Sunday, November 12, 2017

Let's Get Emojinal!

I LOVE a PaRtY!  LOL! #birthday #maggie's 8

I hope you love a party too, because get ready....#lots of pictures #so emojinal #best party ever

I imagine it goes without saying, but Maggie wanted to celebrate her 8th birthday emoji style!  This girl can't get enough of those things.  We tossed ideas back and forth.  I think she was leaning more towards a rainbow of neon colors, but somehow the black and white with pops of yellow kept entering my brain.

Luckily, Maggie puts full faith in me when it comes to party planning, so I took the initial reigns and she quickly jumped right on board.  Maggie was beyond thrilled and I'm convinced it's her favorite birthday party to date.

You know the food table and the backdrop is always my central focus.  I'm all about making that the star of the show {after the birthday kiddo that is}.  Lots of party decor came from Hobby Lobby this celebration.  When I hit the party aisles there, I squealed with delight...black, white, yellow and Emojis galore!  I think I left with two carts full of goodies.


#8 was a Michaels clearance find, which couldn't have been more perfect.  It is now proudly housed in Maggie's bedroom.  All the cutsie signs are from Etsy and the white picture frames are from Ikea.  I thought they were a great touch for an Emoji party.



I, of course, used my black tulle table skirt which has pretty much paid for itself by now.  I adore those things and own a rainbow of colors if you ever need to borrow.  Again, off Etsy.


 The girls dressed the part, while Jack scooted off to a friend's house.  I could hardly rationalize making him sit through a faux sleepover with 8 girls.



If you've ever tried to name food after Emoji's, I'm sure you know, it's near impossible.  So for the first time, I decided to forgo naming the meal and just filled the table with every kind of yellow food I could think of...and lots of fun little signs and sayings.




Amazing, what candy eyeballs can do.  The girls were giggling out of their seats over the sandwiches.


Seriously, sour lemon raisins...who knew?  You never know what you will find when you are the hunt for yellow food at the grocery store.




The dessert table was super fun and totally "emoji"fied too.





I just used emoji stickers for regular old water bottles, so don't waste your time trying to find Emoji water.  I filled them with lemonade, because hey, it's yellow.



The birthday girl decorated her own cupcake and was uber proud of it.


Since Maggie wanted to keep her party super quaint with only 8 girls, it freed me up to set a table for the guests to dine at.  This may have been my favorite part.

All the cute plates and table runners are from Hobby Lobby.  I stuck the silverware in little Emoji change purses, which the guests took home post party.




Each girl had a goodie bag hanging on the back of their chair.  It was filled with all kinds of Emoji goodies and a pair of personalized pjs for the faux sleepover.  It also served as a great way for them to  carry around their crafts once completed.



And speaking of crafts {and games}, Maggie and I planned to keep these girlfriends busy!  Again, with the smaller group it lent itself to a few more challenging art projects.  And we did them all together as opposed to stations.

The chick-a dees set themselves up at the craft table and we got started.  Our first project was Emoji socks.  I definitely wanted to get this one in first to make sure they were dry in time for the sleepover part.



Each girl chose an emoji from the template page I had printed out.  They hand drew the pieces on felt with a fabric pencil, cut the pieces out, and then glued them to the top of their socks.



And look how cute they turned out.  Crazy sock day...here we come! {BTW...socks are from Amazon}



Our next craft, was canvas Emojis.  I cut each individual part of all the emojis out on my Cricut almost as if making a puzzle.  The girls chose an Emoji, traced the pieces, and then painted.




Some of them even got creative, like this little one, and added a few hashtags.



We took a quick break from crafts and played two rounds of Emoji Bingo {per Maggie's request}.  The winners each got a fun Emoji prize.



And our final craft was the most challenging, but a guest favorite.  I found my personal kids to be completely obsessed with pony beading this summer.  So I tossed the idea past Maggie and she was game.

It took a little teaching, but once the kiddos got it, they were loving it.

I gave the guests a few Emoji beading templates to choose from and they got started.  And wouldn't you know, most of them picked the poop emoji!  Should have known!

{and in case you wondering where this cute little guy came from....that is Ben, Maggie's bestie...tough having an only girls party, so we invited him over for the cupcakes and the faux sleep over...he managed to squeeze in a craft too}




In between crafts, the girls played around in the yard with all these Emoji toys I found at Five Below, or...


....Emoji nail polish {from Justice}...


or...the photo booth.  These extras served as entertainment while I set up the next craft and supplies at the table.  It was perfect and it got the girls up and around.  They were always squealing with delight when I called them over for the next craft.







Since the party was a later afternoon/evening event, we served dinner which consisted of a lunch menu.  Pleasing 8 picky eaters is not easy.




