Favorite Vender Shout Out: Create UR Plate August 27, 2015

When I was at the BASH Conference in January, I saw the coolest personalized plates. I thought to myself, what a neat idea. Anyways, one thing leads to another and before you know it, I’m on the phone with Create UR Plate and I’m one of their featured artists. If you are looking for a unique personalized touch for an upcoming event, I can’t recommend them highly enough. And… if you happened to have a Baptism, Christening, Communion or Dedication, then you are in luck because many of the designs in my shop can have matching plate clings.

So, here are some photos from my daughter’s 8th birthday party and yes, these clings are available on Create UR Plate. Don’t you think the plates made the tables cape look fantastic? We even had plates with each guest’s name. This is perfect if you want to assign seating at your party. So much cooler than place setting cards. I put the personalized plates on top of square melamine plates that I found at Target to get a fun layered look.

Photo credit: Danielle of All Things Great and Small Photography, based out of Pace, Florida.

Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or e-mail me at apartystudio@gmail.com if you have questions. I love hearing from you guys. And if you’re interested in the panda birthday party, I will be adding the printables to my Etsy store shortly.

Easy bite size dessert idea: rose-lemon cake bites recipe August 23, 2015

My daughter, Aubrie, recently had her 8th birthday party. She wanted a panda theme and of course, I was thrilled to style this party because I think that’s such an adorable theme. So, one of the first things that I decided that I wanted on the dessert table was some sort of cute bite sized dessert to be served on Chinese soup spoons. So, I scoured the internet and Pinterest looking for a recipe and ideas. I couldn’t find anything that looked cute or sounded tasty. I called my mum and she suggested angel food cake or pound cake because all I’d have to do is cut it into cubes. When planning a dessert table, it is always best to keep things simple and not too time consuming. I looked through my pantry and came up with this awesome and delicious dessert. Here’s the recipe!

Ingredients

lemon pound cake (store brought)

rose jelly/jam

heavy whipping cream

granulated sugar (optional)

fresh raspberries

fresh mint leaves

Directions

Cut the pound cake into cubes. I purchased the pound cake from my local Publix grocery store and it was pre sliced which made cubing it even easier.

Use an electric whisk to beat the whipping cream till it’s fluffy and thick. You can add a teaspoon of sugar if you’d like it to be sweet.

Set out your Chinese soup spoons and put a small dollop of the rose jam on each spoon. If you can’t find rose jam then you can use any flavor you have in the house. I found rose jam at an International Store when I was visiting Orlando and it was imported from Turkey (Sera Magic Garden Gül Receli).

Place a pound cake cube on the jam. Then add a dollop of cream, a raspberry and a mint leaf.

I found adorable little panda bento sticks on Amazon so I added those for a fun touch. A pack of eight sticks was less than $5.

TIPS

I grow mint (as well as basil) in pots. It is one of the easiest herbs to grow and you can add it to lemonade or water for a fun twist. If you buy it fresh from the supermarket, consider placing it in water for the roots to grow and then plant in the garden or a pot.

Remember to keep your portions small. The idea is to be able to eat this in one mouthful.

VARIATIONS

Brownies with whipped cream and add a fresh cherry

Lemon pound cake sitting on blueberry jam with whipped cream and fresh blueberries

White chocolate ‘blondies’ with strawberry jam and fresh strawberries

Photo credit: Danielle of All Things Great and Small Photography, based out of Pace, Florida.

Follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or e-mail me at apartystudio@gmail.com if you have questions. I love hearing from you guys. And if you’re interested in the panda birthday party, I will be adding the printables to my Etsy store shortly.

Goodbye 2014… It was a fun year! January 10, 2015

I can’t believe we are almost half way through January! Where does the time go? 2014 was a fabulous year and on a professional level, I was very happy to experience a few firsts. My first styled photo shoot for an e-magazine. A huge thank you Andressa of Twinkle Twinkle Little Party for your faith in me. I also planned and styled a party at a large church hall. That offered a new challenge in that I had a huge area to decorate on a fairly tight budget. I also planned a joint birthday party. I was also fortunate enough to collaborate with some incredible venders from all over the United States. It’s been a busy year but a lot of fun, too.

