Little sister even wanted in on the action.

If you want your child to trace more than just “Thank You”, you can try this program. It will automatically create dotted lines to trace for whatever is typed in.

Hot dogs, veggies and chips. He was begging for his juice box all morning long. Where is it? He drank it as soon as the party started ;)

One of his requests was “black cake with black frosting.” Coming right up…

Blowing out his birthday cupcake:

My first run at making a pennant. I think it turned out pretty well. How I made this pennant HERE.

Shirt from Hobby Lobby on clearance for $1.75 + iron on number for $1.35 = one super cheap and stlyin’ birthday shirt!

Happy birthday my big boy. I love you so much!

If you are wondering where I came up with all those super crafty ideas, I got a LOT of inspiration from Ashley at THIS blog.

Using a ruler, I measured out 3 equal flags per piece and cut them out.

After I had all my flags cut, I arranged them on the floor into a pattern that appealed to me. I originally started out using one checkered, then one red, but it didn’t look quite right to me. I went back and bought some black felt to add to the sequence and was happy with the change. If you are wondering why some are cut in half, I was originally going to sew the extra pieces (produced from cutting the main flags) together to make additional flags, but later found I had enough whole pieces and did not need to do this.

When I was happy with the pattern, I took out the bias tape and pinned the triangle flags in place (sandwiched in the middle). I left about a foot of bias tape on each side for tying the banner.

Using my old, basic sewing machine, I sewed a straight line across the bias tape, and voila cute race car pennant!

Making the banner took me approximately 45 minutes to do, but will probably be faster in the future now that I have made one.

Cost of materials:
2 checkered felt sections – $1.00
4 solid felt sections – $1.00
1 package black double fold bias tape – $1.15 (on sale)

Total cost = $3.15!

Retro kid chairs. These totally remind me of the chairs I had at school when I was little. Super cute and a deal at $4 each.

Cute necklace – $6
Retro wooden building blocks – $2, bakery twine – $4, pottery barn teen duvet – $7

Kids apron. We always need another one in case a friend comes by – $1.80.
This stool was a super score. I saw it in the store and thought, “This matches our bar height kitchen table perfectly and will be great when we need an extra spot for someone to sit.” It was a great price too at $7. When I got home, I looked at the underside of it to see the maker and low and behold saw a Pottery Barn sticker. Turns out this $7 stool is currently selling at Pottery Barn for $99!

Have you scored any good thrift store deals lately?

The Amazing Vendors
Wedding Coordinator: Asaré Event Planning – Sara Cerny
Venue: Scottsdale Marriott at McDowell Mountains
Florist: Amy’s Floral Design.

My second shooter, Lizzie, grabbed a great shot of her coming down the aisle:

Getting ready at Harrah’s across the street from the docks.

The beautiful bride…

and the handsome groom. The walk up to the boat was very nice.

Gena and her sister keeping cool in the captain’s deck, waiting for her big entrance.

The ceremony.

Before the boat set sail for the reception, we headed to the beach to get this sweet shot.

Congratulations Gena and Joel!

Congratulations Cara and Mike and have fun in Hawaii!

Last weekend we headed out to Mill Avenue in downtown Tempe for an urban engagement session.

For more of Cara & Mike’s engagement session, CLICK HERE for a slideshow.

I am thankful for so much: my husband and two wonderful kids, my health, my friends, clients, and the country in which I live.

Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy day of thanks,
Jen