holiday cards

ribbon with circle

this is the first year I am doing my own cards.

here are some of the layouts i'm deciding between.

of course i need to use different 

pictures since this makes 

it look like i'm a single mom!

polka dots

and to all a good night

costumes

i had to show these costumes.

i'm so proud!

they even made it onto oprah.com!

butterfly

pink peony

spider

parties

pinkalicious party

delaney loves the book "pinkalicious" 

by victoria & elizabeth kann.

so for her 4th birthday we had to have a pinkalicious party

the invitation

favors

i made pinkalicious paper dolls for each girl.

i got a little carried away with the cricut

and at this point realized i may have

a problem.  i'm currently looking for a 

12 step program for party planning

decorations

i also made this banner using the cricut.

i LOVE how it turned out!

i hung martha stewart tissue balls and pink lanterns

and made a cupcake runner

the cake

activities

flower decoupage

this craft was based on one of the illustrations in the book

coloring sheets

we also made necklaces with different pink beads

food

besides the cake, we had "cupcake kabobs"

i put mini muffins, marshmallows, pink wafer cookies and donut holes on a cocktail straw.  

i also made strawberry and red grape kabobs.

during the snack my (wonderful) sister, cathy read "pinkalicious" to the girls.

cute cupcake bow i ordered from etsy

http://www.etsy.com/shop/littleloulees

sisters

birthday girl

(i made her shirt with a leftover cupcake from the table runner)

my inspiration for many of these ideas came from fellow bloggers:

http://busymebusywiththree.blogspot.com/2009/07/its-pinkalicious-party.html

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/2009/06/cupcake-kebab-how-to-inquiring-minds.html

http://bylittlehands.typepad.com/by_little_hands/2009/11/pinkalicious.html

sarah's wedding shower

we did an all dessert theme since she 

doesn't really like "shower food".

along with their gifts each guest

included their favorite dessert recipe

the invitation

mini wedding cake cookies

cinderella party

ella's favorite princess is cinderella and

for her 3rd birthday we wanted a party

that wasn't too commercialized.

the invitation 

i wanted the guests 

to feel the magic of cinderella.

the front of the card has the 

fairy godmother's

magic wand and her famous words. 

castle cake

my husband hates that i make my own cakes

for our birthday parties because i get so

stressed while i do them.

but i couldn't have been happier 

with how this turned out.

decorations

cinderella's castle for the kids

to crawl through.

cinderella & prince charming

grapevine pumpkins spray painted and glittered

"glass" slippers filled with snacks

party favors

blue feather wand and tiaras for the girls

inflatable swords and sheilds for the boys

the little mermaid party

let me point out that while i think

disney is great, i was never really

a "princess" girl.  my daughters on the other

hand have a full blown obcession. 

so i allowed ella to have yet another

princess party when she turned 4,

but i tried to tone down the ariel and play up

the water theme.

 

the invitation

a plastic bottle with invite and shells inside

mermaid cake

i saw a picture of this cake online and recreated it.

i thought it was so funny/cute!

party favors

sunglasses
games

mostly we just had all our water

toys set up (sprinkler, pool, etc.)

but we also filled a bunch of clear balloons

with little prizes and candy.

we dumped them onto the grass and it 

looked like bubbles. then the kids

ran around popping the balloons to get the prizes.

decorations

i tied bunches of blue balloons together and

had them "floating" around the yard to 

create the look of water.

we used blue, green, and ariel accessories.

farm party

when ella was going on 2, she loved the book 

"duck on a bike" by david shannon.

she loved all the barnyard animals 

and the noises they made.

the invitation

decorations

i made large animals and hung them on our fence.

since the party was mostly toddlers they really loved this!

we also had pink, black and white balloons

"cow" tablecloths with pink plates 

and napkins tied with black gingham ribbon

sheep cake

this was my first "theme cake"

delaney's 1st birthday invitation

booklet that unfolds up and down

our friend tyler's 1st birthday invitation

wording printed on vellum and attached to

a layered card with a colorful brad.