Yo Gabba madness...

I am so excited this morning! I finally finished my fabulous DJ Lance pinata! My BEST work to date. Check it out!


DJ Lance Rock!



Complete with magic Gabba boombox.



"Hello, Friends!"



I've gone Gabba CRAZY since seeing them live in concert. My daughter is still talking about the show! I knew I had to make a DJ Lance pinata. Doesn't it totally make you want to have a dancey dance party?!

Janin's SUPER 4th Birthday!



Super Janin!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I LIVE for birthday parties! The inspiration for Janin's party theme came from the Yo Gabba Gabba Superhero episode, where all the Gabbas (and Mos Def) dressed up as their own heroes!

DJ Lance, Muno, Brobee, and "Super Mr. Superhero" Mos Def

I loved the concept of everyone being their own Superhero, and pretty much just ran with it. I knew I didn't want to make party bags, because those can get pricey and kids don't really remember the stuff that comes inside them anyway. I wanted Janin's guests to leave with a really cool party favor, so I decided to make capes!


Star, very stylish with matching boots and cape, and Janin!

The capes were a HUGE hit! I ended up making 10 pink, 7 blue, 7 red, and 4 green capes. Oh and baby capes for the little girls!

Leah in her blingy baby cape.

I wanted to be as cost effective as possible for the party, so I baked all of Janin's cupcakes and minis for the party myself. I am a BIG believer in "semi-homemade" cooking (Sandra Lee from the Food Network is my idol), so I grabbed a few boxes of cake mix (two vanilla bean and one box of chocolate) from Trader Joe's and called it good. They have amazing cake mixes and a new boxed chocolate frosting there.

SO easy to make AND ridiculously cute! Plus, they tasted good too.

All I did to make them festive was hot glue some superhero stickers to toothpicks. I made sure to trim the point off before sticking them in the cupcakes too. Easiest way to avoid accidents!

For centerpieces I got a few superhero buckets from the Dollar Spot at Target (I got SUPER lucky that they had superhero stuff in there while I was planning this party) and hot glued more stickers to BBQ skewers. I stuffed some tissue in the bucket and arranged the superheroes accordingly. I then hot glued them into place.

Janin's "J" shirt was also beyond easy to make. I cut out a "J" and the Superman shape and stitched them onto a plain shirt.

I'll keep adding pics and commentary as I think of more things to share with you all! In the meantime, here's more pictures! Part one (Thanks Alison!) and these are pictures taken by Sam Sim.

The Happy Birthday Project

Selling crafts has officially become a way for me to give back to my community. I decided that I want to make birthday party supplies and crafty presents for kids stuck in the hospital on their birthday. Not only do I get to craft for a super worthy cause, this is also my attempt at doing some volunteer work from home.

I'm beyond adamant about this new project of mine because I am a former cancer kid myself. I had just barely turned 4 years old when I was diagnosed with Lymphoma. Soon after, I found myself spending a LOT of time at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in my hometown of Tacoma, WA. Although I don't think I ever spent a birthday there, I spent almost every other day of my life at that hospital when I was sick. I want desperately to make them my first party box recipients. I'm thinking capes, crowns, tutus, t-shirts... Maybe even a piñata or two for a super fun time!

I love seeing how excited my own children get for their birthday parties. I live for birthdays! (This is probably going to be my motto haha!) All I want to do is make other kids feel the same way too, especially if they have to spend their birthday in the hospital. I want them to forget about being sick, even if it is just for a little while.  

I'm a mom of two on a single income, so selling crafts is my only way of generating enough funds to purchase supplies for the things I plan on creating. Half of every purchase price from whatever crafts I sell will be going soley towards this project. So, tell your friends about me! Repost the link to my Etsy Store (there's a "Share" box on the left side) or my blog, or just do anything else you can do to help generate sales to help make my vision possible! You will be handsomely rewarded. I'm thinking a referral program or something for those who help me out. Maybe a free piñata or something after 3 referral purchases? Or a craft of your choice! That would be pretty cool.

Feedback on ANY of this would be greatly appreciated. Please tell me what you think! I'm still in the very early stages of this, and I truly value your input and opinions!

Anyway, thanks for reading, and hope you share this with your friends!