Peace, Love, Foxes

 

Last year, Maggie's Spy Party was a lot of fun....but EXTREMELY labor intensive and stressful.  As soon as it was over, I told her that the next year was going to be an "easy" party for Mommy and Daddy.....haha!

 

We did simplify a bit, but I hope it didn't look like we did ;P

 

These were her invitations this year.  I had quite a few extra, so I tried to incorporate them into the décor.

 

 

 

The colors were white and green polka dots, brown and accents of yellow. 

 

 

 

 I went to our local park to pick up lots of free, natural elements for our décor :)

 

 

The little hedgehog was a thrift store find.

 

 

I tried to add a woodland touch to everything in the house.  I just took the above photo tonight, so sorry for the lighting!  But, I forgot to take pics of everything on the day.

 

 

I found some cute woodland fabric to use as a tablecloth, but I also made Mags a special shirt from it for her special day.  The owl is an iron-on.

 

 

We had 2 craft stations for the kids. 1 for making painted rocks and another for coloring and beading their own bookmarks. 

 

 

I purchased digistamps and made the templates for the bookmarks in Photoshop.  I had them printed on cardstock and cut them out myself.

 

See the cute snail on that rock? :)

 

These were the Goodie Bags.

 

 

I hot-glued raffia and ribbon bows to clothespins to clip onto simple white bags.

 

 

Inside (again, night picture, sorry) was a sheet of Woodland Stickers, a fox bookplate that I turned into a sticker using my handy Xyron machine, a foldable owl friend, animal crackers, fruit snacks and a Tootsie Pop.  I'm not big on giving lots of candy.  I thought these things and the crafts were good enough :)

 

I found this cool guy here.

 

It was a super hot day.  I wanted the drinks to be super accessible. 

 

I made 2 kinds of iced tea and offered juice boxes and water, as well.  I decided not to put out food this year which was the biggest stress reliever of all!  The kids arrived, started their crafts, had a drink......then......

 

Went outside for the main event!

 

An Animal Show!

 

 

We were able to go to their Website and pick 5 animals for the show.  These were Maggie's choices.

 

 

A sweet little Hedgehog :)

 

 

A funny Armadillo :)

 

 

A fierce-looking Alligator. 

 I just love this windswept picture of Maggie...cheeks rosy from the heat.

 

 

A Fennec Fox.

This little critter made all the girls squeal with delight :)

 

 

The adults loved the animals as much as the kids. 

They were all asking questions and waiting their turn to pet. :)

 

This next animal stole the show and made everyone gasp.

 

 

This is Gizmo the Barn Owl.

It is so hard to describe just how beautiful they are up close....and how soft....

 

 

It really was so neat to have an event like this in our own backyard.  5 animals was just enough, though.  Everyone was getting thirsty and a bit over-heated. 

 

 It was time to go in and cool off with some cake!

 

 

Those rocks on the cake are actually candy. 

I think this is my favorite cake of all her Birthdays so far.

 

 

After cake and presents, some girls danced while others finished their crafts.  It was a very nice day!

 

Maggie has told me, though, that she's looking forward to the "hard" party she's going to have next year! She's already started making plans.

Uh oh! Haha!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by our little woodsy gathering!

 

I'll be back with some art soon :)

Hugs,

Cameron

My Birthday Rocks - a Giveaway!

Hello my most lovely Bloggy Friends!

Spring Break is officially over today for us. Maggie's back at school and I'm trying to get caught up on all the things I've let slide over the past 2 weeks. I have plans this weekend, you see.

My birthday is this Sunday, the 14th....I turn the BIG 4-0!
....and you know what?
I'm really looking forward to it! 

I'm dreaming of sneaking out of the house early whilst my 2 Sweeties still sleep.  I want to go to yoga, get a massage, take myself to a little café for a yummy lunch, then go to Barnes and Noble and peruse all my favorite arty magazines with a coffee in hand and, maybe, treat myself to one (which I never do).
I'll then go home and snuggle with my family on the couch while we watch a movie of my choice....then we'll have a nice meal and go get ice cream afterwards.
That's my plan anyway.

I'll let you know what really happens...haha! ;P

 

 

How do you like these rocks?  They were a little difficult to photograph because they were made with metallic ink pens.  They were oh so fun to make! 

We collected these stones on the beach here in Southern California....naturally tumbled by the sea.

Would you like to win one?

 

I love that I get to celebrate my Birthday with all of you in this awesome art blogging community.  Sharing here over the years has given me so much....I'd like to just offer a little bit in return.

I'm thrilled to give away both of these stones to 2 of you wonderful Friends....plus, I'll throw in some other fun goodies into the package, too :)

 

Please just leave a comment here and I'll pick 2 winners out of a hat on Monday, April 15th. If you have a preference as to which one you'd like if you win, feel free to share!

