april FOOL

Elyott came up with the brilliant idea to throw an April fools day party. 

Her idea was Wednesday. 

The party was to be Friday :/

last minute supplies:

1. silly props

2. fake sushi

3. poop dessert

2 days, 10 kids, negative $ budget to spend coupled with her worthless attention span (which she gets from her mother) equals the joke was actually on me. There i was, all day before the party started hanging streamers, piping out fake piles of poop (brownies) and stuffing balloons with confetti all for a bunch of crazy kids who think parties grow on trees. TREES!! 


They ate pizza, they karate kicked each other on the trampoline, they told Jokes, they watched Yogi Bear. It turned out to be fun (ish). But that depends on who you ask. The kids with bellies full of fake food, or the mom who is one impromptu idea by Elyott away from banning children from my house forever! April Fools indeed sucker (me).

Thanks Elyott for being so enthusiastic, even if you suck at follow through, and thank you pregnant sister for helping me pull it off :)


team Boo ♥'s you

Candyland finale

Behold the cardboard candy wonderland! Complete with "peppermint forest", "gumdrop mountains", "gingerbread village" and "chocolate swamp". My favorite part was the game pieces on the ground. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen! Did i mention I never want to touch a piece of cardboard again in my life? well i don't.

team Boo ♥'s you

sober photobooth

{photos by Lang photographers}

You know all those wedding photo booths that circulate the blogosphere where everyone gets crazy and looks like they are having the time of their lives!? Well I hate to break it to you, but without alcohol, that's about as likely as cowboys synchronized dancing to Kenny Loggins in an abandoned wheat mill while it rains glitter and people cheer in a giant circle where everyone is awesome, for your prom. So since Kevin Bacon never showed up to our ward Christmas party...things stayed pretty mellow behind the photo booth lens. But we still had fun...in all our straight laced glory ;) 

team Boo ♥'s you

candy land (part 1)

this is what my backyard has looked like for two "shlong" months now (meaning the short/long time where crappy parts feel like forever, but you feel like you have to hurry to get it done and all the good stuff is passing you by. get your mind out of the gutter pervs). Giant props. tarps. paint cans and enough cardboard to make me want to set it all on fire and boycott paper products forever!! BUT, we pushed through, and with zero box cutter injuries! (but a couple close calls. sorry fingers.) and now most of it's in the dumpster where it belongs. Stay tuned for candy land part 2...the part where i pump fake and disappoint all the young children when there is no actual edible candy at the party (classic "bait and switch")...

p.s. just a heads up to those attempting to make a sparkly giant gumdrop mountain out of cardboard...abort...it will be the "red headed step child" of your party.

p.p.s. yes that is a working pepsi machine in my back yard. Adam accidentally mixed mothers day up with fathers day and bought it for ME three years ago (gritted teeth smile).

team Boo ♥'s you

it's beginning to look a lot like.....Christmas-ish?

I am in in charge of decorating another church party this Christmas (see others here here and here). So instead of making my house all cute and Christmas-y, all of my brain juice is going into life sized gingerbread houses and giant glittered lollipops. The theme is Candy Land (the board game theme is "SO hot right now" ;). Therefore if you happened to show up at my front door, I'd wish I could bring you inside to sit by the cozy fire and drink some hot cocoa with homemade whipped cream...

Unforch....something would likely fall and crush you...like a giant box of sparkly pine cones (those things are the devil) or the fifteen bags of fake snow I have been storing since last year's party. Its not safe. So for now, enjoy the tranquil facade of my front door (i'm such a faker)....and then pray for me. Pray for me hardcore.

team Boo ♥'s you

p.s. also please don't show up on my front door cause i'd probably worry that you wanted to wear my skin. But then I'd be like "meh" and then I'd just make you paint cardboard gumdrop mountains until your fingers bled :)


p.p.s What about a christmas decorating post made my content inspired ads to advertise "stool eating preventative!?" I am so offended. Your face is a stool eater, Google.

get a CLUE?

