Throw me a Knife

Being the expert knife thrower I am I came across this heel and thought this is exactly how my victim, umm I mean assistant, would look after I showed my circus skills to the crowd.

I guess it is a good thing my knives are made of cardboard so no one will lose their limbs. Cardboard knives you say? Well you can't give children real knives to throw or they may end up like my assistant. Thus the genius idea of cardboard and a knife throwing game at the carnival birthday.

For this game all you need is cardboard, cardboard, and yes more cardboard. What I did first was draw and cut out the shapes of the throwing knives, which resembled a cleaver and a dagger. If you use thicker cardboard you only need to cut out the shape once. However, in my case I used thinner cardboard (easier to cut) and glued 3 piece together. I let them dry overnight and I then used mod podge to apply the shiny silver tissue paper to give the knives more of a real feel, but you can easily use any decorative paper to also achieve this look. I think they came genuine and the <insert title here> had fun test throwing them for me.

I am planning on using a hula hoop with a bullseye in the middle for the target board. Since the knives are a good size the children will not need to try to aim too hard to win the game. If you are in need of a limb you can get your heels here Iron Fist Glamour Guts Platform Heels ♥

Mustache your Lips

Nothing beats a good handlebar mustache. I guess that is why I conveniently tattoed one on my pointer finger and got my <insert title here> to start growing one. Plus who doesn't love Tom Selleck, The Super Mario Bros, or Groucho Marx.

I just wish the mustache trend was followed by heels, but since it is not (yet) I will settle for these heels that inspired me to want to play tic tac toe or in carnie speak "three in a row." And what do you get when you mix these heels and three in a row? Well a fabulous game of course...


Yes you guessed it, those are bean bags for the three in a row game. I had so much fun making them and now my mind is thinking what else can I tranform into adorable mustaches and lips. I free handed mine but there are plenty of templates online like this one from blonde-designs.squarespace.com.

Enjoy and have fun mustaching your world and you can also enjoy those polka heels here Betsey Johnson Women's Mackenzie Pump ♥

Circus Animals

Lions, Tigers, and Bears oh my. Good thing I am not Dorothy and in the woods anymore but if I had to be someone else I think I would quit my job (oh wait I already did that) and join the circus. Why? Well if I was a member of the circus these heels inspire me to be a lion tamer. I would sport them every night under the Big Top especially because I think they are the best representation of a circus animal from the color to the ferocious lion.

These heels have also inspired me to whip up a couple circus animals of my own after all what is a circus without acrobatic animals. Mine, however, have not been beaten so they can perform. That is the beauty of cardboard animals they are harmless. So without further adieu here is the rare ribbon tail giraffe in his natural state...

He will also be joined by his pals the worlds smallest elephant and the ball balancing seal. Oh the joys of the circus. I was originally planning to make the circus animals be a ring toss game for the upcoming carnival themed birthday party for my stepchildren but I later changed them simply into decor since I fear they may be harmed in the ring toss.

If you need any advise on creating your own circus animal I can always hang my hat as a lion tamer and assist you and to get your very own lion tamer heels here T.U.K. Women's A7712L Pump ♥

Cake Eater

I am and always have been a cake lover. I am just more vocal about it now plus who doesn't love a cake be it homemade, cupcaked, or rainbowed.

For the kids birthday party I was originally thinking of buying a cake from Sam's Club since they are cheap, cute, and can feed a lot but then I stumbled across this little blog Whisk Kid and saw the Super Epic Rainbow cake, which looks like this...

Once I saw it I knew I had to have it so I haulted all plans and decided this is a must have cake for any carnival themed birthday party. Plus it is always cheaper if you make anything yourself.

So if you are craving cake and excitement follow the recipe on Whisk Kid especially since you can have and your cake and eat it too and if your sweet tooth is hankering heels then you can find them here T.U.K. Women's A7712L Pump ♥

Call me a Carnie

Its back to reality which means back to work. I just wish the Ringmaster wasn't such a slave driver but then again I could be on grooming the bearded lady duty or the knife thrower's assistant.

So I'll happily keep on crafting and stress over the fact that I only have 24 days til the carnival comes to town. On the plus side I do get to find whimsical heels, like this one, to introduce you to.

And on to the next project... Games!! Because what is a carnival without the food and the carnie booths. The Ringmaster and I have nailed the booths down to six since the magic birthday numbers are six and three. So drum roll please, the games are...

1. Ball Toss
2. Duck Races
3. Three in a Row
4. Go Fish
5. James' Shoot Out
6. Searra's Knife Throw Off

Now doesn't that list just make you smile as big as a clown. In addition, there will also be the ulimate favorite games of Pin the Nose on the Clown and the get your rage out on a Pinata. So far I have only completed the Ball Toss.

Did I mention I have less than a month to finish all the games, prizes, decor, and food ideas. Talk about stress. Right about now any job sounds better even cleaning out the wolfman's cage. While I set up the tent you can get you whimsical heels here Irregular Choice Sweety Bird Platform Ladies Pump ♥

Raccoons, Coyotes, and Bobcats oh my

This past weekend was our yearly family camping trip. We pitched our tents at one of the largest state parks in California: Montaña De Oro. The campsite was located by the beach, although I still managed to get sunburned overcast and all. The creme de la creme of the site was the lack of cell phone reception which meant just the family and beautiful ol' mother nature. Sounds gorgeous right?

