Ding-Ding. I.Am.A.Robot~ A 4th Birthday

Hello there!  It has been a few weeks since the party, but Mr. Hughes has been so very blessedly busy that he hasn't been able to edit the photos from the party, so I stole the camera and did what little I can do.  We had a more low key year than the years before... we decided to have it on a Sunday and we had almost all our very favorite people with us to celebrate our little guy.

Originally, back when we started planning birthday number 4 (ahem... shortly after his 3rd birthday... hey, we like to party!) we thought we would have a superhero inspired party.  I pinned away superhero themes and dinosaur themes too.  Then, one day the Mr. came home with this 4 and it looked very robot-y to it.  We gave the boy the choice and I didn't even get out the whole word and he yelled... ROBOTS!!!  So, there you go.

Meet Bink the Robot.  baby hughes was a little disappointed that he didn't move or talk, but, I think the Mr. did a great job on him.

The Mr. brought these home last year... why I don't know.  But, they ended up being perfect for the party entrance.

A few hours before the party, Mr Hughes got a wild hair to chalk some boards with a bunch of different robots.

I totally forgot to take photos of the cute robot lollipops and little windup robots before I tied up the bags, but they are there.

The tissue decorations reminded me of gears and I love tissue decor... it is so festive!

baby hughes requested cake pops, cupcakes and cookies this year (he actually asked for a robot cake too, but I decided that is where I would stop.)  This was my first time making cake pops and they were yummy, but very sweet.

I found a cool gear shaped cookie cutter and used a little round one I had to cut out the center.  I rounded up some industrial trays that I got long ago to use for the food.... and there was food besides the sweets... not sure what happened to the photos of it.

The cupcakes were golden with salted caramel icing.  Mr. Hughes drew some fun robots and printed for me to make some cupcake toppers.

The Mr. used his extraordinary chalking skills to draw a robot as a backdrop.  

We had a few Rock 'em Sock 'em sets so everyone could play.  We have since used them to settle debates.

One of the last minute ideas the Mr had was to turn our metal set of drawers into a makeshift robot.  He gutted the vintage tv tube that didn't work and replaced it with a newer one that did and added a DVD player to play movies.  He did that with another thought in mind and just happened to place it on the set of drawers and voila... Robot!  He went and bought some arms and we played videos and photos sequences of baby hughes

Well, that was year 4. If you want to see previous years, check out 1, 2, and 3.  We obviously love having these parties and this year was fun since the little man had quite a few opinions regarding colors and what he would like and who to invite.  I hope he lets us do these for many years to come.

be back soon.  Things have been super, duper busy around these parts and I haven't been able to sit down and blog as much.  And I miss it!

bye for now~

A little time away

Hello and Happy Thursday!!  We getting back in the groove of things after a really quick road trip this week. We haven't had time for a *real* vacation this year and the last month has been a little trying, so we decided to get away for a few days.

We had a loose plan, but nothing binding, so we took our time getting to our destination: Chattanooga.  It is such a cool town.  The only thing we had to do was surprise our almost 4 year old with a train ride on a restored steam engine.  Let me tell you.... hearing him shout and get so excited when he finally figured out where we were was worth all the heat of the day.  I am so happy that we have the excitement on video.

We had a short little ride on the engine that stopped out a real, live Steamworks.  All you mommas who have Thomas lovers know this is a super big deal.  And, we watched them turn a steam engine around on a turn table.  All very exciting!

He was brave when we went through a very old, dark tunnel... probably braver than me *smiles*  We could have used a few more days, but I am thankful for the time away.

We did a little shopping on the way there and back.  I scored a great treasure (show you later) and was able to fill the shoppe as well.

More soon~  Have a happy sort of day!

bye for now~

It's that time of year again....

Yep.  It is about that time when the Mr. and I lose our minds and devote our energies into having a fun bash for baby hughes.  He is going to be 4.  The time truly flies.  This year we are going with a robot theme.  

