parties

DIY Cupcake Stand

April 25, 2013 | 5 Comments

As promised, I’m here to deliver the cupcake stand tutorial. My husband may be a bit of a perfectionist, not when it comes to picking up his dirty cltohes, but building something? Yes. This is unlike what I would do in so many ways. First, he doesn’t use any hot glue. Second, he uses a saw and other power tools. Basically, it’s legit. (Don’t worry, you can purchase pre-cut circles and wood glue.)

It’s also rather large. You may find that the dimensions are too big for your liking, in that case just start with a smaller base circle. I wanted it to be large enough to use for future events, but the top tier does screw off, so it gives me a little room to scale back, if needed.

Materials:

8- 4″ table legs (bought these 6″ and cut them off 2″)
24″ circle- you can purchase unfinished wood circles at various websites on the internet (even Etsy)
18″ circle
12″ circle
8″ circle
screws
primer
paint

Turn the largest circle upside down and find the center. Draw a cross intersecting the middle point of the circle. Drill a 1/4″ hole (don’t drill completely through the plywood to avoid holes being seen) 2″ from the outside of the circle on these lines.
Screw one of the table legs into each of the holes, this will become your base, flip it over (so that the base is resting on the four legs).
Drill 1/4″ hole in the center of the circle, screw another leg into this hole from the top.
Center the 18″ circle on top of this leg, attach with screws (do not screw in the center, you’ll need the center point to attach the next table leg).
Repeat these steps until you reach the top.
The top leg is optional for the top, it isn’t for support.
Prime and paint.

FYI:

This cupcake stand is large. It easily held 5 dozen cupcakes and the back wasn’t full on the bottom layers. Adjust the size of the circles to your needs.
I’m not sure if glue would hold this together, Allen says no, but I tend to believe in the power of hot glue. If you make yours smaller, it’s worth a shot. Also, look at using lighter materials for the circles. The concept will stay the same.
Allen cut the circles out of plywood he already had, your husband (or dad or brother, or you) may be able to cut the circles for you to save money.
Allen painted mine an off-white color so I could us it in the future, you could embellish with ribbon to customize it for different parties.
Email me or leave a comment with questions, I’ll make him help me and get them answered

princess party favors

April 18, 2013 | 10 Comments

Today, I want to share the adorable princess party favors and one of my favorite places to shop online. If you’re not buying your bows from Polka Dot Posies, I think you might be missing something great (and you might be spending way more money than I do on bows). When BK first came on the scene, we were stocking up on bows at local boutiques and paying as much as $8-$10 dollars per bow. It didn’t seem so crazy, because everywhere I looked the prices were in that range.

Before I get ahead of myself and tell you more about Polka Dot Posies, here are the adorable princess clippies the girls took home from Braylen’s party:

These were only $2 from Polka Dot Posies. I bought the pink princess clippies but they come in a variety of other princess inspired options, we now have them all for our upcoming Disney trip.

polkadotposiespost

Polka Dot Posies has so many options for bows. The bows come in all sizes in types, from giant bows to bows with frill and even tiny bows for the newest additions. They also have a line of headbands, hats, and flowers. If you have a darling little girl who loves bows, I highly recommend this store. None of her bows are over $4, and the quality and customer service are both fantastic.

Pre-Polka Dot Posies I was concerned with keeping up with all her bows and making sure they didn’t get dirty. Cleaning bows is no fun! But now? I’m much more relaxed, the price point makes them replaceable and I don’t feel like I’m breaking the bank if I have to purchase a fifth pink bow.

P.S. I’ve informed Allen that he has to help me with a tutorial for his cupcake stand. Which I’m now referring to as the cupcake stand that stole the show. I’ll try to have that for you next week.

Disclaimer: Polka Dot Posies Affiliate Links embedded

Filed Under: birthday parties, parties, pink and gray princess party, Uncategorized

Braylen’s Perfectly-Pink Princess Party

April 16, 2013 | 57 Comments

When I started planning Braylen’s party, I knew without a doubt that she would have a princess birthday party full of pink this year. I’m not sure when her love of all things pink started, but she’s maintained that pink is her favorite color for months. Her love for princesses and fairy tales grows stronger by the day. In fact, when talking about Disney World, I told her it is where the princesses live. She replied, Like at this house, ’cause a princess lives here. Of course, she was referring to herself.

She has asked consistently for the past few weeks, every morning, if today was her party. I was so happy to finally tell her the big day was here when she woke up on Saturday morning. I should warn you that you’re about to experience an overload of pictures and the color pink.

We set everything up on the screened in back porch. It opens onto the back deck, where we set up tables and chairs for the party guests. I wanted the food to be quick and easy. We served turkey roll-ups, pigs in a blanket, pasta salad, fruit cups, and Braylen’s favorite, Goldfish crackers. I’m going to let the pictures do most of the talking.

