Friday Favorite: Celebrate Society Shirts

Everyone possesses talent.  How one uses it makes all the difference.

When Jennifer Laws was in the hospital with her newborn twins and planning their future parties, her mind wandered to other babies in the world who were not born into such happy circumstances. Recently, she decided to use her party skills to make a difference.

Thanks to Jennifer, children who are in a local emergency shelter on their birthday will get the regulation cake from the kitchen--and they will also get a "party in a bag."  It's a kit she created that helps each child, when surrounded by strangers on the anniversary of his or her birth, understand that someone knows their existence is worth celebrating.

I love this idea almost as much as I love Jennifer's heart.

Want to know how to help?

She's funding this endeavor by creating designs that you can buy at her etsy shop. 

 

Print and iron the design yourself or pay a little more for her to create the whole shirt.

What a simple way to celebrate your little ones and help celebrate another child as well!

Any day decals:

birthday party decals:

and check out these adorable Halloween decals--just perfect for a t-shirt or treat bag:

 
Last month I witnessed the giddiness that is Jennifer on the morning of her sons' birthday party. "I love party day," she said, practically bouncing with joy. "This must be what Lebron James feels like on game day!"

Pretty accurate comparison.

Writer's Wednesday: Rowling Risks the Wrath of Muggles

Ouch. Some reviews of JK Rowling's new book The Casual Vacancy are downright painful.

C'mon, folks!

You weren't really expecting a grown up Harry Potter, were you? I mean, there are very few books that have rocked the world in the way the occupants of Hogwarts did, and there have been about a kajillion writers trying. Give her a break.

Granted, the premise of the new novel does not interest me. However, I will buy--and probably read--the book for one reason:

I applaud Rowling for writing something else. She could have pulled a Margaret Mitchell or Harper Lee--hiding from public life and not producing another published work. She could have left the world wondering if she could write anything else. She doesn't need the money. She could be a one-hit (I know it was a series, but it's one story) wonder, but she didn't rest on her laurels. 

Go, you, J.K. Rowling!  I look forward to seeing what you come up with next. 

Maxisms

Our week was full of Maxisms. Here are a few:

Monday:
The boy child had been ornery all day. Frustrated, I asked, "Who are you?"
He said, "Maximus the Magnificent."
Hmmm. I'm sure this all might be connected.

Tuesday:
Max: Did you see Miss Bri's dress? It was pretty, pretty, pretty.
Me: Did you tell her?
Max: NO! (grinning and nodding knowingly) I want it to be a surprise.

Saturday: 
Max: EW! What's that smell?
Me: Steamed broccoli.
Max: It smells like Elmo poop.

Sunday:
Max: Mom, you're a princess. I'm going to buy you a crown.  A crown you put on your head, not the kind you draw with.
Me: (privately to confused hubby) Crayon. He's speaking with an accent.

How to Make Newspaper Poms

I've coveted them.

Those beautiful tissue paper balls appear everywhere on the party blogosphere. I figured they were out of my league in craftiness. Especially since I'm not crafty.

Boy, was I wrong!

They are so easy.

At least, I think they are. I've not actually made them with tissue paper. I used newspaper instead, and they were decor in three birthday parties. Plus, instead of tossing them after the parties, I discovered they make great packing paper. I used them to cushion a punch bowl!

Black and White and Read All Over

Trash Bash

1st birthday Cupcake Vintage

How to make newspaper poms:

• Take 3 newspaper spreads and cut them into quarters.  
• Stack the 12 squares on top of each other.
• Fold them accordian-style.  
• Tie a ribbon or string in the center to hold them together.
• Cut each end at a diagonal.
• Fan them out.

Are you more of a visual learner?

Check out this tissue paper tutorial  from www.unbeaujour.fr.  It's in French but the images explain it in any language.

Papa's Birthday Made the Headlines! Black and White and Read All Over

 For as long as I can remember, my dad has loved to read newspapers. I mean LOVED it. The man will read all once a month, once a week, quarterly, or daily publications he can get his hands on. 
A lot of people can picture their dads in a recliner with a remote--well, I can picture that, too--but more prominent than that image is my dad sitting in a recliner with piles of newspapers around him. Even that newspaper smell of paper and ink reminds me of him.

imitating Papa

Our son is in the learning-to-tell-a-joke phase. Many (okay, most) of his original ones don't make sense and we try teach him some old standards. One came to mind and I had the perfect theme for my dad's birthday dinner:

What's black and white and read all over?

A newspaper! 

(insert wild four-year-old giggles here)

hunted red, black, and white tableware and used shredded newspaper to decorate. Instead of tissue paper poms, I made them out of newspaper.

 And since Papa likes newspapers so much, I invited a couple of famous newspaper journalists to the party.

Papa with his Lois Lane and Clark Kent

We had a "super" time.

