Scarecrow Costume

It's that time of year again!  Time to plan what your kiddos will be this Halloween.  I usually have something in mind that I'm dying to start making, but this year I'm struggling to come up with something.  If any of you are in the same boat I wanted to share one of my favorite DIY costumes with you today.  

Don't you just love scarecrows?  How could you go wrong with your little one in a painted nose and cheeks?  It is just too much!  I can't take the cuteness! The picture above and below are my Baby Bumblebee dressed up in his scarecrow costume.  I have to admit, I was fully prepared for him to refuse to wear the hat and itchy arm and leg bands.  I was very pleasantly surprised that he loved them and refused to take them off.  I love the fact that a scarecrow costume is simple, inexpensive (you can use a lot of things your child already owns) and nice and warm.  I think you can tell from the picture how to basically put this costume together, so I won't go in to too many details. One thing that I came up with was an easy way to make the "straw" for under his hat and on his legs and arms. I found a woven raffia roll that looked like a table runner from Hobby Lobby in the ribbon section near the burlap.  It was simple to pull out the weaved in raffia and make it stick out like straw.  I then glued it on to velcro that I could attach around his wrists and ankles.

The picture below was one of my inspiration photos for his costume.  Isn't this adorable.  You can find the link to more pictures of this little scarecrow here.

Isn't this sassy little scarecrow as cute as can be?  I love this idea for warmer weather trick-or-treaters.  You can find this costume here.

Back to School Dinner

Ever since Queen Bee was a little tiny baby bee and starting preschool, over 15 years ago, we have been doing a special "Back to School Dinner" for her on the first day of school.  With her leaving to college this week I've been looking back and reminiscing on all of the fun memories these dinners have made.  I highly recommend that you start this tradition with your kids.  It's been one of my very favorites (and one of her favorites too, she even asked me if we were going to do a Back to School dinner before she goes to college...Umm- Yes, of course we are!).  

I wanted to share with my readers this week some of the fun pictures and details from our dinners to hopefully inspire you for your own.  We usually invite some of our extended family to participate but you could just do this with your immediate family if you'd like.  We start the night with a special dinner where we talk about her first day of school.  Then there's a back to school fashion show, where she models her favorite back to school outfits for everyone.  Finally during dessert, each of the kids starting the school year get to make a wish for the upcoming year and blow out a candle that's stuck in an apple.  Over the years we've tried adding different elements, but these are the things that we've enjoyed the most.  

The above pictures are from our dinner when she was going into 11th grade.  It is always so much fun to come up with a decor theme for the dinner each year and decorate the table.  This dinner my theme inspiration came from this beautiful pink mum I saw at the grocery store that reminded me of the color of a pink eraser.  I then built everything around that.  Throughout the years, some of the things I've used to decorate that have basically become back to school dinner decor staples are; large lined paper, a bundle of pencils, washi tape, books, a globe, and composition books.  I just go around the house and gather things we already have that will work with my theme and try them out.  

I look forward to sharing more of these moments with you this week.  I'm even considering throwing in a picture of the dinner where Queen Bee and I both were lunch ladies in hair nets.  I think that was her favorite. 

Hive Five-Back to School Ideas

Can you believe that summer is almost over and school is just around the corner?  This year I will have a Freshman in College and a 3 year old preschooler starting their first days of school.  It's been a long time since I've had a preschooler.  It's been fun to look back and remember some of the traditions we started when Queen Bee was starting school 15 years ago.  I can't wait to do those same things again this time around with Baby Bumblebee.  I wanted to share some really great back to school ideas that I've found around the web.

1. This is a great way to keep things organized for your little student.  Back to School Station by 36th Avenue

2. I can't wait to start this tradition with Baby Bumblebee.  It will be so fun to look back and see how he changes throughout the years. Back To School Interview printable by Giggles Galore 

3. So many yummy ideas!  No more boring PB&J sandwiches.  31 Days of School Lunch Ideas by 5 Dollar Dinners

4. I love this idea!  Kids will love making their own fun pencils.  This is a great way to get them excited to go back to school.  DIY Washi Tape Pencils by Pink Doormat

5. We read the Kissing Hand every year before the first day of school with Queen Bee. (I get teary just thinking about it)  I love this idea of cutting out a hand print to see how they grow.  Kissing Hand Keys by Crissy's Crafts

Simple and Inexpensive Birthday Party Decor Tips and Tricks

We celebrated Baby Bumblebee's 3rd birthday this weekend with friends, family, and Mickey Mouse!  He is a huge Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan, so this was the perfect party theme for him.  My goal for this party was to keep things low stress and simple so I could just enjoy spending time with my Baby Bee, so I found some generic Mickey Mouse Party supplies at Wal-Mart and used a few tricks to create a fun display.  A great way to create a fast, simple and inexpensive party display is to use your wrapped gifts.  Just a few wrapped gifts with brightly colored bows create a huge impact and become a key piece in your decor. I fell in love with this polka dot paper I found at Home Goods, and knew it was the perfect thing for our party.  

Another simple and functional way to decorate is using glass jars full of candy.  Not only can your party guests enjoy munching on their favorite candy throughout the party, it looks great too.

The bundt cake below is my favorite element of our party decor.  Queen Bee had a terrific idea to  add Mickey Mouse shoes, hands and ears to the cake (from a play-set that we already had) to make a Mickey bundt cake!  I love how it turned out, she is so creative! I used my version of a Nothing Bundt Cake copy-cat recipe and it tastes exactly like the original.  I will share this recipe with you all on Wednesday.  Trust me, you will want to try this cake!  It is so moist and the cream cheese frosting is to die for!