A Pinkie Pie Birthday party and some home made sidewalk chalk

August is a busy month for us.  My husband and I have an anniversary, The Hippy Chick and Sugarwings both have birthdays, and of course, back to school time.  Which still irks me, that it comes so early.  Am I showing my age by thinking back to school should be after Labor Day?

We have had a lot of celebratiing going on.

So much so, that some days we had to double up on parties.  Sugarwings' school's open house was the same night that we went out to celebrate her mom's birthday.

My social calender has been jam packed.  A good buddy has the same birthday as the Hippy Chick and turned 50 this year, so we have had a brunch for her and a Girls' Night Out too.

I feel very blessed with all of the special occasions to attend.  And to have friends and family around me to celebrate with. My sister also has a birthday this week, but is too far away for me to be there when she blows out the candles.  

I miss being there to give her a birthday hug, but I also know that I'm very lucky to have my sisters in my life and that we are extremely lucky to be so close, even while being so far apart.  I hope that Sugarwings and Dewdrop will always have this closeness. Whenever they spat (which is a LOT) I always tell them that a sister is a forever friend.

Not that it helps. When someone takes a toy from your hands, or screams in your face, it is hard to feel overwhelming friendship and appreciation at that moment.

The party that our Hippy Chick threw was full of friendship and fun.  She let Sugarwings choose the theme, Pinkie Pie, and added lots of pink polka dotted balloons to the park by her house. Simple, colorful, and cute.  With old fashioned games that inspired lots of laughs and running. 

She provided some fun little giveaways, and made a gluten/dairy free cake with fresh strawberries.   Sugarwings and I made some side walk chalk to give to her friends too.

There isn't much to making it, but I think we could have done it a better way.  Maybe this post should be titled, "How NOT to make Sidewalk Chalk"

Here is what we did wrong. First, no recipe, no measuring, and no thinking it out. I kind of figured I'd wing it. And I was wrong, it would've been better if I'd paid attention.

First of all, I had no idea that plaster of paris would dry so fast. Our plan was to add the glitter to it, stir in some water, then pour it into a mold and swirl in food coloring to each piece of chalk in the molds.

Well, it was thick as burnt and lumpy gravy within seconds.  Seconds! I did not use enough water.  I found that if you use more water, it takes days to dry, but it is better than having it dry before you can get it in a mold because your mixture didn't have enough liquid.

And it sets up permanently. This bucket, after soaking for a week, is still coated with plaster. I thought it would wash away if I soaked it, but no, the bucket is ruined.

If you are making this, use something you want to throw away, like a Dollar Store bucket, not your favorite pail.

• 
• So, here is how you should do it:

• Put on gloves

• Add two cups of plaster of paris to a throw away bucket
• Mix food coloring into one cup of water (we didn't do this, I figured out afterwards that it would be better to stir the food coloring into the water ahead of time, instead of adding it to the mix later)
• Have your silicone molds nearby and ready to pour the mixture into ( you can also
• pour the mix into small plastic bowls, and after they dry, break the chalk into chunks)
• Dump a whole container of fine glitter into the plaster of paris, mix well
• Slowly stir in water
• Pour into the molds, let sit for a few days 
• Remove the chalk from the molds and let them sit for a few more days.  Ours took over a week to set up when we did it this way, but the chalk was really nice.  And the silicone molds made cute shapes.

 PS- happy birthday, Bobbie!

Comments

[Kim Caldwell]

I miss those piñata days and when my big ones could actually climb up on the table in front of their cakes! Party on sweet Karla! xo

[Karla Nathan]

Im soaking up every minute of it, Kim! My boys outgrew it all way too fast. Being a grammie is a wonderful experience, I get a 2nd round of all the fun times!

[Beverly]

Oh my goodness! Look how much she has grown - and she is still beautiful.

You are blessed with your family and friends, and so much joy and love to celebrate.

You know all this pink goodness caught my eye. I had to leave you a comment, and suggest you share this with us at Pink Saturday this weekend. Everyone will love seeing how much Sugarwings has grown.♥

[bobbie]

Why, thank you, sweet lady!! You just made my day!

Enjoy all your celebrating!

[Karla Nathan]

Ha, well, Bobbie, it might not be your birthday too, but have a great day, anyhow!

[Grace]

Happy Special birthday! What a fun birthday party Grace

[Karla Nathan]

It was just great, Grace, thanks! Your all white party looked fantastic. I swear, you go to the most fun things!