Princess tea party

Can a preschool-age girl avoid the princess obsession? I mean, twirly skirts and tiaras just seem to be a rite of passage these days!

Our daughter requested a princess birthday party, which then evolved into a princess tea party.

We welcomed our guests at the front door with a framed invitation mounted on white cardstock.




The kids got started on an activity while we waited for everyone to arrive. Coloring the castle, which the girls later dubbed the "Princess Club."



Now, the tables are ready. Simple white tablecloths. Folding chairs with tulle tied on back. Vases with lantana blossoms. Borrowed china cups and saucers.




Our guests sipped their "tea" (raspberry lemonade.) See the child wearing the crown above? That was another time-filler craft using faux gems and stickers.






While the kids enjoyed their tea, parents went inside to grab plates of food for themselves and to serve the princes and princesses. In the photo just above, we created "tea cups" using plastic Easter eggs and buttons (see the blog, Creativity in Progress, for instructions). Filled them up with pastel M&Ms.


Opening gifts was a hoot, especially when our son tried to steal the show with his adorable antics.



A few details on these decorations. I changed out the decorative items on these shelves in our dining room to fit the theme a bit--kinda minor, but I think it helped with cohesion. Strips of scrap fabric tied to twine made for a pretty bunting to drape from the window above the food table.




And the highlight of the party--THE CAKE! I baked a three-layer Baby Vanilla Bean Cake and my dear sister (who has taken a Wilton's decorating class) did this frosting technique. The topper for the cake was a tea cup and saucer that my daughter and I made in a pottery studio when she was 2 years old, so very sentimental. Much like this photo of us where she rested her head on my shoulder while we sang to her. *mommy's contented sigh*


Guests grabbed a favor bag on their way out the door. Basically, I cut a square of tulle, filled it with goodies like a ring, a flute, stickers, a crazy straw and some candy. Tied it with some yarn and handstamped the child's name on a piece of cardstock cut to mimic the shape of a tea bag.

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For my social butterfly of a daughter, a big birthday party is the best gift we could give her. It was a whirlwind afternoon, but oh-so-fun.

Please also see my Pinterest idea board for the party.

Adventures in vegetable gardening (pt 2 of 3)

Planting Day (03/16/12)
I ordered seed packets from Park Seed:

• Lettuce summer glory blend (5185)
• Squash summer medley hybrid (5700)
• Zinnia (4966)
• Basil dwarf bush (0309)
• Organic Italian Oregano (5878)*
• Cilantro santo (0602) 
• Strawberry spinach (5471)*

 *Didn't germinate; replaced with seedlings 

Then I used a free garden design tool from Gardener's Supply Company to map out how I would plan the bed. I liked that the website also gave some tips for growing and harvesting.

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Week 1 (03/23/12)

Basil sprouts. Had to thin these down to only one plant because I expect it to get large.

 Cantaloupe grew quickly. Thinned to two plants.

A look at the whole garden.

Lettuce coming up strong.

Summer squash really thrives too!

My little helpers love to water (and stomp in the mud).

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Week 2 (03/30/12)

I decided to try tomato cages to support some of the cantaloupe and summer squash.

Carrots seem delicate, but are getting sturdier as they grow.

Largest plants so far are lettuce and summer squash.

Another view of the whole garden. I've lost some of the zinnias along the back row to hungry birds! :(

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Week 3 (04/06/12)

I planted the following varieties on April 1 to replace seeds that didn't germinate or young seedlings that were eaten by birds.

• Green bell pepper
• Red bell pepper
• Orange bell pepper
• Yellow bell pepper
• Oregano
• Pineapple sage

 Carrots are getting taller.

 

One of the new bell peppers.

 Lettuce varieties.

 New pineapple sage plant.

More growth!

See also:
Part 1
Part 3

Adventures in vegetable gardening (pt 1 of 3)

As you can see, last summer's drought killed much of the St. Augustine in our side yard. Rather than re-sodding this sad little sunny spot, I was inspired to start a veggie garden. It should be a better investment since we will (hopefully!) reap a bountiful harvest of fresh produce instead of watering an inevitably thirsty patch of grass over and over.

"Oh no," my husband groaned. "Another project."

But he was soon on board, like a real trooper, shoveling out the weeds and dead sod to make room for installing a raised bed. Our daughter was on earthworm patrol, pointing out all the creepy crawlies for us.

Just because I was taking photos doesn't mean I didn't put in my own sweat equity. Here's the cleared space.

We bought two raised bed kits from Home Depot. At $29.97 each, the Greenes 4-foot-by-4-foot Dovetail Cedar Raised Garden Kit was simple to assemble, with hardware included.

Along the way, we checked to make sure it was level, but with the overall grading of the soil still tilting away from the house and toward the fence for drainage purposes.

Another little helper pitches in after his nap. :)

Originally, we configured the kits in two separate 4x4 ft. beds. That's before I had the "duh" moment that it would have been smarter to make one large rectangle (4x12 ft), essentially adding 33% more planting space.

The next day, I got out there with the drill to reconfigure the beds.

Ah, progress.

Now, on to the soil. I used 4 bags of Miracle-Gro Expand 'n Gro on the bottom, followed by 3 bags of Miracle-Gro 2 cu. ft. Garden Soil for Flowers and Vegetables and 4 bags of .75 cu. ft. generic top soil.

The Expand 'n Grow soil is condensed and dehydrated, so you add water after pouring it.

It's supposed to increase in density up to 3 times out of the bag. For me, it doubled in size after I added water.

Here's the finished result after I got all three soil varieties mixed in, six inches deep. Stay tuned for planting day details! :)

Total project time from start to finish: 6 hours. 

See also:
Part 2
Part 3