Our Wonderfilled Life

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Amy Atlas Moment Feature

**Hello to the visitors from Amy Atlas' blog,
nice to have you here!**

I could not believe my inbox,

when I heard back from my submission

of the boys' party to Amy Atlas Events.

The reply came just a few hours later.

Not only was the reply super sweet,

it was thoughtful, as in all the details were

noticed, the meaning behind our boys

turning 2, all of it.

They were featuring

my Vintage Wheels party

as an Amy Atlas Moment!!!!

{pinch me, it's true!}

Head on over to the Amy Atlas blog

to check it out!!!

Amy Atlas Moment Feature

It is simply gorgeous,

how they put the pictures together,

the write up!!

Lisa was just fantastic to work with!!

Of course Amy Atlas is
an inspiration to me,
everything she does is gorgeous and fresh,
so it is such an honor to be
a moment on her blog!!

While I happily spend my days taking care of my family
and am so blessed to do so,
it is super special
to have this moment too!

Thank you truly!

{michelle}

Monday, September 12, 2011

Vintage Wheels Party for 4: Projects

{UPDATE!}
The boys' Vintage Wheels party
is an
Amy Atlas Moment Feature
{pinch me!!, so thankful!!}
You can read more about
my gratitude here.

For all of you sweet blog friends,
who have followed along with
the boys' party planning,
I am so excited to share
the final result with you!!

It is a long post.
I wanted to show all the meaningful details.
{you've been warned!}
Not to rival their very special
first birthday party post.
{smile, thanks for sticking with it!}

If you are just stopping in,
I do have FOUR boys turning the
SAME AGE on the SAME DAY!!!!

Super exciting and
because each of my little guys is
so unique, a big task.

I recently, officially started up
Little Marvels Designs
and took the boys' party through
my party planning process.

In this post I will share the projects,
linking back to those I have highlighted
the past few weeks.

My next post will show all the party fun!
{the BEST part of it all!}

Initially, I created a

Vintage Wheels Party Inspiration Board.

Now on to the real deal!
Ready, here we go!

I actually set this all up beforehand
to make sure I could get photos.
Yes, I had plans to cover the siding,
and a few tweaks to the table,
but for the naptime timeframe I had,
I really do love how it turned out!

{dining car tablescape}

While I LOVE tablescapes,
I don't think kids care much about them.
When incorporating them into a kids party,
it's great to have them become part of the party,
be loaded with things they do love,
and embellish it with photos.

Here I turned a long rectangular table into a Dining Car.
Inspiration found here.
I also researched a little to get the Vintage Dining Car vibe.

The frame seen better here...

is from
Orange Blossom Shop
and was literally the jumping off point
for my entire design.

However, it was not purchased for the party,
it was saved up for, for my upcoming birthday
{we never do presents for ourselves, so it's super special}
and there is a perfect spot waiting
on our entryway wall
for a picture of all 5 of my little loves.
{It makes me giddy, it's so pretty!}

We took the pictures at a little train "museum"
a few minutes from here, perfect backdrop!
In their No. 2 shirts.
I will have to do another post on that experience.
{Oy Vey!}

{favors, etc.}
The favors were super simple,
you can find out more here.
I found the vintage No. 2 on ETSY,
love it and we used it in their picture.
The wagon and suitcase were found at
this flea market.
It made for a really sweet vignette
right next to the dining car.

{all things cake}

I purchased the cakes from Jewel,
made the bunting from left over stickers,
bakers twine, stripey straws, and cardstock I had.

You can visit this post for more on the cakeplates.

{tablescape decor}
The vintage suitcase has special
meaning it is from someone we love,
that belonged to someone she greatly loved,
and it worked perfectly!

I made a No.2 runner out of burlap,
a homemade stencil, and black paint.
It worked out so well for the top of the trunk.

I made all of the bunting.
I believe in go big or go home.
{grin}
So while bunting has been around awhile,
I tried to used different styles, textures, and mediums
blended together to keep it fresh.

You can read more about it here.

I added some pinwheels to the chalkboard background.

