Japanese Theme Birthday Party

My husband and I had decided our kids were only going to have birthday parties every other year. Last year, my daughter and twenty of her closest friends rode around in a limo for two hours. They felt like rock stars, and had a ton of fun with the girly music blasting. I thought I wasn't going to do a party for her this year, but it has occurred to me lately, that she is half way done with us (at least living with us)... give her nine more years, and she will be on her way to college. As long as she still wants a party, I am going to do it for her. Kids are only young once - right? We tossed around a few ideas for a theme, and came up with a Japanese theme. I scoured the internet for ideas, and let me tell you, they were few and far between! So, I had to come up with most of this stuff on my own. It turned out super cute!


I went to etsy, and found this shop called Art Cult that has the most darling printables. I decided to go from there.

Let's start with the invitation:

I created them in Piknic by Picasa. It was so easy, and the best part is it was free!

What Japanese party is complete without sushi? I knew the girls wouldn't want to eat raw fish, so I made dessert sushi! The tutorial is here.

This one is made of powder donuts, ju ju fish, and fruit by the foot.


This one is made of ho, ho's cut in thirds, and cut up pastel two tone gummy worms I got from Wal-mart in the specialty candy section.


I love this table, with the gift bags, and pink snow balls.

I am no Amy Atlas, but I gave it a shot. ;)

My mom bought the umbrellas at Hobby Lobby, and I used more printables to decorate the snow balls.

The bags are from the party section at Wal-mart. I punched a large hole in them, attached a tag from etsy, and closed them with tulle.

This fan was the inspiration for the colors. I got it at World Market.

Here is the other food table, complete with cherry blossoms.

Sobe's were on sale for $.50 each so I got each girl one, and replaced the wrapper with one of the cute printables I got from etsy.

Each girl got her own pair of chopsticks. I opted for the prettier ones, and spent a dollar or two more. I got them at an oriental market in Salt Lake City, UT. I put them in my second hand milk glass dish - one of my very favorites! In rice, which was my mom's idea, and very fitting.

After the girls got their chopsticks, we turned on music, and they sat in a circle, and tried to pick up marshmallows with the chopsticks.

As each girl won, she got to pick a necklace I made using the printables from etsy.



The way they won them, is whomever got the most marshmallows. They got better over time, and it was really fun.

Here is a close up:


My friend Lisa has a sister who lived in Japan for years, and she let us use some kimono's for the girls to try on. They loved it! Thank you Lisa! I will be sending a photo of each girl wearing a kimono out with thank you cards.

Next we did the thing I was the most excited about! Each girl got to pick her own kokeshi doll. I painted the heads in advance, and didn't attach the bodies. The girls got to choose the head she wanted, and paint the body however she wanted.


I have a talented friend who paints and sells dolls on etsy. I took some inspiration from her, and she gave me a few helpful tips. Thanks Tiffany! You can visit her etsy shop here.

Here are a couple of the finished dolls. If I have enough interest, I will post a tutorial on how I made the heads, and what I used.

*UPDATE!!! I have just posted the KOKESHI DOLL TUTORIAL Check it out!


After they dried, my husband screwed them together. Cute, right? I really liked the metallic paint. I also had intentions of spray varnishing them after they were put together, but I forgot.

Did I mention each girl had a paper crane that I folded in advance sitting at her place on the table? Ya, that took a while. We also folded fortune tellers out of real orgami paper.


In addition to the doll, this is what each girl got to take home.

One thing I did last minute, was to iron transfer some washi dolls onto a shirt for my daughter to wear to the party. I love this girl!

Please tell me what you think! I was so excited to share this with you!

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

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Table Top Tuesday

Polly Want A Crafter

DIY Home Sweet Home








Crafty Chica

Kitchen Pics

I am joining a Kitchen Party at Love Stitched, and I decided to post pics of my kitchen. If I had it to do over again, I would do all white cabinets. I am crazy about them. They are so clean and fresh. I do like what I have, and picked them out when we built our house. They are maple wood, with a stain called salem, and a cocoa glaze. Here goes...

This is how the kitchen looked when I moved in:

I added a little greenery to the top, but didn't love it:

Then I decided to simplify, and paint the walls blue.
I like it, but am thinking I may be ready for a change :)

I love my sink topiary, that I made using topiary forms and pots from Tai Pan.

My goal this year is to keep the desk clean. So far, so good... My mom cleaned it off for me to get me going. Thanks mom!

I love the back splash. It matches the pattern on my pendants.

I trade out aprons very often. This one is from World Market. I LOVE that place!

Very Handy Canisters!
{Oats, Whole Wheat Flour, & Quinoa}

I like the ceramics above the cabinets, and I just got out my ruffle runner, as the weather is getting warmer, and it feels like spring! Did you notice I have two different colors of granite? I wanted a change, and I love the contrast. The island really picks up the back splash.

Hop on over to Love Stitched, for some kitchen inspiration!



Have a happy and creative day!

Risa

Mudroom Reveal!

