You can’t use up creativity.

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou

Finding little ways to use my creativity does not come as often as it used to. Although recently I have had a few small and fun opportunities to be creative and conquer some Pinterest projects this last month.

First I took advantage of Valentine’s Day. For Gracee’s awesome teachers – we gave them Meyer’s Hand Lotion with Gracee’s little hand print saying “Hands Down You’re The Best!” For my co-workers I bought a bottle of orange Fanta (when was the last time you had a Fanta? I forgot how deliciously refreshing an orange soda is!) and made little notes that said “Thank you for being Fanta-stic!”

Next I was asked to help decorate a 60th Birthday party for a close family friend. Party/event planning will forever be my passion, so when I was asked for creative help I was thrilled! The birthday girl wanted a welcoming fun environment that did not feel to formal. She wanted to include her collection of wind-up toys on the tables, along with some board games to keep guests busy while spending lunch with her. My job was pretty easy with these requirements.

I went to Costco the day before the party and purchased 3 large bouquets which gave me plenty of flowers to work with to create 8 floral center pieces. Not to mention the flowers have decorated my dining room table for the last month and are still beautiful!

I found a great set of 60th Birthday photo booth props from Amazon. I thought these would not only be great to take photos with, but would also add a “60th Birthday” element to the decor.

Amazon is a great source for balloons as well! When it comes to balloons I believe they are an awesome way to fill a room, but am not a fan of paying too much for air that gets popped at the end of a party. Although, I have learned if you purchase the balloons from Amazon and then visit a grocery store florist for helium for only $1-2 per balloon, it is worth it! Any other balloons I always go to the Dollar Store, where you can get the mylar balloons for only a dollar with all the festive balloon weights to choose from.

Finally, I chose a checkered linen overlay to play off of the game board theme and give the room some extra pizzazz. Gayle Orth Catering did a beautiful job with the lunch items and with their help we went from an empty room to being ready for guests in just 40 minutes (teamwork makes the dream work!).

This whole experience made this momma’s heart very happy. I love the opportunity to not only tap into my creativity but to help celebrate someone who deserves nothing but the best on their birthday!

 My last project was a Pinterest success! I have been on the search for a large stand up number 1 for you know who’s first birthday photo shoot and party. I was not successful in finding a number 1in stores, but found a photo on Pinterest of one made out of soda boxes. This was a Pinterest post that was simply just the photo, so my trusty teammate, aka my Hubby, grabbed the scissors, tape and went for it. We first taped one box to where the handle was on top of the other box. Then we took the third box and made slices along the seams near the handle so that the box could fold in half. We continued to make the slices longer as we saw the box needing to fold more; and taped that to the top of the box standing in the middle. It was then time to wrap. After realizing the roll of what I thought would be sticky paper wasn’t sticking or taping to the boxes – I thought we were headed quickly down the “Pinterest Fail” road – until we realized the hot glue gun was going to  be our saving grace and sure enough we ended up with a beautiful sparkly 1 for our soon-to-be sparkly 1-year-old.

I love that creativity is like riding a bike. I felt as though I had been out of the creativity game for to long and all was lost, but it’s moments like these that bring me so much joy. Between Pinterest projects, parties and the Peterson Party blog, I hope to continue to use more creativity in order to expand my creativity.