Savannah turns 7!

My sweet Savannah turned seven this week and we had a 'ball' planning her birthday bash. She planned backyard games and water stations from Jouett's Fun Day and we added in games we saw in Family Fun magazine. If you don't subscribe to that magazine, go sign up now! They have THE cutest projects for your kiddos.

Since we started planning and shopping soon after school was out, which is the end of May here, we found a great selection of fun summer goodies at stores like Dollar General, Michael's, Wal-Mart, and Oriental Trading. I love reading crafty-mom blogs along with perusing Etsy and planning a party just gave it purpose!

Christian and Savannah made the 'Kid Wash' after the pattern Family Fun offered online. It was a smash hit and will be enjoyed for weeks to come.

Our local ice cream shop, Sweet Creations, made the sand castle cake with yummy Hershey's ice cream and the 'Candy Table' was inspired by the Anders Ruff blog. Sorry parents to load your kids up with sugar and send them home. Well kind of. :) I hope the crash was after bath time and closer to bed time.

We knew we wanted to decorate like Anders Ruff 'Splish Splash' collection but we needed it in girly colors. DimplePrints on Etsy had an amazing custom package of printables for an Under the Sea party. The package included custom invitations, 100+ pages of printables, AND custom thank you notes all for around $30! What a deal!!! I printed everything at home on my inkjet printer. I LOVE printables and keep thinking maybe I could create and sell some. I'll add that to the long list of other crafts.

My favorite decoration was the balloon wreath. I had bookmarked the blog HowDoesShe a while back hoping to return to it. There is a blog post just on the wreath and how to make it! I pulled it off alright but it took MUCH longer to make than I thought and took WAY more balloons that I had originally purchased.

My uncle, Steve Fuller, made fun-shaped balloons at the end of the party for all the kids to take home. The fishing poles and monkey-in-a-palm-tree seemed to receive the most requests. I'm amazed how he can make these and love how excited kids get to take home one of his creations. Thanks Uncle Steve! (P.S. You can hire him for your own party or event. Did I mention he does Magic Shows too?)

A last-minute brainstorm hit me Saturday as I was cutting the printables and that was to ask my friend Kristol Faucheux of tMoot to photograph the occasion since she is starting her own photography business. It's always so stressful for me to get pictures at my kids birthday parties while coordinating and keeping things moving as well. Looking back on the whole day, I would HIGHLY recommend asking a friend to take pictures or hire someone like Kristol. Didn't she do a super job? Having that photo pressure off my shoulders helped me soak up all the mommy-moments as they happened. What a perfect day filled with so many blessings.