So, I can't believe I am showing you the photos of how my mudroom looked before we got the lockers, but again... I am trying to keep it real! Let's start with the after, shall we?

Alright, now I will do the before. Don't judge me... well, you can if you want, but it no longer looks like this. This room would seriously give me anxiety every time I opened the door. So, I tried to keep it closed, unless I had something that I didn't have time to put away, but wanted out of sight... I would quickly open the door, throw it in, and close my eyes as I shut the door.




Are you scared? I am a little, and I still can't believe I am posting these photos!!!

So, the reason our mud room looked like this, was that the builder we built our home with wanted SO much for lockers, and we were already maxed out. My husband promised we would get some within a year of moving in, and he delivered. (Love him.) I think it is now my favorite room on the main floor of my house. We honestly thought about building the lockers ourselves, but for a project like this, we didn't want to spend time and money on something that may or may not fall apart.

We found a great local company, called The Closet Butler. We like to support local businesses, and the price was so right! They were nearly half the price we were quoted by the builder. The Closet Butler was so easy to work with, and did exactly what we wanted, right down to custom matching the cabinets in the rest of our house. They are located in Kaysville, Ut. So, if you live in or near Davis county, Ut, and need cabinetry or closet organizers, give them a holler :) I am hoping to talk my husband into replacing one of my kitchen cabinets with glass front doors, and plan to use the same company if he agrees. I haven't even asked him yet. We'll see what he says.

Here are some photos from before the doors were put on.


All you bloggers who are making your pantries so cute have inspired me, and I may wallpaper the back wall behind the locker, as it is just wall now, and I didn't take the green paint all the way down.

Did I mention the shelves are adjustable? It is so nice, for growing kids, to be able to adjust the height on the shelves!

Of course, I had to put my own personal touch on things, so I customized the knobs. They are from my favorite store... Hobby Lobby. The knobs are half off every other week.

So cute - right? We each have our initial on the bottom door, and a random but beautiful knob on top!

I still have more of my mudroom to reveal... look in the bottom right corner of the photo below for a sneak peek.

Now, instead of throwing things in, and closing my eyes as I close the mudroom door, I leave the door open, and feel happy when I walk by.

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa

I am linking to Purge Party.

FISH TACO'S

So, I don't usually post recipes, but this is too delicious not to post! I came up with it by combining a few recipes (listed below), and now I will share with you. Seriously, this dish is so delicious and healthy. We had it Thursday night, and my husband asked for it again today. The secret is in the sauce! I have to say... I am not a big fan of seafood, but I am craving this! I prefer using talapia, as it is so mild, but you can use whatever fish you like.

Home Made Breaded Baked Fish Sticks:

One Cup buttermilk (Or, you can make your own, in a lower fat version which is what I do, by combining 1 to 1/2 Tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar and enough skim milk to make one cup. I prefer lemon juice, as it is more tangy. Mix and let sit for 5 minutes before pouring on fish. Let it sit while you cut the fish.)
Fresh Talapia or whatever fish you prefer, cut into strips.
Seasoned Bread Crumbs

Directions:

Cut fish into strips, place in container, and pour buttermilk over the top. You can do this early in the day, so you have it ready, and it marinades. When you are ready to bake, pour the crumbs into a container, and then remove the fish piece by piece, and coat with crumbs. Place on a pan coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake in a 500 degree over for ten minutes, or until crumbs are golden brown, and fish is cooked through. Before you bake the fish, you can sprinkle fish sticks with olive oil if you like, but you don't need to.

Sauce:

8 ounces of reduced fat sour cream.
2 to 3 Tablespoons of fresh squeezed lime juice. (I prefer 3!)
2 teaspoons of lime zest.
1 teaspoon of your favorite fish seasoning. (I prefer Spade L Ranch seafood seasoning.)
1/4 to 1 teaspoon of cumin. (Start with 1/4, and see if you want more.)
1/4 to 1 teaspoon chili powder. (Start with 1/4 and see if you want more.)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together, and taste as you go, to see what you want more of. I like to make this in advance as well, so the flavors can settle.

Put it Together:

After baking the fish sticks, serve on a warm corn tortilla. (I prefer white corn.) Top with sauce, shredded leafy lettuce, and your favorite FRESH salsa. My husband put Tabasco on it, but I liked it just the way I made it. This dish is very healthy, not very expensive, and so easy!

The original recipes I used to come up with my version can be found here and here.

Have a Healthy and Delicious Day!

Risa

BURP CLOTHS for BOYS!

As promised, I am showing you a few of the burp cloths I designed for my baby boy. My awesome mom sewed them for me, as it was too uncomfortable to sit at the sewing machine at the end of my pregnancy. I cut out and pinned everything on, and she sewed everything on. We make a pretty good team!

Beta Fish!
This fabric matches his car seat cover that I made.

Marching Elephants!

Boys are a Blast!

Turtle Time!

Caterpillar!

Cowboys!

We made a few more, but they look just like the ones you find on etsy and other sites. I just wanted to share the more unique ones.

Have a Happy and Creative day!

Risa

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