my daughter's lalaloopsy party

has a sewing theme to it.

and since doilies have a lace look to them,

i thought the doily pom pom balls

i saw on pinterest were perfect.

i followed the link but could not find a real

tutorial on how to make them.

since i had made these cupcake wrapper pom pom balls last year,

i had a pretty good idea how to try and use the doilies.

you will need doilies, food coloring, a ball & hot glue.

i looked for colored doilies,

but if i had known how easy it is to dye the doilies

i wouldn't have wasted my time.  so easy!

fill a dish with enough water to cover the doilies

and add a few drops of food coloring.

{i used pink from the neon collection.

i thought i might have to add more but i didn't.}

put the doilies into the water.

{i just dropped the bunch in, didn't separate them at all}

it worked really fast!  just a minute or two to soak.

{it takes awhile to separate them and lay them out

and if they sit too long they start to rip.}

 lay them out to dry.

{i just had paper towels spread out on a table.}

 as they start to dry move them around

to get off of the wet part of the towels.

{aren't they pretty?!}

 once they are dry

{mine were dry a few hours later, but i waited til the next day}

fold in half and put a dab of hot glue

towards the center but near the fold.

 fold in half again

 put a dab of hot glue on the corner and press down onto the ball.

{you could probably get away with an even smaller ball}

continue to do this around the ball

{you want the folds to be going different ways

so that the doilies open into each other

instead of forming rows.}

notes...

i think i could've spread them out more.

the ball shows through but if you go back and use double sided tape

to stick the doilies together it solves that problem.

mine was much fuller than the inspiration picture,

but i like that in the original you can see more of the doily.

i ended up using about 30 - 8 inch doilies.

i'll have better pictures when i post all the party details!!

it's been so hard to keep my blog updated

with all the planning i've been doing!

i have lots to share but for now i'd like to show

you the newest party i'm working on:

my daughter's 6th birthday party.

have you seen these cute lalaloopsy dolls?

this is the one my daughter has,

so i based her invite on this doll's outfit.

{i plan to make other invites to coordinate with the other dolls}

 i'm focusing on the handmade/sewing theme of the lalaloopsy dolls,

so i made some of the fonts look "sewn" and incorporated

buttons & ric rac.

i made a paper flower following these directions

from little birdie secrets.

 for the "envelopes" i bought these cute paper candy bags

from endless inkabilities on etsy.
the address labels were inspired by the doll's black pinstripe coat.

 if you trim the bags, they can be folded over similar to an envelope.

then i sealed them with a sticker.

check out all the party inspiration

on my pinterest board!

i am now offering a DIY printable package

of party goods from

my bubble party

this package includes the PDFs for:

 this welcome sign

 these food labels

 these cupcake toppers

these juice box wraps

 these favor tags

 this banner

click here to purchase this party pack!

the invite is also available:

{check out the original packaging idea}

 return address label

last year i did reindeer fingerprints

so this year we did a fingerprint christmas tree

 "we believe"

"count your blessings"

subway art

I just love pinterest for finding great inspiration.

this christmas i have updated

my decorations with a few of these ideas.

i had pinned this wreath in the fall, 

 but it was too late to be making a fall wreath

so i added pinecones dusted with glitter.

i followed the tutorial and it took about an hour.

the most time consuming part is cutting the burlap.

i had lots left over from my sister's shower,

but it does take a lot of 4 inch squares.  she said about 100.

i didn't count... and you'll need a lot of pins!

 i searched advent calendars on pinterest

and found so many wonderful ideas.

i decided to do a mix of winter/holiday fun as well as

acts of kindness & thinking of others.

 here is my list of activities:
color a winter picture ~ make a card to put
with gift card for the mail carrier~write a note to your
sister telling 3 nice things about her~read a christmas
storybook~make a card for your busdrivers~
make cookies~have a snowball fight~go to starbucks
for a treat~make a sign for the garbage man and
attach a gift card~make a snowman~look at
photo albums~make a card for your REP teachers~
watch a christmas movie & have popcorn~go see
christmas lights~make a winter craft~draw a picture
of baby jesus~make cards to send to
great-grandparents~buy a gift for toys for tots~
help wrap christmas presents
{i put a few of these in more than once}

 i used burlap and muslin because i love a natural look.

i had seen this tutorial last year

 their skirt was sewn,

and i was all ready to follow their instructions.

i had planned on pulling the sewing machine out....

and THEN i saw this tutorial!

wait, what?  i can do this with a glue gun?!

done!

happy holidays!

i have once again been searching for

fun. easy, cute ideas for classroom parties.

our party has to be winter themed so that really narrows

down what we can do.

these are the treats i made last year

 i just stacked 2 doughnut holes and made a cupcake topper to

be the snowman head.

my daughter liked helping decorate and attaching the hats.

this year i have found some cute ideas on pinterest

to see all my pins go here.

{there are some christmas ideas too}

i really like these food ideas:

 snowman snack mix

i plan on making a large bowl with

mini marshmallows {snow balls}, pretzel sticks {arms},

chocolate chips {eyes/mouth/buttons},

and orange sprinkles {nose}

 i made these for the halloween party and they were a huge hit!

just cut the seeds out with a mini cookie cutter.

i need to find a winter shape now!

this is puppychow,

but since our school parties are peanut free

i thought it would be cute to use a frosted cereal like

frosted mini wheats since they look like they are covered in snow!

i'll share some activities next time!