celebrating with dr. seuss and the abc's

My little boy turned one on Saturday, and I wanted to celebrate in style!  So I decided on a theme based on this book...

It was kind of a joint Dr. Seuss & ABC's theme. When I found a seller on Etsy who could create a custom t-shirt for my little man to wear, that's when I knew I could take this theme and run with it. So I did. (I'll show you the t-shirt a little further down in this post.)

The special cupcake reserved for my little guy.

Each cupcake topper either said "A is for Angel" or "B is for Boy" or "C is for Caleb". This time I tried making Red Velvet cupcakes and boy...they were good (if I do say so myself). I used this recipe and the cupcakes and frosting were just about the best I've ever made.

Balloons are always cheap but add so much color. Love 'em.

It was impossible to find Dr. Seuss-themed decor so I realized I'd have to make it myself. I think this guy is one of the things I'm most proud of. I found foamboard at the Dollar Tree. Who knew? Usually that stuff is fairly expensive at the craft store. So, on one of them I re-created this guy from the front of my inspiration book (Dr. Suess' ABC). I honestly didn't know if I could do it...but I guess I could. My girls obviously thought I did an okay job because they were petting him and "feeding" him once I got it completed!

 

Trays from Target's spring-themed dollar section. These were the $2.50 variety, but still...perfect! And the napkins were all from Target too.

These napkins kinda reminded me of the Cat in the Hat's hat, so I had to get them.

All the little buckets with flowers, utensils, and candy in them...Targets $1 section again. This little tree is from Dollar Tree.

I used foam stickers from the kids' section of Michaels for the cupcake toppers.

Scrapbook paper on foamboard is the background for this display of the invitation. Oh how I love thee, Scrapbook Paper.

Bunting made of scrapbook paper again. Have I mentioned that I love scrapbook paper? So cheap, so easy.

Normally I would be morally opposed to blue flowers. But if you can't have blue flowers at a Dr. Seuss party, when can you?

 

I cut the ABC's out of foamboard as well. Hard to tell in this photo, but they're a good 18 inches tall.

And here's my little man, in his custom t-shirt by dzns4ubyme  Didn't she do an AMAZING job? (And great to work with, too!) The shirt's folds hide this in the photo, but it says "Angel Boy Caleb". One of his nicknames is Angel Boy ('cause he really is!) and so that's how we personalized the ABC's for this party.

And a great time was had by all, including the guest of honor. He very much enjoyed his first frosting ever, thankyouverymuch.

another party on the way

My baby boy is turning one on Saturday. I can't believe it.

I'm throwing another party. I can't believe that either. Didn't I just get done with my kids' birthday parties?

Apparently not. I need to get used to having a March baby now, to follow my December and January babies.

Anyway...the photo above is a little hint as to the theme of the party. If I can pull off everything on my list, it will be sooo cute. If I can just pull off half the things on my list, it will just be cute. I'll check in soon to let you know if it turns out SOOO cute, or just cute.

a vintage modern nursery

So, while I sit here pondering the meaning of the universe - or something like that - here are a few pics of my little boy's nursery. I never got around to fully posting about it so I thought I'd take you on a little tour. Up until about 8 months ago, this was our little-used but oh-so-messy home office. The walls were light beige and it was full of office-y and miscellaneous junk. I had a box (full of greeting cards, of all things) whose color was exactly what I wanted for the walls. I took the box into Home Depot and not only did they custom match it, they were able to transform a gallon of paint I had previously purchased for my living room that was an Oops. You know the kind...where you don't take your own advice as a decorator and buy a whole gallon first rather than a quart. That kind of Oops.

 

So here's his crib. The pictures inside the crib don't live there. (Kinda seems like that would make me a bad mom.) Here's the deal: my hubby broke my drill (yes, we each have our own) and I am embarrassed to say that eight months later, these pics are still on the floor leaning against the wall. But they are intended for the wall above the crib. I got this Dwell Modern bedding at Target on clearance (discontinued, sorry). By the way, I love how these framed prints came out - last summer, I bought a children's book at an estate sale...it was dated 1914...I selected a few pages, put them in Ikea frames, and voila! one-of-a-kind artwork. The book only cost me $9.















Here's his mobile...from Etsy shop thewonderlandstudio . He LOVES staring at it! (What the heck, I catch myself staring at it too!)





















I received not one, but two prints from Etsy seller dazeychic as gifts. I have observant mothers - both my mom and mother-in-law took note of prints I had noted on my blog and got them for me at my baby shower. Yay! This one shows a baby boy dropping from heaven. (Awww!)


















So the month before our little guy was born, his sisters (both preschoolers) and I painted a little original artwork for the nursery. I actually had started a canvas years ago and never finished it. To save money, I painted over it with white paint and then let the girls have at it. I tried to limit their colors to the general color palette but otherwise they did their own thing. My only regret is I didn't have them sign and date it. I think I could still at least add the month and year somewhere on the bottom or the back.






I had several paper lanters that were all leftovers from various parties I've had in the past. I suspended them with fishing line over the dresser and he loves looking at those too. I picked up this old bedroom set of dresser, highboy dresser and two nightstands off Craigslist for $80 total!!! How happy was I?? They needed a little bit of cleaning but were just the right look for his room. The extra nightstand is now a sidetable in my living room.




















I still want to find a more colorful throw pillow for this chair. You can see the nightstand here as well as the red lamp and red rug from Ikea. Actually, there are two rugs in the room because it's sort of L-shaped and it was easier to afford two smaller rugs than one huge one. So I purposely chose to get two different rugs rather than two matching.










