personal ramblings

April 22, 2013 4 Comments

dusk blue pantone kind of Monday

Dusk Blue is a Pantone color for Spring and not only did it inspire my Monday morning hue… it also inspired Vern Yip when he designed a limited edition Diet Pepsi can! Isn’t it darling with the peacock!

These are all the things that will keep me focused and on task this jam packed Monday ~

cotton… I must be comfy! (Dusk Blue Infinity Scarf from Liquid Squid and Woven Cotton Bracelets from TNTees)
reminders to stay focused and work hard (Motivational Print from EEartstudio)
my tunes (Geeks Designer Line (GDL) Slim Hard Case for Apple iPod Touch 5 – S13 Pantone Dusk Blue)
my friends, colleagues and readers, all available at my fingertips through social media! (Social Media Icons from Nudge Media Design, available for digital download)
and last… but never least… my Diet Pepsi! (giving me just that extra bit of charge in the afternoons when my focus starts to wane)

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake, create and celebrate! Happy Monday everyone!

Diet Pepsi sponsored this post. But as those who stop in here often know, all opinions are my own. I would have it no other way!

Join The Celebration Shoppe on facebook, sign-up for the daily ideas to come right to your inbox (never miss an idea, giveaway or free printable!), connect with Kim on twitter, pinterest and on instagram. And don’t forget to shop the party store for birthday, baby shower and holiday party supplies. Oh, and now you can follow the blog with Bloglovin too! Hope to see you around!

raise a reader + $50 LeapFrog giveaway!

I’m a reader. I have boys. I want them to be readers… And we all know that boys are less likely to keep reading (when not forced) than girls. That is why I started from the moment they were born. Reading together every night for at least 20 minutes in our house is not only a family tradition/habit, but also a reward.

I actually hate to admit this… but I’m going to just so you can get a feel for how much my boys love to read. If they’re jumping on the bed… not brushing their teeth… giggling so much they can’t breath… I simply threaten ”okay, no book tonight!” and they immediately and I do honestly mean immediately, straighten up. And I don’t have toddlers anymore {sad smile}, my oldest is eight! And he reads at a 6th grade level (AR 6.2). Yep. I’m a proud momma.

Now just so you know, not everything we read is a great tale. Nope. I’ve read more science books (even parts of my old college Biology textbook to them… don’t get me started!) about creepy crawly slithery critters, space and electronics, African animals, weather, etc. than I care to name. But they loved it. And… I learned a thing or two right along with them. {grin}

Raise A Reader

My youngest has a particular fascination with dinosaurs, and he has since he was two. (Ever seen his 4th birthday Dinosaur Party? It was featured in Parents magazine!)

Raise A Reader

My point is, read what THEY like. It will keep them interested and eager. My oldest actually got grumpy with me recently when his little brother and I went to the library before we picked him up from school… he told me that just wasn’t fair! {grin}

At this point I feel I have to also tell you that both of my boys are big into sports too. They are energetic and social… and readers! They play baseball, soccer, basketball, tennis, golf and they swim. Yes… I know… we’re honing it down to our favorite sports. I only allow one sport at a time, unless it’s summer, and that is becoming more difficult the older they get. {smirk}

LeapFrog Learning System

Okay, so if you didn’t start reading to your little people from day one. No worries and no shame. OR, if you did and your kiddos are doing great, but you’re looking for something interesting to keep them going (I’m always on the look out for something new to keep them engaged).

Either way, you really should look at the LeapFrog systems to help your children grow as readers. I’m a lover of the hardback book… my kids are growing up in the age of technology… LeapFrog offers a melding of the two complete with reading, spelling, games, science, and more. My son, as you can see, was mesmerized by the Leap and the Lost Dinosaur book and the games inside, especially the Dinosaur Jungle Survivor Game that comes complete with a set of dinosaur fact cards. By the way, did I mention he’s a dinosaur lover. I should have taken a picture of his playroom for you… we have every dinosaur toy sold. Literally.

Raise a Reader with LeapFrog

Did you know it’s Reading Month?! Hop… or leap… over to LeapFrog.com for more details about why reading to kids for at least 20 minutes a day is not only a good idea, but is literally linked to test scores (plus, it’s great snuggle time!). You can also get a $3 off LeapFrog coupon code!

LeapFrog would also love for you to take the LeapFrog Reading Month pledge! Leap over to their Facebook page and help them donate books to America’s schools!

Wanna win a LeapFrog Tag to help you get started?! So simple! Just tell us about your reading habits in the comments!

