Monday, May 31, 2010

Baby Banner

Along with the party favor tags below, I also created a banner for the baby shower. A banner is a lovely addition to any party. I used my cricut machine to make this one but you could make one out of any shape you like. The bottles and babies were from the Everyday Paper Dolls cricut cartridge and the letters are from the Robtz cartridge. The wonderful thing about this banner is that it can serve a dual purpose - the parents could place this in the baby room after the baby shower.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Tags make a party favor

Of course when the BFF asked me to make invitations for her friend's baby shower, I couldn't just stop there. Especially when I found out there was not a theme, or color scheme, or meal plan - I new I had to do something. So I offered to do what I could from 200 miles away - decorations.

No party, especially a baby shower, is complete without party favors. But not just any party favor, I'm a fan of those you can eat, have true purpose, and look cute at your party. Coasters and koozies have never been high on my list. It was agreed that they would make brownies or cookies, wrap them in cellophane, and I would make the tags. No party favor is complete without a tag.

To go along with the invitations I created tags in the shape of the animals. 

Of course no tag is complete without a sentiment.

 Decorations are not always balloons and streamers. The smallest details make a world of difference.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Hungry Hungry Hippo

My best friend was roped into co-hosting a baby shower for a friend of hers. The BFF does not do parties. She doesn't feel comfortable in the kitchen although she can make much more than what she gives herself credit for. She has a fear that no one will come to her parties which of course has never happened. And, she says she doesn't have a creative bone in her body...that I agree with.

She called and asked if I would do the party invitations - I of course jumped at the chance. Who could say no to the opportunity to make cute baby themed invitations. I began to ask your standard questions: what is the party theme, what is the sex of the baby, what colors should I concentrate on etc. I was given a few pieces of information to work with. Her friends were having a baby boy so I couldn't make it too pretty. The soon to be parents wanted a couples baby shower so the invitation had to be appealing to both male and female guest. I was also told they needed the invitations in a week.  "Ahh nuts", I thought. Creativity takes time, perfection patience. "Not to fear" I told the BFF, "I got this".

I recently purchased the Create a Critter Cricut cartridge. This was the perfect cartridge for this project. Adorable animals scream baby.  I made four different invitations - the hippo (showed below), a giraffe, an elephant, and a lion. The hippo is what attracted me to the cartridge in the first place.

As a young child I always wanted the game - Hungry Hungry Hippo. Sadly, I never got it. The letters and numbers were made with the Robtz cricut cartridge.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Not the first thing that comes to mind

My mother is a special little woman. As I have mentioned in a previous post, she is over 70 years young. About three times a week she visits a senior center where they do group exercises, play bingo, have dances, conduct yearly miss senior pageants - your regular senior citizens activities. 

From time to time they have craft fairs where any senior may sell items they have made. This is how they discovered that my mother could knit and sew. Every since then, they bring different clothes for her to mend or hem and every once in a while, she will get a special request. For the most part they have been your normal items - a pillow case, a hat, a table cloth. But every once in a while she gets that extra special request.

When you first look at this - what would you think this is used for?

Obviously it's a pouch. It's meant to hold something - i.d., cash, keys.....dentures? Yes folks, my mother was asked to make a pouch that could hold dentures. Apparently one of the seniors from her center is always losing hers. She puts them down and then forgets where she puts them. So now, she has a pouch that she can wear around her neck and always keep track of her dentures. For course, the next question is - why is she taking off her dentures? But that is for another blogger to report on.

Dentures - not the first thing that comes to mind. 

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Loss of a Fighting Irishman

The loss of someone you love,whether expected or unexpected, is very difficult to bare. Going from one day having that person in your life to the next never seeing him again is more than heartbreaking, it can change your soul. 

Recently, one of my sister-in-laws lost her father. Although she was surrounded by loving family and friends (she lives out of state), we wanted to be there for her, my brother, and my niece and nephews. We all called and tried to put into words what our hearts were feeling but words failed us. We knew nothing we said would bring him back or ease their pain. We simply said we loved them and we were thinking of them.

I am not a fan of sympathy cards but I felt I should send them something. This is what I came up with. I hope it warmed their hearts - if only for a moment. 

