Oscar's car party

Top:  1.  race car coloring track  2. decorated styrofoam cooler  3. paper pennant bunting

Middle:  4.  watch-me-grow birthday banner  5. 90-minute birthday shirt  6.  party favor bags

Bottom:  7.  race car water bottle labels  8.  race car crayons  9. cupcake toppers

Oscar's birthday party was supposed to be at the park, but the weather was uncooperative.  :(  We moved the party inside to our apartment to avoid the rain, and although it was close quarters, we all had a great time.

 

I used Pingg.com to send out invitations.  Normally I am not a e-vite sort of girl, but it really kept things simple and it was nice to have the rsvp's tracked automatically.   Did you know you can use your own image to create your invitations?  I designed the little red race car using a combo of MS Paint and Picnik.com and then used it in the invitations and party decor.

All of the little guests were 2 years old, so we avoided organized games and activities.  Instead, we set out a large piece of craft paper with a painted road to color with race car crayons and Oscar's new car playmat with a big bucket of matchbox cars to zoom around.

My Silhouette craft cutter saved a lot of time with the party decorations.  I used it to cut the pennants for the bunting, the backing for the watch-me-grow birthday banner, and the little cars that decorated the styrofoam ice cream cooler.

I ordered a giant red balloon in hopes of extra cute birthday photos.  In my mind I pictured a bright sunny day at the park, little boy, big balloon.  Instead, it has rained for the last 4 days straight and I don't have a good photo of Oscar with his balloon, which is now sagging.  :(  Oh well, you can't win them all.  You can find big round balloons HERE at Darlybird.

Oscar's birthday shirt was a 90-minute shirt with a big number 2 appliqued on the front.  It matched his car playmat because yes, I am that crazy.

Here are some images I created for Oscar's car party, which you are welcome to save for personal use.  Upload them to a photo editor (I use Picnik) and they are easily customizable to any age party.

  

impromptu baby celebration

If you are looking for the Silhouette giveaway, click here.

This morning I hosted a little surprise baby celebration.  A friend of mine is due with baby #2 in just two short weeks and doesn't want a baby shower ... but that doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate (plus it gave me an excuse to really take my new Silhouette out for a whirl).  Last night I made a few quick decorations, gathered yummy treats, and was all set to party at today's playgroup.

I purchased the cupcake wrapper and elephant templates at the Silhouette digital store, and the pennant banner was made using free images.  Since I used only materials I had on hand, all of the decorations cost me less than $2.  That's reason enough to party.

The trouble with surprise parties, though, is that the guest of honor is pretty clueless.  So when the mama-to-be didn't join us for playgroup because her toddler had a runny nose, it was a real bummer.  I won't be deterred ... it is all getting boxed up to drop off post-naptime.

Some of the other playgroup mama's and I whipped up a few onesies and baby tees as a gift, using the heat transfer material (I love that stuff!).  Recognize the birds from my blog banner?  I imported images from Picnik right into the Silhouette software.  So handy!  Hmmm ... now Ruby is going to need a Homemade by Jill onesie.

family reunion t-shirts

Ruby's arrival conflicted with the family reunion this year, so we didn't get to attend (which was a real bummer).  But I did get to help with some family reunion t-shirts.  Way back in the day, a family member ran a flour mill and the brand was Green's Perfection.  There are precious few flour sacks still around, and they have become kind of a hot commodity in the family.  I might get in trouble for posting this, but Jared and I have one (I guess that is one of the perks of naming your first born son after said family member).  :)

I used a photo of the flour sack to make the family t-shirts.  With a bit of editing in Picnik, I was able to get a nice, bright text on a solid white background.  Then I set up a quick shop at CafePress (it's free!), and the shirts were ready to purchase for whoever wanted one.  So easy!

One thing I love about CafePress is there is something for everyone.  You can upload your designs onto all kinds of products, so if grandma isn't a big t-shirt wearer, she can get a tote bag or an apron or something.  The onesies and kids tees are my personal favorite. Oscar and Ruby are perfection, after all (to me).

Need more family t-shirt ideas?  Jordan at Oh Happy Day posted about Angela Hardison's collection of family reunion t-shirts, and I think they are all brilliant.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a graphic designer in the family?

how to make printables on picnik

UPDATE:  Picnik.com is now closed!  :(  I now recommend PicMonkey.com - most of the features are similar and it is even more user-friendly!

