Happy Friday

Happy Friday!  

I came home to find a package at my door! My tapirs arrived!

Hold on, Mel, what?

Yes, my tapirs arrived today and I am sooo excited.

 Let me explain.  G's favorite book right now is A Day with the Animal Doctors by Sharon Rentta.  I mean, favorite FAVORITE book.  She has is memorized!  It stars a mommy Dr. Tapir and her little baby tapir Terrence. Adorable.  Out of all the animals we have...we did not have any tapirs.  A problem I quickly remedied.  After searching for a bit, I found the Tapir and Friends Wildlife World Animal Store at www.tapirback.com - a tapir preservation fund.  I ordered and my little tapirs arrived in just a few days!  They are great quality toys too.

 On the way home, I stopped at the store for the ingredients for chicken enchiladas and found that my Kroger is selling Easter Schleich toys.  Nice.

 It's the little things in life that make me happy.  We are anticipating several inches of snow here this weekend, so I will be working on my etsy store, sewing, crafting, and being a shutterbug!  Have a happy weekend wherever you are!

Have a fun & playful day!
Mel

Mouse (& a few hamsters) Tea Party

 In preparation for our Mouse Tea Party, we read "The Red, Ripe Strawberry) by Audrey Wood and watched Cinderella.  Big Blue Eyes looked at me and asked, "Can I wear my Cinderella dress, because Cinderella had mouse friends?"  How can I argue with that logic?  We sliced cheese and cut up strawberries.  It was the perfect morning for a front porch Mouse Tea Party.

 Big Blue Eyes wanted "pink flowers and a blue tablecloth".  Okay!  I found these gerber daisies at Kroger and picked some wild flowers - I think they are mustard - on my way in this am.  Yes, I was roadside picking flowers for a tea party at 7am.

 The table looked so cute.

 Of course, the cheese and crackers were the biggest hit with our mouse friends.

 Our guests include...The striped mouse is by JellyCat.  The white mice are by Schleich.  The mouse with the pink dress on is a Woodzeez.  The pink and blue mice are actually hamsters - Japanese erasers.  The mice from Cinderella were from a playset found at the Disney Store ages ago.

 HUGE strawberry!

 Gus, Gus, get down from there :)

I even added some ribbon to the back of the chair - just to make it "fancy".

Backyard Rabbit Tea Party

 We planned the Rabbit Tea Party for a couple days.  I told Miss G that it would be after her nap on Wednesday.  As I put her down for nap on Wednesday, big blue eyes looked up at me and said, "I invited a lot of rabbits to my Rabbit Tea Party.  Are you sure we have enough carrots?  (smile) Yes, I am sure.

 Mr. Hop sat on a stack of old books so that he could reach the table and snacks.

 We served cucumber slices, baby carrots, and mint water. (smile)

 She DID invite a lot of rabbits!

 She even wore rabbit ears! (they were left over from Easter)

 It was the perfect day for a Rabbit Tea Party under the shade of an old oak tree.

 The rabbits were quickly moved around the snacks.

 And then they feasted on cucumbers and baby carrots - all the rabbits and Miss G.

 It all began with this vegetable centerpiece - a picket fence basket from Michael's Craft Store and some veggies from the produce section at Kroger.  Beautiful.

Garden Party Inspiration

So...somewhere Miss G got inspired to have a Rabbit Tea Party.  Okay!  I went with it.  I found this picket fence basket at Michael's Crafts Store and painted it white.  Before I set up for the Tea Party (while she was napping), I decided to play with themes.  Maybe they will give you inspiration for a backyard tea party or a birthday party.

 I made a simple bunting from shades of green and patterned papers from Archivers, Joanns, and Michaels.  I added a fresh cabbage, purple cabbage, carrots, and radishes to my picket fence basket.  I had a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet.  It looked like grass, so I added that.  Then I bought one yard of green and white gingham for the tablecloth.
 Here, I have a bird from the Dollar Store, a blue frame that I found in the dollar section at Michael's, and a Schleich hedgehog.  I just have a collection of stuff and just tried different combination.  This would be cute for a boy or girl or birthday party or a baby shower.

 Here is the close up.  Isn't it just darling?

 This would make a cute and simple bug themed party.  I got the bugs from Target's Summer section.  I think they are by Sunny Patch.

 Mr. Hop is read for his tea party.  I stacked old books so that he could see the table. :) I think it adds a little whimsy.

 Three Green Owls - they are from Oriental Trading Company.  But again...simple and cute.

 Here is a family of deer.

 The baby shower could be themed "Dear Little One" or something.  These are Schleich deer.

 The Woodland Animal theme.  I did this a few years ago for my brother and sister in-law's baby shower.  I had cross-sections of logs and sticks and ferns and twigs, too.

 This mushroom is actually a pen.  It added that little something, something to the décor.

 This one is Simply Rabbit - oh! you know what this would be so cute for?  The kids' table at Easter.

 Whooooo's Having A Baby? or Whooooo's Turning 2?  Owl-themed party.  The green owl is from Oriental Trader.  The blue one is actually a chapstick/lip gloss.  The brown owl is from Schleich.  (They made thee best animals!)

Here is Just A Snail...could be a garden party theme, a snail theme, you name it.  Again, simple and cute.  Birthday parties and baby showers can be elegant and simple and beautiful.  I used veggies (bought at Kroger) instead of flowers and I added a few whimsical touches.

Sneak Peak

 So we set up today.  Even though I had a plan, it still took about 2 hours to decorate the space.  Above is the entry way, decorated with photocopies of old photos of my grandparents when they were dating and first married.

 Layered on top of yellow table coverings were b&w photocopies of old photos forming a photo table runner.  I matted a few of the pictures on either black cardstock or natural craft brown cardstock.  I skopped every Goodwill in the area to find vases for my centerpieces.  I clustered different sizes and added simple flowers, feathers, and twigs.

 This old metal truck (found at Hobby Lobby) pays homage to the fact that my grandfather has loved and fixed trucks and cars all his life.  This will be the food table.

 More pics of the bottle centerpieces.  Look closely...see the vintage looking matchbox cars?

 This blue Ford truck is my favorite.  I added these matchbox and hot wheels for several reasons - to add some whimsy, in honor of my Grandpa's love of cars, and so if there are any kids there, they might have a little entertainment :)

 yellow. happy. sunny.

 I love yellow!

 I think people will sit and eat and look at the photos and they will be a great conversation piece.

I love my grandparents.  I mean, everyone loves their grandparents, but my grandparents have been a HUGE part of my life.  They lived less than a mile from my childhood home.  They have been a safe haven, an example of a happy couple, a Christian example for me and the community.  Even now, I write to them every day.  Yes, I said every day.  I write them a 1-3 page letter every day sharing with them my day, what my girls are up to, plans, every day ordinary stuff.  They are a part of my life...in a big way.

Happy Anniversary!
Mel

Don't Judge

 Okay, don't judge me.
Yes, that IS a playdoh bucket holding the precious flowers for my grandparents celebration.
Sometimes, a mom just has to do what she has to do and use whatever she has available to her.
In this case, the only container I had to keep the flowers fresh and in water was this playdoh bucket.

I went to Kroger - they have thee best flowers - and bought 6 bundles (3 for $12) and one bunch of roses for $9.  $35.00 in fresh flowers but sooo beautiful.

I will share the first set of pictures soon.

Mel