{let's go camping! L&B turn 6!}

Well, we pulled it off.

The boys are another year older and we have another party to add to our memories.

For their 6th birthday, I nudged them into a fun camping theme, after showing them all of the ideas I gathered on Pinterest.

This might be the last year I can get them to agree on a theme. We'll see what seven brings. :)

Of course I took this theme as my opportunity to doodle a bit for their invitation...

I reserved a shelter at our local park for the party and that was the best decision...worth every penny of the fee. The kids had a blast running around and finding treasures. Another great thing about the location was that it required minimal decoration. 

I made a camping sign on posterboard and stole the wood slice chalkboard off of their door...

A simple pennant, some balloons and my trusty aqua suitcases {plus a dollar store tablecloth} finished it off...

The real star of the table were the cupcakes my sister-in-law made...how freaking cute are these things?!

She even made two bigger versions for the boys...

The goody bags were filled with gummy worms and bears...

I used the same teepee doodle from their invitations on the stickers. 

{P.S....apparently gummy worms can ooze through paper bags. Who knew?!}

There were compass rings and magnifying glasses for the kids to explore the surrounding area for treasures. 

I had a treasure hunting sheet planned to use, but they were so busy on their own that I skipped it. I love that the kids are at an age where they can initiate their own games!

We also set up their teepee next to the shelter which the kids loved...

Sorry for the photo with my hubby's rear end...this is the only photo I managed to take of it! 

I planned on taking cute photos of the kids in front of it with my instax camera...you know, like a good blogger/crazy mom, but in all of the party craziness that never happened. 

Aside from opening their gifts and singing Happy Birthday, the party was super low-key. We ate pizza and chatted and let the kids run wild. Fun times. 

And now for lots more photos in totally random order...

This boy had his fill of people about two hours in...so much like his momma. :)

And this boy finally got his own camera. He is on cloud nine. 

We were so thankful to all of our family and friends that came to help us celebrate the boys. The past six years have included an immeasurable amount of support and love not only between us and the boys but coming from every direction around us. So grateful for that. 

Here's to year six! :)

XO,

{favorite projects of 2012}

Goodness where did the year go? Only a few days from now it will be 2013 and we get to start all over again. Is anyone else a bit freaked out by that?

The past 12 months have really flown by, right?!

I thought it would be fun to do a little recap of my favorite DIY projects and parties of 2012. Looking back on my posts from this year I realized that this has been a really big year for me in my little corner of the blog world. I've shared so many of my favorite projects and parties with you. And going through all of those posts reminded me what a fun and blessed year it has been for me, for our family, for This Girl's Life.

So here are my favorite projects from the past year...

{click the photos to go to each post}

My absolute favorite project of the year, and one I love looking at every day when I leave the house, is my Urban Outfitters knock-off wall art. And I'm amazed at how much traffic it has brought to the blog. Over 80,000 views. Seriously. That just astounds me.

This was by far my lease expensive project this year and one that I used every day. Using a $1 picture frame from IKEA and my cropodile punch, I made myself a sweet little earring holder.

I've made a lot of wreaths in my day, but this summery pom pom covered one has to be my favorite. I can't wait to pull it out again next year!

And the award for most labor intensive project of the year goes to....the boys' 4th birthday party. Seriously friends...I wore.myself.OUT. on this one. But it was SO worth it. I loved all of the fun details, from the candy bar to the city scape photo booth.

And last but certainly way up at the top of my favorite memories of 2012 is the surprise birthday party I threw for my Mom back in June. It is rare that I get to plan a girly party so I went all out with this one. And her reaction was the very best part of the party.

I'm so excited for another year of projects, and sharing them with you!

I also though it would be fun to go back through my outfits from the past year and pick my favorite looks. I'll be sharing those tomorrow, so come back for a bit of fashion inspiration. :)

{summer hued surprise party}

My lovely Mom celebrated her 60th birthday last week, and I decided to throw a really fun summer-hued surprise party for her. My original plan was to host the party outside on our patio, but with the Indiana summer temps hitting nearly 100 degrees that day, I had to move the party indoors to our dining room.

The great thing about this party is that all of the details can be translated to an outdoor party, and I decorated on a small budget, including some really personal and unique details.

Let's start with the table decorations, shall we? I used lots of pieces that I already had, including linens I inherited from my Grandma, my jadeite cake stands, thrifted milkglass vases, and mason jars.

I wrapped the mason jars with simple scrapbook paper strips, and made some fun yarn pom poms to attach to the milk glass vases for a bit of extra whimsy. The flowers were a lucky clearance find at my local grocery store that day...four bouquets in my yellow and white color scheme for $10 total!

A few final touches included circles of coordinating scrapbook paper, cut out with my circle punch, and a some favorite photos of my Mom.

We don't have a chandelier over our dining table, so my Mother-in-Law came up with the genius idea to turn our IKEA table lamp into a hanging light over the table. I simply removed the lamp legs, and with the help of my husband, hung it over the table. Yellow and white tissue pom poms added lots of fun and whimsy...

This idea could easily be done outside, hung from a patio ceiling or pergola, as long as you have a power source to plug in the lamp.

For the mantle, I created a super simple and personal bunting, using paper doilies, scrapbook paper, photos of my Mom, small wooden paper clips, and yarn...

It was one of my favorite details, and my Mom loved it so much she took it home with her. My original plan was to hang the bunting from our patio wall, so again this is a very versatile decoration for an indoor or outdoor party.

And now for the party treats! We sipped on iced coffee out of mason jars with cute lids, striped paper straws, and yarn pom poms thanks to an idea from this baby shower by Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy.

My one splurge for the party were fancy desserts from our local French bakery...key lime cheesecakes and chocolate hazelnut tarts. Yum!

I'm usually planning parties for my boys these days, so this was a really fun departure for me. We had such a lovely evening enjoying lots of girl talk and sweet treats. And the best part was spoiling my Mom on her birthday!