Inspiration for Celebration

Teacher Appreciation Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:10:00 +0000

Teacher Appreciation week is just coming to an end here in Utah, but I understand it's next week in other parts of the country so I thought I would share a fun, FREE printable I made to go with our teacher gifts.

(If you have missed teacher appreciation week, this would still be perfect for the last week of school!)

I have seen the "A&Wesome" used before but I wanted to change mine up, so here is what I came up with . (Side note, both of my kids have male teachers and so many cute teacher gift ideas are a bit feminine, so I created this gift and tag to be very gender neutral.)

Just have your child sign the bottom, tie it onto a bottle of A&W rootbeer (my favorite) with a package of popcorn. You could super size it an use a 6 pack of soda and a box of popcorn if you choose. I thought this was sufficient and it only cost me $1.11 each. Not bad!

To print your tag, right click on the above tag and either copy and paste it into your favorite program (Word etc) or "save image as" and save the file to your computer and open in in your favorite program (Photoshop etc). You can then resize the image to be any size that works for you.

Enjoy!

Blog news and a change to the "It's a Celebration" link party

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:53:00 +0000

I have loved getting to see such wonderful parties and ideas each month at my "It's a Celebration" link party. You guys are amazing! But I have finally come to the conclusion that I need to simplify life a bit. With another baby on the way (#5) and wanting to be spend the energy I have on making memories with my family, it's been a challenge to keep up with this little blog lately. So I have decided to cancel the link party, at least for the time being. Again, I have been so truly inspired by so many of you. Thank you for participating and sharing your incredible talents!
As far as the blog goes, I will still post but I am going to stop feeling guilty about the frequency of the posts. I have a number of parties, cakes and ideas to share and I hope to get around to them soon. I also hope if you have enjoyed my blog in the past that you'll stick around and check out any future content, it may not be frequent but it will be FUN!

Now it's time to feature some fantastic ideas that were shared at the link party in March!

The Creative Vault made these adorable Shaun the Sheep cupcakes for her daughters birthday party. I bet she was one happy girl! She makes it looks so simple, check out her tutorial here.

Confessions of a Project-a-holic shared this crazy cute Zebra and Pink Baby Shower. (I wouldn't mind if someone threw me this shower, just sayin.) She made this cute diaper cake and the amazing real cake. I am loving the pink and zebra baby clothes hung as decorations. Great party, I love how you really carried the theme all the way through the party!

The Sweet Swiper is super talented when it comes to desserts and I love this Rainbow Oreo Pop. Rainbows are so popular right now, not just for St. Paddy's but for birthday parties too.

The Seven Year Cottage is another of my favorite blogs for seriously creative and beautiful treats. These Delightful Daffodils are made with marshmallows and cupcake lines, I would love to receive this bouquet! Also, check out her Carrot Patch Dirt Cups. My kids would love these! Super creative ideas, check her out!

A "little" announcement and Free Girl Baby Shower Printables from Green Apple Paperie

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:23:00 +0000

I know there has been a lack of posting the last couple of months. But I've been busy with a "little" project...BABY #5. We found out recently that our sweet little one is a GIRL! Yay!
In honor of my newest bundle of joy, I knew I had to share these adorable Baby Girl Shower printable from Green Apple Paperie.

I love the whole package of printables. I can just imagine a whole shower using stripes and a hot pink onsie as inspiration for all of the decorations.

You can download the full set here.

St Patrick's Day Roundup-free printables

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:58:00 +0000

Every year on St Patrick's Day I make a green dinner for my family. I always have fun putting together an all green and white table, dinner and dessert. Starting last year I surprised the kids with some fun green treats at breakfast. I loved searching for fun, cheap, green things that would excite them. The older kids got green frisbees, candy, gum, pop and bubbles. The baby got green baby food and a new green sippy cup!

I loved how surprised they were and I want to do it again but I've had a hard time finding different green items this year. I've searched the internet, Pinterest and my favorite blogs for some great inspiration. I thought I would share some of my favorite ideas for treats, gifts and free printables.

You can get this free "Kiss me I'm Irish" printable tag at Brown Paper Packages. This might make a fun hubby gift too. Maybe the start of a green themed date? Love how Kierste inked the edge of the tag and backed it with such cute cardstock.

This is the St Patrick's subway art I choose to put up in my home this year. I love the sentiments and fonts! Go to It Works for Bobbi! and become a follower and you can download it for free.

it is what it is has an adorable idea for rainbow themed St. Patrick's Day treats. (This is what I am doing for my kiddos!) Check out it is what it is for the free printable topper!

I adore this St. Patrick's Day breakfast idea because it's super simple and super cute. I am planning on incorporating this with the previous idea (rainbow theme for breakfast)! Check out thoughtfully simple for additional pictures and a free printable.

This is my favorite free St. Patricks day printable collection! Such fun designs and options. You can download these at Living Locurto, designed by Rebekah from A Blissful Nest!

One of my newest favorite blogs The Dating Divas has a great idea for telling your spouse or kids how lucky you are to have them in your life. Such a thoughtful gift! Free printables available at The Dating Diva's.

I love this Leprechaun Crunch recipe from Itsy Bitsy Paper! What a fun and unique treat! I also love that you could substitute any green candies or sprinkles you have hanging around home!.

I love mint and chocolate and I'm having a serious craving for this Sugar Free Shamrock Shake from A Night Owl. I'm always on the lookout for sugar free treats since we have family members who are diabetic! Don't forget the green stripey straw-simply adorable!

I love this paint chip banner by A Little Something in the Meantime. Love the different hues of green and super cheap too!

