Preparing for a Princess Party

In less than a week my little monkey is turning 4!  I still can't believe it.  The past four years have gone way. too. fast.

 The day of her birth.

 One Year

Two Years

 Three Years

Almost Four Years!

To celebrate Monkey's birthday we are throwing a princess party.

Can you guess which princess we're focusing on?

I found these super cute Rapunzel invites here.  I had to adjust the design a little because I couldn't find the same materials from the link and I was a little short on time.  Short on time meaning these invites should have been mailed yesterday.  

 These are the materials I started with.  Unfortunately, when I opened the glitter markers they were all dried up and crusty.  Guess that's why they were on sale.

I started with blank cardstock cards and cut off the fold.

Then I used my stamp punch to cut out Rapunzel's window.

Yellow embroidery floss (9 strands) made a braid.  A purple ribbon finished it nicely.

I glued the top of the braid on the back of the card.

Here's my attempt to simplify.  I cut 9 long pieces of floss and clipped them to the top cabinet.  After braiding the entire thing I tied on the purple bows and cut into short braids for each invitation.  

After gluing the back I glued the braid in place with one dot of glue above the purple bow.  I hand wrote all of them.  It was late and I didn't want to wrestle with the printer.  The next morning they were mailed!  {sigh of relief}

Monkey loved them.  But then she told me she wants to have an ice skating party.  Sorry honey, this is August in Oklahoma.  Save that thought for January.

The Princess Bedroom Project!

Last month we had a magical time at Walt Disney World in Orlando.  The girls were in awe seeing the castle and meeting characters.  We waved at Cinderella in the parade, watched Tinkerbell fly from the castle, and met many, many characters.  One of the highlights of the trip was meeting Tinkerbell and Princess Ariel on the streets of Epcot.

After returning home my husband got it in his head that the girls need a princess bedroom.  So we spent many late nights creating cut-outs to decorate their room.  We started with Cinderella's castle and Rapunzel's tower from Tangled.  Then we added various "side-kicks" from other Disney princess movies. 

So, down came the Dr. Seuss characters.  Boy am I glad they are painted on plywood and not right on the wall!

Don't worry.  I've already found a new home for them.  They will look great in my classroom.

There was lots of cutting (thanks hubby).

And sanding.  And painting.

And more painting.

I have never been so happy to finish a project!

The girls love their new princess room!  They dressed up just for the occasion. As soon as I catch up on my sleep I have a few more additions in mind.  I mean, what princess room is complete without a mirror, mirror on the wall??  

Now I think I'll go eat a poisoned apple and slip into a deep sleep.  Zzzzzzz...

Check out the updated Dress-Up Closet!

Magnet Board gets a Second Chance

Last summer I read a wonderful blog post about making magnet boards for kids to match a non-magnetic stainless steel kitchen.  It was such a visually appealing and cheap idea that I ran wild with it and created four magnetic boards for my classroom.

Fast forward one year.  You can see in the first picture below how well one of my boards held up.  Or not.  And I'll be honest, it wasn't falling apart because of the kids!

My original materials:

large wood frame on clearance for $1 at Hobby Lobby

roll of metal sheeting from the roofing isle at Lowes

foam board from Hobby Lobby

hot glue

black spray paint

spray adhesive

I cut the metal sheeting to size using tin snips.  I cut the foam board to fit with a box cutter.  Then I used the spray adhesive to attach the metal to the foam.  The foam board helped the sheeting fit into the frame more snugly.  I spray painted the frame black and hot glued everything together.  

The finished product looked great!  I was so pleased.  But then the paint started flaking.  And the adhesive hanging tabs gave out.  My poor little magnetic board fell to the floor and fell apart.

I brought it home for the summer to try again.  I sanded off the black paint and the original stained finish.

One coat of primer.

A couple coats of white paint brushed on.

After the paint dried I replaced the sheeting and foam board.

This time I used a whole-lotta wood glue along the edges to keep everything in place.  The paint can held the sheeting flat until the glue was dry.

Forget adhesive tabs.  I'm nailing this sucker to the wall.  I used nails in the top corners (and got them started while the board was on the floor).  

Make sure it's straight...

Ta-da!

Kids Magnet Board

I hung it by the filing cabinet in our home office because Monkey often plays with magnets there anyway.

Oh, and by the way, this is a little sneak peak of the new wall color in the office, dining room, and kitchen.  It is Valspar's Smoke Infusion and I absolutely love it.  Below is a "before" picture I snagged off an old post.  That picture kinda makes me cringe now.  {shudder}

That's all for now.  Time to make the kiddos some lunch!