Life & Family

Living life with three kids, including a teenager and grade school twins, and a dog. Finding balance and joy in the every day, favourite travel and family trips, parenting tips and fails, and more.

Party Theme Ideas: Throw a Broadway Party!

If you have an 8-10 year old girl, then you probably know by now that they are all about having party theme ideas. This year, our little starlet decided on a Broadway themed birthday party as she loves anything to do with acting and performing.

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The Broadway party theme idea was eventually broadened to include Hollywood because Hollywood party decorations were so much easier to find! To be honest, I couldn’t find much inspiration on the web for an Acting party theme so I ended up having to ‘diy’ (do-it-youself) a lot of the party decor. I thought I’d share some pics of the party decor I came up with for anybody thinking about having a similar kind of party!

For the highlight of the party, we decided on a photo booth with lots of fun Broadway / Hollywood photo props! After a bunch of research, I devised a plan to put one together on my own. I’ll talk about how to make a photo booth in my next blog post! It really wasn’t all that hard or expensive to make. The girls had a blast taking photos together.

Basement Decorating Ideas {Some Room Edits!}

I’m still here! It’s been forever (2+ weeks?) since I last blogged. I’ve had some ‘life stuff’ going on, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been decorating (or, I should say redecorating). Last Spring I posted a tour of our basement family room (which was later featured on Apartment Therapy Family). Back then, I shared my basement decorating ideas which included the use of colorful accents – like toss pillows and wall art – that helped made the space feel playful and fun. I chose those bright and cheerful accessories at the time because our twins were just babies when we developed the basement, and I hung out with them in our basement family room much more often than the playroom.

But, as our boys have grown from babies to toddlers and become more independent, they’re now more comfortable using the basement playroom just down the hall. That’s not to say they still don’t hang in the family room with their toys (we left the train table here), but the toy chaos is so much better than it used to be!

Since the basement family room is now used more for TV watching and hanging out than playing, I wanted to scale back on the bright accent colors, and add a bit more ‘polish’ to the space. Our 10-year old leather furniture won’t be changed any time soon (if ever, if my husband had the choice, lol), and we only recently painted the space, so I was limited with what I could change.

Some day when I can get better shots (natural light is such a problem in basements!), maybe I’ll update my basement room tour. For now, here’s a little look at some of the small edits that helped change the look of the room. I bought very little; I just “shopped the house” for things I could use differently.

READ MORE HERE

A Non-Decorating Post About Autism (Autism Awareness)

I know, what does that have to do with decorating, right? Well, it doesn’t.

But given that it’s a day to raise awareness about autism, and that I have an (albeit small) audience to share some awareness with, I couldn’t let the day pass without addressing it. Even if you were expecting a decorating post, I’d love for you to stick around just a few more minutes. I promise to keep it short.

When I grew up in the 70s/80s, I don’t think I really even heard about autism. It makes sense, though, since back then, the estimated autism rate was 4 in 10,000 (1980). So the chances that you ‘knew’ somebody who’d been diagnosed with autism were slim. (But that doesn’t mean you didn’t.)

In any case, the first introduction that most of us had to autism was the movie Rain Man. I was in high school at the time, and I remember Rain Man well. For me, and for most adults my age and older, this is the stereotype that stuck. Even 25 years later, Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of an autistic man with extreme math skills, poor social skills and obsession with routine is the association most people make with autism.

Fast forward to 2013.

Now, in my own children’s generation, and perhaps yours’, the rate of autism is estimated 1 in 50 or higher, with boys being 4x more likely to be diagnosed than girls.

No that wasn’t a typo. It’s 1 in 50.

My intention is not to go into all the reasons why this is so; but you can read about the theories here.

Instead, the point I want to make is that there are now hundreds of thousands more children out there who’ve been diagnosed with autism since our school days. Yet, for the most part, the same 1980s stereotype remains. I know this because it was a stereotype that I held too.

