Cinderella Birthday Party

I am a little late with sharing my daughter's birthday day from December but I have to share.  I love how everything came together.  The day was magical and my daughter was so happy.  My daughter was not even one when I decided that her 5th birthday party theme would be Cinderella.  I want it to be magical.  Years ago when my son was five a mom was sharing her birthday party plans for her daughter with me.  She said in Mexican tradition they celebrate their daughter's at age 5 by throwing them a huge birthday party like a Quinceañera but it is called a Cincociera.  I was sold.  If I ever had a daughter, she was going to have one.  Years went by and I finally had my baby girl.  If you don't remember I call her my miracle baby because I almost lost her at 15 weeks when I was having a miscarriage.  Each year we celebrate this beautiful gift we received.

For the party decorations, I want to take everyone on a journey of her five years of life.  Flashback of some of our favorite memories we have had throughout the years with our Lil Bit.

Entrance-I had this sign cut out of corrugated.  We spray painted it silver.  We had blue birds cut out as well.  I added blue strips of ribbon for each year she has lived.

The main table had the cake, cake pops, and candy.  I had several candy stations throughout the house for everyone to enjoy.  I made candy centerpieces that everyone got to take home.  I did not even get a change to take a picture of those. 

I used paper flowers for the background, thanks to Joanna from Flores De Madame Mariposa. 

The birthday cake was made by my coworker.  Her cakes are delicious.  All the kids enjoyed the Cinderella cake pops.

We even had a photo booth section for all the guests to take pictures with Cinderella and Prince Charming.  The crown we had cut out and used for a previous birthday party.  We spray painted it gold for this party.  We also cut a carriage out and spray painted it with the theme colors.  It took many coats of glitter to get this affect but it was perfect.  Everyone enjoyed taking pictures with our Princess.

We set up a tent to keep the cold out.  The centerpieces were fabric pumpkins I found at the At Home Store right after Halloween.  They were the perfect color.  I had enough to give each Madrina/Padrino (sponsor).  I also printed pictures of the birthday girl that I put in silver and gold frames that we also gave to family members with thank you cards my daughter had personally signed.  I had big glitter blue bows on the columns of the tent that I got from the dollar store at Christmas time.

Even the piñata was a life-size Cinderella.  It was custom made for my daughter's birthday party.

Our princess loved every part of her birthday party.  She did not want to take her dress off even after the clock stroke midnight.  I think the best gift was daddy being her Prince Charming.

It was a lot of hard work to pull this off.  The vision I had in my head came to life.  And seeing how happy this made her was all the thank you I needed.  This was my gift to her. 

At Home Back To Campus

My son was a Junior this year and will be a Senior next year.  Oh how time has flown.  I can't believe he will be leaving for college next year.  I have one last year to help him get ready to leave the nest.

This is a sponsored post in collaboration with BSM Media and At Home Stores.  All opinions stated are my own based on my personal experiences.

As a mother of a teenage boy, I keep trying to get him to clean his room.  It has been a never ending battle.  As he gets closer and closer to leaving for college, I have been trying to help him learn a thing or two about budget, stretching his dollar, and independence.  Mami will no longer be there to nag him about his room being dirty and everything else mami nags about.  I mean I am not nagging for no reason, check out his dirty room:  (by the way, I have his permission to post.  He got a kick out of me taking a picture of his mess.  I would have been embarrassed but he was too cool.)

This is with him already having removed the tons of clothes from his bed and sorting some stuff out.  I am helping him sort out and get rid of items he does not need.  I have to keep reminding him he will be leaving for college.  In college dorm rooms, he will have to share a room, keep his mess contained, and/or never need to let it get this bad.  His bathroom is no exemption either:

Both rooms have been cleaned out, now we can talk décor.  We took a trip to our At Home Store. 

At Home Stores has been my favorite store for home décor, seasonal, and party items.  This store has so many selections at great prices.  No need for a coupon or to wait for a sale.  But they do have sales and mark downs that make their prices even lower.  Bargains you cannot say no to.

When you first walk in, there is always the most current seasonal products displayed.  Our At Home Store was having a going, going, gone sale which meant many items in each section of the store were 50% off their original low price.  Also, if you have never been, the previous holiday season items can be found on clearance as well.  Currently, Easter is 75% off.  I always walk every aisle. You never know what you will find.  As we walked each aisle, I showed my son different items he could use now and when he goes to college.  I showed him how to shop when on a budget.  We found several items he could use to decorate his room and bathroom.  There was so much to choose from.  He wanted it all.  He found the perfect bedroom décor for his room and bathroom.  He wasn't the only one that found some items too.  Check out what we bought:

 All of these items were marked down from their regular price.  This shopping trip was a great lesson on budget, shopping must haves, and do/don'ts.  Here is what he found:

After this shopping trip, we started to decorate his bathroom.  For his bathroom, we purchased a three piece set.  This set goes well with the colors in his bathroom.  It is not kiddie and it expresses his personal style.  The transformation really was inspired by these 3 items only.  We repurposed previously purchased items to finish out the look.

We are still currently working on his bedroom, but here is a sneak peek at his progress:

He is so happy with his bedroom transformation.  His bedroom reflects his style.  I want, when he goes away for college, for him to feel like he is at his "home away from home"  These items he can take with him.  He also learned how to decorate his own space and make it his own.

Check out the At Home Back to Campus page: athome.com/back-to-campus

Your college bound kids can start selecting the items they will need to be move-in ready.  At Home has created a move-in checklist for college students and their parents.  You can download the move-in checklist: AtHomeBackToCampus.  Download it or print it to have with you when you go to the store.  My son said he will be asking for At Home gift cards, so he can finish decorating his room.