For a long while, he has put a box on his head and said... ding-ding, I am a robot.  Something he came up with entirely on his own.  So, the Mr. designed a simple robot stamp and insert and baby hughes and I decided on the colors.  He has since told me that yellow is his favorite, not orange.  Oh well!  Maybe orange will be his favorite again in a few weeks.

He has also decided that he wants cookies, cupcakes, cake pops, and a BIG cake.  I am so glad we got a new oven to handle all this baking that is expected of me *wink*  This is has been fun planning since he is in on it.  He has told me things he wants and we have looked at ideas together.  The little "4" on the balloon is actually one that we were selling in the shoppe and he found and brought it to the desk and said he wanted it for his party *so proud*

Well, back to planning!  Have a lovely week!!

bye for now!

*blink*

hello all!  I am sitting here next to my big Preschooler wondering how this happened... or how did it happen so fast?  Four years ago at this time, this little guy was kicking up storm in my belly and causing my feet to swell to epic proportions.  And, today I dropped him off for his first day of Preschool.  They do a summer session at his school and I thought it would be nice to get him involved before Fall.

He, of course, had a great time.  He jumped out of the car like he didn't have parents.  And, of course, I cried a little.  The Mr. took me out for a little coffee date after we left our boy there, so that was nice *smiles*  I guess it gets easier each day, but I really missed him today.  I mean, even when he is testing my patience, I still really love being with him.  And, it was SO quiet!

So, do tell mommas of boys... what do your boys wear on their feet when they wear shorts?  Flip flops are a no no at school and I think this looks a little funny.... is it the socks?  He was NOT happy about wearing socks and sneakers today.  Or is it my thinking that shorts have to be worn with flip flops?

Tomorrow we are off to treasure hunt!  We are leaving early and seeing where the road takes us!  Be back soon with some new finds and some news.... Vintage Junky news...  For now, though, I think I will take an extra dose of snuggles.

bye for now~

The Smallest Shoppe Keeper

Hello all!  Hope your weekend was great!  I feel like it has been forever since I blogged... if you saw my workshop you would understand!  I have been working on some really fun projects for clients.  The past few weekends, I snapped a few photos of what's been going on at the shoppe.

And, usually, baby hughes is the life of the party.  On any given day, someone will walk in the shoppe and they are *enthusiastically* greeted by baby hughes.  Normally, he will hand you a card, shake your hand, and ask your name.  This kid... I think he is going to be a politician.  He introduces himself giving his full name veryfast.    He is charming (most of the time *wink*)  He has been known to kiss and hug you goodbye and run after you and tell you to be careful.  He is a handful.  God must have known not to give me a boring child that would get overlooked by a mommy like me (slightly absentminded, busy, and constantly planning.)   We are so blessed with this little man.  He keeps me on my toes and laughing.  

He is why I started this crazy business!  I mean, don't get me wrong... I love it.... but one of the biggest benefits is being with him.  I can get over the no paid vacations and paying for my own health care since I get to spend my time with this little guy *smiles*

Now for the shoppe talk: I have changed the shoppe several times in the past couple of weeks.  

I added some garden-y type stuff to Spring it up!  I am yearning for Spring!!

I added a bit, just a bit of Valentine's and red.  Can I tell you... I am NOT a red person.  I have very little red in our home and I don't have much at the shoppe.  I do love vintage valentines and decorations, but I am itching to take this down already.  It just doesn't floooowwww.  And, I guess that is sort of the point of red, to stick out.  

The Mr. created this chalkboard out of some salvaged furniture parts and added his lines *wink*  It sort of goes with our Save the World, Buy Vintage theme.  Of course, I have rearranged the shoppe since these photos were taken... I got a wild hair during lunch on Sunday and put the Mr to work once we got to the shoppe.

Okay, Flying Fairy School is just about over, so it is about time to get to work.  I will try to not be such a stranger!

bye for now!

