Valentine Cards

We always make our own Valentine cards......the kids love creating them! My son is getting older and last year he requested 'cool' Valentine's cards. He loves surfing so we came up with the idea to make a surfboard--the card had a heart shaped lollipop in it and read 'eat your heart out'....we then decided it would be fun to use jagged scissors to create a bite mark--to look like a shark took a bite out of the surf board! The kids loved it.

My daughter wanted to make hot air balloon cards last year......our old house was not too far from Napa and we were able to view beautiful hot air balloons going over our house! We found cute hot air balloon stickers and placed blow pops in the cards. The hot air balloon cards read 'I hope this special day has you blown away!'

We had a lot of fun making Valentine cards last year! The kids were excited to come up with new fun ideas  this year.........
My son really wanted to somehow include surfing in his cards again this year....we visited Hawaii in the Fall and he loved the hang loose/shaka gesture associated with Hawaii and the surfer culture.
We traced his hand onto card-stock paper and glued the finger portion down 'holding' a Pixi Stick. The cards read 'Hang loose Valentine'. He is so excited to 'hand' them out haha!

My husband and I visited Paris this past summer and my daughter has become obsessed with Paris and the Eiffel Tower! I found the most adorable miniature cut out Paris activity on Made By Joel  http://madebyjoel.com/2012/01/travel-size-paper-city-paris.html
I love this site--so many amazing activities for kids.

We decided to do her Valentine cards on a bag to include the Paris cut out activity and conversation hearts. We took a photo of my daughter sitting next to 'the Eiffel Tower'......we then edited it using a drawing application. I love her Mona Lisa like smirk in the pic--perfect for the Paris theme!
The cards read..... Eiffel (I fell) for you Valentine--so fun!!

We had so much fun making the kid's cards this year! Happy card making everyone! I hope you have a LOVELY Valentine's Day!!

Valentine Baking Party

My daughter has been really into baking these days.....so I thought that it would be fun to have a Valentine baking party! I made the girls personalized baking aprons and cupcake wrapper headbands to wear during the party!

Instead of setting up a dessert table, I set up a baking supply table! The table had a variety of baking goods--including a lot of frosting and sprinkles. We baked some items ahead of time to have a selection of baked goods to decorate. I found these cute little rolling pins at the 99 cent store--so perfect for our party!!

My daughter got this adorable cloth bakery booth for Christmas a couple of years ago....It was the perfect place to display all of the beautiful baked goods created by the kids.

I had a few tables set up with different activities ...Including Valentine card making and their FAVORITE activity...working with fondant! The kids had a great time and created some beautiful and yummy treats!

We have been working on some DIY class Valentines that I plan on sharing soon!

Happy Valentine crafting everyone!!

 I have been celebrating New Year's eve with my kids for a few years now--I think it is a great way to discuss and understand time and the calendar as well as remissness about the year and discuss the year to come!

We decided to use pink and gold as our color scheme for the party and I wanted it to be a DIY party and share some fun ideas that hopefully you would be able to use in 2013!

Dessert Table

I made items for the dessert table as well purchased items from our local grocery store. I love the look of the three tiered cakes but they are not always budget friendly or practical with a smaller group. I found this new trick that I hope to perfect in the coming year....The only 'real' cake is the center cake that I baked. The top and bottom layers are floral foam that I frosted!! For the record--it is much easier frosting foam than cake! 

Activities

The kids frosted their own mini tiered cakes and decorated them with pink and gold sprinkles and candy. We also had fun playing with confetti and took photos in a large gold frame that had an embroidered 2013 on it! I am sending all of these photos to the kids to have as an end of the year keepsake. We also played a 'pinata' type game. I created a large New Years 'cracker' that I filled with confetti and treats for the kids. I made the cracker out of a piece of poster board--I placed the treats and confetti inside the poster board, rolled it up ans secured it with tape. I then wrapped it up with a plastic table cloth and tied the ends with ribbon--so easy!! The kids tossed the cracker around while a song was playing and who ever was holding it at the end of the song got to crack it open and dump out the treats! The kids loved this game and it is a great alternative to a pinata!

