Luau Inspiration~

I got an email from one of my readers the other day asking if I had any ideas for a Luau.  And the answer is "no, not really".  But wait!  Don't get me wrong, I love me a good luau.  But I haven't exactly thrown a luau-type party  myself.  Since I'm not one to miss out on a little good party inspiration, however, I did a little research, and I found some fun luau ideas.  So Kathy, this one's for you...

This is such a great idea for a simple and lovely centerpiece. And nothing says "Hawaii" like a pineapple!

 via pinterest

I thought these cookie palm trees were so clever!!

 via pinterest

This table setting is just lovely.  The color scheme is tropical without being tacky and the paper lanterns are a pretty touch.

 via pinterest

You'll sense a theme going in these photos...I really love the use of parasols for a luau...be they miniature, or full size like this pretty pink number.  (I'm also lovin' that ukulele.)

 via sara's party perfect

This wreath is so fun and whimsical, you can help but smile!

 via Sara's Party Perfect

Or add a pretty, pastel parasol to a cupcake.  Love.

via TomKat Studios 

This jellyfish is made from grocery bags (yes, really!)  I featured it one week for my Frugal Round-up because I thought it was simply adorable!  Don't you think it would be a fun addition to a luau?  Sure would keep the kids entertained anyway.

via Casa Haus 

Doesn't it make you wanna just go throw yourself a smashin' luau?!  I'll be anxiously waiting by the  mailbox for my invite. ;-)

Have a great day~



Simple Outdoor Mood Lighting~

It's been rather dreary here for the past few days.  Rainy and cold.  But I have big plans for outdoor entertaining this year...if the weather should ever warm up. ;-)

I thought it would be fun to share with you one of my go-to, outdoor, summer centerpieces.  It's extremely simple to make, but it adds tons of ambience to any gathering.  Canning Jar Lanterns.

To make these pretty lanterns, simply gather up some vintage canning jars.  I like a variety of sizes...it just adds to the impact.  Then get some candles...I use larger pillar candles for the big canning jars and votives for the smaller jars.  You can use any color candle you want, but I prefer to use white.  Clean.  Pretty.

Fill the bottom of your jars about 1/4 - 1/3 full of rice...or sand...or coarse salt.  It's really up to you.  I used rice in these because I had it on hand.  Sand is especially pretty, and coarse salt is lovely because it reflects the light.  But really any of these pale colored fillers will do. 

Then just pop the candles in and light.  Group your canning jars for more dramatic impact.  So simple and pretty.  (Please make sure you don't leave candles unattended or let them burn all the way down to the filler...as that could be a fire hazard.)

Happy Entertaining!

Oh...and  last but certainly not least,  I hope you love my new blog design as much as I do!  Thanks to Ellie G at Announced Greetings for her spectacular redesign!!  Love.  Love.  Love.

Going Ape Over Turning 4~

My baby turned 4 last weekend. 4!??! This age is a great age, though. Old enough to be somewhat self-sufficient, young enough to still want cuddles on a daily basis.

All the kiddos wanted to show you how old Mr. Three is. Mr. Three is the busiest of my four kiddos. And true to his busy nature, he had a hard time narrowing down the type of party he wanted. So, in the end, I "helped" him. I knew that last week was going to be a crazy one for me, so I wanted a party that was light on prep time. And while looking through the "party" aisle at Tar-jay a couple of weeks ago, the theme was decided for me when I saw these very cute invitations by Paul Frank. (What? Pre-made invitations? I know...so NOT me...but like I said...they're cute...AND busy week + desire for minimum prep = pre-made invites.)

I purchased these fun pre-made party hats. But, of course, they needed a little sumthin', sumthin'.

So I embellished them. This was super simple to do. I used my 3" circle craft punch to punch out these great monkey faces from some Paul Frank wrapping paper that we already had on hand. Then I just glued them on to each hat.

To add the fringe, I simply used red construction paper (which happened to be exactly the right length to wrap around each hat.) I cut 2" strips, then folded them in half and cut the fringe. To attach them to the hat, I simply stapled the bottom layer to the hat up near the fold, then folded the top layer back down to hide the staples.

For the party favors, I opted again for simplicity. I simply filled clear cellophane bags with some candy and punching balloons, then stood noisemakers on their ends so that the fun mylar came out the top of each bag, and tied them with curling ribbon and tags made from more red construction paper and monkey faces cut from the same wrapping paper.

The cupcakes followed suit. Rather than making cupcakes as I usually do, I bought them. GASP! To make them more personal, I added sprinkles, placed them inside colorful cupcake cups, and added toppers made from more of the wrapping paper. SO EASY!!!!!

To entertain this little group of 3-5 year olds, we made "sculptures" using toothpicks and marshmallows...this required a little bit of supervision, but nothing my bestie, and my two older kiddos couldn't handle.

Mr. Two eating his sculpture.

Then we played monkey-themed games including a relay race where each kiddo had to hold a banana under his chin while running the course, freeze dance (yeah, okay, so that really had no monkey theme), and red-monkey, green-monkey (the ape version of red-light, green-light).

My bestie and her cutie-pie (one of Mr. Three's besties...isn't that convenient?)

One of Mr. Three's favorite gifts...he's already worn the batteries out...no seriously.

Quite possibly the easiest party I've ever thrown...and the kiddos loved it!

Especially this kiddo...which is the whole point!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Three! We love you!!~

Celebration~

This weekend was special in our home. In our faith, when children turn 8-years-old they can choose to be baptized. So on Saturday, the Princess was baptized. It was lovely. And afterwards, we had our family and close friends over to our house for refreshments. The decorations turned out so cute, I just had to share with you.


