The Party Loot

Since I had so many photos for Lucy's birthday party post (and believe me, I left a lot out), I figured I would do a separate little post to show all her fun birthday gifts (even though you probably already got a little glimpse from the actual birthday post).

One of my favorite gifts that I got Lucy was this growth chart from Paper Coterie:

I was hesitant to purchase it at first because I wasn't sure if it would be worth it but after taking it out and hanging it up, I love it! To be honest, this company often releases these on-line codes for $30 off your purchase so the growth chart was technically free (they are normally pretty expensive at $29 regular price). However, the shipping is a bit of a rip-off. I believe that they are actually a local company out of Salt Lake City but my shipping came in at $9.31. But if you think about that as the price for the whole thing and that it is customized too, I think it is worth it. And I knew that the product would be high quality because many people on-line vouched for it and I also bought one of these for my nephew for Christmas last year when I had another $30 off code (except shipping was even lower then at $7.07!). Anyway, super-high quality fabric-like vinyl that is removable. And their designs are just so darn cute! I want to make one for all my nieces & nephews now.

We got Lucy's 3 year old height recorded for posterity (she is in her lovely Ariel dress from Aunt Heidi - another birthday gift). Brandon doesn't mess around - he got the level out and everything. I was a little bit worried that it wouldn't fit because our molding was so high but fortunately, it starts at 24 inches so the bottom hits two feet off the ground.

Just about everything I bought for Lucy was using coupons or something on sale or clearance. That's how I determined what to get her - whatever was a great deal. I figure I will shop based on wish lists when she is actually old enough to make one and care about what she gets. For now, she loves just about everything.

This was another great freebie:

A customized place mat from Ink Garden using another free code. I did have to pay shipping for this as well which ended up being $3.99 but that's not bad for a high quality custom place mat. This was actually intended to be a Easter gift but she got so much in her Easter basket from Peggy, I figured that I would just save this for her birthday.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this (I was skeptical when I was ordering it that it would be junky). But it serves a great purpose - a nice surface to play with her new Play-Doh at her little wooden desk (which was actually meant to be a large stool from her Grandpa Thompson but hey, this works for her better).

The Play-Doh was another gift from me. She had been playing with it at her Auntie Emily's house with Olive and loved it so I decided to buy her some (after a $2 off coupon came out - my $5.98 purchase became $3.98!). I just wish I could have paired my coupon with a good sale price but I still feel pretty good about it.

And you see this Candy Land game? That was another score from Target - regularly priced at $7.79, I had a $3 manufacturer coupon and a $3 off Target coupon so I only paid $1.79 + tax.

Come on, you have to be impressed with that. I love Target! So my grand total for all of Lucy's birthday gifts was just $19.07 - not bad for all that stuff, huh? Okay, Okay, I know that I am a little obsessed with great deals but when you are on a budget and want to get the most bang for your buck, I get really excited. And it's not that I wouldn't pay more for her birthday gifts - it's just that I don't have to. Besides, the budget for just the food for her party was much more than all her gifts.

Lucy got some other great art supplies from other friends. Paints from Ikea with matching smock, Dot paint markers (which Olive also has and Lucy loves), and a whole Faber-Castell set of markers, beeswax crayons, and colored pencils from Auntie Kim & Marlo. One of the few toys she got was her My Little Pony which matches a couple other ones she already has so it was a great mix.

This might have been Lucy's favorite new toy - her Ariel doll from Auntie Heidi. I love how the doll is meant to look like a toddler with a big tummy instead of a sexy adult version with big boobs. A Little Mermaid party would have been a better theme to match all her presents but I'm guessing that there is not a whole lot of Nausicaa paraphernalia in the stores, otherwise, people might have bought that instead. Lucy insists that she wants to be Nausicaa for Halloween this year but we will see if that actually lasts. If it does, I'm going to have to learn how to sew or order a costume from this lady that Damian told me about.

And of course, what little girl birthday party would be complete without a couple of dresses. As also seen in one of the pictures above on Lucy, there is the Ariel dress from Auntie Heidi and the other dress is from Uncle Damian (he also got her an Ariel dress-up costume that I forgot to take a picture of).

Thank you so much to all our very generous friends and family! We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such thoughtful people.