out and about with Allison: Sam's 1st birthday

In Allison's words: 

"I wanted something playful and fun and well, thought the old Cowboy and Indian theme had been done. So I decided to focus more on the Native American part. We bought Sam a TeePee for his birthday which he loves and plays in all the time (his cave of sorts). Sent out cute Sideshow Press invitations, inviting Sam's friends over for an afternoon pow wow. I made all the girls flower felt necklaces with grosgrain ribbon and gave them each Native American names to fit their personalities such as, Leotie meaning flower of the prairie, and Lomasi meaning pretty flower. For the boys, I made headdresses that they surprisingly kept on their heads and I stamped their names on the back of their felt feather...Sam was named Istu meaning sugar, the other boys, Helaku meaning full of sun, and Kitchi meaning brave. Carrot cake cupcakes from a Barefoot Contessa recipe were divine. Paper bags with each child's picture held another cupcake for their take-home treat."

searching for...the golden egg

Whenever my mother put on an Easter egg hunt for me and my brother back in the day- the real competition was not who could find the most eggs, but who could find the Golden Egg. The Golden Egg was 5 times the size of any of the normal eggs, which meant it held 5 times as much candy, and sometimes a little moula, too. The Golden Egg was always tucked into someplace super sneaky. To find it, meant you ruled the day with lots of bragging rights.

Now that I have a child of my own, I am looking back at my family traditions and hoping to recreate them. Unfortunately, in all the moves between then and now, the Golden Egg has gone missing. So I am currently on a hunt for the replacement. Pictured above is the closest I've found, but it still doesn't match my memory of the Golden Egg.

The Golden Egg was a hefty paper-based egg, with gold-y wallpaper-y material on the outside, and lined with a spring-y print reminiscent of a Liberty pattern. It was about 6 or 7 inches long, and maybe 3 or 4 inches deep. 

Alas, I can't seem to find anything that really fits the description. Lucky for me, my son is still young enough to have no clue it's Easter- but perhaps next year! My search carries on...

vintage party book

How forward-thinking of Better Homes & Gardens to put out a book cover with a little boy blowing out the candles on a flower-filled purple cake (in 1963)! I love his expression.

katherine's 7th birthday

Favorite illustrator Anne Harwell recently featured this super cute birthday party thrown for her niece, Katherine. I'm having serious sugar cravings looking at all these goodies! For the lowdown, see here. (Thank you to Whitney for passing along).

stephmodo's baby shower

This baby shower from Stephmodo is super cute. She even used the Donna Hay drink idea I blogged about in February. I love her interpretation of it!

And on a side note- I'm starting to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel here... if you guys hold with me a couple of more days, I hope to back up to speed by mid-week. Thank you for sticking with me!