Advent

hello and happy December!  There is frost on the ground this morning and it will be chilly on our way to the shoppe today.  I like a good chill now and then..... I make exceptions for December. But, after the New Year, I want warmer temps pronto!!

Have you ever seen something raw... like in its original state and completely see something else... what it could be?  Well, I did this summer.  Mr. Hughes brought home a big buffet for me to paint and I saw this velvet board set aside.  Now, I have painted a few buffets and I have seen a few of these boards that go in the silverware drawer.  But there was something about this board's faded color and its perfect velvet-y-ness (fact: the Mr. doesn't like velvet.) I immediately brought it into the house and told him that whatever he was planning on doing with it would not work.  That it would be our Advent calender.

Immediately the wheels started tuning and I starting thinking... brass window/ screen door tacks... I have some of those... but I don't have a whole set... off to etsy/ ebay I go!!  But they were a bit pricier than I remembered. I eventually found some goldy brass, not the white brass.  I looked and saw #1, #2, and #25... okay they are all there... add to my basket.

When I got them, they weren't #1- 25.  Oh well, I will use what I have.  And I did... I pulled together some random numbered tacks and now have a complete, perfectly mismatched set.

The idea behind the calender was to add one item each day of December to our little tree.  After we add the item to the tree, then we write our favorite memory of the day and place it in the envelope to save.  So, we will have an empty board, full tree and hopefully at least 25 perfect Christmas memories.  

 

I thought this would be an easy way for baby hughes, who doesn't really grasp time in weeks and days... it is "now" and "in a minute" to him.  And, I have seen so many fun interviewing things done with kids and just thought it would be great to hear what he thought the most important part of our day was.

I quickly put this together last night so we will have it ready for tonight.  I truly wanted fun little ornaments that he would like, but I couldn't find any small ornaments, so I used what we had.  These are small, and either durable or un- precious.

I really can't wait until tonight to see what his favorite part of the day was.  I may ask Mr. Hughes and write mine down as well.  This is really the important part of the season for me.  Besides, the Reason, of course.  It is making these little memories.  This year will be busier than I expected when I quit my job in June.  The shoppe wasn't in the plan, or in ours anyhow, back then.  I still think that we can make great memories, even if we are working a little more than expected. It will be special memories that only we have created.  Maybe I won't be crafting each and every day or baking cookies til we all explode.  But, I bet we can manage to fill all 25 of those envelopes with happy little memories to share for years to come.

What is something YOU do to celebrate this season?  Any fun traditions?  Okay, time to wake up the boys and get this day started!

bye for now!

Robin Hood and Little John Walkin' Through the Forest...

Laughin' back and forth  

At what the other'ne has to say 

 Reminiscin', This-'n'-thattin' 

 Havin' such a good time   

Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally  Golly, what a day

hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween.  It was a sunshine and rainbows sort of day for us. good night!

bye for now!


costume: Me and Mr. Hughes
 lyrics: Mr. Roger Miller
attitude: all baby hughes

Featured: ohdeedoh!

hello all!  hope you are having a wonderful Labor Day!  I am taking a break from both of my jobs to let you know that baby hughes' birthday party was featured on ohdeedoh today... one of my favorite kid sites! We are so excited!  You can check it out here.

Okay, I am back to work.... finishing up furniture for the Barn Show, the booths, and some other goodies!  Enjoy your day!

bye for now!

All Aboard! A 3rd Birthday Party

Hello there!  I am finally delivering on my promise to share the craziness that we call birthdays around here... at least for baby hughes.  If you haven't seen them before,  you can see his 1st birthday and 2nd birthday parties to know that we have been sick for at least 3 years now, but most likely longer.  We woke up to a rainy day which sort of put a kink in our photo booth plans... we still did it, but the photos were a little dark and foggy.  That sort of bummed me out, but I got over it pretty quickly.  We had loads of fun, baby hughes especially.  So, here are a few (I mean, A BUNCH) of photos of the decorations before everyone came.

