to blog about Willow's 3rd birthday party--which was three months ago! Finally, finally, finally, I am staying up late to do so. During the first half of 2014, Willow was incredibly obsessed with Frozen. It seemed natural to throw her a Frozen themed birthday party. Here are some pictures from the dessert table. Later, I will post more pictures from the photo booth and candid shots taken by a friend during the party!  

The first decision that had to be made regarding Willow's birthday party was when it should be held. If we waited until her actual birthday, most of her friends would be out of the country for summer break. If we waited until they all returned, it would be a hectic time since school would be resuming and everyone would be very busy with that. So, we decided to have her birthday a month early. This way, most of her friends were able to attend. As we would later discover, it was a good thing the party was in June--since we were unknowingly destined to be in America from the end of June until the beginning of August. If we had scheduled the party for July, we would have had to cancel it. 

The invitation I made for Willow's birthday party 

The cake decorations were a spur of the moment thing. I had these lofty plans originally, but when I couldn't find a vital ingredient in time, ideas needed to change. So, as I was frosting the cake, I decided to use some Frozen toys, paper snowflakes I had in my scrap booking cupboard, and marshmallows to make Willow's cake more Elsa/Anna themed. There were also sprinkles involved, and the frosting was a wonderfully sweet and fluffy buttercream. 

We worked so hard making everything 'just right'. I turned my back for one minute, and that was long enough for Willow to finish decorating her cake. She thought that her addition of Olaf-on-his-face was awesome and was completely proud. I had trouble knowing how to react. Laugh? Cry? Correct? Leave it? Remove it? Stand it up? 

Served on the dessert table: carrot sticks and ranch, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, snowflake sugar cookies, blue jello with whipped cream, white chocolate pocky sticks, white cake, cupcakes, chocolate dipped marshmallows, chocolate covered strawberries, ice candies, blue sprite, and melted snowmen (water). 

The laden dessert table would not have been possible without a lot of help from friends who came to help bake and decorate. Thank you, ladies! Yet another advantage to celebrating Willow's birthday in June was the fact that Brad was still visiting us. So Uncle Brad was able to represent Willow's extended family. He was also a huge help in decorating, setting up, taking care of the kids while I worked, and cleaning up. He is the guy responsible for the cute photo booth props and the pin the nose on Olaf poster. It helps to have a resident artist who knows how to use photoshop.

There is very little I can take credit for in this party. My friends helped with decorating and baking. My brother hauled supplies to me from the States. My husband blew up the balloons. Pinterest lent me some cute ideas and inspiration, as well as free printables...But I DID bake and frost the cake. So I will bask in the knowledge that even in China, I can bake something in a tiny toaster oven and use imported ingredients that are hordes year round, so that my daughter can blow out three candles on a proper birthday cake.

I didn't have a cake decorating set at the time, so the cupcakes looked a little strange...

While we waited for all the guests to arrive, we listened to Frozen music and the kids could make reindeer antler crowns or Elsa/Anna tiaras. Besides eating way too much sugar, party activities included a wintry photo booth, pin the carrot nose on Olaf, and a snowball toss game. After the kids were hyped up on sugar, Willow opened her gifts and read her cards. Then, we let the kids loose outside and played at the Aqu playground until dinner time. 

I thought the "Wanna build a Snowmen" kits were a brilliant idea I snatched from someone on Pinterest. Marshmallows, chocolate chips, orange mints, and pocky sticks. 

During Willow's party, I had a friend take pictures so that I didn't have to worry about 'capturing the moment'. I could simply concentrate on hosting, and had the ability to more closely observe Willow enjoy her special day. I think 90 minutes was long enough to hit all the compulsory components to a little girl's birthday party without overly draining her in the emotional department. Every day, I look at Willow and wonder in disbelief that she is three years old! I can hardly remember what it was like to live without Willow--she adds a lot of drama and sparkle to my life and I look forward to many more birthdays celebrating her life. 

Speaking of which....I wonder what Willow's 4th birthday party will look like? 

"Did you see that on Pinterest?"

My husband has such faith in me.

When he got home from work today, I had this sudden urge to use an extra picture frame someone handed down to us recently, and some scrap book paper to make this little memory piece. It took less than fifteen minutes to trace our hands, cut them out, mount them, frame it, and hang it on the wall. The hardest part was tracing Willow's hand. We had to distract her with her favorite banana munchies.

After I was done, I made Adam admire my handiwork. "It looks nice," he observed. "Did you see that on Pinterest?". I laughed, but I think I should feel a little offended that he thinks all my craft and cooking ideas come from a social network.

But...I really did see it on Pinterest.

~julie

My New Interest

Being a stay-at-home mom is awesome. I love being able to stay with Willow and my stress levels have decreased significantly. Even though I don't get to sleep in, I have the option of staying in my pajamas for a while and playing my with my giggly baby.

But when the housework is mostly done, and Willow is napping--my new addiction is looking around Pinterest. What is Pinterest? It's a website that allows you to collect pictures of things you see around the internet and place them in categories (or, virtual pin boards). It's like marking a website in your favorites or using bookmarks. This can be used in so many ways--and if I was still teaching, I would be having a hay-day with Pinterest! Not only can you "pin" things that you see while surfing, you can also see what all your friends are pinning. From recipes, to craft projects, to home decor and fashion--Pinterest is basically limitless and so much fun!

What do I use Pinterest for? Mostly to "ooh and ahh" at--because I don't really have the freedom to try all the awesome ideas floating around there...either because almost all the furniture in our apartment belongs to our landlord, or because I don't have any of the supplies and wouldn't know where to get them...Still, I collect items of interest when I see them, because I have full faith that someday I will try out those nifty organizing ideas and DIY projects.

Mostly, I can find quite a few do-able recipes on Pinterest. I've been trying out new menu items here and there throughout the week and really enjoying the process of broadening my the scope of what gets created in my kitchen. It's one way that I can still express creativity from day to day.

The other day I saw this one DIY idea on Pinterest that I actually had the supplies for. How surprising! I had a cookie sheet that I can't use because my easy-bake toaster oven is too tiny. I had some colorful paper and magnets...I even had a magnetic notepad that I hadn't used yet. So, this is my little craft endeavor on our Friday-after-Thanksgiving-break!

I have the habit of planning out our meals every week so that we know what to purchase at the stores/markets and to eliminate waste of those things that we buy. Also--it helps me not stress out about what I should make for dinner if I've already thought about it...and it forces me to stay out of those cooking ruts I've mentioned before. So, I can switch out the little tabs under the magnets with different menu items--and I can write ingredients I need for the week on my shopping list...yes.


~julie