Butterfly Birthday Party

By the time my daughter's second birthday came around in January, I was pretty burned out from doing my son's Lego Batman Party, then having Thanksgiving and Christmas. I normally go all out for parties - creating a lot of the decorations, invitations, games, etc. myself - but this one I went the store bought route. The only thing I created myself was the butterfly cake.

I purchased the invitations from Dollar Tree. They had such cute butterfly party themed stuff - it was perfect (and cheap)! The bright neon colors were so fun to work with.

I purchased some matching noise blowers, party hats, treat bags, napkins, plates, banner and a centerpiece from there as well. On the day before the party, I got the matching helium balloons to decorate the table with.

For the treat bags for the party, I found this great bag of butterfly items from Walmart. They had all kinds of fun items in there that matched my butterfly theme perfectly. Each treat bag contained: glasses, noise blower, sour sticks, dum dum, plastic butterfly toy, butterfly ring, a tattoo and pencil (not shown).

The cellophane bags were from the Dollar Tree.

For the cake I used the Wilton butterfly pan. I used really bright neon colors to match the invitations and decorations. For the antennae I used some of the sour sticks I had leftover from making the treat bags.

This little butterfly was my inspiration for decorating. I changed the purple to blue to better match our party theme.

The cake and food table was covered in a plain green vinyl tablecloth. I also used a plain pink tablecloth behind the table to cover the doors the table was in front of. I used my banner, balloons and centerpiece I had found at Dollar Tree to decorate the table with.

I made chocolate cupcakes and used the leftover buttercream icing to frost them. I finally got to use my butterfly tiered stand I purchased at Target. 

I hung pink and green paper lanterns from the ceiling. I purchased these from Hobby Lobby. I used some ribbon I had on hand to hang them.

The party was a big hit and I know my little princess had a really fun time!

Linked Up Here:

The Gunny Sack, Sugar Bee Crafts, Tip Junkie, Not Just a Housewife, Clean and Scentsible, The Shabby Nest, Tatertots and Jello

Friday Freebie: My Memories CD Envelope {7/27}

I am sharing some great CD envelopes with you. These are great for using with CDs, cards or even pictures. The download includes the CD envelopes plus all the elements and papers used to create them. You can download these right into your My Memories software or you can use these with any other photo editing software! 

This week's kit:

Freebie Kit 2

Download your Freebie Kit 2. Be sure to download this kit right away. It changes every few weeks and after that, this particular download will no longer be available.

Here is a picture of finished projects (from My Memories) using the above kit:

Using MyMemories Software to Customize your CD Envelope

1. Download template file and install it into your software
2. Using MyMemories Suite, choose Create Album From Designer Template and find your project
3. Now you can print and enjoy the provided template, or customize it with your own papers and embellishments.

TIP:
You can right-click on the white guide and lock it in place to keep it from moving while you are working. Make sure this is the top layer of your project before printing.

Instead of adding the paper as a background paper, you can add it as an embellishment so that you can move the paper around.  This is especially useful when using papers with stripes or circles, so you can decide which part of the paper you want to use.

Once it is added as an embellishment, you can now select the paper and move it into the position you want it.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

DISCOUNT:

Do you want your own digital scrapbooking software? My Memories is offering a special deal for my readers. Enter code STMMMS30543 at checkout to receive $10 off the My Memories Suite v3 Software. You will also receive a $10 coupon to use in the My Memories store. (A $20 value!) {Copy and paste the code to avoid typos}

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Enjoy your downloads. If you create anything with your My Memories software or these free downloads, I would love to see it. Please share a link in the comments!

Scrapbook Layout: Sick Baby

When I scrapbook, especially for my kids scrapbooks, I want to make sure I am capturing their real lives. I do try to focus on all of the positive things that happen in their lives, but in real life, sometimes bad, sad or not so fun things happen as well. 

This is a layout I did of my son when he was a baby and was really sick. I started with the striped paper. I then choose coordinating floral pattern papers to go with it. I used a large piece of turquoise and light blue patterned paper for the background. I cut out a rectangle of paper in shades of green, blue and brown to go on top. I then layered the striped paper on top of that.

Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye: Magnolia

To tie in the brown in the striped paper and the green floral paper, I added a thin strip of ribbon underneath my matted photo. I also added another wider strip of brown ribbon to the green floral paper. To add some dimension I added brown buttons along the length of the ribbon.

