Little Gal's Cinderella Party

Okay, I'd like to start out by saying that last week was really crazy.  I started Weight Watchers on the 14th, which has been going pretty well overall (today was my first weigh in and I lost 3 pounds!!), but I've been in that stage where I'm just HUNGRY and I'm eating carrots and oranges like there's no tomorrow.  Also, I perhaps procrastinated just a teensy bit and therefore had a lot of last minute cleanup to do the morning of the party before Little Gal's guests arrived.  I'd also like to mention that my hubby was once again working another 11-15 hour Saturday after working a full week.  So due to these factors (and also throwing in 3 children with sin natures to match their mother's), ;)  I had a complete emotional breakdown on the morning of the party.  Which of course resulted in the fact that I was NOT completely ready an hour before everyone arrived like last week's party.  And while things were much better once everyone got there (it was mostly family, so not nearly as stressful), I was a bit out of it and not quite as on top of my game.

For those of you who are wondering, there really is a point to all this. ;)  Basically, I just wanted to explain why there weren't nearly as many nice pictures for this post as there were for Middle Gal's. :}  But enough excuses from me...on to the pictures I did get!

I was so pleased with Little Gal's beautiful Cinderella cake!  Isn't it impressive? :)

Here's a closer look at Cinderella.  We used another Chelsea (FKA Kelly) doll to play the part.  She is holding a Chihuahua, for those of you who are wondering.  "Cinderella's" skirt was made of cake (the most AMAZING cake known to mankind...part cake crumbs and part frosting all mixed together!), and then her actual dress was made of candy clay.  Her black choker was a black hair band.

Another look at Cinderella.  The sleeves apparently gave my aunt fits.  One of the sleeves refused to stay in place on her first few tries!!  

The pumpkins were gingerbread cookies covered with orange frosting.  The grass surrounding the pumpkins and the coach were Hershey's Kisses (another birthday request) covered in frosting.

The pond with the Happy Birthday message was made out of candy clay, just like Cinderella's dress.

Candy clay was also used to hold the four candles in place (since we didn't want to stick them in Cinderella's skirt...that wouldn't have looked as nice!).

The gingerbread trees were such a big hit at Middle Gal's party that my mom and aunt decided to do more for this party. :)

My mom really outdid herself with Cinderella's coach.  The coach itself was made of 3 gingerbread cookies of different sizes, stuck together with frosting.  The wheels were also gingerbread.  The blue of the coach and its door and top were made of candy clay.  The white of the wheels was frosting, while the blue swirls were candy clay.  Mom was hoping the coach would stay in place for the entire party!  The cookies were attached to the "sky" (a board covered with blue cellophane) with several skewers.  To help keep things in place, Mom propped up the front of the cake board (under Cinderella) to keep it at an angle.  

Apparently she didn't need to worry...it was really hard to get the cookies off of the skewers! ;)  We had to do it, though.  Little Gal requested the door of the coach as her cookie. :)

One last view of the whole thing.

The party itself was a breeze.  As I mentioned before, almost all of the guests were family, so I just got to relax and enjoy spending time with my loved ones as we celebrated Little Gal's 4 years of life.  I felt bad about my hormonal meltdown before the party, but I suppose everyone is human. :}  And thankfully, God is always ready to forgive my mistakes.

Well, 2 parties down...now just one to go!  I'm really glad it's not this coming Saturday, though! ;)

More posts to come in the next couple of weeks...I have a lot of drafts in progress that I'm trying to complete. :)

Sharing a Dream

Hey guys!  Just a quick post today, since I'm supposed to be cleaning my house for Little Gal's party tomorrow instead of blogging! :}  Blogging is way more fun, though. ;)

As you've probably noticed, I changed my blog header.  I know Jenna and her blossoms weren't up there for long.  Don't worry, her header may make another appearance sometime soon.  Until then, you can enjoy it here:

(As always, you can click on the picture to make it bigger.)

Okay, on to the present.  For about 2 years now, I've had a story slowly taking shape in my mind and on paper. It's a story that I'd really like to finish, whether I end up publishing it professionally, trying the self-publishing route, or just making it available for my family and friends.  I've talked about it a little bit here and there.  

The release of the "Once Upon a Time" TV series has been exciting and frustrating at the same time.  On the one hand, it means there's definitely a market for the type of story that I'm writing.  On the other hand, there are a few story concepts that the writers of "Once Upon a Time" came up with that have some similarities to mine, which makes my job a bit more difficult! 

