Connor's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Birthday Party

My big guy just turned 3!


Because of the new baby and such a crazy summer, we did a low-key birthday this year.  Nothing too big and not as many decoration and DIY as normal, but still just as much love and fun!  Connor was into Mickey for the majority of the year, so I decided that was the best bet for his 3rd birthday theme.


The party started at 4:00 after nap time, so we did some easy snacks before picking up pizza for dinner.  The hit of the party were the homemade Mickey & Minnie sugar cookies that we made!  I love baking, but I haven't had the best luck with sugar cookies.  After a lot of research, I found the perfect recipe here, and they came out perfectly!

 

 Mickey watermelon with blueberries

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse serving bowls and Mickey ears for the kids

 

Can't beat balloons for $1 and the best entertainment for toddlers!


Miss Caylee in her party dress :)

Connor with his Mickey birthday cake

He insisted on getting a piece with Mickey's foot on it and then only ate the frosting. Silly guy!

Happy Birthday, Connor!

DIY Sew a Chevron Striped Maxi Knit Skirt

I actually made this last summer, but then I got pregnant and was never able to wear it.  Better late than never, right? Pleas excuse our messy closet, but this was the best I could do as we were running out of the house for our first date night since the baby was born!

Since I made it so long ago, I'm sad to say that I don't have a finished tutorial or progress photos.  However, I do have my notes and I used these two tutorials from icandyhandmade and Pretty Ditty as inspiration for the skirt, but mine has a thick elastic band at the waist rather than using the knit fabric from the skirt.

Honestly, it took a long time, so it's probably much easier just to buy one :)  But I've never been able to find a maxi skirt that was long enough, so this was my only choice!  One other tip I learned was that the striped fabric was actually too thin on it's own, so I had to go back and buy white fabric to make a second layer underneath.


Perfect for hot summer days and date nights!

Healthy Carrot Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Balls

A slightly odd mix of ingredients, but they're pretty good!  It's nice to have a sweet little snack that's not completely bad for you!

Adapted from Squash Blossom Babies
Ingredients:
• 2 ripe bananas
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 cups oats
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup grated carrots
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Mash the bananas in a large bowl.  Then add in the peanut butter and applesauce and mix.  

Pour in the remaining ingredients and combine. 

Using your hands, make 1 inch balls and place on a greased baking sheet or parchment paper.  

Bake for 10-14 minutes until firm.

Enjoy this little healthy & sweet treat!

DIY Recover Kitchen Chairs Makeover with Cute Vinyl Fabric

I'm so excited to show you this new project we just finished! 

Our kitchen table and chairs was supposed to be a temporary fix in our old house when it went on the market and we had a big empty space in our kitchen.  We bought the set for super cheap and planned to get rid of it within a year or two once we moved.  6 years later, we still have it in our kitchen and use it every day.  The microfiber chair pads have taken a beating from a messy toddler and they're not very easy to clean.  The picture below makes them look a lot nicer than they actually are.  They're dirty, crumbs stick to them, and there's more milk stains than we can count!

Here's the before photos so we can do a comparison after the makeover.

It took me so long to recover the chairs because I couldn't find fabric that I liked and would be easy to clean.  But when I saw this cute vinyl fabric from Hobby Lobby, I knew it would be perfect!  I had a little help from the husband with the staple gun and Caylee was a little spectator for the whole thing. 


You know your baby loves to sleep when she's passed out a foot away from a staple gun that keeps going off!

It only took about 2 hours to do the whole project and I love how they came out!

The fabric is perfect for messy kids and it looks really cute in the kitchen!

 I guess our kitchen set is going to last another few years until we finally decide to buy a new one!