Part Salvadorean

Not me. My kids. When I came across this party. My heart just melted AND I got the biggest craving for fried plantains. I grew up on them, can never say no to them. They are my little fried heaven AND high in potassium. But I digress.

Beyond adorable. Creative. I'm talking handmade goodness. I was completely SMITTEN with this cutey of a party and felt compeled to share. I figure it was new to me so it may be new to you?
It is after all, a small world after all:)

(sorry, couldnt resist)

cue music!

There is just one moon,

And one golden sun.

And a smile means,

Friendship to every one.

Though the mountains divide,

And the oceans are wide,

It's a small world after all.

~Everybody now!~

It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.

It's a small, small world.

Read all about this party here.

all images via Nested

Favorites Friday

Trying something new here. I just want to share some favorites, some finds, some fun. You may have already come across it and you may have not but to me they are my favorites this week!

Favorite Invites

see more here fron Jennifer Birkhard

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Favorite Party

Hudsons 2nd birthday...see more here from Jenny Cookies.

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Favorite How To

Pretzel Crayons

a Printable and how to via Parties by Hardie

That wraps up my favotites for this week. Hope at least one is new to you and I really hope you will share one of your favorites this week so I can go check it out! Who knows...maybe it will be one of my favorites next Friday.

Enjoy your weekend!

After all....

A girl is allowed to change her mind, right?

So she did! Even after her resident party planner (AKA-MOM) dreamed up and purchased fabulous items for a banquet of a Kai Lan party. But that's okay...she takes after mommy AFTER ALL.

Fortunately I love and WILL get around to using all our goodies purchased in China Town a few weeks ago. Plus, I work best under pressure and with a dead line! So 3+weeks and counting for a Whimsical of a Mad Tea Party...Little Shindigs Style of course. We are FOR SURE about this theme...plus we already booked Alice & the Queen of Hearts, not too sure about the Mad Hatter himself but you know him. Oh yeah...don't you know D's mom has the direct numbers to such characters...like Cinderella, Tinker Bell and EVEN Santa! Thats what she tells all her friends anyway!
Still had to share a few pics of our impromptu photo shoot for the party that we are again NOT having.Oh well, so much for my little Kai Lan...check out her FIERCE pose though. Not bad for a soon to be five year old.

Z-eye Jeh-en!

FOUR!!!!!

My son will be 3 this years but I am thinking this theme might be fun for his 4th. Now I know the correct term is "fore" but I think it would be funny anyway.

My son goes to the driving range with his dad and owns his own set of irons. His little golf bag sits next to daddy's. On Sunday morning I tell him Dad went to "work" while he is actually at the course but it saves me from the tears and the heartbreak ...trust me it is HEARTBREAK! He absolutely LOVES golf and will actually sit and watch tournaments with his dad.
As for me, well I am a TERRIBLE golfer and my little Tiger already has a better swing then me and by "better" I mean he hits the golf ball every time he swings. If you haven't tried it...trust me it is A LOT harder than it looks.

Anyways, I think it would be a fun theme to develop (I have some time). I am thinking a Tourney and a clubhouse...maybe I can even have a little Green Jackets made!
Wha do ya' say??

Ni Hao

She has finally decided! It is a Kai-lan Birthday party! We have toyed with a couple ideas from Alice in Wonderland (we decided to save this one for when she gets a little older, maybe) to a Barbie pool party ( okay that one was MORE my idea) to a Princess party but we opted out of this one since her Birthday is in the heat of summer and the dressing up in princess ball gowns does not seem right.




The birthday girl and her little brother LOVE Kai-lan and when I pitched them the idea they both stood up and cheered " YES MOMMY!!! A Kai-lan party!". So now I am under pressure to put together a fabulous and FEARSE 5th birthday party. My kids see what I do everyday so they have very high standards, LOL.




We took a little trip this Sunday afternoon to Chinatown. My daughter kept on calling it China Land and was AMAZED at how FAST we got there. She also thought that all the tall buildings in adjacent downtown were soo cool and thought they were the tallest buildings she had "NEVER" seen.




Here are a few pics from our outing.

we fell in love with the parasols and picked up several!






We also picked up lanterns and other decor which I will share another day. One of my bigger projects is the Dragon boat races.I know right?! Yep still trying to figure that one out.....






She insisted she had to have these shoes for he party!




