Backdrops: Amazing & Affordable!

I hope all of you were able to check out Grace's First Birthday post and I hope it brought a smile to your face! :) Well on today's "Nifty Nook" post I wanted to share how I created the backdrops for her party. I just LOVE backdrops!!! They seem to give parties that extra little something! :)

Now finding a perfect backdrop and then hanging it can be daunting especially when it's your first party! Fortunately I have lived to tell the tale, and am excited to share the easy answer with you!

First off, I cannot put enough emphasis on preparing in advance! :) Since I started shopping early I was able to get some GREAT deals! :) Try to get an early start if possible. :)

A lot of people use flat sheets for their party backdrops and I have seen them displayed beautifully, but goodness the contraptions they have to build to get them to hang seemed a little bulky and time consuming (especially if you are throwing the party in a rented facility). And the sheets can really get expensive! So that got me thinking outside of the box...

While my friend Lauren and I were walking around Target trying to find some reasonably priced sheets we stumbled upon some shower curtains that were on SALE! :) And that was the deal of the day for me!

Room Essentials @ Target

They (the Room Essentials Shower Curtains @ Target) are usually priced at 9.99 but since it was towards the end of the college dorm promo I got them a little cheaper.

Okay, so you are thinking awesome! What a perfect backdrop! But wait... It gets better! The curtains run 72" in width, perfect to match any 6 foot table! Which was an exact match for the tables we were using at the party! :)

Well, now that we have the "perfect" backdrop we need to be able to hang it easily and efficiently.

Since our backdrop moonlights also as a shower curtain, it has perfectly spaced holes at the top meant for hooks. We are going to take advantage of those, but instead of shower hooks we are going to use command hooks. Target sells quite a few hooks that coordinate with their shower curtains and they match perfectly (can it get any easier?!) :)

I found mine @ Target in Pink & Green, but other stores probably sell them also! :)

So now you have your backdrop & hooks, we are ready to Party! 

About 40 minutes before your shindig begins start hanging your command hooks, my husband for the most part eyeballed the spacing; but I would suggest using a tape measurer and a level unless you too are gifted spatially. :)

After hanging the hooks, you can start ironing out and lightly starching (for really tough wrinkles) the backdrops.

The hooks only need 30 minutes of dry time (if you are using 6 or more hooks per curtain) so you can begin hanging the curtains pretty soon after you iron them perfect! :)

The take down is super easy and they leave no trace or damage, and best of all... Everything is RE-usable! :)

I hope this post makes planning your next party a little easier and affordable! If it does, please tell me about it, I always LOVE feedback! :)

Babies & Beauty Berries!

SWHEAT GRACE

While Jonathan was home we were able to take Grace on a walk in one of our favorite parks! :) I love the conversation and the adventures I have with my sweet husband! I treasure his time here at home with us! :) This also was a great time for me to try out the new camera. As you can see I still have a lot of adjusting to do lol! 

Grace enjoys being outside so much! I hope she takes after me and LOVES the outdoors! We could take tons of camping trips, sleep under the stars, and climb mountains! I look forward to her first pair of chacos! :)

Of course, a picture of my AMAZING husband! :) He does not really "enjoy" taking pictures, so I have to catch them at a moment's notice! :)

The infamous Beauty Berries, we ALWAYS talk about them on our walks... And I am pretty sure we have the same convo almost everytime lol! This is sadly prob one of the last time we will get to enjoy them until next spring. As you can see they are near the end of their season. :(

Grace had so much fun on our walk and loved all the butterflies and deer we were lucky to encounter! I can't wait for Jonathan's return for more family fun! :)

Our Baby is One!!!

Grace’s “Sweet” First Birthday!

We had so much fun celebrating Grace's First Birthday! What a milestone! This sweet baby girl has suffered so much this first year (due to health problems) that I wanted to go all out for her special day! I hope each of you enjoy the pictures below and feel that you were there with us celebrating one year of Grace Amaris Wheat! 

On her actual "birthday" we went out for a family dinner and then starbucks followed by cake at the house; we got some great pictures of our little sweetie that day! I posted some of the pictures from our family outing below! :)

Above is my Mommy with her favorite Grandbaby at Starbucks! :) Since she was the photographer for all these pretty pictures you won't see her much below! So I wanted to make sure she had a special picture posted of her with the birthday girl! :) She LOVES that baby!

Her sweet Tia Kiki was playing a soccer game in Tyler the day of the party so we wanted to make sure she had a special debut too! :)

Above is a picture of my sweet pea and her "birthday" cupcake! :) Turns out I have one of the few children that hates cakes, pastries, and other various sweet treats lol. See the picture below for proof haha! 

LOL! She was unhappy when she tasted her fingers! Poor Baby!

We enjoyed spending such a special day with such a special girl; we just couldn't wait until her "First" Birthday Party!

Karyn did a GREAT job on Gracie-Baby's invitations! We hope you all enjoyed receiving them! :)

This was Grace's First Birthday Outfit! It was so precious I couldn't resist! :)

Before entering into the party building, all of our guests were greeted with a festive wreath I made!

Grace's Birthday Party had a "Sweet Treats" theme! So below is one of the Treat Place-Cards I made for her Sweet's Table! :)

The Cake Table

The Cake 

We made the topiaries for the cake table, a little on the tedious side but soooo worth it! I thought they came out so CUTE! :)

Didn't her cake just come out perfect! I have to hand it to Sharon from Creative Memories, she did a fantastic job! :)

The other Birthday Topiary!

This is the back of her Birthday Outfit! :) My favorite part of that Outfit!!! :)

Close up on the Cake! :)

The "Smash Cake" is below! :)

The top of the cake, loved that part! :)

More Cake! :)

Baby Girl playing in her birthday pom-poms!

The Sweet’s Table

The Cupcakes on their pretty stand we made! :)

Cracker Barrel Lolli's! Yum! :)

Side View!

Another... :)

Top of the Stand!

Close-Up! :)

The Refreshments Table

These waterbottles were SO fun! :)

The Punch was a HIT! :)

Our mantle decor! Rachel did a wonderful job on Gracie's frames! TOO precious!!!

Family Picture in front of the Sweet's Table!

Close up of the Birthday Girl!!! :)

Her sweet little bloomers for her Smash Cake Outfit! :)

Time to Sing to the Birthday Girl!

Loved this!!

Blowing out the candle! :)

Again... We are not big on this whole cake in mouth thing lol! :)

The Present’s Table

Opening her gifts! :)

Trying them out! :)

Party Favors!

In the middle of the party favors we featured a book charting the growth of our baby over the past 12 months! :)

I hope our guests enjoyed this book as much as we did! :)

Close-up of the party favors!

We lOVED our Guests!

We tried hard to capture as many complimentary pictures of all our guests but still missed so many of those we LOVE!. :( But we are SOOOOO thankful for each of you coming! It meant the world to us!!!

Grace's sweet cousins made a BIG trip to come celebrate with us! :)

These kids are TOO cute!!!!

Robert & Gracie's Papa!

Lena & Uncle Seth!

Handsome Boys! Elijah & Micah!

Tio Frank & Lita!

Sandy Yu & The Wheats! :)

Lena & Tia Marsha!

Tia Nini & Tio TayTay!

Christle & Zach Peaden! :) We love you guys! Thanks for making the big trip! :)

I hope you all enjoyed this post! :) And felt as if you were there! :) Feel free to comment or email me if you would like any of the pictures for printing purposes! :) And I look forward to posting how I made some of the decor pieces on "The Nifty Nook!" :) Keep checking back. :)

Lots of Love!