Well it was but with all beauty there is always an ugly side. In this case the culprits were masked bandits (otherwise know as raccoons) and the treasure was smores. The dead give away was their glowing eyes which also happen to be a must have of the featured glow in the dark heels. In the middle of the night the racoons bared their thieving masked faces and swiped all of our smore ingredients just as in Over the Hedge. Yes I did just referenced a Disney movie... Stepmom hello! Back to the crime scene, I was sadden by the emptyness of my blue ice chest but luckily my sister bought all the smore essentials too. So the lesson of the story is never under estimate the power of the uncontrollable hunger for a smore whether it be from man or beast always lock your cooler.

Day two brought a smile to eveyone's face as it was the night of the talent show and since I still live by the rule "save the best for last" the puppet show was the last performance. I would have to say with no script the show went off with a blast and I could tell the audience thoroughly satisfied because after each ad-lib performance the kids kept chanting, "Another one!" Sadly though, the cast was so into their performances we forgot to get a full cast picture. Since the show was a hit I am planning to do another one next year but with more elaborate puppets.

The camping trip was nice and relaxing but like all vacations once they end. You then have no choice but to come back to reality and face the overheating car still sitting in the drive and  the six hour drive home. That is when your own monster starts to appear and you realize I should of bought the Iron Fist Zombie Stompers - Glow in the Dark Limited Edition Heels and left the attitude at home ♥

You are Invited...

If I ever had to find a sparkle of hope and beauty I would have to say I found it in this heel. Plus for some reason sparkly glitter and bows make me smile almost as much as my carnival invitations.

That is right they are antonishingly complete and just in the nic of time. With the help from the love of my life, I managed to finish all 21 confetti popper invitations today. By the way did I tell you that I came across this fabulous idea from Oh Happy Day and they have a tutorial to help us crafters along the way. I, however, made a couple changes of my own to their tutorial which were as follows:

1. In Step 2 instead of disassembling the confetti popper I had my <insert title here> help me with this one and he pushed the spring back down and I turned the bottom to reset it. Which  means NO disassembling and less time fighting with the popper. Remember think smarter not harder.
2. In Step 3 I opted to use the top of the confetti popper instead of creating my own (although I did later create my own, but more on that later) since it had a cool firework explosion graphic.
3. In Step 4 istead of using their template and buying sticker paper I traced the label on decorative paper and sealed the ends with mod podge. However, first I sealed the canister with a thin sticker strip before I added the decorative paper since the paper was the same size as the canister.
4. The other additional steps I took was (1) I cut my shapes into triangles so they formed a more appropriate circus flag shape and (2) when all was complete I added an additional circle upon the top of the canister sadly covering the firework explosion graphic as a name tag since we were hand delivering them all.

If you asked me I would have to say they came out looking superb. What do you think?

For your own glitter smile you can get the heels here Kate Spade New York Women's Charm Sandal and be sure to ask me any questions or problems you may run into during this project. I had fun making them and thought they fit perfectly with our carnival themed birthday party ♥

bang bang my baby shot me down

I would have to say this was the busiest fourth of july week ever. As a matter of fact it was as busy as this attention grabbing featured heel.

The worst part is when you are busy crafting your heart away time seems to fly by faster than you want it to. And soon enough it's time to put down the scizzors and gluestick to journey into the welcoming heat and gaze upon some glorious fireworks. After all you always need to make room for family and celebrations. Plus fireworks, like this one, makes you feel at ease and at awe.

And by the end of the day you feel as if you can  just close your eyes and drift off to sleep and dream merryily little dreams. But as you lay there you soon remember all the unfinished items on your to do list that need to be finished before you leave on vacation on Thursday. The first and utmost important is the carnival invitations especially since they will be handed out at the camping trip. So me being me, I have to get up and start working on one so I can feel accomplished and get some rest. Oh what a night but it did end with a good starting point so the feeling of accomplishment put me to sleep.

For your own busy heels you can get them here Irregular Choice Women's Trinkletina Pump ♥

Be our Guest

What other inspiration do you need for a carnival themed birthday invitation than these splendidly spotted heels.

And no your eyes do not deceive you, yes that is right I have finally come up with an idea or two for the invitations. The first idea is just your ordinary paper invitation but to add pazazz, which I am a sucker for, it would be in the form of a ticket. I have actually been working on this one and I loved the way it came out, but it was lacking something.

That is until I stumbled across the second idea and well you have to see it to believe it...

How superb and splendid it would be to have a confetti popper invitation especially with our carnival theme. So all the work with idea #1 went down the drain when I saw it. Plus Oh Happy Day has a full tutorial so anyone can whip up this invitation. I started the process it making mine and will be posting the grand reveal here once I pass them out to all the guest. Why? Well because I do love the element of surprise even though they already have an idea of what they will be now. Plus who doesn't love a good surprise.

Til then you can spot the heels here Apple Pie Polka Dot Low Heel Mary Jane Pump BLUE ♥