World Card Making Day

What will you be doing on October 1st...I will be setting aside all other duties for that day to do what I love to do...making cards.  Check out this website for detail and ideas World Card Making Day

It was a SWEET Birthday Party

Since my son's Friday evening birthday party was a hit,  I said let's do it again with Mia's...it turned  out awesome, even the annoying insects couldn't put a damper on the occasion.  We as in "I" went with a "Sweet Shoppe" birthday party for my baby girl that just hit a milestone in her life.  She is officially 5 years old and of course you know me...it had to be just right :)

My mother took the pictures because time was running close for me and I as in "me" was not presentable just yet.  Anyway, I hope this will remind me that waiting until the last week before the party to do all the crafts and the baking on the day of  was absolutely the most insane idea ever and to never attempt it again....the procrastinating part!      

Mia's Sweet Shoppe

Scrap paper that looks and writes like a chalk board...what a neat idea, my drawing skills came in handy this time...I erased and started over several times though :)

Sundae Cupcakes ~ Strawberry Milkshake Malt Balls ~ Marshmallow Ice Cream Cones

Chocolate Covered Pretzels ~ Salt Water Taffy ~ Jelly Bellies-Ice Cream flavor

Ice Cream Buffet: do you want chocolate, vanilla or strawberry?~do you want that in a cup, cone or bowl?~how about a root beer, coca-cola or cream soda float?~and don't for get about those toppings!!!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5...yep, they all got blown out!

I got one of those cupcake pans, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla box cake mixes to have a "Neapolitan Cake" and prayed to God that it all would work out right the first time...it did...oh, thank you Jesus and my husband thanks you too :)

With all that sugar, a bouncy house had to come in somewhere.

Mia and her cousin Brittnea

We even covered the driveway with a chalked up masterpiece.

 

Birthday and a Movie

I know, I know, this is way past due...but every time I thought that I had it all figured out (wording & pictures) something would not go right when I did the preview and by spending all that time trying to get it just right (I'm a little OCD) would have me exhausted...so finally, here it is!

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It was a "GREAT" celebration...my baby turned 8yrs old and we decided to have a Friday evening birthday party for him (by the way, Friday parties are wonderful...you have all day Saturday to recoup).

Don't you just love my homemade marques sign?!?! I thought it was a good idea to give it the home "theatre" feel...including the curtains on each side.

Every party has got to have streamers, right? I decided to hang them from the chandelier while cascading over the candy buffet.

(candy buffet)

(concession stand: I made another marques sign that was hanging from the pot rack but forgot to get picture)

It would not be a movie madness birthday bash if we didn't have the candy, popcorn...and caffeine.

(...and the popcorn toppings)

The cake was created by a local bakery Our Daily Bread Bakery and Cafe, they did such an awesome job.

(I never seem to remember to get those pictures of my kids blowing out the candles...so I had to include this one)

 

  

Well, I can't say that everything went just the way I had planned but my hubby was there to help it all sail as smooth as possible (oh, my mother was there for his moral support)...and I was OK with that.  A big-little boy celebrated, had his friends over, played some wiffle ball, ate all kinds of junk food and watched a movie...just my kind of party!

Gift Wrapping Idea

I saw the cutest idea in scrapbooks etc. / April 2011 edition and had to take it to the next level...

~make you own  candy buffet "sweet love" lollipop centerpiece~pg.49

By the way, if I have not mentioned it before, this is one of my favorite magazines.  Not only do I love the idea of a Candy Buffet but this centerpiece is absolutely adorable.  Which brings me to my gift wrapping idea...check out my pictures below...I just loved it!



Lollipop Towel Gift Wrap



Details:

Two party 8" paper plates-in the blue to match of course :); one dowel rod-my hubby cut off about 6-8"; hot glue the dowel rod in the middle of the two-spooning-plates and seal entirely all around with scrapbook adhesive.

I got a beach towel monogrammed on the short width; folded it once-just short of the monogram; rolled it (very tight) with the monogram being at the end; rolled into the spiral roll that you see above-with monogram showing; tied tulle around the circumference to hold in place; sat towel in the middle of plates; basket clear wrapped around (I needed my hubby's assistance at this time to hold the plastic real tight) the plates/towel; tied at base and topped off with additional tulle to create a bow. Voila!