As always, I teamed up with the amazing Danielle of All Things Great and Small Photography for all my events. She’s a pleasure to work with. I thought to share some photos of the work we’ve done together in 2014. Enjoy!

    

If you are looking for a party stylist in the Pensacola area, then I am around till May 2015. In the summer, I will be moving to Washington D.C. for a year. But, you can still stay in touch via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!

Favorite Firefighter Party Printables August 23, 2014

Having a firefighter themed birthday party? This is such a fun motif and almost all little boys, at one time or another, want to be a firefighter. I know my four year old is obsessed with firetrucks, the siren, and basically all things ‘heroic’… be it fictional superheroes like Superman and Batman, or real life heroes such as firefighters and police officers.

One of the easiest ways to get a personalized look for your party is to purchase printables or custom made items. Etsy is a treasure trove of amazing items by fabulous artisans. Here are some of my favorites!

Gorgeous invite by Swish Printables.

 

Banner by Cupcake Wishes and Birthday Dreams

 

Classic Fire House party labels by Modern Moments Designs

Firetruck printable party package by Paiges of Style

 

Firetruck printable birthday party set by Paper & Cake

Stop Drop and Roll themed fireman party pack by Lauren Haddox Designs

Water bottle wrappers by A Party Studio

Enjoy your party planning! My biggest advice- no matter your theme, style or budget- start planning early and if you decide to use party printables, then be sure to get everything ordered and printed as early as possible so you are not scrambling at the last minute to put everything together. Inevitably, it’ll take a lot longer than you expect so start early!

As always, you can visit my Etsy store, follow me on Facebook, Twitter or email me: apartystudio@gmail.com

 

 

What does for Personal Use Only mean? July 14, 2014

 

When you purchase any file from me, somewhere on the PDF will be the following statement:

For Personal Use Only! Do not distribute in any way. All rights reserved by A Party Studio http://www.apartystudio.etsy.com

What does that actually mean? “For personal use” means that the person who purchased the file from me has the right to use it for their own needs but not as a business or for profit. I recently had a client run into difficulties printing a file at Office Depot because the employee there said that ‘for personal use only’ indicates that it can only be printed on a home computer. This is incorrect.  Personal use only has nothing to do with how you print- just how you control the files. The file/s can be printed where ever you’d like and once printed, can be used for your party, baby shower, bridal shower, wedding, etc.

Thankfully, I happened to be online and saw her message so I was able to call the Office Depot store and talk to the print/copy center to explain that she had every right to print out the PDF.

If you head to Office Depot, Staples, Kinkos or any other commercial printing place, to avoid the situation that my client faced, please print out a copy of your receipt to prove you are the owner of the file and entitled to print.

If you are concerned about your print job, then I recommend using an online service.

Kelli at Print and Cut Your Printables or Andrea at Paper + Pop

Their print work is fantastic and much better quality than what you would get through an office supply store. Plus, both these lovely ladies will cut out your files which will save you so much time.

I’m gonna go off on a little tangent here since it’s somewhat related… what does the “Do not distribute in any way” mean? It means you can’t pass on the PDF files to your friends to use for their events. It also means you can’t sell resell the files.

A couple examples…

So, is it ok to purchase a chocolate bar wrapper from me for $10 and then open your own store and offer the wrapper for sale as an assembled item? Absolutely not. This is stealing and a violation of my intellectual property. If you have to place text boxes or make screen shots of a PDF file that you have purchased then you are probably doing something unethical. Sadly, I have actually had this exact scenario happen.

Is it ok to buy a non-personalized item from my store- for example, a banner that simply reads “Happy Birthday” and then make that banner available for free via your blog? You may think that is fine to do because you are not profiting when the banner is downloaded but guess what? No, that is also not ok.

If you are a event stylist and purchase a set of printables from me, can you use them for you event? Sure, that’s fine but if you want to reuse the items for another event, you need to repurchase the personalized files. The files I send are not editable so you cannot make a screen shot and then insert them in to a program such as Word and add a text box over the personalization information in order to ‘update’ the file.  Plus, you are cheating yourself because by doing this, you are reducing the quality of the file and your prints will not look nice. And honestly, the length of time it takes to do that, you may as well pay me for my services.