Tip: To adhere ribbon easily to my pages, I often use my Xyron Create-a-Sticker. I just feed the ribbon through the machine and adhesive is applied to the back of my entire ribbon. Just be sure to press down really well on the ribbon in the sticker wrapper before you peel the paper off. Otherwise, sometimes you will not get a good transfer of adhesive to ribbon!

To create the title, 'SICK', I used some plain, naked chipboard letters. I traced the reverse of the letters onto the back of the orange floral paper and cut them out. I then adhered the orange paper to the top of the chipboard. This is an easy, inexpensive way to add dimension to your pages. You can customize your naked chipboard to match your layout exactly.

I created a custom tag for the page using my Making Memories Tag Maker . I used a copper colored metal tag blank. I used the orange floral paper again and traced out the template for my tag. I then used rub-ons to add the phrase 'prescious little one' to the tag.

I don't use a lot of black and white photos in my layouts, but this one really needed it. Black and white photos can portray emotions much better than color photos can. 

Do you only scrapbook happy times, or do you like to scrapbook all of life's memories - good and bad?

Linking up Here:

Clean and Scentsible, Sew Many Ways, Homemaker on a Dime, The Gunny Sack, Sugar Bee Crafts, Tip Junkie, Not Just a Housewife

First Day of School Pictures

My son starts kindergarten in exactly two weeks! Where did the summer go?

Since many of you have kids going back to school soon, I thought I would share with you a fun way to start off the first day of school.

I printed out a sign that said 'PRESCHOOL' on an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of printer paper. I had my son stand outside and took his picture with the sign. This picture was my favorite of the ones we took. He can be so silly sometimes.

We then took his picture in the same spot with the same sign on his last day of preschool. It amazes me that in less than a year he looks so much older. 

We plan on doing the same thing every year on the first and last day of school using a new sign with the grade he is starting and ending. I think it would make a really cute photo book when he goes off to college to see himself and how he grew over the years! I also purposely choose to take his picture in front of our front door. It will be a great reminder to our different houses we will have as he grows up.

You could also do this idea with a chalkboard or dry erase board as well.

What do you do to make the first day of school special? 

Blog Business

It should come as no surprise to anyone that running a blog costs money. I use Blogger, which is free, but my domain costs money. It takes money to buy supplies for the crafts and projects, time to take and edit photos and then write the post. It also takes time to work on the design and keep up with emails and comments.

 I love being able to share my ideas and inspiration with all my readers. But, the reality of it is that it takes time away from my family. The only way I can justify all the time spent is if I am at least making a little bit of money from it. I am not making big bucks at all. I am talking under $100 a month at this point, but every little bit helps. I am hoping as my blog grows, so will the income and my ability to bring you even greater projects!

 
I thought I would share with you how I make money on my blog. I want to be honest and upfront with my readers as you are clicking through my site. Also, if I can help another blogger out there who is trying to make some money from their blog, that is great, too. This information is personal, but I think it is important for me to share it with you at this time.


1) Ad Networks


I currently have ad networks on my website through Izea Media and Google Adsense. The large rectangular ad at the top of my page is Izea and the large ad in my sidebar under 'Sponsors' is Google Adsense. I know a lot of bigger bloggers can generate quite a bit of money through these networks, but right now I am only making a few dollars a month from these. I earn money by people viewing my blog (the actual blog, not through a reader). Also, I earn a little more if my readers actually click on the ad.


2) Sponsored Posts


These I get through Social Spark , Clever Girls Collective, Blueprint Social and sometimes when I get contacted directly by a company. These posts can earn me money for writing the post or sometimes I am compensated with free product to review. Here are some sample sponsored posts: Online Learning Games for Kids, Tie Dyed Cricut Cover, and Eclos Beauty.

You will always know when I am writing a sponsored post because I will tell you in the post. I turn down about 95% of the sponsored posts I am offered. They are just not a good fit for me or my readers. I only take offers for products I am interested in and that I would use myself even if it was not sponsored. And I always give my honest opinion. I don't write what I think the advertisers want to hear. That wouldn't be fair.