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Favorite Mama

I'm sure you guessed it, I saved the best for last. My favorite kind of mama is MY MAMA!!! Now I know that most people think their mama is the best. But hands down, my mother can beat your mother in a mother contest....whatever that would entail.

I always tell her she is my favorite mama to which she replies, "But I am your only mama" (my mom is smart as well as adorable). My response is "But if I had other mothers, you would be my favorite." And it's true. She would be my favorite.

She is the cuties 4 ft 10 inch - 73 year old - nicely round and squishy mother you will ever come across. She is soft in all the right places; the perfect partner to snuggle up with. She makes the best tortillas this side of the border. And she has this laugh.....I can't explain it, you have to hear it to fully understand what it does to you.  No matter what we are doing - whether it's playing Wii bowling (yes, she is in an senior citizens  Wii bowling league) or playing cards (you better watch her - she cheats) or just sitting on the couch talking, I always have the best time.

Happy Mother's Day to my FAVORITE MAMA!!!! I love you!

And Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. Thank you for being your child's favorite mother!



Thursday, May 6, 2010

Special Mama

There are many different ways of showing support for your child. You can be on the sidelines of every single game, you can give a standing ovation to a performance you know sucked, or buy a violin after you were promised (for the 4th time) that this is the one. But there are a select few who go a step or two further.

It's instinctual to want to protect your child. It's in a parents DNA. When you see your child hurting, all you want to do is fix it. Kiss it and make it all better. Unfortunately, there are situations in which a kiss won't fix it. And there are situations in which perhaps, a mother should not get involved. This story could possibly be one of those situations.

Rumor has it, there was a lovely girl who like a boy. The lovely girl told her best friend that she liked this boy. Evidently, the "best friend" also liked the same boy and began telling the boy lies about the lovely girl. The lovely girl found out what was happening and was understandably very upset. She went home crying and told her special mom what had happened. This mother did what any..what most....what some...what few mothers would do -she called the "best friend's" mother. The outcome is not relevant. Sufficed to say, there was yelling, perhaps naming calling, a few tears shed - but in the end, the lovely girl went to bed knowing her mother had her back.

 Happy Mother's Day Special Mama. You are in a class by yourself.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Working Mama

Stay at home mothers are never fully appreciated for all that they do. They not only run the house, they are taxi drivers, coaches, tutors, and sometimes medics. They do so much for others that they often forget about themselves and their needs. As if all of this was not enough, there are those mothers that also work - they must be superhuman.

The woman that is recieving this card rejoined the work force after more than 15yrs as a stay at home mom. She was nervous at first. Unsure if she could handle the stress and demand of a job. She wondered what skills she possessed and what she could offer an employer. Turns out she had nothing to worry about. She is hard working, reliable and capable of anything.

Happy Mother's Day Working Mom!!! I always knew you had it in you!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Adoptive Mama

Adoptive parents are wonderful souls. They open their homes and hearts to another human being and become a family. Some people adopt a baby because they can't have one on their own. Others adopt because they want to share their family with someone who lost theirs.

The lovely lady that is receiving this card adopted a beautiful baby girl, not because she couldn't have any of her own (she gave birth to three babies) but because she fell in love with this little girl the moment she saw her. She new this little girl was family from day one.

Love is thicker than blood.
Happy Mother's Day Adoptive Mama!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Godmother Mama

I admire women who give birth and raise nothing but boys. To be the only woman in a house filled with dirty stinky boys takes a certain type of person. Someone who isn't afraid of washing a load of whites - which haven't looked white since the day they came out of the package. The type of woman who has learned to no longer ask where a stain came from or why a pair of tidy whities with three holes is in the laundry basket instead of the trash. Between stories of video games and gross bugs they find outside and bring inside, I am amazed at how a mother of boys keeps her sanity. But they do because that is a mother's love - to love what others wouldn't. To see the beauty in bugs, the poetry of the stories, the humor in the laundry. 

My godmother is a mother of four boys. She raised them practically on her own. They have grown up to be wonderful young men who are kind and giving. They love her so much and would do anything for her. They are no longer dirty or stinky, however I doubt it very much if they throw underwear away once there's a hole in it - its some kind of guy thing they never grow out of. I would be willing to bet that Adam had holes in his underwear and Eve couldn't convince him to throw them away either.

Happy Mother's Day Godmother Mama!