Mommy Monday: Hospitality vs. Cannibalism

I heard that therapists have children use puppets to work out their feelings.  Maybe my kids are telling me to improve my cooking. What do you think?

Max: Would you like something to eat, Mr. Dinosaur and Leo?
Leo: Do you have people toes? I loooove people toes. (he nibbles on Alexandra's baby feet)
Max: You can't eat toes, Leo! (pauses, then moves to mini kitchen and opens fridge) But I have dead people's toes. They're good.  You can have them with ketchup.

Yes, because ketchup covers a multitude of culinary sins.

4th Birthday Trash Bash!

At two, Max loved Elmo.  At three, his heart's desire was to be a construction worker.  For the last six months, though, he's declared he wants to be a trash man. So, for his fourth birthday party, we got "trashy."

The invitation:
I couldn't find any trash/recycling party invitations--go figure!--so I made my own. Max helped color my hand drawn trash trucks.  The actual invitation was a torn up flap from a cardboard box. Who needs an envelope when you can use a brown paper bag? We just stuffed the torn away paper that was not glued to the cardboard in the sack before sealing it.  It was a trash party, after all!

The decor:
Decorating doesn't get much cheaper than this. Everything was free.

Party brought to you by Maximus Enterprises

My husband and I kept wanting to pick up items that we'd left out on purpose.

How great that we can leave trash around and it's party decor?!

My parents and grandparents donated newspapers to have them "upcycled" into party decor.

I couldn't believe how much trash my family generated once I paid attention. So glad we recycle!

A trash party needs a flyswatter, right? These flowers were purchased at Dollar Tree--two for $1.

Beautiful tissue paper balls have been on the blogosphere for years now.  I decided to try them with newspaper and glam up our trash bash. I am not crafty, so I'm still impressed that I pulled these off. SO, SO easy! I'll post a tutorial later.***Update! Here's the how-to post!***

Those strings were attached to balloons.

Nothing says party like trash in crystal, don't ya think?

Those scraps of paper on the table are facts about recycling. For example, "Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours. In spite of this, Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every three months!"

The food:
 What's a trash party without junk food?

 

Disposable casserole containers that had been taking up space in my cabinets were ideal serving dishes.

 

A new trash can served as an ice bucket and we served non-alcoholic "trash can punch." Check out the recipe.

This beautiful platter is made from a recycled aluminum can. No kidding!

I bought the rats and "take out" containers from Dollar Tree--both 3/$1

Check out my shirt! Our family each wore trash truck shirts with the image from the invitations.

The activities:

Dumpster Diving! Due to rain, our den became the dump.  I set out trashbags and boxes full of newspaper and recyclables. The kids chose a box--the dumpster--and dove in to retrieve candy and robot grabber arms.

The beauty of this game was that they made the mess and then used the arms to pick it up and put it in the trash can. 

 As any good trash man knows, if you want to do it right...you need a truck!

 

The amazing Josh Hutchins, owner of Tahlequah Recycling, Inc. agreed to bring Kermit, the recycling truck, for a visit.  What a nice guy! 

party guests who braved the camera

 The kids loved it.

So did the adults.

Garrett getting trashy

Max was in awe.

 I was disappointed the rain made it an "inside" party, but Max was thrilled he got to wear his galoshes!

Max treated both the truck and Mr. Hutchins with reverence. He kept his distance from both. He was the only kid who didn't sit in the seat and honk the horn.

One of Max's birthday buddies. They were born just hours apart!

But he did dump some recycling in the back of the truck. 

Loading the recycling truck is a great trick to get all that trash out of the house!

 Look at those faces! Who thinks TRI could have a side gig with birthday parties?

 Seriously, how much longer can we convince children that cleaning up is a game?!

The amazing Mr. Hutchins and Kermit show the kids how to crunch and smash boxes.

Even the little guy enjoyed the mess.

The cake:
Our birthday boy loves strawberry cake...and cookies...and ice cream...and shakes....

Reasor's bakery did a great job, don't ya think?

Max was crying because his little friend had just told him she was going to take home the trash truck from his cake. He freaked out.  What kind of mother laughs so hard when her child is clearly traumatized? At his own birthday party, no less!

blowing out the candles

Baby J loving some cake

Oh, yeah. That was one happy baby boy.

Party favors:
The kids took home the robot arm trash grabbers, candy from the dumpster dive, and cookies!

Max just discovered Morgan's Bakery's curly q's, so we sent one home with everyone.

It was a fun time. Even the little ones approved!

Baby Alexandra and Dad 

 Party Inspiration:
Cakes Like a Party: Oh my goodness. When I saw this, I knew we had to try. I showed the pictures to Max and there was no going back! His excitement lasted for months.
BellaGrey Designs: These invitations inspired the wording on Max's. Aren't they adorable? Check out the party with all of the design elements. This party has a little more of the icky idea of trash.

Getting "trashy" and recycling was a lot of fun!