40th Birthday Party Ideas

My sister-in-law's birthday celebration!

A couple weeks ago a very special member of our family had a very special birthday! I asked my brother if I could be in charge of decorations...here's the outcome.

The welcome sign was created by gluing on a greeting (printed on my printer), pieces of scrapbook paper along the edges and I clipped on a silk gerbera daisy.

Nicki loves scrapbooking so I thought what better way to honor that than to use scrapbook papers she could use later to scrapbook about her party. My inspiration was a small but very expensive floral bouquet I'd seen at a local grocery store - the vase was only about 10" tall with black and white swirls on it - the flowers were elegant but simple red roses tucked closely to the edge of the vase. The cost $25!!!

Nicki lives in a 'guys' world with her husband and two rough and tumble sons so I thought we needed to glam-up her birthday with gems and flowers.


Once again, I borrowed clear vases from a friend (I did see them recently at a dollar store so you don't have to break the bank for centerpieces). I sprinkled gems around the table and since the party would go on until after dark, I took apart some of the gerbera daisies, placed them on the table and placed a votive candle on top. For an added touch of 'Nicki', I cut out large N's from scrapbook paper and glued them to the insert paper before I slipped them into the vase. I made swirled wire 'picks' to stick out the top of the vases and attached some pictures to the wire.

On some of the circles I put pictures of Nicki - loved seeing 'old' photos of her.


A garland can easily be made from scrapbook papers - just cut out circles, print off a greeting on your computer, glue them together punch a hole at the top of each circle and string them together with ribbon. Since I wanted a touch of glitz, I applied Aleene's Tacky Glue around the edges and sprinkled on clear glitter.

My sister made the three tier cake! Three DIFFERENT flavors too!



We needed to cover up some things on the patio so my mom came to rescue with quilts hand sewn by my great aunt!

Thanks for being a part of our family, Nicki! And here's to many, many, many more celebrations!!!

Bedroom Makeover, Seeing My Friend Lauren, Going to a Concert, a Party...

Seems like I could just cut and paste because I'm always doing the same things - but it's all very different...

My bedroom has been (shhhh, don't tell anyone...) a pile of boxes here and there, with a mishmash of stuff and things - certainly not the way I'd like it. I finally took some time earlier this month and went through boxes and took a tour through my local Target store with my skimpy budget in mind to find some girlie things. My parents had given me money a few months ago to buy one of those bed-in-a bag thingies, so I had a good start.

I literally haven't slept in 3 years, so I was on a mission to make my bedroom a sanctuary - my criteria was to find something to keep the light out of the room at night and to have some 'noise' to drown out the hustle and bustle of the city.

I love what I found at Target and they were all on sale - I think I spent less than $50. The swoopie thing on the ceiling is actually a velvet burnout TABLECLOTH that I thumbtacked on the ceiling. I gathered some ribbon and thumbtacked it at each corner and I had some tassels with rope attached that I put cascading down the wall and at the center of the canopy. I had a gold tablecloth (that had originally been the swoopie thing on the ceiling) that at the last minute I decided to tack to the wall. I had the framed flower image and hung it over the tablecloth.

Then on to a 'me' place - I bought a microwave stand (great for storage underneath!) for $30, draped another tablecloth over it and proceeded to bring in some of my favorite things without cluttering things up. Here's where my noise 'machine' comes in. Remember my fountain I'd made out of travertine tiles from a remodel job at my last house? I moved it indoors and it's the perfect trickling sound.

This weekend I'm going to ANOTHER concert - this time Big and Rich - I don't know much about them, but we'll have fun. A couple weeks ago, a friend and I went to see The Doobie Brothers and Peter Frampton - AWESOME!

Last weekend my high school class celebrated with a 50th birthday party - we had about 35 people there from all over. It was great to catch up with my classmates - one was a guy I went to elementary school with too and we hadn't seen each other since high school graduation. My college roommate (we went to the same high school) was there and we chatted about all those memories...It was a great evening! We're already planning our cruise!

We're expecting rain starting tomorrow - I love this kind of weather. I can't wait to spend some time indoors - it was a wonderful summer filled with trips, lots of exercise and family and friends but it will be nice to start making soups and thinking about my indoor projects.

Keep crafting,

Joan