Maddie's Pink Party

My baby just turned 6 years old last week and we celebrated in Pink!

A purple pinata was turned pink with a little cut up tissue paper.

Above the birthday girl was taking a break from it all.

In the back ground you can barely see the banner I made for a previous birthday party with pink scrapbook paper.

I filled my shade tent ceiling with pink balloons, streamers, paper pom poms and a chandelier I picked up a few years ago from a sale.

The table cloth was made from pink fabric with a little ball fringe and I just used dishes and stuff I had around the house and filled them with anything pink I could find.

For lunch the girls had jelly sandwiches cut into shapes, grape kabobs, bugles and strawberry soda.

The Junk Mammas

Target fabulous find

I saw these cute canisters shopping at Target today. Can I justify the price tag of $51.97 for all three. I do have birthday money left. I'd better decide soon cause everything cute flies out of our Target.

The Junk Mammas

Gracie's 7th Birthday Party

We celebrated my daughters 7th birthday this past weekend. Thankfully the weather cooperated, because I didn't plan for an inside party. It was wet and humid when I set up in the morning and I was really fretting over where to have the party inside or outside. Once I decided things fell into place.




My daughter picked a bird theme. Really. She has been into birds for about a year, so I went with it before she changed her mind to Pokemon.

The table was set up for to make bird houses, I love to start with a craft, it seems to settle the kids down a little bit. Even my neighbor commented how quiet the 8 kids were being. I used chairs and bedspreads that had been picked up from the the curb or garage sales to set the table. The party chandelier was made using the tissue paper pom poms and lanterns from Micheal's. Some of the pom poms I made from this tutorial and some were from the Martha Stewart kit.





The birdhouses the kids made looked cute hanging on the fence drying.

I also sewed the pendent garland. I was going to make some more they were kinda fun to make. Last minute I decided to make a mini garlands for the birdcages. I also used the leftover fabric to embellish the gift bags with a simple bird motif. The favor included a bird whistle and lip gloss or toy airplane. The bird whistle you fill with water and they really sound like birds chirping. I purchased them off amazon.



The project that nearly killed me was the pinata. Last week the weather was very humid, and the paper mache layers took forever to dry. I am an impatient crafter, so this was not a favorite project for me. I had to enlist my husband at the end to put the hanger in it. So if you make a pinata plan accordingly.





Another party for the memory book.

The Junk Mammas

Pickles

Refrigerator pickles are a quick, easy and a delicious way to use extra cumbers. Mine uses 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup vinegar, a teaspoon of course salt and some dill sprigs. (cucumbers and onions of course)

I put everything except the dill in a sauce pan, bring to a boil and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Next, I pour it over my cut up cucumbers and onions, add some dill and refrigerate overnight. By morning you have flavorful pickles and as they are eaten you can keep adding cucumbers to the mix.

The Junk Mammas

Picnic clean up tip

Growing up we went on alot of picnics. Parks and kids equal dirt. And my mother always packed a soapy water jar for cleaning up us kids. Wipes just can't handle the job when the kids are really dirty. Now I do the same. I find it easiest to use a wide mouth jar, so I can get my hand in it easily. I add a few drops of dish soap, fill'er up with water, and drop in a dishcloth. Now your set. Picnic on!!

It was a good morning!

I found the new Country Home magazine the other day at Walmart. Yippeee! It wasn't cheap $12.99, but Walmart does discount magazines. So my perfect morning included Country Home, iced latte, a raspberry white chocolate scone and watching my kids ride there bike up and down the block. Ahh summer!

Junk Mammas

Craigslist find

Here is my latest craigslist score, a Broyhill coffee table for $40.00. The seller had the end tables when I first looked at it, but they were gone by the time I was ready to make the purchase.


While I don't love the finish, this table has great bones I love the rounded legs, square top and it's the perfect size to accessorize and leave a space for the kids to play.

I usually sit on my projects a while, but this one I wanted to get started on right away. I sanded it down to bare wood on the top only. The legs I left because I was planning on painting them. I choose a dark stain for the top, Ace Hardware brand Jacobean.

I used 2 coats of stain and 3 coats of poly on the top. Next on to the legs, I painted those cottage white with Behr paint plus primer 2 coats.

Here is the finished project, I might distress the legs a little, but for now I am just enjoying a project I have completed.

The Junk Mammas

New Camera

About a month ago I bought a new camera, the Canon PowerShot SD1400 IS. Don't let the size fool you, this camera takes some great pictures, in addition to being super small and easy to carry.

It also has a great feature on it, where you can pick a color from your subject and the rest of the picture appears in black and white.

Below is a picture I took of some pink peonies my mom brought me.

This camera comes in different colors and for under $300.00 complete with case and memory card this camera is a winner in my book.

The Junk Mammas

Lordy Lordy one of the Junk Mammas is "40"

You say it's your birthday.......

New years eve 13+ years ago, the Junk Mammas knew how to live it up.

Mad scientist for Halloween, one of our favorite holidays and costumes!

years before we were 3 blind mice, not sure who or where the 3rd mouse was.


