Mint and Gold Party

You know what they say if you are throwing a party. If it can go wrong, it will. 

In this case, I decided to get ice cream cake. You know, because this birthday party had a mint color scheme and mint chocolate chip ice cream is awesome. Notice there is no cake on that cute little cake stand from Hobby Lobby.

That's because ice cream melts. Especially on a hot day in May.

It melts very quickly, actually.

So we took it out, snapped one quick picture, and put it back in the ice chest.

Where it melted anyway.

But it tasted great.

I filled apothecary jars with mint chocolate chip meringues from Tuesday Morning, pearl gumballs, and Ferrero Rocher with the stickers and bottom wrappers taken off. They were perfect with the gold streamers we sewed and fringed. (Want some? Convo me on Etsy @ SissyBoomsPartyRoom.) A milk glass footed bowl was filled with brownie bites.

I made a mini picture banner with tags from Target Dollar Spot and Teresa Collins frames with Instax mini Polaroid pics. I cut out letters on mint paper to spell Happy Birthday.

The goody bags were from Target and Target Dollar Spot. I believe these were part of the Christmas stuff. Inside the treat bags was a L'oreal lip gloss from Dollar Tree and Jamberry nail stickers.

My daughter had to have the milk bottles with mint chevron paper straws and chalkboard labels. She added paper flowers from Michael's and labeled them with each guest's name with mini gold alpha stickers from the Dollar Spot. 

The tassels are Teresa Collins.

Invitations were mint and gold dot note cards from Target Dollar Spot with Party spelled out in more mini alphas. I just printed the party info on labels and stuck them inside. Super easy. Also added a few gold sequins to the envelope.

Class Valentines

Class valentines this year are handmade, handsewn by me. Because I got a new sewing machine from my mom for Christmas.

 

                        

 

And too much time on my hands, apparently. I made twenty-five of these.



                           

 

Want to know what is in these sewn hearts?

                                  

 

 

I found tiny notebooks and mini colored gel pens from Target Dollar Spot to stuff inside. The kids simply rip them open to get the treats.

    

 

 

 

I had this cute red basket for my daughter to bring them to class in.

 

I would do a tutorial on how to make these, but if you have a sewing machine, you probably know how to use it much better than I do. My biggest tip is to remember to stuff the treats into the heart before sewing it all the way closed. I may or may not have forgotten once or twice.

 

 

Linked up at www.carissamiss.com.

Graduation and Birthday Combo

My daughter's birthday and my sister's graduation happened to fall on the same day this year, so we decided to let them share a party.

Paper cups were used as a target for Nerf gun competitions.

I love the mint green bike Jordan got for Christmas and it went with the decor, so I used it as a backdrop of sorts.

The gift table was decorated with a paper chain. I love pulling out furniture at parties that coordinates with the decor. This little antique table was the perfect green color. I think maybe it was a child's table, but I'm not sure. It is too low to be a side table, but higher than coffee tables.

Thank you gifts were tiny magnetic clipboard note pads from Michael's. I love the yellow ombre crepe paper.

Of course, we had to have some old pictures of the graduate to embarrass her.

I combined a banner from a Studio Calico kit with Neapolitan scrapbook paper to make more of an impact.

Party lollies were easy to make from the Dear Lizzy kit to stick in candy buckets.

The cake was simple with a miniature Happy Birthday banner. I love these! My mom made the cake, of course.

My daughter seems to leave a trail of Calico Critters wherever she goes. I found this one in front of the paper chevron straws. She loves all small things. Wonder who she gets that from?

Remember this bucket from the baby shower? We used it to ice down root beer.

Cookies made by Aunt Mandy were a huge hit. I didn't even get a chocolate one!

Linked up at lollyjane.com.

Hot Air Balloon Party

First birthdays deserve a great party. Don't you agree?

What could be cuter than a hot air balloon theme for a party?

Custom hot air balloon invitations were made with Dear Lizzy paper and vellum. We put pictures inside of baby girl in the basket above.

