Dec 4, 2008

prelude to a party-Candy Land

We are gearing up for a Candy Land Adventure. The invites are out and I am pretty happy with how they turned out. We made them in different colors. Here are a few:


the lollipops read...

Lollipops
Gum Drops
Sweets Galore
A Candy Land adventure is in store!
the back side included this message-
We don't want you to miss a lick...
please RSVP by...
No envelopes here. Guests will actually have to unwrap the pop to get all the sweet details.
All 30 invites ( yes 30KIDS have been invited) were hand delivered by a guy dressed up as Mr.Mint! Actually that's a lie (Mr.Mint didn't make the budget) but yes there are 30 kids invited.
The party takes place soon and I can't wait to share more details. Before then I would like to share one more picture just because it's kind of a funny story.
This is what I worked on Saturday...

He is not done yet but he will ultimately be one of our centerpieces. If you do not recognize him then let me introduce ; Our reader meet Gloppy , Gloppy this is our reader. Gloppy is one of the character in the Candy Land game.

When I was done molding him I showed my husband...he said oh' is that Jaba? No! I said..it's
Gloppy, he's just not done yet.I still have to paint him.

A few hours later as I was checking up on Gloppy to see if he was drying okay, my husband entered the room at the same time and started singing the Ghost busters song. "If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood...."
Yeah, I know catchy song but come on IT"S GLOPPY!

Dec 2, 2008

Gingerbread Jamborree


Just a little inspiration for a fantastic gingerbread decorating party. Lot's of fun stuff out there to include in your next little shindig. From colorful rolling pins to adorable gift tags. If you are not much of baker (like me) then check with your local bakeries and craft stores, many stores now carry gingerbread ready to decorate and some even offer full kits with gum drops, icing and all.

I will be attempting a little VIP gingerbread party at home myself and have enlisted my two little candy enthusiast and hope to share some sweet pictures very soon.

credits:
gingerbread cookie
gingerbread gift tags
gingerbread cottage play set
ginger bread house gift bag
decorated gingerbread house
rolling pins and little chef attire
sweet roll of stickers
gum drops

Nov 30, 2008

Santa Baby..

My little brother Andy and my best friend Chris both happen to be Santa babies and by that I mean they were both born in the month of December. A month consumed with Holiday parties, shopping and all things Merry. I don't doubt that they might at one point rather have there birthday parties in the middle of July! So in honor of my kid brother and BFF I have compiled a short list of Birthday themes that I believe would do well in the big month of December.

  1. Train Engines (Holiday Express)
  2. Toy Soldiers (the red, black and white ones with pink cheeks...not so much the little green ones)
  3. A Penguin Party ( a la Happy Feet?)
  4. A Winter wonderland
  5. Snow Fairy
  6. Snow Princess
  7. A Who's B-Day and yes you should invite the Grinch!
  8. Gingerbread Decorating Party ( a la Hansel and Gretal)
  9. Willi Wonka
  10. and my all time favorite ....A Candyland Adventure

Now these ideas can simply be inspiration for decor or can be full blown theme birthday parties. It is just a short list to get the wheels turning. If you have a suggestion for the list, I do hope you will share.

As for the Santa babies in my life...Happy Birthday Guys, I love you! You know me, I will always be up for a birthday party no matter what time of the year. Hey I just had a thought...if you prefer a birthday party in July we can make it a "Christmas in July" party....or not.

Nov 23, 2008

Real Life Confections- Case 1123

Meet Abigail Barnes. She is a wife, a mom and from my last count she has 3 Blogs {Piece of Cake Parties, Paper and Cake and See Jack Draw}. Where does she find the time?Who knows, but if that wasn't enough, well she also happens to bake. These are her confections...




