Pinwheels & Pearls: Ruby turns 2!

Written by Shannon Leigh

I still can't believe that I have a 2 year old.

Everyone told me that she would grow fast but it feels like I blinked and my baby is gone!  Now I have a precious little girl who brings us so much joy.

This years party theme was Pinwheels and Pearls, at least that's what I am calling it (there were more pinwheels than pearls).

The invites were printed on white card stock and I rounded the corners.  I scanned some fabric I had laying around the house to make the background and I fashioned some pinwheels using tan felt and the same fabric for the inside.  Go here to see a tutorial on how to make the felt pinwheels.

I used the same scanned fabric and placed it to the inside of the envelopes for a punch of color.  As you can see I had to use 2 different types of envelopes because I refused to go buy anything.  I just used what I had on hand and it seemed to work out fine!

I made Ruby's initials in yarn wrapped letters.  View tutorial HERE.  Those boogers are harder and more time consuming than they look but I LOVED how they turned out.

I also stacked 2 draws we found at a thrift store in the middle of the table.  We painted them and added new hardware since they were pretty worn out.  It was the perfect centerpiece and it made a great place to place forks and napkins.

I got to reuse the hats and garland from last year (woo hoo).   I strung up some pictures from the past 12 months on an old frame with some homemade sparkly pink clothespins.

I whipped up a quick table runner with a ruffled edge in vibrant hues (I am so glad I did- it added a nice pop of color).

I spray painted glass bottles in a sparkly pink spray paint which was super easy.  I then adorned them with large pinwheels  (hey it's cheaper than flowers).
I also painted a few small chalkboards white and glued pearl strands on the inside of the frame.  They were super girly and now I can use them over and over again for various things.  

On the Menu:

Chocolate Cake with Salted Carmel Frosing

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Fluff Icing

Chocolate covered pretzels with both white and dark chocolate

Hot Ham and Cheese Sliders

Brie and Apricot Preserves Pastry

Taco Cheese Ball

Garlic Spread

Pinwheel wraps

Peach Punch

Strawberry Limeade

I made Ruby a large personal pumpkin cupcake so she'd have something to munch on.  She seemed to enjoy it except for the candle part, she is terrified of fire.

Isn't my niece Riley adorable in her party hat?

Overall, the day was GREAT.

She was spoiled rotten by our families and she was as sweet as sugar the whole day.  She gave everyone hugs and kisses and thanked everyone for her gifts.

I wish I could relive days like this.  But hey ,there's always NEXT year.