I based the color scheme on the announcement which I ordered from here. I just loved the pretty pink and brown, so I ran with it. (In case you're trying to figure it out...the Princess is holding up 8 fingers in the framed photo to show that she's 8-years-old. The matte cut her pinky finger off...so I thought I'd better explain.)

I chose to use a pennant theme for the table which I first covered in a pretty brown and white damask table cloth. I made several small pennant flags (tutorial to come) and placed them in a little creamer which I, in turn, placed on top of a small cake plate and used as a centerpiece.

I also made a little cake bunting (again, tutorial to come) which I used to make the cupcake tower look more festive. With all the preparations I made for the party, I actually forgot to get more frosting bags, so for the first time in my cupcake making history, I wasn't able to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. It was good for my perfectionist OCD self to have to simply frost the cupcakes and deal with it, and you know what? They looked just fine. (Especially with the cute bunting on top.)

I finished off the table with some homemade lollipops in pink and brown, and a pennant banner made from the same papers as the centerpiece and cake bunting. As well as a pretty, glittered congratulations banner from Martha Stewart's craft line. Family and friends brought the remaining goodies (pot-luck style) and with everything going on I didn't actually get a photo of the table all full of food...but you get the idea.

All in all, a lovely goodie table...for a lovely day....for a lovely daughter...whom I adore!

Have a great day~

A Spa Birthday Party~

My Saturday was spent with a house full of little girls squealing and laughing as they got their fingernails painted and had facials made from plain yogurt and avocado (that was hilarious, by the way!)


The Princess turned 8 years old this weekend, and for her party, we decided that it would be fun to do a Spa theme.

I previously posted about the invitations which were fashioned to look like sleeping masks. If you'd like to read more about how I made them click here.

The color scheme was basically a dark tealish-turquoise blue and hot pink...with some lighter pink and black thrown in for good measure.

To make the table look festive, I put out some of the Spa fixin's. On one small serving tray I placed mini bottles of fingernail polish in hot pink and blue. The girls got to pick a bottle which we used to paint their nails...and then which became part of their take-home goodie bags.

I also had a tray full of temporary tattoos which I made using my Silhouette Digital Cutter (did you know they have printable tattoo paper?) I used their software to create an image of a "spa girl" complete with a green-tinted facemask and cucumbers on her eyes. Then I printed them out on the tattoo paper and followed the directions to add the adhesive. The girls loved them!

I laid out the goodie bags which were filled with toe separators in hot pink (of course!), pretty emory boards, fruit flavored lip gloss, and the fingernail polish the girls chose. I couldn't find the exact bags I was looking for, until I ran across this little tutorial at Jones Design Company (complete with the striped paper to print out.) I made the bags, and then just added the cute little "Thanks for Coming" tags which I made using my Silhouette (again....that little thing is quite useful, I'll tell ya!)

Finally, the cupcakes. You know I can't resist cupcakes! I found some darling cupcake papers at Michael's Craft in the colors we were using. The Princess requested chocolate (she is her mother's daughter after all). I just topped them with cream cheese frosting and hot pink or blue sprinkles. I love the way they turned out.

Hanging from the chandelier are a bunch of a mini tissue pom poms to add a festive touch.

And just for good measure...a photo of the princess covered in her avocado & yogurt facial. (She's gonna love me for this.)

Happy Birthday darling girl!

DIY Spa Birthday Party Invitations~

It's a big birthday for the Princess this year. She's turning 8! To celebrate we decided to throw a Spa party. We're going to have a whole gaggle of little girls over to be pampered...facial masks, painted nails, the works!


Of course, every great party starts with a great invitation. And since I was making the invitations anyway...the blogger in me decided to photograph the process so that I can give you all a tutorial on how to make cute Spa Birthday party invitations. You know, just in case you should ever be throwing a Spa party. ;-)

These invitations were adapted from some I found on Martha Stewart.com... because I believe in giving
credit where credit is due.

First up: The Supplies

You will need:

colored cardstock - now, I just happened upon some cute oval notecards at Target that I knew would make my life easier for this project. They were just the right size, in the right colors, and they included envelopes. So I bought two packages.

stick glue - my glue of choice when doing paper crafting.

scallop edge scissors

regular scissors

ribbon

Next: The Process:

1. The first thing I did was cut out a template. I should probably have done this using printer paper or something. But because I trust too much in my mad skills, I just started cutting one of the notecards. Then I ended up having to fold it in half to get it even, so I couldn't use it. Luckily, I had more cards than I needed, but HELLO?

2. Then I traced the template onto the other cards. You will trace as many as the number of invitations you are going to make. (makes sense, right?)

3. Cut out all the pieces you just traced. Since you probably wont be using notecards like I did, you will also want to cut rectangular pieces of cardstock in a coordinating color that are big enough to glue the cut pieces on and still have a border around the edge.

4. Now cut lengths of ribbon. I cut them long enough so that they could actually tie around a person's head. Of course you can cut them shorter if you so choose...just make sure that they are long enough to fit across the width of your sleepmask and still have ribbon dangling on both sides.

5. Using the stick glue, cover the back of your cut pieces entirely, then put a stripe of glue across the approximate center of your rectangle (remember I'm using the oval notecards...that's why there's no rectangle pictured). Lay the ribbon across the stripe of glue and then place the cut piece over the top.

6. Now using your scallop edge scissors, cut the rectangular piece to the same shape as the cut piece leaving approximately 1/4 inch showing.

7. Tie a card with the party details onto one of the strings.

8. Stuff your finished invitation into a cute envelope for delivery.

There you have it. Easy peasy Spa-themed invites. Enjoy!

linking to these parties:


Get Your Craft On Tuesday at Today's Creative Blog.