Disneyland! Here we come...again!

My son's 4th birthday is coming up this Saturday, so we are going to Disneyland this week and are throwing a small last-minute birthday party for him. Disneyland is the place where we have been wanting to go to since my first son, Ethan, was born without having to deal with the crazy crowd and the immense CA heat.

We went in July 2009 during the 4th of July weekend when my son was 2 years old. Horrible idea! It was HOT and CROWDED, which were clear reasons why no one should go, especially during the holiday weekend. Oh yeah, I was also about 6-months pregnant. There were moms waiting in 2-hour lines holding their little babies. I couldn't believe how determined they were to get their kids on these rides. Instead, I chose to sit on the side in any available shade. I think we only got on 2-3 rides that day.

We attempted to go again late last year, thinking that if we go on a weekday, no one would be there. WRONG again!!! As we approached the freeway exit to Disneyland, we were horrified (or at least I was) to find out that we were going at the same time as what seemed like everyone else in CA. The area was jam packed with cars and we later found out that Disneyland had to turn people away because it was already too crowded. There must have been a lot of people trying to get in because it was even on the news that day. We ended up going to Knott's Berry Farm, which is another amusement park about 15 minutes away. All of the rejects, like us, ended up going there. Although it was crowded at Knott's as well, we at least got in and my son had fun anyway.

Now that my son is older, I think he'll be able to fully enjoy his time at Disneyland. We have been talking about it for weeks now and he's very excited. I'm going to be bummed if it rains here again in CA and if it's crowded. We checked the forecast and it looks like it'll be sunny and made sure we aren't going during spring break, where kids will be out of school. So far, everything seems to be working out.

Now I have to quickly put some designs together for his upcoming birthday party!

Fave Finds - Fun File Folders!

I went to Paper Source the other day and found these "Useless File Folders". I knew right away that these were going to be extra items I wanted, but didn't need at home. I was hoping that these would somehow help motivate me to start organizing my bills and receipts. Maybe these can go into the, "PAPERS TO SHUFFLE ENDLESSLY THEREBY ACCOMPLISHING NOTHING" folder.

Cookies in a Jar - LOVE this!

I have heard of Bakerella many times before, but for some reason I never really took the time to check out this website. I'm pretty sure many of you heard of Bakerella, but I am loving this awesome recipe idea of putting cookie ingredients in a jar and giving them out as favors! This idea is not new to me, but now that I found this delicious recipe and some pretty photos to go along with it, I have to make these ASAP! I just need a good excuse to do this. Oh yeah, my son's 4th birthday is coming up next month, but we are planning to go to Disneyland instead. Maybe I can throw a very small birthday party for him. Hmmm....

Here is the recipe to make these adorable "Cowgirl or Cowboy Cookies". The website even offers free printable files for the tags!

New Designs - Airplane Party Circle Tags and Sweet Cupcake Invitation Design

I just posted some new items to the shop.

Any of these items can be personalized to match the theme of your party.

Paris-Themed Party Tags

Vintage Airplane Thank You Tags

Vintage Airplane Tags, Labels, or Toppers

Vintage Airplane Thank You Card

Cupcake Invitation

Stay Tuned! New Paris and Airplane Tag Designs Coming Soon!

I'm putting my almost 16-month old daughter to work (just kidding, she just wanted to see what I was doing).

I'm trying out the new Flourish Square Large Punch from ektools that I bought about a month ago. I bought mine for 40% off at Joann's. It's a new alternative way to make your tags, labels or cupcake toppers. I have a feeling these shapes will be popping up everywhere!

New Paris and Vintage Airplane party tags will be added to the shop very soon!

Valentine Mini-Cards {Free Templates}

I had to quickly put together some Valentine cards for my son's pre-school gift exchange coming up next Monday. So I used one of my popular "LOVE" design backgrounds as part of the design of the cards.

Feel free to download the non-editable PDF files. Print them on 8.5 x 11 size white card stock, cut along the crop marks and score and fold down the middle of each card. Each card will measure about 3" x 3" when folded.

I hope you guys find some good use with these templates. Now I have to figure out what to give to the other students!

FLIPAWOO Slowly Gets Noticed...Baby Steps! Baby Steps!

I would like to give a huge thanks to Karen of Downtown Diaries for including some of my printable Valentine's Day designs in her recent post. Go check her out. This is where she shares her adventurous lifestyle living in the city as well as her sense of great fashion style and eating. Boy, can this girl EAT and how does she manage to stay so SKINNY??!!

Karen's posts allow me to live vicariously through her since I have such a different life now as a stay-at-home mom. Plus, her blog reminds me of when I use to live in Downtown, Los Angeles and how the lights from the city buildings would just come alive and shine through my windows every night. Oh how I miss hearing helicopters roaring through the sky looking for criminals, neighbors partying through the night and me going for my late-night runs buying food from the nearby taco stand. Ahhh...yes, all lovely memories of living in the city. Now living in the suburbs is a bit, how should I say...different, too safe and boring? But hey, gotta live here for the kids and good schools, right?

I'd like to also thank the following blogs for writing such kind words about my designs in their posts:

A Day in the Life
Confessions of a City Eater
City Farm Girl

Be sure to also check out these other Etsy sellers that have included my popular LOVE printable banner in their treasuries.