Mario Party

The first of February,I was on a committee to help decorate for a baby shower.The shower was to take place on Feb. 10th, but my 1st grand child decided to arrive on Feb. 7th. SO......I left town a few days early. Thankfully I had already made 2 Mario flag banners and purchased red polka dot fabric at Hob Lob, so I just left the items with the other lovely committee women who carried on without me. The shower turned out beautiful and the wonderful couple we were showering was truly surprised by the decorations. Most of the ideas came from Pinterest. It is a wealth of ideas and photos to help you with just about any subject. For the banner, I purchased a pad of 8X8 primary scrapbook paper at Hob Lob and used the photos for inspiration. This is how they turned out:
The next few photos are more of a close up.....

cut a circle, 1.5 size in half and add teeth with white cardstock. Use double stick tape to tape behind the circles. Add green stem and leaves = fire flower/Piranha flower

Above: brown card stock divided into bricks....

red flag, white dots, yellow star sticky pad from Staples with eyes added....

Red circle cut for hat over mustache stickers found at Hob Lob....

Mushrooms were the easiest to make....

Question mark is cut with Ellison Die Cut Machine

Free hand draw the cloud....It's not perfect....but hey...what is?

More ????

Game On cut with Ellison Die Cut Machine

I did not take pictures of the large banner close up, because I thought I would have time to photograph it when we were setting up.....lol

Below: The ladies sent photos to my cell phone...the balloons added so much....

Below: Gift table

Cupcake table

Drink Table: note the vase is covered in black mustache duck tape, again from Hob Lob

So the next time you have need for decorating ideas for a party.....look no further than your Super Mario Brothers game.....

~Lynda~

Attending the Parties below:

Naked Bottles

I picked up some naked bottles at a g-sale the other day. They have bothered me because you can still tell they are not perfectly clear. I have tried coca cola and denture tablets and still they remain foggy. So I decided they needed  a label....

Below is how they started out:  NAKED

One of the jars has a collection of buttons for my card making addiction.....

You can search the Graphic's Fairy Blog for ideas....

I ran the label through the sticky Zyron machine so it would attach to the bottle well....

A hand made tag seemed appropriate with French Laundry doodads (embellishments)

I placed the jars in front of the old "Sterilizer"

The small jar on top is dressed in washy tape....polka dot topped with the birds....

How about the dental mirror to check your teeth!

Aahhh...dressed bottles are all the rage......get some!

Linking up with parties below:

Ain't life GRAND!

Happy Valentines Day! I know everyone will be sending/giving cards with sweet wishes today. We have another new reason to love in our family. A sweet baby boy was born....our first GRAND CHILD! Now that is a reason to celebrate!

Here's a different picture.....comparing father and son...

How very special are newborns?

Life is also pretty grand. Especially precious when you have a close call.

Mine came on Sunday evening. We were all home from the hospital, all rushing around trying to help the new mom, take photos, etc. I jumped in the car to run to CVS just down the road to pick up a few items when I heard the siren. It had gone off earlier that day when we were shopping at Sam's. Yes I did know it was bad weather but we were busy getting things ready at home. There were pictures to order, steak, chicken and veggies to get ready to grill.

When I heard the siren I was pulling into the parking lot at CVS on Hardee in Hattiesburg, MS. I quickly made my selection when the lights went out. Holding the medicine in my hands, I rushed to the nearest counter by the Pharmacy and placed the items down. I didn't want anyone to worry about me taking something I had not paid for....then I heard " the train". I remembered my Mom saying it sounds like a freight train so there is no time to waste here it is time to act...I reached behind the counter and opened the door letting myself in the restricted area trying to find a counter to get under. I quickly removed what appeared to be a recycle bin and climbed in. I started praying OUT LOUD to the LORD to keep us safe, pick up the tornado and keep the family safe and all of our loved ones....I don't remember what else I said besides" I just had a grandbaby and I want to see him grow up!" After a while the lights did not come back on, but someone said it was safe to come out. I paid cash for the medicine and they unlocked the door to let me out. The girl at the door said," Looks like we were lucky" and I said " Luck? Didn't you hear me praying?" Her eyes were big as saucers as she replied"Yes I did!" The LORD kept us safe! No doubt...I took pictures on my way home but didn't capture the entire path of destruction....

Directly behind the CVS was a path I guesstimate to be 3 car lengths wide. My son saw the other side the next day and said the tornado skipped over CVS and took out a church behind the store on the other side. I am telling you this is one grateful, new GRAM, grandma, or whatever this child wishes to name me! We were without electricity so we cooked supper on the grill, corn and all!

We used our smart phones....thanks for the flashlight app.....and a caving helmet to see. The lights did come on before we went to bed, but no cable or internet until Tues. afternoon.

We continue to pray for those who lost homes in MS. I still do not know if any lives were lost. We are thankful for the LORD's hand of protection! Do you know the power of prayer? Have you tried it lately? You don't have to wait for a tornado sister, He is listening for you to acknowledge the GREAT I AM.......

Colossians 4:2  Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart!

Blessings to you and your family!

~Lynda~

Parties below:

Sewing a baby mobile

Bonjour Peeps!
     We are 30 days or so.....(working days for teachers)...away from spring break. My sister and I were thinking of how we are missing Paris....as you know if you read the past 2 years, we have spent spring break in Paris!

This spring break we will be welcoming our first grandchild! Ain't life grand?

SEW.....I received scraps from the baby quilt made by a very special Aunt Karry. (Thanks for sharing.....I like things that match!)   After an entire week of sewing.....don't judge....I haven't stitched anything in decades......finally....the completed mobile.

TA DA:

This pic shows the trials of sewing for me....I advised by sewing instructor I can't sew a straight line....and this is proof....after 4 blue eyebrows that did not match....I gave up and used brown felt!

The patterns came from pinterest......check out my Hootie Hoo board and For The Birds.....

The face took me 2 hrs.....did I tell you I am s-l-o-w?

I even stuffed each part....the abdomen, face, wings and body, of course....I did hand sew more than I wanted because the poor bird was too small for my machine....

So thankful for the free fabric! The only thing I added was an orange bird.....

I used T!M HOLTZ ribbon for stringing them up on the natural grapevine wreath, which just happens to be heart shaped.....

Below: the entire gang cuddles together for the photo shoot....how very sweet

They would not stand at attention.....

I made the small one first, then realized the pattern was really made for PAPER not FABRIC.

The 2nd time around allotted for seam allowance....lol

In this picture you can't tell the Mom owl from the baby owl....

Oh my....I thought I was done....my daughter has made a slight adjustment:

I agree.....replacing the ribbon with a natural fiber looks better!

I may add some feathers later.......we'll just see what the parents would like! 

What have you been sewing lately? Do tell......I bet you are faster than me!

Happy Superbowl Weekend!

Slow poke~

~Lynda~

Linking up with parties below: