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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

CUPCAKES & TRAINS




Wow, What a weekend I had!  It was packed with parties, cupcakes, trains and treats!!!!  It seems that rain follows me to these parties, but I didn't let that put a damper on my days (no pun intended).  Even with soggy banners, muddy pants and poodle hair - I was still able to make sure that both parties had a little touch of CWBD!

I won't write a long post because I wanted to just share some pictures with you from the parties....and plus, I'm so tired I can't even think straight!  My husband already warned me that I am to no longer have 2 parties in one weekend unless I have a full time staff on hand to assist.  Clearly, he still doesn' t know how insane I am.  Luckily I had my stepdaughter available to help me with a lot of these projects and I'm so grateful to her for all her help!

Aaaaanyway, above you can see the cupcake cake or pull apart cake that I made for my friend's daughter's 3rd birthday.  Her daughter loves Elmo so I just found a picture online and used that as my template to make a buttercream frosting transfer and then created a step tiered cupcake stand to put individual cupcakes on.  They were my yummy Triple Vanilla Delight cupcakes and I received lots of compliments on them.

Here's another view of the cupcakes on the stand and pull apart cake.


I actually made these treat bags - literally, cut down a tree, ground up the wood, pressed out the pulp....just kidding.  I found a template online to make bags and made a medallion using my computer, printed them out and stuck them on the bags - voila!  I found some really delicous candy and favor toys at the dollar store and put them in the bags & the kids loved them!


On to the second party which was on Sunday.  I did a banner, party hats, placemat, napkin rings, treat bags and some fun cut outs for a Thomas and Friends birthday party.  I also created a standing cardboard 'Thomas' as a prop for the party.

I just used my computer and a page protector (I hid the hole rings tab with some tape so it didn't show).



The placesettings were very simple and you can see my napkin ring and the finished placemat here.  You can also see the party hats - Mom wanted something very simple so I just did solid color cone hats and we put them out on the kids table next to the place settings.



Here are the treat bags (full of 'I'm going to regret this in 20 minutes' candy).  I created a tag using cut out circles and some Thomas and Friends stickers and tied them with a fun ribbon. 



Here's a picture of the cardboard Tomas prop that I created.  We used the top of the train to put the treats on.  We placed it on the gift table and handed them out at the end of the party when the birthday boy finished opening his gifts.  Notice the Railroad Crossing sign, someone made a comment that we must be from the south because all the railroad crossing signs are upside down.  LOL



These are just a couple more pictures from the party where I set up.





Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Sara Lee Down Under & Weekend Party Sneak Peeks


Happy Hump Day!  Before I share the sneak peek for the two parties I'm doing this weekend, I happened upon this website today called Magic Cake Box .  Sara Lee has come up with a way fun and easy way make any child's birthday a 'piece of cake' but only if you live in AUSTRALIA!  LOL!  It appears this kit is only available for our Aussie pals.  Magic Cake Box is a do-it-yourself birthday cake kit in a box.  Everything is provided; vanilla sponge cake, three different color frostings - which looks like fondant to me, stencils to coordinate with your party themes and a cake border wrapper I think this is a really cool idea though.  I haven't seen it done anywhere else, but I guess that is because NOBODY DOES IT LIKE SARA LEE!  Ha-ha-ha!!!!  I wonder when the will get that product over to The States! 

Last week a friend of mine emailed me asking if I could make cupcakes & favor bags for her daughter's 3rd birthday party and of course I said Yes.  It only hit me last night - or rather at 3 am this morning - that I'm still certifiably insane because I also have the Choo-Choo Train/Thomas & Friends Party the following day.....and wait until you see what I created for that party.  Since, I know I'm going to be super busy this week and my blogging will most likely be limited wanted to show you some bits and pieces for the parties.

I decided to make a cupcake cake for my friend's daughter's party on Saturday and some individual cupcakes with these cupcake tags on them:



For the Thomas & Friends/Train party I created two paper trains from construction paper and then printed out the rest of the banner from my computer and added circles for wheels for the cars.




I'm really excited about the train party because I made a cute prop that I think the kids will get a kick out of.  Check back on Monday to see how everything turned out!

Photo Credits:
Cake - magiccakebox.com/au

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Get Creative - Fun Halloween Ideas!

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE a good party (duh) and anyone who knows that also knows that when Halloween comes that I'm all about getting into the hullabaloo of it all.  This year, if you've been following my blog you'll know, I'm doing a 'Where the Wild Things Are' theme for this year's Halloween party for my kids.  So, my theme is set!  As the days approach closer to Oct. 31, I'll be sharing more of the decorations and ideas with you.  However, as I've been blog surfing this week, I've come across so many other fantastic ideas for Halloween parties that I thought I'd post them on my blog and maybe you'll also be inspired!  I might even try out some of the ideas myself next year!