Fit Stylish Crafty and Happy has a super healthy, super easy, super yummy green fruit kabob. I have made a green fruit salad before but I think these green fruit kabobs may show up at our St. Patrick's Day Dinner!

While on the topic of fruit, don't you love this rainbow of fruit with banana and marshmallow clouds. I was thinking I might use my favorite fruit dip for clouds. Either way, totally yummy and nutritious! Check out more kids party ideas at Gluesticks, Gluesticks.

See Vanessa Craft gave me an idea that I want to do for the ladies I visit every month. You see, I'm kinda famous for my chocolate dipped Oreos (not really, but let's pretend). I love this printable tag and the chocolate dipped Oreos that go along with it.

Simple as That shows how to make a Clover Leaf Lei. Great idea for keeping the kid's entertained. St. Paddy's is on a Saturday this year!

Hope these awesome bloggers inspire you too! Check them out and Luck O' The Irish To Ya!

It's A Celebration Link Party - March 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:55:00 +0000

How did it get to be March 5th? Wow, time is flying by and there's so much greatness to share! Here are a few of my favorite ideas shared at last months link party!

The first feature is from Melissa from The Joys of Homeschooling. She shared this adorable homeschooling Valentine's Day party. Love the recycled heart crayons and super impressed that she stuck to a $10 budget! WOW! Check our The Joys of Homeschooling for the budget breakdown!

The second feature are these Oreo Ladybugs from The Sweet Swiper. You may have noticed me feature some of her creations before. She has some wonderful (and yummy) looking creations, check all of them out. These just make me want Spring to come and STAY!

I don't usually feature one blogger twice in a month but Melisa from Joys of Homeschooling also shared her Superbowl party and I thought it had some great inspiration, not only for football parties but for sports parties in general. Check out these cute crete paper pom poms.

If you were featured, please pick up my Featured Button on the sidebar!

OK, let's get March's link party started!

I want you to share with us your best parties, tablescapes, cakes, favors, invitations, decorations, gifts, homemade cards or fun gift wrap ideas. The party will be open for the entire month!

This is an opportunity for you to share ideas, get inspired and make new friends who share your same love of parties!

Link Party Rules:

1.ANYTHING related to parties as long as you haven't linked it up with me before and you aren't selling something!

2. Grab my Link Party Button (see the sidebar) and put it somewhere on the post you're linking up. (A text link is fine too.)

3. Click on the link below and submit your best party related posts.

4. Check out at least 2 other links and leave some kind words, we all love to get comments!

5. Please become of follower of mine (see right sidebar to subscribe using google friend, a blog reader or by email) because you will want to see which ideas I feature as MY FAVORITES the following month, it maybe yours! (Also, I will follow you back, so we both win.)

When you submit your link, you are giving me permission to feature any part of your post including photos in a feature on Inspiration for Celebration. I will give you proper credit with links to your blog!

My Memories Winner

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:08:00 +0000

Oh dear, in all the craziness of life I forgot to post the winner of the My Memories giveaway! (Don't worry I did notify the winner :)

My Random Number Generator picked comment number 8 - Carol. Congrats to Carol! If you weren't as lucky at Carol, then you can still buy My Memories using this code to get $10 off the original price of $39.97. Plus you will also be able to get a $10 credit to purchase additional kits! Happy Creating!

Code STMMMS20779

Hershey Nugget Valentine Mailboxes

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:45:00 +0000

My super cute friend sent me this adorable idea from Gigi's Creative Designs. How cute are these Hershey Nugget Valentine Boxes!

Go to Gigi's Creative Designs to get the instructions for making these"sweet" mini mailboxes! Also don't forget you have one more day to enter to win the free My Memories Scrapbook Software! Go here to find out how to enter. Someone is going to win, it might as well be YOU!

It's A Celebration Link Party - February 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:01:00 +0000

In case you missed it I wanted to remind you to go here to enter to win a free copy of a really awesome, really easy to use and very versatile Digital Scrapbooking program called, My Memories. Check out these Valentine's Day Party Circles I made using the program. You can also get these free when you enter to win My Memories.

Now, I can't wait to feature some really fun links from last months "It's a Celebration" link party!

First up, are these adorable penguin Oreo Pops from Sweet Swiper. These caught my eye because my 4 year old informed me he wants a penguin party this year. WHAT? Not exactly what I had in mind. (I think it's because we recently rented Mr Poppper's Penguins.) The second reason I fell in love with these is that I love when people use creative bases for pops. These are football shaped Oreos! So if you think you want to make these you'll want to pick up a couple of packages of football shaped Oreos before the Superbowl is over. Check out the details on Kirsten's blog, Sweet Swiper.

Michelle Paige shared her 11 year old daughter's fun Blinged Out Bowling Bash. I love the tablescape, the bowling ball cake pops and the monogrammed shirts she made for each girl. So CUTE! Adding the bling to this bowling bash really made it unique and special-perfect for an 11 year old! Check out all of the details on Michelle's Blog.

Homespun With Love shared such a simple way to get just the perfect cocktail napkins, without breaking the bank. I adore this idea and love that it could be incorporated into ANY party theme! Rubber stamping your basic napkin will really add some personality to your celebration! Go to Homespun With Love for more details!

If you were featured, please pick up my Featured Button on the sidebar! Thank you to each of you who take the time to share at my "It's a Celebration" link party each month! It means more to me than you know! I had so many great submissions this month, I will be featuring several others later this month! So stay tuned!

OK, let's get February's link party started!

