Sometimes I get a little creative...

Recently, I've read a lot of blog posts that are either bashing holidays or parents who buy into the hype and go all out for even minor holidays. Some state that it's all commercialism, others state that it's just going overboard and spoiling the child. 

Yes, my daughter has an Elf on the Shelf... and I go completely crazy with exciting ideas for it...
Yes, we color eggs and have a bazillion plastic eggs to find on Easter... 
Yes, I find inexpensive deals on bulk items around Valentine's day (normally the day before) and make little goody bags for my daughter's classmates (and she helps!)... 
Yes, I stay up half the night trying to fold my daughter's Tooth Fairy money into unique little thingies (and F yes, the Tooth Fairy leaves a little note on custom made stationary that is cut out into the shape of a tooth)...
Yes, when my daughter says that she wants to be a certain super hero for some kiddie cosplay event I do my ebay/Amazon/thrift store magic and order/buy pieces parts to help her look like whomever she is trying to portray. Hell- if I have time I'll make matching costumes for Shayne and myself as well...
Yes, I'd make a leprechaun trap and hide gold chocolate coins.  This year I went ALL OUT on an adult St. Paddy's Day party and we had a blast.

Does this mean that I spoil my child?  I don't think so.  She's never thrown a gift down because it wasn't exactly what she wanted.  She, like any young child, has asked for things when we're out shopping, but doesn't freak out when she's told no.  She is grateful for the things she has and is very responsible.  Just the other day we were at the Dollar Store picking up some cheap frames and I saw her pick up a little stuffed bunny, pet it, and put it back (and didn't even ask for it).  Yeah, I got it for her.  You know why?  Because she patiently stood around while I rummaged through the stacks of frames looking for ones that weren't scratched and beat up for a good 10 minutes.  She even offered to help me find matching ones.  Another reason?  Honestly, because it made me proud that she DIDN'T ask for it.  Another?  Because we were at the frigging Dollar Store.  Maybe I spoiled my child by buying her the fuzzy little bunny (that was seriously super-adorable) for $1 as a reward for good behavior and being so helpful.

Anywho- so we were at the Dollar Store, picking out frames for this "project" I was working on.  It wasn't for a holiday or anything, just something I wanted to do.  I had made a shadow box about a year ago that says "Tickets Please" and we put ticket stubs from movies and concerts we have gone to through a little slot in the top.  It was stuck up on some wall, hardly ever noticed... I decided to get a bunch of pictures developed from concerts we had gone to and display those suckers around the "Tickets Please" shadow box.  It actually came out pretty great and I totally love it (and the fact that my cute little shadow box is now in the spotlight in our living room).

During the same weekend that the shadow box/picture project was taking place, we had our St. Paddy's Day party.  I'm going to say that at least 80-90% of the food ideas I found were originally found on Pinterest.  And we made it all.  Irish sushi, green deviled eggs, seasoned pretzels, rice crispy pops (that one is mine), etc.  Even though I was a little stressed, I had a fun time doing it and our guests absolutely loved the effort that was put into the party.

I also make fun little things for/with my daughter to help her with her spelling words and other homework that she may bring home.  We've made up flash cards and chopped them in half so that she had to sound out the first part of the spelling word and then sound out the second part of the word, but also make sure she was actually spelling a word.  We also do high-fives in the car as she recites her spelling words to me on the way to before/after school care.  Oh, and we use bath crayons for her to write spelling words and sentences using her spelling words on the walls of the tub.

I could go on and on about the random things we do... But it basically all points back to the fact that I'm a creative person.  I LIKE to make things and create things out of items that people wouldn't expect.  I LIKE thinking up fun ways to help my daughter learn and practice her school work.  I LIKE that we have stacks of construction paper and my daughter and I will just cut stuff out and make random things.  I also enjoy seeing what I can come up with for different ideas when holidays roll around.  Commercialism?  Eh.  Yeah, I buy some crap now and then, but that's not what does it for me.  It's the MAKING of things.  Stretching my mind and thinking of things a little differently to express the creative side of myself.