My huge metal "C" I got on clearance from Paper Zone. This was before we knew we were having a boy, but I was really hoping we would, so we could name him Caleb (as we've always wanted). This was a natural steel-look - I spray-painted it red.























Another print from Studio Mela (aka dazeychic). I love the vintage "Little People".

Those paper lanterns again. The polka-dot one was decor for my eldest daughter's FIRST birthday party...I totally forgot I even had it till I was organizing one day before my son was born. Perfect!

I love his little CD player that looks like a vintage radio. We bought it at Target about five years ago when our first daughter was born. It works great in Caleb's room now!

Thanks for coming along on this virtual tour! Coming soon: transforming a $5 chandelier!

the new (tiny) man in my life

here he is... sweet Caleb, born March 20 (first day of spring!)

and he is a delight...here with his biggest sister...

and here with his littler big sister...

he is already adored by all.

***

he has a cute, happy little nursery...

complete with artwork by his big sisters...

and some from his mom's favorite Etsy shops too...

but of course, he can't be convinced to use it yet! little stinker. ;-)

*still to come: tons more nursery pics. my drill broke before I was done hanging artwork, so...it pains me to admit...it's still not done! yikes. so this will have to do for now.

sneak peeks

Happy New Year everyone! Okay, so I realize that January 16 is a little late to finally get around to saying it...but hey...I'm doing everything a little more slowly these days! I am feeling large and grumpy and can't believe I still have another 8 weeks of pregnancy left. The nursery is coming along - slowly but surely - and while I don't have any photos of the actual room to show you yet, I thought I'd give you a sneak peak of some of the components. I'm excited because I think the room will be really fun, bright and cheerful. It's been over four years since I got to plan a nursery, because my second daughter just got integrated into her sister's room, so as you can imagine, I'm having fun thinking and dreaming about this one.

I like this wall color...photo from apartment therapy

First off, you'll just have to picture a white crib along with a set of white 1960's furniture that I bought off Craigslist - it is SO very retro and fun. There's one long, low dresser, a taller highboy, and two matching nightstands. I'm using one of them in the living room as an end table, but the rest of the furniture is in the nursery. I got the whole set for $80!

Target bedding

The walls will be turqoise/aqua - not too pale, because with all that white furniture I don't want it to look feminine. Then, this bedding from Target - I waited till after Christmas to buy it and snagged it as soon as it went on CLEARANCE - yes!!

Then, I got this rug at Ikea. It's about 4' x 6' and was on SALE for $19.99. Have I mentioned I LOVE Ikea? I'll be accenting mostly with red (although all colors are welcome!).



This is a great mobile from thewonderlandshop that was one of my Christmas presents (by my request, of course)! I love all the colors, and of course the circles correspond with the dots on the bedding. Love it!

More red to accent with - this one's still on the wishlist - but it's a lovely red retro-inspired lamp from Ikea.

And last but not least, just a couple of pieces of artwork that I'm drooling over for the nursery:

"You Dropped from Heaven" by dazeychic

"Don't burst my bubble" by shelbyhealey

And one more sneak peek...I know I'm on a "blog break" but I won't be able to resist sharing pics with you from my daughter's birthday party coming up. She's turning four and wants a "strawberry party"...so for the first time ever, rather than making my own invitations, I turned to Etsy seller thepaperplayground who created this adorable set of invitations, thank-you's, favors, and cupcake toppers for me! How cute are they?! Can't wait to show you the rest!

"How Sweet" strawberry invitation set from thepaperplayground

we found out our new little chick will be a...

BOY!!!

That's right, after two girls, we are being blessed with a boy! We were both sort of hoping for a boy, but since our track record has been all-female thus far, we were trying to prepare ourselves for another girl. Woohoo! So, let the nursery decorating begin! I've been checking out the real-life inspiring nurseries over at ohdeedoh (which is a cool blog by apartment therapy that's all about decorating for kids) and getting lots of ideas from some super-chic mommas. I'm beginning to unearth the disaster that is (was) our home office and am slowly trying to find new homes - or recycling bins - for all the *STUFF* we've crammed in there for the last five years. It will become the new nursery.

Sonny's Handmade Room - ohdeedoh

I'm loving bright, happy, retro-inspired colors right now. Aqua, red, orange, and green in particular are really appealing to me. Check out this cute bedding set as an example:

Happy Collection by Babylicious

With aqua-colored walls, brightly painted furniture and whimsical, retro accessories...how fun would that be?


Since budget is definitely a concern, and since this is Baby #3, the poor thing won't get quite the same amount of moolah spent on him as my first daughter did. But, that doesn't mean I have to sacrifice style. Check out this set from Target (a limited-time collection by DwellStudio) - only $79.99 for a 4-piece crib bedding set!

DwellStudio for Target bedding collection - Circles

Cate Cordelia's Modern Library - ohdeedoh

So, can I just say how hard it's been to make myself stay away from blogland? Well, I've still been "lurking" on my favorite blogs, but haven't even been commenting. It's like I've got to break the habit or something, so I've been trying to go cold-turkey. I have to admit, I've been getting a lot more accomplished in the real world recently without the pressure of writing frequent posts. But I couldn't NOT check in with you all and give you an update! In fact, you may get a few more of these "surprise" posts over the coming months.

There is nothing like the blessing
Of a bouncing, baby boy
He will fill your home with energy
And touch your heart with joy.
He’ll hug you and bug you
And try you within
But each precious memory
You’ll treasure again and again.
~ Linda LaTourelle