winter wonderland cocoa party

my next winning feature is this stunning cocoa party hosted by tiffany at creative outlet. isn't it beautiful?! she did a wonderful job. i just love it. congratulations on winning, tiffany!

here's tiffany's post in her own words...

"I had a wonderful time at our annual cocoa party and even more fun planning and working on it. Our theme this year was a snowy winter wonderland. Inspired from This winter wonderland tablescape from Inspired Bride that we saw on Hostess With the Mostess (one of my all time favorite places for inspiration)

For the invitations we used the "Sweet Treat" cups from Stamp'n Up to add a little more snow to the invitation.

I saw this idea once on Martha Stewart quite a while ago and they turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. I took styrofoam balls and sprayed them with spray adhesive and rolled them in fake snow.

We took the branch idea from Inspired Bride and sprayed these branches with the snow in the can and they "looked" great but when it came time to use them the snow started flaking off. SO, I should have used the instructions from Inspired Bride and spray painted them white- note to self. We also hung snow flakes from the branches for a more wintery feel. Love how they turned out!!

I am a huge fan of Amy Atlas and love her simple yet amazing table scape's she does. So in her honor, I tried.

We tried our hand at cake pops from Bakerella, they're really not too difficult and are super cute so if you ever need a fun new sweet to try you should really give these a go. (I'd do chocolate cake next time instead of yellow)

We also got together to decorate snowflake sugar cookies that turned out really cute. (and yummy)

We also had ordered powdered sugar doughnut holes (cause they look like snowballs) but didn't get exactly what we were hoping for so we improvised and rolled our glazed doughnut holes in powdered sugar.

And to finish off the night we sent everyone home with more cakepops to enjoy later. We put these bags together using American Crafts Merry Mint paper and hung a snowflake in the window."

winter candyland party

my next winning feature is this ultra fun winter candyland party submitted by brandy over at simply creative insanity. i was GASPING when i opened the link. what a DARLING party she threw for her child's kindergarten class. i'm sure they were all in awe. awesome job, brandy!!

all the goodies...




children's table centerpieces...

drink tags created by the tomkat studio...

cowboy carnival party

my next feature is this adorable cowboy carnival party thrown by julie {radmacher.blogspot.com}. what cute ideas! i love the cowboy twist added to the classic carnival theme. so clever.

to see more go to julie's blog here.

zebra birthday party

and my next winner....nancy and her daughters zebra party! you've got to check this party out. it is a.dor.able! to see detailed explanations and how to's go to nancy's blog, together is our favorite place to be.
congrats on winning, nancy!

new moon party

and my next winner is...
mandy and her new moon party! mandy did an EXCELLENT job! if you're planning on throwing a new moon party then here are a lot of good ideas {and if you aren't planning on having one, after looking at this party you'll want to}....

pinwheel birthday party

my next winner this week is anne {haute apple pie musings for the modern homemaker} & her adorable pinwheel party! i love all the orange and pink! congratulations on winning anne, you did a fantastic job!

here's anne's party as told by herself:

Our darling daughter, Isla, turned one last week and I knew I wanted to do something special for her first birthday party. Our neighbor has pinwheels in his yard and she loves to watch them spin around, so I decided a pinwheel themed birthday party would be perfect for our little girl!

The birthday girl wore a onesie created by sticheroos and a pinwheel headband from Kylala Boutique who also made her adorable birthday hat.

I found these simply stated and adorable invitations from Jack and Izzy which set the tone of the party.

As party gifts, guest received small pink bags filled with candy. The bags were adorned with a small “thank you” tag created by fellow HAP blogger, Katie, and fastened with a mini clothes pin.

Guests were greeted by a Happy Birthday banner when they entered the house. Pinwheels were also put on the front door and scattered throughout the house in glass vases filled with orange Jelly Bellies. The banner and pinwheels were created by the amazing shana from crossroads cottage.

For lunch we snacked on sun dried tomato pasta salad, spinach salad with strawberries, blueberries and walnuts, sliced apples with homemade caramel dip, tea sandwiches, hot dogs and brats. The food was labeled with lovely orange name tags and pink handmade pinwheels.

Guests sipped peach slush, pink lemonade and soda from pink cups decorated with a pink pinwheel sticker from Jack and Izzy.

For dessert we had a 2 tiered pink cake that was created by Aly from Sweetness by Alice. It not only looked amazing, but tasted out of this world! The bottom layer was vanilla cake with cookies and cream filling and the top layer was lemon cake with lemon and raspberry filling. Isla also had her very own cake to dig into!

All in all, Isla’s first birthday party was a success! She played, opened lots of wonderful gifts, ate tons of cake and then took a long nap!

chinese birthday party

this chinese birthday party was originally hosted by autumn over at design dump! autumn submitted this celebration into my party contest a while ago...and i am finally featuring it! at the beginning of each month i am going to start a 'week of winners' since i have SO many excellent parties that have been submitted!
thanks again autumn for submitting this awesome party {ADORABLE}! congrats on winning!

