Once upon a time I didn't promote characters at all in our house. In reality I knew as the kids got older they would fall in love with the bright crazy little annoying things that would eventually take over our T.V. ...and some I've even grown to like! You still won't find me buying screen printed t-shirts and chinsy character toys covered in stickers of whatever BUT I do love Nick Jr. for the kids. It's the one channel I know ....and the only reason we will be signing up for cable again in the new house! lol. I won't let them veg out all day of course...but when they are watching they are learning...and it's commercial free! Since we've been in the hotel we've been stuck with cartoon network...oh my goodness! I can't belive all the incredibly stupid cartoons on there sucking up precious moments of my kids life...and not to mention all the things I feel were completely innappropriate. Anywho..back on topic.

One thing my daughter loves to do is play on NickJr.com. I decided to start there for party inspiration for the twins upcoming fresh beat birthday. There is SO much on that site! I seriously can not believe all that they have for kids and parents....games, printables, crafts, music, and reciepes...seriously a ton! And...they have some really cool party printables on there, which are completely free! I was wondering how many of my readers knew this? If you're looking to entertain your kids with some hands on activities or plan an incredibly budget friendly party they've got what you need....and in your kids favorite little friends.

We really wanted to take the kids to the Fresh Beat concert tour that just came out! But...now knowing what state we would be in yet (thank you ARMY) they sold out by the time we knew :( Guess we'll have to make it up with a great party!

Check out some of the things they've got for the fresh beats.....making it super easy on me!

Printable party blowers!

 DIY guitar pinata!

Printable "backstage" passes for the guests!

Check out these music themes HEALTHY snacks!

And that's just the begining! They have invitations, thank yous, games, cupcakes wrappers, cupcake toppers, iron on transfers, posters, color pages....e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! Looks like I'm going to start with what they have and  put my own little twist (haha) on it. Couldn't get much easier!

Check out some of the other cute stuff they have!

They have SO many cool ideas on here with food..I think I'm going to do a Nick Jr. food week with the kids! They would LOVE to see a different show each day on their plates. And I bet they're bellies will agree :)

Alright mommas go check it out!

Valentine Printables

I've been going nuts in this hotel room! I am way too much of a busy body to sit here in a room all day with nothing to keep me busy. No crafts, no sewing machine, no baking....what do I do? I was just about to start crocheting (haha just kidding) when I realized I could do lots with my digital crafts, duh! I LOVE making different things in photoshop...I just usually stick to party decor!

 I had so much fun making these Valentines! So much better then store bought and FREE! I still can't use clickable downloads with this slow internet connection, if you would like to use these leave me a comment below with your email and which Valentine(s) you would like! You can also email me at nonibalonie@yahoo.com. Just print and cut! I reccomend printing on a plain white cardstock paper.

*Any valentines without a spot to sign them will have a second side to print :)

1. Conversation Hearts

2. Robot Friends

3. Cupcakes

4. Valientines

5. Barbie Inspired

(the extra XOXO will be removed I couldn't get it to reload ;) )

6. Monsters

7. Trucks and Airplanes

8. Strawberry

9. Love

10. Bugs

10. Jesus loves you

Hope you guys like them :)

Strawberry Shortcake Inspired Party

Hey there! Well we made it to New York! We're setteled in at the hotel for a bit (more about that later) and I finally have a chance to blog about the strawberry party! The incredibly slow internet at the hotel has made the blog quiet a task! I have literatly been uploading a pic or two on this post for a week!  

The theme for my oldest daughters party this year was a no brainer. Strawberry shortcake. This kid thinks about strawberry shortcake 24/7. Anything she can possibly make strawberry shortcake related she does. I didn't even try to convince to her to have a different creative party for mommy, that was a battle I knew I would never win. I even considered going the easy route and buy *gulp* store bought decorations. But the obssesive party planner inside me just couldn't let it happen! I knew I could make the party way cuter and way cheaper (and way more awesome) myself. However, the army threw a wrench in my plan with the whole moving to another state thing. They were packing us 3 days after the party. So this party had to be easy, cheap, and strawberry.  And to add a little more fun to the mix my bestie Shar and I decided to team up together to have Cadence and her daughter Hannah's party together, why have two parties with the same guest the same week. And Hannah was totally on board with Strawberry shortcake, whew.

At first I had thoughts of a little vintage strawberry party, but I knew the girls were expecting the new hip Strawberry shortcake they love. I wanted it to be cute and trendy inspired by strawberry shortcake, but not plastered with her face! So I decided to go with a print to match Strawberry's dress and a green and white stripe.All the printable decorations I made using a mix of MareeTruelove illustraions and JW illustrations.