{tablescape serving}

Milk served in glass bottles,
with stripey straws.
Instead of buying expensive bottles,
I used the Archer Farms {Target brand}
Vanilla Caramel Iced Coffee bottles.
{Matt so did not mind drinking those!}
Silverish tray from Goodwill.

Mini Doughnuts are coveted by my boys,
special weekend here-and-there treats,
and they fit in with the wheels theme.
I made the tray from 2 candlesticks painted aqua
and 3 round cake-type trays {all Goodwill}.
You can read more here.
I added some doilies for a sweet touch.

Another favorite? Cookies of course!
Perfect companion to the milk.
Trader Joe's joe-joes.
Another stand made similar to the doughnut one,
with only one tier.

Snack cones that are so cute, thanks Andrea!
Filled with peanut butter pretzels and
caramel corn/cheddar Chicago style popcorn combo.
These were out when our guests arrived.
I found the baskets at Home Goods,
spray painted them black, added a bit of bunting.

The kids {and adults!} LOVED the
mini cupcakes in pushup containers.
Matt handmade the holder upcycled from a pallet.

More about the push-pops here.

{greeting our guests}
I painted a $3.00 Goodwill frame,
Matt cut a piece of wood perfect size,
which I layered with chalkboard paint
to make this sign for our guests.

Here's the bit of retro nod with E's old trike.

I had this little vignette out front to greet our guests...

{a better view}

these were inside the galvanized bucket...

and I couldn't believe I found
these for the adults,
they were really good
{Matt was worried as I only bought them to match the decor}

{raceway}

So this fun bucket project turned into this...
Each bucket is filled with different cars and trains.
I cannot wait to add the pictures of the fun
the boys had with this!!

The ramp was scored by E and I at the Toys R' Us closing sale
for $12, and he will later use it for a bike ramp.
{eek!}

{double decker bus felt board}
The boys have really been into matching,
so I created this number/color matching felt board
{the numbers are also written on the felt board
below each piece}.
Let me know if you'd like a tutorial.
I know learning games at a party?!
I promise I have a picture of both my nephew and Liam playing with it!

{outdoor twister}
This one has been mentioned all over this summer.
I first found it on Pinterest and in my Family Fun magazine.
The morning of the party
the boys' electric train battery
{purchased for $50 at a resale, the train not the battery!}
was supposed to arrive and while it had
been upgraded to Overnight Shipping
with GUARANTEED delivery,
it still didn't make it.

It was going to be the "big deal" at the party.
We had done bounce houses for years,
we setup a mini one but a big one was not in the budget
nor was entertainment other than
our awesome family talents...so...

Matt ran out to get the paint about 2 hours before the party,
and painted it on while I was doing setup in about 10 min.
{rockstar!}

The Motto, You can Cry or you Can Twister!

{centerpieces and more}
I had this lightbulb go off,
and I was super impressed with myself
{so not usually impressed with myself}
cover the tables in kraft paper
and leave a jar of crayons out
for birthday boy messages,
also to help entertain my boys while they eat.

For some reason all the kraft paper
in the Chicagoland area was sold out.
I wasn't about to pay shipping online.
So, I found some packaging paper on
a roll at Meijer for $1.99.
I covered 5 tables with 3 rolls,
not too bad, and super fun!

I also wrote out the boys' names

with their little No. 2 matchbox cars

in front of their highchairs...

And a special note for Big Brother...

I made the little crayon holders
out of mason jars, left over burlap,
fabric and twine.

The rest of the mason jars were used for...

{mason jar luminaries}

I have seen these all over Pinterest.
E helped make these with
thinned down glue, tissue paper, and
electric tealights to prevent any burns.
Our party lasted into the evening,
thankful to AMAZING weather.
They were SO pretty all lit up!

{the patio}
Early on in the summer I promised
to show the finished patio.
We still have high hopes for a pergola,
with dreamy curtains, a chandelier, string lights,
pretty pillows and outdoor containers.

We have a plan for it all,
but not a budget.

