Burlap & Barns

Last minute birthday preparations in swing, I set out to tackle some table decor...

I considered making my own printables but time ran short as we've been preoccupied with finding a house (priorities...) so I hand stamped labels and mounted them on cream burlap...



...and then hot glued to clothespins.  I much preferred the texture of these little darlings vs printables so it worked out for the best:)

I also made a quick bow with some of the burlap & scraps from Livy's cow girl outfit for the mini chalkboard- handy dandy glue gun to the rescue, again!

And here is the "barn" cupcake tower!  I honestly haven't seen anything like this on pinterest but if someone else "created" this first, please feel free to take credit!

The construction was simply cardboard boxes wrapped in red wrapping paper- I cut white card stock letters using the Sizzix Big Shot & Typeset Alphabet Bigz die 

and applied with a 2 Way Glue Pen!

Livy was convinced that special presents were hidden in the barn which just increased her already heightened anticipation of her "birday":)

And last but not least, I added burlap cupcake wrappers...

 

...I love how they added another texture to the cupcake "barn"!

Thanks for following along as we wrap up Livy's farm birthday:)

Tiffany

Oink Oink

Happy Monday.  Thanks for following along in my farm birthday planning escapades- today I'm sharing Livy's Piggy Cookie Pops!

I had yet to attempt any kind of "pop" confection but was determined to create some for Livy's birthday so I started with some Newman's Own "oreos", candy eye balls, sugar hearts (for the ears), pink M&Ms & pink candy melts...

...I knew there was a 'freezing' step but initially thought I could skip it...the above disaster was the result:(

So, I wedged the sticks between the cookies (dip in candy melt first!) & popped my cookies in the freezer for approx 15 mins.  Then I doused them in pink and set them in my makeshift holder for a few mins before applying the "face"- I found applying the face immediately yielded a sad piggy with a snout & eyes in his chin!

These were far from perfect but I felt passable for a 1st attempt & Livy was elated when she saw a line of "pizzies" on the counter!  All that really mattered at this point was that Livy knew they were "pizzies" and gave them an official "oink oink" of approval:)

*Note: I made these a few days ahead & had no problem with freshness- the chocolate seals the cookie and once dry, I wrapped cake pop bags around them & tied with ribbon!

Thanks for stopping by,
Tiffany

Piggies in the Mud

There are so many ideas for farm themed birthdays and after making lots of lists and considering lots of options, I decided that 'Piggies in the Mud' (chocolate pigs nestled in chocolate pudding) were a must for Livy:)

So the first step was acquiring the pigs...lots of phone calls & google searches led me to finding
a candy mold...

...yielding another DIY project:)

I found the candy melts didn't fare well in the microwave (I prefer a makeshift double boiler) and the pigs need to cool completely before removing from the molds, otherwise they loose their luster:)

Easy peasy & now I had a jar full of chocolate piggies awaiting their muddy debut:)

Now with a successful DIY crayon venture and chocolate piggies, I'm imagining the possibilities for future parties/occasions using custom molds!

Thanks for stopping by,

Tiffany

Giddy Up, Horsie!

So, with the bean bag eggs & vegetable garden completed, I again evaluated the 'animal' situation for Livy's farm birthday.  I just couldn't justify the cost for a proper petting zoo and couldn't bear the guilt of seeing baby pot bellied pigs, lambs & "Danny Boy" potentially being man handled by wild toddlers that didn't understand being gentle...so that left me with the stuffed animals option...eh...

...and 'Ricky' & I were definitely not volunteering since we're "lousy jumpers"...

 ...so that led me to DIY Stick Horses!

 I followed the basic instructions of the blog tutorial and threw in some creative license, as always:)

These were a labor of love, not so much because they were difficult but because I had to acquire almost all of the supplies and I procrastinated getting them completed since there were so many steps involved:/

 And yet, they made it to Livy's special day and she had a blast helping to create her "horsies"!

A few notes about supplies I used:

'Ricky's' old socks= free

Polyfill= <$1

ribbon, rope & buttons= free

felt= $1

yarn= <$3

bamboo poles= $4

darning needles= $2

 TOTAL= <$10

This project made a great way to spend evenings once my little Ms were slumbering & I managed to work on them some during the day too, with Livy's help:)

Stay tuned tomorrow for chocolate piggies!

 Tiffany

Vegetable Sensory Garden

So with over 10# of Milo seed left over from the bean bag eggs, I opted to do 3 vegetable sensory gardens for Livy's farm day:)

I vaguely remembered a tutorial from Martha Stewart on making heirloom tomato pin cushions & took that idea to create some heirloom felt tomatoes...

...using left over scraps, I didn't fuss over these much and Livy was still thrilled with her "matoes":)

 
Next came the zucchini...

And I cheated on the carrots, snagging them in the Easter clearance items from Hobby Lobby:)

 

So now the veggies were done and all nestled in their Milo "soil", awaiting little farmer's to plant them:)

Tomorrow, check out my DIY stick "horsies"!
Tiffany

Sunny Side Up

Next in line for the birthday preparation was games.  I opted for a bean bag toss using "eggs":)

I had some white cotton on hand and with a fabric pencil, fabric scissors & handy dandy cereal bowl, began tracing & cutting lots of circles...

...then I cut lots of yellow felt circles for the "yolks"...

...the eggs were then sewn up, filled with Milo (seed) and placed in their basket, awaiting their big reveal:)

I made 20 "eggs" since I had the fabric to make that many:)

This was a fun little project and saved me a bundle:

Cotton= free

Felt= $1

20# Milo Seed= <$10

TOTAL: <$5

I used approx 1/3 of the Milo- the remainder was used for the vegetable garden...details tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by,

Tiffany

You're Invited

Wow, we made it.  All the weeks (ahem, months) of planning, pinning, researching, note taking, supply gathering, experimenting, sewing & baking brought about a marvelous success for Livy's 3rd birthday and I'm finally getting around to sharing the details!

Granddaddy & Gramma with Livy, the birthday cowgirl!

I decided a while back to do a farm theme as Livy was enamored with farm animals, Old MacDonald etc... and I knew it would be a blast to organize:)  So many possibilities- I confessed to Sweetstamper that I could happily plan a farm birthday every year and make each one unique!  I was having that much fun...

 ...and so was Livy:)

So here is where things started: a custom birthday invitation made using My Digital Studio.  I'm not a techy girl but this came together so quickly and I had a blast designing it with Sweetstamper's help.  And most importantly, I didn't end up frustrated; it was so easy & quick:)  I had Stampin' Up! print the invites as their print quality is fab!

And here is the back...

Isn't it sweet?  I love the simplicity & vintage accents:)

 

I used the Storytime suite from Stampin' Up! for all of the images- LOVE!

And I can't wait to create a custom invite for Jonah's next birthday on My Digital Studio- try it free here!

Stay tuned for more farm paraphernalia:) 

Tiffany