Lily and Molly Big B-Day

So yesterday we celebrated Lily and Molly's 3rd and 6th birthday. Aside from the fact that it looked and felt like rain the entire party, I think we pulled it off. Did I mention that it rains every year? With the exception of Lily's 3rd birthday it's rained EVERY YEAR. In July, that's a pretty impressive feat. If there's ever a crop threatening drought just ask me to schedule a birthday party. Problem solved.
Anyway, I didn't get to take very good photos. I had my friend Abi take some while I was busy running around but here were some of the few quick ones I did manage to snap. They came out all blurry and dark. Not very good but serviceable. I'm sure you all can relate with the demands of being a hostess. There's really no time for the small things, like picture taking.

So a week before the party I started to get serious about getting ready. Realistically I should have started two weeks before. Cleaning the house was probably the most daunting challenge. Getting all those little dusty corners that you forget about when you're going about your daily life, scrubbing the crayon off the walls, picking the stickers off the doors.

On Saturday my dad came by and together we put up the rope swing, something I'd been wanting to do for years. I saw this gorgeous wedding rope swing by Ashley Meaders and wanted to try and replicate it. I hand dyed the muslin strips and tied them to the rope on the day of the party. I wanted to add blue in the mix but ran short on time.

I also made the felt 'Happy Birthday' garland for the front of the house. I had to stabilize the letters with colored popsicle sticks in the back but after that they turned out just how I imagined. They were a little time consuming but pretty simple to construct.

I found the cute tissue paper flower hair ties idea on Budget Living's Party Central book that came out years ago. So easy to make! But I had so many more plans that I never got the time to do.

I gave up trying to juggle picture taking after the pinata but we finished off the party with a balloon launch and the kids seemed to get a real kick out of that.

Thanks to my family who were such a giant help and the parents and kids who came to join us in celebrating including Beth from The stories of A to Z! I promise to 'try' and get some thank you cards out. But I'm so bad at that. 

Look for Wednesday's Frock by Friday later today!