Summer Style

I love to decorate seasonally.  Summer, to me, should be light and fun with lots of color and a touch of vintage.  Here are some of my favorites from some great shops on Etsy....

1.  Fantastic candlesticks from Gleaming Renditions

2.  Document your summer travels on this chalk board map by Dirtsa Studio

3.  Beautiful bowls by Wind and Willow Home perfect for entertaining this summer

4.  Who doesn't like chevron stripes? by MMIM

5.  An easy seasonal change...recover your pillows! by MoGirl Designs

6.  These chocolate filled candy seashells go beyond "too pretty to eat" (this shop is AMAZING) Andie's Specialty Sweets

7.  Charming vintage-look coasters by Mayagencic

8.  Loving this hanging, almost nautical candle holder by lesliepapafox

9.  Beautiful quilt to add a little color to your room by Aunti JoJo's

10.  Perfect vintage napkins for your summer party or picnic at Cool Vintage Finds

11. Display your summer memories and photos on this indoor clothesline kit by Heart and Handmade 2

12.  Great for a picnic, even better for creative storage...basket by Dew Drop Daisies

13.  Succulents, maybe the only plant I can keep alive...this one from So Succulent

14.  A fun and colorful print by Happee Monkey

15.  Sometimes (a lot of the time) I choose books just by color...make your bookcases beautiful with this instant collection of vintage books from Hampton House Vintage

16.  Perfectly summery wreath by The Baker's Daughter

{I receive no compensation for items featured on my blog, I just like what I see}

Video Game Party {the decorations}

I chose to do one focus wall, with lots of impact for this party.  The mural was really quite easy to put together & I was super happy with the results. {watch for the next post on how to make the ? mark block favor boxes}

First off I made a sketch, I wanted a general idea of how I wanted it to look on the wall.  A few changes were made here and there, but it's always good to start out with a plan :)

After I hung the blue paper up on the wall, I just started adding the elements.

  

The pipes are cut from green wrapping paper (just use a large ruler to measure & get your lines straight...a clear quilting ruler works great here).  

The clouds, grass clumps, coins and fire-power plant are free form shapes cut from card stock...as are the blocks (simple squares, with either a question mark...see favor box tutorial...or hand drawn lines to form bricks).  

For the Piranha plants & bomb, I used images from online and made a simple template, layering colors to get the right effect.

I cheated with the Mario, Goomba, and Turtle, just printing off coloring pages to size, coloring them in & cutting them out.

The "Happy Birthday!!!" took a bit more time, but I think it is well worth it.  First I printed off the message in Unibody 8 to use as a "map".  I then taped 1 inch black squares {electrical tape would work great here) above the mural to form the words.  After getting the first few letters done, it was easy going.

I always use my kids to judge my ideas/projects and this one got a big AWE-some!!! {which really makes it all worth it}

Video Game Party {the invitations}

For this party, I decided to make a classic, old school Nintendo Controller...it's the perfect shape for an invitation:)
This is a small invite, only 6.25 x 3.5 inches, that fits into a standard letter envelope.  It's simply layered card stock, with a little black hand outlining in the center. A template for you to use is below, click on the link to download or print {for non-commercial use only please!}


I printed my party info inside each card before assembly (remember to adjust your margins & print out a draft to make sure it all lines up right).  You can just as easily write or stamp the party info on the inside.  I used this great (free) video-game looking font: Unibody 8 



Invitation Template Inviation Layout

Video Game Birthday Party

My 12 year old is a console gamer. Loves them...if he had a choice he would play them all summer long--not going to happen :). So when it came time to choose a birthday party theme the choice was clear, a Nintendo/Mario Bros. themed party was all he could ask for. 
In the next few posts, you'll see how it all came together...

The Invitations

The Decorations

The Favors

The Cake