*I was thinking also you could exclude the dowel rod all together and tie it just on the left and right side of the plate to make it look like a piece of wrapped candy...just a little switch-a-roo!

I also did a bag with the same colors using a 2 5/16" circle punch; 3 circles on each side; adhesive; name tag-1 1/2 circle; and of course more tulle.

"sweet treat"



gift tag



 

P.S. I am in the process of working on the birthday stuff...Reid's is first, so I will be posting on that in a couple of weeks.

Cake Pops and S'mores Pops

I have been extremely busy this past week with making cake pops and s'mores pops.  What is a cake pop and a s'mores pop you may be asking?  Well, in my second post I mentioned one of my favorite sites/blogs called Bakerella

and I decided it was the perfect time to try these out since Valentine's Day was just around the corner.  I begin on Thursday while I was at home with a semi-sick child (you know, the kind that is running just enough fever that she can't go to school but can bring her whole entire room from upstairs to downstairs and play like there's no tomorrow), bless her heart.  Anyway, I finished up with the help of my loving husband on Sunday night.  I could not believe it either, he helped me with bagging and putting the tags on.  My daughter could not resist and just had to help me too.



I crumbled up some cake in her very own bowl (kids baking set  by Tupperware) and she wanted to whisk it just for good measure.  We were well on our way rolling out and then placing them in the freezer for the 15 minutes that it calls for.



When we got them out and I started the second process (candy coating) it didn't seem to do exactly right.  Hmmm, I began flipping back through the book and realized maybe, just maybe I put a little too much icing in.  It's a good thing I baked a 11x18 sheet cake, so I went back to the mixing bowl.  Started all over and rolled out again.  Mia did not want to partake in this part again and I can't quite blame her, she retired to the sun room and watched a movie.  After I got through with the first process/first batch/second go around, I was ready to start coating.  Well by this time my candy melt had began to stiffen, so I thought, I'll just nuke it for a few seconds.  Wrong, my seconds was just a little too long and made the consistency...welll...let's just say it was not right.  The bag said to add a tsp or 2 of oil to bring back the right consistency.  Done!-that was the trick, now I'm back on with my game.  I made two and decided that we (Mia and I) should try one before going any further...we took one bite and YUCK!!!  All Mia did was scrunched up her face and put the pop back in the styrofoam. ;-)  Now then, what in the world did I do wrong?- I can assure you that I know better now but it was the oil in the candy melts...yuck, yuck!!!  So I went about and nuked a new bag of pink candy melts and kept on, keeping on...oh, just incase you're wondering, Mia was my photographer in the coating sessions.    

 







The S'mores Pops were easier to accomplish...marshmallows, chocolate candy melts and finely chopped graham crackers to top it off.

double dipping



"Yummy to my big fat tummy," said Mia, while devouring her pop.

All ends well with a good "days" work...and a BIG thank you to my baby girl and my awesome hubby for helping me!

Oh, and I almost forgot, I printed the labels/tags off at Avery, they were just the cutest!

Taggies

I have to share my little creations that I did.  The first project is a birthday gift bag for my neighbor's little boy and the second project was for a friend's (Girls Night) party.  I saw the talented idea on a blog that I follow (I feel so bad but I'll let you know when I can remember which one it was...Sorry!)  Anyway, I thought it was just the cutest and oh, so easy to do!  



I took his birthday invitation, cut out each truck & attached each one to the layered card stock w/ a 3D pop up adhesive.

I then adhered it with another 3D pop up in the center of the bag.



Add some tissue paper, curling ribbon & VOILA!!!




My friend's tags were simple enough...I just had more to do than just  bag tag.  I asked her if she planned to serve wine or cocktails and when she told me yes, that's when I told her I had just seen the perfect little touch for stem ware. 



my supplies I used to make the taggies



circle punch, alphabet stamps & scissors



brads and stamp ink



craft scissors(zig-zag) and 3D adhesive pop ups

 

I used a brad to secure the tag to the stem and added a letter (first initial) for each of the party guest.  This was such a neat idea instead of the wine charms.



I really enjoyed doing these three projects...especially the wine glass tags.  Anything monogrammed with my initials makes me feel extra special and I hope that these ladies felt it too.