A little self into from Abby herself..
My two sisters make fun of me. My own mother thinks I'm nuts. My husband rolls his eyes. I can't help it but to plan the party and figure out every detail, with relish! I always start with the most important element, the cake, and from there everything always falls right into place.
and what do you do when you are not baking?
When I'm not baking, I'm either cleaning the kitchen to make room for baking, or on my computer trying to discover what I would like to make. Aside from that, I have two crazy kids – my 6 year old daughter and 3 year old son – who love to "help". I also have a graphic design business that takes up a good chunk of time.
When did you first become interested in baking?
My mother made the BEST banana cream pies. The best. She would make them on a regular basis, for no reason other than it was everyone's favorite. My mother would also get together with my two aunts just before Christmas, and make hundreds of dozens of Christmas cookies to give out as gifts. My cousins and I would be locked out of the kitchen, only able to peer through the kitchen glass door, smell the wonderful scent of cookies, and hear, every few minutes, the "cookie ding" letting us all know that yet another batch was ready.
So what do you enjoy most about baking?
I love baking because there is no daily expectation. Baked goods do not need to be on the table every single night at 6pm. Baking is not cooking… I don't cook. I love baking because it is for me, when I want to do it, what I choose to make, and I get to sit back and watch the enjoyment.
Have you ever taken a class?
Yes, just recently, I took a cake decorating basics class with Melody Brandon (of mysweetandsaucy.com) at PREP Kitchen Essentials in Seal Beach. I couldn't stop talking about it for weeks. What is the first thing you ever baked?My mother is sitting here next to me as I answer these questions… I can't remember the first thing specifically, but she tells me my first project was probably cookies, and was probably a "group" project with my two older sisters.
My first "signature" baked good was (and still is) the cream puff. I made it the first time in celebration of my Grandmother's birthday almost 15 years ago. I still make it, and it still has that WOW factor.
What has been your biggest masterpiece?
My biggest (most painful) masterpiece has got to be the teapot cake I did for my daughters 5th birthday party. I found examples of it and tips on making it online on several different websites. The directions called for angel food cake baked in a round Pyrex glass mixing bowl. After the angel food blew up, I switched to regular cake (box of cake mix) and baked cake in the mixing bowl 3 times. What a mess! I just wasn't grasping the idea that the regular cake was to heavy to hold itself up. At about 11 o'clock the night before, I gave up, and told myself I would order a cake the next morning at 10am. At about 7am, I gave myself one last chance to put it together. I slowly assembled the bottom and top halves with a sliver of the third round in between. About a ton of buttercream later, I had done it! I will never do this cake again. Phew!
Do you have any other creative interests/hobbies?
You name it. Design, typography, fine art, photography, coffee, quilting, fund raising, scrapbooking, reading, interior decorating and any craft project of any kind.
Any words of wisdom for anyone wanting to get into baking?
Wisdom… I am a big time amateur, so there really isn't any wisdom to bestow. If you don't love it you won't do it, so why not hit the bakery instead?
Thanks Abby!
Images: Abby Barnes

Nov 17, 2008

Real Life Confections- Case 1122

Louise Dueholm is from Denmark and also happens to be the creator of the Cake Journal. She is a wife, a mother and oh yeah she is an AMAZING baker (self taught).
These are her confections:




more on this brilliant baker:
What do you do when you are not baking Louise? If I am not baking I am spending time answering emails and checking out other cake blogs. I do a lot of online research to see if there are any new cool cake pans, cupcake cases etc. I also love to read cake books. But because I am a stay at home mom I'm in charge of the daily household and with two kids it can sometime be hard to have time for everything at one go.
When did you first become interested in baking? I have always found baking interesting. But it started for real when I decided to make a cake for our wedding back in 2002.
What do you enjoy most about baking? Decoration!! I find it rather peaceful to sit and make sugar roses, flowers and figurines.
Have you ever taken a class? Yes and I can highly recommend it. You learn so much from it. What is the first think you ever baked? Hmm I think it was a chocolate chip cake...?
What has been your biggest masterpiece? My biggest masterpiece has to be a large wedding cake with fresh strawberries for some of our best friends wedding. The only bad thing was that I was extremely tired at the wedding reception because I hardly slept all night.
Do you have any other creative interests/hobbies? I like to paint, draw, and make fun creative activities with my kids.
Any words of wisdom for anyone wanting to get into baking? Just jump into it and keep practice and most of all have fun.
Thank you so much for participating Louise!
You can find Louise and her amazing work at Cake Journal. It is a great place to talk cake or find inspiration for your next shindig. Make sure you visit!


images: cake journal

Nov 4, 2008

Sorry for the silence

Sorry for the silence...we are in the midst of moving into a new and bigger (woohoo) place. I meant to put this little message out over a week ago but we started packing and moving and more packing and oh yeah then there was Halloween. Anyways we should be back to our norm soon enough.

