Hello dear ones! This is a month late but here are the pictures from our gender reveal (at 16 weeks) and the lil one’s name. Enjoy! God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
Leeland Patrick Dover! It’s a boy!
Leeland saying “Hi!”
Marie Antoinette Party May 18, 2014
In this post: An original and glamorous Marie Antoinette party as we learn about the French Revolution! Come join us!
Dear ones, I hope you are well. I’m thrilled to share this fun party with you. We ended our study of the French Revolution with a Marie Antoinette party. Marie never said “Let them eat cake”, but her over the top fashion is great inspiration for a glamorous party…and delicious cake ;). Here’s how I did it:
The Set
- Black and White fancy table cloth & plates. I bought the table cloth at Walmart and the plates at the Dollar Tree.
- Pink napkins with fancy clock napkin holders. I took tulle and wrapped it around the napkins. For the clocks, I printed out old Victorian looking clocks and I taped them into layed cupcake holders. I stuck that on the tulle.
- Marie Antoinette project board~ I bought the project board and the girly French stickers at the Dollar Tree. My Mom miraculously had some black and white tissue paper that she gave me. I modge podged it on and put a paper doll of Marie on top of it. Then I made designs with black and pink paint.
- Fancy clock~ this was a thrift store find that I also used for Hannah’s baby shower.
- Vase of pink flowers and black and white flowers. I found the flowers on sale at Michael’s craft store, 50 cent each!
- An old key, pearls, vintage looking bags with crown designs on them. I believe these were on sale at Michael’s awhile back.
- Marie Antoinette shadow box frame~ I bought the frame and the wooden chandelier and chair at Michael’s. I painted the frame black and pink. I painted the wooden chair and chandelier black. I cut out a paper Marie and modge podged her. I used the black and white tissue paper to encircle her. I glued on fake pearls in a heart shape. I glued on a feather. I cut out paper butterflies and modge podged them on both sides so they would shine. I wanted them to be 3D.
- Marie cage lantern~ It’s hard to tell what this is but in person it lights up. I took a small cage from the craft store and put a fake candle in it. I put a Marie paper doll on a popsicle stick and stuck it in the cage. Then I took black and white tissue paper to form her dress.
I loved this set so much. I had a hard time taking it down. I did keep the shadow box for my office. 🙂
Food
- Pink cupcakes with pearls on top~ I used a box of strawberry cake mix and a can of pink frosting. I found edible pearls also at Walmart.
- Salmon patties and mac n cheese for our fancy candle lit dinner.
- Apple juice in fancy goblets.
The Costumes
- Marie Antoinette (mua)~ My Aunt’s prom dress from the 70’s. Yeah, I’ve taken good care of it. My hair did not get as puffy as I’d hoped but I had two fake hair pieces under it. I think next time I’ll put them closer to the front. I’ll include my Pinterest link at the bottom. I put fake pearls in my hair so it’d drape across my forehead. I took a paper mask and glued a pink feather and fake gems on it. Then I attached the mask to a dowel. My makeup looks a bit funny because I powdered my face with very light powder. You can’t tell as much in these pictures but I put concealer on my lips and then drew a heart shape with lipstick. I put on a good bit of blush.
- Michael~ He wore a nice black shirt and pants. We got his purple hat at the Dollar Tree. He also wore a paper mask which he decorated purple with shapes.
Activities
- A Candle Lit dinner
- The Marie Antoinette movie from the 30’s
- A waltz...sort of.
- A funny video on the secrets of Marie Antoinette’s hair
I hope you are inspired! 🙂 Links are below the pic…
Marie Antoinette ideas on Pinterest (about half way down)
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
More Parties by Me
The 1700’s Week 3:Â https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/the-1700s-week-3-australia-the-french-revolution-lord-byron/
A Tea Party Baby Shower for Hannah February 8, 2014
In this Post: I threw my best friend Hannah, a tea party baby shower. I combined elegance with Hannah’s favorite storybook characters.. Toad & Frog, and Winnie the Pooh.
Dear ones, the first weekend in January I threw a baby shower for my best friend, Hannah. She loves tea parties and wanted something elegant. So I used mismatched tea cups, fake pearls, tea pots, and pink and white fake flowers. I found a lovely white clock at a thrift shop. The candle holder in front of the fireplace is also a thrift shop find. I wove a strand of fake white flowers through it and lit tea candles to set the mood. Â I scattered pink petals on one table and pink baby confetti on the more casual gift table.
I also have a creation of my own on the gift table. I modge podged pages from Hannah’s favorite story book characters on the letters BABY. You can see Toad and Frog and Winnie the Pooh. I gave the Winnie the Pooh tea book and the Toad & Frog book to Hannah as a gift. After I modge podged I glued the letters together and added ribbon and fake pearls.
Our friend Rachel (whose blog I’ve mentioned several times) brought the tiered platter full of tea cakes. Her husband Al is a chef and made them. I am so thankful for her help with that and also Hannah’s family for  helping me decorate etc. We were at Hannah’s Mom’s and it was already so beautiful. I didn’t have to add much. Zoom in on the platter and you will see a baby in a teacup on top. That goes great with the invitations I sent out, which are at the bottom of the pic. I ordered them online.
I wanted to make homemade foot print cookies but my attempts failed. So I just bought pre-made sugar cookies and at the last minute I found cookie icing that hardens on spot. They turned out beautifully this way with less pressure on me. Â I bought the cookie cutters online. It was trial and error but they were a hit. I got the mini chalkboard at Michaels’ craft store. Â The favors were super easy: pink mints, Hershey kisses, and a heart charm that said “It’s a girl!“, all tied up in a sachet with pink ribbon.
Hannah’s Mom has a hot water tap so we used that to fill up tea cups and people chose their own tea bags. I had many different flavored teas. I bought nice pink and white napkins. The elegant  paper plates are super fancy and I got them online. They have a chic pink birds and flowers print.  Tea cups are expensive so I went with white plastic tea cups and I glued a pink bow with a pearl on each one.
The two games were super simple but fun. We played a diaper game. The person who found the poopy diaper won the gift basket (I used a sticker. The candy bar idea makes me nauseous). Then we played “Don’t Say It” a Baby shower version of Taboo.  I split the group into two teams. No prize for this game but the guests really had fun.  The paper flowers on the gift table were made by Olivia, Hannah’s daughter.Â
The shower was lovely and Hannah got all she needed. Lil Miriam will be her third child but it’s been awhile since Liam was born. Hannah wasn’t expecting this little one so the shower really helped. We all are excited and waiting to meet Hannah’s baby girl, maybe this week :). The shower wasn’t that hard to put together but I was very nervous because I had never thrown one before. Â Thank the Lord he helped me get it together!
Baby Shower Pinterest:Â http://www.pinterest.com/doverette/baby-shower/
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
My Family Rocks! Sunday: Hannah’s “Doll & Me Tea” Birthday Party April 21, 2013
  Hello dear ones! This past weekend Michael’s good buddy Olivia (who was born the same day) had her 7th birthday party. I asked her mom and my Best buddy Hannah to guest post. Maybe you can use her ideas for your own girly party. Just in case you didn’t see it last year, here’s the link to Olivia’s mermaid party:
Alrighty, take it away Hannah 🙂
Hey! Hannah here!  Amber asked me to guest blog about my daughter’s “Doll and Me Tea Party” for her 7th birthday. Amber’s son, Michael, attended, and while I’m not sure he was thrilled with copious amounts of pink and dolls, he was the perfect gentleman and Olivia enjoyed having her buddy there. 🙂
Michael & Liam, Olivia’s brother
Hannah & Amber
The “Doll and Me Tea” theme was something I came up with to appease my daughter, Olivia, who was determined to have an American Girl party.
See, last December, Olivia received a much anticipated American Girl doll for Christmas. We had been receiving the catalogs for a couple of years because they somehow knew we had a young daughter who needed tempting and they just started sending the darn things! I threw them out for the first year or so, but then she got her hands on one, and the rest is history, So, for Christmas this past year, she received “Caroline” and instantly decided she wanted an “American Girl” party in a few months for her 7th birthday. I told her that not every little girl has an American Girl and that they cost a lot of money, but she continued to ask. So, after brainstorming a bit, I pitched the idea to her of having a “bring your favorite doll/toy” tea party, and she agreed. 🙂
The next hurdle was that she absolutely just had to have pink and orange as the colors, and not just any pink– a very specific bubble gum pink.  I told her that I was concerned about these colors looking pretty together, but my mom– who was there for this conversation– spoke right up and said, “well, it’s her party!” So off to Hobby Lobby we went. There, in the front of the store, was a beautiful springy display of coral, pink, and magenta decor and dishes. Thank you, Lord! 🙂 They were on sale, and I had coupons, so we made out quite well. I got a couple of platters, a vase, napkin holder, and a few other decorative items.
 
Next, we went to the party store and matched plates, table cloths, and more decor to the pattern from Hobby Lobby. My favorite finds though came from online. I found plastic tea cups with straws for the kids, and tea pot lollipops for the goody bags. I also found a really cute tea pot pinata.
The cake came from a local bakery here that never ceases to amaze us. They were unsure about the orangey pink colors on the cake, but they did a fantastic job and my sweet Olivia loved the cake! It all came together quite nicely. We reused place card holders from our wedding to identify each child’s seat. 🙂
The last part was setting the table for the dolls and toys! My mom brought over the table and chairs I had as a little girl, and we added the set Olivia uses now along with some other small chairs and doll high chairs. We set out plates, plastic tea cups, tea pots, and pretend treats. As each child came in, they placed their toy in a special place at the little table.
Amber’s American Girl dolls came to tea also!
Michael’s dog “Blew” that he got from his Papa that died & Liam’s Mr. Bean doll
During the party, we took photos of each child with their doll/toy and my husband printed them out while each child decorated a tea pot picture frame to take home.
Hannah’s Mom with the kids
Michael made his an early Mother’s Day present 🙂
We also had fun with the pinata outside. It was the toughest pinata I’ve ever seen!
Olivia
Michael
Maggie, Rachel’s daughter
The kids took turns hitting the pinata for a long time. Finally James, Hannah’s husband, put the pinata out of it’s misery!
I really was worried about making this party work because it wasn’t exactly what Olivia had asked for, but we learned a lot about compromise, which is always good. We did end up with several American Girls at the party, but Buzz Lightyear and a plush Mr. Bean (that would be my son’s) also attended, along with a few other fun toys. Many of the children dressed up, which was fun.
Olivia opening presents.
Michael & Liam, best buddies.
I really think my sweet girl felt special, and that was my ultimate goal.
Hannah, a wonderful hostess 😉 (says Amber).
Now it’s time to get to work on my son’s birthday. He will be 5 and hasn’t requested anything special. Kids can be so different. 🙂 I suggested “The Lorax” because he watches it so much, and he loves the idea, so hopefully I will be able to blog about that party, too. 🙂
Liam stole the show when he dressed up as Mickey, during present time.
Thank you so much Hannah for the great post! We’d love to see more of your parties and you know we love truffula trees over here :).Â
God bless everyone & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
amberdover 