Here's the birthday girl posing for a shot. Happy Birthday my dear friend Kim!!!!


Remember 40 is the new 20!

The Junk Mammas(Jen)

Lego Party

My son is turning 8 and loves Lego's, so we decided to have a Lego party theme. This year we had the party at Chuck E Cheese so I didn't have to go all out on the decorations, but here are a few things I put together to make the party special.

Lego gift bag tags- I got some Lego's at a rummage sale, and made the kids initials on each tag out of Lego's with the help of my hot glue gun.

Picks for the cupcakes- store bought cupcakes with picks I made from a printout I found online of Lego guys. Hot glued tooth picks to the back and just stuck them in.

Table decor- used an old pop crate I had and added a sign to the front that said Sam's 8 in Lego's. Got some primary colored balloons and napkins, then scattered the table with some misc. Lego's.

We are having a family party for him on Tuesday, I am going to attempt to make a Lego cake. If it turns out I will share the photos.

The Junk Mammas

French Provincial Chalk Boards

Kristen from California, purchased these chalk boards from our Etsy store and used them at her wedding. They were used on the bride and groom chairs and we think they look incredible! What a great idea!!!

Thanks for sharing with us Kristen and congratulations!

The Junk Mammas

Weekend project

I found this at a rummage sale close to my house about a month ago. Paid $20.00 for this little table, a desk for my sons room and a chair. I saw one of these on someones blog painted and thought it was really cute, otherwise I probably would have passed it up. I had been looking for a small night stand for my daughters room with storage and thought this would work.

I started painting before I took a picture, but above is the before.

Found this little drawer pull at Anthropology for $4.00, it had plaid fabric in it. I switched it out with my bargain Pottery Barn Kids bedding fabric.

Painted it pink, and now it's ready for Maddie's room! Linking this up to Just A Girl's show and share day.

The Junk Mammas

Red, White and Blue

Feeling a little Red, white and blue today.

photos-William Sonoma, Martha Stewart and Country Home

The Junk Mammas

Garden markers

The time has finally come for some real planting. Last night, I planted my vegetable garden and some herbs. In the past I have not marked stuff, but I have seen some really cute plant markers in blogland so I decided to make me some this year.

I picked out some old knives I had and glued scrabble letters to them with E6000.

Longer words might be a problem, but I really think they turned out neat. Veggies and herbs not your thing, try using a word like "grow" and placing it in a pot with flowers.



The Junk Mammas

Elkhorn review

We loved the Elkhorn Flea Market. It was huge with many fabulous items that we bought and a lot more we didn't bring home.

One of our favorite finds were these architectural pieces. Both Jenny and I bought two each. We actually got from two different vendors that both told us they came from the Wrigley house in Rockford, IL. So it must be true, we just thought they were cool.



We also met a few bloggers. Jan from Gracie's Cottage was just too sweet. We bought grain sacks from her. She had the fabulous idea to turn the grain sacks into floor clothes. I didn't get a picture of that, dah. But great idea.

Her booth was so busy it was hard to even snap a picture of her wonderful treasures.

We also met Joan and Mr. Anything Goes Here from Anything Goes Here. She also had some fabulous goodies. So if you are ever in the area be sure to check these lovely ladies at the Elkhorn Flea Market. We can't wait to go again

The Junk Mammas

Where is your favorite flea market?

Unfortunally, we live in an area where flea markets are far and between. We have to travel 2-3 hours either way to find one with more then 50 venders.

This coming up weekend we are heading to one in Elk Horn Wisconsin. We are going on a road trip or a mini vacation as we call it. We are leaving on Satruday afternoon, staying the night and coming home around suppertime on Sunday.

If you are in the area you should check it out, we will give you the scoop next week on what we found.

From what I have read it is suppose to be one of Wisconsins finest with over 500 inside and outside venders and great food.

If you have been to it, we would love to hear from you. Otherwise tell us where your favorite flea market it.

The Junk Mammas

Wind chimes

Worked on some wind chimes the past couple of days to add to my mothers day gifts. I took old rusty/chippy paint door hinges and added silverware with fishing line. I pounded the silverware flat, and did a lot of it-so I have extra to use for other projects as well.

My husband drilled the holes in the silverware, but I think you could make it by just tying the line onto the silverware.

For a little touch of whimsy I added a few keys into the mix. Love the sound it makes when the wind blows and it is supper cute also!

The Junk Mammas

Quick Mothers Day projects

Worked on some quick and fun Mother's Day projects today.
Found this old coffee pot, took out the guts and planted this cute pansy in it. Added a cute tag.

Love this little red lunch box, it makes the perfect planter. We are adding this to the Frugal Friday party @ The Shabby Nest and Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special, come check out all of the great stuff.

The Junk Mammas

It was a windy day here!

And a tree on the boulevard fell onto my van. Very minor damage to my beater and no one was hurt. ;-)My son thought it was exciting to watch them remove it. Sad to see the tree gone, but we can plant another. So much for a quiet day at home.

The Junk Mammas