Bug Party: Ribbon Topiary

Apparently, I was all about topiaries for this party. Or maybe party blogs are all about topiaries. Either way, this was a VERY ambitious project.

I found a few pictures of these through google searches and finally dedicated myself to making one. To be 100% honest, I originally was intending to make two. When one of the tutorials I found said it took 5 hours to make, I actually laughed out loud. 6+ hours later when I realized that was actually an UNDERestimation of time, I downgraded to one.

Supplies I used:

a styrofoam ball (~$2 using a coupon)

about a million feet of ribbon (~$5 - fancy ribbon $1 a spool on sale, plain ribbon 4 for $1 also on sale)

around 600 small dress pins (~$4 - 2 packs with coupons )

glue gun (all my own stuff!)

square floral styrofoam ($1 for pack of three from the dollar store)

paper shreds (~$3 - large bag used for all paper and ribbon topiaries)

small white planter (~$2 - on sale)

Here is the full tutorial with photos. I only took one sad, blurry photo of my topiary in progress that you can see here:

I don't have a great photo to showcase my topiary up close, but here it is proudly displayed on the cupcake/favor table at the party:

Bug Party: Centerpieces

When I was planning bug's party I really wanted to come up with a cute decoration to put on the tables. As I was inspired by the paper I found for the invitations, I wanted to use it in the rest of my crafts as much as possible. When searching the internet for party ideas, I came across Heather Bailey's paper globe tutorial. I instantly loved the idea and started trying to figure out how I could adapt it to my talents/budget/schedule. You can (and should!) read the whole tutorial if you want to make these, but here is how I adapted it.

• I wanted to make 6 of them and couldn't imagine cutting out and folding 120 circles by hand - I'm crazy, but not THAT crazy! I went out (with a 40% off coupon of course) and bought the largest Fiskar's circle punch I could find.
• Then, I chose 5 of my favorite paper prints and punched all my paper circles during the quiet early morning hours in the NICU while I was working nights.
• Next, I configured a triangle (by trial and error) to place in the center of each circle and discretely marked off the points so that I could use my Fiskar's paper cutter to score each circle.
• I used Elmer's no wrinkle glue and binder clips (to hold the circles together as they dried) for the assembly following the instructions in the tutorial.
• Small terra cotta pots were spray painted light blue to "plant" my topiaries.
• I found floral foam at a dollar store (which was a big savings as it is quite expensive) and used a small piece hot glued into the flower pot to anchor the topiary.
• For the "stems", I used wooden dowels cut in half and spray painted white.
• To put everything together I inserted one end of the dowel into the foam and the other into the paper globe. I tied a small piece of my leftover ribbon (the ribbon topiary is next!) below the globe and filled the pot in with crinkled paper shreds.

In the end, we only set up 4 guest tables, so I used the extra topiaries as decorations on the food tables. Here are a few more shots of the topiaries in action!

Cute as a Bug Party

My bug's big family and friends birthday party was this past weekend. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and we elected to move the party from Saturday to Sunday. It was a bit warmer and there were only a few rain showers. As we have great family and friends, they all still came out and we really appreciated it!

In a series of posts I'll go through some of the details I worked on for the party. I'll warn you now that I wasn't patient enough to take step-by-step photos on each of the projects, but I'll give instructions when I can!

me and my bug enjoying the party despite the rain!

Scrubs

I remember a time back in high school when one of my close friends was admitted to the hospital for a surgical procedure. Before she was discharged, she asked if she could have a pair of scrubs. Her doctors graciously obliged. We weren't exactly the coolest kids in high school, but when she came back to school wearing those scrubs it made her all kinds of special. At that point, the only logical equation I could come up with was (dorky chick + scrubs) = new found coolness.

Bearing this in mind, I could not wait to get my hands on some scrubs when I started medical school. In those first few months, I proudly wore my scrubs as I lounged around studying my 500+ page syllabus in the local Starbucks. How could that not be cool? Then, scrubs became our official uniform for Gross Anatomy lab and the deconstruction of their coolness began. Not to get too graphic, but walking out of lab with bits of human flesh reeking of formaldehyde stuck to my pants was just not quite as awesome anymore.

