Party Wishes

A Look Back

2011-12-31T10:13:00.000-08:00

My business, Party Wishes, and myself had a lot of first this year. In February, I hosted a beautiful Tinkerbell and Captain Hook party outside in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the Valley and Hollywood sign. 10 minutes before guests were to arrive, it started hailing and I had to move the decorated tables to a covered outdoor patio area. Of course, as soon as I moved the tables, the hail stopped and the sun came out!

It was also the first time I did a Tinkerbell dessert table.

In March, I hosted a puppy party for some repeat clients who just moved to their new home in Bel Air.

It was the first time we offered glitter tattoos with the party and they were a big hit!

In April, I hosted a Royal Wedding tea for my girlfriends. When I was 15, I woke up very early to watch Lady Di become Princess Diana and have been smitten with the Royal family ever since.

I have also been on Ancestry.com this year and found that my hubby and I have Royal roots in England, as well. So now I can say it was a family celebration LOL!

In May, I hosted a Mommy and Me Princess party for a preschool with 80 guests. We did the girls hair and make up, made crowns and had a scavenger hunt that ended at a candy buffet.

There were also some beautiful princesses that came to sing and entertain the guests.

In June, my son turned 13 so I had a surprise paintball party for him.

It was also the first time I used these adorable push pop containers for the mini cupcakes.

Also in June, I introduced my new Star Wars themed party. I was so happy to debut it with my wonderful repeat client, Dr. Robert Rey and his family.

The kids played pin the light saber on the Jedi, paint Star Wars rocks (a BIG hit!), play Jedi bingo and have Jedi training to battle Darth Vader.

For Halloween, I hosted a Edgar Allen Poe/Raven inspired tea for my girlfriends.

In November, I had a dream come true and got to host my Mad Hatter party at the Disneyland Hotel! It was held in the Sleeping Beauty Pavillion for 250 pharmacists and volunteers.

I created a photo booth so guests could

put on some silly hats and take pictures.

I created 20 hats myself for the table centerpieces as well as

painting all of the tea cups and decorating the yard flamingoes.

Also in November, my daughter turned 11 and we celebrated with a Little Miss Homemaker party. This was my first attempt at making a ruffle cake, cake banner, cupcake liner garland and homemade party hats.

The girls had a great time learning how to make their own hair band rosettes and making cherry and apple pies. I even taught them how to make a lattice crust!

In December, it was the first time I hosted a class party for Sheridan's 5th grade class. They made gingerbread houses and had a hot chocolate bar.

I had different syrups for them to add as well as

4 different kinds of marshmallows and whipped cream.

Another first was having my Halloween decorated front porch

featured on Houzz.com and the HGTV blog...such an honor!

I feel so truly blessed to be able to use my creativity and share it with others. I hope that in 2012, I will be able to share with more of you and I want to thank all of you who inspire me on a daily basis. I love being a party planner and touching the lives of children so that they can have happy childhood memories. You are a child for such a short amount of time and I am lucky to play such a small part in a child's life.

Thanks for including me in 2011

and have a wonderful 2012!

End of the Year Parties!

2011-12-30T19:21:00.000-08:00

I'm sharing one of my favorite craft projects of the year at some of these great link up parties!

Gingerbread Class Party

2011-12-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, I hosted a gingerbread house making party for my daughter's 5th grade class. I decided to use graham crackers for the base of the house since I really didn't want to make 32 mini real houses and our budget did not allow for store bought pre-made ones. To speed up the construction process and be budget friendly, I hot glued the crackers together. We instructed the kids NOT to eat the graham crackers, just the candy :)

I had a candy assortment in plastic cups from Smart n Final dressed up with cupcake liners.

I bought gingerbread boxes from Oriental Trading for the kids to bring home their creations in. I made 4 batches of Royal icing and placed in individual bags for the kids to put the candy on with.

After they decorated their houses, we had a hot chocolate bar for them to enjoy. I had different flavored syrups, peppermint, caramel and coconut, for them to add to the hot chocolate along with whipped cream and 4 different kinds of marshmallows.
For the banner, I once again used my Cricut to cut out the gingerbread men and lettering. I used white paint pen to add the details.

I used the free printables from TomKat Studios to dress up the syrup and marshmallows and they can be found on the HGTV blog.

The little gingerbread men suckers are from Oriental Trading as well. I just added the red ribbon.

I decorated the cups with pink paint put on with a round sponge, orange felt noses and black ink pen. They were quick and simple to make and made a big impact.

One mom brought a box of Starbucks coffee and I was happy to make my own peppermint mocha.

After the refreshments, we played a game of pin the nose on the snowman and wrote on the white board. Everyone had a great time and the kids and parents were very appreciative.

Merry Christmas!

Random Acts of Kindness

2011-12-22T06:27:00.000-08:00

My daughter is in the 5th grade and I have been her Girl Scout leader since she was in Kindergarten (with a year off). For their holiday party this year, the girls decided to do random acts of kindness around the neighborhood to spread some joy.
We started at our own elementary school by putting a popcorn tin in the teacher's lounge, taped some coins to their vending machine and putting some cupcakes in their fridge as well. The girls were so excited to be in the "forbidden" teacher's lounge!

We traveled to our local grocery store and passed out roses to the clerks and moms. There was also a Red Box there so we taped bags of microwave popcorn onto it so people could enjoy popcorn while they watched their movie.

I taped some quarters to Lotto machine hoping it will help someone win a jackpot!

We headed down to Starbucks and passed out free drink cards and roses to ladies working on their laptops.

We flagged down people heading through the drive thru at McDonald's and handed out gift cards. This lady rolled down her window to tell us she didn't have any cash on her. She was shocked when we told her we wanted to give HER something!

One scout baked cookies and we dropped them off at our sheriff station. The girls also passed out candy canes and cupcakes to kids.

After we spread our holiday joy, we headed over to another scout's house and had some yummy treats such as potato latkes, Christmas cookies and hot chocolate.

The girls had so much fun, they want to do this again for Valentine's Day!

Lil Light 'O Mine

2011-11-28T11:40:00.000-08:00

My kids are now 17, 13 and 11. Sheridan is still hanging on for dear life of believing in Santa which means the big Christmas morning extravaganzas will soon be coming to an end in our home. Over the last few years, I have noticed that the kid's gifts have gotten smaller but more expensive which makes for a pitiful pile under the tree.
This year will be different. I asked my oldest what he wanted for Christmas and he said "Nothing". Great! Now, do you think I can convince your brother and sister with the same idea? Probably not. But this has offered up a wonderful oppurtunity for our family to give gifts to our community instead of ourselves. It does seem that a lot of people need lifting up these days and small things seem to make such an impact. Just giving a unsung hero some recognition goes a long way.
I stumbled across this wonderful post via a friend from Facebook and it has all the tools and fun printables that this ADHD girl needs to make a lot of people smile this season.
Please check out this post if you would like to pay it forward.

Little Miss Homemaker Party

2011-11-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

My daughter turned 11 on Sunday and we celebrated with a Little Miss Homemaker party. She wanted to cook and sew at her party so I just added a retro twist to the idea. Serendipity Soiree provided the adorable retro invitations and set the tone of the whole party.

At each of my kid's parties, I have guests sign a scrapbook page. I also attached a copy of the party invitation.

I hand embroidered each guest's name on an apron for them to wear during the party.

I custom made the party hats by color copying some fabric and using the circles from Serendity Soiree that matched the invitations. The crepe paper trim is from Bake It Pretty.

I made a cupcake/coffe filter/doily garland on each of my dining room hutches. (yes, I have 2).

I made the Devil's food with raspberry cream fill ruffle cake myself. I learned how to make the ruffles via YouTube. I also used the same circle tags to decorate the milk bottles for when the girls had their cake. I made the cake topper from pom pom trim from a local scrapbook store and I made the "eleven" banner with my Cricut.

One of the items the girls made were rosette headbands. I got the sewing kits from the Dollar Tree and added the SS circle tags again. The each picked out 2 fabrics to make a double rosette that I hot glued to black headbands that I also got at the Dollar Tree.

I used to same tissue trim from Bake it Pretty but in pink to edge the favor bags and used my Cricut machine to make the tags. The font is Little Days to match to one used on their aprons.

I covered small mason jars with doilies and baker's twine and filled with candles for the party table.