Several people asked how I used picnik.com to make the recipe card in my last post, and since I haven't made much else this week, I thought I'd share.  You see, I use picnik for much more than editing photos.  It is where I make my blog banner and buttons, party invites, gift tags, cupcake toppers, you name it.  It is kind of fabulous.

Start with a blank .jpg image.  An easy way to do that is to just open Microsoft Paint and save the file without doing anything to it.  Upload your blank picture to picnik.com, and it will look like this:

A blank canvas, ready to turn into whatever you wish!

Starting under the Edit tab, you can crop your image to whatever size you wish.  I cropped mine square.

I go to the Create tab next, and usually the first thing I do is add a background color.   In the Effects section, scroll down to the Duo-Tone effect.  Since you are working with a blank image, it will fill in a solid color of your choice.

I'm going to turn this image into a round cupcake topper, so the next place I go is the Frames section.

Select Rounded Edges and turn that Corner Radius to the maximum setting for a perfect circle (if your starting image is a square).  You can also round the edges just a bit, add a square frame ... just play around to find what you want!

Next, I go to Stickers if I want to add an image.  I'll be honest ... the stickers aren't mind-blowing.  And there are some better options when you purchase the premium membership.  But, there are some good free images in there if you look around.  I'll create a cupcake topper using only free picnik features.

You can turn your background color into a border by adding a geometric shape.   You'll be eye-balling the centering, but it isn't too difficult.

Then I find a fun image to add, like this bus (sorry for the color swap - I changed my mind).  Some of my favorite free images come from the Common Symbols, Beards, Iconian Stickers, and Floralia sections.

Next, add text.  Here I used my favorite font, GeosansLight.

If you right click on an image or text, you get a few helpful options.  For example, if you want to change the order of your layers, you can select an image or text, right click, and Send to Back.  Or, if you want two of the exact same images, select the image, right click, and Duplicate Shape.

This comes in especially useful for when you add multiple text boxes, and you want them to all be a consistent text color.  Select the original text, right click on it, and Duplicate Text.  You can edit the duplicated text to say something new, but it will be in the same color as the original.

When you are happy with your image, go to the Save & Share tab and save to your computer.  You now have an image you can use for just about anything!  For cupcake toppers like the example above, I import the image into a Word Document or Powerpoint, re-size as needed, and duplicate it to make a whole page to print.

If you like my bus topper, here is the image.  Right click to save the image to your own computer, and feel free to use it for cupcakes, stickers, or whatever you'd like (for personal use only).  I can see this as part of a really cute Transportation-themed child's birthday party.

I hope that helps!  I really only touched the bare-bones of what this site can do when creating an image from scratch, so play around with it.  And if you use this program and have tips to share, please leave a comment!

bridal shower gift

What's this, you say?  Something not baby-related?!!!  How refreshing.

I'm going to a bridal shower this week and wanted to add something handmade to the not-so-exciting cake pan from the bride's registry.

This simple hostess apron should do the trick. The shape has kind of a retro-vibe, but the print is bright and modern.  It is similar to the hostess aprons I have made in the past, except it isn't gathered, has a rounded bottom, and there is a very long sash at the waist that wraps around the back and ties up front.  It's kind of sassy.  I just made it up as I went along yesterday afternoon, so maybe I'll post a pattern for it someday.  But not today.  :)

I'm also including the recipe for my favorite chocolate cake (my sister's recipe) that uses said cake pan, and some blank recipe cards to match. I made these using my favorite photo-editing site, picnik.com. 

Here's the yummy cake recipe, if you're interested:

And some blank recipe cards, if you like them:

 Just right click to save the file and print as a 4x6 image.  You should be able to fit two per page.

picnik love

One of my favorite blogs, I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar, posted some great photo editing tips today using my favorite site, picnik.com.  She even made three little instructional videos to highlight some of the better features.  I've been a long time picnik user, but I still learned several helpful tips.

Here's one of my favorite baby photos of Oscar at 2 weeks old, edited using Cheri's baby photo tips.

It makes a big difference!  Just thought I'd share.  :)