3) Affiliate Networks 




Affiliate networks work by earning me a commission for any sales I make through my affiliate link. If you don't want to use my affiliate links you can always go directly to the website to order. So far, these have not generated me much income, but I stand behind all the companies I am an affiliate for and use the products myself! (To be honest, most of the commissions I have made have been from stuff I have bought myself!) You can see all my affiliate links in my sidebar under 'Sponsors'. 


I am currently an affiliate with Share the Memories. This is how I can offer you the great Friday Freebies from My Memories. If you are a blogger and are interested in becoming an affiliate, you can email me and I can get you the info. If you want to purchase the software, click the link on my sidebar and use the code STMMMS30543 to receive $10 off the software and a $10 credit for the store.

I am also an affiliate for Pick Your Plum and Mindy Mae's Market. These are online sites that sell crafty type supplies at really great prices. If you have not checked out these sites you should totally do it. I order stuff regularly from both sites!

I also recently became an affiliate for Shabby Apple. They have adorable dresses and clothes!

4) My Etsy Shop

My Etsy Shop, Laura Silva Designs, also makes me a little money. I have been busy redesigning my shop and hope to have some more products listed soon. Once I get it all squared away, I plan on offering my readers a special discount, so be on the look out for that. Until then, head on over to check it out and let me know what you think! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Friday Freebie: My Memories CD Envelopes {7/20}

I am sharing some great CD envelopes with you. These are great for using with CDs, cards or even pictures. The download includes the CD envelopes plus all the elements and papers used to create them. You can download these right into your My Memories software or you can use these with any other photo editing software! 

This week's kits:

Freebie Kit 1

Freebie Kit 3

Download your Freebie Kit 1 and Freebie Kit 3. Be sure to download this kit right away. It changes every few weeks and after that, this particular download will no longer be available.

Here is a picture of finished projects (from My Memories) using the above kits:

Using MyMemories Software to Customize your CD Envelope

1. Download template file and install it into your software
2. Using MyMemories Suite, choose Create Album From Designer Template and find your project
3. Now you can print and enjoy the provided template, or customize it with your own papers and embellishments.

TIP:
You can right-click on the white guide and lock it in place to keep it from moving while you are working. Make sure this is the top layer of your project before printing.

Instead of adding the paper as a background paper, you can add it as an embellishment so that you can move the paper around.  This is especially useful when using papers with stripes or circles, so you can decide which part of the paper you want to use.

Once it is added as an embellishment, you can now select the paper and move it into the position you want it.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

DISCOUNT:

Do you want your own digital scrapbooking software? My Memories is offering a special deal for my readers. Enter code STMMMS30543 at checkout to receive $10 off the My Memories Suite v3 Software. You will also receive a $10 coupon to use in the My Memories store. (A $20 value!) {Copy and paste the code to avoid typos}

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Enjoy your downloads. If you create anything with your My Memories software or these free downloads, I would love to see it. Please share a link in the comments!

Scrapbook Layout: First Pool Time

When my son was a baby (about 8 months old) we got a small baby pool to put on our back porch. He loved being in the water and had so much fun. I created this scrapbook layout to showcase his first time in the pool. 

I almost never use white paper as a background, but I really love how the orange and blue stand out on the page. I used inspiration from his swim trunks and the blue pool for the colors I chose. The background is just plain, white cardstock. I double matted the main photo in white and orange cardstock. The two other pictures were matted with orange cardstock.

I used matching orange buttons to embellish the page. I created some fun labels  for the pictures with my label maker. They say, 'curious', 'happy' and 'relaxed'. The journaling was hand written directly onto the cardstock.

I wanted to create a fun accent to look like the pool he was swimming in, so I hand paper pieced a small pool for the layout. I used my circle cutter to cut a circle ring out of turquoise cardstock. I used blue vellum and cut circles the same size as the ring. I used my special scissors to cut the scalloped edge on the vellum. I just overlapped the pieces to make it look like water. I hand wrote 'water baby' all around the edge of the pool.

If you are using really bold colors, a white background can be a great solution to make those colors stand out! Have you scrapbooked anything lately? Leave a link in the comments - I would love to see it.

Linking up Here:

Tip Junkie, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife

Camping Cake

Last year for my husband's birthday, I made a camping cake to celebrate his birthday. This was still my personal blog and I realized I never blogged about it. This cake came together fast and I was so happy with how it turned out!

