Blue & Brown Baptism & 1st Birthday Party

Last week, I had the privilege of putting together a baptism/birthday party for an adorable baby boy named James! It was my very first gig. I think it went exceptionally well, but there was one minor hiccup, and a few small things I would have changed.
The party was given by the God parents, and they gave me full reign over the decor. I had no idea what I wanted to do until I saw the invite. It was very simple, perfect for a baptism, and was blue & brown. So, I decided to do a color themed party. Colors were white with blue & brown accents. I also didn't want it to be too first birthday cheesy so I used his name throughout, and I wanted to keep the purity of the baptism with white.
The candy table was made up of candies in blue and brown with matching cupcakes and an adorable yummy cake to match. I was in charge of picking those out too.
I had a lot of fun doing this party and it was so easy since I was given the opportunity to pick what I thought would work. And since it was a success, I already have second gig lined up. Yay! A baby shower.

A Star Wars & Minnie Mouse Party

A couple of weeks ago we had a double celebration for Jacob's 4th birthday and Isabella's 2nd birthday. Jacob was insistent on having a Star Wars party, and Isabella is into Mickey & Minnie Mouse. I really tried to get Jacob to do the Mickey & Minnie theme but he was not having it! But it's okay, I think the combo worked out perfectly. And it was great having only ONE party. The party was smallish with a crowd of about 50 including the kids. We served up Italian food, and tons of goodies. I made marshmallow pops, and sugar cookies using a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter and sprinkled them with chocolate. Those cookies were yum! Too bad I only made a dozen. We also served up two different cakes along with cookie and cream cupcakes and red velvet cupcakes. The red velvet cupcakes were sooo good. Yum! Oh, and ice cream too. I also made Mickey shaped cookies for each goody bag. I only made ears on those cookies. I also put together baby food jars filled with M & Ms, and included those with the goody bags. The bags also had sidewalk chalk, Star Wars fruit snacks and stickers, Mickey & Friends stickers, a water ball, and candy. And I can't forget the lightsabers I made out of pool noodles for each kid. Those were a MAJOR hit!

And I can't forget the special guest of the day...Darth Vader! This was a last minute guest, and I mean LAST. MINUTE. I decided to go with him just a few days before, and I'm glad I did. Jacob loved him! He totally knew that it wasn't really Darth Vader, but he could care less. I say that was the best money spent out of the entire party. Well, that and the Star Wars jumper we had! Jacob had a really good time. So good, in fact, that he asked for another Star Wars party. And Isabella enjoyed her party too. She still asks for the jumper :( Makes me want to go out and buy one for her. I also must add that Isabella likes Star Wars too. She hums the theme song along with Jacob but I'm sure she does not love it as much as him.

WARNING: Lots of pictures!

Star Wars & Minnie Mouse Party

The invitation I designed.

Minnie Mouse Cake

Star Wars Cake

Minnie Mouse Cupcakes

Star Wars Cupcake Toppers

Star Wars MIckey & Friends Goody Bag

Baby Food Jar Favors

Light Saber Pool Noodles

Star Wars Jumper

Minnie Mouse Centerpiece

Front:

Minnie with a bow

Back:

Minnie with a hat

Mickey Mouse Centerpiece

Star Wars Centerpieces

Tablecloth Decor

Pinterest

He spotted Darth Vader!

Using the force!

DIY Minnie Mouse shirt for myself.

A Graduation Celebration - Class of 2012

A few weeks ago, actually it's been almost a month, we celebrated my niece's graduation. And you can bet I was all over it! Her school colors were navy and gold (yellow) and we ran with the black in a typical graduation celebration. I designed the invites and also took the pictures used for the invite. We had the ubiquitous candy bar, and like before, it was a hit! Well, it was a hit because we always use candy that people actually like! Not just the nasty candy that matched the color scheme. Yuck.*Side Story* When my sister and I went to buy the candy for the table, we saw this lady buying matching candy for a party, a baby shower to be exact. And we asked her, do people eat all of that candy and she said, "no not really...It just looks nice." Um, hello! I'm not going to spend tons of money on candy that no one's going to eat! And it's one thing I noticed in A LOT of candy tables, nasty candy. So, here's a hint, get candy that people like! Okay, off my soap box. The candy table had several different candies, cupcakes, and memorabilia my niece collected throughout her school years. The cupcakes were hilarious! There's a TMI story in there about the cupcakes but the food coloring in the blue cupcakes left the guests with blue mouths! Not good, LOL! But they were tasty nonetheless. My sister had a taco guy, the same one we've used for all of our huge parties, and he gets rave reviews every time. Yum! The centerpieces were yellow roses wrapped in ribbon. And here are the pictures!

I've Been Featured!

Awesome! I've been featured at The Birthday Blog! Yay! Stacy over at The Birthday Blog featured Isabella's Sweet Shoppe Soiree! And I feel super duper honored to share one of the biggest parties I've ever done!

Stacy is also a fellow SAHM who loves to throw an awesome kids' party! And the inspiration throughout her blog is amazing! I love all the ideas all of the other ladies have contributed and shared, and for Stacy giving us all the opportunity to share our hard work on her fab blog! Thank you to The Birthday Blog, now go check it out and get some fantastic ideas for your next bash!

{Rainbow Sherbet Party} Ice Cream Social

We recently celebrated my niece's 18th birthday! Eep! I said 18. Wow, I feel old. Anyway, she wanted to celebrate at a local ice cream shop that had just opened, however the lines have been redic lately, so I asked her about an ice cream party. She agreed. And I helped plan!
For Jasmine's social, I found an adorable and FREE ice cream printables set. Yes! I said FREE AND ADORABLE! I got it from Emmy + Gabbie Paperstyles and it's the FREE Ice Cream Social Printable Party Pack in Rainbow Sherbet!!! Using the party pack, I made a banner, cupcake toppers and tent cards for the ice cream toppings. To bring the party together, we made ice cream cones from balloons and construction paper. All other supplies were purchased from the 99¢ store. I'm sure you could find similar at the Dollar Tree. We bought pink and neon green ice cream bowls, matching balloons, utensils, paper plates, table covers, and napkins. I also used some leftover items from Isabella's Sweet Shoppe like the paper lanterns, cake and cupcake stand, and plastic ice cream cones.

For dinner, my sister served up Hawaiian food, and of course ice cream for dessert. We had vanilla, strawberry, java and chocolate ice cream along with chocolate, strawberry, and caramel syrup. Toppings included chopped Oreos, chocolate chips cookies, toffee, walnuts, sprinkles, Reese's Pieces, bananas, strawberries, whipped cream, and cherries. We even had ice cream sandwiches dipped in sprinkles, brownies, and cones. Yum! And we couldn't forget the cake and cupcakes! EVERYTHING was delicious! And I think everything came out cute. If I do say so myself ;0P

Here are some pics...