The biggest task of this party: keeping it simple. I had so many cute ideas and plans! But SO little time and 1000 other things to do!

Here's the invite I used. Don't worry I didn't black out the addy, because we don't even live in that state anymore!

LOVE how the dessert table turned out! So simple and cute.

The frames were $1.00 frames sprayed pink with strawberry images I printed! Hung with simple strips of ribbon.

We served strawberry kabobs, sugar cookies, strawberry shortcakes, strawberry milk, cupcakes, and some candy!

The girls favorite part, strawberry shortcake was hanging out in the candy dish!

These cute little cupcakes took the place of a cake this year. I was so sad to have to pass on making her a strawberry cake, but too little time! The wrappers came from Lulu's and the toppers I made with fondant.

 

I LOVE how the cookies came out. I wanted them to mock the image on Strawberry's shirt. I think my cookie skills are improving!

Strawberry shortcake rolls, straight from the Wal-Mart bakery! Ha, now that's easy.

Christmas suckers with a little printable on them :)

The paper straws also came from Lulus, Apple green. I get lots of questions about these glass milk jars. You can purchase them from party stores for $$$ or you can buy target brand cold coffee with plastic easy tear labels and wash them out ;) I save the glass bottles once my husband is done drinking them.

The tables were kept sweet and simple as well. I used left over paper and wrapping paper for place mats, made paper napkin rings, a paper centerpiece in a painted mason jar (my fav part), and placed an extra paper strawberry filled with candy on each plate, which we already had. Simple and super cheap.

Can't wait to share the details on making these colored mason jars. Going to have to make a few more!

It was a bit of a task for Shar and I to cut and fold all these, but they were awesome in the end. You can find the pattern on orientaltrading.com.

For an activity we went on a strawberry hunt. In each of these little paper strawberries has a clue leading the girls inside the house and outside to their prize...

(The little green baskets were found at the dollar store of course!)

.....Ice cream!

For party favors the girls got to fill their bags with sweet treats and strawberry lipglosses and mail polish. I had SO many awesome party favor ideas...just no time. *sigh*

The paper bags also came from Lulu's.

I used white and green crepe paper to make a little backdrop! We later used this for the girls to take photo's in front of. Just happened to capture this adorable picture below!! These girls are all close friends and the fact that we just moved away from them....makes this incredibly special <3

Each girl got to pose for some pictures!

And here's are the birthday girls soaking up the fun!

Cadence fell in love with an adorable dress on etsy, grandma Miller whipped a very similar one right up! Her favorite dress yet! (Thanks Cindy!)

Shar made Hannah an awesome hat and skirt and I made her shirt.

I really loved throwing this party! It was easy and pretty cheap and at the end of the day our girls were thrilled! Happy birthday girls!

It was a berry sweet party! 

***Due to internet issues I can't seem to post the links. If you would like more info just leave a comment below or message me!**

Happy New Year!!! It's 2012 and I'm starting out right...blogging! Thanks for all the emails and sweet notes, I'm so thankful for such great support and awesome readers. I tried really hard to keep up during the past month but we simply had just too much going on. I have missed bloggin so much but don't worry...I'm ready to catch up with lots to share. Here's a quick summary of the past month for us.

In the begining of December we celebrates Cadence and her good friend Hannah's birthday with a Strawberry shortcake party! More details to come in the next post.

On the 13th my husband and bestie planned an awesome birthday for me ending in a suprise party! Thanks guys...best birthday ever! And the very next day was my baby girls 4th birthday!! So crazy! Here is our strawberry obbsessed girly waking up to her birthday presents and balloons!

The very same day the packers came to pack our house leaving us with lots of boxes for a day. Then the next day the semi came and shipped our stuff off to New York. We said good bye to Tora Bora Road. Saying goodbye to the first house that felt like home really wasnot fun :(.

Our last full day in Virginia we went out for one last fun day in Virginia at Bush Garden Christmas Town! The entire park is Christmas themed and filled with 5 million lights!!! The kids had a blast.

We arrived in Indiana a few days before Christmas where Nana and Papa threw Cadence a bowling party...(her birthday was like 10 days long lucky girl)

Even Strawberry shortcake showed up...as Cadence says...the REAL one!

 6 of the 9 grandkids were in the same house fro Christmas morning. I made all these shirts for the kids....6 of one thing is NOT fun, lesson learned.

 And this is what the tree looked like Christmas morning!!! The kids went nuts!! After 5 family Christmas's good thing we have a "trailor" going to New York!

 Whew I think that's about the jist of it for now. Currently it's snowing like crazy in Indiana! Within a few days when the roads are clear  we will be off to New York......