I thought these spoons were cool. I am a sucker for the simplest of things that can be transformed into a Fabulous detail in a party. Esp. when you can get a lot for very little. I picked up 40 of these for $5 and I am thinking of serving a nice hors d'oeuvre or maybe a refreshing treat. We shall see.

Why...THANK YOU!

A big shout out and Thank you to Joanna over at Let's Entertain for the fabulous write up on our " Let Them Eat Cake" party scape. The Fabulous Joanna who you might also know from Hostess Jo spotlighted us on Friday calling our party scape a "Grand Shindig". Can I just tell you I *blush* every time I say that.
Thanks again Joanna!

Please check out the post and make sure to visit Hostess Jo .

Mad Tea Party

This is the second party theme I have suggested to my client. A Mad Tea Party! Very whimsical and full of vibrant colors. If you were 5, Would you choose this party or this one?

If you like any of the items on this board, just click on it and you will be linked to the "Wonderland" that is Polyvore. They will tell you all about the items there. Have fun!



Mad Tea Party - by Shindigsgirl on Polyvore.com

Return of the Tutu

Yes folks we are still talking tutu's around here. I know we covered this theme just few posts back, but cuteness like this is meant to be shared. Fortunately for us Dawn from Not just a Mommy was kind enough to put together a quick How to for these little Ballerina and Prince topiaries.

I especially love the cute little bun with sequence detail. TOLD you it was cute! Thanks again Dawn and I am looking forward to seeing how your clients party turns out!



How to
by Dawn

For ballerina 2"

• clay pot1 3/4" wooden doll head (flat bottomed or round is fine)


• Folk Art acrylic paint in ballet pink and ivory (or any color of pink that matches your boa)


• 1" black pom-pom black acrylic paint pink craft boa (I found mine at Michael's, and you'll need about 9" of boa per ballerina)


• coordinating sequins (mine came out of a big bulk bag from Joann's, and they are about a 1/2" in diameter)


• black and red Sharpie permanent marker


• hot glue-gun and glue sticks

1. Paint clay pot with pink acrylic paint and doll head with ivory paint, let dry.

2. Hot glue the doll head to the bottom of the clay pot.

3. With the black and red marker, draw on her face; then take the black marker and draw on her hairline around the entire head.

4. Paint in her hair with the black paint and let dry.

5. Hot-glue on the black pom-pom for her bun, and add her hair and dress sequins.

6. DON'T pre-cut the craft boa for her tu-tu. Just start hot-gluing from the original roll. Hot-glue the boa on in sections, it will cool too fast if you put the hot glue on the pot first.Carefully wrap, hot-glue, wrap, then trim at the end. Put a tiny drop of hot-glue on the end of the boa where you cut it, then glue that on (so the boa doesn't unravel).



For prince2"

• clay pot1 3/4" wooden doll head (flat bottomed or round is fine)


• Folk Art acrylic paint in ivory


• black acrylic paint


• orange sequin (mine came out of a big bulk bag from Joann's, and they are about a 1/2" in diameter)


• black Sharpie permanent marker


• hot glue-gun and glue sticks


• red felt cut into a 3" by 7" strip


• gold glitter glue

1. Paint clay pot with black acrylic paint and doll head with ivory paint, let dry.

2. Hot glue the doll head to the bottom of the clay pot.

3. With the black marker, draw on his face; then take the black marker and draw on his hairline around the entire head.

4. Paint in his hair with the black paint and let dry.

5. Wrap him in the red felt, play around with how you want to place it, then hot-glue the top corner of the robe to his body, then overlap and hot glue the second corner. Be careful, the hot-glue seeps through the felt a little, so hot-glue on his button to cover that.

6. Outline his robe in the glitter glue.

Ahoy Matey-part1 Yer invited

Happy Monday!
This week I thought we could dedicate to just one particular theme. It's been popular for quite some time but remains a favorite for many.The Pirate party. It's a popular theme that offers many, many possibilities.

For starters, as always the invites. If you are anything like me, you will probably want to make them yourself. The easiest option, I would propose is to make treasure maps. You can find "old paper" at most paper/craft stores. Get savey with photo shop and print a treasure map, a compass and the Seas. The invitation can be worded with something like this...

Ahoy Matey

Won't you join us for a Swashbuckling Good Time

at Captain Jason's 5th Birthday

We set sail at 2:00pm

Chart yer course for

723 Davey Jones St.

RSVP by 1.20.09

or walk the plank!

