Spa Party

My sister was in town to visit earlier this week.... she made a quick stop here in Houston while on her way to Dallas for a Mary Kary conference.  It was her first trip to Houston, so we explored a little around town and she experienced life in TX.  We knew after a few days of busyness, we'd want to relax and pamper ourselves.  Since she's a Mary Kay director with so many great products in stock, we thought making food, inviting friends and having a spa party (a Mary Kay spa party) would be the perfect end to a visit!

I mailed invites and planned a party full of food, drinks and spa treatments....

As friends arrived, we lingered around the food table sharing our week's adventures and tasting new treats.

Spa Food

• Cheese platter:  petit frere, aged cheddar, Gorgonzola, wafer crackers, dried cherries, Mediterranean mix of olives, candied walnuts
• red, seedless grapes
• caramelized onion and apple tarts with Gruyere & thyme
• anchoiade with radishes, cucumbers, carrots & celery
• apricot almond shortbread bars
• sprouted grain mini brownies topped with whipped cream & raspberries

Spa Drinks

• Sangria (recipe from my all time favorite, "Bride & Groom: First & Forever Cookbook")
• white wine
• iced green tea infused with citrus
• water infused with cucumbers & mint
• coffee
• hot tea

We slowly moved into the living room with our plates and drinks to begin a night of pampering.  My sister and I set several spa supplies and lighted votive candles on various tables around the living room.

Spa Supplies

• q-tips
• cotton balls
• facial pads
• nail filers
• nail polish remover pads (so much better than using a bottle and cotton balls) 
• nail polish
• toe spacers (flavored tootsie rolls, more details below)
• towels
• mirrors
• tons of Mary Kay products

During the party we pampered our face, arms, legs, hands and feet.  We used all Mary Kay products (MK products are listed in parenthesis), but any homemade or store bought products would work for a spa party too!

Spa Treatments

• facial and eye cleanse (MK TimeWise 3-in-1 cleanser, Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover) 
• microdermabrasion (MK TimeWise Microdermabrasion)
• facial mask (MK TimeWise Moisture Renewing Gel Mask)
• facial moisturizer (MK TimeWise Age Fighting Moisturizer)
• eye soothing (MK Firming Eye Cream, Indulge Soothing Eye Gel with Calming Influence)
• lip mask & balm (MK Satin Lips)
• body lotion (MK TimeWise Body Targeted-Action Toning Lotion)
• pedicure (soaked feet in tub of warm water with MK 2-in-1 Body Wash & Shave, used MK Satin Hands to soften and scrub, MK Mint Bliss Energizing Lotion for Feet & Legs to moisturize, then finished with nail filers and polish)
• manicure (MK Satin Hands to soften, scrub & moisturize, then finished with nail filers and polish)

To make nail polish selections easier, I created a sheet with polish names, then painted a square with the actual polish color....

We used the tootsie footsies (tootsie rolls) as toe spacers while applying the nail polish (or you could just go ahead and eat them!).

Great night.... I'm relaxed and had a fun time visiting with my sister!

Later in the week, I'll make the spa invite, food labels and more available as a free download.
Update: Spa party printables

Recipe: Easy, Delicious Nachos

The husband was out of town for a few days and to welcome him back, the kids wanted to help make a special dinner.  With three little ones in the kitchen, I wanted to make something easy.  No mess.  Not much clean-up (well, as little clean-up as possible).  We excitedly agreed on nachos.  Nachos = happy kids!  And I also found out, nachos = happy husband.

These delicious nachos were so easy to make.... just a bunch of layers piled high.  And, to make it even easier, I bought all the toppings already prepared, no chopping involved! (pre-cut vegetables are packaged in a container in the produce aisle at my local grocery store, I love it!)

Delicious Nachos Recipe

Ingredients

• lightly salted tortilla chips, about a 14oz bag
• pico de gallo (there is usually a variety... original, black bean, corn, mango, pineapple or a combination - I like to combine the original in mild, original in medium, and one made with a mixture of black beans and corn).  For a full baking sheet piled high, I buy about 48oz.
• 1c green onions
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 24oz cheddar cheese

  
Directions (looks long, but it's not):

• preheat oven to 400 degrees
• line baking sheet with aluminum foil
• spread tortilla chips in a thin layer covering entire baking sheet
• sprinkle thin layer of shredded cheddar cheese over chips
• spoon about 12oz of pico de gallo mixture over cheese
• sprinkle green onions over pico de gallo
• sprinkle an extra-thin layer of shredded cheddar cheese over onions
• add more chips
• add thin layer of cheese
• add more pico de gallo
• a little bit of onions
• little bit of cheese
• more chips
• more cheese
• pico de gallo
• some onions
• cheese
• chips again
• lots of cheese
• top with pico all over the top
• sprinkle with cilantro
•  place baking sheet on middle rack in oven for about 15 min, until top cheese is golden brown and cheese in middle has warmed and melted
• remove from oven

Serve immediately to hungry little ones and a happy husband!  We add guacamole on the side (I bought our guac already made too, so convenient and HEB has an awesome one that's pretty close to homemade).  No forks involved, dig in! 
 