[Side note here:  Since we're on the subject of "Once Upon a Time", I just wanted to mention that I don't really feel comfortable recommending it.  I will always love the "Skin Deep" episode, featuring Belle and Rumpelstiltskin as Belle and the Beast, but the series has gotten progressively darker with each week.  It appears that it will be continuing in that direction.  So, while I have enjoyed some parts of the series, I don't feel that I can recommend it in good conscience any more.  Okay, that's all.  Moving on!]

The other day, I was feeling a bit discouraged.  My stories (there will be 3 books) are still so far from completion.  There are apparently two TV shows in production that are based on "Beauty and the Beast" (which is the main story my first book focuses on).  And every week, little details here and there on "Once Upon a Time" make my story idea less and less unique.  

Then, yesterday, I buckled down and did some writing.  I did some research on the location I've chosen for the setting (it's a real location), and once again, I was reminded of how real these characters are to me.  I've known my 2 main characters for over 10 years, and I want so badly to share their story with everyone.  

Most importantly, the Lord really seemed to be directing me to write these.  I would love to offer fairy tale stories with conservative morals and an uplifting message (which is often lacking in some of the current productions).  I don't know what route I'll go, how successful they'll be, or if they'll ever see the inside of a publishing house.  I just know I have to write them.

This shouldn't affect my blogging too much (especially since I've been a bit sporadic lately), but I do plan on trying to schedule more writing time along with my blogging time.  My goal is to finish my rough draft of my first book and start on the rough draft of the second book by the end of this year.  I wanted to share this with all of you so that you can help keep me accountable. ;)  I'll try to update you here and there on my progress.  

To help inspire myself to keep at it, I used one of my illustrations from college in my new header.  While the story is not going to be the same as my original Beauty and the Beast story I wrote, the characters and their design are the same. I'm also including two other original illustrations in this post for your viewing pleasure (or displeasure, as the case may be). ;)  Here they are:

"The First Evening"

I'm not entirely pleased with my "Beauty" character in this one (I'm keeping the names a secret for now).  I've spent too many years sketching Disney characters, so I end up making my heroines unrealistically skinny, quite by accident!  Also, the proportions on her arms seem a bit off.  I like the rest of it, though (although "Beast's" right wrist is at rather an odd angle). :)

"The Return"

One of the best scenes in any Beauty and the Beast story.  I really love how this one turned out. :)

"The Garden"

And here's another copy of the header picture.  This is the very first illustration I did for my story, and I also used it as the cover art for my original B&B story that I gave to my family and friends.  The only issue I have with this one is that "Beast" is supposed to be a lot taller than "Beauty".  Hmm, maybe he's kneeling or something...although that would mean he was REALLY tall! :}  

I've shared these with all of you to get some feedback, but also to help motivate myself to keep pressing on.  My only request is that no one use these pictures without my prior permission.  Well, okay, I guess I have two requests.  I would also ask that you reference this blog if you use them.  These represent hours of work, and these characters are like real friends to me.  Any of you who write will understand that, I'm sure. :)  

I'm excited to see where the Lord leads with this project.  Even if my stories don't end up getting published, at least I will be able to say that I finished my project.  And if nothing else, I'll be able to provide my friends and family with another entertaining gift a few Christmases from now. ;)

Middle Gal's Snow White Party (Finally!!!) ;)

After weeks of postponement, we finally had Middle Gal's friend party today. :)  It actually went amazingly well. I was completely ready an hour before the party's start time for probably the first time EVER!!  Normally, I'm running around finishing all of the last-minute details minutes before the guests arrive!

The house looked really nice...although I went over the most important instructions of the day with my girls before everyone got there:  under NO circumstances was anyone to open my bedroom door.  Nor were we to discuss the fact that we couldn't open Mommy's bedroom door...or why.  (Let's just say that on party days, my bedroom serves as a hall closet for all of the last minute boxes and items I can't fit anywhere else!)  :}  It really was a shame...I'd love to be organized enough to give a complete tour of the house without the fear of that ONE ROOM that you just pray no one will enter! (Hey, just keeping it real here...lest all of you think I'm some perfect supermom-homemaker or something!) ;)

Anyway, the party itself was lovely.  I go for a very low-key birthday party approach, especially for the 6 year old age range.  No games or special activities.  We have free time in the playroom until everyone arrives, we eat cake (or whatever dessert we're serving), we open presents, and then we have more free playtime.  It usually works without a hitch and keeps me a lot less stressed (trying to organize anything involving glue, scissors, and a group of Kindergartners is an instant strain on my sanity!).