Since it was a retro inspired party, I got the girl's their own make up since 1950's housewives always looked their best even while doing their daily chores. The girls really liked this part because they would touch up their make up after every activity.

Next, we moved into the kitchen to bake pies. Since we didn't have a lot of time, I used refridgerator dough and the girls got little rolling pins to roll out the dough. I bought some ramekins from IKEA to make the mini pies in. The girls got to pick from apple or cherry filling and I taught them a lattice technique for the top of the pie.

The guests really love making the pies and getting creative with the dough!

As the pies were baking, we moved into the dining room to enjoy some cake and wear the cute little hats I made. Yes, fresh lipstick was applied prior to eating as well! The crepe paper curtain behind my daughter was ruffled by me on my sewing machine.

Didn't the pies turn out well?

Happy Birthday Sweet Sheridan!

Embroidery Transfer Tutorial

2011-11-17T17:50:00.000-08:00

I am hosting a 1950's Happy Homemaker party for my daughter's 11th birthday on Sunday. I decided to get aprons for the girls to wear during the party and as their favors. Instead of spending hours making the aprons, I got these from Oriental Trading Company and I decided to embellish them. I was originally going to write the girl's names on the apron myself but I really didn't trust my hand at getting the names perfectly centered and all the same size. So I decided to use Little Days font on 96 pt and print out the names on regular copy paper.

I put the apron in the embroidery hoop and centered the hoop on the edge of the ruffle and between the pockets. The material was thin enough so I could see the printing really well.

I then just taped the name where I wanted it.

Next, I used a regular colored pencil in black. The only reason I used it is because my kids were working on a school project at the same time at the same table, so I just grabbed it. You can use a washable fabric pen, too. I held my fingers behind the paper and lightly traced the name unto the fabric.

Then, I used 3 strands of hot pink embroidery floss with an outline stitch. I was lucky enough to have my Grandma teach me how to embroider when I was 9 but there are great tutorials on line if you need help with some stitches. I made 7 of them in 1 day while waiting to pick up kids at school. I hope the girls love their new aprons!

I linked up!

Mad Hatter at Disneyland

2011-11-09T16:24:00.000-08:00

I was contacted by a pharmacist in Orange County to host a Mad Hatter party for the CSHP at the Disneyland Hotel. It was to honor the volunteers of the organization that supports pharmacists around California. The amazing woman honored is a Dr. and teaches pharmacology at USC and is a leader in women's studies and emergency contraceptives.

All of the guests loved the decor that I had made myself for the event. Since it was a much larger event and venue that I usually do, I had to make a lot more decor and think outside the box with such a tiny budget.

I made all of the Mad Hatter hats including the one on my head out of poster board and fabric. It took me 8 hours to make 12 hats. ( I made 20 total!) The hat stands were made from Dollar Tree candlesticks and wood trims from Home Depot. I also painted all of the tea cups and saucers stacked on the tables. The pharmacists supplied green medicine bottles that had "Drink Me" stickers on them.

It was difficult to decorate this room since I couldn't put anything on the walls or hang the paper lanterns from the candelier. There is also constrution going on in the pool area of the hotel (where the room overlooks) so the windows were frosted over and there was no view. :(

The big hit of the night was the photo booth. I painted a canvas blue and hung it on a frame of PVC pipe. I decorated it with flowers made from colored lunch bags and google eyes. The guests acted like little kids picking out their hats and posing for the cameras. There was a professional photographer and a pharmacist with her cmera as well. I will be getting "better" pics from them later :)

The hat I am wearing is the original size of the pattern. I had to enlarge it 150% to have the hats big enough for the cocktail tables. I attached the hat to a black elastic headband and no one could tell how it was attached to my head.

It also poured rain when I made my 5 trips down to my van to get all of the decor. This is why I look like a drowned rat. I'm so glad I had the hat to distract.

One of the bartenders said she noticed all of the details I had put into everything and said I should work for Disney. That was the greatest compliment I could have gotten!

Dream Job

2011-11-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

Right now, I am putting the final touches on a special Mad Hatter party. It's not a birthday party for a one-year-old or a Sweet 16. It's not a bridal or baby shower.

It's a party for 250 pharmacists at the, wait for it...

The Disneyland Hotel in the Sleeping Beauty Pavilion!

It can't believe I am "working" at Disneyland! When I was 16, I desperately wanted to work at D-land but it is about 70 minutes away from my house so I ended up working at Six Flags Magic Mountain which is 3 miles from my house. A much better commute but not the same.

I will post pictures this weekend so come back and take a peek!

Raven Brunch

2011-10-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

I hosted a Poe/Raven inspired brunch for my Tea Sisters. I wrote on the invitation Gothic Attire Encouraged and my friends do not disappoint with their interpretations.

The centerpiece was created with branches from a tree that was cut down the day before next to our supermarket. The small ravens were from the Dollar Tree and the raven plates with quotes from the famous poem are from Home Goods.

I also made scalloped newspaper cutains and funeral wreaths and hung them on the windows for that extra creepy touch.

For brunch I served hot apple cider, puff pastry spinach quiche, pumpkin donuts and fresh berries. I made raven shaped cookies that never got frosted with black Royal icing or black sanding sugar (just picture it in your head) so I gave my guests boxes of scone and muffin mix.

After the party, my living room looks like this...

I made the lampshade from linen and vintage black bias tape.

I covered existing pictures with poster board and pages from books also from the Dollar Tree and I used my Cricut Wall Decor cartridge to make all of the black silhouettes.

I had to make a fabric cord cover for the chandelier...heehee.

On Halloween, I'll bedressing up as a Disney-inspired Haunted Mansion ghost and stand on my porch and pass out candy under a black light. This year, my daughter is joining me in a matching costume.

Do you have any Halloween traditions?

"My Fair Wedding" Premiere

2011-10-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of David Tutera , the celebrity party planner and star of "My Fair Weddding" show on WEtv. So, of course, I am also a Facebook fan, too. A few weeks ago, David tweeted to enter your email address to get tickets to his premiere of Season 5 of MFW so I entered and I got 2 free tickets to attend this event.

I invited my friend, Suzie Smith and we headed down to the Park Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. After standing in line for over an hour, we got in. The giant staircase was lined with 2 girls in red dresses and their trains were the red carpet. 2 girls in the center red aisle were wearing bridal gowns from David's line. We were offered champagne at the top of the stairs and there was also a red carpet Press line. Frenchie Davis from "American Idol", "The Voice" and broadway was giving an interview.

We headed into the ballroom which was to be the screening room. Another hour we waited before Frenchie sang 2 songs (such a beautiful voice!) and then David was introduced. He welcomed everyone and introduced his parents who came out from New York and his partner of 13 years.

Then the president of WEtv came on stage an introduced the couple who was in the premiere episode. The bride's son, a cancer survivor, was granted a wish from the Make A Wish foundation and his wish was for his mom to have a dream wedding from David. He had only 6 days to pull off the dream wedding!

At the end of the show a marching band marched through the crowd because the bride's son (and David) were both part of a marching band.

Then it was for the time for the after party. Unfortunately, there was not enough room for the non-VIPs to get in so Suzie and I headed home without winning a raffle prize, tasting an hors d'ourve or meeting David.

Halloween Ideas on Houzz and HGTV

2011-10-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

My Halloween porch from last year was featured on the Houzz.com blog. Also, Kim from TomKat Studios included my bench in her HGTV blog piece. Such an honor! Next Friday, I am hosting a Poe inspired luncheon for my girlfriends. I will post preview pictures this week!

Book Print Pumpkin

2011-10-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

I added a few pumpkins to my Poe/Raven inspired front porch bench. I made them out of Dollar Tree pumpkins and a book.

First, I gave the pumpkins a coat of primer white paint and let them dry. Then, I ripped up some pages of the book (yes, it killed me to destroy a book!) and then Mod Podged the strips on. Since I didn't want to buy anything extra, I used some gold paint for the stem since I couldn't find any brown in my paint collection. While they were drying, I used Heat n' Bond for the gingham leaves. I hot glued them to paper covered wires and also used the wires to make the tendrils.

I love how the book flower has darkened in the sun. I hope the pumpkins will do the same. I'm working on some indoor decor with the same theme for my tea party for my friends. Usually I host a Witches Tea (here and here) but I wanted to do something a little different. I seems blogland had the same idea I had! I have found some wonderful inspiration this year!