You can also distress the invites: rip and maybe even burn the edges (be careful). Roll them up and tie them with some twine or ribbon.

However, if you are afraid of fire and not that crafty (no shame in that) check out what Birthday in a Box offers:

Now that is one easy way to set a theme! If you want something a little more chic, how about these from Plum Party.Another option is to have photo invitations made. Like these from Scrapless Press.
They are absolutely adorable! Make sure you get the complimenting Thank you notes while you are at it. Now we all know professionally printed invitations will involve a little extra time so get to planning and we will talk about the Captains Menu tomorrow. What do Pirates eat you ask...not sure but I' gonna look into it. Until then Matey!

Happy Blogoversary to My Insanity!

In honor of My Insanity blogoversay party I thought I could share a shindig I have been dreaming up. I don't think I have ever mentioned it but I am a big fan of Barbie. I love, LOVE all the vintage stuff and have a great affinity for the 70's play sets; pool party, patio, BBQ etc. I am also a sucker for all the little accessories. My parents gave me my first Barbie Dream House when I was 5 and well, need I say more? Okay back to the party idea. So how about Barbie Pool Party? Talk about a Little Shindig!

I want the lawn chairs, the patio umbrellas, everything in those fabulous 70's colors, the Pink BBQ and of course the doughboy pool ,with the slide.

Okay so the pool might blow the budget but we can certainly take some inspiration right? Right! Let's do beach balls as invitations. You can get all the party details printed on them ( see printing company's who offer promotional items). Quick note: send the invitations deflated and let your guest blow up the beach ball to get all the party details. Maybe that way they might be a little light headed and will be more inclined to the idea of ..wait for it: coming to the party as there favorite Barbie or Ken! Now I know that is probobly a lot of Ken's but the gals have tons of choices..Malibu Barbie, Holiday Barbie, Badgley Mischka Barbie you get the hint. Now the day of the party I would ofcourse park my Pink Corvette right in front of the house, so everyone knows where the party is. (and no, I do not own a Pink Corvette but maybe I can rent one?) On the menu Hot dogs and hamburgers of course, Pink lemonade, a must. I would also set up dressing rooms labeled "Barbies" & "Kens" for the guests to slip into there swim suits. The rooms will be stocked with extra beach towels, flip flops and big 70's sun glasses( just in case ) and everything will smell like coconut sun tan lotion. I haven't figured out the party favors yet...all I can think about is maybe some Pink frisbees. Maybe have something clever printed on them too.
I suppose thats about all I have for now. So if you have freinds with a good sence of humor this party would be great for a birthday, BBQ or just for fun. This party can also be toned down for a young girls b-day party. I found this at the Loot Lady.com


My daughter turns 5 this summer and she already loves Barbie. This theme is in the running but she changes her mind every day. One thing is for sure, we are getting her her own Barbie Dream House this year. Vintage, of course.

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

Look to the stars

It's always fun for me to come up with new inspirations for a theme party. The party I am planning for my son will be totally cosmic.
Buzz Lightyear may be able to take you to infinity and beyond but we want to go retro!

Featured retro style:
Space Bucket-Fleet Edition
Vintage space kids
R/C Planet Mobil
Retro card

Seuss inspired

So I was visiting my usual blogs today when I stumbled upon Stem Parties. Amy recently put together an amazing twins baby shower.
The theme was Dr.Seuss's Thing 1 & Thing 2 and it is absolutely adorable!Visit her blog and see what I mean.


As I admired her work I was reminded of what Little Shindigs did a few months ago and felt inspired to post a few more of our pictures.

Dr. Seuss and I

I was never that familiar with Dr.Seuss and his huge collection of books. However when Little Shindigs got the opportunity to put together a birthday bash for a very fabulous soon to be four year old I very quickly became a big fan of the Cat in the hat, Wacky Wednesday & Green eggs and ham. Putting this party in 3 weeks was challenging. Considering party supplies for this theme have not been available for years! Thank goodness for resourceful thinking and lots of hot glue! Take a look at what we did:

Drum party

We recently attended a fabulous little party at Remo in North Hollywood. I had never heard of the place before so I was excited to see what it was all about. It was like rock star for toddlers. The kids loved it! We all participated in a big drum circle and had a blast. As parting gifts, Kids got backstage passes and their own drumsticks. Very Cute!