Elyott told me while we were painting in our backyard: 

"Mom I don't even think you understand how much i love to paint!...i think the decorating part of the party is way more fun than the actual party....Do you think they will put me in charge of this job when you are too old to do it?"

She knows just how to make a momma proud

(be careful what you wish for my love ;)

So as i said before our theme for this years halloween party was "Clue" (see last years circus freak theme here), so inspired by this artist we painted 6 foot portraits of each character to adorn the walls of our "mansion" (aka. basketball court) with some up lighting to make them extra spooky...

We constructed a giant pvc chandelier in the center of the room over a long dining table decorated with plenty of moss skulls and candles. And centerpieces of giant weapon cards (like in the board game) with green moss on silver chargers and #10 cans. I envisioned the chandelier to have WAY more lights strung on it but we had to pare it down based on "blown fuses"...stupid electricity is always interfering with my ideas ;) The perimeter of the room had carnival style games that represented each of the rooms of the mansion with the stage as the "scene of the crime." Unfortch i only have the capacity of my camera phone to capture the mood but hopefully you get the idea...

team Boo ♥'s you

halloween "high"

This week I worked on a "Clue" themed Halloween party, made to accommodate about 300 people on a $400 decorating budget. It was a challenge...but we pulled it off! I am basically a cardboard profesh now, as i can whip out a mystery themed mural like it's going out of style (if it ever were in style to make mansions out of cardboard??) 

I'd like to give a special thanks to Chipotle for always being there when my blood sugar got low, and to my unmatched husband for taking care of my motherless children all week. And, of course, to the checkout associate at Home Depot for agreeing to sell me more gold spray paint even though I had it suspiciously all over the underside of my nose. oopsie :)

Stay tuned for the party pics, but first the mood board:

team Boo ♥'s you

turning tricks.

When Elyott turned "5" my in-laws happened to be going to peter piper pizza while up north visiting the grandparents. I still hadn't gotten around to throwing her an official party, so I quickly scrambled and got the word out that we should make that outing her "birthday party"...only it was July...her birthday is in January. oopsie. BUT, she was thrilled! HA Hah, kids are so easy to trick. 

I miss the days when I could make their birthdays whenever I wanted. Now with an older sister (who is on to my game ;) as his personal informant (2nd graders don't let anything slide) we had to do Sheamus's birthday within an appropriate time frame, but that didn't keep me from keeping our white trash 5th birthday tradition alive.

-at a dog park

-with two ballons (??)

-a power ranger at his own "spider (man)" themed party

-serve yourself water jugs for drinks.

-a cousin-on-party-guest gang style beat down

-white (spider webbing) streamers that just looked like the gazebo got T.P'd

...a gazebo!!

So yes, my party planning has seen better days, but you know what the best thing about about 5 year olds?? You could probably throw their birthday party atop a giant mound of manure and they would still think it was the best party ever! Which is what sheamus told me later his was...booyah.

...well, minus the manure.

team Boo ♥'s you

jemma is ONE-ish

Last weekend the sisters/family constructed yet another last minute party. Pulled together in less than 24 hours from start to finish.(minus the adorable invitation above) This one was for the sweet and daring Jemma who turned one years old, ehgm....2 months ago

Anyway, I left in the morning run party errands with bed head, no makeup, running shorts and an ACDC shirt i'd been wearing for at least 48 hours.

WILL I NEVER LEARN??

repeat in mirror: "Shower before party...shower before party"

...because without fail, this is what I will end up wearing for the party!

So, when my sister began snapping pictures of me once it had started (after she was given time to go freshen up while I deep fried corndogs) my tallest finger couldn't help but stand up. "Carolyn!" she'd say "...just smile like Lisa!"....to which Lisa replied "Oh I'd be flipping you off too if I weren't tying ribbons around your hotdogs." (and sadly we were...well, parchment paper and bakers twine...whatever, it made sense at the time) That pretty much summed it up right there.