Halloween Raven Porch

2011-09-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, I worked on my Halloween decor for my front porch. It's funny, a few years ago before blogs and Facebook, I was perfectly content using the same decor year after year, adding a few pieces every now and then. Since I have been exposed to SO many amazing ideas from you amazing people who are so generous to share your ideas, I am FORCED to come up with new decor that is also easy on my wallet. :) So this year's theme is Edgar Allen Poe/The Raven theme.

Last month for my beach theme, you may recognize the white frame. I swapped the burlap subway sign for a home made chalkboard and added a quote from the famous poem.

I made the raven wreaths from some fabric I found at WalMart. I made the rosettes from scrap fabrics and the black eyelash yarn and feathers are from JoAnn's and the ravens were 50% off at Rite Aid so they were only $1.50 each.

The flower on the checked pillow is made from book pages that I got at The Dollar Tree. I punched the pages with a 2" scalloped punch, aged the edges with scrapbook ink and then glued it to a circle of cardboard. Another blog idea.

Since I cut the chalkboard wood a tiny bit smaller than the frame opening, I added gingham piping to the edges. Of course, I learned how to use my piping sewing attachment from a blog...thank you!

My doorbell is a bit hard to find since it is tucked behind the bench a little bit so I made a sign for people to find it easier. I got the plain wood frame from the Dollar Tree and painted it with Krylon Glitter Blast paint...so cool! Yes, I found out about it from several blogs. Again, thank you! I used my Cricut and Storybook cartridge to cut the letters and swirl.
I made the bench dust ruffle from and old sheet and I have a few more things to add but I needed instant gratification in posting it now. Check back for some new additions next week!

Star Wars Party

2011-09-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

I hosted a Star Wars party for a wonderful 6 year boy and 7 of his energetic friends on Saturday. The weather threatened to rain and even hail was reported in some areas, so we held the party inside.

I used the weather to my advantage by telling the boys the menacing weather was brought about by Dark forces and that we needed to train very hard to defeat the Dark side.

As the guests gathered, we painted Rock Buddies. This is always a hit with the kids. I love to see their creativity come out! We balanced balloons on our light sabers to have control and patience. We played Jedi Bingo and I asked to boys to concentrate on the figures on their cards to conjure them up. They would bow their heads and close their eyes tightly to make their cards come up. I gave them Pop Rocks for each Jedi Bingo they got. Also part of their Jedi trianing was to play Pin the light saber on the Jedi. The blindfold is a Darth Vader mask blacked out so they can't see and they needed to use the force to guide the saber to the correct position.

The highlight of their training was to defeat Darth Vader. 2 boys weren't quite sure about their Jedi skills and hid behind the others. After the other Jedis had their turn at Vader, I told the 2 that we really needed their help to defeat him. It was so cute to see them muster up the courage to face the Dark Lord. They were so proud of themselves and what they had accomplished. When we were packing up, the weather had cleared and the Jedi training was a success! The Force was very strong with these young Jedis!

The Star Wars Deluxe party includes table decor, Jedi training by Jedi Master Donna, a visit from Darth Vader, invitations, Jedi robes to wear during training, favors that include a light saber, photo with Darth Vader, custom chocolate C3PO lollipop, rock buddy, etc and birthday boy/girl gets a custom Star Wars t-shirt.

Disneyland 5K

2011-09-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

On January 2, I signed my family up for our 1st Disneyland Star Tours 5K. It took place on Saturday and we all had so much fun! We only live about 70 minutes from the Happiest Place on Earth but we stayed in a hotel because we had to be at the start line at 6:00am.

Hubby and I trained using the Couch to 5K program and it really helped. There were about 5000 racers for this fun run so it was slow going. It wasn't a timed race so people were taking their time. It took us about 6 minutes to cross the START line after the race started.

We ran though Disneyland and California Adventure as well as the back lots. They had characters that you could pose for pictures with along the route.

Some runners even dressed up in costume...LOVE Tink and Capt. Hook!

It was so much fun to train with our kids. They ran circles around us but they were very supportive. Now we are ready to run our city's 5K in November together.

Mary Poppins Down Under

2011-08-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

Absolutely **swooning** over this Mary Poppins party in Australia found at My Life My Loves via Amy Atlas.

Here is MY Party Wishes Mary Poppins party available for rent in the Los Angeles/Orange County area. Also, I am able to ship certain items anywhere! Leave a comment for more info.

Check out my party website for more information.

Beach Subway Art

2011-08-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

I was inspired to make this subway art for my front porch by Gallamore West. I had a frame that wasn't in the best of shape so I spray painted it white and cut some 1/4" plywood for the base of the art. I bought 1 yard of burlap from WalMart for 2.97 but didn't use all of it since the frame area was 26X20. I attached the fabric to the plywood with spray adhesive then I used freezer paper with 3 different cartridges for my Cricut. I used different font sizes and placed them on the board and then ironed the paper on. I used acrylic paint (the blue was brighter than I thought it would dry). I painted a couple of phrases and then peeled off the paper before it dried.

I put the names of beaches on it that the whole family visited. There were a couple that I couldn't fit but that's ok.

Then I made 2 little buntings out of the same fabrics that I used for the pillows and wreaths. This little project cost less than $5 so the TOTAL for the porch re-do was $22.

I just laid the second bunting across the linen pillow. I'm sure I will attach it later ;)

Good thing I got it done this week...school starts next Wednesday.

Budget Beach Decor

2011-07-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

I love changing out my decor with the seasons and holidays. After the 4th of July, my porch becomes beachy until September. I like the soft beige, whites and blues of the ocean but I also have to take into account my awesome red doors!

I made 2 wreaths out of foam cores that I got at JoAnns for $8 each. I wrapped them in burlap from a left over project from last year as well as scrap fabric that I had on hand. The starfish are from Pier 1 that I bought many moons ago. I used my ruffler to make the ruffles for the back of the wreath and hot glued everything on.

Trying to be as cost conscience as possible, I used a pair of my hubby's old jeans that happened to have a few holes in some inappropriate spots. I used them to cover the little pillow, make rosettes and the hanger for my bell sign.

No one can seem to find my doorbell since it is hidden behind my bench, so I made a little sign out of a plain wooden frame from the Dollar Tree. I spray painted it white with paint I already had and used left over ruffles from the wreaths and hot glued it on the back. To make my fabric go even further, I color copied the floral fabric and hubby's jeans then cut the paper with my Cricut for the wording.

The small floral pillow is made out of a Ralph Lauren cloth napkin that I have had for years as well as the blue check, linen and blue stripe fabric. I have quite the fabric stash.

Total out of pocket for the front porch was $17.

My table when you enter the front door is also decorated in the beach theme. All of the shells, driftwood, and rocks were collected at our local Southern California beaches. The beach glass, coral and buoy are from ebay.

I love this picture of my youngest son when he was 2 being a sailor.

I made the runner with Cath Kidston fabric I already had as well as the red check. To keep with the relaxed feel of the beach, I used raw edges on the ruffle.

Hope you enjoyed my beachy makeover!

Vintage Sewing Party

2011-07-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

My grandmother taught me how to sew and embroider when I was 9 years old and I am so thankful that she taught me this invaluable life skill. I would have loved to have such a beautiful birthday party for my own! Pure Joy Events created an amazing party for her daughter that I'm sure her daughter and her friends found truly inspiring. Of course, I showed this to my own 10 year old daughter and now she wants to have a sewing party for her celebration in November!

Harry Potter Backyard Movie Night

2011-07-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

I have been a HP fan for 10 years and my oldest son has read the series 4 times. We were at Barnes and Noble at midnight waiting for the release of the last book in 2007 and I woke up in the middle of the night to read "just a few more chapters". I wanted to go a little bit bigger for my Deathly Hallows Part One backyard movie last night than the usual s'mores and popcorn..

I made chocolate frogs and bought boxes for them only to find out (last night) that the frogs are too big for the boxes. I now realize I could have enlarged the boxes on my printer. Next time!

So the frogs laid in coordinating cupcake liners with a sample of the box.

I found this recipe for Fever Fudge on Mugglenet. The heat comes from cayenne pepper and cinnamon...it's very good!

Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans topped with a Golden Snitch.

Monster Book of Monsters

Hedwig guarding our food donations.

This butterbeer is very addicting! I got the recipe from Mugglenet as well.