I want you to share with us your best parties, tablescapes, cakes, favors, invitations, decorations, gifts, homemade cards or fun gift wrap ideas. The party will be open for the entire month!

This is an opportunity for you to share ideas, get inspired and make new friends who share your same love of parties!

Link Party Rules:

1.ANYTHING related to parties as long as you haven't linked it up with me before and you aren't selling something!

2. Grab my Link Party Button (see the sidebar) and put it somewhere on the post you're linking up. (A text link is fine too.)

3. Click on the link below and submit your best party related posts.

4. Check out at least 2 other links and leave some kind words, we all love to get comments!

Free Valentine Party Circles and My Memories Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:22:00 +0000

In honor of my birthday week, I thought I'd try something I've never done before and give YOU 2 gifts. First, is the chance to win a copy of a digital scrapbooking software called, My Memories Suite.

I've been able to use My Memories for a couple of weeks. I love the digital scrapbook page layouts because they are so quick! (And when you are as behind in scrapbooking as I am, quick is what you need!)

But My Memories is very versatile and can do more than just scrapbooking. Your second gift this week are these free Valentine's Party Circles I made using My Memories. (To print- right click on the circles below and save it to your computer then open the file in your favorite program or Windows Photo Viewer and print it as 8.5x11". This will make the circles 2".)

I am excited to give my readers the chance to win a copy of My Memories digital software! Here's how to enter. (3 entries possible per person)

Mandatory-Become a follower of Inspiration for Celebration and leave me a comment telling me that you follow!
For an extra entry-Go to My Memories and find your favorite kit. Then leave me a comment telling me which is your fav.
For another entry-Go to My Memories Facebook page and LIKE it. Then leave another comment telling me.

This giveaway will end on Feb 10, 2012 at 12:00 pm MST. If you can't wait to get your hands on a copy of My Memories you can save $10 off the regular price of $39.97 plus get a $10 credit to use at the My Memories Store when you use THIS code STMMMS20779. Feel free to share this code with your family and friends, anyone can save $10 on the software and get a $10 credit to purchase additional kits.

No purchase is necessary to win.
Odds of winning are based on number of entries.
Start date is February 1, 2012 and end date is February 10, 2012 at 12:00 pm MST
Dollar value of prize being awarded is $39.97
Must be a US resident and 18 or older to enter.

I will notify sweepstakes winner by email on February 11, 2012. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be randomly chosen.
My Memories provided me with a free My Memories Suite software download in order to try and review this product. All opinions are completely my own.

Free Printable Cake Buntings-Kara's Parties

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I've mentioned before that January is a big birthday month in our family so in honor of all of the January birthday's I wanted to share this fun free mini pennant birthday cake bunting printable from Kara's Party Ideas.

The bunting was created by Kori of Paper and Pigtails for Kara's fans. So go here to like her on facebook and follow her blog and then download the entire alphabet in this colorful bunting! The possible uses are endless and cake/dessert buntings are an easy way to make any cake (especially store bought) look really homemade!

Here are some other examples of great cake buntings to inspire your next celebration!

Fabric cake bunting via Amy Atlas

Cake bunting with ribbon and paper straws via Glorious Treats

Cake bunting using punched out shapes via Kara's Party Ideas

Bunting on a cupcake from The Decorated Cookie Blog

Rice Krispie Cake with bunting via Eighteen 25

"4 ROCKS"- Rock and Roll Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:14:00 +0000

I knew from the time my son was a baby that he loved music. I would hum a lullaby to him while I rocked him to sleep. When he was around 9 months old he looked up at me and hummed the exact melody right back to me.
He loves all kinds of music but especially Kidz Bop. (You Mom's know what I'm talking about, kids singing to popular pop songs. We've listened to it so much I've grown to like it too.)
I knew that we must do a music theme for his 4th birthday party. After much research I finally found my inspiration at Birthday in a Box. I loved the color theme on this invitation and the graphics. The problem was that Birthday in a Box no longer sold much of the "Rock Star" collection but I was able to order a large banner, personalized invitations and stickers. With these items, I knew I could pull the rest of it together.

The invitation and inspiration for the color scheme.

Since we were having a family birthday party I planned a rock and roll themed dinner. (Wish I had better pictures of the food, but since my husband and I did all the cooking we were busy putting the finishing touches on dinner and welcoming guests! Someday I'll get my act together and have perfect pictures ;)

I tried to use things we had around the house to help with decorations. Yes, we have a turn table/record player!

I love to wrap the the utensils and napkin together. Here I used a coordinating paper.

This is the centerpiece I made for the dinner tables. A thrift store vinyl record acted as the base, a metallic silver spray was the balloon weight and a blow up guitar rested in the middle.

I used the personalized stickers from Birthday in a Box on these clear cups, a coordinating paper for a flag on the straw and the paper straws are from Gygi's here in Salt Lake.

One of the things I had the most fun with was coming up with a dinner menu that was all rock and roll! It included:

Red Hot Chili Pepper Drumsticks (BBQ Chicken)

Limp Bizkit (Buttermilk Biscuits)

Strawberry Pearl Jam

Fleetwood Mac n Cheese

Savage Garden Salad

Black Eyed Peas Salad

The Cranberry's Gelatin

Boston Baked Beans

Green Day Beans

Pink Floyd Lemonade
H2O
REM's Orange Crush

I bought 12 records at the thrift store for about $4. This one became a wreath to welcome guest at the front door.

These records became a banner. It was one of my favorite decorations but it was heavy and required some masking tape on each record to keep it on the wall. I cut the circles, stars and letters with my Cricut.