You’ll see this sweet princess image around the party, the ladies at Sweet Birdie’s Nest came through in a huge way. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the things they created for the party.

For a quick and easy way to add a detail, I wrapped the top of picks with washi tape in coordinating party colors.

When it was time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles, we switched a few trays of food out with trays of ice cream. I scooped the ice cream into pink baking cups the morning of the party. The party guests were able to grab a cupcake and ice cream and it made the process quick and easy.

It was hard to pull Braylen away from the bounce castle. She stayed in it most of the day. I did manage to get her to come blow out her candles and eat her cake.

I set up a table beside the door with a princess book for the guest to sign and party favors (water toys for the boys, princess hair bows and wands for the girls). More on those princess hair bows to come!

The drink table was set up opposite of the food table. It featured pink party punch and big pink buckets full of drinks.

Her birthday tablecloth complete with her 3rd birthday addition made an appearance on the present table. I wanted to make sure it was far away from the pink punch.

Lanterns hung from the ceiling fans and there were tons of balloons on the ceiling. I really wanted it to be like stepping into a different place, rather than onto our back porch. There were few things I absolutely had to have when we were searching for a new house, one of those was it had to have a great backyard and patio area for entertaining. It proved to be a perfect space and I can’t wait to have more celebrations here.

A few more party decorations.

The weather was perfect and our birthday girl had the best time. When I planned the party, I envisioned it being something like this, but the end result was way more than I could have imagined. The weeks leading up to the party were busy and chaotic, I bought things here and there, but I didn’t really start working on decorations until last Monday. My mom and my grandmother helped me a ton and I couldn’t have pulled it off without them. A huge thank-you to everyone who came out and celebrated our sweet girl’s special day. We are so very blessed by her and each of you.

All party printables, cupcake toppers, circle centerpieces, banner and invitations: Sweet Birdie’s Nest

Braylen’s birthday outfit: Sew Close To Home

Ruffled backdrop: Pink Shower Curtain via Ebay

Cupcake stand: Made by my talented husband

Tulle Wands: Tutorial here

Hanging decor: Party City

Cupcakes: Publix

Party Favors: Info coming tomorrow!

Filed Under: birthday parties, parties, pink and gray princess party Tagged With: 3rd birthday, pink birthday party, princess birthday party

“doh”n’t you wanna be mine, valentine?

February 14, 2013 | Leave a Comment

It’s going to be a low-key Valentine’s day for us. I usually scheme up some big-ticket item I absolutely need to coincide with the holiday of love, but this year I didn’t even throw any major hints out there. Not even dinner reservations. I wonder if this means I’m getting old? I always thought it was weird when couples didn’t exchange gifts, now I’m one of the weird ones. Kidding, of course. I am just craving some at-home family time with my two loves, and I am looking forward to this evening.

I want to share the fun Valentines I made for Braylen to take to her class. I also tweaked the wording a little and made some for my class, as well. She was so excited about giving her friends play-doh. She said, “Mama, they will looovvve this! They will make them some shapes.”

I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I love this stuff. Seriously, I can pass on some things but Valentines for her friends at school? Not a chance. My excitement is through the roof. I’ve been looking forward to making cutesy-holiday themed things for B’s classmates since I signed her up for MDO this past summer. The fun has just begun!

If you’re wondering, I do realize how big of a nerd that makes me.

These were super easy to create. Just print the tag on an adhesive label, add play-doh and cookie cutters to a clear bag and seal with the label. I had to put together 32 of these and it took around 20 minutes. Not bad at all. The animal-shaped cutters came in a Play-Doh animal pack that I picked up at Wal-Mart.

Here are the actual images you can use to make the same Valentine’s. If you don’t have Photoshop, you can use a simple (free) site like iPiccy and add the text to the bottom. I printed mine on Avery square labels (22816).

I hope you all have a very Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Filed Under: braylen, DIY, parties, toddler fun, Valentine's Favors Tagged With: free printable, play doh valentine's, play-doh valentine, printable

Susannah’s “You Are My Sunshine” Sip and See

September 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment

This past weekend I co-hosted a “You are My Sunshine” sip and see for Susannah and baby Crue. I used the adorable party theme that Sweet Birdie’s Nest created for a shower that Erin hosted. Erin’s blog post was the inspiration for this shower and she was such a huge help while I was planning.

I found this precious board book on Amazon. It has the lyrics to the song throughout the book. Everyone signed the book with a sweet note for Crue. I think it will be a special keepsake.

The adorable Welcome Baby Crue banner.

Publix is generally my go-to for cupcakes but Rachel picked these up at Sam’s and I can’t tell you that number of people who asked where they came from. They were delicious and the cupcake toppers were the perfect touch.