I started with two round 8" chocolate cakes. I layered chocolate buttercream between the two layers. To create the frosting for the outside of the cake, I dyed buttercream icing blue and green and used the chocolate buttercream as is for the 'dirt' part of the cake.

To create the green 'grass' I used a star tip. I made the pine tree using a sugar cone and covered it with green icing using my star tip again. To create the blue waves of the water, I used a large round decorating tip to add the blue icing on in layers. I made a 'tent' using graham cracker pieces and covered them in chocolate icing.

I added rocks to the dirt and around the fire pit. My rocks were Milk Duds. For the fire logs, I used pretzel sticks. 

The candle in the middle was the fire!

Have you made any fun cakes or desserts lately? 

Linked up here:

Not Just a Housewife, Tip Junkie, Sugar Bee Crafts

5 Online Learning Games for Preschoolers

It is hard to believe, but my oldest is starting kindergarten in less than a month! It is a little bittersweet to send him off to 'real' school. Being a stay at home mom, I have been blessed with being able to watch my kids grow and learn here at home every day. I have tried really hard to work with both of them to start their training early. I wanted my son to be fully prepared for kindergarten when he starts in the fall. Children need a great foundation for learning to give them a head start. Did you know that 85% of brain development occurs by age 5?

My son is extremely interested in video games, computer games and pretty much anything to do with electronics. It can be hard to manage his screen time but, I figure, if he is going to be playing these games, I want them to be educational. Find out what your child is interested in and incorporate learning into it. If you can make it a game it can be even better. My son loves video games, so from early on I went on the hunt to find the best free online computer games I could.

Here are my top five picks for free online learning computer games for preschoolers and toddlers:

• Starfall - This website is a great tool to help teach your child phonics and the beginning stages of learning to read. You start at the top with a set of letters that create a certain sound, such as 'an' and 'at' for the sound 'a'. The game sounds out the letters and you have to choose the right letter to create a word ending in 'an'. It then sounds out the word you created. After learning two different word builders you get to read along with a story. Any word your child doesn't know, they can click on it to have it sounded out.

Starfall: Learn to Read

• Fisher-Price - What I like about these games is you can select the age, the brand or character you want to play with, and also what type of game. Since my son is getting older, we choose the preschool games and then choose from there which type of game he wants to play. Some of the games allow you to choose the difficulty level, so as your child develops and grows, you can have them choose a harder level.

Fisher Price: Imaginext Dinosaur Interactive Online Puzzles

• PBS Kids - PBS is known for it's educational content and the kid's website does not disappoint. My son can practice spelling, do math games, work on puzzles and even do physics games. These are a real hit around our house right now because my son is very interested in science and learning how things work. We have been doing a lot of pre-reading in our house as well. The game shown below is great for him to learn how words sound the same and to start recognizing how to form words.

PBS Kids: Red's Rhyme N' Roll Game

• Disney Jr. - My kids love watching Disney Jr. My littlest one is especially fond of Mickey Mouse right now! This website is great for teaching coloring, numbers and puzzles. There are games for all of my kids favorite characters. When my son was younger one of his favorite games was Goofy's Wild Shoe Round-Up'. Your child has to match the shoe colors. It gets harder the longer you play.

Disney Jr: Goofy's Wild Shoe Round Up

• Nick Jr. - This another website where you can choose the age range of your child (you can choose from 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, or 5-6), then what type of game you want to play and you can even choose the character. Once you choose which game you want to play, it will show different game play features - single player or multi player, if you need the mouse or the keyboard. It will also show you what developmental skills your child will be learning and what age range the game is appropriate for.

Nick Jr: Blue Answers Your Questions

It is always best to supervise your children when they are viewing content online. It is even better if you can play the games with them and talk about what they are learning. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 2 hours of screen time per day for young children (this includes TV watching, video games and computer time). If you choose high quality learning games, you will feel secure knowing that  the time they are spending online is worthwhile!

As a member of Clever Girls Collective, I was selected to participate in the Healthy Habits program sponsored by Kimberly-Clark and Colgate-Palmolive. The content and opinions expressed here are all my own. #healthyhabits #cgc


Linked up here:
Not Just a Housewife, Tip Junkie, Sugar Bee Crafts