You could also add sour cream, salsa, a squeeze of lime, chicken, beef, olives, sliced avocados or even more cheese!  Who doesn't love more cheese!  Yum!

Free Printable: Custom Postcards

It's been cloudy and very, very rainy here in Houston this week.  We don't have many weeks filled with heavy rain, so this weather is wonderful... and it's an excuse to stay indoors and get creative!  The kids and I invited friends over to play and paint.  I printed postcards and let the kids brush, swirl and flick paint all over the front of their postcards.  Once the paint dried, we flipped the postcard over and wrote a short sentence, filled in the address and added a stamp.  Tomorrow we'll drop it in the mail to send to far-away-family.  It's a bonus for the grandparents.... a letter and a painting in one, a custom painted postcard!

 We started with the blank postcard....

... then got out acrylic paint (I buy the Folk Art paint in the 2oz bottles, they're available at just about every craft store.  I like the thickness)....

... and got to work.

In the end, we had custom art on a postcard...

.... and ready to be addressed.
 

The kids had fun, so I think we'll be doing these again real soon... maybe next time we'll use watercolors paints!

Here's a free printable postcard for your kids (or you) to paint, draw, color or even scribble to send to those you love.  These postcards are available for your personal use for FREE.... download, print or just pass along the link: postcards

Print on 8.5x11" heavy-duty painting paper (I prefer acrylic paper for mine, but my printer will only take water color paper).  Once printed, cut down the middle, both horizontal and vertical.  There are four postcards per sheet.

Have fun!

60th Birthday Party (and Free Printable)

It's been a while since I've tapped at my keyboard and posted decorating or party pictures... I've been busy having fun with the family celebrating some exciting events the last few months.  We finished a successful year of homeschooling our oldest daughter thru kindergarten (yay!), then we traveled to the northeast part of the country to visit family, attend a beautiful wedding and celebrated my dad's 60th birthday.

My sister, brother and I wanted to plan a special surprise for my dad since it was such a big year, a 60th birthday is definitely a time to celebrate!  I saw a birthday idea on Pinterest from Nothing But Bonfires to create a memory for each year.... so, we sent a note to family and friends of my dad asking for their help.... in the end, we compiled over 60 memories to honor my dad and present to him as we celebrated his 60th birthday.

Family and friends emailed their favorite memory of my dad to me.... I printed the memories (so they all had the same heading), stuffed the envelopes sealed with circle stickers and then stacked them in small boxes tied with bakers twine....

To present the memories, we planned a special evening at a AAA baseball game.  We rented a suite for our family and our kids, then surprised my dad as he walked in.  The surprise was a few weeks before his real birthday, so I think he was a bit shocked (and excited!).  Now it was time to celebrate (and watch a baseball game)!

In between all the game watching and eating, we surprised him with the memories.....

As my dad read through memories, there were so many great times brought back to life, some heart-touching, some super hilarious.  Lots of dare-devil stunts were mentioned, especially on four-wheelers and dirt bikes, and then of course over and over again we heard of my dad's humble heart and graciousness towards those he encounters....

Then we got a little camera crazy in between reading all the memories (the little ones took most of these photos!)....

Me and my dad...

... my sister and my dad...

... my brother and my dad....

... and I can't forget the mascot and my dad.

We had a great time celebrating, especially my husband!  He really gets into the game :)

And as promised, here's a free printable birthday banner for you.... there's three colors to choose: red, pink or blue.  For my dad's 60th birthday party I strung the red happy birthday banner across the wall with red and white bakers twine....

Here are the free printables:
Happy Birthday Banner - Red
Happy Birthday Banner - Blue
Happy Birthday Banner - Pink

Download the pdf file and print on 8.5x11" white/cream colored cardstock, trim along the dotted lines, then punch two small holes at the top of each card.  Thread twine, yarn, string etc in and out of the holes to create a banner just like the photo "happy" above.  Then hang the happy birthday banner and celebrate!

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!!!  We love you...

