It's Summer time!!!

Summer is here!!!! Normally I'd say FINALLY! But this has been an unusually warm year. School is out, the temps are hot, and I've already been sun burned. Bust out the Slip N' Slide and lets do this right! Ha!

Here are some fun summer ideas to try with the kiddos! Side walk chalk, hand print art, and a tasty cupcake recipe. We had so much fun with these!

Break out the sidewalk chalk and create your own masterpeice! Google has some great ideas!             

I am a HUGE fan of capturing my kids hand and footprints in new ways. I love to hang them up on display, and its fun to look back and see how small they really were ...  Oh how fast they grow!

These cupcakes were delicious and so easy! Visit her blog for the recipe.
http://desertchica.com/2015/02/root-beer-float-cupcakes/#_a5y_p=3420636

These cupcakes were delicious and moist! A must try this summer! 

I hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July! I hope to get back to posting to the blog more regularly again. Keep an eye out for some more summer fun!

-Happy Pinning!

Super Mario Birthday Party!!!

It's a Me! Mario! ...er, Amanda. hehe. This is by far one of the funnest birthday themes I have done! Pinterest had so many clever ideas, I improvised here and there, and Ta Da! A Super cute, Super Mario party!

My birthday boy only had two requests, 1) that the theme be Super Mario, and 2) that he had two cakes(one at his party and one on his real birthday).  He loves Mario Kart on the Wii you see, and he can beat any one of us in a race. Kids these days seem to be born with technological skills. My baby can open my phone! Anyhow, I digress....I planned his Super Mario party, and yes, he got two cakes! The party was a total hit, and the birthday boy had a blast!

Today I will be sharing with you all the links and how to's. Seriously, the easiest, yet cutest party I've done, and it was very inexpensive on top of it! Less that $75 for EVERYTHING! 

The background for the invitation was FREE! Here's the link: http://eng.ohmyfiesta.com/2014/08/super-mario-bros-free-party-printables.html  There are more than one background to choose from too. I used an editing program to add the words. So easy! Printed them out, put them in envelopes, and sent em on their way!

Next, decorations. I apologize for the quality of the pics. They're from my phone!

The decorations were simple and really easy! Here's what made the backdrop/mural:

3 light blue plastic table clothes from Walmart- .97 each
2 packs colored construction paper from Walmart- $1.88 each
2 green, 1 red, and 2 white posters from Walmart- .33 cents each
= $8.32 for the big wall display!

I taped the blue table clothes up on the wall to cover as much space as possible. It was the main part of the background that everything else would go on. I actually used those double sided sticky squares sold in the hardware department. They can hold up picture frames and so forth? I needed a good hold since it had to support other items.

I then cut out the words for Happy Birthday with the white sheets in the packs of construction paper. I just free handed it. I glued the letters onto the yellow construction paper. Then I used brown construction paper and a black sharpie to make the "bricks." I taped them up above where I wanted the food table to go. I just laid them side by side. I should mention, I used duct tape!

Next, I cut out the green poster to make the tube, stem, and leaves of the... flower? Venus fly trap? I never know what these are called. hehe! Then I cut out a Pacman/circular shape from the red poster, and lastly, I cut the lips, teeth, spots of the flower and clouds from the white posters. With a remaining peice of red and white poster, I also made the little mushroom. :) I just glued the smaller pieces like the teeth, lips, and spots to the red poster and then taped the bigger parts together on the wall. Again, I used duct tape so they wouldn't fall down before the party ever got going.

And we cannot forget the Goombas! The brown mean mushrooms. I just cut out brown paper in the shape of a potato and cut out eyes and angry eyebrows. Oh and round feet. SO easy!

These were my little table toppers. I spray painted little terracotta pots green, and then I printed out the characters on cardstock and taped them to lollipop sticks. I placed part of a foam ball in each pot and secured the stick. Then used a little green paper streamer to hide the foam.

The little flower pots I already had on hand. I only paid for the foam and sticks from Michaels. $5 total!

Below is a closer look at the food table.

Some Flower Power!