If you are still not clear, please don’t hesitate to contact me via e-mail! apartystudio@gmail.com

 

 

Wedding Favor Ideas May 7, 2014

I am so thrilled to be on Weddzilla‘s list of top 20 beautiful Etsy wedding favor ideas! The personalized Hershey kiss labels made it to number six!!! Here is their top 20 list:

 

1. Forget-me-not seed matchbook

2. Personalised wine glass charms

3. Woodtop votive candle

4. Sunglasses

5. Personalized shot glasses

6. Hershey Kiss labels

7. Recovery kit bags

8. Candy bar buffet bags

9. Bridesmaid kimonos

10. Natural wooden fans

11. Pink and gold chocolate favours

12. Plantable confetti hearts

13. Hip flask

14. Personalised beer glasses

15. Coffee favour bags

16. Custom wooden magnets

17. Personalised bottle opener

18. Fortune cookie wedding favours

19. Heart shaped soap

20. Bird seed hearts

 

 

You can check out the article over here. If you are looking for personalized Hershey kiss labels for your wedding or bridal shower, be sure to look through my Etsy store. I currently have 62 different color combinations and styles to choose from.

As always, you can visit my Etsy store, follow me on Facebook, Twitter or email me: apartystudio@gmail.com 

FREE Printables for Teacher Appreciation Week May 6, 2014

Looking for a little something to show your child’s teacher that you appreciate their dedication and hard work? Well, it is teacher appreciation week so this is a great time to send in a gift with your child. I made these chocolate bar wrappers with matching water bottle wrapper and oversized hang tag for my children’s teachers. I decided to go with a more gender neutral color palette this year and used blue and burn orange with a rock star theme. The PDF files are available for FREE download. Click on here to download the PDF files:

Rock Star Teacher1 TA2014_CBW_RockStar1

Rock Star Teacher

 

 

As always, you can visit my Etsy store, follow me on Facebook, Twitter or email me: apartystudio@gmail.com

Personalized Party Printables! April 19, 2014

New to the store: personalized labels for mini wine bottles April 9, 2014

 

 

I recently worked with a client to create some personalized printables for her daughter’s bachelorette weekend. She needed labels for mini wine bottles. What a cute idea! I was thrilled with how they turned out and am happy to now offer these in my Etsy store. I created the labels to specifically fit the Barefoot bottles; however, as you can see in the below photo these labels work just as well with the Sutter Home brand which I picked up at my local Target store. 

My client, Angie, said that the ladies loved the wine bottles- they were a huge hit- and this was her response when I initially sent her the PDF files: 

Tali, I LOVEEEEEEEEE the labels!! It’s almost like you read my mind on what I was thinking!  Gosh girl you are good at this!  You are DEF my FAVORITE etsy seller to date! 🙂

Can’t wait to do them!  Think I’ll have to go out and buy some more wine bottles just so I can label them! HA HA

Thank you SOOOO much for this last minute order!!

It makes me incredibly happy when I get such positive feedback. 

 

When I create new items I like to get a test print done at my local Office Depot to check for color, size, etc. I usually print everything on 110 lb card stock (and I mean everything- invites, banners, water bottle wrappers, etc) but for the test print, the lovely bloke at Office Depot used copy paper. And guess what? The labels worked perfectly using the copy paper. I peeled the existing label off the mini wine bottles and the residual glue was enough to adhere the labels. Also, since I’d brought a blush wine, I refrigerated the bottles and the condensation didn’t spoil the labels at all. If you are not comfortable using copy paper then I’d suggest a medium weight card stock (65 lb) and you’d probably need some glue dots to help adhere the heavier paper. As always, do a test print first. 

 

 

I added a cute fake barcode to the labels and the numbers represent the couple’s wedding date. In this case, they are getting married on May 3, 2014. Of course, you can opt for the date of the bachelorette party instead of the wedding date. 