Flash forward 3 years to the start of intern year and scrubs took on an even more ominous connotation. During residency scrubs mean night float, ICU rotations, and 24+ hour calls - all things that I enjoy about as much as seeing Jenny McCarthy poison the public with her insane ficticious theories about vaccines and autism. Simply put, my new equation is (overtired dorky girl + scrubs) = overtired dorky girl in crappy clothes.

As always happens at the end of a scrub month, I've come to LOATHE them even more. In case your only knowledge of scrubs is from the TV show Scrubs, you need to know the truth about "real" doctors' scrubs. They are not cute and perfectly form fitting. They do not come in a variety of fun and flashy colors. In fact, they are super unflattering squarish shaped pieces of clothing made from scratchy, stiff fabric. The current AMC color is a pale teal that is see-thru in the right natural lighting. As they are "unisex" (i.e. made for men) even the small size has an inseam that would extend halfway down my thigh if I didn't roll the top. Of course, by rolling the top they become too short and every time I sit my freakishly pale sun-deprived ankles are exposed.

Isn't it funny how an atricle of clothing that once captivated me with its apparent coolness inspires nothing but cold hatred and dread due only to the passage of time and a little bit of life experience?

Night Owl

I'm now a woman of the night. No, not in that way. Rather, my whole life has been turned upside-down (yet again) by my final month of night call. According to the standards of my pediatrics residency, all of us spend 4 months on night call. Night call consists of Sunday - Thursday overnight shifts from 7pm - 8am and every other Sunday 24hr call from 7am - 8am. 2 months are spent on the general pediatrics floor and 2 months are spent in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). I survived my two months on the peds floor trouble-shooting and dealing with the all night barrage of admissions from the ER and transferring hospitals. I've now survived a month and a half attending deliveries and taking care of some of the littlest babies you can imagine all night long in the NICU. The main reason this is SO HARD is that the hours I have to log make getting an adequate amount of sleep an impossibility. My "day" looks like this:

• 7pm - 8am: NICU (manage babies, attend deliveries, study for boards)


• 8 - 8:30: drive home


• 8:30 - 9:30/10: Tidy up at home, laundry with delay timer when necessary, prep dinner, re-pack my overnight bag for the next day, shower, dry hair, read a few pages of my peds textbook as board prep


• 10 - 3pm: Disjointed sleep (frequent awakenings to pee from all the coffee I drink overnight, phone messages, doorbell ringing from packages being delivered, birds chirping, cats battling on my bed, etc)


• 3 - 3:30: Get dressed and eat something


• 3:30/4 - 5:30: Bug time! (park, painting, reading, playing house, etc)


• 5:30 - 6:15: Dinnertime (and the only time I see my husband)


• 6:15 - 6:25: Put on my scrubs and scramble around the house assembling all I need to get through the night


• 6:25 - 7pm: Drive back to the NICU to repeat!

Not to toot my own horn, but I'm one Sunday 24hr and 10 nights away from completing all of my night requirements. This Sunday will be my LAST full 24hr call of residency. I know, WOW!

And as an FYI - just because I haven't been blogging and have been stuck in the NICU all night doesn't mean I've given up on my creativity! On slow nights, I've been known to turn the NICU resident room into a full on craft central with paper punches, glue sticks, calligraphy pens, and scrap booking papers galore in preparation for bug's kid party in June. I've also squeeeeezed in the time to bake cake pops for bug's teacher appreciation potluck at daycare (pics soon!) and some delicious blondies for my colleagues in the NICU. Current project is menu planning and constructing paper globes for table decorations for bug's party!

Just Fell Short

I knew yesterday morning that I was 4 posts away from making my 30 post in 30 days goal. I considered the ways I could stretch my thoughts and "make it". When I really think about it, the number of posts wasn't what I needed to be successful in this endeavor. I just like sharing my recipes, crafts, and ideas with anyone who cares to read and tend to not make the time for myself to do it. 30 posts in 30 days was more about making the time for myself to reflect and put my ideas out there. In that way, I did succeed.

So, I may not be blogging every day this coming month, but I think I'll be around a bit more regularly.

Post 28 - That's why she got quiet...

Yes, those are my pajamas in the toilet being flushed while I was in the shower...

Post 27 - Assembly Line

Here is how I put together my invitations for bug's party....