I took down my decorative plates and added Rock and Roll records to my plate rack.

For the first time, I decorated my mantel to match the party.

I may be a little behind the times, but I am just now getting into these Keep Calm and Carry On posters. I loved the way it turned out. Notice I put "Be Calm" instead of "Keep Calm". Oh well, the idea is the same!

I made this subway art to match the party and I pretty much love it. I don't know if anyone will be interested but I am making it available for you to use. Just right click on the subway art below, save and then you can print it from your favorite program (Photoshop, Word, etc) in whatever size you need.

I had a lot of fun designing this sweets table downstairs. After dessert, the kids played Kidz Bop Dance Party on the Wii. Since it was a school night, that was about all the time we had for activities.

The backdrop is made from plastic tablecloths. I gathered the black on on the sides to resemble a stage (and to cover up the edges of the orange one). I liked the way the big, personalized banner pulls all of the colors and the theme together.

If you follow my blog, you know I like to re purpose things I already have for my parties. Here I used our surround sound speakers from the family room (thanks honey for allowing me to take apart your home theater) to add height to the goodies on the table.

I also re purposed these black photo boxes that I keep craft supplies in. I wrapped cooridnating ribbon around the box and added a my label. ( I taped the ribbon to itself so that I could easily remove it after the party without damaging the box.) The lids from the boxes were turning upside down for the Pixie "Styx" and "KISS"es.

Cold Play ice cream was easy to include on the sweets table since it was already dished up into these stryofoam cups decorated with more of the matching birthday stickers.

The Milli Vanilli Cupcakes are a homemade sour cream cupcake made with imitation vanilla- get it :) Also, I used 2 records instead of plates on the tray that holds the cupcakes. I needed more height so I wrapped a large shoe box with black wrapping paper to elevate the cupcake tray. I used the rest of the wrapping paper to wrap the gifts with orange and turquoise ribbon.

These fondant cupcake toppers were an experiment and a first for me. I made marshmallow fondant, tinted it and cut it into circles. Then I used Wilton sugar sheets in my Cricut to cut out the guitar. Then I imprinted the words ROCK STAR with a new $1 rubber stamp from Michaels. Also, I took the cupcakes out of the original cupcake liner (didn't like the way it looked) and set them into the orange and black liners that I had left over from Halloween!

Birthday boy blowing out his four candles!

I made these sugar cookies to match the theme, they were a bigger hit than the cupcakes!

Each of the kids took home a fun rock star swag bag! The bags were from Target (3/$1). I ordered 2 pages of "Thanks for Coming, YOU ROCK" stickers from Birthday in a Box and used them as a tag on the bags.

The swag bag goodies!

The M&M tubes, wrapped with black cardstock and a Thank You sticker made a fun treat for everyone to take home.

I also ordered this button from Birthday in a Box.This shirt came from The Children's Place. I love that it matched the party but it's a great shirt for everyday too.

Thanks for checking out our "4 Rocks" birthday party, hope you found a little inspiration!

National Popcorn Day-Free Printable Popcorn Subway Art

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:12:00 +0000

January 19, is National Popcorn Day. Do you want to know why I know this? My funny husband reminds me every year! For some reason it's one of those dates he remembers. It's probably because he likes popcorn more than anyone else I know!
Really, popcorn is a pretty great food. It is very healthy when air popped or it can be ooey gooey sticky sweet. It can be savory or sweet. It stores (unpopped) for years (great food storage item). Just the smell of buttery popcorn can take you back to a movie theater with your first date or the stickiness of a jello popcorn ball can transport you back to the 2nd grade when homemade treats were acceptable! Popcorn is a fun party food, too!
So, in honor of one of my families favorite treats, I've made a fun free Popcorn Subway Art printable. This would be fun to print out for a family movie night, popcorn themed party, classroom popcorn unit or frame it and make it a permanent addition to a home theater or family room!

To print your own popcorn subway art:

1. Right click on the art below

2. Copy or Save

3. Then Paste or Open it into your favorite program (Word, Photoshop, Publisher etc)

4. At this point you can adjust the size to fit your needs. (I like to print mine 8"x10".)

5. Note: This is my creation and is FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY! THANK YOU

Hope you like it! You can find our favorite caramel popcorn recipe here. Happy National Popcorn Day!
P.S. I'd love to see your creations linked up at my "It's a Celebration" link party this month!!!

Linking up to:
Lisa's Craft Blog
Things I've Done Thursday
Hookin up with HOH
Strut Your Stuff Link Party
Share and Wow Wednesday
The Shady Porch
Bloom Designs Online

Snowball Fight Cupcakes from Hungry Happenings

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:36:00 +0000

I've decided to feature some of the awesome projects and parties that are linked up at my monthly "It's a Celebration" link party during the month as well as at the end of the month. This way I can share with you cute holiday and seasonal ideas before the month (and sometimes the holiday) are over.

A big thanks to Beth at Hungry Happenings for sharing her fun Snowball Fight Cupcake with us.

Can you imagine how fun this cupcake and a hot cup of cocoa would be after playing in the snow! One of the things I love is that you can print this cupcake wrapper for free at Hungry Happenings!

I also think Beth was extremely creative to make the "snowballs" out of frosting! Yup, those are frosting snowballs!

She points out that you could skip the cupcake and fill the wrapper with candy such as white chocolate malt balls, white chocolate covered blueberries or white chocolate covered pretzel balls. GREAT IDEAS!

You'll want to check out all of Beth's other amazing food creations at Hungry Happenings.