Decor

I wanted to create a NYE feel with lots of glamour and glitter! I found these adorable pink pillows with gold stars from Pottery Barn Kids that matched the decor perfectly! We also had a lot of noise makes, confetti and balloons. The kids made their own balloon wands with a balloon on a stick--they added stars and glittery ribbon that they used as they danced around the party! I love the look of the over sized balloons with glittery flowing streamers....I was concerned about finding helium with the current helium shortage and the cost to fill the balloons! I decided to blow them up and secure them to a stick that I secured to a chair. I used a New Years party cone hat that I attached to the stick to keep the balloon sitting upright. I then used shiny streamers and embellishments to hide the sticks!! The looked just like helium balloons and added so much flair to the party--I will defiantly be using this trick again!

We all had a great time celebrating NYE and I plan on making this a new tradition! I hope everyone has a happy New Year!

Beach Glam Party

Oh my goodness--I can not believe it has been three months since my daughter's birthday and I am FINALLY blogging about it! It was featured on HWTM in June-- you can see it here http://blog.hwtm.com/2012/06/tiffany-themed-glam-beach-party/  and I have been seeing it all over Pinterest and then I noticed that it has been pinned over a 1000 times on HWTM alone! I was beyond thrilled to be featured and so overwhelmed by all of the interest in the party........so  here it is and it is a long one so be prepared for a lot of photos.......

I purchased these adorable bags on Etsy and placed the invite inside with seashells and 'diamonds' to get the girls ready for a glamorous beach party! 

I immediately contacted Andrea (Dolce Drive) because I knew she would be the perfect printable designer for this party!! Andrea designed these fabulous printables that matched the party decor perfectly!!

 We chose Black and white cabana stripes to add to the beach theme and we really wanted the party to have an 'old Hollywood' glam feel.

 Blue and black was the perfect color, both complementing the gorgeous ocean and representing 'bling' which is a necessity at a glam party! I filled my old jewelry bags with rhinestone tiaras, pearls and large black sunglasses for all of the girls.

I made the birthday girl a custom crown to wear on her big day!

My sweet son even dressed up and offered tray service to the girls--we filled my jewelry boxes full of candy necklaces, bracelets and rings. The girls loved all of the candy jewelry!

I tied black and white striped ribbon on flip flops for all of the girls to wear  with their glamorous outfits and they were perfect for the hot sand.....

I ordered custom coordinating frosting transfers that we used on the cupcakes and chocolate covered Oreos --yummy.

We dressed Barbies in matching party attire to add to the party decor and  for some beach glam play!

I brought in tables and full linens that were set up on the beach for the girls and they were served on 'silver' platters....

The girls enjoyed dressing up and eating all of the fancy treats on this gorgeous day with the sound waves crashing in the background....

The birthday girl was so happy to have all of her friends join her at her beach glam party--she had all of her favorite things in one place....the beach, fancy clothes, yummy treats and her family and friends!

I designed a tent that my fabulous husband built that served as a place to change into fancy attire and provided shade for the girls to play under...The girls drew pictures in journals and relaxed on a plush rug and fancy pillows.

I covered little beach chairs with coordinating fabric for the girls to lounge in .....

I also found these fabulous cabana striped towels at Pottery Barn Teen!! I was so excited when I found towels in these colors--so perfect. 

We had a variety activities set up for the girls................

I made custom sails that I placed on these sail boats that I found at Michael's!! The girls enjoyed sailing their boats in the tide pools......

There were fancy treats  everywhere-- I could not set up a dessert table so we created one 'to go'! My son was so sweet serving the girls and giving his little sis the VIP treatment on her day.

The weather was perfect and the water was crystal clear! The party got a lot of attention-- we had so many people at the beach stop and talk to us about the party. One person even asked me if it was a photo shoot for Pottery Barn--such a huge compliment!!

I purchased over sized beach balls and the girls had a blast throwing them in the waves  and waiting for them to return...I think they could have done this for hours.......

I had a second to take a pic with the birthday girl before she quickly ran back to join the fun!

The glam girls lounging under mini umbrellas.....

We created a glamorous sand castle building area....including an Eiffel tower!! 

I even found matching hula hoops for the girls to play with on the beach!

The birthday girl had her own glamorous cake on her very special day!! It was so fun going through these photos again. I enjoyed creating every detail of this party and LOVED seeing my daughter and her friends enjoy this beautiful day!

Thank you to The Fabulous Vendors!!

– Party styling, tent, table runner, custom shirts, tutus & fabric crown: Shawna Brockmeier Styled Events
– Printables: Dolce Drive
– Towels: PB Teen
– Glittered dress bags: Vintage Paris Market
– Frosting Cupcake Toppers: Ali’s Sweet Tooth– Wooden sail boat kit: Michael’s

– Photography: Shawna Brockmeier Styled Events