Adrianne's Colorful 1st Birthday Bubble Party

WARNING: Extreme Picture Overload! If you have aversions to lots and lots of colorful paper lanterns and balloons, smeared icing and an overall display of a craft-crazed control freak mom who takes a theme to the extremes, please do not scroll down.  Otherwise, carry on…

So, I know I am basically the worst blogger EVER, but I'm hoping to be forgiven after sharing what I've been up to.  After mulling over about eleventy-billion theme ideas for Adrianne's 1st birthday party (and overloading my Pinterest board with said themes) I realized that the simplest thing on earth made my daughter squeal like a pig in mud: 

BUBBLES

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone and had to turn it up a notch.  By "a notch", I mean constructing four-foot-tall "bubble wand" centerpieces, "bubbles" (balloons) floating behind the cake and gift tables, colorful "bubbles" floating in the air (paper lanterns) and bright polka dots everywhere!  I also made a "Bubble Favors" station where my husband the kids could make gigantic bubbles with the giant bubble wand, make their own bubble wands from pipe cleaners, and got to take home a bottle of bubbles and a smaller version of the giant bubble wand.

Without further ado, here's Adrianne's bubble party full of all the details!

I made her cake topper myself.  Her cake came from Publix, but I purchased separate balloon picks in her party colors to add to the corners.  It totally made all the difference.

The colorful frames that display her monthly photos are actually mirrors from The Dollar Tree. I had no idea how I was going to use them when I bought them, I just loved that they looked like bubbles and knew I'd make them work somewhere!  I simply popped the mirrors out, primed the frames (they were black originally) and painted them each a different color (pink, purple, turquoise and orange).  The cardboard backing got a quick wrap job with some polka dot wrapping paper and I attached her photos (cut into circles) with double-sided scrapbook tape. I also attached "Month Marker" printables I made to label each picture.

"You're Welcome" to the parents of any kiddos who went home with a handful of sugar-coated marshmallow pops.

Printables by Me!

I wish there wasn't a glare on this picture, but I displayed a large board poster collage of Adrianne's one-year-old photo session (by yours truly) on the gift table.  It turned out really cute!

With her Aunt Bernie.  I made Adrianne's dress using this pattern.

What?  Like I was gonna keep that cute little tushy plain??

I got the paper lanterns from here. They have great prices and are SO easy to assemble!

My ginourmous "Bubble Wand" centerpieces in action!

The "Bubble Favors" station.

Clean-up was so fun…

The kids (and adults!) loved the giant bubbles!

Reliving the summer

Wow.  It is amazing to me how quickly time can slip right through your fingers!  SO much has been going on over the past couple of months.  

JUNE:

First, my in-laws came to visit.  I am so blessed to have in-laws that truly feel like a second set of parents to me.  They are so kind and helpful.  They were especially helpful this time since Adrianne had begun crawling just weeks before they arrived!  

I am a big-time foodie, so I must share this amazing diner we all ate at one afternoon.  It was actually featured on The Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives".  It's a little off the beaten path, but well worth the trip if you're in the area.

Probably not the best place to eat if you're counting calories, but holy cow was it delish!!

JULY:

Moving on to July, Adrianne got to attend her very first parade for Independence Day.  She had a blast!  I've been waiting all year to put her in this cute little dress!

Modeling her Baby Drilles for Mommy

We also added "Road Trip" to Adrianne's list of firsts in July.  We drove to Kentucky to see my family.  Being the ridiculously organized person I am, I'm (almost) embarrassed to admit that I drafted up a schematic for packing the SUV. Don't judge me…

Fine, so maybe an intervention is merited.

Anyhoo, Adrianne did WONDERFULLY on the trip!  Our little road warrior!  We made stops every few hours for diaper changes and leg-stretches then had a picnic lunch at the halfway point.  Who wants fast food when Mama has packed a delicious meal of muffeletta sandwiches, pasta salad and brownies?  