The circular centerpieces were adorable and I thought the chevron fabric would serve as a great accent for the food table.

We had chicken salad in phyllo cups, fruit and dip, veggies and dip, pepper jelly and cream cheese with crackers, a cheese ball with crackers, mixed nuts and delicious punch.

But the best part of all was getting to sit and talk with some of my best and dearest friends. I text Rachel after I got home to say that we had to make time to do things together more often. I don’t laugh that hard or have that much fun with anyone else I know. After 20 plus years of friendship it’s safe to say that these girls will always be a special part of my life and hold a place in my heart.

We see friendships come and go but you know have something special when you can pick up right where you left off. When you can celebrate births and engagements, weddings and birthdays year after year, time after time, with the same group of people.

And it’s pretty crazy that we both have children. Right, Sus?

And a few more favorites from the day.

Filed Under: parties, sip and see, You Are My Sunshine

barbeque and burlap {a surprise 50th birthday party}

June 25, 2012 | 34 Comments

Several weeks back my father-in-law asked me about planning a surprise birthday party for my mother-in-law’s upcoming 50th birthday. There aren’t many things I’m certain of in life but I know for sure that when someone asks you to plan a party with THEIR money, then you never, ever say no.

I quickly got my mom on board and we both agreed on a few things, we would have no black, no over the hill, no skeletons and graveyards or whatever else the stores try to label as 50th birthday party approved. No, no, no. Instead here’s how it looked…

The main food table is pictured above and below. Burlap garland hung in the window and pictures were clipped onto twine with clothespins. Yummy Publix cupcakes and cake served as the main focal point of the table. We served barbeque sliders on Hawaiian rolls, cole slaw, potato salad and watermelon. Allen built the wooden boxes using old crates to give them the perfect rustic feel.

The coleslaw, potato salad and watermelon were served in individual cups. It made for a quicker line and looks great on the table.

I printed free cupcake toppers and a pennant banner for the top of the cake from this website.

The drink station in the kitchen, punch was later added to that bowl and the cups featured return address labels for guests to easily write their name onto their cup.

Instead of a traditional guest book or matted picture to sign we went with messages on stones. It worked perfect and some of the messages were so funny!

A few more decorations in the living room. Balloons, a burlap banner and a picture frame Allen built for his mom.

We put fresh flowers throughout the house in mason jars with burlap and raffeta on the outside.

She was so surprised and I was impressed that the boys were able to keep it a secret.

A huge thank-you to my mom and Debbie who stayed up late with me on Friday night to get things finished.

Filed Under: parties, Uncategorized

Bubble Guppies Birthday Party: The Details

April 17, 2012 | 19 Comments

I always swore I’d stay away from the character parties, but like most things I thought I’d never do as a mom, I found myself planning a Bubble Guppies party for Braylen’s second birthday. She loves the show, she can name all of the characters and she talks about it non-stop. Plus, I’ll attribute it to her knowledge of fossils, airplanes and her desire to be a rock-star. Who says television isn’t educational? Wait, don’t answer that.

Because we put our house on the market and we didn’t really know what the situation would be this year I opted out of another party at our house. Plus, two-year-olds (and their friends) like to play so iJump seemed like the logical choice.

And even though iJump will provide everything for the party, I wanted to have a hand in the decorations. So I enlisted the help of some amazing vendors and came up with a fun way to incorporate the Bubble Guppies into her second birthday party.

I wanted to pull some of the fun colors from the cartoon characters so I chose to use aqua, orange and pink. The fabulous ladies at Sweet Birdie’s Nest created all of the paper goods including the signs, cupcake toppers, stickers, banner and water bottle labels. Everything came already printed and the quality was excellent.

Adorable cupcake toppers.

I seriously thought I ended up with a better picture of the whole table, but this is the best I had when I looked back at my pictures.

Yummy Publix cupcakes!

Goldfish in a big fish bowl to stay true to our Bubble Guppies theme with fun party circles.

The cookie favors were created by the talented Doughmestic Housewife and the best part? They taste just as good as they look.

I found these cute centerpieces on Etsy and I love the way they turned out! BK was excited to see that all of the Bubble Guppies attended the party too.

Stickers on paper plates to add a little personal touch and little Bubble Guppies on buttons for extra detail on the tables.

And her birthday outfit? I don’t know if it could have matched the party any better and I was thrilled that it all came together so perfectly.

The best part was that we were able to use everything again the next day for a little cake and ice cream birthday party for family at my mom and dad’s house. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Happy little birthday girl

And we got this reaction both times the birthday song was sang. Needless to say, she was a little excited about the whole idea of her birthday and of course, blowing out the candles.

I have to show you a better picture of the Bubble Guppies cookies. I was seriously so impressed!

And her invitations from the Little Princess Paperie.