The Leaky Cauldron sign I found on Amazon.com.

I had a sorting ceremony before the movie started. I placed the sorting hat on guest's head and asked them to concentrate on their personal characteristics and then reach inside the cauldron to pick out their house badge.

My daughter was a bit shocked that she was placed in Slytherin! My son wanted to go to the midnight showing of Part 2 but I didn't feel like waiting in line for 8 hours and then try to stay awake to watch the movie (wow! I sounded old just then!) We will probaly go next week so we can get a decent seat in the theater.

Camp Counselor

2011-07-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to be featured as a Camp Counselor at Design Dazzle today. I shared my backyard movies and how to make your own movie screen.

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last minute craft decor from Martha

Have a wonderful and safe holiday!

Favorite Baseball Pics

2011-06-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

“This photo was entered into the I Heart Faces photo challenge – iheartfaces.com”

I Heart Faces theme this week is Boys pictures. My youngest son Chasen, gives me lots of oppurtunities to take some great pictures. He has been playing basball since he was 4 years old and last week, his team, the Angels, won the Bronco Championships. They lost their very first game of the season and never looked back! They won every single game after that.

The two above pictures were taken a few years ago when he was on another championship Park and Rec team, the Dodgers.

It's amazing how much he has grown as a boy and baseball player. This week, he is off at baseball camp with a friend. I guess you just can't have too much baseball!

Golden Birthday

2011-06-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night, Table for 8 hosted a 50th birthday party for our member, Suzie. I have been a founding member of this tea group for 7 years and we decided a few years ago that we would host 50th birthday party for our members.

Suzie grew up in Southern California and her dad was a 2 time Oscar-nominated sound engineer so we thought is was perfect to have a vintage Hollywood party for her.

We held it at an outdoor patio area with a huge fireplace that we decorated with old Hollywood props and it overlooked a beautiful golf course. I arranged white roses, white oriental lilies and calla lilies on the tables and mantle. White Christmas lights and candles added to the romantic mood.

The Table for 8 members each contributed a hor d'ourve and a bottle of champagne to toast the birthday girl. We had a signature cocktail called "Suzie's Sunset Strip Special". It was made with champagne, raspberry spirits, lemonade and ? . I'll get back to you on that! But it was yummy!

Favors were little tins filled with M&Ms and they looked like mini film canisters. We also had our own version of Groman's Chinese theater footprints and gave ourselves famous names. I was Donna Day :)

As guests enjoyed cake from Porto's bakery, we showed a slideshow of Suzie's pictures from the last 50 years.

Happy Birthday Miss Suzie!

Mommy & Me Princess Party

2011-06-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

In May, I hosted a Princess tea party for 40 preschool princesses and their mommies (and some daddies, too!) It was at the same beautiful Hollywood Hills home that I hosted the Tinkerbell party at in February.

We did the little princesses hair, they made crowns, played games, had their pictures taken with 5 beautiful princesses and went on a treasure hunt.

The treasure hunt lead the little princesses down to the pool area where a candy buffet was waiting for them.

The "big" princesses sang songs and were very sweet with the girls. The event was a huge success!

Star Wars party

2011-06-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I have been MIA the last month. The end of the school year, baseball season, dance recitals and parties (personal and professional) keep me VERY busy. Last weekend, I hosted my 3rd party For Dr. Robert Rey's family. Last year, I hosted Robby's How to Train Your Dragon party. This year, he wanted Star Wars. Activities included Jedi Bingo from Once Upon a Bash,

and Painting Star Wars Rock Buddies from the Star Wars Craft Book

I made C3PO chocolate lollipops and dusted them with Luster dust so he gleamed like the real C3PO. Picture coming soon. Here is the birthday boy using the force on Darth Vader.

I pulled an all nighter to make the 18 Jedi robes and then ran out of fabric at 11:30 pm. Yes, I had to go to TWO different WalMarts to get enough fabric to complete them. Helpful Tip: DO NOT start making 18 Jedi robes the night before a party. It will take you A LOT longer than you thought to make them :)

Thanks so much to Dr. Robert Rey, Hayley and Robby for allowing me to host Robby's 7th birthday celebration. More pictures in a few weeks.

Queen Bee Mother's Day

2011-05-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Do you think my kids would do this for me if I gave them the instructions?

Happy Mother's Day!

Fiesta Ruffles

2011-05-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

I love that these can be whipped up in time for tonight's Cinco de Mayo fiesta! See tutorial here.

Royal Wedding Tea Party

2011-05-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I can't get enough of the Royal Wedding! I had my son record it on 4 different networks: NBC, ABC, TLC and BBC America and I have been watching all of them this past weekend. The couple, guests, ceremony, dress and cake were all so amazing!

I hosted my own little celebration for 15 of my friends. I held a brunch in my backyard and we ate off of my Cath Kidston (English designer) dishes, poured Royal Wedding tea specially blended from Haney & Sons out of 180 year old English silver tea pots and wore wedding badges (from England) to show our support of the happy couple.

I had little white favor boxes filled with bags of Royal Wedding tea from Harney & Sons and Twinings. We ate quiches, bangers (sausages), salad and scones made by a local tea house, The Tea Gardens. One scone was blueberry and white chocolate to represent Kate's engagement ring.

I even had a Royal quiz for my guests to see how well they knew Royal wedding history. The prizes were a Yankee Candle "A Royal Wedding" candle and Royal lip gloss from Bath and Body.

After we ate brunch and had some tea, we went inside to watch a replay of the wedding. We toasted the couple with champagne and I also made Queen Victoria's sponge cake and Kate's favorite Sticky Toffee pudding (People Magazine recipe).

Most everyone wore a hat (I started wearing hats because of Princess Diana) and I have quite a collection! I hope Harry doesn't wait too long to get married so I can have another Royal party!

Sunshine and Lemonade Party

2011-04-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Adorable Lemonade themed first birthday party on Passion for Parties.

Spring Banner

2011-04-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

I finished decorating my front porch!

The other day, I made this banner out of coordinating fabric from the wreaths and pillows that I made for the bench. I used fusible web on some black cotton fabric from WalMart and used my Cricut machine to cut out the letters. I used my Alphalicious cartridge for the letters. I also used some interfacing in between the 2 layers of fabric so the triangles would keep their shape. At first, I made the banner say "Happy Spring" but when I went to hang it, it was too long so I had to cut off my "happy".

I hate when that happens!

I used double folded black binding tape to connect all of the flags. I also used my "Once Upon a Princess" Cricut cartridge to make a butterfly silhouette on the pillow slipcover.

Sheridan and I planted Royal Wedding Sweet Pea seeds right before it rained, then hailed, then rained and then hailed again here in Southern California. Just to let you know, it was 93 degrees here less than 10 days ago.

Happy Spring everyone!

Royal Photo Booth

2011-04-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

I've been having *WAY* too much fun planning for my Royal Wedding tea party on April 29th. I just came across these adorable photo booth props from Paper and Cake. These are a must have!

Royal Swap

2011-04-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

Heidi at Foxgloves, Fabric and Folly is having a Royal Wedding Swap! If you are a Royal fan, go sign up...I already did!

Spring Wreath

2011-03-31T13:39:00.000-07:00

I made some new wreaths for my front doors on the cheap...

The willow wreaths were from the Dollar Store and I spray painted them with Valspar spray paint in Exotic Sea.

The main part of the flowers are made out of...wait for it....plastic drink bottles.

I used fabric stiffener and cut flowers out of fabric to layer in some patterns.

I didn't stop there! I also made some new pillow covers for my bench.

All fabric is from WalMart.

People can't find our doorbell because the bench covers it up so I made a sign out of a Dollar Store frame, spray painted it and photocopied the fabric I used for the flowers on the wreath. I then used my Cricut to make the letters with vinyl.

My inspiration was from Tatertots and Jello and her whimsical Spring wreath from last year.

I still want to make a "Spring" banner to go over the front door.

DIY Cake Stands

2011-03-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

These DIY cake stands are genius! I love the dollhouse trim used to embellish the edges.

Vintage School 1st Birthday

2011-03-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

I'm swooning over this vintage school party I found at Pizzazzerie.

