A Blog is Born

Thank you, thank you, thank you for stopping by! I am so excited to introduce The Elephant of Surprise--a new little party, crafty, creative venture. For my baby's first birthday, I spent months planning what I thought would be a one time special celebration. However, all the researching and blog hopping I did in preparation took its toll, lured me in, and now here I am starting my own creative corner of the blogging universe. I loved putting my energy, creativity, and love into a celebration for my sweet boy. The opportunities to celebrate and create just don't seem to stop. I hope you enjoy the projects I share here. Use them, share them, and share others with me! Explore the blog and become a follower. Check out a few previous posts I've been collecting, and leave me some love in the comments. If you live along the Wasatch Front, you can spread the word that a crazy girl you know, whose husband just started dental school, who stays at home with her baby, plans a mean party. Feel free to contact me. Thanks again!

Back to School Party

I put together a Back to School party last week. My mother-in-law hosted, and my nieces and nephews were the guests of honor. 

It's been two back-to-school seasons since my baby was born, and I sure start to miss teaching right about now. Mostly I miss the satisfaction I got from such a rewarding job, but I also miss being creative about lessons, my assignments, and even my classroom (I was kind of obsessive). This party was a great outlet for me and my teacher vibes, and I think the kids had fun, too (a bonus). They exchanged pencils, talked about the new school year, and had a blast playing in the water.

This was the invite I made and sent the kids in the mail. I found an image of lined paper online, but you could print on real lined paper, too. I attached it with a paper clip to green paper, and voila!

I had so much fun making and packing the lunch boxes. I couldn't help but think what it would be like to pack six lunches every day. Whew! Those lunch tins are sold plain at the craft store and have been my favorite craft item all summer. I'll reveal my other lunch tin projects in a future post. These were pretty simple to make. I measured the lid and cut scrapbook paper accordingly. I mod podged them on, and then cut letters and shapes with my Cricut. These could easily have been substituted with stickers, though. A final mod podge layer on the top, and a few ribbons tied on the handle (only for the girls' boxes--my husband assured me the boys didn't need ribbons). 
I didn't get a picture of this, but I painted chalkboard paint on the inside of the lid and included a matching clothespin magnet. I thought this would be a perfect little message center for parents to leave love notes.

While kids waited for lunch they did a word search with alphabet crackers. They also wrote back to school goals on a poster that their grandparents would take home. They got to take home the school themed caramel apples. I loved that idea from One Charming Party.

I was pleasantly surprised with how yummy the peanut butter and jelly cupcakes turned out. Recipe from here. 

I don't have any school-aged little ones yet, but I sure loved doing something special for my nieces and nephews. I hope my kids always know how important education is to me, and I think celebrating back to school is one way I will show them. Do you have any special traditions to commemorate the start of a new school year?

Outdoor S'more Party

Isn't it the truth? Nothing like a natural landscape for a party, and nothing like a campfire and s'mores to bring friends together. Since we have a 15 month old with a 7:30 pm curfew, and we rent a basement apartment with a SAWEET fire pit, a campfire party was a no-brainer for the hubs' 26th birthday celebration. We set up our party, tucked the little guy in bed, and welcomed many of Jared's dearest friends around our fire.

Choosing a dessert theme is an easy way to keep expenses minimal. S'mores was fun because we could add so much variety. We had chocolate and cinnamon graham crackers in addition to original, Reeses and Symphony bars in addition to regular Hersheys, and coconut and caramel marshmallows in addition to the plain ones. As Jared would say, "These were not your grandma's s'mores." My favorite part, however, was the s'more cakes in jars. I got the recipe here, and loved how they turned out. It was my first mason jar dessert attempt, and I'm proud to say not a single jar fell casualty in the process. 

4th of July

Our Fourth of July festivities began with a little lunch al fresco with some great friends of ours--Laurel and Trevor and their adorable twinner boys, Parker and Carter, as well as our adorable sister-in-law, Lauren.  

Living in a basement apartment isn't too bad when you can reap the benefits of wonderful scenery and a great outdoor space right outside your door.

I pulled lots of inspiration from all over the internet for this little gathering. I always try to keep costs low, so I tried to choose just a couple small projects that would make a big impact. Even though it was just an intimate get-together for a few friends, I wanted it to feel special and be fun to look at.

 I used our everyday dishes to set the table, terra cotta pots I used for my baby's birthday, and fabric pieces I already had to dress the table. The rest of the party was pretty much made by paper!

My favorite paper project for this party was the utensil pocket. I seriously lack in the sewing skills department, but if there is one purpose my machine serves, it is to sew paper. I cut and folded this cute scrapbook paper till it was the size I wanted, then sewed up the sides with a decorative stitch and red thread. So EASY! But one of those extra details that shows you put some thought into it.

I loved starting off the day with my friends in my home. Thanks again guys for coming, and for encouraging this new little endeavor of mine. You are the best!