A Big 50th Birthday Party

We recently threw my mother-in-law a big 50th birthday party. My sister-in-law enlisted my help to do the party decorations.  That's part of where I have been lately, among the many other projects going on.

My mother-in-law was expecting a big over-the-hill party. Instead we decided to surprise her with a classier theme. Her favorite color is purple, so we settled on a purple and black themed party. We spent a lot of time browsing party decor online and didn't really like the stuff we were seeing in the stores. When we searched for party supplies for adults, we just couldn't find anything that fit our party plan. Most of it was for over-the-hill parties or just too tacky.

So we came up with our own party decor.

We Have a New Look!

I've been toying around with changing the look of this place for awhile now and I finally found something that is totally me.

Hope you all love the facelift too!

The *Easy* Baby Blanket: Take 2

Spring is in the air around here and everyone I know is having babies. I have been a busy bee making all sorts of things for little ones. I think baby gifts are one of my most favorite gifts to make because they are so cute!

A couple of our best friends just recently had their first boy and I wanted to make them something bright and fun for him. I remembered The *Easy* Baby Blanket I had made awhile back and thought that something like it could be the perfect gift, so it was off to the craft room once again.

This time I decided to jazz it up a bit and make a 4 patch blanket. It is just as easy as the original and sews up so quickly!

Budget DIY: Cleaning Foggy Headlights

For awhile now I have been very frustrated with the look of my car's headlights. Not to mention the fact that it makes it very difficult to see at night. They were completely yellow and fogged over. I was about at the point where I thought I needed new ones.

I can't take all the credit or in fact any of the credit on finding this incredible trick. My good friend Carol posted on Facebook about this neat trick and as soon as I read it, I went running to the garage to give it a try. I figured that it couldn't make them any worse and I had everything on hand.

Supplies Needed:
Clean rag or two
Toothpaste (the original post recommended Colgate but I used what I had on hand)
Not pictured - bowl of water

St. Patricks Day Roundup

As seems to be the case with almost everyone around me, I've been down with a cold most of this week. Boo! So that explains the lack of posts. But in my down time, I've been browsing all sorts of other pages.

I'm totally loving all the St. Patrick's Day inspiration I'm finding. If I can manage to kick this cold, I may manage to get Valentine's Day stuff put away in time to get up some St. Patty's stuff.

I would love to bust out my new Silhouette interfacing and give this lucky pillow from Infarrantly Creative a try. It's just so festive and would be a great replacement for some of the other Valentine's decor!

After getting all the buttons sorted in my craft room, the Shamrock Button Art from Oopsey Daisy would be a fantastic way to put them to use.

I am totally in love with the St. Patrick's Day Banner from Simple as That. It's so beautiful that I may have trouble taking it down after the holiday.

My sister-in-law just mentioned the other day that there are no cute shirts for St. Patrick's Day this year. I think this ruffly tshirt from Thirty Handmade Days proves her wrong and I think I may end up making it for her. It's just too cute!

Gluesticks has totally awesome St. Patty's Day party ideas for kids. This rainbow looks so delicious!

And over at Let's Go Fly a Kite, they are making some really fun leprechauns. Now I know what I've been saving all those toilet paper and paper towel rolls for!

A big thanks to all of these blogs for the amazing inspiration! Be sure to stop by and tell them hi.

DIY: Crochet Hook Clutch

At the end of January, a bunch of us signed up for C.R.A.F.T's Package Pal's Party. It's a fun way to make a new friend and exchange really awesome (crafty) goodies with them.

My package pal is Tres over at Tres Chic Nails. She also runs another great blog - The Inked Hooker. I was super excited when I found out that we were matched up because she can crochet! As I may have mentioned, I am totally incapable. She was super excited too because I can sew. We couldn't have been matched more perfectly! Her package to me is in transit and should arrive any day.

Since she is an avid crocheter, I knew just what to make her. I came across this lovely little Crochet Hook Clutch over at Little Birdie Secrets. They give a great tutorial on how to make it, but it does take some patience.

Tres mentioned that her favorite colors were red and black and while I was hitting up one of the local quilting stores, I fell in love with the gorgeous fabric

I picked a contrasting inside fabric for the hook pockets and made a small pocket for her needles. I used the measurements in the tutorial as guidelines for where to sew the hook pockets. I also sewed a bigger pocket that could be used for small scissors or a wider hook.

The whole package included the hook clutch, a hook sizing ruler and a cute California postcard.

I heard back from Tres recently and she just loves it, which makes me soooo happy!

If you get the chance to do the Package Pals, you definitely should. It's a ton of fun!

I will also be linking up at these parties this week.