Halloween 2012 - Mario Riding Yoshi

Yes, it's impossible for me to do anything without driving myself crazy. Even with Xander's Halloween costume. He was happy with being "just Toad". In fact, that's all he kept saying to me BUT being me was not going to be happy with "just Toad". I wanted Mario riding Yoshi. Not just Yoshi. Not just Mario. Mario Riding Yoshi!! So I set off to find a tutorial or anything to give me some idea how I was going to accomplish this crazy over the top task. I scoured the internet and didn't find much of anything but images of other awesome DIY Craft Gods homemade creations. Errrrr, I love to craft but I am no sewing goddess. So here is my attempt at Mario Riding Yoshi. Thanks to some felt, a red sweatshirt and dinosaur costume I frankensteined up into Yoshi my kid will have the coolest Halloween costume ever....

Next Stop Hogwarts!!

I know, I know!! It's been way too long. I guess you can say I am terrible at this blogging thing. But I have been super busy with our Xander's World shop an creating some new cool shirts that you won't see anywhere else. I also want to give a go at this Pinterest thing. Since, you know I love telling you all about the cool things I find, this awesome site does that times 100!! So I am starting my first "official" board. Knowing me is knowing I AM A POTTER FREAK!! In my house, we have Harry Potter on at least once a day if not a whole marathon. So here we go enjoy my Potter board. Follow me on Pinterest by click on the link to the right ;o) Shirt photo courtesy of Xander's World https://www.facebook.com/XandersWorld Tumbler courtesy of Abby Bear Boutique https://www.facebook.com/abbybearboutique?ref=ts

Uneekpillows - click here

Pick of the Day- Uneek Pillows

This isn't my first purchase from the awesome Etsy store. If you remember I posted an adorable Serendipity pillow on my Facebooke page. I fell in love with this store after that purchase. So much that these amazing Halloween pillows are all mine. Pictures don't do her work justice. You wonder, why would you buy FIVE ( handmade no less) pillows? Well how could you not when they range from $10 to $14!!! You will not find another pillow at that price and that well made! I can't wait for more and forget about Christmas!! So take a stroll in this shop. You may want to wait till she restocks...LOL I think I bought half the store.

This Is What You Call OCD - A Tutorial To Drive Yourself Nuts AKA Xander's Invitations

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Xander's Invitations:

So let's just begin by saying I do this to myself EVERY year! I have these huge ideas for Xander's birthday party and then question my sanity while preparing for it. TThe first year was "Hey!! How cool would it be to have the entire ceilings of my house covered in Yo Gabba Gabba colored balloons?" Uhhhh why didn't anyone tell me that blowing up balloons the night before would mean balloons on my entire floor not the ceiling? Or what about the THREE, yes THREE, birthday cakes that I made shaped as Muno, Brobee, and DJ Lance. Last year, well that was another nightmare. Poor Xander. We will get into that another time. But let's just say I didn;t learn my lesson the first year and decided to make every kid tshirts. Again CRAZYYYYY. SO let's get back to this year! So we all know we are doing a pirate theme, and I get this great idea (not) to do a message in a bottle. Cute right? Well I couldn't stop there How about the message in a bottle is housed in a treasure chest. Oh wait that's too boring right? How about a message in a bottle housed in a treasure chest with pirate garb and trinkets?!?! As if the message in a bottle wasn't cute enough.

So I ordered really cute invites from PartyTimeFun on Etsy
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PartytimeFun

So this is where the OCD kicks in... I thought how cute would it be if the edges looked old and tattered? SO I took all the invites I printed out and decided to burn the edges.
KIDS DONT TRY THIS AT HOME!!

I also had to put an insert to have the parents RSVP with the amount of people attending and also to let me know all the kids shirt sizes, since you guessed it!! I am making shirts for allt he kids again. ( Can we say IDIOT)

So here is that OCD thing again... I thought to go with the theme of old and tattered why not make the paper distressed and tattered looking. How you ask?

Well I took a bowl of left over coffee and a paper towel and blotted a plain piece of paper with the coffee and let it dry

After you let it dry it will put it in the printer and print out whatever little message you want to leave. This is what it will look like

I then cut them with jagged edges to look like this

So I found a pirate themed message in a bottle kit at Oriental Trading
http://www.orientaltrading.com/
It came with the bottle, eyepatch, skull ring, stickers for the outside of the bottle and few items I didn't use like a blank invitation and sand (mom's you can thank me later)

I rolled the invitation and the insert up and tied it with thin brown twine and stuck it in the bottle

I then put together the treasure chest and the goodies. I also got these at Oriental Trading. They are meant to be favors but I used them as part of the invitation

So I stuck everything in the treasure chest and will box it up and ship out or for his classmates I used kraft paper gift bags and printed out their names in a Pirate font and attached the bags like so

So this ladies and gentlemen concludes my sucky tutorial or maybe my documentary of a crazy person you choose :o) Next will be some of the cool pirate gifts I got the little guy. Some from my beloved Etsy, some are not. Thanks for stopping by :o)

Xander's 3rd Birthday Party - Where You Ask?

Jersey Shore Pirates - Brick, New Jersey

So this year we are having Xander's party at this awesome interactive pirate adventure called Jersey Shore Pirates. They dress the kids up as pirates tattoo them and paint their faces. Then we set sail on the Metedeconk River to fight mean bad pirates. The age range is suitable for ages 2 and up. They have different packages to choose from or renting the whole ship isn't in your budget you can make a reservation and pay per person. Check out their link by clicking on the above title: Xander's 3rd Birthday Party

It's Been Awhile

Yes, I know... It's been awhile since my last post. Life gets in the way sometimes and you need to drop what you are doing and take care of what needs to be taken care of. But I am back!! I am getting ready to work on Xander's Pirate Birthday Party. I will try to document as best as I can what I am doing and how-to's. His gifts are all pirate themed. I will be posting pics and links of where to buy them. I am not by any means a blogger. So forgive me if my tutorials suck! My first tutorial will be his invitations. So stayed tuned...

Something From Cassie - click hereI

We are huge fans of pirates here. Xander's birthday party is being held on a pirate ship this year. So get use to seeing some pirate themed goodies on here for the next month. I came across this awesome pennant while browsing through Etsy. Cassie is one of the sweetest shop owners I have come across. She has such an amazing eye for colors and combinations. That is what caught my eye with this banner. Who would have though to use these awesome colors together for a pirate theme? I am excited to use this for Xander's birthday but I can also hang it in his room. Thanks Cassie!! So stroll on in to her store. You will love it!