Back to School Dinner-Part 2

We have been busy bees around here getting Queen Bee ready to leave for college.  We drop her off tomorrow and I am an emotional wreck.  I am really going to miss seeing her everyday.  Although it's hard for her dad and me, I am excited for her.  She is such an amazing girl and I'm sure will have a wonderful experience.   Okay, enough of the mommy tears...on to happier memories.  

I wanted to share a few more pictures of our back to school dinners today.  One of my favorite ways to decorate the table for back to school dinner is to cover the table with paper and let the kids draw on it to decorate themselves.  You can use black paper with chalk or white paper with crayons, they each look great and the kids have a lot of fun decorating the table.

The kids love making a wish for the new school year and blowing out their candles in an apple (pictured above). 

Below is the table I did for Queen Bee's first day of high school back-to-school dinner.  Her school colors were yellow and brown which is pretty unfortunate for the most part.  However, they did make a pretty back-to-school table setting which is a bonus. When your school colors match sunflowers how can you go wrong?  

Here is the picture I promised last time...well, sort of.  Here is my little lunch lady in her hair-net.  This was one of our favorite back-to-school dinners.  We had a blast being the lunch ladies.  I'm sure gonna miss this girl (yes, I'm crying now).  Love you Magnolia!

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. 

Throwing the Perfect Party-It's All in the Details

I wanted to share a few small details from Queen Bee's graduation party.  To me, it's always the little details that make a party special. Above, is the table we had sitting at the entry to our backyard.  I used my grandpa's old vintage suitcase and glammed it up a little for people to leave their cards. Instead of the traditional guest book we wanted to do something unique and meaningful for Queen Bee.  I decided to have guests each write their favorite memory of Queen Bee on a little square of paper and then place them in the glass jar.  It was so fun for us to read all of the memories of people she loves!  Some of our cute younger guests wrote many notes to her, it was so sweet!  They turned out to be a great keepsake from the party.  

I love thinking of things I already have around the house that I can repurpose for the party.  This red metal picnic basket was the perfect thing to corral all of the plates, napkins and silverware.  One of favorite party planning tips is to just look around your house for inspiration.  Base some of your party decor around things that you already have.  

On the inside lid of the picnic basket I taped one of Queen Bee's graduation pictures.  I used Queen Bee's graduation pictures to decorate throughout the party and added some fun travel and adventure themed quotes to some of them.  I love this one from Lady and the Tramp!  This was Queen Bee's very first Disney movie, she was obsessed with it!

Need and inexpensive, simple and meaningful graduation gift that is under $2.00?  Click below.

Meaningful Father's Day Gift Idea Your Kids Can Make-Dad's Special Box

Meaningful Father's Day Gift Idea Your Kids Can Make-Dad's Special Box

One of Worker Bee's favorite Father's Day gifts of all time has been his "special box" that Queen Bee and I made him about 10 years ago.  We started with an unfinished wood box that you can buy at most craft stores.  Then we printed out our favorite pictures of Queen Bee and her dad and some quotes that we liked.  We decoupaged the pictures, quotes, some pictures she colored, and scrapbook paper onto the box.  Finally, We added a little paint and then glued some embellishments on it.  It was a really fun craft project. Queen Bee really enjoyed being creative and making something special for her dad.

Inside the box we decoupaged an outline of Queen Bee's handprint and a little quote about memories.  

Worker Bee uses the box to keep all of his special cards, letters, pictures she's made him, and small keepsakes.  

Graduation Party- Kids Buffet

Graduation Party-Kids Buffet

My favorite thing at the graduation party was that we had  an area in our yard designated as the kids zone with the kids tables, a teepee, crayons, paper, and a clothes line to hang the pictures they drew and best of all-A KIDS BUFFET!  What little kid would choose to have a pulled pork sandwich over dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets?  The kids buffet also had assorted juice boxes, veggie cups with ranch in the bottom, and of course any kids buffet wouldn't be complete without ketchup.  When decorating the kids buffet table I kept with our retro travel and adventure theme with a small globe, retro toy camera, and tiny wagon.  

Why are kids more likely to eat their veggies when they are displayed in a darling red wagon, in their own little yellow cup, with a spoonful of ranch?  I can't explain it, but it's a fact.

To see what the biggest hit of our graduation party was click on the link below.   Here's a hint...How can you go wrong when your guests can roast their very own marshmallows?