Mr Hughes made all the signs.  This one was to let everyone know where the party was, just in case the 3 foot yellow balloon wasn't a dead giveaway.

I almost painted the front door for contrast.  Almost.  

It needs to be painted anyhow.

I originally started out with a color theme of aqua and yellow.  Then baby hughes said he wanted orange.  Then I got all the balloons in and I threw the scheme out the window and just went with it.  I got the round balloons from a car lot supplier.  I couldn't be picky with the colors for the price.

My stack of vintage suitcases was broken up and spread out... some out side with balloons tied to them and here in the entry.  Mr. Hughes (who, no matter what he says or people think, is not a hostage... he willingly participates in the parties) found this vintage post bag and I filled it with the presents from us.

Months ago, I found this old chalkboard.  The lines were painted on it already... I almost positive that it is a train board.  I added the Arrivals and Departures to it with chalk pen.  This table had the engineer caps and the treat bags amongst all the vintage train stuff.

Mr. Hughes found this old handmade engine push toy and painted it.  Then, he decided it needed a caboose and a extra car. So he made them.  And I made jumbo confetti with a circle punch.  Be honest.... the confetti is what you notice... not the train *wink*

I just happened to have a metal 3 in my stash and he was able to rig it so that it worked.

Mr. Hughes had some vintage cross sections of steam engines and railroad maps blown up and printed and I taped them up all around the schedule board.

And, of course, we needed a brass whistle.

I forgot to take photos of the treats, but I included train stickers, a engine lollipop, a wooden train whistle (you are welcome, my dear friends and family!) and some graham crackers called Chugga Chews... they came in a train shaped box.  I painted some tags in chalkboard paint and wrote Thank You on them.

You can barely see them here, but I asked everyone to fill out a birthday wish for baby hughes on tags that sort of look like the vintage luggage tags.

Usually a few days before the party I will see something or come up with something at the last minute.  These streamers were that thing.  I also printed out photos from the past year of all the train related stuff that we have done.  As you can see, we usually stop anytime we see a train museum or depot or tracks!

A few more things the Mr. found on top of a stack.

He also found these vintage images... I think they were like a learning tool... anyhow, they were of bridges and tunnels and tracks.  baby hughes loved them!

Of course we had food!  I tried to think of train related noshables, but I came up short.

Kettle corn... well, because baby hughes loves.loves.loves kettle corn.

We even had some friends who donated some train things... this was a whiskey decanter that I spray painted

One of the the only "train-y" foods I could think of... Henry's Special Coal....which was chocolate oatmeal cookies (we call them No Bakes.)

The cake table!  I love cake!  And the hyena loves his cupcakes.  This year I made cupcakes for the party and a small cake for his actual birthday which was the next day.  I didn't make the fondant this year.  I ordered it and it was lemon flavored and delicious!  A sweet friend gave the bambino a vintage train set as an early birthday present and I used it on the table to circle the cupcakes.

This was another thing found by Mr. Hughes... a teeny vintage train and station.  It is so cute... there is a guy riding a scooter and a woman pushing a baby carriage.  Oh and if you had any doubts, I am NOT a professional cake decorator and fondant isn't my strong suit.  Just to clear things up.

I made little railroad crossing signs out of the fondant.  I may or may not have had the caffeine shakes while lettering them! 

See the baby carriage?  Can you believe people used to just give this stuff tho their kids?  It was from out  of the country, but I am pretty sure there was no warning for kids under three.

So that's all!  It was a shame that it was so cloudy... the photos weren't as clear as I wanted.  We had a great time, that is all that matters.  The balloons quickly became bopping weapons and the green one was fought over quite a bit.  We also had a little train table that you could decorate your own Thomas Wooden box car or fuel car... I am not sure where those photos are.  My baby is 3!  I can't believe it!  In the words of the hyena himself it makes me very "upcited."

Until next year... the birthday madness is over.

bye for now!