Living Room Update

Being not made of money has its downsides, but it does give you the opportunity to really decide what you want to do when you face a room you dislike.  Mirrored wallpaper?  Check.  Ughly drapes?  Check.  Mint toothpaste walls?  Check.  See?

My sisters fought me on whether this wallpaper was cool.  Frankly I'll fight anyone on that.  Anyone.

 But one thing I will give all the wallpaper in my house, is that it is a breeze to take down.  Praise be the wall paper gods.  Honestly.  I took this all down during a soccer game shooting match on TV.

 I considered saving some full sheets (FULL SHEETS!) for my sisters.  But I didn't.  The world shouldn't have mirrored bamboo wallpaper.  I chose a wall color, found some little things at Homegoods (white shelf and the beach painting).  Got a new lamb and hung pictures we already had.  Whew, so much better.

 But my favorite thing is the entertainment center.  It was hard to find one that we could use because of the long sound bar on the middle shelf.  This has 2 drawers, can fit a 45" TV, a DVR, sound bar, 2 baskets, and a play station.  We are ready to go!

 My husband keeps saying he likes this space....I'm sure he's being nice but sarcastic using the word space too much.  Next step is to remove the large curtains, which means we can move the couch back about 6", and replace with some nice blinds that fit into the window.

Neverland Party Part 4 - Party Games / Features

The kids really enjoyed dressing up with the costume options.  Some couldn't choose between a pirate, pixie, or pan.

 

 The treasure hunt was in a sand box.  Gold doubloons, necklaces, tattoos, and hard candy were hidden.  They put the treasure in their individualized bags.

 

 There was a crocodile guarding the plank.  Tick tock.

 And a little teepee I made with dowels, a painters drop cloth, and felt. 

We love Neverland!

Cute invitation idea here, with tinkerbell silhouette!
Need a favor idea - Try a tinkerbell lantern!
Here are more decorations to put you in Neverland!

Neverland Party part 3 - Decorations

Main table with the awesome cake, made by Its a Piece of Cake by Maggi in Auburndale, FL.  Central Floridians, they are amazing.

 Here's the cake with the porcelain tink from amazon - hard to find and it was actually broken the day before the party, had to glue it together with gorilla glue.

 Have your own Pixie Stick!

Here's the hand drawn map.  There are lots of things to draw this from out there, I just free handed, then cut out a big directional legend.

 I used black craft paper to cut out huge versions of the characters.

The kids had supplies to be a pirate, pan or pixie.  The wings and hooks were from amazon.  I used paper towel rolls for spyglasses, and made little felt Peter Pan hats with a red feather.

 Here are the lantern party favors.

 And there was a treasure hunt with little bags for kids to collect their "loot".

Cute invitation idea here, with tinkerbell silhouette!
Need a favor idea - Try a tinkerbell lantern!

Neverland party part 2 - Tinkerbell Lantern Glow in the Dark Party Favors

I made some Tinkerbell caught in a mason jar that glows in the dark for this 3rd birthday party.  We first sprayed craft bond on the inside of each jar.

 Then we poured in some glow in the dark powder I ordered inside the jar.

 It went really well, a little goes a long way (made 12 large mason jars).  And they glow in the dark!  It's awesome.

 This is what the first glow in the dark coat looked like.  Do the glow powder first so it is closest to the light source.  You have to pour into the jar and then shake.

 Next get your glitter (I hate the stuff, but it had to be done).  Spray another light coat of craft bond in between the glow powder and glitter.

Next step: shake.  Lots of shaking.  Spread the glitter around.

Then once that is done you may need to pour out any excess glitter.  Glue the mason jar lids on so kids can't open these.

 End result:

 Like I said, they glow really well.  You can tell your party goers that Tinkerbell is inside this lantern!  Or add your own tag explaining what it is.

See part 1 here.