Fall 2021

I believe every home has a favorite season, and our home loves this time of year. I use many Tuscan colors in our everyday home decor - like chocolate brown, deep cream, terra cotta, olive green, bronze, and gold - to exude warmth and comfort. So many of these colors are also found in fall decor, making this season's accessories the perfect additions. Here's to cooler weather and the upcoming warmth of the holidays.

Star Wars Birthday Party

I just love making special birthday memories for my precious grandsons! Kash, who turned 9 recently, requested a Star Wars party - and his dad, soon-to-be-stepmom, and I were happy to oblige:

I used my handy Silhouette Cameo 3 to download a Star Wars-esque font, and made this welcome sign:

Once inside the front door, guests were greeted by a lifesize cutout of C3PO and R2D2 (from Walmart.com), who stood next to a curtain that I made with dollar store tablecloths hung from a tension rod, plus stars taped to fishing line:

The "light sabers" were a huge hit! I picked up pool noodles from the dollar store, then added silver duct tape and black electrical tape (I used less than 1 roll of each, and followed this tutorial: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinHeTnHo8m-o_2v1r0hQaEwTwANwfOG1oAUTk3qVtTPW-TogQMRLdZGXXIhHO7Ug3n26kQ1qe_VH0OVtWMHH-PjTfRSJT8dBzDDflI70nZwxblXSxqBt9mEqP1DNDSjqIk1rhmIrOfLcOq/s1600/Projects.jpg):

I also made this cute birthday banner. It looked a little plain, so I added tiny Star Wars characters to each letter:

The main table featured a Star Wars backdrop (thank you, Amazon), themed donuts, candy with fun signs, and cupcakes with "Yoda ears" (also made on my Silhouette, then hot-glued to toothpicks):

I made this adorable R2D2 from a small trash can from Amazon, and a template from http://inkrustandsawdust.blogspot.com/2016/02/r2d2-from-3-gallon-sterilite.html (I just had to resize their template to fit my smaller can):

I made some cute "light sabers" with pretzel rods and white candy melts tinted with yellow food coloring:

I painted this paper mache number, and added Yoda ears and my grandson's name:

I made the "fighters" from "Fit & Active 100 Calorie Baked Chocolate Wafers" (on Amazon) and mini marshmallows, held together with white icing:

I added a few more themed signs:

One of the highlights of the party was the "Yoda Soda," which was just green Hawaiian punch with a chunk of dry ice:

Most importantly, the birthday boy (and his guests) had a fun time!

Shark Birthday Party!

 Shark Birthday Party!

We recently held a fun party for my grandson, so I wanted to share the pics:

It was obviously a shark/nautical-themed event. Here are some close-ups:

I made this "life preserver" with a 16" styrofoam wreath form, rope (from Lowe's), and red duct tape. I added the card stock letters, which I cut on my Silhouette Cameo.

My son's fiancée set up this great balloon arch, and stacked up the beach balls to welcome guests.

My son's fiancée also painted the "surf boards" on foam boards, and she hung dollar store plastic tablecloth covers and a fishing net on the backdrop holder.

The "anchor ropes" are red licorice set on top of brown sugar "sand." I found the red and white gummy watermelon rings, aka "life preservers," on Amazon. The candy shark tooth necklaces are from Oriental Trading Company.

It was easy but time-consuming to make the watermelon shark. To form the teeth, I used the v-shaped garnishing tool from this set (Amazon.com: Norpro Garnishing Tool Set of 5 Spiral/Slice/Curl/Crinkle Fruit and Veggies: Garnishing Knives: Home & Kitchen):

I cut out the shark fins on grey card stock, using my Silhouette. Then I glued them onto toothpicks.

The "Shark Attack" snacks were gummy sharks from Amazon. The "Sea Foam" was white cotton candy, and the "Bait" was red Swedish fish.

The "Ocean Water" was a blue sports drink, which we topped with red and white plastic fishing bobbers. We couldn't get the bobbers to float white-side-up, and didn't have time to figure out a fix. If you know how, please share your tip in the Comments.

I used large paper maché letters from Hobby Lobby to make this sign. I painted some letters, and used scrapbook paper (adhered with Mod Podge) on others. Then, I hot-glued on the cute nautical wood accents, also from Hobby Lobby. I did the same for the numbers below, but glued some rope (left over from the foam life preserver) on the zero:

That's it! Like the sign says, "Thanks for swimming by!"