All of the paper supplies - white card stock, patterned paper, and printed vellum

They read " Spring has sprung and bugs are humming. We're having a party and we hope you're coming!"

White paper cut to 4.5" x 6.25"

patterned paper cut to 4.25" x 6"

vellum cut to 4" x 5.5"

Putting it all together: I used an Elmer's glue pen to attach the patterned paper to the card stock, photo mounting squares to attach the vellum, and the glue stick again to attach the bugs. Finally, I drew in the legs and antennae on the caterpillar with a brown felt tip marker.

The final product with the coordinating pink envelopes!

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know I've been working on making my family more "green." I originally was going to make online invitations to avoid paper waste, but I just love paper crafting so much I couldn't help myself. I will say that I was trying to "recycle" as best I could by using up more of my old craft supplies instead of buying new paper. Besides the patterned paper and few sheets of coordinating card stock to make the bugs, the white card stock was leftover from invitations I made to my friend's bridal shower and the vellum was leftover from the luminaries we made for our wedding. Also, pictured below are all the "scraps" from the sizes of paper I had to cut to make the invitations. I plan to make use of them all for other decorations and signs for the party:

Post 26 - Invitation Teaser

As promised, here are some photos of the paper and supplies I am working with for bug's party invitations. I will add that these were taken with low lighting in our living room at night so the colors appear a bit darker than they really are.

The "inspiration" paper

My collection of bug punches and the coordinating solid card stock

The matching envelopes I found (on sale!!) with the punched out bugs and white card stock

Post 25 - PB + Bug = Disaster (updated!)

I decided to give bug a "creative" snack this afternoon - apple slices, cheese wedges, and some creamy natural peanut butter. First, all was well and she dipped the apples like a pro. Then she realized, "Hey, this PB feels kinda neat!" and started rubbing it between her fingers. Before I could even utter a feeble and likely to be ignored, "Don't try it...", she smiled and rubbed it all over her face. Oh well, at least she had fun!

Update: Here is the aftermath of the PB incident. I had to strip the bug down and wash her in the kitchen sink (I had just finished scrubbing the bathroom and couldn't bear to deal with sticky PB in the tub). She LOVED this and kept turning the faucet up to full power and then putting her hand under the stream to spray water everywhere. When we were finally done, she insisted on climbing into her booster seat at the table and just kept laughing and saying, "Funny? Yea?!"

Post 24 - Vacation Update!

I must say, this has turned out to be a great week of vacation for me so far (and it's only half over if I count the weekend...). As outlined in my spring cleaning post, I've already accomplished all of my big cleaning goals! Yippee!

In terms of the fun stuff, well, see for yourself! I made the stuff I've done italic

• Take bug to the state museum (tomorrow!)
• Finish my thank you cards from bug's family party (on my way to mail them this afternoon!)
• Make the invitations to bug's kid party in June (started, pics later!)
• Get my bum to the gym every day for at least an hour (in progress...)
• Catch up with as many friends as possible (lunch today with one friend, long phone conversation with another friend yesterday, and hopefully meeting one more friend tomorrow!)
• Go on a "date" with my husband
• Start my party planner for bug's June party
• Read at least 3 issues of Peds in Review for board prep (2 down...)
• Take bug to the playground
• Have BBQ for dinner (yummy blue cheese burgers and sweet potato fries last night!)

Post 23 - Paper

I know this is going to sound ridiculous (although looking silly to my readers has never been a real concern of mine...), but I LOVE paper. I find inspiration in great colors or patterns or textures. In fact, the inspiration for bug's kid party in June came from a package of paper. After everyone voted and helped me pick "Cute as a Bug" as the party theme, I was still at a loss for how to make it happen. Countless times I was drawn to my local craft stores where I prowled the aisles desperate for something to jump out at me as a central organizing point for the party. I wasn't finding anything and was becoming more and more frustrated as the days went on.

Then, one night I took a desperate trip to Michael's as a break after a long day at work. As if it was meant to be, I saw exactly what I was looking for! On the bottom shelf, with a big red clearance sticker on the top, was a package of scrap-booking paper. There were multiple designs (narrow stripes, wide stripes, polka dots, flowers, etc!) on a white background with a fabulous color scheme - light blue, a medium lime green, medium pink, and a dark pink! Four wonderful, springy colors to match the four bug mascots of the party (ladybug, butterfly, dragonfly, and caterpillar)! It was too perfect! I purchased two packages, brought them home, carefully cut a small 2" by 2" square of paper to keep in my wallet for all future shopping experiences, and therein began my quest to purchase party decor and accents matching these colors (I've built up quite the stash, but that's another post for another time...).

