Riley's "Peachy at the Beach(y)" 13th Birthday Party

 

Hi, I hope everyone is having a fantastic and blessed summer! This year my cousin gave me very simple criteria for her birthday theme: she liked a peach/coral pink color, and she wanted a beach theme. The trouble was that I have done a lot of beach themes, and wanted to do one in a very different/new way. The result: peaches & beaches, or an "It's peachy at the beachy" party. 

The favors were peach and dye-free parrot gummies from Walmart. I painted the backdrops, banner, and peaches on posters and poster board. The bows and striped tissue on the table came from Michaels (together they were $1). The other dishes and decor were miscellaneous things I had on hand. My grandparents happen to own some tropical looking plants, so they happened to match the theme perfectly. I got some of the branches from their backyard and combined them with artificial plants I had. 

Thank you for visiting, I hope you enjoyed!

-Lauryn 

Riley's Ocean Fairytale 11th Birthday Party

 

Hello, here is a birthday party from last year with an unusual theme for my cousin who loved the beach and (I think) reading stories: "Ocean Fairytale" is my preferred theme title, but it basically combines ocean/beach/story/storybook/fairytale/book themes all into one. 

Looking back, I don't love the color palette but I wanted something unique at the time, so it was a blue to green gradient (mainly turquoise and a sky/baby blue) contrasted by a brownish, mustard-yellow-type orange and enhanced with other neutral browns. 

Handmade elements and DIY clam and pearl party favors:

-The giant palm-like leaves were painted and cut paper.

-The backdrop was made from painted and cut posters.

-The castle was also made from a poster, combining watercolor and pen.

-I had made the banner for my classroom by tying together strips of fabric to a string, cutting and hot-gluing triangular book pages, and for this party I taped on top hand-watercolored ocean pictures I outlined and shaded with ink pens. The signs were also handwritten on top of watercolor swatches on cardstock. 

-For the chocolate 'pearls' I bought a box of Whoppers.

-The 'sea snails' were cinnamon buns.

-For the clam and pearl favors, I bought a pack of mini wallets in the party favor section of Walmart. I drew shells on cardstock with gel ink or Sharpie pens, cut them out, and stapled them on top of the wallets. I placed a Whopper in each one, packaged them, and that's all there is to it! 

I hope you found this post useful, thank you for visiting! 

-Lauryn 

3 DIY Sugar Scrubs

Hello! Today I'd like to share three super easy, quick sugar scrub recipes. I've made sugar scrubs for gifts numerous times, and they are a great addition to a gift basket. I mean, who doesn't like it? Below are the recipes for lemon lavender, coffee and orange/citrus sugar scrubs:

Lemon Lavender Sugar Scrub:

1. Combine coconut oil, lemon juice, and sugar together until you are satisfied with the consistency. I just cut and sqeeze a fresh lemon. You should melt the oil maybe ten seconds (more or less) in the microwave and mix it so it is very soft, but not entirely liquid. I like mine to be about half liquid, half sugar.

2. I use the cheap Walmart essential oil, which is very diluted, so I kind of just squeeze the bottle for a few seconds. Use however much you think it should have. Then mix in more sugar so the texture isn't too watery.

3. This is optional, but you can mix in some fresh lavender flower petals to make it prettier. I just sprinkled mine on the top. You're done!

Coffee Sugar Scrub:

1. Mix together half coconut oil (which you will probably want to soften in the microwave) with half used coffee grinds (which you might want to squeeze some of the wetness out of with a paper towel).

2. Mix these wet ingredients with sugar and vanilla. Use your nose to judge how much vanilla to use. I like my scrub to be half-liquids, half-sugar. You're done!

Orange/Citrus Sugar Scrub:

1. Soften and mix up coconut oil, then cut a fresh orange and squeeze out some or most of the juice. If you use a Cutie, use all of the juice. Mix these liquids together.
2. Add orange or some sort of fruit essential oil in with your mixture. The amount varies depending on what you use. I use diluted Walmart essential oil, so I squirt in a lot.
3. Add lots of sugar (I suggest half-sugar, half-liquids).
4. Adding vanilla is optional. You're done! By the way, if the ingredients seperate over time, it's normal. You can just mix them back together.

(Here's another Orange Sugar Scrub tutorial with photos).

I hope you enjoyed making these quick, easy, lovely and practical gift. Or maybe you made some for yourself! I don't know all of the scientific aspects to it, but sugar scrub can be very beneficial, especially coffee sugar scrub. I suggest using it once a week (not every day). I'll post more tutorials soon!

-Lauryn