Royal Tea

2011-03-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

On July 29, 1981, I woke up at 5:00 am to watch Lady Diana Spencer wed Prince Charles. Little did I know that it was the 15th birthday of my future husband!
I have always been a Royal watcher and I am so excited that Prince William has decided to take a bride. I love that they are doing things "their" way by making most of the decisions about their celebration unlike the wedding of his parents.
I found these invitations on etsy and have decided to host a Royal Tea on April 29th, the day of the Roayl wedding. I can't wait to host this special celebration stateside.

Puppy Party

2011-03-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

I had the honor of hosting a puppy party for a repeat client in Bel Air last weekend. There were over 40 kids plus parents, live puppies to play with, puppies to stuff, Primp your Puppy boutique and glitter tattoos.

I also made all of the flower arrangements along with the bone picks in different colors.

Even the glitter tattoos were puppy themed!

The kids got to decorate t-shirts for their new friends and filled out the appropriate adoption papers.

I had 14 different outfits to choose from. My favorite was the biker guy with a "leather " jacket and pant set.

The puppies were stuffed with different types of fluff *wink*

Everyone got a wishing star to put in their own puppy and then had another star to make a birthday wish for the birthday girl. Her puppy was filled with more than 40 birthday wishes!

Room for everyone to enjoy sandwiches and scones from The Tea Gardens.

The cakes were from SusieCakes.

The birthday girl's sister was lucky enough to have 3 puppies on her lap!

Tinkerbell/Captain Hook Party

2011-02-27T14:55:00.000-08:00

Party Wishes hosted a Tinkerbell and Captain Hook party for a sweet 5 year old little girl. It took place at her parents amazing home high above Hollywood.

Rain clouds threatened during the party and we even had a very brief hail storm before the party got underway. We quickly moved to plan B and moved the tables under the patio cover near the outdoor fireplace.

I made sure there was a crocodile to keep Captain Hook away from the party!

I made these pom flowers out of plastic tablecloths ...much more weather friendly.

Tinkerbell lead the guests on a treasure hunt where they discovered bubble swords and slide whistles. The hunt ended upstairs where the grand treasure was a butterfly filled candy buffet.

It was a feeding frenzy!

I had butterfly, flower and pirate ship custom cookies made by Lori's Place.

Sour Punch Twists had signage from TomKat Studios.

Chocolate coins in Captain Hook's pirate chest. Sucker circles from Alegria Studios.

Watch for my flower pom tutorial!

Blarney Sign

2011-02-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

I'm so happy the chicks at Eighteen25 have a new St. Partick's subway art for my frame. Get yours here.

Ruffled Heart

2011-01-31T22:07:00.000-08:00

I invited a few friends over so we could make these adorable ruffled heart wreath I found here.

It said each heart uses about 3/4 of a yard but I think I placed my a little closer together so I think it was more like one yard per heart. Since I have double front doors, I had to make two. That was a lot of circle cutting!

Here is the shelf above my TV. I made a 16x20 subway art print from this post and made my own heart garland. Michael's had 40% off punches and scrapbook paper so I couldn't pass it up!

I had a few circles left over, so I made the little pink ruffled ball with a 4" styrofoam ball. I'm off to make some pillows for my front porch bench!

Snowy Snack

2011-01-24T13:25:00.000-08:00

Last week, it was Sheridan's turn to bring snack for her Girl Scout meeting. A few weeks ago, I saw this adorable idea on Celebrations at Home and Bakerella and I knew this would be perfect for the troop.

So, I bought 3 packs of Starbuck's Light Mocha Frappachinos and started sucking them down. I made little scaves out of gringham fabric, hot glued the buttons and bought paper straws from Bake It Pretty.
I also made French Vanilla cupcakes with homemade frosting with chunky crystal sugar. The snack was a HUGE hit and was very welcomed since it was 80 degrees that day!

Happy Birthday Betty!

2011-01-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

Happy 89th birthday Betty White! I met her a few years ago at the LA Mart on a buying trip. She was signing otter Christmas ornaments as a fund raiser for an animal charity. She was very sweet and I feel very lucky to have met her.

Paper Crafted Party

2011-01-11T04:42:00.000-08:00

Here is a beautiful hand crafted party for a lucky 5-year-old from The Crafting Chicks.

I want this party for my birthday today!

Today I am 46 years old with 42 years of crafting experience...just ask my mom!

Valentine Subway Art

2011-01-10T09:06:00.000-08:00

Downloadable subway art for Valentine's Day found at eighteen25. I just downloaded mine at Costco for $5.99.

My home, so far...

2011-01-02T09:56:00.000-08:00

When I was thinking of New Year's resolutions, I thought about the things I didn't finish in 2010. I started to redecorate my family room and kitchen. Last Spring, I held a garage sale to sell off my old decor of Waverly Old Country Roses, barn red, cream and sage to make way for my bright and white Cath Kidston inspired decor.

Resolution #1: Paint kitchen cabinets white.

Resolution #2: Sew new floral curtains for the kitchen

Resolution #3: Make slipcovers for the kitchen chairs

Resolution #4: Make new shade covers for the chandelier and paint mantle.

Resolution #5: Make more pillow for the new sectional.

I'm not sure if these are resolutions or a big "to do" list. I supposed the one resolution is- Finish projects that I started. I hope to be showing you more of my finished projects in the upcoming months. What are some of your resolutions?

New Year's Eve and a Shout-Out!

2010-12-29T18:30:00.000-08:00

There was an amazing competition between some West Coast and East Coast party planners. They each came up with black and white, kid friendly New Year's Eve celebration. Above is the East coast entry and below is the West Coast. I'm sorry to say that the East coast won. They did an amazing job putting together a comic strip inspired party.

Kristy from the Purple Pug was the leader of the East coast team and was sweet enough to interview me as her "Crush of the Day". Kristy makes some adorable printables for parties...go check out her site. Hope all of you have an amazing 2011!!! See ya next year!

Cookie Exchange

2010-12-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

I attented a cookie exchange last week hosted by one of our tea group members. It was a rainy morning but her home was filled with warmth and candlelight. I made Rolo cookies and the retro cookie jars were from the Container Store. The cute labels are from Living Locurto.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Breakfast with Santa

2010-12-19T06:54:00.000-08:00

I am in LOVE with this Breakfast with Santa from interior designer Tobi Fairley She even includes a video on her post on how she put together this Parisian themed breakfast tablescape.

Spelling Bee Dinner

2010-12-18T20:01:00.000-08:00

Amidst a season of gift giving, picking the perfect tree and decking the halls, it is so refreshing to see a family celebrating the academic accomplishments of their child.
Melisa Lester of A Little Loveliness put together an amazing and frugal celebration dinner for her son on being chosen his class representative in the school Spelling Bee. She served homemade Alphabet soup and rolls with honey butter -too cute!
Melisa puts so much love in the details when expressing herself to her family and friends. Here is one of her quotes: One of my goals as a mother is to celebrate the talents and passions of each child -- cultivating a family dynamic of support and encouragement.
Something I strive for as a parent as well.

Green Wrapping

2010-12-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

I found this great wrapping idea over at How Does She.com and it is the best present wrapping advice--EVER! Make reusable fabric bags! Great for Santa gifts, family, teacher, odd shaped gifts, really anything. It could be wonderful for wedding or birthday gifts as well!

Candy Coated Christmas...for Kids

2010-12-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

Chris at Celebrations at Home always has the most amazing party ideas posted on her blog-everyday!

This is an amazing party she hosted for her kids and their friends.

Please go a check out all of the details here.

A Lost Art: Making Candy Canes at Disneyland

2010-12-15T15:14:00.000-08:00

Custom Mini Christmas Trees

2010-12-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

I am loving these custom mini trees that are sprouting up everywhere. At Tatertots and Jello, she made her trees with fabric and wooden finials.

Karin at Creative Chaos made these gorgeous crepe paper and glittered trees.
You can really get creative with these and have them match any decor. Of course, they would make lovely gifts.

Sound of Music Birthday Party

2010-12-13T12:31:00.000-08:00

I can hardly stand how adorable this Sound of Music 3rd birthday party is! Find more info about it here

Let it Snow!

2010-12-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

I found an adorable snowman party on Catch My Party!

Grinch Advent Calender

2010-11-24T19:31:00.000-08:00

I am in love with this Grinch Advent calender! Everyday includes a gift and a page of the story and the Grinch doll keeps track of the day. Find instructions to make your own here.