My mom and aunt really outdid themselves with the cake/dessert this year.  Middle Gal requested cookies and Hershey's kisses instead of an actual cake.  Here's what they came up with:

And for those of you wanting a closer look:

Adorable...need I say more? 

"Snow White" is a friend of Barbie's little sister, Chelsea (formerly known as Kelly).  I found this one in the Valentine's Day goodies at Target.  I bought her specifically for her hair and eye color, and because she was wearing that perfect red Snow White bow in her hair!  The kitty came with another Chelsea friend doll.  

Her clothing is made out of candy clay (it has a similar look to fondant, but tastes better), and her skirt (underneath the clay) is made of cake.  My mom and aunt wrapped the doll in plastic wrap before decorating her to protect her from the cake and frosting.  They cooked the cake in a small bowl to make it the right shape, and then cut a hole in the center so there would be a place for the doll's legs.

These lovely trees were made out of star-shaped gingerbread cookies of different sizes.  Mom and my aunt frosted them with green frosting, put a skewer in the largest cookie, and stacked them on top of each other, placing each star in a different direction so that the points would look more like tree branches.  At the very top, they used frosting to hold together the small cookies and then added a frosting-covered Hershey's Kiss to make the point.  The bushes surrounding the trees were Kisses decorated with frosting and flower-shaped sprinkles.  Yum! :)

A closer look at the bushes.

They also used the candy clay to make letters on the cake board.

Middle Gal loved her cake and cookies!

She was really excited when she found out the kitty was plastic and she could keep it!  (Kitties are her favorite animal.)

I loved the detail on the sleeves! :)

It was actually fairly inexpensive to decorate and provide goodies for this party, which is always nice when you're on a tight budget. :)

The tablecloth was sent to us from my mom's cousin (the one who sends us so many hand-me-down goodies).  There were several leftovers from her daughter's Snow White party, which was such a blessing!  The tablecloth was still in it's packaging!

This cute Snow White wishing well decoration was also among the party leftovers.  It took me a while to figure out how to get it together without instructions, but I finally got it! ;)

The plates and napkins were from Dollar Tree.

And speaking of Dollar Tree, almost all of the goodies for the goody bags were Dollar Tree specials! ;)  The bags themselves came in a package of around 25.

Each bag had a sheet of stickers (cut from a large $1 sticker pad-Dollar Tree), a princess spinning top (4 for $1-Dollar Tree), a princess mini notepad (4 for $1-Dollar Tree), two Snow White crayons (only one pictured...$1 for a box of princess crayons-Michael's...I bought 4 boxes), and a necklace and ring (all courtesy of my cousin...she's given us tons of play jewelry over the years and I've had it set aside).

Today, when I realized I hadn't gotten Middle Gal a balloon (which is a long-standing tradition at our house), my mom and my aunt found a princess one at Dollar Tree.  It even had Snow White on it! :)

All in all, it was a great party.  Middle Gal had a wonderful time with her friends and got some nice gifts, too.  Even her Kindergarten teacher stopped by to celebrate with us! :)

So, one party down...two to go.  Next weekend is Little Gal's Cinderella party.  I really hope I know what I'm doing, throwing two parties in a row.  At least this next one is just family! ;)  

Almost Spring Photo Shoot

The weather has really warmed up in the last week, so flowers and blossoms are popping up all over! :)  Our neighbor's trees have some incredible blossoms right now, so I decided to take some pics.  Sadly, our nectarine and cherry trees had to be pretty severely pruned this year, so their buds are almost non-existent. :(  Good thing our neighbors have such gorgeous blooms for us to enjoy! :D

I decided to use Jenna (fka Rebecca) for this photo shoot since I haven't had a chance to introduce her on Tess and Maggie's blog yet.  I thought this might make the wait a bit more tolerable. ;)  (You'll notice further on down that Middle Gal's Nahji got in on the photos, too.  My daughter wanted me to take a picture of her doll, too!) ;)