After 5+ years of living here,
Matt toiled and put this patio in SOLO.
Well one special little helper sometimes {grin}.
He is a computer guy by day,
so smart, but this is not his thing.
He takes on so many projects that
he has no idea how to do
and does them SO WELL,
this is another one,
and I couldn't be more proud of him.

Like me and this party,
he sees all the plans not finished,
the imperfections,
all I see is complete beauty
and a dream we worked
SO HARD FOR
fulfilled.

I can write a whole post on that alone,
blood, sweat, tears, years planning,
all of it.

It just happened to be
revealed too at the boys' party.

Matt and I literally finished setup

12 minutes before party time.
{just enough time to change.hair.makeup.}

The biggest thank you goes to my husband,
who has supported me through the past weeks of projects.

Not only did he build everything I needed,
he encouraged me, took care of the boys,
helped me setup, so much more,
I could not have done it without him.

You'll see in my next post about all the party fun,
that the day was even more special for us.
It was the actual day of our 11th anniversary!

I thank God for our team of 2,
making the dreams happen for
our family of 7.

{I am by no means a professional photographer,
and we could not afford to have one capture this day,
but I hope to have done it justice
with a bit of editing!}

Until soon as I seriously cannot
wait to show off my little smiling faces
and our sweet friends and family
who joined us in celebrating!
{michelle}

{a little note on the inspiration}

My inspiration for the party came from
these vintage wheels {with a retro nod}.

I chose a special vehicle for each of my boys...
with a little special meaning behind each one.

If they had to pick a vehicle out of a pile,
these are the ones they would choose.

Aiden {double decker bus}, Beckham {train},
Liam {racecar}, Griffin {trike}.

Linking up Vintage Wheels to these lovely parties!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Featured: Funky Junk Interiors

Super excited this weekend

for my little cake plates

to be a...

I was so happy about just being mentioned!
Thank you Donna!!

{michelle}

Featured: The 36th Avenue

I was so giddy last week when Desiree
from The 36th Avenue
let me know she would be featuring
the boys' number two shirts!!

I received the
{highly coveted!}
Sooo Adorable Sticker!

You have to swing on by her blog,
the stickers themselves are the absolute cutest!!

Thank you Desiree!!
Your blog {and you too sweet woman!}
are such a source of inspiration!!

{michelle}

live.

Like many I cannot believe

ten years have passed

since the day

that shook us, our nation, our world

to its core.

Day Our World Changed: Children's Art of 9/11

While I have the luxury to

say the time has passed quickly,

I know there are so many

aching hearts, unfulfilled dreams,

and a feeling of eternity

since that day.

What resonates most for me

about this day ten years ago

is the harsh reality of it.

this really is happening.

Yet at the same time being inspired

by people across the world.

In small ways...

On the packed trains heading out of Chicago,

strangers actually looking one another in the eye,

offering up seats, being kind.

American flags waving and horns honking,

pride, unity.

In large ways...

the firemen, the first responders, the passengers,
all of the heroes of that day.

the ultimate sacrifice.

Now as a mom,

I always wonder about the children

whose life courses

were changed on that day.

Nearly 3,000 children under the age of 18

lost a parent on Sept. 11th.

The average age was 9.

A total of 108 were born in the months

after their fathers died.

via Newsday

This film made by a now

14-year-old,

looks like it will hit

home about the tragic day and
the days after,

from a child's perspective.

There is such sadness in the
innocence they lost.

The Second Day Film

So today and everyday,

I know the best thing we can

do to honor those whose lives were lost.

Honor the children who had to grow up

way before their time.

Is to give life

everything we can.

LIVE

right here, right now.

{michelle}

Friday, September 9, 2011

A New Kind of Push Up...

No, not the kind that are good for the arms.

{silly!}

These full of calories kind.

I found them while I was searching for

something new and fun for the boys' party.

Mini cupcakes in push-up containers!!!
I fell in love with them
and decided to make some!!

{Mini-Cupcake Push Pops}
with
{Handmade Pallet Crate}

The pushpops are devils food with vanilla frosting, and
white cupcakes with chocolate frosting.
{The boys' and my faves!}