If you don't like the Elf on the Shelf... That's okay.  I could care less.  I think that creepy little thing is a blast!
If you don't like coloring and hiding Easter eggs and Valentine's day goody bags... That's okay, too.
You know what?  If you aren't creative (or don't feel like you are) or just don't feel like you have the time... That's okay!  I don't do what I do to impress you or make you feel inadequate because I find time to make this stuff... I do it because I like to be creative.  I do it because I love  it when my daughter joins in (or when I see her making her own creations on her own).  I do it because it's FUN to ME.  I'm not going to judge you because you don't get creative or you don't celebrate (or go a little crazy) on holidays.  I guess I'd kind of like to feel like I don't have to worry about being judged because I do like to get a little creative ;)

Eowyn's 6th Birthday

 PIRATE PARRRRTY!

Wow, I've really been doing a horrible job with keeping up to date with my blog...

Eowyn's 6th birthday was in August (2012) and she decided to have a PIRATE pAAARRRRty!  Well, she modified it to be a Pirate/Mermaid party because she didn't want any of her little girl friends to think it was too much of a boy themed party...

We sent out invitations asking our guests to dress up as pirates or mermaids and were happy to see that the adults got dressed up to :)

Grandpa 

Grammie

I also ordered some pirate water pistols, eye patches, pirate pouches, and bandannas ...and found time to sew some striped belts (complete with gold tassels).  Pirate Shayne (in the blue shirt and bandana) had a few things that the pirates had to do in order to be considered real pirates... AND to earn treasure (little pirate coins and plastic gems to put in their little pirate pouches).

 One of the first tasks that our little pirates had to complete was to get their pirate gear on.  

When Pirate Shayne said that we were the sorriest pirates he had ever seen... well... we showed him that we weren't afraid of him and squirted him with our pirate pistols!

Next, the girls had to prove that they had sea legs by competing in a peg-leg race!

Somehow, the birthday girl... errr... pirate lost her special pink pirate bandanna and found some fairy wings ;)  

I think the peg-leg race was my favorite task that the girls completed.  There were a few falls, but they were immediately followed up by uncontrollable laughter.

After receiving some treasure for completing the peg-leg race, the girls had to go on a treasure hunt at Turtle Island (Eowyn's little turtle sandbox).  There were coins, gems, and sea shells hidden in the sand.  Each girl had to find one of each item and show it to Pirate Shayne.

Finally, the lady pirates had to prove that they could break into any treasure chest they might find out at sea in order to find treasure.  So, there was a treasure chest pinata!

Since the ladies proved to be excellent pirates, Pirate Shayne gave Pirate Eowyn (aka the birthday girl) a special key to a special chest... 

The chest was filled with golden water balloons!  Which were promptly thrown at Pirate Shayne!  Arrrrgggghhh!  Mutiny!!!!

They even made him walk the plank into the kiddie pool!!!

For snacks, I made little pirate flag signs for "Peg Legs" (carrot and celery sticks), "Pirates Gold" (cheese cubes), "Canon Balls" (black olives... Yes, people ate them!), "Pirate Punch," and a pretty awesome (if I do say so myself) fruit salad in a watermelon that was carved into a pirate ship and had little orange wedge boats ;)  I think the fruit salad was labeled as "Pirate Treasure"... or some such foolishness.

Now, every year... every single year, I try to make some elaborate cake for Eowyn's birthday.  I've never taken any cake making/decorating classes and end up winging it... And I get super-frustrated and frosting ends up all over the house as I flail my spatula around in a fit of rage...  This year was no different, but since I was so impressed with my watermelon pirate ship, I was okay with how horrible the cake came out.  

I think that the best thing about this party was how much fun everyone had.  It was a very dreary day, but the rain held off until after the outside activities.  Normally, I'm running around so much that I don't have much of a chance to interact very much, but this year was totally different.  Many of the adult guests pitched in to help bring the rest of the food out, frosting the last of the cupcakes & finish blowing up balloons while Pirate Shayne, Pirate Grammie, Pirate Grandpa, and Pirate Mommy had an absolute blast with our lady pirates!

Thank you to everyone who helped make Eowyn's Pirate Party so much fun!!!

~Corissa