In a Nut Shell....

Alright so I'm feeling so guilty right now.

I haven't written a post in over a month and pretty much deserted Blogger in general.

Life has just been crazy....good....but crazy.

And I thought summer was for relaxing...... pish posh!

So here is a really quick rundown on what I have been up to during the month of June.

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Well it was my little sissy's Sweet Sixteen!!!

She had a groovy little party.

Today is actually my birthday...but no party this year.

I let her do all the partying since 16 is sweeter than 19. :)

My sister and I were counselors at Junior Church Camp.

We had an awesome cabin full of awesome girls. And of course we were the coolest cabin leaders ever!!!!

I loved getting to know each and every girl. They were a hoot!!

Justin Beiber even visited our cabin! We were that special. ;)

Actually it wasn't him...but it was fun messing around with people.

Emi and I were also the worship leaders for the entire camp, so it wasn't exactly relaxing and we had alot of responsibility, but it was a week to remember. Next was the mission trip with Ocoee Outreach in TN. This is my 4th year going, and most likely (and sadly) my last. But it was a fantastic week.This year the adults of our church who were roofing were working on the same house the youth were painting. So we all got to be together!

We also did VBS at this very tiny church. It wasn't a big turn out, but the kids who came

enjoyed it so much and thought it was so special.

Emi and I also helped out our new youth pastor/music minister with worship and a youth rally held at a local church. It was totally last minute, but it turned out pretty well.

There was also live music at a block party we organized. Over all I enjoyed hanging out with my youth group and getting to know everyone better.

I believe that we all grew closer on this special trip.

So as you can see, Emi and I have been very busy this month.

Can you forgive me for not blogging? ;)

And I promise I will start reading yours again.

YOU ALL ROCK.

Surprise Birthday Party!

All pictures are from Pinterest.com

I have always wanted to throw a surprise birthday party for someone.

So today, let's use our IMAGINATIONS!

Let's pretend we are throwing a cute summery surprise birthday party for a

sister, cousin, mother, or close friend.

Let's get busy!!

First we have to pick out the location and the decorations.

We could have a whimsical "Alice in Wonderland" type tea party in the back yard.

We need someone to pick out the flowers, someone to spray paint some old chairs,

and someone to bring and find a way to hang a neat chandelier.

Or if it's just gonna be a few of us girl friends, we could go a little rustic.

I mean, who needs chairs? Pillows on the ground are just as good.

It's like a picnic...for fairies!

Oh, but what if alot of people are coming?

Maybe we could rent out a nice dining room or church fellowship hall We can then find some Redwood tree branches (fake or real)

and we need lots of candles!

All that seems like alot of work.

How about we just have the party outside under my grandma's big tree.

We just need to bring a big table and some chairs,

and hang some decorations from the tree branches. Maybe even some lights! Not to mention, there is plenty of shade.

Alright, the location is picked out. Great!

Now for the best part....the food!

I think we will only have refreshment/dessert type foods, not a whole meal.

Too much trouble.

Let's see, what should we have?

Raspberry cheesecake tarts? ummm....do I even need to think about this?

Of course we will have them!

I don't know how to make cheesecake though, can you make it?

Oh, I can make these fruit tacos!

What they are is fruit and this sugary creamcheese mixture inside a sugar cookie.

I'm getting hungry already! OK, now what about drinks?

Wow, this strawberry lemonade punch looks good.

Let's go with this!

Or for those who can't have sugar or are on a diet (like me)

we can have some ice water with these real fruit ice cubes available for extra flavor. Good! Food is done!

We need to wrap up that special gift we got her!

How should we do it?

We could go for a frilly girly look and use cupcake cups to make little flowers.

Or we could just wrap it in plain paper (doesn't have to be brown)

and make little flag pendants or sting puff balls for a celebration look.I think I'll do this one. Just wrap different color yarn around the plain wrapped gift.

I have some yard I need to use up anyways.

Are we done? Oh wait, not yet! We need the invitations!

We could go for this cool little 3D effect....

Or cut out polka dots out of bright paper.

Make little button flowers! This one is probably the easiest.

But I must say, I like this one the best.

Punch out different color flowers and glue buttons on top. Nice!

All right. Now we are done! Whew!

Coming up with a party is a lot of work!!

But the hardest part is still to come, keeping the secret!

I won't tell if you won't.....;)

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Can't wait to see her face!

*Ash*

The Perfect Party

What makes a perfect part? The theme? The decorations? The food?

I believe it's the people that make the party....

but those three things definitely help!

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Here are some pictures I found of some absolutely beautiful parties.

They are all so detailed and beautifully complicated.

What do you think of this world explorer theme? Ancient and wonderful!

This spring tea party would be so lovely to attend....I want to have one now. And who could say no to an ice cream social? huh? (unless your allergic to milk like me...) These are my colors right here. The go together so well and just make me happy inside. That wall hanging mosaic is so cool also! This inside tea party is just adorable, and it looks so easy to put together! I love the pillow idea! It just adds a splash of color to everything! And that bird cage hanging..... love! Wouldn't this cake go perfectly with the setting above? I absolutely love this cake, so creative! And the cookie birdies are sooooooo cute! Sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. You pretty much got all three right here with these cakes. They would be pretty easy to decorate too...since you pretty much just stick a lollipop in it. Our Christmas bark has always been a big hit. But why not make party bark? huh? just add colorful sprinkles and viola!

This cake looks so deliciously sinful.

Chocolate and raspberries, two of my favorite things.

Colors galore! How cool is this? I would love to give this a try sometime!

I saw this cake and was like.....GASP!

(just like that)

How could you get more colorful and cute than this?

Not possible!

And last but not least, here is a link to the most beautiful and wonderful

party I've seen in a long time.

Enjoy day dreaming the rest of the day about your perfect party.

And who knows? Maybe you could use some of these ideas for a party of yours coming up!

most images via http://www.birthdaygirlblog.com/