Don't slip on a banana. Just mini chocolate chips for the eyes.

 I served, pigs in a blanket, cheeto balls as "fireballs," bananas from Mario Kart, a veggie tray shaped like Flower Power, several kinds of fruits, and green Luigi punch! I got the table cloth, plates, napkins, utensils, and cups through Amazon.com in a party pack for $26! It also came with balloons and streamers. It was a great deal! I couldn't find any Super Mario stuff anywhere in the party stores here, so it saved me all around. Just showed up on my doorstep one day! 

 The cake!

Pinterest had so many cake ideas! But I'm zero percent experienced with things like fondant. Maybe its easier than I'm giving it credit for? I don't know, but not wanting to ruin anything, I just improvised. I printed out the characters on card stock and taped to lollipop sticks just like the table toppers. The cake was just a Funfetti box cake by Betty Crocker, but I made my favorite homemade butter cream frosting. You could just use store bought as well. To liven it up, I added rainbow gumballs around the bottom and lots of multicolored sprinkles for the top. Happy Birthday candles to complete! Pretty darn easy as cakes go.

We also played some really fun games! We played Super Mario Memory game. I just printed out the characters in pairs. So easy! We also played Pop the Bomb which was just black balloons. Lastly, we did a Yoshi egg hunt. The kids really loved that one!

Here is the link to free Mario Character printables as well! http://pipgerard.hubpages.com/hub/mario-bros-party

And finally, here are my Pinterest Inspirations:

http://catchmyparty.com/photos/276483

http://www.borealisblog.com/plan-super-mario-brothers-party/

http://sweethaute.blogspot.com/2014/07/super-mario-bros-party-series-food.html

http://aspottedpony.com/fun-for-kids/mario-birthday-party-complete-with-mario-themed-food-and-games/2614/

https://ahappymommy.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/super-mario-party-accomplished/

http://www.karaspartyideas.com/2013/07/super-mario-themed-7th-birthday-party.html

Pretty Little Rose cake!

I've seen this rose cake idea several different times on Pinterest. I thought they looked so lovely! I just hadn't attempted it because it looked time consuming and difficult. The truth? So easy! You bake your cake and make your favorite icing. Ice your cake with a crumb layer, meaning it just has a rough coat of icing on it. Then using a piping bag with a star shape(I used a size 2 as recommended), pipe on spirals across the body of the cake. Start at the center of the flower and spin outward. Any areas that don't get filled by a flower, you just fill in with a bit of icing. It didn't take long at all and was effortless compared to trying to be smooth and perfect. If you haven't already, bake a cake and try it! You'll smile with pride and your friends will think you're a pro!

Happy Pinning!

A Very Frozen Birthday Party!

Sick of Frozen yet? Well my daughter isn't! I cannot even begin to count the amount of toys, clothes, books, pencils, etc she has that are Frozen themed. So it's absolutely no surprise that she chose Frozen for her birthday.

I should mention that I am far from a professional party planner, but I just LOVE a good party theme! I hit Pinterest and found all sorts of fun ideas to bring my daughter's party to life. Here it is in all its glory!

The invites!

The cake.....before toppers... Minty rosy swirls!

Frozen toppers added with candles! (Toys we had by the way. hehe)

Food table! 

Snowman pizza, Kristoff's Ice, Olaf noses, Olaf arms, Olaf buttons, blue punch and Ana's sandwiches!

Do you wanna build a Snowman game!

Pin the nose on Olaf!

We cannot forget a Frozen hairstyle! Elsa inspired!

My daughter had, as she put it," An awesome Frozen time!" Ha! I entertained 12 girls and they all had a fantastic time eating the Frozen food(while watching a bit of Frozen), playing Frozen games, and eating Frozen cake. Then wishing my daughter a Happy Birthday while she blew out the candles on her very Frozen birthday. :)

Here are my inspirations...they were much fancier than me, bet hey, she liked it and that's all that matters!

http://postris.com/popular-pin/134730/i-could-probably-just-hang-one/


http://www.momendeavors.com/2014/04/disney-frozen-party-food-menu.html


http://onecreativemommy.com/frozen-birthday-invitations/


http://meowchie.snydle.com/frozen-birthday-party.html


Happy Pinning!