If you’d like mini wine bottle labels for an upcoming event but these colors don’t work for you, then you can simply purchase the custom color change fee listing in my store. Yep folks, for only $5 I will adjust the color to suit you needs on any of my printables. I have a large selection of color swatches or you can send me your color inspiration and I’ll do my best to match the shades and colors. There is always a little discrepancy with regards to color as each monitor is calibrated differently but I can usually get pretty close 🙂 

 

I hope this gives you some ideas if you having a bachelorette party. I think the mini wine labels would be cute for a 21st birthday party, too. As always, you can follow me on Twitter, like my Facebook page or check out my super awesome Etsy store 🙂 If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I’ll get back to you or e-mail me: apartystudio@gmail.com  

Ideas for Hotel Welcome Bags March 26, 2014

My poor blog has been so neglected. I have so many parties that I want to share with you guys, including photos and details from my children’s birthday parties last year. First things first though… today, I am sharing with you photos that will hopefully give you some ideas for a hotel welcome bag. What’s a hotel welcome bag? When you are hosting an event and have guests from out of town, it’s nice to have the hotel leave a welcome bag or basket in the guest’s room. These can be elaborate or a simple note with a bottle of water and snacks. It is a way for you to acknowledge that they’ve travelled aways to be at your event and you appreciate this.

A couple years ago, we hosted an event in Warner Robins, Georgia and had guests traveling from Florida, Illinois, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Mississippi to be with us for the weekend. We hosted a dinner in the evening and enjoyed the second night in the hotel’s beautiful gardens with an impromptu Champagne and appetizers gathering. 

When we first arrived, I gave the hotel receptionist bags to place in each guest rooms, including a couple extra bags for the children, a thirteen year old boy and his five year old sister.

 

Generic welcome bags…

I used plain white bags that I found at my local Target in their party department. I added a 3 inch square sticker to the front and a coordinating hang tags which I attached to the bag with some black tulle. I decided to with a classy teal blue, white and black color scheme and because I felt it was elegant and not too feminine. If you’ve followed my work for any length of time, you’ll know that I love mixing patterns so I used some damask and stripes.

These bags contained a couple bottles of water and a glassine bag filled with Hershey kisses. I put personalized labels on the water bottles that read “Welcome to Warner Robins” and personalized stickers on the chocolates, too. All these labels are available via my Etsy store. Inside, I placed some snacks… a couple bags of potato chips and a box of imported cookies.

Depending on your event and the location, you can tailor your bags more. For example, if your event is in Las Vegas for a bachelorette party, how about including small bottles of wine, Gatorade and granola bars (energy for the morning after a hard night of partying), a pack of playing cards and some poker chips? Maybe even an information sheet with rules for various card games. 

On the other hand, if your event is a destination wedding on a tropical island, you could include sunscreen, lip balm with SPF, bug spray, postcards, bottle of local beer, dried fruit and cookies from a local bakery and maybe a beach towel embroidered with the guest’s name or monogram. 

Whatever you choose to put inside, don’t forget a note. I decided to print out an itinerary to make sure everyone know what was happening, when and where. Include full addresses if people have access to a car. I also made sure cell phone numbers were on the welcome note so that any guest could get hold of me if they had questions. 

 

 

For the teenage boy… 

I included a bag of potato chips, an organic juice box, a bottle of water (with personalized label, of course), a puzzle book and a trade paperback novel. What book do you get a teenage boy who loves to read and has probably read all the latest best sellers? Well, I ordered a copy of Sue Townsend’s The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13 3/4 from my favourite book store, Barnes and Noble. This was a book that was highly popular when I was a kid and I remember it being laugh out loud funny so I was pretty sure this teenager would have never read it. If you are stuck with what book to get, you can always ask the parents for a few suggestions. 

 

For the five year old girl…

I decided to go with a fun Disney theme and added a touch of sass by utilizing a fun zebra print and hot pink. Of course, her welcome bag had a hang tag with her name on it and inside I include a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse coloring and activity book with stickers, a pack of crayons, a cute little Minnie Mouse handbag, a Minnie Mouse t-shirt (both of which were inexpensive finds at my local Walmart store) and of course, the necessary snacks- a bag of potato chips, organic juice box, and a bottle of Junior size water with personalized label. 

Again, you can let your destination dictate what you place inside your welcome bag. If you are doing a beach wedding, then something along the lines of sand toys, oversized sunglasses and baseball cap would go over really well. Or if the hotel has a beautiful pool, then perhaps some pool toys such as dive sticks or a blow up beach ball? 

 

Hope this gives you some ideas. Don’t be afraid to be creative and if you are on a tight budget, remember that even a simple note would be appreciated by your out of town guests. As always, you can follow me on Twitter, like my Facebook page or check out my super awesome Etsy store.