Grammy and Papaw got to spend lots of quality time with Adrianne.  We even drove to my hometown while there to visit my grandmother.  She taught Adrianne how to do "patty cake" and she has been doing it ever since!  So sweet!

AUGUST:

When we returned home, I was asked by my friend, Kristen, to help plan her gender reveal party.  I am always up for a good party so I dove right in!

Kristen and Gino are both huge baseball fans (Go Rays!) so we found these super cute invites from Belle Announcements and a theme was born:

  

I also got the awesome honor of revealing the gender.  The friendship that Kristen and I share is a far cry from "normal", so it only seemed fitting that her gender reveal be a little, um, outside of the box.  Their reactions were priceless!

Click here to see "The Reveal"

A recap and moment of honesty:

I have been struggling a lot lately with the guilt of not getting my shop open by now.  It seemed like there was never enough time.  However, just writing this blog post and revisiting all fun times had this summer with those I love so dearly makes me glad I put "business" on the back burner for a bit and just enjoyed my life.  These are the moments we should always treasure.

That being said, I hope to resume "production" soon!  But there is a party being planned, as I type, for a certain little girl's first birthday… ;)

Blessings to all,

In the Bag

Where have I been, you ask? (Well, you may not have noticed my absence but I think my family has).  I have been working on packaging for my shoes.

I initially wanted to do some cute little kraft baby shoe boxes but you wouldn't believe how hard it was to find the specific measurements I needed without breaking the bank!  So I started thinking (dangerous times around this house) and came up with the idea of putting them in cute little muslin drawstring bags.

Yes, I could have ordered some, but that would have been entirely too easy and practical.  Nope.  Not me at all.  So I decided to make them myself.  Somewhere in the middle of making shoes for my inventory, battling a tropical storm and chasing a 9-month-old around the house, I decided to whip this puppy up:

I like using the jute drawstring.  It goes with that "organic" feel I love so much.  And what creation would be complete without the Adrianne's Joy "citrus butterfly" and logo?

I know I personally have an unhealthy obsession with cute little reusable bags (I'm still holding on to my little black and white striped Bumble & Bumble shopping bag from my last hair appointment 3 weeks ago), so why not share the insanity?  I may have to make a few extras for myself….

More news on the business front--I got an email yesterday stating that my business cards have shipped!  So that means the "finish line" is just on the horizon!  As much as I wanted my "Open Shop" date to coincide with the Fourth of July, I don't think I'll have my cards in time.  I'm hoping to decide on a date in the next couple of days.  When I do, I'll post it on this website, our Facebook page and on Twitter.

Alright, off to my
sweat shop craft room I go.

Much Love,

Happy First Day of Summer!

Being based in sunny Florida, especially after an unseasonably warm winter, summer seems like it's been hanging around for about a year already.  But I love the official summer season.  Maybe because I'm a July baby, but something just feels so nostalgic about BBQs, fireworks, pools and lazy evenings outdoors at dusk.

I knew I wanted to celebrate the arrival of summertime with a fun version of baby drilles, so I decided to play around with some different colors.  Here's a little sneak peek of what I've been working on:

I'm a sucker for nautical-inspired colors. So Americana!

This day also marks my first official blog post!  A lot of time and love goes into each shoe I make and I love this opportunity to have a platform to share my passion with others.  As I am just a few days away from finally listing baby drilles in my Etsy shop, I find myself bubbling over with a million different emotions. Thoughts like, "What if no one likes them?" and "What if EVERYONE likes them???" to "Am I insane starting a business while trying to care for a 9-month-old baby?" have plagued my mind as the day approaches.  It's a big step, but I have been known to take big leaps of faith in life.

Along with the scripture from Psalm 46:10 ("Be still, and know that I am God") I have a quote written on my whiteboard in my craft room that I read on a friend's facebook page:

"A person is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."

I like the daily reminder that I'm never too old to chase my dreams and that if I just take the time to still my mind, God is there to do His work with me.  I can't wait to share this adventure with you all!

Best Wishes and Happy Summer!