Colorful Birthday Memories

A few weeks ago, we Arizona Joneses celebrated our little niece's 2nd birthday from our house in the desert far, far away from her. I was so sad to miss this special milestone in her little toddler life!

We wanted to send something a little special, because she has gotten to the age where she understands that things are made especially for her. And she definitely knew this was her birthday and it was going to be a very special day that all her loved ones celebrated Katie Anne with smiles, gifts, and cake.

I thought back to my childhood and a flash of a memory came to mind. I remembered a special book that my grandparents had printed especially for me, as a Christmas gift, I think. The book was a treasure to me--after all, it was written about no one other than ME!!! The story told of "Trisha" doing this, and "Trisha" doing that. I remember sitting in my bedroom floor, reading and re-reading and re-re-reading that book forever. Carlton jumped on the idea to find a book that Katie Anne might enjoy reading. After all, her birthday was all about her. Why not read something all about herself too? We found an adorable book telling the tale of Katie Anne on her own little adventure, counting lots of animals.


And then it happened. As soon as the book was ordered, I found something else! Of course. I had to sprint out to Michaels and Joann for supplies right away! Being the Blogger stalker that I am, I came across Inchmark, a fantastic crafting blog that posted a beautiful how-to on creating color flash cards that could also work as a flip card memory game. These were so adorable, I just had to make them. (You should really check her out... she used to do some sort of work for Martha Stewart, and her projects are super. And the blog is so pleasant to look at!) Plus, Martha Stewart had been telepathically urging me to purchase one of her fabulous punches for creating pretty paper crafts. (I already had one, but why not get a second to make pretty trims on the edges of paper projects?) I know, I know... Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart, MARTHA STEWART! But it's not only me... another blogger, Eyelet Sage Studio, has also just recently discovered these marvels.

Joann will cut a sample of fabric for you from any bolt you wish. However, they will charge you for it. They cut a sample the entire length of the bolt, so you've got a length of fabric about 54" long and about 2-3" wide. Each will only cost you a few pennies, because they count this clipping as a fraction of a yard. But this project was totally worth the hassle! Sure, I had lots of long fabric scraps lying around my drafting table, and the pup didn't know what to think of the stinky glue I used, but the final product was precious.

All this project required was some cardstock, scissors, some glue, and the fabric scraps. I embellished the project by using the fancy MS punches for added character and a dab of cuteness. Inchmark also debated laminating her cards. She opted out, so as to not cover up the feeliness of the bright fabrics. I opted in, and just cut the hole with an xacto knite--not a perfect job, but it was alright, and the lamination should hold up a little better for Little Miss I Am Two.

First, I cut the cardstock into the size I needed for the cards. I wanted 16 cards total to create 8 card matches. This meant that I needed 32 pieces of cardstock cut. Then I punched the scallop-edged hole in the center of 16 of the cards (these were the fronts). After that, I punched the lacey edge onto all 32 cards. Zip on over to FedExKinkos to laminate the fronts and backs separately. Zipped back home, glued on the fabrics to the backs of the cards. Then I used my xacto knife to cut around the inside of the hole in the center of the front, where the fabric would be positioned. Glued the fronts to the backs, and trimmed around all the edges once everything dried. This all sounds kinda complicated, but it was actually quite simple, and very fun to create. Take a look at the final product! (I know, a few pictures to show exact steps to finishing the project would have been nice, but I was in a creating frenzy and couldn't bare to stop long enough.)

I set aside all the materials for a condensed overview of what materials the project involved.

This is the entire set, laid on the kitchen table upside down, ready for memory card turnover:

Found two!

And here are all the pretty colors of the rainbow:

Katie took a sweet little video of Katie Anne playing with the cards as flash cards. "Katie Anne, what color is this?" "Puh-ppl." "Good job!" My goodness she's getting big. We are so happy that Katie Anne had such a happy birthday, and I'm very glad that Katie Anne has already enjoyed her gifts!

A birthday (and getting started on my Toula)

Carlton's 26th birthday was two days ago, on Friday. Since we're trying to save up all the spare moo-lah we can for our spectacular upcoming European Cruise Sensation, we kept the birthday boy's spending pretty modest this year.

We started off the day with a trip to Mesa (about 25 minutes each way) for a delicious and indulgent breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Carlton ordered some biscuits and sausage, scrambled eggs, and hash browns. Oh, and a pancake, because he wanted "dessert." I ordered the Old Timer's Breakfast, with biscuits and gravy, grits, eggs, bacon, and hash brown casserole. Needless to say, we were full as ticks! Of course nobody can finish that much food, but we ordered it anyway and enjoyed every bite we could eat.

Once we got home, all I wanted to do was get started on my next knitting project. That's right! I FINALLY got finished with the baby blanket. Wow, that thing was starting to take a little bit of my soul each day that it endured its unfinishedness. I started wondering if I had actually started knitting my very own black hole, because after about midway through, it never really seemed to grow anymore. Well, I also FINALLY got to get started on my previously-announced next project, the tulip cardigan. Knitting is sweet again.

Since we had made plans for later in the evening, we opted to take the afternoon to just hang out (and digest our breakfast). It was a gorgeous day outside - about 80 degrees and clear skies with a calm and cool breeze, and Vespa was out patrolling the yard. No birds DARE land on her lawn, lest they wish to gamble their very lives! (Oh, whatever. I spent plenty of time Friday afternoon studying her stalking and pouncing techniques, and let me tell ya, the only bird she'll ever have the chance of catching is a stupid quail.) So, yeah, back to the beautiful afternoon. It was so pretty outside that I brought my knitting along with me and sat in the shade on the patio and knitted while Carlton opted to sit in the sun on Puppa's outdoor bed and read a new magazine. What a nice afternoon.

Then later on that night we had tickets to The Comedy Spot in downtown Scottsdale and made sure we had enough time before our 8:00 show to have a nice bite to eat at Stax. I got the tiny little sloppy joes (sooooo good!), and Carlton enjoyed a turkey burger and a beef burger. As always, that was delicious. The comedy club was just a few blocks down, and we still got there early enough to get a great parking place NOT run by valets, and enjoyed the show which got over at 10:00.

{Since Carlton never really got a cake for this birthday (other than his pancake at breakfast), which I'm having horrible guilt over, I'm hoping to take him over to Sprinkles for a special treat this afternoon.}

Happy (late) Birthday Carlton!