Oct 19, 2008

and the winner is


lisalyn who said...
OH I would LOVE to win this book as I am working on becoming a Party Planner! :) I need lots of ideas. Lisa

Thank you to all who participated and of course to Lisa Kothari for allowing me to host a book giveaway. Please check out her site Peppers and Pollywog's it is a great resource for children's parties. While you are there, please stop by my guest post: Party for Peanuts.

I want to move to Glitterville


Oh how I love Glitterville!!! I want to live there... just the name itself is FABULOUS. If you are not familiar with them or the site, let me tell you that it's filled with the most amazing stuff. Every time I visit the site I totally feel like a 5 year old in a candy store. Just look at these darling little crowns. Halloween is possibly the best time of the year there...and Christmas...and...well you just really should check it out for yourself!

source: Glitterville

Oct 15, 2008

Bring Your Own Pumpkin

What a fabulous little Pumpkin Painting party Amy from Living Locurto put together for her neighborhood kindergarten kids.



I especially loved her fun invitations (BYOP). A free down loadable version is offered at her site .

She also provided little aprons for all the little artists and used cupcake tins for paint receptors...brilliant!

To learn more about this party and the hostess extraordinaire aka Amy, please visit Living Locurto. Thanks for sharing Amy...Fabulous Little Shindig!

images: Living Locurto

Oct 14, 2008

Play with your food...

Check out Rach at Fun Snacks for Kids. Her blog is full of great ideas and resources. You can even learn how to make slime! I know right, sounds messy...but I bet your kids would love it. So yes...you should check it out.

image: Fun Snacks for kids

Oct 13, 2008

Debut

Excited to announce that I am one of the new Team Members over at Mom Spark. My debut is today, so please check it out and take a peak at today's spooky yet fabulous party ideas.

Oct 10, 2008

Sweet indeed

I am absolutely smitten with these tags from Sweet Madys. It captures the most darling little image of Halloween. Check out what other Halloween treats are in store at the Sweet Madys Studio.

Can't wait to see what you have in store for Christmas Michelle!

Oct 9, 2008

Spooky suds

These spooky soaps caught my attention. Cute, right? See more here. They also have one with an image of the Psycho scene in the shower. Yeah, that one is actually kinda too spooky for me...I will stick to boney guy with a dash of glitter.


Oct 8, 2008

Mummy luv

I must admit, I have a soft spot for kids crafts. Especially holiday crafts. I guess I never grew out of it but how does anyone? ? Just look at this. Get yours here.




Oct 6, 2008

use caution..

I am a very cautious person. I don't run with scissors, I don't go swimming right after I eat and..well you get the hint. Seriously, I am a cautious person I always have been, even as a child. Now as a parent you can only imagine. Found this {Halloween Safety Guide}today and though it would be good to share.

It's a good site with lots of great tips on costume safety, trick or treating safety, even precautions on Halloween decorating. Unfortunately they had this long disclaimer on re posting of their info and some other legal mumbo jumbo, so "cautious me" does not want to get in trouble and therefor will follow the rules. But please check it out...better safe than sorry, right? Right.

in case you missed it here it is again.

Scooby Doo Mystery Halloween Party



As of late, I’ve kind of had a little Scooby Doo obsession! Our Natalie asked me to transform the Scooby Birthday Party that I posted a couple of weeks ago on my blog (Piece of Cake Parties) into a kid friendly, non-scary Halloween party. What could be more fun than working with ghosts, mummies and the Mystery Machine?


Invitations


You can absolutely purchase Scooby invites at your local party supply store, or you can make your own – very quickly at home. Here is my own version using a simple illustration of a spooky tree, and an image I downloaded of Scooby and friends. I’m including a blank card so you can print them at home, or better yet, add your text and email it as a pdf or jpg to your guests (save time and postage).


Decorations
Scooby and the gang usually use a pretty specific color palette of greens, yellows and oranges. To adapt their retro look for Halloween, buy balloons and streamers in dark purples, dark blues and black. An inexpensive way to really set the stage of any themed party, is to cut shapes out of construction or butcher paper and tape them to windows and walls. Here are a few for you to start with: a bat, the spooky tree, a ghost and the signature flower (I would cut it from black paper with a purple center).


