An Unexpected Package

 Party Origami in German!

Just about every week a delivery truck will park by my house and I'm always hoping there's a package for me, even if I haven't ordered anything.  I quietly peek out the window and keep my fingers crossed.  Usually the carrier walks right past my house and over to the neighbor.  But once or twice a year I'll receive an unexpected package.  And this weekend I received a box filled with copies of Party Origami in German!  It was such a happy surprise.

How was your weekend?  Any happy surprises?

Inbar Shahak Jewelry

A while back I asked if any of you would be interested in reading about shops/products I like. Since all the comments were positive, today I'm sharing about one of my favorite Etsy designers, Inbar Shahak.  I've written about Inbar's jewelry before but thought it was worth taking a second look.

Inbar is a textile designer by training and makes jewelry using textile techniques.  You'll find most of her jewelry has a lace like look to it.  Pictured above are a few of my favorite pieces from her newer collections.  I've purchased a couple pieces of jewelry from the store, a bracelet and a necklace.  Her jewelry is priced on the higher end but is worth every penny.  Currently she's having a sale that will run until the end of the month.  She doesn't have sales often so if you wanted to try a piece out, now would be a good time.  Tell me what you think.

Do you have a favorite Etsy store you like to shop at?  Please share in the comments and feel free to leave a link so we can all check it out.

Pokemon Birthday Party

Last weekend we celebrated my son's Birthday and this year he chose the theme "Pokemon".  He used to just pick the theme and I would plan a party around it.   However, somewhere along the way he decided he should start giving me creative direction *shakes head*.  He researched Pokemon birthday invitations and decided he wanted his to look like a Pokemon card after seeing a couple others online.  Pictured above is what we came up with.  I made the back of it look like a Pokemon card and laminated it.

My son also had a few suggestions for how the cake should look.  He requested it look like a Pokemon arena.  As always, Auntie Susan made an amazing cake for the occasion.

For the decorations I decided to have Pokemon characters peeking out of windows.  I just drew the images on construction paper and cut them out.  Some were outside and some were inside the house.  Before I had the rest of the decorations up, I saw a few people taking double takes at my house.  They probably thought we were extreme Anime fans or something.

For the birthday favor bags, I found this clever Pikachu idea on Pinterest via Amy Montes.  I filled the bags with school supplies.  I'm not sure how excited the kids felt about that but I wanted to get something they could actually use.

I made some special labels for the drinks but that's not why I'm sharing this.  These drinks are made by the Japanese brand Ramune. These drinks are unique because there's a marble in each bottle.  I thought they would go well with the whole Pokeball concept.  The kids really liked them and some even brought their bottles home with them.  I'm attaching a video below to show how these drinks work in case you're curious.

 

Out of all the party planning, the most challenging thing for me was finding fun age appropriate games.  There comes a time when "pin the tail on the donkey" just doesn't cut it anymore.  Pictured above was a game I found on the Minute to Win It site.  The object of the game is to get the cookie sitting on your forehead to your mouth without using your hands.  As you can imagine, it's pretty entertaining to play and watch.  If you decide to try this out, the key is to use a heavy cookie (exp. Oreo).

The most popular game at the party was a game I named "Candy Pokeball".  I wrapped up two bags of candy with an entire roll of plastic wrap and the kids had to unravel the ball to get the candy.  I found this game on Seminary At Six AM and you'll find the full instructions there.  This game took about 20 minutes to play and I think it tired the kids out.  The one thing I would recommend is to make it clear that they can't eat the candy until they get home.  One child asked if they could have a piece of candy. Before I could blink, there were empty candy wrappers everywhere.   My apologies to the parents if you're reading this.  

Special thanks to Akemi & Danny (SIL & BIL) who took all the photos that you are seeing on this post.

Printable: Mini Paper Fans

Have you ever seen fans like this?  I was charmed by their unconventional shapes and the colors/prints. The mini fans were designed by Amy Moss (blog author of Eat Drink Chic).  She created the fans for a guest post on Oh Happy Day.  You'll find the free PDF for the fans there.

Amy showcases the fans as name cards for place settings.  What would you use them for?

Road Trip to Oregon

Silver Falls, OR

Ever feel like you need a vacation from your vacation?  That's how I was feeling after we returned from Oregon.  We arrived home a week ago but it has taken me a week to recover and get my bearings. Driving 12 hours in a car with two kids is exhausting among many other things.

One of the places we visited was Silver Falls.  If you're ever in Oregon, it's definitely worth visiting.  There's a place to picnic and swim (which we did first).  Then we walked to one of the fall viewpoints where I took the waterfall photo (top). The walk to that point was only about five minutes.  There are more trails that lead to the bottom of the falls but we didn't have time to do that.  We spent most of our day eating, playing, and swimming. 

Something new for us was getting to play with and watch fireworks at my father's house.  Where we live, fireworks are illegal so this was a fun and a new experience for our kids.  My children really enjoyed the sparklers. 

During the planning of this trip, there was just one place my husband had to visit while we were in Oregon, Voodoo Doughnut.  They're known for their unique flavors combinations.  When we got there, there was a line out the door and around the building.  It took about ten minutes to order which wasn't that bad.  Some of the doughnut flavors we tried were, Fruit Loops, Grape, Bubblegum, Butterfinger, and Orange Tang.

We broke up our 12 hour drive by staying in Ashland, OR one night.  I wish we could have stayed there longer, it's such a lovely town.  Ashland is probably most known for their Shakespeare Festival which runs from
June to October. 

Pictured above is a photo of Lithia Park which is located in downtown Ashland.   It is one of the prettiest parks I've been to.  

Lithia Park, Ashland

Have you ever been to Oregon?  Any recommendations for places to see next time we visit?

Shabby Apple Giveaway

Today I have a fun giveaway for you.  One lucky reader will be winning this dress called "Ever After" by Shabby Apple.  Shabby Apple is an online store that sells clothing, accessories, and shoes but I think they're best know for their dresses.  They also sell a lot of vintage style clothing.

I'm going to keep this sweet and short so on to the Giveaway. . .one  lucky reader will win the Ever After dress with their choice of size. To enter, please share your favorite fashion period, Victorian, Mod, etc. One entry per household. Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you win. The last day to enter the giveaway  is Monday, July 8,  2013. I'll announce the winner Tuesday, July 9, 2013 on this post. If I do not hear back from the winner after two weeks, I will choose a new winner. Open to US Residents only.

Contest Closed

Congratulations to Saver Sara who is the winner of the dress giveaway! 

As always, thank you to everyone who entered.  I realized I never said what my favorite vintage style clothing is.  It's really hard to choose just one but I would have to go with 50's since it's flattering for my body type.   I also like 1920's fashion.