Santa Was Here!

I know, I know!  It's a few weeks until Christmas, and I haven't posted!  I'm in the midst of a remodel and it's taking everything I've got.  (Another post, another day...)  

I found these tags on SmittenBlogDesign's site and couldn't resist these for the kids' presents from Santa Claus last year.  I'll post this years presents as soon as I manage to find the time to wrap them!  :) 

A Lego Party

My son loves to build things, and truly enjoys Lego's so we decided to make a Lego themed party.
I found these treat sacks on PaperNook's Etsy site.  You can order from many different designs and pick the colors coordinate with your event.  We filled the sacks with Lego shaped cookies, minifigures, brick and minifigure shaped hard candy and Lego block shaped sugar candy.

I found these block candies on Amazon.  My son always buys them when we are at the beach from Candy Kitchen.  I thought we would build a bit with them, but we also included them in the favor bags.

I spotted these invitations on SIMONE Made It's Etsy shop.  She was great to work with and so quick to get them done.  I was a bit late getting this party in the works, so I ended up emailing quite a few.

We used these molds to make ice cubes and also hard candies for the treat bags.  You can purchase your own set on She's Crafty's Etsy shop.

I poured some building bricks into these glass vases I had from another party and had the kids guess how many bricks were inside.  We also played Creationary and had some Lego Ninjago battles.  We also played some pick up the Lego games with chopsticks.

I found these candles on Amazon and the number candle is from Target.

It was the beginning of the school year, so I took the easy way out and ordered cupcakes from Wegmans.  Such a relief to just pick them up after making all of those cookies!  I found the yellow cupcake wrappers at Michaels and simply dropped the cupcakes in.  (The yellow wrappers are made by Wilton.)  I was going to put some brick candy on top of each cupcake, but it was a whirlwind of a day and I forgot!

Oh, did I say cookies?  Here they are!

Lush with Roses Cake

Oh my goodness, this cake just caught my eye and I can't get over how beautiful it is.  I found it on the blog I Am Baker by Amanda.

Here is Amanda's tutorial on how to ice the cake:
http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2011/02/rose-cake-tutorial.html

I am already checking my icing tips to see if I have the correct one!

Even the inside of the cake is special.  Imagine showing up to a picnic with this beauty!

Looking further into her blog, I found these sweet rose cookies. You must all know by now my love of pretty cookies.  Aren't they just adorable?  My children always want the cookies at our local Wegman's with soft icing that gets a bit crunchy on the crust and I'm thinking these might be the ticket.    You can be sure I'll be testing out her recipes soon.  Thanks Amanda, for allowing me to borrow your photos and link!

Happy 4th!

Butterflies

I had so much fun making these butterfly cookies for a teacher I know.  She'll be giving them to her students.  How sweet is that?  I couldn't resist adding some edible glitter, I thought the students would get a kick out of it.  I wish I had some in every color!  You can get some for yourself at Country Kitchen SweetArt.

Colorful Easter Eggs

I was searching through Etsy the other day for Easter decorations and came across these vibrant wooden eggs.  They are created with non toxic paint by Erin and her husband Nick and sold in their Etsy store, Imaginationkids.  I think they would look so pretty in the birch baskets I posted about earlier.  My children love to have egg hunts even when it's not Easter.  Sometimes we have them in the house if it's too cold or muddy out, but outside is our favorite!  (And a great photo op at that!)

The clean pure colors are so cheerful, they are sure to brighten a rainy spring day!

Birch Baskets

The snow has melted here on the east coast, and as the grass (yet to be green) appears I am dreaming of spring days without coats.  I found these wonderful birch baskets on New Hampshire Creation's Etsy shop.  These birch baskets are made by hand from by floral designer Allie and her husband, Chuck.  The baskets are made to order from already fallen trees.  The pair also make birch vases, grapevine baskets, boxes and accept custom orders.

Can you imagine this basket filled with colorful eggs for Easter?  Perhaps it could be a hostess gift of flowers for the center of the table.

These smaller baskets could be take home party favors filled with a few eggs and candy, or for an adult gathering some pretty spring flowers.

A mayday flower door hanger for your neighbor, or perhaps multiple cones hanging in a row to brighten a celebration?

I'm imagining a great photo prop for a flower girl or just a young child's first Easter.  We saw our first robin this weekend, spring can't come soon enough!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

I was inspired by a wonderful garland on the How About Orange? blog.  She made a similar garland out of stiffened fabric.  It's just beautiful.  I wanted it!!!  Since it's a busy week for me, and I didn't have time to visit the fabric store - I sifted through some scrapbooking paper that I already had on hand.  I made the heart shapes with a paper punch, and then sewed the hearts together with a sewing machine.  (Frankly, the sewing machine is only out because my daughter ripped holes in the knees of her winter PJ's and I can't locate another pair in her size - spring clothes are out in the stores!)  Then, because I didn't think about sewing the string of hearts together first, I used a hole punch to connect the hearts with a ribbon.

So now I'll show you the lovely garland by Jessica of How About Orange?  The fabric is so pretty and I love that the hearts are more demensional with extra layers.

  You can get the complete directions from Jessica here.  I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day, and took the time to tell all of your family and friends how much you love them.

Valentines Day is Monday?

Monday will be Valentines day!  How did it arrive so soon?   Don't fret, you can find some unique printable Valentine's day cards online that you can print at home.  Here are a few of my favorites:

My daughter chose these to give to her classmates:

These sweet valentines are designed by Linnette of Paper Glitter to be labels, but we printed a Happy Valentines Day message onto each and voila, they are class cards.

http://paperglitter.blogspot.com/2010/02/free-valentine-labels-printable.html.  You can see more of Linnette's designs in her Etsy shop here.

Aren't these just too sweet?  This is what I would hand out if I were still in elementary school!

You can download these cards for free from Northridge Media's site:

http://northridgemedia.net/blogs/create/freebies/free-download-printable-valentines/

My son will be handing these out:

These super cool cards for boys are available on Kat Wright's Etsy shop.  Once again, easy as pie to print at home.  She even includes envelopes!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/katwright?ref=seller_info

Our son was excited to find a "boy" valentine that wasn't pink and girly.  Since he couldn't decide, he will also be giving a few of these to his friends:

These designs are free to download, designed by Samantha Hahn of Maquette.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/samanthahahn/2192813085/in/set-72157603708838101/

I love these, and wish our school was allowing a few sweets!  Well, we'll just do them for at home anyway.

You can purchase the file print these out at Paper Party Creation's Etsy site.  I think Kristie did a great job with these.  You can print them out at home on label paper and use a scrapbook punch to create the perfect circles, or get one with a scalloped edge.