Phew!!
The party is over. It is official. I am now a half century old. True to my nature the party prep took months. The clean up is on target to take weeks and the party well it was lovely fun but it went by in a flash.
I can hear you groaning now but I am afraid that you will have to endure one more post about my birthday and then I promise to shut up about it until next year, which officially starts January 1st you know and coincidentally is about the time that I decided to have a big 50th party this year. So if all goes according to plan you will have a 4 month break from any mention of my birthday at all.
But after that no promises. I am already trying out the phrase "I am going to be 51," and have recently decided that once you reach 50 your birthdays should resume the frivolity fun and anticipatory elements that they had when you were young. Remember how exciting it was to be not 6 but 6 and a half? Maybe I should celebrate being 50 and a half which according to my previous time-line puts me two months behind in the planning process already.
Oh My how silly I am being!
But it is my firm belief that humans and adults in particular should have more fun in their lives and I am pretty sure you don't find it around the cooperate water cooler (at least I never did.) And no one hands it to you on a silver platter. We all have to make our own fun and that is my birthday wish for you. That you will make time for more fun and excitement in your life and allow less of your time to be consumed by things that do not keep your soul aloft.
If you are new here you might be thinking, isn't this supposed to be a crafting blog site? To which I can only say yes it is but sometimes you have to suffer though some of my philosophically ramblings before you get to the craft part.
But today you also get to suffer through some of my party highlights too.
Bonus.
I know.
Aren't you lucky!
If you are not feeling lucky and you just want to get to the earring part you may just want to scroll down...
way down.
To the bottom.
:-)
So here we go.
I wasn't sure how it would all work out and I was a little nervous before it started.
It is sunny and hot when we leave to pick up the catered food. By the time we arrive at the store it is pouring rain.
I am not dressed for the party yet but I have fixed my hair so I throw a short pity party for myself before facing the down pour. On the upside the rain cools down the temperature and I figured I would rather have rain before the party than during the party.
My sister in law and I wait for several minutes to find out that we are at the wrong store location and then book it over to the correct store to pick up the food. This of course puts me behind schedule and means that I get back just as the first party guest are arriving.
Thankfully they are my friends and they love me. I then realize that the dog poop hasn't had it's final party clean up so picture me trying to coordinate introductions as people arrive all the while picking up dog doo.
Plastic bag in one hand, "Mike this is Kathy."
Scoop.
"I used to work for Kathy. Mike works with John." (Hubby)
Scoop. Scoop.
Classy Right?
The hubby is on a last minute liquor run and as soon as he gets back I make my escape to get dressed.
And that my friends is how the party started. :-)
Here are the craft project highlights.
Put to good use after a little prompting.
In this picture you can also see the TP flower decorations.
I also used my chalkboard TV tray for a sign.
Sadly I didn't come up with the 20 gallons of bubble solution that would have been required to use the giant bubble blowers.
Maybe I will try them out at my 50 & 1/2 or some other un-birthday party.
Since there wasn't any bubble blowing frivolity and there was some chalk. I requested (made :-) my guest sign in on my flagstone guest book.
Not surprisingly this did bring into question my sanity.
I did also light the glass jar luminaries but did not get a photo of them in action.
And before the 11:00 Dart match and the Midnight Basketball Game we used these to make a bonfire in the back yard.
And then of course there was the upcycled birthday outfit.
Drum Roll Please.
Cuz I am pretty proud of myself here. :-)
First we had the Crisco Zombie Paper Mache Shoes. I really can't explain it here you will have to read the post for it to make sense and even then you may be left shaking your head.
The Toilet Paper Cuff Bracelet.
And last but not least the Basket Weave T-shirt Dress.
Here is the photo to prove that I did in fact wear a bunch of trash at my 50th Birthday Party. :-)
And that my dear friends, if you are still with me, brings us to todays craft project because I also wore these very simple to make paper earrings.
Step 1 - Tear paper into narrow strips.
Step 2 - Tear strips into small squares and thread onto a small length of wire. (I used 20 gauge)
Step 3 - Gather jewelry findings earring hooks and beads.
Step 4 - String paper and beads to desired length. Use needle nose pliers to secure both ends.
Step 5 - Spray paint. I also dipped mine in my new favortive crafting supply polyurethane to make them a little more durable and to add some weight.
Happy Upcycling,
Oh but wait. I must share one last photo as it may explain some of my kookiness.
That is my 78 year old father sneaking up on us to do the rabbit ears.
Stay young my friends!!!
