Candyland First Birthday Party

Check out this awesome Candyland Party that we threw for my son's first birthday!

These centerpieces were made out of Party City Buckets, colored cellophane (Michaels), Candyland game pieces, and various pics of the birthday boy (my son at 1 year).

The giant candy was made from frisbees, balls, and candy-filled plastic balls.  The kids got to take them home as prizes.  If there's anything I hate, it's having left over party stuff!  I love to make stuff that can be used & re-used.

Banner was designed in Photoshop & printed at home.  Shoebox decorated with scrapbook paper & printed stickers and filled with fun glasses for the photobooth from Oriental trading.

Cake was made using a giant cupcake mold & store bough frosting that was blended and poured. Lollipop decor made from balloons and cellophane. All of the party hats were handmade from scrapbook paper & streamers.

More of the cake/cupcakes!!

Goodie bags filled to the brim with delicious candy!!

How to do a DIY Photobooth for $2

One of my favorite things to do at parties is have "photobooth" setup for people to act silly.  You end up with great shots from parties that all look cohesive & fun!  I have researched how to set up a photobooth with a mac computer and a remote and it was all just a little complicated--even for me when I generally have really good computer skills.  So what I have done is simply set up a $2 plastic table cloth with a table of props and I took the pictures myself.  They all look cohesive, and I crop and adjust them later.  Plus--the best benefit is that it gives me a chance as a hostess to interact with all of the guests.  Here are some samples of "photobooths" we've done in the past!!

Easter Breakfast

Now that we've got St. Patty's Day out of the way, I'm looking forward to Easter.  Last year, we had breakfast at our house, and I am planning on another Easter breakfast this year.  Every year the number of people varies, and this will be my fourth breakfast for a holiday--I did mothers day twice, Christmas once, and this will be my second Easter.  Whereas usually, we would have just gone to someone's house and they would throw together a quick breakfast, I really like making it extra special for everyone with cute decorations & special foods.

Our setup-- long table, place settings, fresh flowers & overhead decor made from table cloth & tissue paper.  Here's a close up:

Here's the close-up of the place settings.  Watermelon balls, natural wood forks with ribbon, special plates & napkins and a plain piece of cardstock for the placesetting.

And here's the food setup:

Yogurt parfaits, bacon, eggs with veggies, sweet kabobs, cereal balls, pancakes.

This particular breakfast was my first one, and I made WAY too much food.  Plus, it wasn't the right audience because I had WAY too much sweet stuff.  Needless to say, I am learning how to do this breakfast party thing as I go.

Cowboy Birthday Party!

One of the things that I am passionate about is parties.  I tend to get really carried away and go over-the-top.  I have been told  many times that I should go into business as a party planner.  Unfortunately, there are still bills to pay, so until I win the lottery, I can't quit my day job.

I have been excited to share some of my parties with you, it was just a matter of digging into my archives.  This is my son's third birthday (October 2012).  He was (and still is) really into cowboy stuff so we threw him an amazing cowboy party!

Invitation:  Completely handmade--I designed the graphic part using Photoshop Elements, glued it onto a piece of cardstock and used some rafia on the top.  They were designed to hang on a nail or hook.

The birthday cowboy getting geared up!

Horses galore!  Top Left:  Radio Flyer, Top Right:  My husband crafted these out of materials left over from home projects at ours and his parents house!  I was expecting them to be kid size but he made them giant size!  Bottom pictures:  Horse head on stick:  My mother-in-law hand sewed all of these! They were amazing favors for all the kiddos!

Signs:  Recycled cardboard & left over wood from around the house projects.  Black hand painted.

Balloons and Hats from Oriental Trading Co.

Photobooth!  Props came from a yardsale (wanted sign & stick on moustaches), and Oriental Trading Co.  We hand made the moustaches on a stick.

Cake made by my mother-in-law with kids toys as decorations.  It is a cupcake-cake!

The kids loved the tractor-hay ride.  My husband and his buddy threw together the hay-ride part & a good friend brought over his antique tractor to haul everyone around.  

 

Panning for Gold:  I spraypainted a bunch of pebbles from our yard in gold paint (it was harder than I thought), and we used pie pans in a back-yard pond.  The little kids especially loved this part!

 

I think one of the reasons the party turned out so cool was that EVERYONE dressed up in western wear (its such an easy outfit to throw together!)  The adults had just as much fun as the kids.