boy Archives - TaylorMade

Wild Animal Party

April 3, 2019 By Taylor 2 Comments

My boys are at the stage where a party at home just isn’t as cool as it used to be, they love party places like the trampoline park or an indoor playground. There are definitely some good things about that, like leaving the mess for someone else am I right? But the party planner in me cringes at the thought of it because how will I have fun decor haha?! Thankfully, 8 and 9 year old boys don’t care about party decorations but I still really love a theme and I really enjoy decorating. So, when my son told me he wanted a Wild Animal Party at a play space I thought… challenge accepted!

Thankfully the place we booked did have private rooms, but I kid you not the employee on the phone told me I would have under five minutes to decorate! I mean… I am speedy but not that speedy. I decided I would just keep it suuuuper simple and have everything done ahead of time. If you follow me on IG (@taylormadecreates) then you know that includes my husband helping me carry a balloon garland into the building haha!

Speaking of balloon garlands, I get a ton of questions about them general. Apparently I can’t have an event without it involving balloons haha, so I am going to work on a FAQ balloon post that will be coming soon. But, this one was super simple! I ordered a pack of mixed animal print balloons from amazon and a pack of dark green and lime green balloons. I used balloon tape and my trusty balloon pump and just popped the balloons into the balloon tape. Then I used my

My son loves wild animals so last year I grabbed these animal cutouts at the target dollar section although I didn’t have a plan for them at the time. I haven’t seen them recently but I did find something super similar at Oriental Trading Co online. I used double sided tape and just taped them to the wall… remember I had 5 minutes :) I also used a disposable table cloth under a runner we already for the table.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to bring in a ton of decor, so I went ahead and got animal print gift bags… party utility part decor! I honestly never really use gift bags, I usually love to do something homemade for party favors, but my son really wanted gift bags… birthday boys can be so demanding ;) I used my Cricut to cut the boy’s names out on the bags.

Speaking of birthday boys and their requests, my son really wanted a “wildcat” shirt. So I… you guessed it… used my Cricut to make him a birthday shirt. I found a cougar silhouette online and used metallic silver heat transfer vinyl on a yellow shirt. When we got to the party space and they told me we were assigned to the “yellow room” and I felt like the design gods were really helping me out haha. Unrelated… I bought this yellow shirt in a pack on Amazon and my boys have loved all of these shirts!

Last but certainly not least is this amazing cake. My mom is a very talented baker and I am definitely not, so early on I started asking my mom to make my kids cakes and now it is a big tradition at our house! My kids turn their orders in weeks in advance and she has even been known to “practice” to perfect her designs! This year we told her the theme and she came up with quite the masterpiece! Can you even handle the cheetah icing?!

She made a triple layered zebra chocolate and vanilla cake with salted caramel buttercream cheetah icing! It really stole the show.

Overall, it was a great party. I survived the five minute party prep, and somehow managed to include a balloon garland and gift bags haha! I know our boy had a great time and that is really all that matters ;)

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Kids Camping Shirts

August 1, 2018 By Taylor 2 Comments

We love camping! Seriously, we can’t live without it! In honor of our love for camping I’m sharing some Kids Camping Shirts today with a free download to make your own!

We go camping few times a year and we sleep in a tent and hike and cook and it’s amazing. My mom took us camping as kids and we have great memories so after we had kids Bryan and I started going again to keep the tradition alive. We usually go to a State Park that is right under 2 hours away so it’s really not too much trouble because it’s so close. Keeping it simple is key. We do however like to make a big deal of our camping menu which is fun :) We go with our family and some good family friends so we have a group of around 20ish. There is something about sleeping outside under the stars and roughing it for a few days that will fully recharge your battery. And can you think of a better way for kids to spend a weekend than playing outside?!

For our last trip we decided to make “official” camp shirts. I made the adults matching shirts but made something a little different for the kids and I just love how they turned out!

All the moms picked a different colored solid tee for their kid. They are super simple but that’s kind of how camping is so it works :) I used black heat transfer vinyl and a heat press so they will hold up well, we are very hard on our camping clothes as you can imagine! (HERE is a link to my heat press machine, I love it!) I found the super soft blank tees and these little dino shorts at Walmart.

I have the silhouette file available HERE for free to download or if you just want the PNG file to copy and trace on vinyl you can find that HERE. I have the images flipped so be sure to check that before cutting depending on how you are doing them. I would love to see your shirts if you make one so don’t forget to email me or tag me in a pic :) Also… if you haven’t taken your kids tent camping yet you should definitely give it a try, I promise you will all love it!

Phineas and Ferb Costume

October 16, 2017 By Taylor 2 Comments

Look who it is… It’s Phineas and Ferb!

If you don’t have two school aged boys at your house you might not know all about Phineas and Ferb… but it’s awesome so you should probably just watch it in general :) It’s a show on Disney Channel about two brothers who are trying to find ways to entertain themselves during summer vacation and end up coming up with crazy, outlandish inventions and ideas. It’s also one of the only kid shows that Bryan and I can watch and not get sick of because it’s actually pretty witty and we end up laughing during every episode haha! I “pitched” the idea to my boys for a halloween costume and if course they loved it!

These might be the two easiest costumes I’ve ever done! I worked with Primary again this year for the “base” of the costumes. Primary is amazing because they have every style of solid colored, mix and match clothing for kids with no tags or logos, and all of their clothing is super soft!

