All-Star Sports Themed Birthday Party

If you have a sports fanatic in your house, they will love an All-Star Sports themed party. My youngest son plays sports all year round and had trouble narrowing his 9th birthday theme to just one sport, so we included all his favorite sports- football, basketball, hockey, and baseball. 

To make the food feel like it was from a concession stand, we served popcorn in individual basketball paper cups and added touches of grass throughout the party to look like sports turf. These water bottle labels reminded me of a referee vest, so we personalized them to say "Water Break". 

It's easy to make your own All-Star sports dessert table using these three key party products. First, the football scoreboard creates a great backdrop for your dessert table. My son loves his scoreboard so much that we plan to hang it in his room after the party! Second, the black and white striped table overlay looks great placed over a white table cloth. And third, the black and white tassel garland ties the whole look together.  

Red (penalty) and yellow (under review) napkins make great "penalty flag" decorations! 

The birthday boy had one special request, a donut cake!  We added extra fun touches by making a cake bunting and placing sports themed cake balls on top of the donuts. 

The kids' table was set with a hockey tablecloth, NHL table decorating kit, basketball plates, and mini foam fingers. After filling up on concession stand snacks, the kids headed outside for some sports themed activities.  They loved playing capture the flag, relay races, flag football, Wiffle ball (try kids verses adults!), and sports charades. 

After finishing games, the kids visited the favor station. The favor station was filled with lots of great prizes such as "official game balls",  removable eye black, and sports noise makers. 

Our sports themed favor bags were a total home run! Here's how to make them. Start with black striped party bags, add a fun personalized sports themed sticker that says "Hope You Had a Ball", and include fun favors inside such as stress balls, mini foam fingers, and sports themed chocolate bar!

Party Resources:

Donuts: Dainty Pastry
Sports Cake Balls: A & B Mix It Up
Sports Printables: Three Little Monkeys Studio
Sports Party Products: Shindigz

Summer Patio Living

It's that time of year again. We are cleaning the outdoor furniture and getting our patio set up for summer entertaining. We've been working hard to landscape around the edges of our patio and now need to focus on the patio decor itself.

Adding flowers and potted plants is the perfect way to freshen up any outdoor space. This Areca Palm Tree from Commercial Silk was the perfect low maintenance and low fuss addition. It added a tropical, relaxed vibe around our chaise lounges.

The palm tree came in a nice black pot, but I placed it in a larger geometric blue planter pot to really make the entire plant pop with color and fullness. I would love to get a few more palm trees to really fill in this area. The palm also has a nice weight to it and has not budged at all despite the gusty winds we get through here. Sadly, I cannot hang outdoor lights or Edison bulbs out here because of our crazy winds. All in all, I am extremely happy with my new little green friend. It brings a little piece of Maui living to our country patio.

A special thanks to Commercial Silk for sending me this product to review. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. 

Memorial Day Ideas Sponsored by Wayfair

I have been compensated for this post as a member of the Wayfair Homemaker Program, 

all ideas and opinions are completely my own #sponsored 

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kick off to summer. I can almost smell the burgers cooking on the grill and fresh corn on the cob. Our family Memorial Day traditions center around three main things- family cookouts, gardening, and Opening Day of (Little League) baseball!

We start the long weekend off by doing some gardening prep and yard work. Our garden gets tilled, the starter seeds get planted, and all our large planter pots are filled with flowers. This just freshens up the entire outside of the house! I dream about having a potting table like this someday!

Next, we are off to baseball!  Memorial Day is always Opening Day in our town for Little League. We pack our coolers with drinks and snacks and head to the baseball fields!  This family size cooler packs up our food perfectly, and folds down flat when not in use.

Finally after all the work is done in the garden and baseball fields, we head home to spend the evening relaxing and cooking out with family. Food always tastes better right off the grill. We grill burgers, hot dogs, and vegetables with lots of sides such as pasta salad, coleslaw, and raspberry pretzel salad (a family favorite).

Below I've shared my Wayfair Memorial Day Ideas Board full of my favorite items that help kick start our Memorial Day weekend festivities. Hope you enjoy and have a great Memorial Day Weekend!


  

Party Like a Pineapple: Pineapple Moscow Mule Recipe

Every celebration should have a signature drink. It's an easy and fun way to continue a party theme right into the menu. The drink of choice for our Party Like a Pineapple Party was a Pineapple Moscow Mule. 

Grab your Moscow Mule mug and let's start mixing...

Pineapple Moscow Mule Recipe

Ingredients:

Dole Pineapple Juice

Smirnoff Vanilla Vodka

Reed's Ginger Beer

Fresh Pineapple (for garnish)
Ice

Moscow Mule Mug

Directions:

Fill mug with ice. Measure 3 oz vodka and 3 oz of pineapple juice and pour into mug. Top with 6 oz of ginger beer. Stir and serve. Garnish with fresh pineapple. 

For more details about my Pineapple Party, visit the Shindigz Party Ideas page!

Sponsored by Wayfair: Adding Touches of Elegance to a Modern Farmhouse

I have been compensated for this post as a member of the Wayfair Homemaker Program, 

all ideas and opinions are completely my own #sponsored 

After years of looking without luck for an established farmhouse to renovate, we decided to switch our focus to building. We spent a year looking for land, designing our dream house, and finding the right builder.  It was very important to us to add as many unique characteristics to the house as possible. We wanted a new house that looked and felt like an old farmhouse. That was no easy task. We found quickly that custom work and vintage pieces were costly. Over the last few years, as our budget has allowed, we have started added those farmhouse details that we so desired. 

Last summer we added a back patio, garage, and an entry way barn door accent wall with wood from a barn in Centre County, PA. We are currently working on adding ship lap above our fireplace and hope to share those photos soon. 

Our kitchen mid-construction & after

The kitchen is the heart of every home, ours is no exception. All our celebrations and gatherings center around this room, therefore making it the perfect room for my collaboration with Wayfair and Nostalgic Warehouse.

It is so exciting to replace our builder grade door knobs with beautiful vintage inspired ones. First, the Nostalgic Warehouse selection was very large.

 I immediately fell in love with the Waldorf Passage Door Knob with Classic Rosette in satin nickel finish to coordinate with the existing finishes in our home. 

Here is our existing satin nickel builder grade door knobs.  

Here is the after, our brand new gorgeous door knobs. They are simple, elegant, and add a subtle vintage feel to the room. 

Here are some photos of the knobs we replaced on our entry hall closet door. This door knob is most heavily used by our guests, so we were happy to switch out our builder grade knobs with the classic rosette knobs. It changes the look of the door completely!

I shared this on my Instagram page, but my youngest son is completely smitten with our new knobs. He asked if we could install the new knobs on his bedroom door. When I explained that the new knobs were designated for our first floor, he quickly let me know that he would be adding new door knobs to his birthday wish list! 

A huge thank you to Wayfair and Nostalgic Warehouse for this collaboration. Be sure to check out the huge selection of Nostalgic Warehouse products available on Wayfair. I am sure you will be able to find something that fits your style and home needs. Feel free to send along any questions you might have about the process. I would be happy to answer!