To make it easy, I’ve listed and linked to all of the vendor information from the party. They all come highly recommended by me as I was impressed with all aspects of their work for the party and they made my job a breeze.

Braylen’s birthday outfit from Sew Close To Home

Braylen’s smocked cupcake dress from Rock ‘N Smock ‘Em

Cookies from The Doughmestic Housewife

All paper goods including water bottle labels, cupcake toppers, stickers, signs and banner from Sweet Birdie’s Nest.

Chevron table runner from Exclusive Elements

Bubble Guppies centerpieces from Sparkles Celebrations

Bubble Guppies buttons from Barefoot With Buttons

Invitations from the Little Princess Paperie

Cupcakes and cake from Publix

BK’s Birthday Tablecloth

April 12, 2012 | 15 Comments

I’m obviously trying to keep my mind off the fact that my little girl will be two tomorrow and this weeks post have been filled with fluff. Anytime I sit down to write I get sappy and well, I’ll save the sap for tomorrow. Today, I have a fun idea to share.

Last year when I was scouring the internet for Candy Land themed birthday parties I found this idea on Lindsey’s blog and borrowed it from her. I picked the tablecloth up yesterday and I just love the way it looks. I can’t wait to continue to add to it for future birthdays.

I started with a plain white tablecloth and each year I’ll just add the number and the theme for that year. I would love to keep doing it year after year, it will eventually be a fun keepsake. I love the we have a special tradition that will be incorporated each year at her birthday party.

And when she’s a teenager she’ll probably think it’s silly but when she gets older I’m sure she’ll cherish it, after all, it will have accompanied her to each of her birthdays.

This year we’re using bright colors and chevron print and incorporating the characters from BK’s favorite show, Bubble Guppies.

Do you have any fun birthday traditions for your children? I’d love to hear about them!

Filed Under: parties, Uncategorized

Thing 1 & 2 Baby Shower

November 7, 2011 | 19 Comments

This weekend I had the honor of hosting Jennifer’s baby shower. She is 30 weeks pregnant with twins and its been quite the journey for her. I am thrilled that she is finally about to start the family she has prayed about for so long.

She’s having a boy and a girl so I knew the theme would need to be gender neutral and there isn’t a color combination that I love more than red and blue right now.

Here are the details:

Instead of a traditional sign-in book, we used a Cat in the Hat book. I also framed the invitation.

We had a few fun things set up for the guests.

A fun little idea where guests were encouraged to write messages to Matt. Perhaps, he’ll get a laugh when he’s changing the twins late at night.

Here, people wrote a special note to the twins, a keepsake Jennifer can put in their baby books.

Love the idea of hand sanitizer as a favor. Now everyone should be germ-free when they come to visit.

My mom and I used the Cricut to make these banners with the their names to go above the food tables.

Food…

Red and blue striped straws from Garnish.

Tissue poms, of course.

Centerpieces for the table.

Polka dot balloons…

Jennifer received so many wonderful gifts for the babes. I can’t wait to see them wearing their new clothes!

The mommy-to-be and seriously, how good does she look? She’s nearly 30 weeks pregnant with twins.

Filed Under: parties, Uncategorized

Susannah’s Lingerie Shower

October 12, 2011 | 11 Comments

Last Saturday night I helped host a lingerie shower for one of my best friends, Susannah. The wedding is fast approaching and we were all so excited to get together and celebrate her big day. Besides, what’s more fun than a lingerie shower?

To start with Paige and I made this wreath for the door.

And then there was the food.

I saw this idea on Pinterest several months back. A different take on a vegetable tray, if you will. I just reused all of the glass jars I had for Braylen’s candy bar. Love the way it turned out!

Here’s another view…

I used the same concept for the fruit…

Of course, a party isn’t complete without sweets!! The cake is from Edgar’s of course and chocolate covered strawberries.

For drinks we had fruit flavored water, tea and Sangria.

Marlena gave me this great idea to let everyone give Susannah their best marriage (or relationship) advice. It was neat to see all of the different advice. Mine? Choose your battles!

The bridesmaids with Sus (I think this is about half of us). Notice that the Rangers game is on

And these girls? Well, we’ve only known each other since elementary school. Definitely some of my closest and very best friends. Love that I’ve been able to see so much of them for all the wedding fun!

Filed Under: parties, Uncategorized

DIY Cupcake Stand

princess party favors

Braylen’s Perfectly-Pink Princess Party

“doh”n’t you wanna be mine, valentine?

Susannah’s “You Are My Sunshine” Sip and See

barbeque and burlap {a surprise 50th birthday party}

Bubble Guppies Birthday Party: The Details

BK’s Birthday Tablecloth

Thing 1 & 2 Baby Shower

Susannah’s Lingerie Shower

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