Vintage-inspired Ice Skating Party

2010-11-23T09:00:00.001-08:00

This last weekend, I hosted an ice skating party for my daughter's 10th birthday at a local ice rink. We had the party room for only 45 minutes before it was time to lace up our skates.

I hung snowflakes from the ceiling and had pink carnations in vintage milk glass vases. At each placesetting each girl received a new pair of gloves and some lip balm. On the chairs themselves were earmuffs I had made and the chair sashes doubles as scarves for the girls to wear.

I cut out the snowflakes with my Cricut machine after using Ultra Heat n Bond on the fabric. I then ironed the snowflake onto the scarf and added sequins for a vintage touch.

The cupcakes are from Kupcake Kitchen and I placed them in Instant Snow which was another favor for the guests.

I bought the crown on Etsy from Tattered Tique.

Here is the birthday girl applying her lip balm.

I bought pink milk glass mugs on ebay to have our hot chocolate in. The snowflake lollipops are from the Dollar Tree.

I made a carnation wreath to hang on the party room door with 8 dozen pink carnations. I really wish the door wasn't painted bright gold!

After the guests stuffed polar bears with skating outfits and had lunch, we headed downstairs to our own private ice rink to have a lesson. Everyone skated for an hour and then we were able to enjoy our hot chocolate.

I really love the way the earmuffs turned out :)

Happy Birthday sweet Sheridan!

BTW- she already decided on her next 3 birthday party themes the other day.

I love that she is such a planner!

More Mad Hatter Pictures- Client Party

2010-11-19T18:28:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more pictures from the Mad Hatter party that I hosted in October.

Thanks again Jennifer! I hope to work with you again soon!

Mad Hatter party-Client Spotlight

2010-11-18T15:28:00.001-08:00

Here are some images from a client's party that I did last month. I love when a client expands on my decor. Such an amazing party!

All of the printables were from Anders Ruff. You can see more pictures of the party on her blog here.
Please visit my party website, Party Wishes, for more party information.

Science Party

2010-11-12T16:58:00.000-08:00

I found this adorable science party over at Sara's Party Perfect.

Wizard of Oz Chic

2010-11-09T10:15:00.001-08:00

I found this amazing Wizard of Oz party on the Amy Atlas blog.

It was hosted my the amazing Kate Landers with help from talented Kim at TomKat Studios.

Check out more pictures here.

Marathon (Wo)man

2010-11-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, our city hosted it's 6th annual marathon/half marathon and 5K. My daughter's elementary school was chosen to participate in a program which allowed them to run 25 miles on their own for 5 weeks and then run the last 1.2 miles of the marathon on race day.

I thought this would be a great oppotunity for Sheridan and I to do some training together. I went on Weight Watchers (online) and lost 10 lbs. in 3 weeks so I was off to a great start but then we had Fall break at Disneyland and then it rained most of October and...well, I didn't train much is what I am getting at.

Thank goodness for daylight savings ending so I could have that extra hour of non-existent sleep I had the night before. I arrived at the start of the marathon and 5K at 6:30 am and slowly warmed up. It was a beautiful day- sun was shining and the morning was cool but not cold. I loved walking through my city that I have lived in for the past 43 years. My hubby took Sheridan later because her part of the race didn't start until 8:00. I told my hubby that I would be done before her and would meet everyone at the finish line.

For some reason, my dear husband of 16 years didn't believe I could finish in under an hour. Well, I showed him! My official time was 49.39 and I was at the finish before Sheridan and hubby. HA!

I didn't run any of it, just walked. I thought it was a pretty good time for no training. Our family is signing up for the Disneyland 5K in September. I have even inspired my hubby to join us. The picture above is of Sheridan and her teacher. It was so great to see so many teachers and students participating together. Sheridan's school even sponsors Fit Team on Fridays where teachers and students are encouraged to run at lunch time. Dana at The Stone Rabbit was the one who inspired me to do this and I hope I have inspired you as well.

Merci Beau Coup

2010-11-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

Do you watch Amazing Wedding Cakes on WeTV on Sunday nights? This is the latest creation of Reva's from Merci Beau Coup. Before she became a famous TV star, Reva used to make birthday cakes for my daughter.

This is a cake I designed for Sheridan's 3rd birthday. It was a fairy theme and I wanted it pastel, ethereal and with chocolate dipped twigs. It was a chocolate chip cake on the bottom tier and banana cream on the top tier. There was not one crumb left of this cake.

This is a treasure chest cake that Reva made for Sheridan's Pirate party for her 6th birthday. Such an amazing job!

Here is Captain Sheridan with her parrot and her amazing cake.

This is a mermaid cake Reva made for Sheridan's 4th birthday. This is the only picture I have of the cake and it is just terrible. It really was a cool cake.

Congratulations to Reva and staff! They have been renewed for another season of Amazing Wedding Cakes!

Vintage Ice Skating party

2010-11-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my daughter's ice skating party that is coming up in a few weeks. About 5 years ago, I bought some adorable cards from Anthropologie. It has a hand drawn stick figure of an ice skater with real fabric sweater and skirt. I knew someday I would use them for a birthday party. The year finally came and when I was working on the wording for the inside of the invite, I just wasn't felling it. I came across B.Nute Productions on Etsy and I loved her vintage vibe. I kept my fingers crossed that she could whip up a custom invite for me. I'm happy to say that Betsy was a pleasure to work with and got these adorable invitations done for me very quickly.
Are you wondering what I am going to do with the Anthro cards? I am going to make them thank you notes.

Halloween Fun

2010-11-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

Our family loves Halloween and I love to make our home feel like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. Here are my 3 hitch hiking ghosts, Phineas, Ezra and Moe, that I got on disney.com a few years ago. I also play the ride's soundtrack while I am on the porch.

Here is my hubby helping Sheridan carve her dragon Pumpkin.

Here I am as a ghost in our graveyard on our front lawn. I am dressed in a white dress and I have 10 yards of white irridecent tulle attached to a white cape. I walk around on our front porch with a black light on me and I pass out candy. It's so funny when people don't believe I am real and ask to touch me to see if I am. Here is a video of me in action down below.

Sheridan was a Madagascar Penguin (Private) and Chasen was a scary clown. Our left over candy will be donated to Operation Gratitude and sent to the troops. Local dentist also donate $1 to your school's PTA for every pound that is donated.

Here is my video that my 16 year old shot...

Owl Bunting

2010-10-31T17:25:00.000-07:00

How cute is this owl bunting? Get the tutorial here.

Glam Witches Luncheon

2010-10-28T09:32:00.001-07:00

I hosted a Glamorous Witches luncheon at my home last Friday that was inspired by TomKat Studios printable collection. I used her invitations from the Glam Halloween collection.

The plates, glittered trees and rhinestones studded pumpkins were purchased at Home Goods. The black Baroque tablecloth was from the Decor Store. The napkin rings are really crystal bracelets I found at Beverly's craft store that doubled as a party favor.

I went to the LA flower mart to pick up these gorgeous flowers. I used hydrangeas, calla lillies, St. Patrick roses and bachelor buttons. I also added a few creepy crawlies to the arrangement as well.

My gereous friends shared gifts with each other and had exciting conversation. My friend Suzanne had her mother join us who was vivisting from North Carolina and my mom also came.

Here we are for a picture on my front porch. Thank you, Marina, for taking the pictures!

Glitter Pumpkins

2010-10-26T18:42:00.001-07:00

I love these glitter pumpkins from Tales From an OC Cottage

She even has a little tutorial.

Cornish Fairy Party

2010-10-25T09:03:00.001-07:00

I am crushing on this amazing fairy party I found on Catch My Party.

The birthday girl's mom planned this amazing party based on Cornish folk lore and the invitation included an original story with illustrations from mom.

This is a homemade flower pinata---LOVE!!!!!

Mom also made the cake-incredible! Check out more of the pictures here.

Jane Austen Cookies

2010-10-17T22:17:00.001-07:00

Learn how to make these beautiful silhouette Jane Austen cookies here.

Minnie Caramel Apples

2010-10-14T15:48:00.001-07:00

Here is a video showing how to make the Minnie caramel apple from Downtown Disney.

I want my mummy!

2010-10-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

I love this mummy drink from One Charming Party.

