American Girl Tea Party

My youngest baby recently had her 8th birthday (sheesh -- how is it possible that time moves so quickly?).  To celebrate, she wanted an American Girl-themed tea and crafts party.  Since this is probably the 10th tea and crafts (of some description) type party that I've had for my girls, I feel like we've got the basic idea pretty well down.

For this party, we decorated the dining room with bright pink and lime green, to coordinate with the American Girl paper goods and cupcake stand.  I used lime green tulle to put bows on each chair and dress up the chandelier.  We had a small group, so I kept the food pretty simple.  We had cupcakes (girl-sized and doll-sized) for the girls to decorate, as well as gingerbread cookies.  We made tea sandwiches (pb&j and cheese) and cut them into hearts and flower shapes with cookie cutters.  We served juice for most of the girls, but a few brave little souls tried hot tea (with lots of sugar!).

Before we ate, the girls used an American Girl craft kit to make and decorate a crown for their dolls.

After crafts and tea, the girls played a few games and then opened presents.  Each girl took home a goodie bag of American Girl craft goodies and candy.  A fun time was had by all, but mostly by the birthday girl, who was thrilled!

Now that the party is done, it's full speed ahead on Christmas!  My goal is to be finished decorating by Dec. 1 -- hopefully I'll meet that goal and have a few pics to share soon.

Hope you are having a wonderful start to the holiday season!

Oh, Cath Kidston!

The Cath Kidston Christmas catalog arrived in my mailbox today.  Which immediately brought up this burning question: just how many sewing baskets does one need?  Or, maybe more accurately, how many sewing baskets can one justify???  I ask because I think I simply must have the one pictured above.  But I'm kind of wavering because I also like this one:

But I already have this one, which I love a whole lot:

Maybe if I claim to now be "collecting" sewing baskets I can get away with buying another one??  Hmmm?  What do you think?  And which do you like, red caravan or pastel caravan?

Of course, it doesn't stop with over-the-top cute sewing baskets!  Oh, no indeed!  There's also this towel:

And this mug:

And all manner of other things that I "need" like a need a hole in my head.  But will that stop me from placing an order and paying exorbitant shipping from the UK?  I think I'll take the Fifth on that.....

The Case of the Missing Blogger

So, my goodness, it's been awhile, no?  I knew that I had been neglecting my blog, but when I went realized that my last post was almost 2 months ago I was shocked!  So sorry to have been away!  I wish I had a really good, juicy excuse, but the truth is that the girls went back to school and then time just started sliding away at an alarming rate.  I went on a buying trip to Round Top, Texas, and Kari and I have done three shows, and meanwhile I've been doing all the things that busy moms do -- and I guess the blog just kind of got pushed to the back burner.

But, I'm back!  And, unbelievably, the holidays are upon us!  I'm pondering whether to revive my Christmas stitching project (and, my stitching blog -- if you think this blog has been neglected, it doesn't hold a candle to my poor stitching blog!).  I've got lots of Christmas crafting and shopping to do, and I've got a doll-themed birthday party to throw for my 8-year old in a couple of weeks.  And will we send Christmas cards this year or will we be slackers??  Hmmm..... Time will tell.

In the meantime, I do have a project to share! I apologize in advance for the photo quality: the photos are terrible.  But the project was fun and I want to show you the finished product.  I made a tag banner for Kari for her birthday.  Kari has a brand spanking new house, with her own brand spanking new office!  Her office is painted a lovely light teal blue, and she uses accents of red, which works well with her collection of vintage school stuff and vintage books.  Using all of those elements as a starting point, here's what I came up with:

I used some of my favorite scrapbooking papers, combined with chipboard accents, small pieces of lace and trim, and of course, LOTS of tatting.

Here it is, wrapped up and ready to go:

Such a fun project!

Well, thanks so much for visiting and for hanging in there even though I've been gone for an eternity. I promise to be back again soon!

Happy creating!

Alison