Prize items include (depending on your child’s age): Tag Leap and the Lost Dinosaur, Tag Get Ready for Kindergarten, Tag Junior Toddler Milestones, Tag Junior Animals Around the World. Approximate value of prize pack items is $50.

We’re using Rafflecopter and you can login with either your e-mail account (which no one will gain access to for any other purpose than to alert you of your prize) or facebook. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy weekend everyone!

Join The Celebration Shoppe on facebook, sign-up for the daily ideas to come right to your inbox (never miss an idea, giveaway or free printable!), follow us on twitter, pinterest and on instagram at @thecelebrationshoppe. And don’t forget to shop our party store for birthday, baby shower and holiday party supplies!

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective but content and opinions expressed here are my own. You guys know I would have it no other way! To take the LeapFrog Reading Month pledge, please visit their Facebook page. #LFReadingMonth #spon

Oz The Great And Powerful

When I was a kid there was no DVD (no VHS until I was about 9…) and there was no TIVO or record on demand. Needless to say, if you wanted to watch something (on the three channels that we got) you had better plant yourself in front of the television on time. The Wizard of Oz movie, the original from 1939, came on every year and every year I was ready. My mom would make brownies and we made a family night of it. Admittedly, the evil green Wicked Witch of the West creeped me out a bit, but still LOVED the movie.

So you can imagine that I’ve been giddy with anticipation with all the promos and sneak peeks at the new Oz The Great And Powerful movie. Even if the witch creeps me out again, I have to hand it to Disney, the graphics in the trailers are beyond reproach.

And as soon as I see it… which will hopefully be this weekend… I’ll share a mom’s review. I have a six and an eight year old, and I hope it’s okay for the little one. I really want to share it with them! That said, neither of my boys liked the recent Alice in Wonderland or Christmas Carol. I hate to admit it, because Disney is my absolute favorite (movies and destination), but they were both too “dark” for my kiddos’ taste.

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! And if you see the movie, don’t tell me what happens! Since this is the prequel to the original story, I’m anticipating the story line… and maybe a few fun birthday party ideas. {wink}

my happy new year photo card

Hey everyone! I’ve more than enjoyed a bit of downtime with the family over the past few days. It has been amazing. And yes, as you can tell from my holiday card this year, I’m one of those people that is sending out New Years holiday cards instead of Christmas cards.

The primary reason for me was that I really wanted to use my Confetti Happy New Years photo card… and I didn’t have a great picture to use. I mean, you know me, I have tons of pics of my boys (I make you guys look at them all the time!), but no recent ones with snow. And I really wanted snow.

You ask why you can’t see snow in this picture… well. That is because the beautiful little boy on the bottom just had to wear that stocking cap and it’s a yucky shade of green. Oh well… he was warm and there is always the black and white version. {grin}

This is what it looked like in color. I was proud that I captured their eyes… but that hat… wow! I blame his dad. I can promise you that I didn’t buy it.

And as you can see from these pictures from my Instagram feed (join me @thecelebrationshoppe), we finally got snow. And lots of it. (This second pic was taken at a friends out in the country. Beautiful isn’t it!) Yep, I went sledding. Let me tell you, that hill isn’t small. I wish I had video of it for you. I admit. The first time down I screamed like I was on a roller coaster… one without any seat belts. {wink}

Over the past few days I also made a few New Year’s resolutions. Mostly pertaining to The Celebration Shoppe, but a few personal ones too. AND I’m going to a little New Year’s Eve shindig tonight. All in all… a great end to a fabulous year.

I pray you’re all having a wonderful holiday season and that you’re ready to kick off 2013 with health, happiness, a bit of baking, a party or two and maybe a little crafting on the side!

Missed you all and I’ll be back with some fun new ideas on Wednesday!

stripes + kid room makeover

This collage of images taken with my iPhone and edited in Camera+, PicFix and PicFrame

We’ve been busy this summer with tons of projects around the house: gutting our guest bath downstairs, purging closets, my studio and our basement (I have way too many props for work and baby toys that sadly I’ll never see used again), organizing my craft room… and oh yeah… creating a new “big boy” room for the boys before school starts back up. It’s been a lot of work, but I love an organized house.

And for the bedroom, I have to say, I have an opinionated crew. I know… shocker! {grin}

Challenge #1 – We talked about themes (whether or not to have one) for months before we got started. The boys just couldn’t agree. We have four bedrooms so they can each have their own, but the boys want to stay in the same one for a few more years — their choice, not mine — but I do have to admit that I love it because you can hear them whispering secrets and reading books to each other. I’m very blessed with two little boys who are also best friends.

So after much debate we decided no theme, just bold color, allowing them to change art and pillows, etc., as their interests change.

