.diy craft table.

.for a couple of years, i've been wanting my own little craft space at home.  and finally, my husband decided to move his photography business office from the house to a new business center nearby.  and so, i get to take over his little office and make it into my own little craft room :)

well, a craft room has to have a craft table, and so i looked and looked online for the perfect craft table and found a lot of diy craft tables from awesome crafters out there.  most of them were inspired by the Bedford Project Table from Pottery Barn.  and sure enough, i fell in love with this table from pottery barn, but then, i wasn't gonna pay that much for it.  so just like many crafters or DIYers out there, i decided to make my own craft table.  i am so thankful to all the DIYers out there that post their DIY projects online.

the inspiration:  the Bedford Project Table from Pottery Barn

 here's a corner of my little craft room.

shelving units and table top from ikea.  i just love ikea :)

 i thought a futon bed would be useful too.  my Bella already marked it as her own saving a perfect space for her teddy bears.

my craft table is counter-height, and as you can tell, it's still missing a counter-height stool.  i already placed an order for this posh bar stool from Target.  i thought it would be perfect for my craft table since the height is adjustable too.  i hope it's of decent quality.  Price-wise this bar stool is great :)

.cars themed party.

OVERVIEW

After planning and pulling off a birthday party for my little girl, my sister and I have a couple of months to brainstorm and plan for my nephew's birthday party.  This year, my sister thought it would be a great idea to do a car themed birthday for her son's 3rd birthday.  My nephew, in addition to his basketball love is also in love with cars, any cars i guess.  I've never seen anyone with so many toy cars.  He runs around with a backpack bigger than him full of little cars.  He would be riding in the backseat naming every single car that passes by while his mom is driving.  His favorite movie is disney's Cars movie, in which he can name every single character in.  And so, we decided to focus on the Cars movie theme for his birthday party.

We decided to set the tone and theme of the party with his boxed invitations, which we made.  We bought little white boxes and placed a little toy car in it, along with the birthday party invitation and information.

DECOR, FOOD & FAVORS

The party was held at a playhouse/gym for kids, which the kids loved because of all the moon jumps and other activities that were set up for the kids to enjoy.  For the centerpieces, my sister and i painted old large milk cans and stuck customized stickers on them.  We placed different Cars character on each table on top of the cans, and had balloons on them as well.  We placed small cars around the cars and made it to look like the cars were on a little highway/road.

The theme and the black and white checkered color scheme were incorporated throughout the party, in the dessert table, the main food table, the drink station, and the favor table.  For the main food table, we had little sandwiches, chicken wings, spaghetti and a couple of filipino dishes.  For the dessert table, we had a lot of sweets that the guests enjoyed.  We had cupcakes, candies, brownies, chocolates, cookies, mostachons, and of course the birthday cake.  The dessert labels were made to look like Radiator Springs license plates.  We also thought that it would be great to have a birthday cake that looks like a tire, and sure enough, our cake vendor did an awesome job!

Instead of party hats, we had little pit crew hats for the guests.  The guests took home their own pit crew tool boxes, and the favor tags were pit crew VIP passes with lanyards.

VENDORS

• photography by flipartimages
• bottle wrappers:  MB graphics
• cake:  jessica's cupcakes and more

.raindrops and puddles themed party.

OVERVIEW

Our little princess Bella turned 2 a few months ago.  It seems like just yesterday that i was planning her "beary" first birthday.  It's crazy how time flies so fast.

Bella is in love with her rain boots to the point where she wears it to church with a church dress.  TOO CUTE!  And so, this year, we decided to do a very different theme for her birthday--raindrops and puddles!...It reminded me of the good ol' days when you just run around in the rain and jump into puddles without a worry in the world.  With the theme being so different, it meant that i would have to do a lot of the decorations myself.  There are not that many pre-made raindrop theme decorations out there, which was okay, because i love making my own decorations for Bella's parties!  I had a great time brainstorming with the decorations, and trying with the things that i could DIY :)

DECOR, FOOD & FAVORS

The door decoration was an upside down umbrella filled with flowers, an idea i got from pinterest.  The birthday girl's hat was customized for her by the same etsy vendor that made her hat last year.  The hubby and I hung umbrellas upside down across the courtyard, where the kids played, and where the moon jump was placed.  I got a lot of compliments for the little DIY centerpieces as well, which some guests took home with them.  Along the patio way, we also hung paper pom poms with little raindrops made out of craft paper.

The raindrop theme was carried out throughout the dessert table.  I made rain drop cutouts and strung them together, and hung them to serve as a backdrop for the dessert table.  I also found some clear dome-shaped umbrellas, which I hung upside down above the dessert table, and across the dining area where the guests ate.

The food consisted of filipino dishes, which included lechon, pancit, eggrolls, spaghetti, beef steak, and so much more.  The dessert table was a hit.  I incorporated the theme, as well as, the color scheme into the dessert labels, and bottle wrappers.  We had cupcakes, mostachons, french macaroons, chocolate crinkles, and a lot of candies.  Bella's birthday cake was lined by M&M candies to give the idea of raindrops, and a cotton candy was place right on top of it to serve as the cloud.

The favor table was lined by Bella's collection of rain boots, and one of mine.  The guests got to take home their umbrellas to remember the day by.

ACTIVITIES

The guests got to take their pictures with a Photo Booth by instant memento, which also served as the guest book for the party.  We had a face painter and a balloon twister, which the kids really loved.  As every kids party I've been to, the moon jump was a hit.

VENDORS

• photography by flipartimages
• birthday hat:  etsy
• cake and cupcakes:  jessica's cupcakes and more
• candies:  candywarehouse