Oh my GOODNESS!! It's December already?!

I have really not kept up with my blog through all of November?!  I suppose the calendar doesn't lie right?  Well, I have had a REALLY busy, busy November.  I'll try to keep this post as short as November was :)  LOL
So, first of all :)  And totally NOT CTMH related - All three of my beautiful blessings are November babies, so needless to say... I had 3 birthday parties to plan and hold :)  One of the highlights of one of the "sleepover"  parties was these AWESOME goodie bags!

Here is my AWESOME sister who agreed to "help" me with the bags :)  Hi Sarah!  And would you believe these awesome women could not work the double threaded sewing machine BUT we could totally work the 4 threaded serger... LOL ... go figure :)

So we had a pattern but I altered it due to the sewing machine not working.... The other bag would have been way cool too but here's how we made these bags.  

1) We started with a pillow case (purchased a set of two @ the dollar store for a buck!)

2) Then we cut out a "U" shape from the top - as pictured here 

3) Then I, (Ok Sarah actually) serged around the part that is going to be the strap and the bottom of the "U" which is the opening of the bag

Awesome serging job Sarah! LOL :)

Below is the "U" piece that was cut out and I plan on recycling that by sewing around the sides and bottom and attaching a strap to make yet another bag :)  

4) Lastly, we tied a knot in the two straps and Voila!  Bag was complete!  The girls LOVED them!  And I filled (ok not all the way full) of nail polish, homemade lipgloss, playdough and bubbles and of course candy :)

And the bags can also be used as messenger style bags :)

So then... the day of the party I baked and decorated the cake for my dear 8 yr old daughter :)

Decorating was quite simple as you can see, however splitting the reese's pieces into colors was a little time consuming :)  

I must say the cake was AWESOME!  However, I did note that for next time, I will not load the cake with reese's pieces when all the girls are staying for a sleepover :)  LOL ... imagine, five 8yr old girls up till all hours of the night trying to work off a sugar rush... It really doesn't result in a lot of sleep :)

All in all, it was an AWESOME birthday party and the kids had a ton of fun!!

So after all the girls were picked up the next morning, I scrambled to tidy the house and decorate cake #2 for the weekend!

This time is was for the 5 yr old boys... Ya four 5 yr old boys, one a little younger than that and one 6 yr old girl... Oh and my nephew (who did awesome card tricks for entertainment!) and my other AWESOME sister... LOL!  Oh yeah it was interesting to say the least!

That was my awesome cake!  It tasted fabulous!! I started with a chocolate cake, frosted in chocolate of course :)  Then I scooped out a hole and spread some Oreo crumbs in the hole and dumped a little pile beside the hole; then plopped a bobcat on it and called it done!  The kids (especially the birthday boy) LOVED it!  The kept asking if the bobcat really made that hole in the cake...??? I'll never tell... mwahhaa :)

That's my handsome 5yr old birthday boy!  He had to have a mohawk for the day... What do mom's know about making a mohawk??? !!  

And just a few of his little gifts from the party guests :)  And through-out this whole 2hr birthday party... the kids were awesome!  As I mentioned earlier, my nephew entertained with card tricks and his mom entertained .... well... by being herself!  LOL :)  And the only damage we incurred was the fact that entertaining sister kinda sorta broke my kitchen pendant light while unscrewing the broom from the handle for limbo....  Ya... the biggest kid of all... broke my light fixture!!! Ah... wouldn't change the weekend for anything!!!  

Thanks for reading :)  Let me know how/what you do for your kids' birthday parties!  I would love some more ideas for next year!!