Planes 5th Birthday Party

Cayden requested a Planes birthday this year.  Each year he asks for a cars birthday again.  I typically remind him he has had a cars birthday before and ask if there is anything else.  He is cars crazy!  As we started decorating, he started to get so excited!  It made putting everything together completely worth it.  He even helped me cut out cloud placemats and figure out where to hang banners. 

 

Chad's cousin makes the best cakes and cake pops.  She is incredibly talented.  I showed her a photo of a 2 tier cake I had seen on Pinterest.  We added Dusty and the 5 candle.  

 

I stumbled upon paper for bulletin boards on Amazon of clouds.  The Planes tablecloth is a runway and Cayden loved putting the planes on the runway as we setup.  We had Chicken, Hot Dogs, Pigs-in-a-blanket, Cheese Sandwiches, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Brocolli Salad and Pasta Salad.  I made labels from an Etsy purchase.  

 

 

 

A friend had Rosemary Strawberry Lemonade at her daughter's birthday party and I had to get the recipe.  It is delicious.  I think the longer it sits the better it tastes.

 

 

I found the Plane logo printables on Etsy so I could make labels for the food and the favor bags.

I found orange bubble wants, Planes gummies, Planes activity books, Planes tattoos and a planes glider.  I also went to Giant Eagle and got blue cotton candy to put into smaller bags as "candy clouds".   I found the labels and Chug's fueling station labels here. 

 

 

 

 

I wanted a wreath for him to go on the front door.  I wrapped a styrofoam wreath with burlap and used pins to place blue and orange balloons on the wreath.  I printed more of the Planes logo and added Cayden's name and a 5.

 

I was going to make clouds to hang from the chandelier but found some tissue poms instead.  I also used fishing line to hang some of his toy planes.  It sounds simple, but it REALLY was challenging.  I ended up needing to use tape and sticky tack to get them to hang right.

 

Land of nod had cloud garland on sale and I found a punch of felt garland at Target on clearance that went really well with the clouds.  I also like making slide shows for the Apple TV screensaver for their birthdays.

 

All of our family and friends came and Cayden had a blast!  The cake and cake pops were so delicious and so adorable.   

 

 



Guest Bedroom Update

 

I have updated the guest bedroom!  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do in here so I bought and returned a bunch of pillows, comforters and quilts.  I finally found the combination that was bright, clean and comfortable.  As I was figuring out what we wanted to do with the room, I started cleaning out the items that started gathering in this room.  I also cleaned out the closet and repainted the inside of it.  

 

 

We had a bed and a nightstand in the bedroom already so I went ahead and used what I have.  I may add a headboard or paint the one that we have.  The most unattractive piece in the room but the most beneficial is the new alarm clock that I bought that has 2 USB ports so guests don't have to find the plug behind the bed. 

 

Another practical item in the room is the WIFI password for anyone that needs it.  I have another one in the living room too.

I used to have a wardrobe in here from my college days but it needed some work and it took up a lot of space.  I decided to get rid of it and buy the stand instead.  I took the extra sheets and put them in the large basket I got from Target.

 

I put a basket of towels and wash clothes on the console table, an iPod dock, a small basket of toiletries, Q-tips and cotton balls.  I would like to find a small try to add to the table for snacks and water when guests stay.  I was going to add a night light too but thought the flameless candles could work too and wouldn't be as bright.  There are extra pillows, blankets and hangers in the closet.  I also have a pack n play in the closet just incase.   

 

There are still a few other things I may pick up if I see them like a X base stool to sit on or to sit their luggage on.

 

I am so excited for friends and family to stay in the new room.  We always have such a great time when people stay!  I hope they enjoy their new room!

 

Curtains - Marshall's

Comforter - Marshall's

Throw on bed - Target

Throw Pillows - Target

Lamp - Marshall's

Mirror - Target

Flower and Vase - Clearance aisle at Target

Console table - Target

Basket - Target

Candle holders - Home Good's

Be Our Guest Print - Etsy

WiFi Password - IROCKSOWHAT  (Blog)

Throw in basket - Home Good's

 

Photo and Memorabilia Organization

The next project I have on my list is the organization of photos.  Around this time of year I organize photos and videos from the past year.  I realized last 2 years have been really busy years so I have actually neglected the last 3 years or so. 

 I started with making sure each of the folders were organized by year then event.  I also went through each folder and got rid of blurry photos, duplicates, etc.  I back up photos a lot of places.  First I upload to Shutterfly (which I typically do after the actual event and not annually), I burn to a CD, back up on a memory stick (to place in a fireproof box) and finally upload to an external hard drive. 

 After I burned all of the CDs, I created a much needed index that included year, month (if possible), event and location where the CD is (ie. Box 1 or Box 2).  I placed the index in each box.  I also have some copyright releases from professional photos that have been taken.  They are starting to get a little tattered, so I put them all in a CD sleeve as well.

The next thing to dive into was the misc printed photos I have thrown into memory boxes but are not organized at all and have been mixed in with memorabilia, cards, photos, etc.

This process actually took a while and I started to get a system.  I would wake up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee, turn on my Netflix and start sorting.  I kept my gear out (labeler, sharpie, post it, dividers, plastic scrapbook sleeves and post it labels). 