Indoor Camping Party Inspiration and Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:55:00 +0000

Last year I planned this really fun indoor camping party for my husband's birthday. (Thanks for all of the sweet comments)! As a winter birthday girl, I know it can be tricky to find a great indoor party theme when being outdoors just isn't an option. Indoor camping is just so fun and unexpected that it can really work for any age group.

Thanks to Karen, one of my readers for emailing me for help coming up with some ideas of activities to keep 14 preschoolers (2-4 year olds) busy at her son's indoor camping party! So here are some super fun ideas to keep the younger crowd entertained. (I hope there will be lots of adults at Karen't party to help keep the kids focused! I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old myself and just keeping the two of them focused can be a challenge!!)

2 Teaching Mommies created this free set of preschool/homeschooling camping worksheets. These could be printed and put into a 3 prong folder for each child to work on while they wait for everyone to arrive. Go here to download your own set.

Making Friends has a free printable camping bingo game that you can print here. (This may take some adult supervision but it has pictures and words on the bingo cards so it would be good for a wide age group.)

Telling spooky ghost stories around a campfire is traditional but for preschoolers put a twist on it and read some age appropriate camping books around the fireplace or a pretend campfire. Check here on Amazon for suggested camping themed books.

An outdoor nature scavenger hunt is always fun, but you can bring this same activity indoors with a little planning. Make up some cute clues (rhyming is always fun, but I'm terrible at rhyming) and have the kids take a hike to find camping related items and put them in a backpack. At the end of the scavenger hunt the children find a fun little treat or gift bags to take home. For instance: "Next go to Jimmy's bedroom and look for a black bear (teddy bear), put it into the backpack but please remember, DON'T FEED THE BEARS!" With the teddy bear is the next clue and so on and so on. Some common camping items that you could find indoors: teddy bear, sleeping bag, flashlight, bug spray, hat, hiking boots, trail mix, granola bars, sunscreen, whistle, compass, toliet paper, water bottle or cantene, tin foil, smores ingredients, twigs, leaves, pinecones, rocks etc.

An indoor camping party is the perfect time to play the classic carnival fishing game. You know where the child casts the pretend fishing pole over a sheet or divider and when they feel a tug they reel in a treat that someone on the otherside has attached. Go to www.partygameideas.com for details.

If you have a little room to move around at your party, why not have a sleeping bag sack race! All you need is a few sleeping bags and a start and finish line. Kids and adults will both love trying to hold onto the sleeping bag while jumping to the finish line. Check out this video if you don't know what a sack race is :)

I always like to incorporate a craft activity into my children's birthday parties. There are a wide variey of camping themed crafts to choose from. Here are a couple of my favorites!

Peanut Butter bird feeders (see above photo)
Marshmallow Craft Kits at Oriental Trading
Make Your Own Binoculars from toiliet paper rolls

I know my preschoolers love music. Music can keep a big group of little kids entertained for quite a while. If you're not shy and can carry a tune, teach a few of these super fun camping themed songs to your guests. Or better yet, find a family member or friend who plays the guitar to entertain the kids with some simple campfire songs that everyone can sing.

Last but not least, I had to share with you some great inspiration and free printables for your indoor camping party.

Check out these adorable paper supplies from birthday supply depot. Love them!

I am a big fan of The TomKat Studio. She designed a camping invite and smores tag for Parenting Magazine. You can go here to download yours for free. Also notice the Woodland printables that are available for download. These would also work perfectly for a camping party.

At my indoor camping party we had a smores bar but if your don't have a way to toast your marshmallows indoors or the kids are too young to roast marshmallows then check out these ooey gooey smores treats.

S'more Cookie Bars at Baked Perfection

S'mores Cupcakes at Homade by Holman

S'mores Pops at Glorious Treats

Campfire Cookies at Fahrenheit 350

Ultimate S'more Anniversary Cake at Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body

I think I've made myself hungery! Karen, good luck with the party!

Inside Out Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:32:00 +0000

I had a partial box of Cocoa Rice Krispies in the pantry and I was craving Rice Krispie Treats but there just wasn't enough to make a batch. That is how this fun and tasty treat was born!

I don't think I really need to give you instructions but here goes anyway!

Put a large marshmallow on a sucker stick
Melt either chocolate chips or chocolate candy coating and dip 2/3 of the marshmallow in melted chocolate.
While chocolate is fresh, roll the marshmallow in a bowl of Cocoa Rice Krispies.
Let the chocolate set (if you have the patience) and enjoy.

My family loved the combination of the chewy marshmallow with the crunchy cereal! Kinda addicting!

Linking Up To:

Share and Wow Wednesday

The Shady Porch

Free New Years Printables - Silver and Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 23:50:00 +0000

Even though New Years Eve will just be a quiet night at home with my family, I want to make it special! I loved the Black and Aqua New Years dinner table I did last year, but as soon as I saw this subway art at eighteen 25, I knew I wanted to go with a classic Silver and Gold New Years theme this year. (I am a huge fan of eighteen 25 and all of their subway art - you will want to check them out!)

So I headed off to Zurchers, my closest party store to find some matching decorations. I found some great inexpensive noise makers, 2012 signs and metallic stars in different shapes. My favorite find were these plates.

The problem is that I couldn't find any free coordinating party circles. So I decided to create my own and offer them to YOU-my way of saying THANKS! **I have updated the New Years Party Circles for 2013!

You can go here to download my free New Years party circles.

(Graphics by Kika Esteves at MyGrafico)

I thought you might like to see how I will be using these for my New Years party.

A little preview of my New Years Table. Check out the adorable 2012 mask in front of the drink, love them!