I mean seriously. Miniature hot air balloon mobile? Cute!

Up, Up, and Away Banner? Super Cute!!

Custom DIY hot air balloon decor by Jordan? Super Duper Cute!!! Down to the miniature tassels hanging from the twine wrapped basket.

Monogrammed goodie bags stufffed with-what else?-hot air balloon tissue paper! Inside the treat bags were gift cards to the Cookie Company. I love that idea by Jackie.

Twinkle lights, pennant banners, hot air balloons made from paper lanterns with washi tape stripes and baker's twine string. Uber Cute!!!

I think every party should have chevron and striped paper straws. Even if nobody actually uses them. And  a cute little mini bucket to put sharpies in so guests can write their name on a cup and not waste another one when they lose it in the mix of everyone's cups of delicious punch.

Balloons to draw attention and make it obvious where the party was taking place. Did you know Dollar Tree sells balloons??

Birthday lollie with a paper straw stick. To die for!

Linked up at tatertotsandjello.com and paperissues.com.

ABC Birthday Party

This one loves letters, so we threw an ABC party.

Which means you need a custom door hanger instead of a wreath.

And a handmade ABC mobile with letters cut out with the Cricut machine hung with baker's twine. 

And of course, goodie bags decorated with patterned paper.

And a huge M. What is it about monograms?

Especially really big ones. Look closely (even though it is fuzzy because my $300 flash wasn't working.) It is decoupaged with tiny letter squares cut out of the scrapbooking paper.

And a DIY Birthday banner!

And a cake with letter confetti strewn on the table. I love table scatter.

And fruit kebobs. I love the word kabob. Or kebab. Jury's out on how to spell it.

This custom birthday party was so fun to create!!!

To make the door decoration, I used this scoring board, which I purchased myself. In my honest opinion, it is not necessary, but it is helpful in keeping the folds evenly spaced. I don't always use it, but when I make something for other people, I do.

Gender Reveal Party

New babies are cause for celebration!

The baby quilts in this antique dresser drawer were special because one was Mom's baby quilt and one was Dad's. How sweet is that?? Perfect for the vintage theme of this gender reveal party.

Every party needs a banner.

Rolled tissue flowers on foam core were used for this question mark on the old reclaimed barn wood wall.

I love this old door with the shelf added to make it functional. One basket held tie pins. One held tutus. These were cut out with the Cricut machine. Each guest guessed (ha!) boy or girl by choosing a pin and wearing it.

I don't know why I don't have a picture, but we revealed the gender with tubes of confetti thrown at the couple. 

Art Party

This year, the girl birthday party was at Arts on Fire, a pottery painting place. Each guest gets to paint a piece of pottery of their choice and keep it. Love that!

These handmade art party invitations were pretty easy to make, but a little time consuming.  I cut out artist palettes on tan cardstock and let the birthday girl paint the splotches on the invitations. (This party is not about me and my perfectionist tendencies after all!) The paintbrushes were cut with a Cricut electronic cutting machine cartridge that was actually an old fashioned ink pen and we just added the brush tip over the pen nib and drew lines for bristles. My little girl actually thought of that one. Printed labels were added on top with party info. Oh and that perfect circle for the artist's thumb? Used a circle punch. These fit in the card envelopes from Office Depot. Love those too!

The birthday girl painted her own cake stand. Again, OCD was not allowed to creep in. Another pretty cool cake by Andi (my mom.) Inside was rainbow and I can't believe it, but I don't think I got pics of the inside. 

Would you believe the purple icing faded from the sun through the windshield on the twenty minute drive to the party locale?? It was MUCH brighter! Wear sunscreen folks. UV rays are harsh!

Art Party goodie bags had colorful gumballs inside. Remember, they also get to take home pottery.

My newly nine year old wrote "Thank You" on the teeny tiny paint sets from Party City that we tied to the bags with cute ribbon. We used Souffle pens from Michael's to write on the plastic. Those pens are pretty cool. They write on almost anything but you have to be patient and let the ink pool. I think I may have to decorate my cell phone cover...