Easy pillows and birthday party prep

My husband could eat grilled chicken breast and a can of French-cut green beans every night for the rest of his life. He holds high expectations for himself in many ways, but when it comes to almost everything else, the guy is really easy to please.

So it was no surprise that these very simple pillows knocked his socks off this morning.

 

His face lit up when he saw them. It was cute, but seriously, Hon. It's a square of fabric in the front and a square in the back with a flap. Not even a ruffly trim. Chill out.
 
 

These super easy pillows are about all I can handle right now. Life is going a mile a minute, like normal. It's all good, but hectic and there are some unknowns lingering in the not-so-distant future. I'm anxious for it all to be settled. 

I can't even remember the name of the beautiful fabric (which I think is what really impressed J, but I'll let him believe it was my mad sewing skillz instead). Anyone? Anyone?

One other thing I'm starting to work on is Bo's fifth birthday party. If you've been reading Penny Carnival for a while, you might remember her princess party last year. If you've been reading Penny Carnival for a long while (thank you!), you might remember her rainbow party in 2008.

This year's theme: Barbie Goes Camping. And Eats Ice Cream.

The kid is as indecisive as her mother, so we're blending her three favorites.

Did I ever write about the thing J once said about Barbie? We were debating whether to buy the girls each a doll. Neither of us are fans, but he was particularly against it. He said, "We're not buying a Barbie. She has big boobs and a tiny waist." To which I replied, "Since when have you had a problem with big boobs and tiny waistlines?" Maybe you had to be there, but it was funny. So laugh.

Despite our feelings about the doll, we're both on board with the birthday theme. Here are some ideas so far:

-I'm going to bake one of those Barbie doll cakes where the skirt is the cake and Babs is poking out the top, but she's going to be holding a fishing pole and wearing a fishing vest and, if I can swing it, a plaid skirt.

-I'm going to make graham cracker tents (similar to making graham cracker gingerbread houses) and let the kids decorate them with royal icing and candy.

-We're going to have Blow the Fish Down the River contests, similar to the rubber ducky race you can see Magpie competing in here. 

-For the invitations, I'm going to take a picture of a Barbie doll in a miniature camping scene. Since the only Barbies we own were purchased at a junk sale for $1, don't be surprised if her hair is a little ratty and she's missing a limb. It will take all my self control to not place a tiny can of beer in her hand. 

-We'll make s'mores over a fire pit in the backyard.

-The favors will be placed in hobo sacks made from pink bandanas tied to sticks the girls and I collected at the park after a particularly windy day. Inside the sacks will be magnifying glasses, compasses and candy lipstick tubes.

-We'll make fireflies out of glow sticks (for the body) and coffee filters (for the wings).

-If I have time, I'll sew some fabric teepees for the kids to play in in the backyard. Otherwise, we'll just set up our tent.

-I'll ask everyone to wear camping-style clothes, if they'd like.

-We have one of those balls that makes ice cream when you kick it around, so we'll have the kids do that. 

-The pinata will be an ice cream cone, if I can find or make one.

Any other ideas? 

Comments

[Mariah Neeson]

Do you need anymore ideas?! That sounds fantastic! I think you should have the same party but for adults, I expect an invite! Then you really can put a tiny can of beer in barbies hand.
I think this is a really imaginative way of combining the feminine with otherwise claimed "boy" stuff. Girls don't have to stop being girlie to do 'boy ' things .
and I am still really rooting for and anxiously waiting my adult barbie party invite!

[mkpoggie]

Holy. Moly. That was a very cohesive party plan for such a random list of things. You are magic.

Okay, my favorite things are monkies wearing pants, sunflowers, Shakespeare, purple and vegetarian Tacos. My birthday is in October so you have a few months to plan.

See you then.

[Megan]

Ha, ha. You guys are funny. Mariah, that would make a sweet adult party. Let's plan it. Mkpoggie, I'll start brainstorming ... I'm seeing a menu that includes tacos with purple cabbage on top, relay races where teams of two have to run across your yard wearing one pair of pants and scratching their armpits like monkeys and cupcakes with ruffly collars around them like Shakespeare wore. They don't call me the About.com Guide to Kids' Parties for nuthin', ya know!!

I did forget to add one other thing I'm planning to do for Bo's party: I bought some kitschy camping fabric and plan to make her a dress to wear.

[emily]

Awesome party! I might just copy the camping thing because all my daughter has been talking about is camping, "burning" marshmallows and sleeping in a tent.

But party aside, I read this and wondered, haven't we evolved enough to embrace a flat chested Barbie. I'm serious! I really can't believe we haven't seen that one on the shelves yet. They could called her Better Boobs Barbie or Backache Free Barbie or my favorite Buy 'em if you want 'em Barbie...while I'm thinking of it, where's the I've Nursed My Children Barbie or the Midlife Metabolism Barbie? I mean come on Matel...get with the times. If they were and added my suggestions to their Barbie line, I can only imagine what other goodies you might be able to throw in the hobo packs.

[Ariadne Rooney]

That party sounds so very cool - I want one! :) And the fabric is Hello Betty from Moda. :)

[mkpoggie]

Brilliant! I'll start training for the monkey races now