I don't drink but I wanted to show how you could use a plain straw and a party circle to make a stir stick. Just cut off the "bendy" part of the straw and attach the party circle at the top. I like it, maybe I'll just have to stir my diet Sprite on New Years!

As you can see I backed the party circles with a slightly larger black circle to give it a little more depth. It makes a great goodie bag tag. (Think of all of the yummy candy that is wrapped silver or gold-Werthers, Rolo's, Kisses, Ferrero Rocer, etc)

I gathered the napkin and a metallic noise maker together and tied them with ribbon and added another circle. Love the clock striking midnight!

Thanks again to eighteen 25 for sharing their beautiful subway art and for giving me such a great piece to use as inspiration!

A close up of the centerpiece. Basic white tablecloth, black table runner (with gold accents on the ends), inexpensive star spray left over from another party with a 2012 sign and a little ribbon to spruce it up, 2 gold hurricane candle holders (clearance Walmart a few years ago) and edible confetti. Yes, edible confetti-I was too cheap to buy the cute metallic 2012 confetti at the party store so I used some shimmer silver Cupcake Gems from Cake Mate. These may show up again on a dessert for New Years too!

Hope this little preview and free printables give you some inspiration for your own New Years bash!!!!

Linking up here:
Tip Junkie
Bear Rabbit Bear
Junk in their Trunk

It's A Celebration Link Party -December 2011 & January 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:22:00 +0000

I hope you had a fantastic December! It's always so busy that I decided to postpone December's link party and combine it with January. I so can't wait to see what amazing parties and party ideas you've had during the holidays!

Here are a few of my favs from November's link party!

I love this Hogwartz party thrown by Michelle at Confessions of a Project-a-holic. You can see more of the amazing cake she made here. Great inspiration if you having your own Harry Potter themed party. Lots of great details! Thanks Michelle, for sharing your party!

I just loved this ice bucket when I saw it. Maybe it's because I've always wanted an ice bucket but have never had one! Michelle from Michelle Paige found this ice bucket at Goodwill and totally transformed it using a little paint and vinyl. I especially love the frosted vinyl ICE on the front- I didn't know there was such a thing as "frosted" vinyl. Go check out the before and after pictures here.

I love this next idea from Kyra at Racks and Mooby for a couple of reasons! First, I love inexpensive and unique wrapping ideas. Second, I think a little thought and creativity can make an ordinary gifts really special. Third, she and her husband buy anniversary gifts for each other based on the traditional anniversary gift guide-something my husband and I do also! I adore the "6" on the package representing their 6th anniversary. Great fun-thanks Kyra!

Marie from My Lil Pink Pocket created this adorable advent calendar for December. Now would be the perfect time to prepare something like this for next year! My favorite thing about this advent calendar is that instead of being filled with treats, each box has a slip of paper that has a family activity for that day. Check out her list of fun family activities for December here!

OK, let's get January's link party started!

I want you to share with us your best parties, tablescapes, cakes, favors, invitations, decorations, gifts, homemade cards or fun gift wrap ideas. The party will be open for the entire month!

This is an opportunity for you to share ideas, get inspired and make new friends who share your same love of parties!

Link Party Rules:

1.ANYTHING related to parties as long as you haven't linked it up with me before and you aren't selling something!

2. Grab my Link Party Button (see the sidebar) and put it somewhere on the post you're linking up. (A text link is fine too.)

3. Click on the link below and submit your best party related posts.

4. Check out at least 2 other links and leave some kind words, we all love to get comments!

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:37:00 +0000

Merry Christmas to each of you! I hope your Christmas season has been full of joy and happiness.I have found it difficult to find much time for blogging lately but I hope you will know how much I appreciate your kind comments and your reading my blog. I feel strongly that real life should come first and blogging second. Between the holidays and my family and other commitments blogging has fallen by the wayside. I hope to carve out a little more time in the new year to spend blogging about some great parties and party ideas. I also decided to postpone December's link party until January, so get ready to link up all of your holiday parties and projects.
Thanks for your friendship both in blogland and in real life!
Christina

Thanksgiving Turkey Treats

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:48:00 +0000

Thanksgiving is just over a week away! If you are hosting Thanksgiving or just want to take a fun treat to dinner try these adorable Tom Turkey Treats.

You have to check out these brownie bite turkeys at The Seven Year Cottage. These may just be making an appearance at my Thanksgiving! Thanks Hollie for linking these up!

Our Best Bites has a great tutorial for making these cuties!

I love these turkey's on a stick created by My Creative Life.

I like these cupcakes by Jeanne Benedict . She turned the cupcake on it's side and used a Nutter Butter for the head! Love it.

Check out Sprinkles and Grins for these colorful and easy turkey cookies.

The Party Animal has these adorable candy turkeys. No baking required!

The Celebration Shoppe always has great ideas and this is no exception. You could use store bought Rice Krispies Treats or homemade.

I love this stylized turkey cupcake at Betty Crocker. Great if you are having a more grown up Thanksgiving!

Design, Wash, Rinse, Repeat made these cute gumdrop turkeys. I think I made these when I was a kid!

Miner Moments uses Keebler Sandies Right Bite Shortbread cookies to make these adorable turkey cupcakes.

I love cookie mixes. Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix is used to make these cute cookies. This could be a fun activity for the kids to help with after dinner.

Tie Dye Cupcakes and GNO

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:36:00 +0000

Happy Friday! It's been a busy few weeks as I get ready for a "rockin" good time at my 4 year olds birthday party! But I had to share a couple of fun things going on here at "party central" (that's what my Mom calls my house sometimes).