Free Printable: Pink Labels

For the kid's watercolor painting party, I made some food labels with a striped pink background....

As promised, the party labels are available for your personal use for FREE.... download, print or just pass along the link: pink party labels

Download the pdf file and print on 8.5x11" white/cream colored cardstock, trim the edges, then fold in the middle to stand.  Label with a food name, special instruction, etc.  (If you don't have a program to add text to the label before printing, you could write on the label with a fancy marker or use lettered stamps to add info.)

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Watercolor Painting Party

We get together with a group of friends in our playgroup once a week to let the kids play while parents relax (a bit) and talk.  This week, we hosted playgroup at our house, you know me.... I always like to throw a little art in the mix.  So, I planned a watercolor painting party for the kids.

I used the printable "I Am A Child Of God" that I originally created as a coloring page.  I changed the text outline color to gray and printed it on watercolor paper for the party.

Each child had their own paper printout and watercolor brushes.  I filled colored polka dot cups with liquid watercolors and wrote the color names on paper in front of the cup.  Having the watercolors already mixed made it really easy for preschoolers and young elementary aged kids to paint (I mixed 1 part watercolor to 4 parts water and the colors were still vibrant!).

In the end, we had a beautiful variety of artwork.  This is my daughter's work, she recently learned about Jackson Pollock and applied his paint splatter technique.  I'll be hanging more watercolor artwork in our house this week!

Of course all little artists get hungry, so we had pretzels and water to refuel.  I used more polka dot cups to hold the pretzels, rainbow colored striped straws to sip water and circle stickers to label clear cups with everyone's name.

Did you notice the food labels?  They'll be available for you to print next week!

Update: Pink Food Label Printable

Mother's Day Free Printables

Mother's Day is this Sunday.... there's plenty of free printables available around the web to share your love with mom.  These are a few of my favorites....

Oh Happy Day

Paper and Thread

How About Orange

Melissa Esplin

Sugar Tot Designs via I Heart Naptime

Ellinee

And... if you're a mom who wants to pass along a Mother's Day idea to your sweet husband, maybe this will help....

Living Locurto

Free Printables: Baby Shower Games

A couple of friends and I hosted a double baby shower recently.  For the shower, we placed a few simple ideas around the house to keep guests busy and talking.... I guess you could call them shower games... we chose these games because they ended with something tangible the moms could take home, use for the baby and most importantly serve as a reminder of all the love and support from friends and family.

To go along with the ideas, I created several printables with helpful info and instructions.  Of course they were also used to add a little color to the party.  These baby shower printables are available for you to print and/or download.  All free!

Food Labels & Party Labels
These cards were set in front of each bowl/plate on the yogurt bar and labeled with the food name.  They were also set in front of the games with directions printed on the card.  If you don't have a program to add text to the label before printing, you could write on the label with a fancy marker or use lettered stamps to add info.

Baby Wishes

The baby wish cards (or prayer cards) were stacked together and set beside a jar for guests to write their prayers for the baby.  Each card had one of the following:  I pray you learn, love, laugh, become or respect _____________.   Once the guest filled in the blank, they dropped the card in the jar for the mom to take home.

Guess How Many

Two glass jars were filled to the top with baby supplies.... one with cotton balls, the other with q-tips.  We framed a sign enticing guests to play this guessing game where they filled in their guess of how many cotton balls and q-tips were in each jar.  The guests closest to the correct numbers won a prize.

Tree Thumbprint

We had a tree with bare branches and a Bible verse printed on cardstock paper..... guests pressed their finger on a colored ink pad, then placed their ink-filled-finger on the paper to resemble an image of a leaf.  We later framed the tree for the mom to take home.

Name That Baby

Lastly, we had hoped to play this game, unfortunately I didn't have enough baby pictures in time.... so I'm passing this one on to you!  The game is simple.  Hang baby pictures of everyone at the shower (clipped to a string, taped to posterboard, laid on a table, etc) and label them each with a different number.   Place a sheet of paper listing all the names of the babies in the photos (in random order) for all to see.  Then hand out the trimmed sheets below and let guests have fun guessing the names of each baby.

The printables above are all available for your personal use, for FREE!
Party & Food Labels
Baby Wishes & Prayers
Guess How Many Game
Guess How Many Game Sign
Name that Baby Game
Sign-In Tree

So, go ahead and download, print or just pass along the link.   The instructions are simple.... print on 8.5x11" paper.  For the labels, baby wishes and numbered guesses, cut along the lines to trim.  For the guessing game sign and tree art, trim to fit an 8x10" frame.  And for the name that baby game, cut in half both horizontally and vertically.