EASTER/SPRING PRINTABLES - FREE DOWNLOAD!

As promised, I am back with a free template download for Easter! I love offering templates here, mostly because of the incredible response that I get from all of you. I cannot thank you enough for your kind comments, emails and notes of thanks each time I post a template.

So as an extra little thanks, I have made this Easter template multi-purposed! These fun little Easter-themed punch outs can be used as little favor or gift tags, cupcake picks or labels. I have done them in three colors for a bit of fun and to match all of your Easter needs. Simply download the template here and print! The template is designed for use with a 2.5 inch circle punch for perfect circles every time. And do you know the little trick when using punches? I'm sure you do, but just in case: flip your circle punch over and use it upside down. That way, you can line the circle up perfectly with the design before you punch. (see photo below)

Print the template on label sheets to make stickers for favors or gifts...

or on cardstock for tags and cupcakes picks...

Note: I did not photograph the actual Bunny Cupcake pick because I did not have a cupcake handy today. The photo above is very similar, but saved me the embarrassment of buying and eating a cupcake just for the photo. (not that I didn't consider it, believe me!)

If you have trouble with the download, please feel free to email me here. I'd love to hear how you're using the template, so drop me a line and let me know. Enjoy!

A PRETTY PARTY

My little Petunia received her First Communion this weekend and it was such a beautiful day! The weather in New England can be very unpredictable in April, so we've had our fingers crossed for a while and boy did it pay off. 

This was a big day for her, so she was sure to be very specific about what she wanted for her party. It was requested that I do a silhouette of her with her hair in a bun (yes, she was that specific) and she would also wear her hair in a bun on the day of the communion. Oh, and the color scheme had to be purple.  

We carried the use of silhouette into the party decor and added doilies to the banners to give them that extra girly touch.

And a party wouldn't be a party around here without a few tissue poms!

Unfortunately, I did not get a good shot of the cake, but it featured the same silhouette done in fondant (shown above), placed on the cake cameo style. I cut the silhouette out of the fondant myself and delivered it to the bakery for them to place on the cake. I had a premonition that if I brought in a template of the silhouette and asked them to create it for me, I would be promptly escorted from the premises and banned for life. I didn't want to risk it. 

The highlight of the party turned out to be the candy bar that we set up for do-it-yourself party favors. I made up little bags for each guest to fill to their heart's content and everyone loved it - adults and children alike.

I had intended to fill the candy bar with all purple and white candy; however, when the time came, it just didn't make sense to spend the extra money on candy that perfectly matched the theme. Even now, it's hard for me to say that, but purple and white candy would have cost 10 times as much as the pastel display shown above. Yes, you read that correctly - 10X!! To be honest, as I was filling the jars I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't spent the extra money, but once I added the ribbons and labels to the jars I was really happy with how it looked. And of course, none of the guests even noticed. So my little budget lesson for the day: purple candy was absolutely not worth the cost for a small family party like this. Now, if it were a wedding or shower...

Speaking of showers, the classic style of the silhouette used for this party would be perfect for a bridal shower, birthday party (I'm thinking Sweet 16!) or graduation. Just change the color palette to match the style and sophistication of your event; the base decor is all very simple, classic and easily adaptable to suit whatever type of party you are planning.

For us, it was a First Communion and there's no denying that the girl of honor was thrilled with how it all turned out.

Edited to add: Photo Thank You Note

SPRING CELEBRATIONS: BASEBALL PARTY!

Well, I was planning on saving this post for April 6th which is Opening Day at Fenway, but once I started sifting through the photos of this party we had for Pumpkin in February of 2007, I just couldn't wait to share. I really shouldn't work on Opening Day anyway, it being a major holiday and all.

The most important thing to know about Pumpkin, in general, not just for the purposes of this post, is that he loves baseball. Not just loves as in it's his favorite game to play or that he really enjoys it. No. Loves as in he's obsessed, it's all he thinks about, he was the only preschooler I knew then or since that would sit and watch an entire baseball game on TV. Every day, twice on Sundays, if we would let him. I know some adults who do not have that kind of attention span for televised baseball! So this post features one of the many baseball-themed parties that we have had for Pumpkin. Oh, and save for the Wii party that we just had for his tenth birthday, if the theme wasn't baseball, it was football. What can I say? He comes from a long line of sportsaholics.

{Magazine Cover Thank You Note}

This particular baseball party took place at an indoor baseball facility where the boys spent most of their time in the batting cages. While the boys waited for their turn at bat, I was equipped to paint their faces with baseballs, team logos and the numbers of their favorite players, setting them up for a photo op that would later appear in the form of thank you notes. 

{Cake. And (top left) cd favors in blow-up replica of Fenway}

Since the party was not at our home, a new concept to me at the time, I felt like a free spirit! Not having to clean and decorate to prepare for the party made me feel like I had all the time in the world - so I decided to make the cake.  The idea was to make a baseball on a base, that way we could have two kinds of cake, yellow cake for the base, and chocolate for the ball. When you ever see a ginormous baseball sitting on a graham cracker crumb sprinkled base at a baseball game, I'm not sure. Let's just say that some things are better left to the professionals. Although, Pumpkin definitely looked at it through Red Sox colored glasses as he proudly announced: "My Mom made that!"