You Need: Orange Tee, Blue Shorts, Yellow Tee, Purple Pants, Colored Hair Spray, White Felt, Yellow Fabric Paint

For Phineas’s Shirt:

Step 1: Tape off the orange shirt. This is not mandatory but will make your lines straighter, I didn’t measure, just eyeball it.

Step 2: Use Fabric Paint and paint on the yellow stripes. Fabric paint is softer than regular acrylic so you can wash it and your kids could actually wear this shirt again. Allow the paint to dry for at least 4 hours.

For Ferb’s Collar:

Step 1: Cut felt in a “collar like shape” as shown. I sewed three layers together for sturdiness but that’s optional. I also did a little round button too.

Step 2: Hot Glue a piece of elastic around the collar piece. This will wear just like a necklace. Hot glue or pin the button on the yellow tee under the collar.

Lastly, I found colored hair spray (Target, Walmart or any Halloween store) and sprayed their hair orange and green. That was their favorite part :) And that is it!

While I do love to sew and I really enjoy making my kids costumes from head to toe, I also have respect for costumes that are this simple but look super cute too.

Thank you Primary for sending the clothes! Check out our post last year HERE and tons of other ideas on Primary HERE!

Built in Bunkbeds

September 24, 2017 By Taylor 9 Comments

It’s room reveal day! I have been waiting for this post for almost a year so please excuse the one million photos :) I’m just so excited for the boy’s new built in bunkbeds!!

When we moved into our house the boys decided they wanted to share a room but I wasn’t sure how long that would last. So, I found some (temporary) red wicker headboards on craigslist and we just attached them to a metal bed frame and that worked for a few years. Last year around this time I realized that the boys still love sharing a room and that they were getting a little too “strong” for flimsy headboards attached to a cheap metal bad frame via zip tie haha! I started researching bunkbeds but my husband is the type who doesn’t think anything is sturdy enough so he said he should build them… umm ok! Here is the before:

We repainted their room to match the rest of the house because I just can’t get sick of this color. It’s Colonnade Grey by Sherwin Williams and it is in every other room but two in the entire house! It is considered a greige but its definitely on the grey side with just a little warm hint.

I found several inspiration bunk beds on Pinterest and pinned those HERE. I showed Bryan a few of the photos and we took things we liked about several of them and added some things that were our own too. Bryan started with the frame and had to finish that part quickly because the boys needed to actually sleep in there haha! We did it over the summer so they crashed on the couch for about a week or so!

I know I have bragged on my husband in the past for his amazing woodworking skills but these are unreal! The house could blow over but these would still be standing ha! They are attached the whole way to the wall and built from floor to ceiling. My favorite things… the built in shelves in the bottom bunk and the mini staircase! There is also a pull out trundle.

I will link all sources at the end of the post but I found the flag from Amazon and this metal grey bookshelf is from IKEA. I was trying to go boyish… but more of a grown up boy. My kids are 6 and 8 right now which is kind of a weird in between stage. Some things are way too “baby” for them and that just wouldn’t be cool now would it :) I also don’t want to rush them into an adult room so I hope this is a happy middle ground.

With the room remodel we got them Beddy’s Bedding. If you have bunk beds you pretty much need this bedding! It’s kind of like a sleeping bag, a comforter and a fitted sheet had a baby! The entire thing zips up and fits around the mattress so in the morning when it’s time to make the bed all they have to do is zip up the sides. We went with the “simply white” for a few reasons. Firstly, I love everything white because it looks clean and I can bleach it. Secondly, Beddy’s only option at the time for all cotton was the white. Most of the interiors are minky, which sounds super cozy but just too warm for us down here in Houston. I think they now make a grey option for the cotton interior too. I was a little nervous about so much white but I’m actually so happy about it. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend them for bunk beds or even just for kids learning to make the bed. The quality is amazing, the are so soft and have a great weight to them (and I’m picky about that :). They boys love them and so do I…. win/win.

When Bryan finished these and I went to the top bunk the first time I was actually a little scared of how high this thing is. My oldest is on top and the railing is very high so it would be impossible to fall out, which makes my nervous moms side feel better. We still need to move the fan, it comes about a foot away from the edge of the bed which is just a little close for comfort but it is so cozy up there!

On the opposite side of the bed they have their dresser also from IKEA. This is also where the pet hermit crabs live :) ! We went to Florida this summer and what trip to Florida is complete without a hermit crab souvenir?!

I love these posters I found from GroopDealz (about a year ago)! They were so affordable and the colors are perfect, I found the frames from where else??… amazon.

The boys use the corner basket for extra blankets (and tent building :) The plant hangers are from amazon and we had to do faux plants in there because let’s be honest… between two little humans and four hermit crabs my “living thing” quote is maxed out in the room! I found this fun splatter fabric from IKEA and just used hot glue to attach some green pom pom trim.

If you know me you know I don’t really do neutrals but for some reason I just kept buying black and white for this room… what is happening to me?! Love these buffalo check pillows I found on Amazon. The graphic word pillows are from Target.

I found the handles for the trundle on Amazon. I just love the trundle, can’t wait for boy sleepover fun to happen in there :)

To say they boys are obsessed is an understatement. Bryan truly built an amazing piece of furniture and I’m sure the boys will make amazing memories in here! I am going to link as many things as I can remember at the end of this post but let me know if you have any questions!

Sources:

Bedding- Beddy’s (in Simply White)

Rug- Amazon

Grey Metal Shelf and Dresser- IKEA

Flag- Amazon

Curtains- IKEA Fabric with Green Pom Pom Trim

Sting Lights- Target

Plant Hangers: Amazon

Pillows: Amazon and Target

White Frames: Amazon