Hunger Games Themed Tween Party

In our family, it is tradition to have themed parties - ok, maybe not "tradition" but more of "my obsession".  This obsession is clearly genetic and the lucky offspring winner of this trait - Sam!  At first he would just agree or disagree with the themes, but lately, he's dictated (demanded even) what he wants.  He designs the cakes that I then have to make.  He wants approval on location and decor.  He's bossy... and deep down - I LOVE it.  I love the challenge - even when I want to chuck the cakes out the window.

For 12, he wanted Hunger Games.  Perfect, I thought.  He's 12, Katniss/Peeta are from District 12 - awesome!  While I didn't do a big theme cake for our family party, I did do a themed buffet and cupcakes.  And before you think I got let off the hook on cake, there's a kid party coming up and, as Sam puts it, there will be cake (see, bossy).

Using flea market finds for serving ware, leftover holiday party decor for the mockingjays and my mom's Valentine's roses from dad, the buffet table looked fit for even Effie!

Menu:
Make your own sandwiches and salad
Pita bread and hummus
Tracker Jacker Cupcakes:  Lemon cupcakes with a honey buttercream frosting, drizzled with honey and chocolate
Girl on Fire Cupcakes:  Chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream frosting, sprayed with gold edible paint and gold edible glitter
Apple Cider (for kids) and Hard Apple Cider (for kids over 21)

Modern Vintage Industrial Kitchen

I think I've held you in suspense long enough.  I wasn't trying to be mean, I was just tweaking the decor.  I still am, to be honest, so I'll be posting our "accent wall" soon... or, once I am happy with it, which could take a while.

Our kitchen went from ok to awesome (in our opinion)!  New wall and cabinet paint, new hardware, new floor rugs (and coming soon: new table and chairs) was what it took for us to achieve the look we wanted:  Modern Vintage Industrial.  Is that a style?  If not, I'm making it one now!

If you want to recall the process with me, look here

And no room re-do is complete in our house without a panoramic shot (courtesy of hubbie)

Put a cork in it

We just completed a kitchen re-do at our house which began with the need for more storage - makes sense right?  In the process of painting, adding new hardware and several trips to the donation pile, we managed to free up some storage space and make the cabinet interiors look neat and clean.  Today, I am showing you how we freshened up our kitchen drawers!

Project time:  1/2 hour (longer for me since I have project ADD) for 5 drawers.

While you can't fully grasp the insides of the drawers from below, believe me when I say they were tired, sad slabs of particle board.  Sure we could have just painted them but between utensils and "junk", they were bound to get scratched (and, helloooo, we needed to cover up paint drips).

Solution?  Cork... self-adhesive cork (heaven!!)  Purchased at our local Home Depot - 2 rolls were more than enough to do our 5 drawers.

Supplies:
Self-adhesive cork (around $15/roll)
Measuring tape
Ruler/level
Scissors


1. Measure depth and width of your drawer and cut cork to size - scissors are all that you need for this stuff (super easy)
2. Peel back a bit of the contact backing and set into corners.  Continue to peel it back slowly as you press the cork into the drawer.
3. DONE!

The cork gives it an updated, clean look while also giving contact paper a good name!  Now, where else can I stick this stuff??

Honey, I have an idea...

At our house, most couch conversations start with "so I have this idea" and this usually "idea"  explodes into a lot of work.  So recently, I casually mentioned that I would like to repaint the kitchen and hubbie was all for this.  Repainting a few walls quickly evolved into a major kitchen transformation.  My goal, to lighten up, freshen up and achieve a vintage/modern look.

Project time:  1 week (this includes a 5 hour, 3 store, door hardware debate)

Here is a before of the wall color and cabinets

We had already removed the old out-dated hardware on the doors (hence the holes)... and, clearly, downed a 6 pack!

Entryway, old curtains, old rug

This is behind our stove - clearly the previous owners wanted a "loft"look and wanted it to outlast a nuclear blast.  Instead of ripping out a wall, I opted for paint - it does wonders both on the budget and hubbie's sanity

Now we move on to the in-between stage

New wall color, no 6 pack... yet

Lighter, brighter... getting there

See!  Paint!!

Want to see the "after shots"?  Well, like Season 4 of Downton Abbey, I'm going to leave you hanging.  Just for a bit though, we are finishing up on some details (aka, I'm redecorating).

Look Ma! I have a "Tween"

Today is a Thursday.  Today I got them ready for their weekend at daddy's.  Today I realized I'm sending off my 11 year old and getting him back as a 12 year old.  Today I cried.

Monday, I'll have a TWEEN.

Crying, that isn't untypical of me - especially where the boys are concerned - in fact, I do it every year around their birthdays.  It is a tradition for me to sit on my bed, thumbing through baby pictures and crying.  My husband just accepts this fact and supplies the wine.

Then today, I read an interesting article posted on the blog:  Home Sanctuary.  Besides the fact that I cried through reading it, it brought up a point that struck home - where ARE the blogs, pinterest pages and forums for parents with Tweens/Teens?  If you know of some, please let me know (preferably ones that make me laugh not cry).  We are the parents that raised our babies/toddlers with no instant access to blog pages about "why my kid is crying" or pinterest pages filled with 101 crafts using crayons.  We didn't have Facebook to poll our connected friends "what is your method of getting your kid to sleep or pee?" or to post videos of first steps.  As a mom who was one of the first of her friends to have kids, that was a lonely time.  Social media probably would have overwhelmed me, but I certainly wouldn't have felt alone.

So today, I want to change that.  I'm not alone - we're not alone.  I want to hear from other moms/dads of tweens and teens.  We're all going through this whacko time together and have or will have funny, scary and informative stories  - let's share about it!

Have a great Tween story?  Let me know in the comments!