Here's one post from Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist - I love the idea of having these potions and spells jars.  She used the most commonly found household items, backyard findings and her wonderful imagination and just - WOW!  OH!  She's also on Etsy!
Here are some really cool DIY ideas from Country Living:
You know I love my sweet treats!  Here are some cool ideas that I found on brightideas.com
I heart Amy Atlas' dessert buffet's.  Take a look at what she created for a Halloween spread that was featured in Celebrate magazine
WOW!
This post would not be complete without a shout out to my shared birthday partner in crime (in my head), Martha Stewart.  She's got the TP (total package) on planning the perfect Halloween party.  Start with invitations of course, like this one - which I heart
She's also got a Halloween workshop that gives you all the DIY projects you can imagine to pull off the perfect ghoulish affair!!!!
Get out your broomsticks and cauldrons.....Halloween is right around the corner!!!!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (and so are CUPCAKES)!

A good friend of mine recently asked me to participate in an event she's having for her jewelry conceirge business (check out her blog if you are in love with DIAMONDS!) by making some of my deliciously sweet confections.  She told me the color scheme will be robin's egg blue and purple - which I think could be just beautiful together.  Well, I got a fantastic idea to do a small dessert buffet and wanted to share the inspiration board with you:

She's got some favorites that she'd like me to make and I cannot wait to get to work on all of the delicious ideas we came up with. 
I also told you about the Race Car party that I am designing partyware for.  As kid's parties sometimes go, the theme has been changed.  We're now going to do a Choo-Choo Train party.  What's even more fantastic about this idea is that the party is set to be held at a local park that has an actual working miniature train for kids to ride on.  I have some great ideas that I'm working on for that and will share with you in the next few posts! So, be sure to check back soon - and often!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Elmo Birthday Party....When it Rains It Pours!

What a fun party my Little Chunkies had for his first birthday! Granted, he was sleeping through half of the party and wasn't in the greatest mood, his mom and I got through all the drama of the day (which included losing the power twice in two days - preventing us from getting some of the food made ahead of time - a generator that wouldn't power up, unexpected rain, and a VERY cranky birthday boy).  In planning parties - anything and everything is bound to happen.  The key is to be prepared and have a backup plan.  However, being the perfectionist and control freak I am, I was dying inside (I even think at one point I went into a corner and silently wept for five seconds). Seriously, no one else except us (or maybe me) really paid much notice to all of that. At the end of the day, the party looked fantastic, EVERYONE had a great time and the cupcakes and smash cake were a hit - and when he finally awoke from his slumber, Little Chunkies enjoyed opening gifts.

Here are some pictures of the decorations I custom made for the Elmo party along with items that Little Chunkies' (aka Tyrese) mom picked up from the party store. Enjoy!

I got a lot of my inspiration for the party from Martha Stewart (of course) & Polkadots & Pirates - I also threw in some of my own touches!

Welcome door sign for the birthday boy!
This is the shed at our house - I love that it looks like a barn - it's an instant prop!  This is the banner I created - a la Polkadots & Pirates.
My stepdaughter picked up another banner from the party store - it looked cute up against the moon bounce as a backdrop (note to self, kids should not play in the moon bounce after eating).
I tried to dress up the mailbox a bit with two of the balloons that survived the rapid fire balloon popping explosion (another catastrophic moment in the 'what else could happen' theme that ran concurrent with the party; I swear my ears rang for at least 5 minutes after that)  & an Elmo cut out that came in a party kit
Here is one of the pinwheels I made for the kids.  I got the print for them from theangelcompany.com.  My stepdaughter found cute Sesame Street cups at the Dollar Store and some Elmo Party Blowers from the party store.
I created these same style party hats for another party I did back in June, this time, I personalized them with the birthday boy's name.
At this point in the party, Little Chunkies was still half asleep from his disturbed nap.  I finally got him to wear the felt Elmo Birthday Boy Hat I made for him long enough to snap this picture - I swear, if I didn't know any better, I would think he's giving me the finger...look very closely.
Buttercream frosting is much easier to prepare when you have an electric stand mixer to use.  When the power went out, I had to go old school and use some muscle.  I whipped the frosting by hand and I must say - I got snaps for them!  HOLLA!  
Look at Elmo wearring one of the party hats - he's so cute!
I found an easy template online and made custom water bottle labels.
Here is the keepsake shirt that we put out for Little Chunkies.  I made a sign with a message on it asking people to sign in and framed it.  The shirt made a nice keepsake and is a take on having a guest book.

We have a lot more pictures that we took which I will post a link to as soon as I collect and organize them.  In the meantime, I'll be updating you on the next few parties coming up....if you remember the race car party - that's been nixed and is now a choo-choo train party.  That will keep me very busy in the next few weeks.  I also have a more elegant affair that I'll be doing in October for a dear friend to help her launch her jewelry consulting business for Bubbles & Baubles.  I'm creating a dessert buffet for her which I'm very amped about.  I'll share the inspiration board with you in my next post!

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