Spa themed party

For my daughter's 10th birthday celebration we decided on a spa-themed birthday party. She wanted something grown-up. We have a suite in the basement that was perfect for turning into a spa.  White table clothes, faceclothes, fluffy robes, candles and a few touches of pink help set the mood. I found some great pink votives and pink with white polka dot pillar candles at Ikea.

I made cropped pajama bottoms for all the girls and was able to find inexpensive t-shirts at Michaels that matched the darker blue perfectly. It is hard to tell in the photo, but the flannel I used for the bottoms says "Glam-moo-rous" which I thought worked well with our theme.

A couple of local teenagers to come in to help out. They gave each of the girls manicures and pedicures with their choice of polish. I borrowed a foot bath from my mom and each girl had a warm, massaging bath before their pedicure. Of course the water was changed for each one. Used foot bath water - Yuk!

After the mani/pedis the girls had facials. The facials were mashed avocado and ripe banana. It looked pretty gross, but the girls said it felt good. We completed the lovely look of green faces with cucumber slices for their eyes. 

Of course, what's a party without food? My daughter and I spent a long time (longer that it should have been) decorating cupcakes. Why does it always look so easy when they do it on TV? We also made chocolate dipped strawberries and marshmallows with sprinkles.

Fruit kabobs because it couldn't be all junk food and because the colours are so pretty.

Another view of the food and beverages. The wine glasses are acrylic because I didn't want to risk broken

 glass with all those bare feet!

I think this was one of the girls' favourites - the candy buffet. Who can resist such a tempting display? I must admit I chose candy that was colourful, but not particularly my favourite so I would resist!

After dinner (pizza, of course) we made our own lip gloss and bubble bath. I let the girls choose their own scent and colour to add to the bubble bath to make it their own. I couldn't find pretty, inexpensive bottles so I bought bottled water - chosen for the shape of the bottle, rather than the brand. The water bottles were the perfect size and because they were plastic I didn't have to worry about safety. I provided them with blank labels and markers so they could label the bubble bath themselves. I got the recipes for the lip gloss and bubble bath from a book of my daughter's called "The Girls' Book How to be the Best at Everything". To end the party the girls played "Spin the Nailpolish" to decide the order in which to open the gifts.

Homemade and Altered Lamps

I don't know about anyone else, but I have a hard time finding lamps that I like at a reasonable price. The ones they show on home decor shows always look so different to what I find. Several years ago (I hate to think just how long its been) I found a wonderful glass cookie jar that I thought I would make into a lamp. I took it to a glass shop and they drilled a hole in the bottom for me. I used parts from a lamp I picked up inexpensively at garage sale, added a wooden plaque base and painted the base and lid black. Voila, one lamp for about $15. I think it needs a bigger shade, but I will keep my eyes open for one. My original idea was to fill the jar with something colourful that I could change out whenever I wanted a different look. Can't remember now what I had in mind. I guess I will leave it empty until inspiration strikes.

These next 2 lamps I picked up at Home Depot on clearance. They came as a set - 1 table lamp and 1 floor lamp. I liked the size and shapes of the lamps, but not the bronze/gold colour. The floor lamp I painted using the same wall paint I used in an adjoining room. Then I thinned white paint and applied a wash to it. The table lamp I wanted for a bedside lamp. It is difficult to see in the picture, but I painted it with a cream crackle finish. Too much of the orignal bronze showed through, so I applied a white wash over top.

Digital Scrapbooking

I have done some playing with digital scrapbooking and would definitely say I have a lot to learn. I have been using Photoshop Elements and it is a great program. Photoshop is quite powerful and fairly easy to use. Having said that, it can take a long time to discover all of its capabilities. There are an endless number of free tutorials available online. Two Peas in a Bucket - http://www.twopeaseinabucket.com/ is a great site for tutorials and inspiration of both digital and traditional scrapbooking. There also seems to be an endless supply of digital freebies online. http://www.shabbyprincess.com/ and http://www.digitalscrapbookingfreebies.com/ are a couple of sites I like. Some of the elements I used on these pages are free downloads from scrapbook sites, but the background paper I used for the San Diego layout I made myself using Photoshop.

I still love the feel of paper and can't see myself ever really giving up traditional scrapbooking. It sure is fun to play with digital, though. One advantage to digital is the ability to take your scrapping on holiday without carrying a ton of supplies. Just bring your laptop loaded and ready to go. You can even upload and order your pages before you get home. Now if I could just keep my pages from all looking alike...

Bookmarks

I made a book mark for each of the members of my book club. On the back is a label with the name of our book club, date of inception and names of all the members. The tab at the bottom of this bookmark can be used to recreate a heaving bosom (and is a little risque if pushed too far up). One of the books we read turned out to be a bodice ripper and the inspiration for this bookmark. The book was terrible, but it did make for a lot of laughs.

I used the Cricut and the Forever Young cartridge to make the "fashion" bookmark.

I used the Cricut for these two bookmarks as well. The title of the book under the palm tree is "He's 1 in 20", a reference to a line in the bodice ripper book that made us all laugh. The bookmark with the push up monkey holding the banana is a subtle (and child-friendly) reference to a line from a movie we watched together. Truth be told we have as many movie nights as we "book" club meetings.

Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, of course. We actually read the book!

Valentine's Day

Okay, so Valentine's day has come and gone, but I thought I would post my photos anyway.

 I made a chocolate fondue for the kids after school snack that included strawberries, bananas and marshmallows. This is the plate of nibblies I did for my husband, since he was at work and couldn't enjoy the treat.

I used my Cricut (I love my Cricut) to make wrappers for the chocolate bar Valentines that I bought for the kids and my husband. I used the Love Struck cartridge.The pink valentine is one that my daughter made for her Dad.

Teachers gifts

 I made these tiles as teachers gifts a couple of years ago. I purchased inexpensive, plain white tiles from the local home improvement store. I stamped them with black Stazon ink (stamps by Stampin' Up!) and coloured them with  SU markers. Once the marker dried the images were coated with Crystal Effects. The marker did bleed a bit, but it just added to the watercolour effect. I included a stand and a dry erase marker.

Well, I thought the best way to start my blog was to post pictures of my stamp/crop/craft/class room. I had to dismantle my space for our temporary "tenants" before I had a chance to take pictures, though, so pictures will have to wait. My brother has undertaken a large home renovation and we offered them our basement for a few months. My brother, sister-in-law and nephew moved in at the beginning of December. We have enjoyed having them here and being able to spend time together. I think the kids will really miss them when they move out in a couple of weeks.

Today I am getting ready for this Saturday's fundraising crop at Ranch Park Elementary. I will try to post pictures of the make and takes later today.