Happiness is a Busy Bookshelf

A man's bookshelf will tell you everything you'll ever need to know about him.

                                                                                                               - Walter Mosley

I could not agree more with that quote. If people don't know what to get me, you can't go wrong with a good book. I believe you can never have enough books. I spent this past week working on this crate bookshelf. I have wanted to build this for some time now. This shelf is 9 crates and I bought them at Walmart. There are other stores that also sell crates too.

Things you need for this project:

• 9 crates or however many you want for your bookshelf. I bought the biggest size they have. I can't remember on the top of my head the measurements (so sorry) 
• Minwax Stain. I got the Jacobean color. It looked different on the can; however, you just never know how it will turn out once put on different woods. I like how ours turned out. 
• Minwax finishing was. This helps protect the stain and wood after you are finished. 
• About one inch screws. We bought the brown dull looking ones to blend in with the bookshelf. 
• Corner Brackets. This is used to anchor it to the wall. I highly suggest anchoring it.
• A bunch of old rags for staining.
• Sander and sand paper 

I believe that is all I needed for this project. I started out staining a couple crates a day during Johnathan's nap. I did not do much sanding and you could just do it by hand, but I smoothed down some of the edges on the shelf. Use the rags to wipe the stain off when applied to give it that rustic look. After about 8 hours to dry, apply the finishing wax and then wipe down after about 10 min.

You may need to shift the crates around until you get an pretty even looking bookshelf. Once you have it how you want it, start putting screws in using a drill is easiest. We put about 4 screws for each section. Then we finished off anchoring it to the wall. We used the corner/L bracket to make this happen. Since we were wanting out bookshelf at an angle, we had to bend the bracket a bit and make it fit. You won't have to do that a whole lot if you are just putting it flat against the wall. I love how it turned out.

Birthday on a Dime

Johnathan's birthday was not really spent on only a dime, but it was very much budget friendly. I am very much a party planner. The party most people know me for is my Halloween Parties. I go all out for Halloween. I love being the hostess. Planning is right up my alley, and I am always looking for the most affordable way to make my vision happen. I don't feel like birthday's need to be extravagant. There are a lot of things you don't need for a birthday party (child and adult) in order to have a blast. Birthdays have one reason and that is to celebrate an individual. Celebrating the fact they exist. Glenn and I talked about how we want to do birthdays in our family. We figured we would get the child mostly what they need and then have something to create a memory.

Johnathan, in my opinion, had the best 1st birthday ever! We got him a t-shirt because he is outgrowing his 9 month clothes and needs more 12 month size. We got spoon and forks for him along with one of those popper push toys (bought for $2 at a garage sale). For his big birthday present, we took him to the Idaho Fall Zoo and then bought him a puzzle with animals at Sam's Club. It was a fun filled birthday weekend!

Now birthdays differ from the age on what you end up doing, but let's not start breaking the bank with the very 1st birthday.

So how exactly did I keep a budget friendly 1st birthday for us all to enjoy:
1) Decorations.

Birthdays don't need a lot of decorations. If you do need decorations, get something that can be reused for all birthdays. Especially for a 1 year old. They won't care or remember the 50 balloons you decided you needed and the ball pit (all unnecessary if you ask me).

I decided I wanted a fun birthday banner to use for all future birthdays. I downloaded this fun banner and printed it off. I then got some cardboard to keep it stiff and self laminated the banner to keep it looking nice. I finished off with a rope and called it good. That's all we had and needed.

 To download your own birthday banner, here is the PDF: Birthday Banner

2) Budgeted for the Month

Glenn and I make a monthly budget the week before the new month. It helps us to see exactly where our paychecks are going and how much money we have left to save. Birthdays are no surprises. You know they are coming. So, you can't have the excuse of splurge spending if it is something that you know will be happening that month. We set aside the money needed for the couple gifts we got Johnathan plus the zoo and had a stress free party because we were not worried about the money.

 3) Made our own cake, food, etc.

I am in no way a cake decorator. My frosting job is not spectacular. Glenn and I make cheesecakes for birthdays. They are great because you don't have to decorate them with fancy designs and frosting. I was thinking about what I would make for my 1 year old's birthday. I did not want to load him up on sugar, but I wanted to make him a little cake. I found this perfect recipe for baby's first birthday cake! Before I get into that, we made Johnathan whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast (he loves pancakes) and pizza and watermelon (some other favorites). I made everything from scratch (expect the watermelon of course).

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes Recipe--I used dark chocolate

Whole Wheat No Rise Pizza Dough  --our favorite pizza dough recipe!

 Finally for the desert!! I made this yummy no sugar banana cake! It was a smash! I made a little smash cake for Johnathan and then had some cupcakes for some of the friends that came over to help us eat all this food. I also made some mini Cheesecakes, so we can have plenty to go around. Johnathan loved his banana cake. It made the perfect 1st birthday cake!
Healthy No Sugar Banana Cake Recipe Recipe
Easy Mini Cheesecakes Recipe

 4) Did not cater every detail to the guest

This is one thing that I think people lose themselves in when planning a celebration. They think they need to cater to every need of the guest. We invited a couple friends over, but it is the choice of the guest if they want to eat or participate in what I have provided. The birthday party is intended for the person you are celebrating for. If you know someone is coming over that has a special need, you may consider catering something to their need in food, but don't go all out for that person because it is not their party after all.

5) Take your own pictures

I see no point in paying someone to take pictures of my child smashing a cake in their face. I can get just as cute pictures with my own camera. If you really want them to look professional. . . consider having someone just edit the ones you took or learn how to edit pictures yourself. It will save you time and money.

6) Have fun.

Who's birthday is it anyways? It should be about them. Growing up I always had birthday parties. It changes being on the mom side of things now. It really is a reason to celebrate and make that person feel special. I saw Johnathan come into this world and now he deserves a special day all to himself.