Lucille’s Cowgirl birthday party!

I can hardly believe my little girl is 3 years old!  It still amazes me at how quickly time goes by and how fast kids really do grow up. 

Lucy’s current favorite animal is horses so I offered up the idea of a cowgirl party to her.  She was all for it!  And lucky for me, pinterest is chock FULL of birthday party ideas. What I did before pinterest, I don’t know.  I was pretty happy to make alot of the things I used for her party.  Although I spent a good amount of money, having making so much myself, I saved a ton of money! I wanted to go for lots of pinks and some brown. I had so much fun putting everything together and now I get to look forward to my first BOY birthday party! (Let’s hope I don’t go too overboard).

 

I came across this pin on pinterest (http://pinterest.com/pin/136867276146829597/) and thought is was just so pretty! Perfect for my little girly girl. And let me say, it was pretty easy! I did a simple butter cream (although using the wilton recipe will all butter, I ended up having to make three whole batches to cover this cake and 24 cupcakes) and it came out cute and delicious!

 

I absolutely love this drink dispenser!  I picked it up at World Market for $14.99!  I also bought the little metal stand for $4.99 and I thought the whole thing was a great deal. I needed one for birthday parties in general so I see it as a good investment!

My best friend’s son’s birthday is exactly two weeks before Lucy’s and at his birthday party she hung up all these great black and gold paper lanterns.  I asked her where she got them and she told me she ordered them online for pretty cheap and spray painted them.  I thought, what a great idea!  I ordered  ten 10 inch paper lanterns (from this site: http://www.paperlanternstore.com/) for $1 a piece!  I spray painted them a light pink and hung them around the patio.  Perfect!  And the best thing?  I can totally flatten them back down and save them for next time!

 

I also made a couple cute little bunting banners from fat quarters and jute (both from Joanns).  They were easy and a nice touch!

 

These were probably my favorite thing I made for the party.  They were so fun!  My dad works for a diesel truck company and was able to bring me several huge boxes.  I cut them up and made these.  I did it all freehand and I am super pleased with how they came out.  The kids really liked them!

 

I wanted something fun for the kids to do.  I was going to do a pinata but honestly, even when Lucy gets candy from other kids’ parties, she hardly ever eats it!  I thought most of them were still pretty young for a game (the kids were 2-4 years old) so I decided on a craft.  Great idea!  The kids loved it and it totally occupied them for a while. I ordered a pack of western foam stickers from oriental trading ($8.25 for 500 pieces!) and the frames are the $1 wood frames from Michaels.  I thought about letting them paint them but decided that was a horrible idea (I don’t think my friends would appreciate their kids being covered in pain) so I did a stain on them the day before the party and I thought they came out super cute.

I made the scrap tutu by following this tutorial I found on pinterest (http://www.jeanierhoades.com/belle-baby-and-fabric-scrap-tutu) Super easy! I got lots of compliments on it and she loved wearing it.:)  I think I bought a quarter yard of 4 different fabrics and some 1 inch elastic.  Thats it!

 

I also made this rope name (I used this tutorial http://greenweddingshoes.com/diy-rope-words-for-your-wedding-day/) but mine didn’t look so hot once I hung it up.  Definitely looked a little droopy.  I’m thinking it’s because I used a heavier/thicker rope than they did it the tutorial.  Oh well, I still liked it!

 

All in all, it was a great party.  Lucy loved it and everyone said I did a great job. I love a good pat on the back. 🙂 

This is my life

Let me tell you a little about myself.  My name is Beth and I’m a 28 year old mother of two.  I’m married to a US Marine who has been enlisted for 10 years.  We’ve been married for 4 of those year and (fingers crossed) many more to come.  It’s not a particularly easy life, but we get by.  You probably won’t see me talking about that part of my life too much on here as I like to keep that all pretty private.

Now on to my two little monsters.  I say that lovingly, I promise (..maybe).  Lucille is 3 years old and a little ball of fire and sass.  She’s always been quite advanced and learns and grows so quickly, it’s almost like I barely got to enjoy her as a baby.  Benjamin (or Benji as we often call him) is 8 and a half months old.  He’s my mama’s boy!  He is a perfect little specimen of boyness in every way.  He is so opposite of his sister.  The only thing that is totally alike with them is they are both SO HAPPY.  I swear, these kids are always smiling.  I’m pretty blessed, that’s for sure.

And me?  I’m back in school for the first time in seven years. I have 4 science classes to finish before I can apply to the nursing program so you’ll probably see me bitching about tests and homework quite a bit.  There’s definitely a reason that with 67 units, I still have all these science classes to finish (hint: I am no scientist).  I’m currently taking chemistry and it is a challenge for me!  Give me english class any day of the week….I can ace that.  Math? Sure, no problem.  But having me memorize polyatomic compounds and their charges?  Shoot me.

What else is there?  I am a crafter, a pinterest addict, and huge into DIY.  I love photography but you’ll probably never see me doing it as a job (I love it, but I don’t want the stress of making a living off of it).  I am a sucker for a good deal and can be pretty frugal (I’ll be sure to share some of my secrets with you!). 

 

I’ll leave you with me and my little monsters. (Aren’t they cute??)

An old house you say?

I figure the best way to start this blog off is explain the name of my blog, especially considering this blog had nothing to do with home decor or remodeling.  So why an old house?

 

Let me ask you, if you were to start a blog right now, what would you call it? Any ideas off the top of your head?  I’m betting no. It’s hard!  I sat here for a long time and could not for the life of me think of a name.  I went back through my smash book and saw a bunch of different quotes that friends of mine had said and came across something I had written about a friend calling me “an old house”.  I have to be honest, I don’t remember what led to them calling me this or why we thought it was funny (ok, we might have been drinking) but it was!  I like random things and this is pretty random.  Maybe I’ll change the name of this blog in the future but for right now, this is fine. 

 

And friend, I didn’t choose this name for any special reason, I just needed a blog name!  No need for you too feel too special. Just saying.