{CD Jacket}

Coinciding perfectly with the start of Spring Training, this party was a fun way for Pumpkin and his friends to gear up for the coming season and begin sharpening their skills after a long winter. To fire them up even more, we put together a cd for each guest with a playlist of baseball-themed songs to listen to throughout the season, complete with a custom jacket to commemorate the party. See a copy of the playlist below. 

{CD inside jacket playlist}

The best part about this party for me (aside from Pumpkin and his friends had so much fun and the cake was eaten quickly, so there is very little physical evidence of it's existence) is that two years later, parents of the party guests still tell me all that they have the magazine cover thank you note tacked up on their fridge or they still listen and sing along to the cd in the car. I love that momentos of our parties linger on and the guests remember the good time that they had. That's what it's all about!

STATIONERY SET GIVEAWAY!

I am so thrilled to finally introduce the new Stationery Sets that have just been added to the shoppe today! Choose from any sport or hobby silhouette available in the shoppe, choose your color and provide a name and we will create a beautiful gift set sure to bring a smile to your face!

Each set includes 15 letter-sized sheets with 10 envelopes, 4 flat notecards with envelopes, 2 foldover notecards with envelopes, 6 bookplates, 20 dot stickers and 2 pencils beautifully packaged in a resealable cellophane bag. Phew! That's a lot of stuff.

Just in time for all those spring parties and events, the set is available for a great introductory price of $20. But what's even better than a great personalized gift at a great price? A giveaway!

Comment on this post which design you would like best on your Stationery Set and you will be entered to win. Want an extra chance to win? Post about this giveaway on your blog or website, link to it here, and you'll be entered twice! Giveaway will end Monday night (March 9th) at midnight EST and I will draw a lucky winner on Tuesday! 

SPRING CELEBRATIONS: FLIP FLOP PARTY!

Petunia has had a love of flip flops for as long as I can remember. When she turned four, we told her that she was old enough to start wearing them and to celebrate this milestone, she decided to have a Flip Flop Birthday Party! Since her birthday is in March and we live in New England, everyone was more than ready to start wearing flip flops. So the invitations were sent, pedicure appointments were scheduled and the whole family arrived sporting their flip flops (yes, there was snow on the ground).

This was such a fun and simple party to plan. The first order of business, of course, was the party girl's party dress. A quick search on ebay landed us with the perfect Lilly Pulitzer flip flop dress, new with tags!, at a great price. Once we had the dress, the party decor was easy; streamers in bright, spring colors and flowers cut out of flourescent-colored paper. Add a few lanterns and some paper cutouts of flip flops and you have yourself a party. 

I made a simple sphere floral arrangement from gerber daisies for the table and arranged some other small bunches of leftover daisies around the house. A variety of salads, including a killer chicken salad from the Nantucket Open House cookbook, were served in brightly colored beach pails and a huge fruit bouquet was served with dessert. 

 

The cake: a beach scene with flip flop candles, of course!

The palm tree was a cast off from a promotion at one of the aunties' or uncles' offices and the presents were stored in a small, inflatable pool. Simple simon and tons of fun!

Afterthought: I think everyone should take some time to revive pictures of old parties. This party was four years ago and I can hardly believe it has been that long. The little boy in the floral shirt, that's Pumpkin. He turned ten this year! It's so fun to relive these moments. And my house looks so different too (we change things a lot around here). That room in the last photo is now our dining room!

SPRING PARTIES: FIRST COMMUNION

Gosh, I have so many things to share with you that I hardly know where to begin! This week, and likely part of next, will be devoted to spring celebrations. No matter that we just had a foot of snow dumped on us, all the more reason to start thinking about spring!

So let's kick off our spring celebrations with First Communions. I understand that this celebration is a very specific one that does not necessarily have mass appeal, but the truth is, I have First Communions on the brain right now as Petunia will be receiving hers this spring. Another reason I want to devote some time to First Communions is that, while it is a holy celebration to be sure, it's participants are small children. With all this in mind, I have worked hard to create invitations that are both fun and respectful of the occasion.

My absolute favorite First Communion design is this cross fashioned from baseball bats. How cute is this? And before you get all "Oh my, I'm not sure that's appropriate," you should know that these designs have been market tested over coffee with a group of women fondly known as the Church Ladies. This group of women, ranging in age from 65 to 87, attend a local church each and every day. We figured that if the design was alright with them, then it was alright with us, if not, the idea would be scrapped never to be heard from again. Well, their reaction surprised even us! At best, we were hoping for a lukewarm response of "I guess it would be OK", but what we got was resounding approval. They thought the design was "Wonderful!", and just for the reasons we hoped. Spurred on by the church ladies' approval, we came up with a hockey design as well.

Each of these designs is available in your choice of colors, including blue, green, pink, purple and teal. Coordinating thank you notes, cupcake picks, water bottle labels, favor bags and labels are also available. 

Not a sports fan? No worries. More traditional designs are also available.

To see the complete line of First Communion products, click here. Check back tomorrow for more spring party ideas and a quite possibly a giveaway!