Firetrucks and a Touch of Pink

Seems like I just can't keep up with blogging lately! It turns out that James has transitioned much better than I had expected to his toddler bed. I guess I was really expecting the worst! He sleeps just fine and we haven't caught him monkey-ing around for over a week (but what an escapade he had one afternoon in the beginning!...he moved his bed around, dumped laundry everywhere, flipped the lights on...what a busy boy). While he's staying in bed, he hasn't been sleeping quite as long...nap times have been shorter, and nap times are generally the only time I have to blog....thus, fewer blog posts! But I have several posts I'd love to share. We're in disbelief at how quickly these weeks are flying by as we approach my due date! We've still got about six weeks go to but know it's going to fly...so hard to believe!

Here are a few crafting projects I've wanted to share....

First some birthday party "accessories". We've decided to go with a firetruck theme for James' second birthday party:

First, some cupcake toppers. I've seen these on multiple party/entertaining blogs and was excited to give it a try. If you search for them on Et*sy, you can buy them decorated for about ANY occasion. I was determined to give them a try on my own and think James will really like them--especially the one with a firetruck! I had to buy a scallop-edged punch for the project, so if anybody wants help with a similar project sometime, let me know! I had a lot of fun designing and gluing them together!

And a banner in the works...nothing too fancy, but something to add to the ambiance. :)

I'm throwing this one in there because it's a project I've wanted to try for a long time. A girlfriend of mine just had a birthday and I thought it was the perfect occasion to give it a whirl. I already had some paper doilies but think that buying some higher quality ones might be worth the extra flair it would add. Click here for a tutorial, if you'd like to try it on your own!

And now for some girly nursery items. The infamous fabric pom-pom project. (Strategically photographed to appear finished, but not really finished....I have over half of the circles to glue on still!) I put this one off for a reallllly long time but finally got around to cutting circles a few weeks ago. I've cut approximately 200 circles and will come up a little short and need to buy more pink fabric. For an 8-inch paper lantern! I really like the 'look' of the fabric pom-pom, but am thinking that if I made two accompanying pom-poms, they will be smaller. (Whereas originally I was thinking THIS one would be the smaller size---HA!)

Before picture: Here's a mirror I bought on Craigs*List. I snapped the picture just after covering the mirror with paper in order to paint it...It had some standard hooks along the bottom and a few of them were bent. The ducks were cute, but not at all what I was going for for the nursery....

After picture: I'll have to re-photograph this during the day for you to get a better idea of the colors...the frame is now ivory with a little bit of pink trim...and with pink knobs! I was really excited to find them at H*bby Lobby (thanks for the tip, Jenny!). I'm pleased with how it turned out and can't wait to hang cute girly things on a few of the knobs/hooks!