Challenge #2 - Color! My oldest loves green and my youngest loves blue. And not those light hues that can easily work together… we’re talking hunter green and aqua blue… you see the problem.

After another month I was able to talk them into blue walls, with a two-tone blue stripe accent wall. But you wonder how did I appease the green lover. Well… the outlets, inset of the window and art will be lime green. I know what you’re thinking. It’s the same thing my husband thought when I asked him to paint it… {snicker}

Challenge #3 – We’ve never painted stripes on the walls before. My hubby is a great painter, carpenter, and all around just clever when it comes to home projects. Whoa girls! He’s taken! {smile}

But even he was a bit nervous about painting stripes. We picked up a few rolls of Scotch Blue and he went to work measuring. That was honestly the toughest part, trying to determine how wide to make the stripes so that there was an even number… oh… and there was the window to consider.

In the end my smart guy figured it out and cut a board to help position a straight line all the way down the wall with the tape and another board the exact length of each stripe so there would be no measuring mishap halfway through the process.

Surprisingly to him, but not to me of course {so sure of myself… not!}, it’s coming together and looks really great! The Scotch Blue tape pulled away easily and the lines are so clean. One or two small touch ups in the corner, because of imperfections in the wall, and it was done! I think I’ll try my hand at some art prints using it!

I’ll share more as we go and until then, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake… PAINT… and create!

Oh, and if you’re wondering why the first pic says “Day 37,” thats because I’m photojournaling our summer and this was taken on Day 37. (You can follow our adventures on Instagram at TheCelebrationShoppe.)

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And by the way, this is not a sponsored post. I was just impressed with Scotch Blue and wanted to share!

patriotic party finds

I’ve been shopping around for goodies for my little guys upcoming birthday and ran into World Market late last week (photos taken with my iPhone) to see if they had any rustic items I could use for his camp party snack table.

I found some things for his party and these lovely patriotic items perfect for my 4th of July picnic:

The soda crates sold me! I love the vintage look to display old fashion creamsicle drinks and Coke bottles.
The stripe drink dispenser will be great for sweet tea… remember… I am a southern transplant to Ohio.
The metal picnic basket might double as a chip bag caddy.
The American flag throw pillows will go perfectly on the swing.
The popcorn bowls will grace our blankets while we watch fireworks.

And when I hop over to World Market to link to their homepage, lookie what I saw! A picture of my favorite finds on the homepage. Lovely when styled isn’t it?! Can’t wait for my picnic!

Oh how I love summer! As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create. And maybe shop a little! {smile}

how to photojournal your summer

My time with my boys is so very precious and they’re always doing funny things or wonderful things that I wish I could remember forever. I do journal (the traditional way) about them. Mostly the highlights of big days, funny little things they say and those {gasp} “they’re growing up too fast” moments. But I also want to grab and save those crazy smiles too.

So this summer I’m photojournaling our entire summer break. But instead of lugging my DSLR around and spending hours in Photoshop, I’m using my iPhone and some really fun and easy apps.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my DSLR. I use it all the time when there are planned outings or when I really want to get those close-up shots, but it’s not always with me and let’s face it, it’s a bit bulky… not to mention they know when mom is taking pictures when I have it with me. With my iPhone I can be sneaky {giggle} and capture them when they’re not expecting it.

I started this project because of my L-O-V-E for Instagram (you can find me at @thecelebrationshoppe). I’m constantly sharing what we’re up to or peeks at my latest craft projects. And by following and reading others I’ve found these fun frame and text overlay apps.

But you don’t have to be on Instragram. You can just create the collages and save them to your phone or e-mail them to yourself. (TIP: If you e-mail the image/collage to yourself from the picframe app, it will be a higher resolution than if you save it to your phone and then e-mail it to yourself. Some of mine are as large as 4MB).

So here are the apps that I use and why:

Camera + – I never take pictures with my regular camera phone anymore. With Camera + I can take pics and edit or delete them before saving to my phone.
Picfx – this app is full of textures. So once I’ve done my basic editing in Camera +, sometimes I go to Picfx to add textures. Light is my favorite texture, but there are over 50 to choose from.
PicFrame – I have a few frame apps, some with and without text overlay, but this one is my favorite and the one I used to do all of the collages in this post.

A few tips to creating great collages AND memories:

capture multiple angles,
get close up,
gain perspective (shoot high and shoot low), and
photograph parts of the story (e.g., water balloons) individually. Alone it might not make much sense, but in a collage they make a real impact.