I had such a fun GNO with my daughter courtesy of A Little Tipsy and Hale Center Theater. I don't usually enter blog contests and giveaways but when I saw that Michelle at A Little Tipsy was giving away tickets to a My Fair Lady at Hale Theater, I really wanted to go. You see, I was in My Fair Lady in High School and let's just say it brings back great memories! We had a fun night! Dinner at TGI Fridays and the musical was really well done. Such a nice treat, thanks Michelle!

I also had the opportunity to make some custom birthday cupcakes for a great girl who is turning 7. She loves peace signs and pink and purple. So I decided to make tie dye cupcakes in white, purple and pink along with tie dye frosting. Then I made these custom cupcake toppers to personalize them and hopefully make her feel special on her special day! The best part is that they turned out exactly like I imagined them in my head. Don't you just love it when that happens!

If you want to make some of your own, just use your favorite "thick" cupcake recipe. It needs to be thick so that you can put the different colors in without them running together. I used this basic recipe.

Tie Dye Cupcakes

1 package white cake mix
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
2 tsp vanilla

Separate batter into 3 small bowls and mix for 2 minutes . Color the batter with either liquid or gel food coloring. Put one spoonful of each color into paper cupcake liners. Using a knife pull the colors into each other but don't over mix the colors.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until the tops spring back. Cool on a cooling rack.

Basic Buttercream Frosting (Wilton)

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (for pure white frosting you can use 1 cup shortening instead of shortening and butter)
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups sifted powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp

Cream the shortening and butter, mix in vanilla. Add the sugar one cup at a time. Add enough milk until the frosting is the right consistency for piping onto cupcakes. Separate into 3 bowls and color the frosting with gel food coloring. To load the bag with 3 different colors of frosting, you want to use a long spatula and stripe the bag (put one color in 1/3 of the bag etc).

You don't have to be super careful because you do want some mixing of the colors to represent the Tie Dye look. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes using a large star tip. There you go, Tie Dye Cupcakes!

It's A Celebration Link Party- November 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:33:00 +0000

My Halloween seemed to last for about 5 days! Loved all the parties and sweets but kinda glad to move onto November. We had some really great link ups last month, here are a couple of my favorites.

A Perfect Autumn Wedding at My Cozy Corner

Betty at My Cozy Corner shared the beautiful wedding of her nephew. I just loved it all. Some of my favorite details were the pumpkins everywhere, the bride and groom's donation letter on behalf of their guests and the thumbprint tree in place of a guest book. So fun and unique! Thanks Betty!

Lil Monsters at The Seven Year Cottage

Hollie at the Seven Year Cottage just never disappoints! I love these cute monster cupcakes. I'm keeping these in mind for a future birthday party but they are a perfect Halloween treat and easy enough the kids can do most of the work. If you love these, you'll love all of Hollie's other amazing creations!

Sweet Potato Brownies at Days of Chalk and Chocolate

Jenny at Days of Chalk and Chocolate made these super yummy looking Sweet Potato Brownies. I can't wait to try these yummy looking treats. Perfect for fall and a great alternative to pie for Thanksgiving!

Thanks to everyone who linked up their awesome ideas. I can't tell you how much I love looking at your fun ideas and following your inspiring blogs!

OK, let's get November's link party started!

I want you to share with us your best parties, tablescapes, cakes, favors, invitations, decorations, gifts, homemade cards or fun gift wrap ideas. The party will be open for the entire month!

This is an opportunity for you to share ideas, get inspired and make new friends who share your same love of parties!

Link Party Rules:

1.ANYTHING related to parties as long as you haven't linked it up with me before and you aren't selling something!

2. Grab my Link Party Button (see the sidebar) and put it somewhere on the post you're linking up. (A text link is fine too.)

3. Click on the link below and submit your best party related posts.

4. Check out at least 2 other links and leave some kind words, we all love to get comments!

Quick & Cheap Halloween Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:20:00 +0000

*This is a repost of my Halloween dinner from last year. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

There are so many truly incredible party designers out there that produce inspiring and creative party tables. However, I always wonder how much money they spent on such elaborate spreads. Don't get me wrong, I would looove to purchase beautiful handmade desserts and pounds and pounds of matching candy for each party, get together and holiday, but that's unrealistic and not very practical. After all, does a family of 6 really need 8 lbs of jelly beans left over after a special gathering?!
My goal with this table was to 1. Feed my kids a fun and moderately healthy dinner before trick or treating. 2. Show my family that I love them and want to use my talents to make some special memories. 3. Prove that I can make a really fun table design on a budget.
So here are some pictures and details of how I tried to accomplish this task. (I know, Halloween is over but the process and ideas are applicable to any holiday or party and if I can do it, then so can anyone else.)

The backdrop was a white fabric tablecloth that I already had and a black plastic tablecloth draped in the middle to act as a great background for these paper lanterns.

The desserts were my new favorite fall cupcake, Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcake with Pumpkin Cheesecake Frosting, that you can see more about here and here and these simple Witch Hat Cookies.

I was really excited to use these free printable party circles from Amy over at Living Locurto. Thanks for sharing, Amy.

I love to wrap the napkin around the utensils for parties because it makes it easy to balance it along with your plate and drink. I added the carrots and olives because they are favorites at my house, kept with the color theme and added some important nutrients to our meal. Behind the carrots is Seneca's Peach Mango applesauce. The printable circles fit perfectly on top of the applesauce. The black table runner has a design on the top so I turned it over to the solid black side to continue the black stripe from the backdrop onto the table.