When all was said and done, it was the most fun one year old birthday party I've ever been to :) we sure love you Jem!

The above invite created by the always fantastic and creative Stephanie Kubal

She never ceases to amaze...she has SO much talent! {sayRED creative...where your customized artwork dreams come true!}

*fun fact...In my mad birthday rush (and sporting my au natural beauty) i ran into none other than my favorite couple on the planet! OF COURSE THEN. If I weren't in such a hurry I'd have taken a picture to document the magical moment....but then I'd have had to flip myself off :( you understand. Stacey + Geoff 4 eva.

team boo ♥'s you

(and Jemma)

(and sayRED)

(and Steoffery)

never mind the metal chairs...

Here is my latest form of life sucking force:

Christmas party #2

(the first for 30 guests, the second for about 250)

but good news....no contractions!!

I really think a lot more could have been done for bigger impact, but I had a Metric concert to catch, and that stuck a middle finger to any further embellishments.

(Bethlehem had snow and enormous orange basketball hoops...no??)

In the end, I showered, rubberbanded the fly of my blue skinny jeans and stuffed my face with ham before a night with Emily Haines and some mild heart burn.

And at this point in pregnancy, you can't really ask for much more than that.

It's all down hill from here donkeys!!!

team boo ♥'s you

How to launch yourself into pre term labor...

1. Agree to head up decorations for a church party

2. Hold said party in an enormous basketball court on a $250 dollar decor budget...(thank you appliance store dumpster) using cardboard, paint and tree branches (without putting ANY new holes in the wall)

3. Decorate party for two days straight

4. All the while bending to paint and jumping up and down a stage 67 times

5. Drink only Pepsi Max for both those days

and VOILA!

...you will find yourself in the hospital triage in no time.

So even though the party was a total success,

as was my body's ability to not dilate through two days of premature contractions, basically I learned

pregnant chicks need to have more helpers and drink more water when throwing a party.

(oops.)

All is well.

(Though I might be swearing off soda for the remainder of my pregnancy)

wrap it up.

One of the easiest ways to personalize a party is to re-package your own candy.  Cellophane bags with cute paper stapled at the top is one of the fastest and cutest party favors.  Or, if you don't happen to live in the butthole of America like we do {ie. the temperature is reasonable where you live} you can use Chocolate bars! 

Images via Lovely Package by this charming family cocoa company.

40 year lovers!

Last week i had the honor of helping my friend Summer congratulate her sweet parents on their 40 years of marriage.  With the Arizona heat, we had to take this surprise party inside and downstairs.  It actually worked out perfectly when her parents arrived early, but still had no idea that I was putting together the finishing touches down below.  I had to climb out the window well as to not raise suspicion as to why some strange scummy neighbor lady was emerging from the basement for their traditional quartlerly "family birthday gathering"

this is an easy illustrator label {and fast way to personalize an event} i made to glue over the lemonade bottles for each table round:

as always, we scoured our houses for things we already had for a very low budget decorating cost.  

{I think Summer spent under $100 bucks! }

sayRED.

Success! However the 10 minutes I had to get ready, with my dirty hat hair, resulted in me looking disturbingly like a giant baby! 

{oopsies }

I have a little love/hate with party planning...meaning I dread every minute until the actual day of setup (when adrenaline finally takes over). But of all mothers, there are few as deserving as Steph, due to the countless hours she's logged putting on parties for everyone else (she is the master of all party planners). 

Shout outs to Summer and Bert for being such willing helpers, and of course my sister Lisa who Co-planned and cleaned everything! {with her 3 monkeys in tow....making her the hero of the day in my book}  

Steph is going to make an amazing mommy....one that my kids already covet as their own in fact! And hooray for new babies that i don't have to give birth to...can't wait to meet you baby!!!