 

 

Thank you so much for the support, input, inspiration and laughter over the years! :D

Much love to you,

Cam

Your Mission...

...if you choose to accept it...

*Mission Impossible Theme playing*

Bum Bum Dudda   Bum Bum Dudda

Is to read through this very long post...

Are you up to the challenge?

It was Maggie's Spy themed 6th Birthday last Sunday.

In the sealed envelope on the left of the invitation, was a coded message...

Agent Maggie in her Field Uniform talking on her satellite phone, next to her briefcase of gadgets and sensitive files.

Before her fellow spies could report for duty, they needed to be processed....

After being gathered in the debriefing room...

they were told of their suspect.  The Puzzler.  Called such because of his penchant for riddles and cleverness.

Can you see how all the scenes of his crimes make a question mark when connected?

(My Mom is pointing to her own address that I posted as one of the Puzzler's previously known Safe Houses)

To heighten their reflexes, the Agents engage in an exercise called "Pass the Grenade" (a popper is tossed from kid to kid like Hot Potato to the Mission Impossible Theme.  When the music stops, the kid with the popper, pulls the pin/string, effectively" blowing it up" and sits down)

We then assigned code names.  Each Agent was called up to pick a slip of paper from 2 different containers.  When the 2 words were read together, these became their Code Names. Agent Daddy collected the ID cards from the processing basket and wrote on the Code Names as they were drawn. 

He slipped the cards into a plastic sleeve and clip and handed them to each Agent.

Here is Maggie's...

The Agents were informed that the Puzzler had stolen the Goody Bags!

...but he left a clue behind.  Agents were split into 3 teams and given their first clue.

Jim and I stayed up all night getting this next part ready.  We had 6 stations that sent the kids in revolving fashion on to the next.  We had 3 sets of clues (1  for each team) and started them at different points.

I apologize I don't have many photos of this part...it was quick paced...and we had to employ the help of my family to man the stations and give instructions where needed.  My Dad is the family photographer and we made the mistake of putting him to work....oops!  Lack of sleep...I just wasn't thinking clearly :)

One station was a Laser Room made with curling ribbon.

I know it's hard to see back there.  We had them do an L of tummy crawling, side stepping and ducking over and under...they found the clue on the piano with their team # on it, then exited by crawling under the table.  They loved this so much, they all did it a few more times after the mystery was solved....

...and held a secret meeting...

In their envelopes, there was an encrypted code and a riddle that lead them to the next station. There, they found a legend to decipher the code.  This lead them out to the front yard where my Hubby was waiting for them.They had to tumble over a mattress put in the grass and over to the ammo/water balloons to bust open the Puzzler's lair.

(Again, I'm sorry I don't have pictures!)

From there, they were told to go to the bathroom (not actually go to the bathroom, Sillies....but just step into the room) where a backwards message told them to look under the sink.  A tape recorded alligator roar was waiting for them when they pushed play.

This sent them to the Alligator Swamp.  See the sign there on the right...

This was placed in the side yard.  Stepping stones and balance beams were placed over a blue tarp lagoon.  The team members had to all make their way to the end and place their hands inside a bucket of grubs (elbow noodles) to capture an insect (rubber, of course) and their next clue.

This sent them to our laundry room where this clue was waiting for them:

In the light,

   you’re as blind as can be...

But in the dark, 
you can clearly see!

(all our clues rhymed like this....no wonder we were up all night...sheesh!)

They had to figure out to turn off the light.  A black light then made a clue glow where there was just a blank page before.

This one had (a picture of a pie) - e + (a picture of a can) - c + o

They had to figure out this says PIANO which led them to the piano room where the Lasers were.

With each new envelope received from completing a task, a puzzle piece was included.

When all the Agents went through all the stations, they met in the debriefing room again to put together their puzzle pieces.

They had to all work together as 1 big team now.  The riddle indicated that the Puzzler lured them all into this room so that he could destroy HQ with a bomb drop!

My Hubby reached up and undid the tape holding 80 black water balloon sized balloons (filled with air, mind you, I'm not that nuts...haha!) and the kids had to stomp them out.

A last clue was read saying that the Puzzler was baffled that we escaped and gave us back our treat bags out of respect....until next time....mwuahahaha!!

The Goody Bags were brown lunch sacks sealed with Top Secret stickers I made with that handy 'ol Xyron Machine. 

Inside were these cool pretend passports from Oriental Trading Company.

Compass rings

Play money

Chocolate coins

Mustache Pops

A magnifying glass

Smarties

A pencil that said "Operation Birthday Team Member"

...and a stick on mustache...like this :)

The kids had a blast!

....and when they all left, Jim and I had long overdue naps!

Happy Birthday, Maggie!  We love you!

A super, duper big hug goes out to my wonderful family and dear friends for their help in pulling this off...

...and to my brilliant Husband for making it all work!

Still recovering from Birthday Madness,

Cam