The jack-o-lantern cheese quesadillas were the crazy product of my imagination and I think they turned out well. I just cut the faces using a sharp pointed knife, put them in the oven long enough to melt the cheese and then put the two sides together.

Other details: you can learn how I made the Boo print here, the spider candle holder came from Tai Pan Trading (I added the googly eyes to the black candle to make it look even more like a spider), the soda is Orange Crush, the trifle dish is holding individual packages of pretzels (this is what we handed out on Halloween) and the small jar of orange candy was left over from a recent Halloween party.

Cost Breakdown:

Black Tablecloth: 1.50 @Walmart

3 Paper Lanterns: 1.00 ea @Dollartree

Scrapbook Paper: 1.77 @Michaels

Plates/Napkins: 1.50 ea @Walmart

Orange Crush Soda (approx) 2.98 @Walmart

Applesauce 1.98 @ Walmart

All other food: (from pantry & fridge) 0

Black Polka Dot Ribbon (approx) 1.79 @Michaels

Serving Dishes: 0

2 White Tablecloths: 0

Wilton Spider Web Cupcake holders and picks: 2.00 @Walmart

4 Flameless Votives: 2.00 @Walmart

Black Candle: 1.00 @Michaels

___________________________________

Grand Total: $ 21.02 + a bunch of stuff I already had on hand!

I hope your Halloween was fun and safe!

Free Halloween Printables

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:33:00 +0000

Here are some of my favorite freebie printables for last minute Halloween fun!

Lunch Box Notes from Pluff Mud Studios.

Vintage cupcake toppers by Yesterday on Tuesday.

Skull printable by Urban Comfort. (The printable was used to make this adorable tray.)

Scary Jar Printables by Funky Time

More creepy jar labels! These are from Design Wash Repeat

SPOOKY banner from Tom Kat Studio

Brain in a Jar Printable from Living Locurto.

Gothic Party Printables by Mimi's Dollhouse

Vintage Party Printables by Serendipity Soiree

Cute Halloween Party Printables from Love Party

Awesome Collection of Halloween Printables from Hostess With the Mostess

A colorful banner from Party Planning Center

One of my favorite collections this year! Check out Party Box Design

Adorable snack bag toppers from Glorious Treats

Rotten Pumpkin Teeth Topper by It Is What It Is

Thanks to each of these talented designers for sharing these cute, spooky and scary Halloween printables!

Autumn/Fall Brunch

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:08:00 +0000

Do you say Autumn or Fall? I always say Fall but Autumn somehow seems so much more refined! Either way, it's full of wonderful inspiration for a party: crisp, colorful leaves, comforting foods, warm days and cool nights, hayrides, burlap and pumpkins. I decided to throw an Autumn brunch instead of having a Halloween party this year. (Don't worry I haven't forgotten about Halloween, I will just busy organizing or helping with school and church parties all weekend long!)

I hope this inspires you to break out the fall decorations and enjoy some time and good food with friends and family!

The spread! For the food, I wanted to keep the flavors consistent with a fall/harvest theme. I also wanted it to be (mostly) healthy.

For the drinks I decorated pint Mason jars with a strip of burlap, a sheer ribbon and attached a silk leaf with each person's name on it. It was a great way to keep track of your drink. We had milk, orange juice and water in carafes on the table. We also had warm apple cider simmering in the kitchen! The house smelled amazing!

I used vanilla yogurt, peaches and granola to make these cute yogurt parfaits in small jars. Peach season here in Utah was just finishing and the peaches were sweet and juicy.

These are my mini pumpkin pancakes. There isn't any flavor more "fall" than pumpkin! We stacked three mini pancakes and stuck a little wooden fork through the middle. There were three different toppings: warm maple syrup (lite), whipped cream and chocolate chips.

Apples and pears with a creamy caramel dip. To hollow out the pumpkin I just used a large spoon and scraped out the "guts" and then the pumpkin flesh until it was the size I wanted and very clean.

These are my Mom's mini Garden Veggie Quiches. So yummy and they added a some protein and veggies to our buffet!

These mini Carrot Walnut Muffins are another of my Mom's contributions. Healthy and filling! They were pretty good dipped into the caramel dip too!

So these were "dessert"! Glazed donut holes dipped in chocolate frosting and then dipped in sprinkles and toffee bits. Finish with a pretzel stick and you have adorable acorns!

On the table I used an orange tablecloth with a red table runner across the back of the table and a strip of burlap on top of that. Then I used these gold hurricane candle holders, a small bale of hay and a metal bucket full of leaves, mini pumpkins, small Indian corn and pine cones to add height to the centerpiece. Finally I wove a strand of silk leaves around the base of the candles and the hay.

I didn't have enough cloth napkins so I went with these paper napkins.

It really was a delicious start to fall, I mean Autumn!

Free Halloween Chevron Printable Invitation

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:40:00 +0000

I am a huge fan of The TomKat Studio. The TomKat Studio creates amazing collections of printable party packages. She is obviously one of the best in the business because HGTV has asked her to contribute to their web site!
A couple of months ago she contributed a great set of invitations with a chevron design in a variety of colors, including black and orange. So, why not use this as a great jumping off point for a Halloween invitation! Go here to download these free printable invitations (chevron thank you tags are also available).

You could certainly use the invites just as they are but I wanted to reinforce the Halloween theme of the party so I backed the invite with black card stock, added an orange grosgrain ribbon and an orange spider I cut out using my Cricut (you could use a sticker, brad or any other Halloween embellishment).

I am really pleased with the way the invitation turned out! Thanks to Kim @ The TomKat Studios and HGTV.