Today has me reminiscing about the day I found the paper because I went back to that very same craft store to purchase coordinating cardstock and envelopes to take on one of my very favorite paper crafting events - making the party invitations!

Check back soon as I plan to post pictures as I begin the creative process!

Post 22 - Easter Treats

I know, I'm a few days late. My photographer has a bit of a questionable memory and forgets to download my pics for me...as he apologized and I love him, I suppose I can forgive him this once:-)

I decided to give myself a break and go simple this year. I made chocolate cupcakes (recipe from Baking) with Hershey's chocolate frosting (I double the vanilla in it) topped with sprinkle confetti and little white chocolate bunnies that I molded.

Nothing better than a close-up of that much chocolate:-)

Post 21 - FINALLY!

Today it finally stopped raining and the sun came out! Sure, it was super windy, but I'll take it. The nice sunny weather means I was able to do one of the fun things I was hoping for - to take bug to the playground! We visited the Crossings which is one of my all time favorite places to take bug to play. I love going there because bug can use the equipment (slides, swings, sandbox, etc) and there are many, many scenic places to walk around.

Today we only spent a few minutes on the playground and instead spent most of our time walking down to the pond, watching some older gentlemen sail their miniature sailboats on the water, chasing dogs ("Doggie! I pet!"), and checking out the ducks and fish having a feeding frenzy over some Cheez-its that another little girl was tossing into the water. Overall, a wonderful way to spend a vacation afternoon!

Post 20 - Spring Cleaning

I'm thrilled that I finally made it to one of my coveted vacation weeks, but am totally bummed that the forecast calls for wind and rain EVERY SINGLE DAY! It looks like I'm going to have to make use of all the indoor time by doing some spring cleaning. The obvious tasks everyone probably catches up on when they are free from work include many loads of laundry and sweeping/mopping/vacuuming all the floors. This week I'm also planning to clean out the pantry in the kitchen (done! did it this morning!), remove all the 18 month clothing from bug's drawers to put into storage, change my clothes over to my summer wardrobe, and REALLY clean the bathroom so it's ready for us to re-paint and tile the floors later this spring.

Other actually fun things I hope to do this week:

• Take bug to the state museum
• Finish my thank you cards from bug's family party
• Make the invitations to bug's kid party in June
• Get my bum to the gym every day for at least an hour
• Catch up with as many friends as possible
• Go on a "date" with my husband
• Start my party planner for bug's June party
• Read at least 3 issues of Peds in Review for board prep
• Take bug to the playground
• Have BBQ for dinner (even if we have to eat indoors)

Let's see how far I make it down my list!

Post 19 - Eat Your Veggies!

This April has been a very special month. Not only did my bug turn two, but she has two lovely little cousins who celebrated their very first birthdays as well! Both of these beautiful girls have very health and environmentally conscious mamas so I decided a homemade gift that promotes good nutrition and conservation would be appreciated.

I found the pattern for these gifts during a 0.99 cent Simplicity pattern sale at Joann's Fabrics. I purchased 1 yard pieces of felt in each of the colors I needed, coordinating thread, green embroidery floss, and pillow stuffing to make them.

This was a super fun project that I worked on over the course of a month. I have a tenancy to get super sleepy at night, but used sewing these to keep myself awake while my husband and I watched the first three seasons of Dexter (the most amazing TV show ever!). I made three sets of everything and each tote bag was slightly different for each girl.

Here are some pictures of the set I sent to bug's cousin in Texas...

Pink and ivory "reusable shopping bag" with all the fruits and veggies...

Tomato, carrot, eggplant, and yellow squash

Banana, strawberries, orange, apple, and pumpkin

(for some reason the pumpkin ended up with the fruits instead of the veggies)

Post 18 - Eggs!

First off, Happy Easter! I just had to share this funny story from this morning that just personifies what it's like living with a two year old...

