Balloon: It's a 4 Letter Word

My friend Robyn approached us (our little girls' night out group) last Saturday night and said that she is in her time of need and since we are her friends, we're supposed to be there for her. She needed our help. So, Erin and I, being the great friends we are, made plans to meet up with Robyn at my house to help her with this project. When she told us it was to help her make flip-flops for a group of kiddos that she volunteered to make gift baskets for, we had no idea what we were signing up for!!

Last night was our big craft night. Here's what we were making:

Balloons are knotted around the straps to make these flip flops. This was the pair Robyn brought for us to use as a guide. Cute, right?

Erin and I think these are pretty cute and they look pretty easy so we'll have them whipped out in no time! Ha!!! Robyn had a whole pair completed before I had 3 balloons tied on my first pair.

There's a formula and a strategy, you see. Lay out the balloons from the package, divide all of the colors so that there are 9 balloons on each section and no 2 colors end up next to each other. Then the fun begins. (insert sarcasm)

Now, I've been tying a lot of balloons lately because we've been having some pretty fierce water balloon fights here at the Kilburn house, so you'd think I would be a pro. Not so much. 

These were not perfect. Centering the balloon is essential.



And if you pull too hard when you're knotting the balloon, the balloon breaks. That equals not perfect.

I'm still working on the 3rd balloon on my first pair and Robyn is finished with a pair already! Notice the balloons laid on in front of her ready for her next pair.

Even though I'm moving slow, we were having a great time chatting and singing along to some 80's and 90's tunes. I even took a quick break to do my interpretive dance to "Sweet Dreams" when it came on.

Easton snapped a pic of us working hard. At this point we're still smiling. :)

Erin singing a happy tune. Isn't her blingy hat cute??? ;) 

I kinda lost track of my attempts, but eventually I got the hang of it. By then, it was time for a break.



Dessert break!!



Easton was all sugared up after dessert and wanted in a pic. Jazz hands!!







Finally, after nearly 3 hours of (almost) non-stop balloon tying, we finished!

24 shoes. 432+ balloons. 10 hurting fingers. Too many laughs to count.  

I'm hoping there are 12 very happy little girls after this project, because let me tell you, I have 10 very unhappy little fingers. My fingers are still hurting almost 24 hours later! I still had a blast hanging out with the girls. I just ask that all balloons be kept far away from me for at least the next 6 months.





Goal Accomplished in 3...2...1! (Insert party horn sounds, clapping and confetti here.)

So one of my goals for the summer was to get my very own blog up and running. I've discovered that I kinda like to write. And Facebook always tells me that my statuses are too long. And that really ticks me off because I don't want to have to abbreviate (that's super hard for the teacher in me!) or change my words just because there's a limit on the number of characters I can use. Sometimes descriptions and details are really important to the story, you know? Sometimes I just have a lot to say. So I figure a blog is the way to go! Also, Debbie Russell told me to. And who am I to argue with D. Russell?!?!? ;)
 
I'll admit, I have a little performance anxiety. I'm sure it'll get better with each blog. Just like stripping down naked to change costumes backstage between performances. The first time is a little uncomfortable but the more you do it, the easier it gets. Blogging compared to nakedness...you never saw that one coming, did you?

So here it is. My blog. My Wildfire Ramblings.
Enjoy!