Disney Inspiration

2010-10-13T12:46:00.001-07:00

All 3 of my kids started school on August 12 and they all got a "Fall break" from school at the same time last week. It was very nice considering they attend 3 different schools.We usually visit Disneyland at this time every year to celebrate Matthew and Sheridan's birthday. We stayed for 2 days in the Disneyland Hotel and it rained both days. I am a native SoCal girl and that was very unusual for us. I would still spend 2 rainy days at Disneyland than a week at home!

One of my favorite things to do is visit Woody's Round up to see what the pumpkin carvers have been up to.

The pumpkin carvers are right there working on pumpkins so you are able to ask questions. They usually just have a picture of the character they are working on and they just start carving.

Here is Sheridan with Dash of "The Incredibles".

This carriage is always so lush with fall foliage.

I'm not sure this would fit in my front yard.

This is a birdbath decorated outside The Haunted Mansion.

Inside the parlor of the mansion, there is a hybrid of Halloween and Christmas decor. This is because the mansion is transformed into "The Nightmare Before Christmas" thoughout the season until January.

The horseless funeral carriage is always festive.

May the Halloween force be with you.

Brick or Treat

2010-10-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sheridan and I had "Girls Only" weekend and went to visit Legoland in Carlsbad. Now, if you have a Lego freak like I do in the family, I'm sure you could put them to work and have them make you some great Halloween decor. Sheridan and I found plenty of inspiration!

Skulls and spiders-seems easy enough with just black and white Legos.

How about this cute ghost?

You could even have them make their own trick-or-treat bag!

On Saturday nights in October, Legoland hosts "Brick or Treat" from 5-9 pm. Kids are encouraged to dress in costume while they "brick or treat" in the little village they set up. Each little themed hut gives out different goodies such as candy, coupons for free sundaes, apples, glow-in-dark bracelets and a special commemerative Lego brick.

The last time Sheridan was at Legoland she was only 4 and she said she didn't remember it. I'm glad we were able to experience it again...just us girls!

Are you ready?

2010-09-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is October 1st and Halloween season officially begins! Yes, I know that Halloween candy has been in the stores for the last 4 weeks but now, it's official!

There are so many fabulous things out there to make a parent look really talented and creative. Have you seen how many amazing printable party supplies that are out there? A talented graphic designer creates these beautiful things for your to print and cut at HOME! That is just too easy!

This beautiful collection is from Pen and Paper Flowers and you can get her whole collection for just $7. What great ideas she has on how to use them! I will be using another collection to make my neighborhood "BOO" packages that I will be delivering on, that's right, October 1st!

Another winner

2010-09-26T19:55:00.001-07:00

I picked a winner last Monday for my Cake Pop book giveaway but I have not heard from her and she didn't leave a email as I requested. So I re-drew from the eligible comments and the winner is Suzie Stevens who did leave her email! Congratulations Suzie!

Halloween Wreath

2010-09-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

Halloween is my favorite holiday! I don't think it's ever too early to decorate. I started decorating my porch last weekend and a neighbor teen thought it was weird to put decor out so early.

The frame, orange throw and polka dot pillow is from IKEA. The glittered skeleton is from the Dollar Tree.

My inspiration for my new wreaths came from a post on Tatertots and Jello. I decided to put my own twist on it and used a 3rd color, a polka dot ribbon and added spiders.

At first I was intimidated by making the flowers but they were quite easy. I just ripped strips of fabric, tied a knot in one end and started rolling and twisting the fabric and then hot glue them in place. I made a lot more so I can make a coordinating pillow for the bench. The Dollar Tree didn't have the bigger size foam wreath form, so I got these at JoAnn's. I used broadcloth that I bought at Beverly's and the furry spiders are from Pier 1. There is still more decorating to do but this is a good start.

How do you decorate your front porch?

I'm a Gleek!

2010-09-21T09:02:00.001-07:00

I am SO excited about the season premiere of GLEE tonight! I was a little late jumping on the bandwagon, but I am a super fan now! I even found another super fan in Blogland...Dana from the Stone Rabbit!

This summer, we wrote to each other and decided to get matching "Gleek" shirts. She was on the ball and took a picture of hers while I wait to the last minute (and everyone left for the day) before I could snap a picture. Hope you will join Dana and I in watching Glee tonight. I just can't wait to hear what Sue Sylvester has to say since she has had all summer to think.

We have a winner!

2010-09-20T19:31:00.001-07:00

There were 111 eligible comments for the Bakerella Cake Pop book giveaway. Thanks to all of you who came to visit me this week and I hope you will stop by again in the future :)

The winning comment was from Sharon from Salty, Sweet and Southern. She didn't leave an email so if I don't hear from her by Friday, I will re-drawn since I did say to leave an email address :0)

Glam Halloween

2010-09-15T10:22:00.001-07:00

I LOVE the new collection from TomKat Studio! I think this would be perfect for a teen or adult witches tea.

She offers so many adorable items that you can print at home to have an amazing party!

She said her inspiration was the purple glitter trees and plaque she found at Home Goods.

Simply gorgeous! I think it's time for me to plan another Witches Tea for my girlfriends!

See more amazing pictures here and learn where to purchase the printables.

Candy Rainbows

2010-09-13T08:59:00.001-07:00

I had the pleasure of helping out a wonderful repeat client. Last year, I hosted her youngest daughter's Tinkerbell party and a Breakfast at Tiffany's party for her friend's 40th birthday.

This year she decided to combined both of her daughter's birthday by having a Rainbow party complete with a magic and balloon making pink fairy, a face painter and a candy and favor buffet. I made the "Happy Birthday" banner and the backdrop was foam board covered in fabric from IKEA. I also made the tissue poms over the table and white "cloud" poms surrounding the table.

I was in chrage of the table centerpieces and the decor for the candy/favor buffet table. I used a 2" circle punch to make the giant confetti. Pictures of the sisters were also placed around the table.

I used the TomKat Studios tags to ID the goodies. Each guest received a bag to fill and boy, did they ever!

It was like a feeding frenzy! I have never seen anything like it!

See more pictures here.

Thanks to Sahara and her family for allowing me to share in their special day.

I'm such a blonde...

2010-09-07T21:38:00.001-07:00

...and SO excited about Bakerella's Cake Pop cook book, I accidentally pre-ordered 2 books!

If you would like to take advantage of my blondeness, I am giving away the 2nd book.

Just leave a comment below

to get entered into the drawing.Just one entry per person please!

And don't forget to leave your email so I can get a hold of you when you win!

This giveaway will close on Sunday, September 19.

Winner announced on Monday, September 20.

Good Luck!

Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

2010-08-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

Not this adorable birthday girl! Look at this precious

Red Riding Hood party from Celebrate Today.

Love the dessert buffet!

Swooning over the cupcakes!

Big, Bad Wolf puppet making.

Party favor baskets filled with personalized chocolates.
These pictures are just form "Part 1" of her party post. Please visit her site for more cuteness.

Thirsty?

2010-08-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon, in the 95 degree heat, my kids and I hosted a lemonade stand.

We offered lemonade (of course), lemon cupcakes with chocolate frosting, brownies and sugar cookies. We had friends stop by and kids enjoyed receiving "tips" from appreciative customers.

I used the adorable Lemonade Stand kit from Paper & Cake to impress the neighbors. They really seemed to enjoy the straw tags. When the kids handed over the glass of lemonade and they saw the straw tag, the kids got a tip.

I did have them wear $5 aprons that I purchased at Smart n' Final but Chasen took his off :(

Here is Skyler and Molly enjoying our drive up service.

I'm sure we will have another stand before the end of summer. By Tuesday, it is supposed to be 102 (but it is always hotter) but the weekend should cool off to the mid 80s (fingers crossed!).

Have a great week and stay cool!

If Mark Twain were alive...

2010-08-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

...he would LOVE this Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn party I found over at the super talented Kate Landers.
This is a 1 year old celebration for twin boys-how absolutely perfect! The tables and seating were hay bales.

The party favors were hard cover copies of the famous book.

The brunch spread had yummies that Tom and Huck could have eaten, such as fried fish, biscuits, grits and potatoes, and were named after characters in the book.

They even had animals come a visit the guests that Tom and Huck would have encounterd on their adventures such as an owl, snake, turtle, bull frog and an alligator. A local actor came to entertain the guests by telling stories of Tom and Huck and bring the book to life.

What magical celebration!

Click the link above to see more pictures and get all of the amazing details.

Flower from a Knight

2010-08-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

Our family went to Medieval Times on Saturday night and Sheridan received a flower from our knight. What did you do this weekend?