After Bug got up and found her Easter basket this morning (and snuck two Lindt chocolate chicks), it was time for breakfast. I made us cheddar eggs and cinnamon raisin toast. Usually bug loves eggs and devours them, but today she only took one bite and proclaimed, "All done!" We kept her at the table for another ten minutes hoping she would change her mind (as she often does), but she continued to resist. Finally, admitting defeat, I scraped her plate into the trash. As soon as the last piece hit the bag, Bug came running over yelling, "Eggs! Eggs! NO!" She then lifted the trash lid mournfully, looked at me with huge sad eyes, and said, "Eggs?"

Yup, that's how it goes these days...

Post 17 - Craft Night

Bug was asking to paint all evening, so I finally gave in and let her have some fun. While she was painting paper, plates, the table, the window, and herself, I got to work on my thank you notes from her birthday party. Here are a few photos of the fun we had...

Here are my craft supplies: embossing tool and powders, ink pads, stamps, and blank cards

This is not a great picture, but here is the design I stamped and embossed on the cards!

Bug and I enjoying being creative:-)

Post 16 - Healthy stuffed tortillas

I don't want to be insulting and call my made-up quasi-Mexican meal "enchiladas", but that's what I was going for with this simple, relatively healthy, and fresh make ahead meal. The measurements below made 10 stuffed corn tortillas for me. Enjoy if you try it out!

1. To make the sauce, mix one small can of diced tomatoes (or Rotel with green chilies if you want it to be spicy), one small can of tomato sauce (no salt added), 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1 pressed clove of garlic, and 1/2 tsp ground coriander in a small saucepan and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
2. The tortillas will be filled with four things: 1 cup (or less) steamed rice, 2 ounces shredded cheddar, 1 stalk chopped green onions, and chicken mixture (see next step).
3. Chicken mixture is about 1 cup of diced chicken (use leftover rotisserie chicken, grilled chicken, baked chicken, boiled chicken, any kind of chicken you want!), 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil or cilantro, 1/4 cup of the sauce you made in Step 1.
4. Prepare a 9 x 13 inch pan for baking these by lining it with aluminum foil and spreading about 2 Tbsp of sauce over the bottom (to prevent the tortillas from sticking).
5. Warm your corn tortillas in the microwave or in a pan over medium-low heat. Assemble as follows: rice, chicken mixture, shredded cheddar, green onions. Roughly roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in your prepared pan. Continue until all of your tortillas are rolled.
6. Finally, pour all of your sauce evenly over the tortillas and top with another stalk of chopped green onions.

It should look about like this before you put it into the fridge overnight...

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375. Pour a small amount of chicken broth (I probably used about 1/4 cup) over the tortillas to keep them from drying out. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. At that time, sprinkle another 2-3 ounces of shredded cheese over the tortillas and bake for 5 more minutes uncovered. Serve with salsa and (if desired) low fat sour cream.

Post 15 - Leftover ham pasta

Ok, so the post title makes it sound far less glamorous than it is, but this is a wonderful recipe that I decided to post as, if your family is like my family, you might be having some leftover ham after Easter this coming weekend. I need to give credit to my mother-in-law as this is based on her recipe for Kluski (which I think is just the Polish word for noodle), but don't want to actually call it her recipe as I think I made some of it up as I was cooking from memory and don't want to insult her if it's not as good:-) This is a great "make ahead" and reheat meal!

1. When you bake your ham, reserve all of the pan drippings to use in the sauce for the pasta.


2. Cook and drain 1/2 box of pasta (I used elbows) al dente and set aside.


3. Dice up the tomatoes from a large can of whole, peeled tomatoes, but reserve all of the juices in the can.


4. In a large pot, saute 1 small diced onion and 1 clove of pressed garlic in olive oil.


5. When onions are soft, add pan drippings, 2 cups diced up leftover ham, diced tomatoes in sauce, one small can of tomato sauce, and 1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil.


6. Allow the sauce to simmer for about 10 minutes uncovered.


7. Add the pasta, turn heat to lowest setting, cover, and allow to simmer for 10 more minutes (this allows the pasta to soak up all the flavor from the sauce).


8. Garnish with more fresh basil and Parmesan, if desired.

We tried to grab a shot of Bug's plate, but she couldn't wait...