Twins 5th Birthday Fairy Party

It's been a little over a week now since we officially have three 5 year olds running around our house now. If you're confused by that, our oldest is still 5 and will be 6 in September--her and the twins are 10.5 months apart!

We celebrated their big day in fairy style with just our family for a sweet morning brunch. Anything having to do with fairies or princesses is all they've been into lately, which I kind of love to be honest. I love to watch their imaginations run wild as they dress up and pretend and invent new ways to play together. It brings me back to all the things I used to do as a kid and all of a sudden I'm 5 years old again too.

I scored some things on Amazon for the party like these dresses and shoes that the twins have been wearing non stop. For the birthday activity all the kiddos painted and decorated fairy houses to take home. I was so surprised at how into it they all were and loved that it was something they all were excited about. Seeing each little house at the end of it all was probably my favorite, they all turned out so dang cute!! I love making intentional times like this at their parties, a little activity they can all look forward to and remember back on  as they grow up.

These twins of mine have sure given us more life and laughter and challenge than we ever imagined, but reflecting on this past year with them was something that made Shane and I both choke up at the thought of how sweet our year with them has been. They are feisty and fun, and strong-willed and kind and creative and smart and determined. So many similarities between them, but each in their own unique and different way. I'm pretty proud I get to be the one they call mom and I loved celebrating them in this way.

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Here are a few links and inspiration ideas for more things I grabbed for the party in case you were wondering:

Girls fairy outfits: Most of it I found on Amazon, all linked here

Fairy houses and accessories: Houses and mini mushrooms I found online & the rest I grabbed at the dollar store like the moss, clear stones, and butterfly stickers. Similar items here
**Dollar store is a great place to browse for cheap craft stuff. (the adults helped hot glue the stones and moss on once the houses were painted)

Craft paint: All the craft paint I grabbed for .50¢ each at Walmart--  a little tip: I chose 6 colors that all coordinated so it wasn't a big eye sore of color by the end of it ;)

Table decor: I usually browse the birthday section at Target for some cute things, like the gold paper plates and scalloped white table cloth. For flowers I bought the greenery fillers and cheapest pink ones at our local grocery and sprinkled them around the house in jars to add a pretty touch. I used the moss and stones and wooded tree pieces we had laying around as the center of the table to make it look "fairy garden" like. 

Cake: I love to have my kids bake the cake with me and decorate it together for their party--a little tradition we started a couple years ago. I found some fun edible glitter spray and sprinkles in the baking section at Walmart for these that I've used over and over again for the last few parties. (Walmart surprisingly has a ton of fund baking stuff to make cakes and desserts pretty if you're into making them yourself)

Cake topper: I was inspired by this pin I found on pinterest and made the number 5 myself with glitter

Fairy crowns: I made these myself out of craft things we already had at our house and grabbed some fake flowers from the dollar store to add. I will give a little tutorial on that soon! 

Fairy wings: These I also saw at the dollar store (win!!) and grabbed 8 of them for the kids. They were an ugly lime green color to begin with so I bought gold metallic spray paint to change them up and make a little prettier.

Final touch--Fairy topper Illustrations: The little fairies I illustrated and taped onto a wooden stick and place around the flowers and on top of the cake was a last minute idea I had. My girls are ALWAYS asking me to draw things for them these days so it felt fitting to draw them a fairy for their party too. They were quite a hit with them!

I wanted to gift these fairy illustrations to you as well just for saying "thanks" for being here and following along! Simply download the illustrations here, cut them out and add a stick to the back with some tape or glue. If you end up using them I'd love to see how it turns out so don't forget to tag me on Instagram @coleykuyperart #coleykuyperart.

Twins 4th Birthday!

Yes, I realized that it is OCTOBER already and I'm JUST now posting these. But I'm documenting them nonetheless. The twins turned 4 in July and we celebrated with a sweet and simple rainbow popsicle party. Having a summer birthday growing up in Phoenix doesn't give much room for doing anything outside other than swimming. And I'm sure you can see by the sweaty glow on our faces in these pictures that this day was a HOT one. But it didn't stop us from doing something special. Swimming was their favorite activity all summer so it only made sense that we added that into the fun. This summer they both learned how to swim on their own fully so that was another milestone to be remembered in this fourth year of their life. 

These twins of mine never cease to keep me on my toes, constantly challenging the boundaries and figuring out what they can and can't get away with. It's exhausting to say the least, but recently the thing I've reflected on most in being their mama is how much of myself needs to grow up. The things that are hard in parenting them have began to shift my perspective and grow my heart in ways I didn't know needed to grow before. And for that I'm eternally grateful for this gift in them that I see God has given. Apart from the hard stuff, they are the epitome of joy and excitement and all things FUN. They know how to laugh at the silliest things and create beauty and kindness around them. 

Throwing this rainbow themed party for them was just a reflection of who they are...bright, beautiful, and something you always want to be around. We ate melted popsicles, swam until the sun went down and celebrated with homemade rainbow cupcakes. These girls have been a surprise and challenge since the moment we found out they were arriving, but my heart couldn't be more thankful for them and how they have made our family what it is today. 

Wonderland Halloween

These might be my favorite costume I've put together for the girls yet! The idea came to me earlier this year when we visited Disneyland. Raleigh kept saying her favorite ride was the teacups, although she hadn't even been on it yet, haha, maybe something about the spinning cups and colors she liked so much!?!... I dunno...But I went with the idea and thought how adorable she'd look as a little Alice. Plus, how cute would the twins be dressed up as the Tweedle TWINS! 

I searched all over for the perfect "Alice" dress that could of course be worn again over and over and this one from Alice & Ames in blue made for the perfect fit. I added a little collar to it to fit the look and used the apron my grandma made for my life size Raggidy Anne doll I had when I was little. How sweet is it that it fits my 4 year old daughter now!?! which also probably makes it my favorite part of the whole piece. I wasn't sure how the twins would take the idea when I asked if they wanted to be Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, but once they saw the dresses I had picked out for them on Etsy to make the costume a little more feminine they were all in! Sage still just goes with whatever I say she's gonna wear, so she makes it pretty easy. And hearing her say "I gon be wabbit" in excitement made it that much cuter on her! 

Since the girls were little we have always spent Halloween somewhere around Southern California. Each year we travel around Phoenix and So Cal with my husband as he leads a basketball tour with our ministry, Identity Hoops International. Since we never know what our Halloween night will look like I still love to keep the tradition of dressing up a fun fall activity for our family. The girls couldn't wait to see what they looked like in their costumes, so I geared them all up for a little photo shoot one night last week before we headed to a local fall festival. They were so giddy and excited to wear it around town, which is what I love to watch most as they get dressed up. I had hopes for me and Shane dressing up with them, which I always love to do, but with a nearly 6 month pregnant belly and a handful of other things to get done I couldn't quite pull it off for us this year. BUT I have high hopes for our ensembles next year, especially since we'll have another little one in tow! Until then, hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween. 

Girls outfits:

Raleigh "Alice in Wonderland"- dress: Alice&Ames // shoes & tights: Target// headband: handmade//
apron: vintage 

Joci & Jaelynn "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum"- jumpers: Etsy// shirts: Zara kids// hair clips & neck ties: handmade

Sage "White Rabbit"- shirt: Target// sweater: Zara Kids// leggings: Zara Kids
Kitten & Backyard courtesy of my sister in law ;)