1st Day of School

2010-08-12T09:22:00.001-07:00

All 3 of my kids started school this morning and all at 3 different schools. I decided to make apple cake pops for the teaching staff at my daughter's school. I didn't have enough time to make apples for the jr high and high school staff. LOL

I used the Bakerella cake pop recipe found here. If you have not visited her website, you must! She is a genius and has a book coming out next month all about cake pops.

I used tags from Parties by Hardie. I used the same set for a back to school party for my Brownie troop.

These are what the pops look like. Since I made my cake pops at night with terrible lighting, I'm using Bakerella's beautiful picture.

Sheridan even got to hold the sign for the teacher. Mrs. Candib was Chasen's teacher in 4th grade as well. She is our school rep for the music center in Los Angeles and is very into the arts and performing (she used to work on Broadway in NY and her hubby is a fim editor). The kids learn a lot in her class, participate in a recycling program and take an end of the year trip to Fort Tejon to live like soliders from the 1870's for a few days.

Chasen's 6th grade teacher from last year called him last night to wish him good luck at his first day of jr. high. We have such amazing teachers at our schools. We are so blessed and that's why I made the pops for them. I'm so glad that they are part of my children's lives.

Books and a Movie

2010-08-02T09:43:00.001-07:00

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know how I love to have fun with a purpose. This great idea came from Ashley Ann Photography. Ashley is a young mom in Oklahoma raising her 3 boys and little girl in a creative and thoughtful way. I love visiting her blog everyday.

She invited young friends over to donate books for a local children's hospital and then rewarded them with a book reading and a showing of "Cat in the Hat" in their yard. The adorable invitations came with bookplates for the donors to put in the books that they donated.

I love her popcorn concession stand. Her hubby, Chris, read stories to the kids while waiting for the sky to turn dark.

Thank you, Ashley, for all of your inspiration!

Visit her blog for more pictures and details!

Ava's Tea Party

2010-07-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

You are invited to a tea party for a little girl who will never get to attend. It is a memorial tea party for a 3 year old named Ava who was taken from her family too soon. Last year was the first such tea party and they are hosting one again. What a wonderful opportunity to share something special with the children in your life. Get all the details here.

Pioneer Party

2010-07-18T10:56:00.001-07:00

I adore this pionner party hosted by Family Faith Home Friends for their 2 year old daughter.

The invitations

The party was hosted at a Pionner Homestead park...simply perfect!

She had aprons for the girl guests and bandanas for the boys.

The birthday girl is wearing her grandmother's cameo pin from when she was little.

I just love that!

The young ones got wagon rides while parents had checkers and horseshoes to play.

The party favors were homemade jam and CDs of the fiddle and banjo music that played during the party. Fabulous job!

This Friday, our backyard movie feature is Little House on the Prairie pilot episode. I just LOVED Little House when I was little. I am 6 months younger than Melissa Gilbert who played Laura Ingalls and I had the buck teeth and braids just like her. Oh how I wanted to be her! When I was in the 4th grade, I wrote a play about a pioneer family named "Westward Ho" and I performed it in front of the whole school. Like I said...BIG fan!

Chic Alice

2010-07-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

I'm in love!
With this amazing bridal Alice in Wonderland shoot.

It was shot a Joy Gabler's home from The Vintage Rabbit.

It also features some of her handy work such as this adorable cuff bride Alice is wearing.

So much eye candy!

Thanks for sharing this Joy...just stunning!

Couture Events Event Coordination in San Diego is a preferred vendor and proud sponsor of The Wedding Chicks.

Coordination: Couture Events
Photography: Joielala Photography
Stationary: Delphine
Florist: The Floral Department
Cupcakes: Cupcake Love
Make up Artist: Think Pink, Dana Marie
Hair: Shawna Messner- shawnanana1@yahoo.com
Gowns: M Bride
Cake: The French Gourmet
Linens: The Floral Department for La Tavola Linen
Bracelets and paper florals: The Vintage Rabbit
Hair Accessories: Radokri
Model: Ari Cover
Bunnies: Ashli Hurst – ashlihurst@yahoo.com
Creative Director: Krystel Tien

Lemonade Stand

2010-07-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

I love to drive around the neighborhood in the summer to visit all of the lemonade stands set up by enterprising kids. They all have their own different ideas of a lemonade stand. Some sell just lemonade while others like to "kick it up a notch" by also offering yummies to eat along with your refreshment.

Kira at Paper & Cake is offering this adorable lemonade stand kit on her etsy site.

Everything you need to make your stand, well, stand out!

My kids are all over this! Of course, I always like to have a little extra "something" attached to my kids endeavors. For instance, with our backyard movies, we collect food for a local food pantry. These charities always seem to be neglected during the summer.

So when I found a charity to support childhood cancer awareness that also has a lemonade stand attached to it's fundraising, I was all over it. Alex's Lemonade Stand was first started by a 4 year old girl who had cancer to raise money to find a cure. She has since died but her legacy and foundation continue. Please check out the website here. Please support your local lemonade stands!

Safari Party

2010-07-06T20:03:00.001-07:00

Last Monday, I pulled my back out while cleaning the shower. Clearly a sign from above that I should not be doing any type of housework ever again! I was on 800mg Ibuprofen round the clock for 5 days until...

I caught a cold and started hacking and I lost my voice for 2 days. I have now moved onto the "going through a box of tissues every few hours" stage. So much for having some time off from my party planning business. Last weekend was my first open weekend since February. I really wanted to start some sewing projects with my daughter and help her earn her sewing badge for Girl Scouts along with a few projects around the house that have been neglected for far too long.

So as I recover, check out this adorable safari 1st birthday celebration by No Fuss Fabulous!

Summer Traditions

2010-07-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

4 years ago, I organized a family reunion for my mom's side of the family. It was held at the family farmhouse in Herington, Kansas. My grandmother's sisters were born in that house!

We had family join us from California (my family), New Mexico and AFB in Germany. Some of the activities we had were sack races, family history quiz (mostly about great-grandparents who first owned the farm) and a water balloon toss.

These are all of my family members representing my grandmother and her 3 sister's families. Each family wore matching outfits to show what branch of the family they were from. My family wore Disney's Snow White and the 7 dwarf personalized shirts (beacuase there were 8 of us) and we represented California (where Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios are located).

When we were filling the water balloons with the garden hose, needless to say, we all got a bit wet. I just found this handy dandy Pumpanator (designed by a 4th grader) to fill balloons with water or air. I bought one here in red and it comes with 500 balloons. Now you can let the kids fill their own balloons and leave you inside the house to eat bon bons. Happy 4th of July!

We have a winner!

2010-06-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Katy of The Country Blossom! She won my 300th post giveaway that includes a DVD copy of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and some of my party favors from my Mad Hatter tea party. Thanks to everyone who entered and visits my blog on a regular basis. I have met some great people in cyberspace and I really appreciate all of you!

Time is running out!

2010-06-27T14:18:00.001-07:00

You only have a few hours left to enter my 300th post giveaway! Ends at midnight tonight. Winner announced tomorrow!

Toy Story Backyard Movie

2010-06-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday night, we hosted our 3rd backyard movie of the summer. Toy Story is one of my favorite movies and I know every word. In addition to our usual candy raflle, I also gave away Toy Story popcorn (Walmart), Toy Story gummi, candy dips and ring pops (Walmart), Toy Story sand molds and Toy Story movie poster and paints (Dollar Tree). All guests got a ticket for coming and a ticket for each food item that wil be delivered to a local food pantry.

Sheridan had fun setting up the army men around the table.

I made these cute little green alien men from Disney Family.

I used children's blocks as a plate stand for the cupcakes and barrel of monkeys were hanging from the chandelier.

I took my kids to see Toy Story 3 on Monday and I cried like a baby. The story begins when Andy is 17 and leaving for college. It hit very close to home because of the picture above, Matthew was 6 and Chasen was 2 when they were Buzz and Woody for Halloween in 2000. Buzz and Woody were Matthew's favorite and the Woody used in the tablescape was Matthew's from when he was 3. Buzz and RC are somewhere in the garage.

You only have a few more days to enter my 300th post giveaway!

National Backyard Campout

2010-06-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

My family will be camping in the backyard Saturday night. It is something we have done for several years during the summer. I just found out that there is a day devoted to backyard camping. Won't you join us?