Mini Envelope Bunting {Mail Party Sneak Peek}

I am sharing a sneak peek of the mini buntings I made for our mail party over on Whisker Graphics today. The airmail divine twine was the perfect craft material for the party along with these adorable linen mini envelopes found in the Piggy Bank Parties Market!

Mini Envelope Bunting

Materials:

Airmail divine twine

Linen mini envelopes

Tape

A closer look at the airmail twine...

Nautical First Birthday Party {Featured in Bird's Party Magazine}

Party Inspiration: I was incredibly honored when Bird asked me to contribute to Issue 5 of Bird's Party Magazine. Choosing a theme could not have been easier as my sister-in-law had already fallen in love with Bird's nautical collection for my nephew's 1st birthday. I just adore this collection and knew we had a lot of beautiful bold patterns and colors to work with. So I got right to work!

Colors: Red, shades of blue, and accents of gold and rope. I tied nautical rope around the cake plates and made nautical rope into knots to hold food labels. There were accents of gold on the fondant toppers, cake plates, Mylar tassels, and dessert sticks. 

Desserts: The dessert table was filled with beautiful nautical inspired treats. Maria of Love and Sugar Kisses created the most unbelievable nautical rope (monkey's first knots) cake pops out of fondant. She also created the sailboat topper for the smash cake. The beautiful captains wheel, sailboat, and anchor fondant cupcake toppers were made by Edible Details. As always her work and attention to detail is perfection. 

The birthday boy waiting for cake while wearing a custom birthday hat and sailor suit. 

I even found water bottles that matched the waves in the invitation, how fun is that?

Special nautical cookies were designed by Bambella Cookie Boutique. Each cookie was meticulously adorned with nautical waves, buntings, and stripes to match the details of the collection.   

Favor Table: The favor table displayed sea glass candy, cookies, and chocolate covered Oreos for our guests to take home.  Of course we had to showcase the birthday boy some more with a birthday photo banner and anchor shaped ribbon wreath.

Guests signed a copy of Robert McCloskey's Time of Wonder to add to his growing book collection. The birthday boy told his favorite Aunt Jenny (through lots of giggles and smiles) how much he appreciated his very special first birthday celebration! We know for sure that the little man truly enjoys cake!

Random Fun Party Facts: 

1. The real life version of the little red Nantucket boat on the table is actually docked in Newport, RI, only miles from the birthday boy's house. I found that boat for $.25 at a thrift store near my house in PA! 

2. The ruler on the table is actually my kiddos growth chart

3. I made two of the gold cake plates on the dessert table. One cake plate is made from an Abe Lincoln plate with the Gettysburg Address written on it and the second cake plate is made from a pie tin. 

4. And last random fact, the pirate peg doll's name is Sam. 

A huge thank you to all the mega talented ladies who helped me pull this party together! I hope you will visit their shops and use the vendor credits below as a resource shopping for your next party. They are the best of the best at what they do!

Party Sources:
Photographer: Allison Kaharick 

Nautical Party Printables: Bird's Party

Cupcake Toppers: Edible Details

Nautical Rope Cake Pops and Cake Topper: Love and Sugar Kisses

Tassel Garland: The Flair Exchange

Red Rose Chocolate Covered Oreos: Sweet Temptations

Cookies: Bambella Cookie Boutique

Sea Glass Candy: Candied Cakes

Melamine Plate: Magnolia Creative Co.

Birthday Hat: Prop Shop Boutique

Stamped Spoons and Treat Sticks: The Papered Nest

Anchor Ribbon Wreath: She's {kinda} Crafty

12 Month Photo Banner: Stampin' Fanatic

Balloons: Polka Dot Market

It's On Like Donkey Kong {Cake Topper}

When a top secret email arrived from Kristy of The Purple Pug last month, I knew the party she was planning was going to be B-A-N-A-N-A-S! What an honor to be asked to make the Chimp's cake topper. I painted this fun Donkey Kong Peg Doll (tie and all) and sent it along ... and anxiously awaited pictures. 

Kristy never ceases to amaze me! Here is the cake and backdrop... you must head over to check out the rest of the desserts, favors, and activities. Pure genius!  I don't want to give anything away but here's a clue: Banana Derby, intrigued yet?

Check out the entire party here!

Thank you Pug for letting me join in the fun!

Guest Post on Tori Spelling's ediTORIal {Yarn Wrapped Letters}

In case you missed it, Friday I was hanging out over on Tori Spelling's site ediTORIal sharing a little craft tutorial on yarn wrapped letters. Hope you will stop over and check out my first guest post!

Bird's Party Magazine Issue 5 {Nautical Party Feature}

Bird's Party Magazine Issue 5 is now available!  I hope you stop over and check out this fabulous online party resource. It is 182 pages filled with beautiful party inspiration, craft tutorials, and party resources. Be sure to look closely at pages 117-122 to see the Nautical 1st Birthday Party that I created for my sweet nephew. 