That was until Autism Spectrum Disorder touched my life. MORE

How to Organize a Small Art Station for Kids (Martha Stewart Wall Manager)

Our 8-year old LOVES to draw. She has an art table in our basement family room but rarely uses it. Instead, like any great artist, she prefers to make art when the inspiration strikes! This usually means right smack dab in the middle of the main floor TV room. So she’s always had a little art desk in there too. It’s been the bane of my existence! Her arsenal of art supplies is always in a tangle since her desk is in a small corner, without room for storage. I’ve tried a bunch of different things, but have never figured out how to organize it without crowding the room with a storage unit.

{Note: Even though I’ll mention Martha Stewart’s wall manager product here, this is not a sponsored product review. I tried it, loved it and wanted to share!}

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(p.s., The chick and the egg on in this photo were colored by her 3-year old brothers. She’s totally die at the thought of anybody thinking she colored them, haha)

This weekend I was at Staples to get a printer cartridge, but soon found myself with an armful of Martha Stewart chalkboard labels and stylish file folders. Are you as crazy for office supplies as I am, lol? Anyhoo, while there, I happened to notice this new ‘wall manager’ line that Martha offers, and thought it would be a perfect solution for how to organize this little disaster area…READ MORE

How to Make a Leprechaun Trap! {St Patricks Day Fun}

Around this time each year, Miss G (now 8) begins drawing up her plans to make a leprechaun trap for St. Patrick’s Day. Every year since she was 3 or 4, she’s tried to catch one! I’m not really sure how or why this tradition began in our home. It’s certainly not an idea that I planted. Let’s face it, I’ve got enough little beings to care for around here already; I don’t need a leprechaun too, lol! But she goes about it with the same excitement as finding her Elf on the Shelf every morning during Christmas, so who am I to interfere!

: Last year, she enlisted her cousins to help!

. You’ll see lots of elaborate schemes out there for a leprechaun trap.

But all you really need to lure a leprechaun is an empty tissue box, some things to decorate it, and a good dose of sneakiness. .

: What is a leprechaun? The leprechaun is a character of Irish Mythology. He is about 2’6″ (75cm) tall. He is very rich but extremely tricky and if you catch one don’t take your eyes off him, or he will disappear! He is a very slick talker and loves a bit of fun. Source: The National Leprechaun Museum, Dubin, Ireland.

.While Miss G hasn’t caught one yet, she’s come close!

We’ve found a trail of green glitter on several occasions, and last year, he left a note! (See end of post.)

Here’s what seems to work the best to trap the leprechaun. READ MORE

How to Make a Shamrock: Easy St Patricks Day Decor with a Heart Punch!

It’s been awhile since I’ve pulled out my craft supplies, and I forgot how therapeutic it can be! This weekend, I decided to play around with some paper and punches to see if I could create some simple St Patricks Day decorations. OK, so I know that it’s not like St Patricks Day ranks up there with Christmas and Easter in terms of holiday importance, but hey, it’s a special day in the middle of dreary old winter, so it’s as good an excuse as any to add some festive cheer around the house. Plus, our neck of the woods is often called ‘the most Irish place outside of Ireland‘, so Paddy’s Day is a big deal around here.

I took this photo last year at this time, but it will show you what early March looks like in these parts!

But back to paper and punches…

Did you know that with a heart punch, you can easily make shamrocks / clovers for St Patricks Day? Perhaps you did, but it was a new discovery for me! OK, I just realized how dorky that sounded. As I’ve said before, I seriously need to get out more, lol.

In fact, since hearts are so simple to cut, you really don’t need to have a heart punch at all. Just punch or cut our 4 hearts to make a four-leaf clover, or three hearts to make a (less lucky) 3 leaf one. You’ll also need a circle to glue them to. I used a circle punch, but you could just as easily trace a quarter and cut it out.

READ MORE …

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Life & Family

{Note: Even though I’ll mention Martha Stewart’s wall manager product here, this is not a sponsored product review. I tried it, loved it and wanted to share!}

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(p.s., The chick and the egg on in this photo were colored by her 3-year old brothers. She’s totally die at the thought of anybody thinking she colored them, haha)

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