Patriotic Burlap Wreath!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday!

What's that you ask? Another burlap wreath? Why yes, yes it is. Can one really have too may burlap projects? I think not! My mother-in law loves all things patriotic and loves the Americana colors and theme. I wracked my brain this year on what to do for her, and after much thought, I came up with this wreath. It didn't take long into my marriage for me to realize that whoever made her tear up, and if lucky, shed a happy tear, gave an awesome gift! This year, she happily shed a few tears! She got some very thoughtful gifts. Here's ours!

This is just a bubble wreath like I have done before. I used red chevron burlap instead of basic brown, along with blue denim ribbon. I added the little chalkboard plaque and hot glued white wooden stars from Hobby Lobby of course!. I LOVE how it turned out!  She shed a tear and that sealed the deal for me! 

Here is the link to my original bubble wreath tutorial:

http://pinterestandthepauper.blogspot.com/2013/08/yes-another-burlap-wreath-and-again.html

Happy Pinning!

Christmas Craft ideas with kids!

Happy Holidays from Pinterest and the Pauper!

Only one week and its Christmas! Here are some fun last minute ideas for Christmas crafting with the kids!

In need of a last minute Christmas Card? Don't worry about perfect hair and outfits! Roll outta bed and snap a photo of everyone in pj's! Smiles are optional for this silly idea! Perfect for a busy family with kids that are not so cooperative with smiles for the camera. You still get a fun card with high impact for the holidays. Can't tell you how many people loved this card idea when we sent ours out!

Would you like to capture your kids hand or foot prints this holiday season? Use a little paint and paper and create some artwork! We have done Christmas Trees, Reindeer, and this year Snowmen!

A second option to the above, use those hand prints on an ornament! Do you like to add new ornaments to your tree? Try this idea...Snowmen Hand prints! Just an ornament, paint, and sharpies!

Here's a few links to my other Christmas posts from years past!

http://pinterestandthepauper.blogspot.com/2013/11/christmas-burlap-wreath.html

http://pinterestandthepauper.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-footprints.html



http://pinterestandthepauper.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-countdown-calendar.html



Warm wishes from ours to yours! Enjoy your holidays!

-And Happy Pinning!

State Thread Artwork

If you have ever heard of Super Saturday, then you know about a fun filled afternoon full of crafts, food, and friends! I have seen these all over Pinterest, and so when I saw the sign up for this fun idea, I immediately put pen to paper! They also had DIY key chains, pumpkins made from toilet paper, and hand knitted scarves. Wish I could have done them all! I opted for the State artwork and the pumpkins(another post another time.) Below is my final result. I think these are so fun! 

This was a fairly straight forward and easy idea. So fun in fact, I plan to do two other states I've lived in to accompany my current one! All you need is:

1) A wooden plaque from Hobby Lobby or Michael's, (Stain it in your choice of color and let dry prior to placing the state on and hammering. You could also paint it a color too!)

2) The state of your choice printed out on a piece of paper to the size you want it. Then cut it out.

3) Gold or silver nails

4) A hammer.

5) Your choice of thread and stickers or paint.(I chose the color gold for stickers, brads, and the thread was white with gold flecks.)

I forgot to take a photo of the very first step. Oops! You want to print out your state outline and cut it out. Then lightly tape it to your board.

Next, Hammer the nails around the outline and a heart where your city is. Remove the paper when done, like above.

Then use your thread and string from the heart brads to the outline brads. Just loop them around as you go. Also run a line of thread along the outside brads to enforce the outline shape of your state. There's no right or wrong!

Last, use stickers or paint to add your word of choice. I chose "Home" but you could use the dates you moved there etc. 

It only takes an hour or less and is very inexpensive! Its maybe a $5 craft. If you decide you don't want a word you can make your state large enough to fit the whole board. You can make a series and hang them on the wall!

This would make a fun gift for Christmas! Happy Holidays and as always, Happy Pinning!