I will be sharing more photos and party details very soon!
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Click on the link below to view Bird's Party Magazine Issue 5

Party Sources:
Photographer: Allison Kaharick 

Nautical Party Printables: Bird's Party

Cupcake Toppers: Edible Details

Nautical Rope Cake Pops and Cake Topper: Love and Sugar Kisses

Tassel Garland: The Flair Exchange

Oreos: Sweet Temptations

Cookies: Bambella Cookie Boutique

Sea Glass Candy: Candied Cakes

Melamine Plate: Magnolia Creative Co.

Birthday Hat: Prop Shop Boutique

Stamped Spoons and Treat Sticks: The Papered Nest

Anchor Ribbon Wreath: She's {kinda} Crafty

12 Month Photo Banner: Stampin' Fanatic

Balloons: Polka Dot Market

Sneak Peek at 'Lil Buggers Birthday Bash Theme

Here's the first sneak peek at our theme for 'lil bugger's birthday bash this weekend! 

Fondant genius by Edible Details. ♥

Easter Bon Bon Cookies

I am hanging out at Bird's Party Blog today, sharing my family's favorite Easter Bon Bon Cookies. Be sure to stop by, these dainty and buttery cookies are delish!

10 Secrets to Winning Blog Giveaways

I {heart} giveaways. For me it's more than just winning a prize, it's a way to discover new shops, try new products, and most importantly it's a great way to connect with other bloggers. Some of my very favorite blog friendships have started by way of winning their giveaways! 

So, how do you win? 

10. You have to enter to win. Sounds simple, but sometimes I read a post about a great giveaway and forget to go back and enter. 

9. Find giveaways that interest you. If you don't need a new Red Sox toaster, don't waste your time entering. You will probably forget to check back and see if you won. 

8. Where do you find giveaways? 

• Often Blogs will share links to giveaways on their Facebook and Twitter pages.
• Check the announcement page of your favorite Etsy shops to see if they have blogs. Often they do and will feature and giveaway new products on their blog. 

• Tip Junkie has a great Giveaway Directory to check out

7. Try to only enter giveaways on sites that you like and will continue to visit. Again, if you enter a giveaway on a random site, you may forget to go back and see if you won. 

6. You found a giveaway and are ready to enter, what do you do next?

• Most blogs will require you to "do" something to enter such as leave a comment, follow their blog, visit an Etsy shop, like them on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter. 

• The more things you "do", the better chance you have of winning. If you plan on entering a lot of giveaways, you many want to think about opening Facebook/ Twitter accounts and using Google Reader to organize blog publications.

5. Check the number of entries or comments posted for the giveaway. The less comments, the better chance you have of winning. Yes, common sense. If a giveaway has thousands of entries, I then decide whether it's worth taking the time to enter. 

4. Don't be afraid to be COMMENT #1!  You have as good a chance of winning as comment #1 as you do any other number. 

3. LEAVE A WAY TO BE CONTACTED! Did you include your email address in your comment? If you have a Google Account, make sure your account allows your email address to be shown. 

Thank you Shelley from House of Smiths for the excellent tutorial & image

2. Check how long the giveaway will stay open and the end date. Make sure you know how the giveaway host plans to notify winners-- on the original post? On a new post? By email?  Check how long you have to respond. Typically, giveaway hosts will give you 72 hours to respond or they will pick a new winner. 

1. Most sites pick a winner using Random.org. They plug in the number of entries and Mr. Random picks the lucky entry. Make sure you've actually done everything you said you did {Step #7} because this is where the giveaway host will check. They will pick a new winner if the winning comment hasn't followed the giveaway rules. 

And finally... ARE YOU THE WINNER??!!  

Reply immediately and be gracious!  It takes giveaway hosts and the giveaway sponsor LOTS and LOTS of time to coordinate giveaways. Be patient in receiving your prize, sometimes it takes time to relay the info from the host to the sponsor. BUT, if significant time has gone by and you haven't heard back or received your prize, it is okay to check in. 

Good Luck and  Happy Entering!

Middy Bitty Easter Bags

Looking for a cute way to display Easter goodies?  Here's a fun project I created for Whisker Graphics. I made my favorite little bags into Easter favors that could hang on each guest's chair. 

Materials:

Vertical Stripe Middy Bitty Bags

Ribbon

Paper hole punch

Printables (I used the Lots-O-Dots FREE printable party cards from Piggy Bank Parties)

Spring Party Ideas

Spring is here! If you are planning a Spring party, here are some of my favorite party collections to get you started.

Gardens

Grow-A-Garden Party Set by Bushel and A Peck Paper

The ant trail thank you notes are SO creative!

Rainbows 

Rainbow Party Collection by A Blissful Nest

Loving the chevron and pops of color in this collection

Gingham

Springin' Gingham Collection by Piggy Bank Parties

Earth Day/ Lorax Party

Dr. Seuss Lorax Inspired Collection by Gwynn Wasson Designs

Of course an Earth Day or Lorax party would be lovely this Spring.

So many bright and cheerful colors to work with!

Flowers and Bees

Bumblebee Collection by Pen n' Paperflowers

Don't you just love the mix of flowers, buttons, and bees?!!!

All of these wonderful collections are available and for sale on Etsy, 

just visit the links and get your party planning started!