And if you do start a little project like this of your own AND you’re on Instagram, please follow me at @thecelebrationshoppe and comment so I can find you. You can also tag your post with #photojournaling because I’ll be checking. {grin}

As always, I hope you’re inspired! And I hope you’re enjoying your summer!

photo a day on Instagram

So are you on Instagram yet? Are you participating in a photo a day hashtag? Well I’ve been watching others for a few months and have decided to give it a whirl. It’s going to be fun!

I’ve chosen to go with Fat Mum Slim this month. This list is the challenges for each day. Simply take a picture with this in mind, share it on Instagram (which allows you to also share quickly on Twitter, Facebook and other apps) and use the #photoadayJune hashtag so others can find you. And if you’re not sure what to take a picture of, Fat Mum Slim gives a few points of inspiration in her June post.

If you’re not on Instagram, go to your app store (now also available for android users!) and get it. You’ll love it!

You can find me at @thecelebrationshoppe on Instagram. If you follow me, comment on a post and say hi!

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create! Happy Monday!

love you to the moon cake

Today is my 16th wedding anniversary. I know! 16 years! Eeeekkk! Let’s just pretend I got married at age 10 so I can be 26… {smirk}

So for the occasion, and in the spirit of all my super easy DIY cakes lately (nautical baby shower cake, robot birthday cake, Easter bunny cake, patriotic red, white and blue cake), I made a “love you to the moon” cake. I meant for there to be a moon… but I ran out of time. You moms know the drill! {grin}

So here’s what you’ll need:

Flat iced two layer cake (preferably from your favorite bakery so you don’t have to bake)
Pink heart marshmallows
Needle
Cross-stitch thread
Pink sixlets (to hide your cake edges); I picked mine up at Party City

Just thread your needle, lightly dampen the sting, and thread the marshmallows. Be gentle or they’ll break/split. Once threaded, just place small dots of icing on the cake sides, make sure your marshmallow string is evenly spaced apart, and attach. It’s that easy!

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create! Happy Friday and Hoppy Easter!

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Country Living Mag 2011 Fair

Country Living magazine hosts a fair in Columbus Ohio and Atlanta Georgia each fall. The theme of the fair is to come and experience “country living” with hundreds of booths showcasing talented artisans, antiquers and fantastic fall flavors.

Well those of you that know me, know that I’m a southern girl (born in Alabama, college in Texas and Mississippi and then off to Tennessee before finally landing in Ohio) so country life is in my blood. Last year I was on my way to Disney World for their Not So Scary Halloween Party (it was fabulous by the way; I wish we were going again this year!) and didn’t get to attend. Well I wasn’t going to miss the Fair again this year!

And guess what! I had the opportunity to meet the editor, Sarah Gray Miller (that’s her on the right). She was lovely and down to earth, just how you would expect a good ole Mississippi girl to be. And I have to tell you, she was wearing these fabulous worn cowgirl boots and shared that she picked them up on eBay for $10. {I need a size 8.5 if anyone wants to get me a Christmas gift!}

So as you can imagine, I flitted around taking pictures of almost everything in my path. My creative brain was in overdrive with inspiration.

These are just a few of the things I thought were too lovely not to photograph. My absolute favorite are the angel wings made from an old picket fence. How clever and creative!

There was also tons of seasonal inspiration at every turn. How fun are those plush pumpkins?!

And the signage was just too fun not to share. I expected the sidewalk signage, but the outhouse was just funny and then my son really wanted to take the motorcycle signage home. “Mom, it’s just too cool!”

And I can’t leave without sharing a few fun pics of my boys enjoying the day. They love to “go” and that includes exploring with their mom. These are some of the fun times I captured. The “Great Pumpkin Patch” in the center of town, my youngest with this month’s Country Living magazine cover image in the background (love those pumpkin ideas!), my boys jumping off of the hay in front of the test kitchen… I’m sure we they weren’t supposed to be doing that… and my oldest with a swan neck gourd. Okay, I made that name up… but that’s what it looks like to me. {wink}

Although this year’s event in Columbus is over, there is another one in Atlanta next month if you’re nearby. And if you’re thinking about it, take a video tour of the Columbus Fair with Sarah to see what the 2011 Country Living Fair is all about. And if you get to go, I’d love to hear about it!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

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dusk blue pantone kind of Monday

you may also like:

raise a reader + $50 LeapFrog giveaway!

you may also like:

Oz The Great And Powerful

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my happy new year photo card

you may also like:

stripes + kid room makeover

you may also like:

patriotic party finds

you may also like:

photo a day on Instagram

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love you to the moon cake

you may also like:

Country Living Mag 2011 Fair

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connect with us!

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