Activity


Since Scooby is all about mysteries, how about a “treasure hunt”. Start by giving the children some kind of simple spy kit that could include; magnifying glass, small notepad with pen, sunglasses, binoculars or camera (obviously pretend). I’ve come up with a few generic rhyming clues that you could probably adapt to your own home, or make up your own and handwrite them on this blank clue card.

The “clues” are:

******
On this dark and haunted night, look for an orange candle shining bright.

(could this be on the dining room or kitchen table?)

Now that you've uncovered this spooky clue, hunt for a photograph framed in blue.
(print out a portrait and tape it onto a larger piece of blue paper, hang it on the wall)

Let's continue this eerie quest, you are looking to find a mirror on a chest.
(chest of drawers, or a toy chest)

Don't be surprised by mysteries in the dark, listen closely until you hear a "bark".
(do you have a family dog? You could also use a stuffed one)

Last but not least your mission is almost done, solve this icy riddle and you've won!
(you could hide ice cream treats in the freezer with a card saying "you did it!" on top – or use "sweet" instead of "icy" to lead them to some cupcakes!)

******
To make the "mystery" more spy-like, and to guide the children in the right direction, add hand made footprints to the floor. Don't have an orange candle? Substitute with items you already have in your house.


Food
How can you not make Scooby Snacks! Dog bone and dog paw shaped cookie cutters are abundant out there, how about using them to make shaped sandwiches, Jello Jigglers or Rice Krispie treats?


Cake

I recommend cupcakes (store bought or homemade with box of cake mix) for the ease of serving and clean up, and can of frosting tastes just as good to these kids as a fancy buttercream. I have also made a sheet of Scooby and friends images for you to print, cut out and tape/glue to toothpicks and arrange on the cupcakes. Super quick.


My motto has always been to use creative thinking to make any party your own, spend as little as possible and make it look homemade - even if it isn't!




Oct 3, 2008

Superfly

Found these capes at superflykidz's on Etsy and thought I would share. Oh how things have changed. Who wore a towel for a cape as a kid (raising my hand)?







My kids don't need Halloween to dress up in costume, it is actually a regular day occurrence. So in an effort to save some towels we might just have to get a couple. Don't you think they would make awesome party favors for a superhero shindig or maybe a great x-mas gift. I have my eye on the pink one with the crown....I might even let my daughter borrow it ;)

Oct 1, 2008

balloon sculpture

Wowza..check these out. The pumpkin looks like it is made of cherry tomatoes (not likely). That is a whole lot of balloons. How many can you count?



Hope this ghost is friendly. He is humongous!


Awesome work from brilliant balloon people. Hats off to them... I could barely make a balloon animal.

Image: ghost and pumpkin balloons( a special event decor)

Sep 30, 2008

Get your Groovy on...

To kick of this month of spooky I have chosen one of my all time favorite cartoon shows as an inspiration for a very smashing party. The Groovy Goolies from the early 70's (did I just totally date myself) was a take off of Filmation's The Archie Show with a monster bent. Goolies were a group of hip monsters, many of whom were horror-film monsters created in the 1930s and 1940s. There was Frankie, Wolfie, Mummy, Drac and many many more.

So why not break out all that stuff you have left from that old 70's party, hook up the disco ball and invite a few of your closest and friendliest little monsters....and go get your groovy on!
Credits: Groovy Goolies image(the secret cinema) 70's flowers(coolchaser) retro masks and disco balls (plum party) cupcake and candy creatures (Martha Stewart)

Sep 29, 2008

P is for ....


Elmo may say P is for Party but maybe P should be for Punk.
How fun is this theme? Sure...a little alternative but how fabulous are those punk rock cupcakes and come on...how often do you see a rubber ducky with studs.
So how about a 1st b-day or even a baby shower for the hippest of parents. Don't forget the Social D.
If you don't know who that is... stick to Elmo.
credits: Guitars, paper wear, and tatto bandages (Plum Party) Fun P is Punk T (The Cradle Rocks) Punk Rock Cupcakes (Cosmos Cupcakes by smcgees) Rubber Ducks (Totally Funky)

Captured Fairies

Found these at the Captured Jar Fairies site. I think they are the sweetest little jars ever!Perfect for a Fairy or Pixie party. I can see them as decorations for a whimsical table scape or better yet for an ever so enchanting party favor.
Learn more about the artist and her creations at Captured Jar Fairies.


image: fairy enchantment

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