so to start off december's 'week of winners', here's autumns chinese party as described by her.....i'm a firm believer in setting the theme and color scheme for a party with great invitations.
and it always helps if other elements of the party
reinforce the color scheme.
here are the invitations i made for my daughters
8th birthday party:
pretty time consuming,yes,
but i love the way they turned out.
i printed the invite on the dotted fuchsia paper, stamped and embossed the pagoda and edge, and layered it with black paper. i made the black sleeves as well, and applied the chartreuse paper, layered the brocade fabric on top, and wrapped some raffia (spray painted gold), and topped it with a gold chinese coin. all the paper was purchased at a local scrapbook paper store, the fabric at joann's, and the coins at oriental trading company.i had the raffia and gold spray paint on hand.
a peek at the chinese take out box pinata, (a collaborative effort...devised by me, made by my crafty sister-in-law nicole, and "accessorized" by my husband ) made from a template downloaded from the internet and
transferred onto white poster board.
the wire "holder" is made from a hanger
(you are a genius, dear hubby)...
lucky me, i even found some fuchsia roses.

strawberries with flags...

yes, those are indeed cakeballs...

i have to admit. i put the celery out because i felt obligated to have at least one vegetable on the table.(plus, it went with my color scheme)
but i'll be darned if every piece wasn't gone by the end of the party!
shocker...

fortune cookies dipped in candy melts with sprinkles...

waters with printed labels...

and here's the gift bags we gave out:each bag contained a fan, some "chopstick" pencils (in a sleeve i made),
a kaleidoscope, a chinese yo-yo, and some junior mints.

the paper lanterns were purchased online at luna bazaar, except for a few, which were purchased at target and spray painted gold. i made the black pom-poms from tissue paper...

i found the plates at walmart. walmart has really stepped up their game in the last few years.
no wonder they are taking over the universe.

yummy egg rolls...
the cake topper:
i used the online chinese translator again for this.
it's supposed to say "happy birthday" in chinese.
(again, hoping it doesn't REALLY
say something foul or creepy)
i printed it out, "smashed" the characters together (so they would touch) copied it onto cardboard and cut it out with an x-acto knife. then i spray painted it gold and used embossing powder for the final glittery touch...
these were the hit of the party!
rice krispy sushi.
made from rice krispy treats, colored licorice and fruit roll-ups.
the kids went nuts over these...

robot birthday party

i did this robot party a few weeks ago! it was up at a condo we rented in park city, so i had no control over the lighting and background colors...sorry :). it did turn out pretty cute, though!

i used a bunch of slinky's... {small robots in background were found on amazon.com}

i had a lot of left over robot cards so i made a banner out of them...

robot balloon found on ebay...

i bought a new gas can, cleaned it good, and served the beverage out of it!...

notice the little robot candle :)...

these silverware containers were found online for cheap {they were white, but i spray painted them :)}...

chex mix for robot 'nuts & bolts'...

i found the cute fondant cupcake toppers on etsy {here}....

i made the robot banner out of felt. so easy and cute!...

potato chips for robot 'computer chips'...

the robot shields and breastplate's you see in the background were perfect!...

the cute robot cutouts are actually wall clings {target bedroom section}. i stuck them onto card stock...

fun robot sprinkles...

cheese puffs as 'robot fuel cells'...

since robots need 'oiled up' every now and again i went to the oil section for some party supplies :)...

the cute robot bank was also found at target {thanks bethany!}...

here's the birthday boy in the robot tshirt i found for him :)...

thanksgiving progressive dinner

i vounteered to host part of a thanksgiving progressive dinner for some ladies in my church last night. i was in charge of one of the appetizers. i served strawberry spinach salad along with spinach artichoke dip & chips.
i downloaded a paper party pack via paper and cake for free....yes, i said FREE! i used the napkin rings & glass tags. they are offering the pack right now on their blog, so go and get it!...

again, the glass tags were printed/made via paper and cake!...

i found some gold pine cone looking ornaments that i put out. i also spray painted some artificial leaves gold!...

i served spinach artichoke dip inside a pumpkin squash on a gold platter....

the leaf plates and table confetti were bought at target...

i also found some gold leaf ornaments that i put around the table...

happy thanksgiving!

monster party

i hosted this monster bash a few weeks ago {sorry for the delay in posting}. this party was a halloween party, but you could honestly use this theme for a birthday party at any time of the year!

target had THE cutest monster collection...

and thanks for the inspiration from jamee @ setting the mood! she gave me the faux fur tablecloth idea {fabric purchased at joanne's} and googly eye idea {i placed colorful googly eyes all around the tables for 'monster eyes'}.

here's the invite i made in photoshop... monster frame and stuffed animal {both purchased @ target}...

mini monster toys {found on orientaltrading.com} and monster candy {again, target}...

monster bingo!...

the adorable monster masks were also found on ot {thanks for the assembly mandy!}...

cute monster dish {target}...

i used a trick or treat monster bag to cover one of my pillows....

another cute monster dish {monster toys found on ot}...

monster match and monster toss...

these suckers were a huge hit {again, oriental trading}...

look how cute these monster eggs are! {monster teeth also pictured}...

monster paper goods...

pin the eye on the monster...
i LOVE these monster snow globes {i had a large one and a mini one out}...

i made these monster mouths out of apples and slivered almonds!...

green caramel popcorn {made with green jello!}...

monster eyeballs... i had a monster craft out for everyone to make...

i used marshmallows and white chocolate melts for the monster cupcakes {and attached a cut up black boa to each level of the cupcake stand}...

here's what i did with the other monster trick or treat bag...covered a box :).

monster rice crispy balls...

guess what the tablecloth is {underneath the fur}...a shower curtain!

here's a picture of one of the monster crafts that everyone made {little monster bags i found on oriental trading}...and a cute little monster party goer :).

i LOVE this sucker stand i found at joanne's!... another one of the assembled monster bags...

root beer with dry ice...

fun was had by all!...