I started with the loose photos and sorted them by year and event on the floor and placed post its on the top of the pile.  I then created a divider for the pile and then placed them in these boxes from the container store that I had purchased a few years ago. 

 





I had some pictures in old albums, I went through a few of those too to see if I could throw anything away.  They were pretty good so I left a lot of them in there and I added labels and placed them in a plastic container so they would stay nice.

 

The rest of the old photos I had, I placed into photo sleeves and purchased and 8 1/2 x 11 scrapbook.  I also placed some of our duplicate cards from Christmas and other events in the book as well.  Chad's mom gave me an envelope about a year ago with baby photos in those too so I placed those in the back of the book.  I may eventually create a whole new book for these photos.

 The next thing I did was sort cards.  Over the past few years we have started to get a lot of Christmas cards, invitations and thank you cards that have photos on them.  I put those to the side so I could place them in a binder or with craft rings.  I ended up with the binder, but I am not completely in love with the way it looks.

I sorted the rest of our cards, I did throw some out (which was really hard for me!) and I am sure there are others I can throw out but they are in there for now.  I made a pile for each family member then created an event and holiday tab for cards that we received as a family like a "congratulations on the new house" card.



We also had some memorabilia mixed in with our cards so I separated the memorabilia out and started placing each event in a sleeve then into a 3 ring binder.  Again, I ended up getting rid of a few things.  There were movie tickets and airline tickets I had no idea what the meaning behind them was, so I decided to pitch them.

There were a few things that I wasn't really sure of what to do with and they sat to the side for a while until I eventually realized I had space in this photo container I had purchased a few years ago.  I had some duplicate wallets from Cayden and Danica's photos, photo booth pictures, remembrance booklets and postcards I placed in here.  

Finally the last thing I did was find a 12 x 12 document holder for all of our old calendar.  I make a calendar every year for family members and also one for us.  It is typically a collage of photos from the prior year so I like to keep these (don't mind the baby foot in the photo). 

The process definitely took some time.  I probably worked on this project for the last month or so.  I would like to start making yearly photo books. That may be the next project for me. 

 

 

 



Office Update

I finally updated the office.  Last year around this time I purchased the cube from Ikea and got things organized and didn't get much further than that. It is the first room that you see when you come into the house which means it starts to become a dumping ground for everything that comes into the house.  My favorite blog, www.iheartorganizing.blogspot.com tells you to sit down and plan before tackling a project so I did just that.  She even has a printable for it.  You should check out some of her printables, here http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/p/free-printables.html

She tells you to think about the function of the space, which is very helpful as you determine what needs to stay, go somewhere else or get donated.  Here is how we primarily use the space and intend to use it in the future. 

- Office for working remote when needed

 

- Functional home office with files, supplies, computer, printer, etc.

 

- Drop zone for important papers, returns and coats/bags 

I then starting pinning some ideas about what I wanted the space to look like and where those necessary items would have to go.  I had started and stopped this project several times so I had a nice board going and had purchased or eyeballed a few things along the way. 

 

I also had to pick out a paint color.  Basically every wall in my house is a shade of Gray so as I started to look for a new color I thought, I bet I have a can of paint that I could use instead of going through the whole process again so I decided to go with our Sherwin William’s Quest Gray that we also have in the other room across the hall from this one.  I probably should have purged first but I got a little excited to paint and just started moving everything into the center of the room. 

 

Once everything was painted, I started purging.  I started a shred pile, donate pile and put elsewhere pile. 

After the purge and the walls were painted I started a list of my needs for the office.  I knew I could probably find what I needed at Target and Marshalls and maybe even World Market.  Here was my list.

-Chairs

-Printer stand

-Curtains

-Accent table

-Art/Décor

I may eventually go with all white or all black in the room but right now I have black, white, golds, silvers and I wanted to add a fun pink.  I was it to have a very relaxing and girly feel to the room.  I was amazed to find that I found the curtains and chairs at Marshalls.  Then I found the printer stand and accent table at Target.  

I found a cute teacup and candle stick at Marshalls along with a really cute love print that I just had to get.  I also picked up a cute basket to put by the steps because we tend to dump things that need to go upstairs right next to the steps.  I think I was feeling very inspired and very determined because I can hardly ever make a decision as quickly as I did that day.  I even used my Target Cartwheel app to get the accent tables!

I moved around some of the things that were on the walls before and got rid of the random baskets I had for returns and paper recycling.  I now have two baskets that match that I place those items in and even labeled them so everyone knows where to put those things. 

Now that the room is together, I want to do a little reorganizing in the Ikea shelving unit.  I am sure there are things in there I am no longer using or would like to place them a little different to fit my needs.  I am even throwing around the idea of spray painting the magazine files.   

I really love working in this space now and everything is so organized and accessible now

Desk - Traget
Cube Shelves - Ikea
Ipad Holder (Cookbook holder) - World Market
Chair - Marshall's
Pillow - Target
Bookcase - Pier One
Teacup - Marshall's
Black and Gold accent table - Target
Baskets - Target
Basket beside stairs - Marshall's
Love Canvas - Marshall's
Mercury Glass Candle Stick - Marshall's
Printer Stand - Target