Before we made the move inside {it was getting cold}, we celebrated Maggie with cupcakes and a birthday ditty!  Love this girl! #allherbesties




That is way too many candles for my baby!



Okay, I lied, one more outdoor activity.  Maggie begged for a piñata and wouldn't you know, I was able to find an Emoji one.  What do they NOT make with Emojis on them these days?



Oh my goodness, it's time to get inside...we were freezing come sunset!

The girls snugged themselves up with their personalized pjs {and cute emoji socks}.  They spread blankets, pillows, and sleeping bags they brought from home all over the basement floor.  It was time for a faux sleepover!




What better way to top a Emoji Party off than with a viewing of The Emoji Movie! The girls were absolutely perfect and seriously sat through the whole movie all snuggled up with one another.  Pure sweetness!

The best part, they all went home at 8:00 and got a well deserved night's sleep.  Now that is my kind of sleepover.  

Maggie was literally over the moon at the close of her party.  What an amazing group of besties she has.  It makes me so Emojinal just thinking about it.

Happy Birthday my Sweet Maggie!  8 is going to be great...I can already tell!




Thursday, November 9, 2017

Eight Better Be Great

All I'm saying is 8 better be great! Honestly, some days in the year of 7 felt just the opposite of heaven.  Things can only go up, right?

So Maggie woke up this 9th day of November as an 8 year old!  Hard to believe we were welcoming this little sweet bundle of pink into the world a whole 8 years ago.  And sweet is really the only way to describe her {if you don't count the past year}.  

She was literally oozing with energy that she couldn't even wait for us to wake her up.  We pounced into her room, video camera and camera in hand, and this is what we found. 



Little one was already wide awake and waiting for us! She could hardly handle her excitement!


Maggie's only disappointment was that Lucy snoozed through the entire morning celebration.  Maybe I should have woken her?!?!  It was a hard call.  I mean we did have all evening and the party to look forward to.  Still not sure how I should have handled that one.  Good news is, I will never have to worry about it again.  Next year Lucy will be up with her bigs every school morning...yikes!


Maggie dined on her favorite breakfast...chocolate chip pancakes and cantaloupe.  Then she opened sibling gifts.  Sadly, Lucy's gift had to wait until afternoon {I'm sure that played into Maggie's disappointment}



And by the way, Jack scored big when he picked out this gift for Maggie.  She has had so much fun with it.  Highly recommend it!


Come afternoon, the celebration continued right on.  Maggie finally got to celebrate with Lucy, gift and all.  And Mags picked out her birthday dinner.  Get ready for it...McDonalds! We begged, but she was not budging.  Not to mention it is her birthday so who were we to say where her birthday dinner should be.

Now, we are amping up for an Emojinal Celebration on Saturday!  Can't wait...


Tuesday, November 7, 2017

"Ear" We Go Again

 "Ear" we go again...

Like I mentioned in Maggie's ear piercing post, I never imagined these girls would follow through with this. What originally started out as an incentive for Maggie, quickly turned into a family affair.  Straight from following my deal with Maggie, Lucy said, "can I get my ears pierced if I stop sucking my thumb too?".  And without even thinking, I said, "sure".  Again, assuming this would never happen.

Well hindsight is 20/20, guess I should have put an age on that agreement, because wouldn't you know, 28 days later, guess who kicked the habit?  Lucy!

I'm a momma of my word, so we were off to the ear piercing boutique today.  And just look how excited this little one was...


 Lucy had attended the big day with Maggie so she kind of knew what to expect.  However, believe it or not, this little one's pain threshold isn't quit as high as her big sisters.



Hence the wince and scowl, but no tears!  She was very happy to report the latter.



But, jut look at that beauty.  One more to go.  Once Lucy took a gander at her first ear {and a big deep breath} she was ready for number two.



You can do it Lucy!


 And just like that we have another set of pierced ears at hour house.


Both girls have their calendars marked for the first day they can change out earrings.  A lot of silly emoji earrings await!


Saturday, November 4, 2017

Starburst Attack

Our littlest has taken to the soccer field this season.  Lucy never ceases to amaze me with all the extra curricular activities she wants to take a whirl at.

She joined the Starburst Soccer team with one of her besties and is having a blast.  If she's not socializing it up with her on the sidelines, then you better believe Lucy is trying her hardest out on the field.  And though, she may not be the best, she is a determined little player.  I'll give her that.

You can find her biggest fans on the sidelines cheering for #8 and chanting "Yellow and Black, Starburst Attack".  Our Lucy eats up every bit of the hooting and hollering.




Lucy is always the first to volunteer to play Goalie.  She will give anything a try that sets her apart and makes her the star of the field.



Bestie soccer players!



Just take a look at that determination!  You go #8!


Next up on her bucket list...basketball!  This girl does not know the meaning of an off season!