Vampirina Birthday Party

My Leila is 6 years old today. She is the sweetest little girl. She is a horse loving, bunny searching, craft making, joke telling, big sister. I love convos with her. I love how smart she is. We actually just got her report card back & she is just an amazing girl. She excelled in everything. Kindergarten has not been an easy transition. But I’m glad to say we are finally in the swings of things.
Birthday parties are my thing. I love planning. What Pinterest loving mommy doesn’t? But unfortunately we live in a tiny home & February is a tricky month in Texas (weather wise). So I usually book a place rather than try to cram all our family & friends in our house. This year my husband convinced me to do it again (for the 2nd time). Everyday I would look online at the weather forecast & hope for sun & warmth. The day of the party it was in the 60s. Not too bad. Didn’t rain but it lightly drizzled. Or do you call that fog? Day fog? Not sure but it worked out ok. My floors looked horrible but that’s ok.
On to the party details. Leila loves Vampirina of course. I didn’t want to spend so much this year so I tried to do this party on a budget (insert eye rolling, crying& laughing hysterically emoji here). Let’s just say this party cost about the same as any place I would have booked outside my home. But there was a ton more work put into it.
I only decorated one section of my home (dining area) & threw a bunch of balloons all over the floor.
I actually printed out a bunch of free online printables  here. I used the banner, cake toppers, ‘Welcome to my Birthday Party’ sign & thank you tags.
I also cut out these cute little foam bats out, attached sticker googly eyes & hung them upside down from my light fixture. I got the template off HGTV webpage.
Foam Bat Template

I made the sweets myself. Candy coated pretzels, marshmallows, & Oreo cookies. I made the mini cake & cupcakes myself. I did them from a box but  everyone seemed impressed I made them myself. For food I made pulled pork sandwiches, creamed corn, beans, pasta salad, nachos, hot dogs, jalapeño poppers & rice. I had like 4 crockpots going & my husband made a couple things on the grill outside. I also had jello & small ice cream cups which I actually forgot about until the party was dwindling down. Seems like a lot of food but I have a large family. About 20 kids plus their parents. 

The kids had fun & im happy I pulled it off. We had a pink castle bounce house, a table with Vampirina coloring pages & crayons (which I just printed off various websites online) & a bunch of outdoor toys for the kids, we pulled out the garage. 

Games we played:

Pass the Parcel, Donut eating contest, Oreo face (I’m not sure what this game is called but you place an Oreo on your forehead & try to make it to your mouth only using your facial muscles), Musical Chairs & of course the Vampirina Piñata. The games were hilarious & so fun. It’s so nice to hear your child say at the end of the day, “Best Birthday party ever!”  

Affordable Mother's Day gift

I'm really excited for Mother's Day this year. This year mine & my husbands 1 year anniversary lands on Mother's Day. Normally that's not something a normal person would be excited for but I'm mom, so it means even more. So Landon & I will celebrate the night before. He booked us this amazing resort where I'm just going to relax, soak up the sun & be lazy. Then the next day I can rush home to be with my baby & family. 

I recently discover the joy of collecting tea cups from thrift stores. It's like a drug. I want to invade every thrift store & find the perfect piece. I shared my new passion with my mom & she fell in love too. So I decided a succulent tea cup would be a perfect Mother's Day gift. Here is my tutorial. It's pretty simple & really affordable. 

All you need to start off with is a few mismatched tea cups, potting soil, pebble rocks & cute succulents. 

I didn't get a picture of my potting soil, but I bought a bag of Miracle Grow at the Dollar General recently for planting some flowers & veggies. So I had that on hand along with the rocks. Actually I took them from my front yard. I bought the succulents from Wal-Mart for about $2.50 each. 

And the tea cups & saucers where about .99 - $1.99. 

First you will want to put the pebbles at the bottom of the tea cups. This is so the water drains away from the plant & roots since there are no holes at the bottom of the cups. Next I added a little soil then transplanted the succulents and added a little more soil around the edges. Now you can enjoy looking at your new table decor or give away for any occasion. 

I absolutely adore them & I couldn't think of a better recipient other than my amazing mom. She's literally my best friend & I just hope & pray I have the same relationship with my daughter that I have with her.  I love you mom! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day. 

St. Patty's Day

I wish I could say I created a fun activity for me & my daughter this St. Patrick's Day. Usually I go all out with every holiday & decorate our mantel with a piece of artwork made by our toddler. But all I could manage was some yummy green Key Lime cupcakes (out of the box). It was still fun to teach my daughter how to break an egg.
Instead I'll blog about another green activity, gardening. For years I have been telling my husband I wanted to start a garden. But every year spring rolls around & I always say the same thing, "It's too late". This year I started my research in February. I had a small window to work with so I jumped in. I'm actually following this awesome YouTube channel, CaliKim29 Garden & Home DIY. She has a first garden series & google+ community which is so helpful. I stumbled upon her channel after looking up a bunch of gardening videos and I'm so glad I did. It's been such an enjoyable experience & the ultimate starting from scratch project. It's amazing to see a plant grow from a tiny seed. Here are a few pictures of their progress so far.

I've planted 2 types of lettuce, Kale, Cilantro, Spinach, 2 types of Tomatoes, 2 types of Basil, & Carrots (in a container). I'm using these Jiffy Pellets & they are so convenient. Not everything will be organic this year, but I figure I'm just learning the do's & don'ts of gardening. Next year we will try to go 100% organic. 

We will be planting some of these into the ground shortly. Blog on that coming soon.

I'll leave you with a picture of my little helper. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

1st Blog Post

Hi. My Name is Genissa and this is my first Blog post.
I have always wanted to start my own blog, but truthfully I've been a little frightened. As a full time working mommy to a beautiful 2 year old, I knew starting a blog wouldn't be the easiest thing to accomplish. I've been a huge blogger fan since way before Pinterest came along. Although I do admit Pinterest has inspired me to start reading again & of course finally start my own blog.
The main reason why I use to find myself wishing I had a blog was to mainly do tutorials. I use to scour the web & Martha Stewart website back in the day just to find a simple way to make something myself or as they say, DIY. Call me cheap or thrifty, but I don't see the point in purchasing something from a store when I can easily (or not so easily) make it myself. I definitely take after my creative dad.
So with that being said, I want to dedicate this blog to my crafts. Crafting in my world is not just me sitting at my desk making scrapbooks, although admittedly I used to make them years ago. Crafting to me is everything I make from my own two hands from scratch. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I know I can create something out of nothing.
Join me as I cook, bake, throw parties, sew baby clothes, plant a garden, make wreaths & everything in between. I'm no professional, but I enjoy this crafty life. I hope you feel inspired to craft or create too.
-GiGi