Inspirations March 30, 2011

My son’s first birthday is coming up. His party will be at the end of April. Deciding on the theme for his party was harder than I’d expected. For my daughter’s first birthday party, I knew months in advance that I wanted a ladybug theme… but for my son, I’ve had a harder time deciding. And, he’s too young to tell me.

So, I found inspiration from our surrounding. Here are a couple photos of his bedroom and the amazing view he wakes up to every day. We are very fortunate to live right on the water in beautiful Jamestown, Rhode Island. The pretty colors outside have influenced his birthday party theme. We’ll be celebrating his birthday with a sailboat/nautical theme. Over the next couple weeks, I’ll give you sneak peeks of his party decorations and invites but for now… here’s the inspiration:

The colors I’ll be using are: light blue, navy blue, rustic orange, dark red, beige, and brown. Of course, there’ll be some plaid because that is sooooo cute.

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Inexpensive party food… a few ideas March 24, 2011

For children, the best part of any party is playing games with friends, eating cake (or cupcakes!!) and general running around. Food is not high on their priority list. It is almost impossible to get my daughter to eat when we go to parties. She is so excited and is darting around having fun that she doesn’t want to stop for food, even her favorite pizza. This means that you can keep this aspect of your party really simple. And you don’t have to go to a huge expensive either. By keeping this in mind, you can free up your budget a little bit and spend more on party decorations, photo props and party favors.

So, here are a few easy snack ideas and menu choices that should appeal to the little ones and not break the bank!

 

Popcorn is delicious, healthy and kids love it. Be careful though if there are going to be any young toddlers at the party because popcorn is a choking hazard. You can get really cute popcorn bags online. 25 bags for $3.50. That is a great deal!

Popcorn bag

 

And  how about pretty fairy bread? Simply take sliced white bread, cut off the crust and get the slices into perfect squares. Spread with butter then cut diagonally in half so that each slice gives you 2 triangles. Now sprinkle with cupcake topping! The sprinkles stick to the spread. How cute and easy!

Fairy bread

You can also use cookie cutters to make pretty shapes. This is a fun and simple alternative to the basic sugar cookie. Depending on the age of the children at the party, you could set up a station where kids make their own fairy bread! Children love sprinkles.

 

Of course, if you don’t want the kids too hyped up on sugar and want to offer something healthy then fruit  kababs are the way to go! These look beautiful and are so simple- and the adults will loves these, too. Simple cut your fruit into chunks and skewer with a kabab stick. Any of the party picks in my store can be made on bamboo skewers instead of tooth picks! Everyone loves fruit kabobs. You can even offer some sweet dipping sauce to go with these. If fruit isn’t in season then you can skewer marshmallows onto your party sticks!

Fruit-kabob platter

 

 

If you are going to have a lot of adults at your party then grilling burgers and hot dogs is a simple and fun menu. Simply add a bowl of coleslaw or potato salad and you are all set. The men love the grill so this is a good way to get dad involved. Setting up a ‘toppings’ station looks attractive and lets everyone personalize their burger! You can keep the toppings real basic or go all out with gourmet mustard, ketchup, hot sauce, various cheese slices, pickles, relish, sliced onion, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, avocado slices, etc. This also works good if your party is for older kids.

BBQ

 

Hope this gives you some fun ideas. Let me know what your favorite (inexpensive) party menu items include!

4 amazing SWEET party favors

I have been seeing some really fun party snacks recently. In fact, these are so cute that they also double as party favors when individually wrapped and tied with a party tag. When my daughter comes home with a party goody bag full of little plastic toys (aka choking hazards for my 10 month old) made in China, I cringe… and mysteriously, one by one, over a period of a few days, the plastic favors end up in the bin. Take a look at these alternatives and let me know what you think! You can make all these at home- you just need a few basic supplies, some patience and (I imagine) a couple hours undisturbed in the kitchen! If you click on the photos, you’ll be taken to a simple to follow tutorial. But if the thought of melting chocolate freaks you out, there are plenty of places on line where you can order these little gems!

 

1. Chocolate dipped oreo pops:

Chocolate-dipped oreo pops

 

 

2. Chocolate-dipped pretzel rods:

Chocolate-dipped pretzel rods

My son’s first birthday is coming up at the end of April so I’ll try making the chocolate dipped pretzels for that. I’ll let you know how it goes and if it really is as easy as the direction look! I figure that the toddlers and babies love gnawing on the pretzel rods and the other moms are going to love me when their babies come home on a sugar high! Actually, I’m sort of joking there… there’s not THAT MUCH chocolate on these… ha ha ha!

I actually think that the chocolate-dipped pretzel rods could be a fun project to do with my 3-year old daughter.

 

 

3. Cake balls:

Chocolate covered cake balls

Red velvet cake balls

Do you think these taste as good as they look? I love that they look like truffles… but are actually perfect for little boys and girls! So decadent! Again, these make fabulous party favors. Put some in a cute ‘Chinese’ style take away box. I love the  clear take out boxes which can easily be spruced up with a little ribbon and a party tag.

 

 

4. Cake pops:

Cake pops

These make such a cute alternative to traditional lollipops and are basically cake balls on lollipop sticks. I recommend perfecting the cake balls before moving onto this technique. Personally, I’m not that great in the kitchen so I’ll be buying these on the internet! You can buy cake pops on Etsy. A dozen for about $26. With shipping the cake pops cost over $3 each. I imagine this is a great deal considering the supplies you’d go through when trying to perfect making these!!!! Not to mention the time.

 

So, there you have it. Four of the most trendy edible party favors! Hope you enjoy and are inspired to do something a little different. Have you offered something special and unique at a party recently? Or seen something incredible? Leave me a comment. I LOVE comments and I LOVE hearing about people’s parties! Also, I have subscribers in England… I am curious about trends over there!

 

Tutorial: The Silk Flower March 17, 2011

You will need:

Silk flower

Lined double prong alligator clip

Hot Glue

Rhinestone Embellishment (optional)

 

Step 1

Cut the stem off the flower. Discard the plastic green “crown” so that all your have are the leaves.

Cut stem off the flower

Step 2

Separate each layer. We are going to glue these on the alligator clip, one layer at a time. We’ll start with the bottom layer and work our way to the top (smallest) layer.

Separate each layer

Step 3

Put hot glue on the alligator clip and on the largest layer of the silk flower.

Hot glue

Step 4

Press the flower on the alligator clip and hold to the count of 10.

Press flower on alligator clip

Step 5

Repeat with all the additional layers.

Repeat

Step 6

Once all the flower layers are glued on the clip in a stack, take your embellishment and glue it in the middle of the flower. If you don’t have an embellishment, you can use the ‘center’ of the flower and that’ll give you a more ‘natural’ look.

Embellish the center

Enjoy! And be creative:)

In hair