Easter Egg Decorating

Aren't those eggs exquisite?  I'm in charge of planning the egg decorating activity for the upcoming family Easter party, so I've been looking everywhere for ideas.  Unfortunately, the eggs above seem a bit too fancy for a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds, but one day....one day....

Temporary Tattoo Easter Eggs

Gather the following:

Temporary Tattoo Paper ($19.95 for five 8 1/2"W x 11"L sheets; decalpaper.com).

Eggs 

Step 1: Begin by downloading free images from graphicsfairy.blogspot.com and thevintagemoth.blogspot.com

Step 2: Arrange them in a Microsoft Word document, resizing each to fit on an egg.

Step 3: Print the images on tattoo paper, cut them out, and adhere to blown-out eggs, following package instructions.

image and concept from Country Living

Tea Party

Sophie recently moved into a new preschool class, so we decided it would be fun if we threw a little tea party at our house so that she could get to know the girls in her class.  What started out as an idea for a playdate grew into a full-blown tea party for all the girls.

I made the invitations with elements from Paper Source.

The kit was for printable invitations but my tech skills are so archaic, I couldn't figure it out.  So, I wrote all the invitations by hand.  I'm not going to pretend that wasn't painful!

I put together a simple menu of things I thought the kids would actually eat at this tea party.

Tea Party Menu

Entree

Peanut Butter and Jelly mini-sandwiches

Chicken Mini sandwiches from Chik-Fil-A

Chicken Nuggets from Chik-Fil-A

Grape and cheese on little toothpicks

Dessert

Strawberry cake

Chocolate dipped strawberries

Chocolate dipped marshmallows

Lemon cupcakes

Madeline cookies

Purple M&Ms

I also thought that maybe we needed a little craft for the girls, so we set up everyone with a straw hat and paper flowers and glitter glue.

As soon as the guests started arriving, the house was buzzing with activity.  Almost everyone showed up in their own princess dress.  And Sophie had dresses to share for her friends that came without gowns.  Then they sat down at the table and started crafting.  The girls and their mamas had a great time making their own tea party hats!

After the hats were made and the table cleared, I set the table up for lunch.  Here's the set-up for the entree portion of lunch.

I think the menu choices were a hit!

After they ate their entrees, I cleared the table again and set up dessert.  Here are the little girls posing in their hats, waiting for dessert to be served.

Princess Sophie had a great time.  I think her favorite part was showing her friends her house and her toys and being the hostess.

All in all, it was a great party!  I think everyone had a great time and the little girls went home very happy!  Now, I will commence my 2-day nap...

'Tis the Season Soon!

Are you thinking about Christmas yet? I am. I think I'm going to go with this kraft paper/red ribbon theme for my presents. I like to keep it simple.

Ladies' Brunch

I had a small brunch for a couple of my good friends from the office today, which I think went really well.  I tried out a bunch of new recipes and luckily, none of them failed horribly.

Menu
Oven Scrambled Eggs
Bacon
Butter Croissants
Chocolate Croissants
Yogurt Parfait
Spiced Cider (it's autumn, after all!)

I'll put up the recipes in the next few days!

Gracie's 1st Birthday Party

We held Grace's first birthday party yesterday at the park--two weeks earlier than her actual birthday because so much of our family was able to be in town for the holidays. It was fun, but seriously hot outside. Thank goodness we had some shade and a beautiful view.  Add yummy BBQ and Phamily and the result is a perfect day!

Grace chose a mirror from the tray.  Does this mean she'll be beautiful, or vain?

A Day at the Lake

I spent a good part of the morning today scouting out the location for Grace's first birthday (next week, can you believe it already?). A lot of my family will be there, so it's gonna be a great time, regardless of where it's held!

I get an F in facial sunblock application today!  Poor kid.

Of all the horses in the merry-go-round, she always picks that darn bench seat!

Grace's Birthday Invitation

...is so perfect.  My favorite Etsy artist, Inky Livie, designed it for general sale in her shop, and it was kismet.  Three elephants holding up a baby elephant...can you say ca-uuuute!

Heart Lollipops

I stumbled on this idea a bit too late, but I'm putting it in my inspiration files for Sophie or Grace's school Valentine's day party next year.  How sweet is this? (literally!)

image and concept from The Decorated Cookie

Party In a Box

With two little girls, much of my social calendar is filled up with children's birthday parties, both as a guest and a host and planner.  I love the idea of a handmade party, but it's been very time consuming to come up with ideas (or steal from other blogs) and then source and make all the decor (never again, candy necklace garland!).  The Acme Party Box Company seems to be a great solution.  Started by a couple of women who love throwing parties, this company offers all the decor, favors, and activities I need to make my party smashing.  Above is the circus-themed party...I love that it includes quickly degradable bamboo plates and stemware, plus vintage toy centerpieces for decor.  I will put this little resource in my back pocket for my future parties!

all images via Acme Party Box Company

School Party

So, we had a little school celebration for Sophie's birthday on Friday...it was nice, but the school restrictions on food and balloons and candles put a damper on the fun, in my opinion.  I tried to avoid the food allergy problems by bringing in a huge bouquet of balloons (one for each kid, each with it's own individual weighted bottom), and was told that they couldn't have them due to the hazard of choking.  Boooo....

The looks on her classmates faces speak volumes about how fun school parties are.

Sophie's 3rd Birthday Party

 Sophie's 3rd Birthday party was tons of fun!  The theme was Batman, which our little girl loves (although now he's battling with the Disney Princesses for her favor).  To make the day fun for the kiddos, we had a Batman moonbounce, face painting, a candy bar, and even a visit from the Dark Knight, himself!

Princess Sophie, herself

Darren and I stayed up until 1am baking and decorating these cupcakes.  They were made with love!

Our facepainter working her magic.  She did a great job!

The kids loved The Batman!

Gracie was an angel, allowing me to do my thing and run the party.

Sophie enjoying her spoils the next day.  Please excuse my bedhead.

Birthday Planning

Sorry I've been too busy to blog, but you see....this is coming up:

Party Favors

OK, so Sophie's birthday is about 4 months away, but lately I've been thinking about what I want to do for her celebration. She goes to daycare now, and has been the lucky recipient of many bags of party favors. Being me, of course, and having no life, I want to make a better party favor bag when it's her turn to pass them out. I saw this on Armelle, and thought it was so cute. I am trying to avoid putting candy in the favor bags since a lot of parents don't want their kids to have sweets, but I love the other unique items that fit into this tiny, personalized package.

Seed Bombs

Spotted over at Anthropologie: Seed bombs...throw them into your garden, and watch a mixture of butterfly and bird-friendly wildflowers grow (choose from 3 combinations). At $6 a pouch, this would make a great party favor when combined with these 99 cent pots for budding gardeners.

Modern Colorful Mobiles

I love to entertain and am always on the lookout for unique decorating ideas. I've (over)done the whole pom thing for a few years now and was so happy to run across this tutorial today. I love using a variety of colors, but you can coordinate the colors to match your party theme. These modern colorful mobiles are a great way to maximize visual impact with minimal work!

images via Project Wedding

Homemade Tree

If I have more time next year (yeah, right!), I'm going to decorate my live tree with edible ornaments, a la blogger Chicken in the Road.


I especially love these dried oranges with cloves. I bet they make the house smell wonderful!

all images via Chicken in the Road