Tuesday, August 24, 2010

LILLY PULITZER INSPIRED PINK & GREEN PARTY



Finally a chance to write up Peanut's Lilly Pulitzer inspired party! I absolutely loved the pink and green palette for this party, inspired by the Desert Tortoise party invitation that caught Peanut's eye one day while I was shopping our local Lilly store. You can see the desert tortoise design featured on these awesome oversized pinwheels that were a must-have for party decor. They also served as the perfect favor for the birthday girl and her best friend and cousin of the same age.


You know that no party is complete without a Happy Birthday banner or two!


Special edition Lilly Pulitzer animal crackers found at the local grocer along with Izze soda, pink lemonade and fruit punch and apple juice boxes (chosen for the color or the cartons, of course!) made for a fun and delicious display at the dessert table.

(I apologize for this poorly-lit shot. I obviously have yet to master backlit photos!)

Here is a wider shot of the dessert area. This shot is taken before the actual desserts were added, which is sad because they looked delicious! Above the dessert area, I used wrapping paper in the dessert tortoise pattern to make a pennant banner. (note: after I measured and cut the wrapping paper into triangles, I reinforced them with cardstock to make them sturdy enough to hang properly without rolling.)



After running around like a crazy person getting ready for the party, I realized that I had forgotten to pick up the pink flowers that I had planned for these cute white vases (vases courtesy of a Martha Stewart flower surprise delivery from my "boss"). With no time left to run another errand, I went out to my garden and cut bunches of bright green autumn sedum just before they turned color for fall. Add some pink ribbon and I saved myself the cost of flowers. (sure, they weren't the pretty pink bouquets that I envisioned, but they worked in a pinch!)


Like the Happy Birthday banner, no party is complete without tissue poms and the birthday girl insisted on balloons!


After the enormous Paris print that we had for Petunia's party, I felt the need to have a party-themed wall hanging for Peanut's party as well. Although I have to admit, I wasn't willing to be as extravagant this time around. So for this wall hanging, I simply wrapped a lightweight piece of foam core with wrapping paper and decorated it with a printout honoring the party girl and a couple of tissue flowers that Petunia and I whipped up last minute. Then I glued a long length of ribbon to each end for hanging.



Unfortunately, I did not get many shots of the food all wrapped up pretty and labeled in pink and green (was I too busy serving or eating?), but luckily I did get a shot of these delicious cheese balls from Tastefully Simple. Chosen for their colors (green key lime dip and pink strawberry), I had never tried them before. They were amazing and were gobbled up in a flash!!! A definite must for all future parties no matter the color scheme (although I wonder if food coloring could help "adjust" the colors...).


And of course, the food and the decorations are lovely, but isn't this huge grin what these parties are all about?


Happy Birthday to my little Peanut. Thank you for choosing such a cute little theme so Mommy could have soooooo much fun putting it all together for you.


I'm pretty sure she thoroughly enjoyed it!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

MITETEES PERSONALIZED PRINCESS SHIRTS



Check out these adorable, personalized princess shirts from Mitetees. They are on sale for $14 (reg. $22) through Sunday, August 22nd! I absolutely adore all of Mitetees products, (cute, clever and impeccable quality), but I especially love this crown. A perfect gift.




For older princesses, I adore this sweet little sterling silver crown charm from Stella & Dot. Add it to one of their fashionable silk bases and you have yourself the perfect gift for princesses of all ages!

Speaking of gifts, I am sorting through photos of Peanut's Lilly Pulitzer-inspired party. I promise to share all the deets later this week!

Monday, August 16, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEANUT! (AND A SNEAK PEEK OF HER PARTY)


Today is my little Peanut's Birthday!!! I can't believe she's four already (sniff, sniff). With 5 years between her and her next oldest sibling, she is truly the baby of the family and she is getting big much too quickly for my liking. Above is a quick little peek at the birthday festivities. I'll return tomorrow with all the fun details!!!!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

CARNIVAL / CIRCUS PARTY WEEK - FREE PRINTABLE THANK YOU NOTE



On the last day of circus/carnival party printables week, a little thank you from me to all of you. Your kindness and generous spirit has made me smile so much in the past couple of years. I look forward to sharing more with you in the days ahead!

So to round out our party printables, download your circus/carnival thank you notes here.

For the complete set of circus/carnival printables, click the links below.

5X7 Invitation Free Download
Cupcake Pick and Favor Tag Free Download.
Water Label Free Download.
Thank You Note Free Download.

It has been so much fun sharing these printables with you this week. Now go throw some amazing parties (I know you will!) and come back here and share them with me!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

CARNIVAL / CIRCUS PARTY WEEK - FREE PRINTABLE WATER LABELS


(photo courtesy of Kara)

Today's free printable is the one you have all been waiting for - the water label!!!! The response to this one product has been so overwhelmingly positive that I never could have imagined that a simple little water label would rock so many worlds! {smile}

Circus Water Labels

So here they are - your free, printable circus/carnival water labels! Just click "download" at the top of the image above and they're all yours! For best results use glossy, regular weight paper (not photo paper) and print on a color laser printer (to ensure that the labels are colorfast). If you do not have access to a laser printer, you can use your inkjet printer, but the ink will bleed if/when the labels get wet. Depending on the event, this may or may not be a big deal. Another option is to send this pdf to a local copy shop and have them print the labels for you.

Invitation Download Here.
Cupcake Pick Download Here.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

CARNIVAL / CIRCUS PARTY WEEK - FREE PRINTABLE CUPCAKE PICK


Day 2 of Carnival Week features a
printable cupcake pick download. This template can also be used as tags or labels to attach to party favors or treat bags. For cupcake picks, print on cardstock and punch with a 2.5 inch circle punch, then attach a pick or coffee stirrer to the back to insert into the cupcake. (hint: for a neater look, use round circle labels from the office supply store, rather than tape, to attach the pick to the cardstock. you know, the little circle labels often used to price items at yard sales?)

To make tags, simply print on cardstock and cut with the circle punch. To make stickers, print on label sheets and cut with circle punch. Don't you just love when a simple template has multiple uses?!

Download Template Here.
Be sure not to miss the coordinating invitation download here.

Monday, August 9, 2010

CARNIVAL / CIRCUS PARTY WEEK - FREE PRINTABLE INVITATION


Welcome to day one of our Carnival/Circus Party Celebration!!! First up for free download is the invitation, available here. The 5X7 invites print two-up on 8 1/2 X 11 cardstock. Simply print, cut and fill in the party details. Enjoy!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

CARNIVAL/CIRCUS PARTY WEEK - A WEEK OF FREE PRINTABLES!


(image via crewcuts, of course. do they ever miss on their styling? never!)

It has not been lost on me, and I'm sure on anyone else, that circus and carnival parties are all the rage. The absolute number one seller in my shop - by far- has been my circus water labels and when I closed down the shop (to pursue other, happy ventures. not to worry), the backlash of not having these party goods available has been surprising. (you are all so sweet and I truly appreciate it. xoxoxo)

To show my appreciation for all of your support over the years, this week we are going to rock the house with FREE PRINTABLES of my complete circus/carnival party package!!!! So while you can no longer shop for these items, you can download and print them for free!!!

Check back each day for a new printable download and by the end of the week, you'll have the whole set!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

FREE DOWNLOAD - ALPHABET BANNER


Check out the Printable Alphabet Bunting over at Ruffled. Each letter is a different pattern - just print and cut!