{Feature Party} It's Wild Out There

I can't say enough wonderful things about this Zebra Party. I read The Birthday Girl religously, and she recently she posted a real party that was created by a mom celebrating her daughter's 4th birthday. I love the look of the stripes throughout the whole party, and the favors are adorable! Head over to the Birthday Girl's site for more pictures and Jen's recount of all the details she put into the party.

DIY Cupcake Stand

I love a great DIY project, and I just stumbled across this project from Lowe's Creative Ideas. I originally saw it featured over at Not Just a Mommy and fell in love with it. In love with everything - the individual holders, the ability to make it any color you need, and change it for any party, and the color scheme of the whole picture- HELLO Spring! This stand also leaves so much room for personalizing it for your party - hanging little streamers from the beams, or surrounding the base with fabric, flowers or ribbons. Have fun, and send us your pics if you try this! Check out Lowe's Creative Website for details on the 'How To' and comments on how to put it together.

Thank you so much to Dawn for featuring this!

{Feature Party} Such a Great Cake!

I came across this baby shower styled in turqoise and orange, featured over at The White Library.
 I love the simplicity of this cake, and how perfectly the colors go together, without screaming, 'it's a baby shower!' And I love the coordinating woven ribbons on the side plates, what a great, simple touch that brings so much to the table!

{Feature} Love for Olivia

I love a party that can incoporate a character based theme without going overboard with the actual character. I just came across these two adorable Olivia parties for little girls.
 Ces, at Lollipops & Paper, put together this fantastic party for her 4-year old daughter. I am so inpsired for my daughter's upcoming birthday because she is in LOVE (i mean, really, IN LOVE) with Olivia.

Head on over to Lollipops & Paper to see all her amazing pictures and ideas!

Take a look at this amazing cake! Covered in marshmellow fondant, this cake looks too good to eat! Nice job Cupkits Edible Creations

How stinkin' cute are these popcorn cupcakes!!! I can't wait to make them for an upcoming party and pass on all the credit to Lollipops and Paper!

Then I happily discovered another Olivia party over at Kara's Party Ideas.  I'm in love with color scheme, the stripes details, and the big tent kids cups - so cute!

Striped paper straws always make a huge impact! And perfectly paired with the polka-dot holder.

What's not to love about this scene- the polka-dot cake, great cupcake wrappers, and the unique big-top goodie stand. Love, love, LOVE!

{Feature} Nuts over the Nutcracker

I just came across this absolutely stunning party over at Kate Landers Events, LLC.  She always puts together an amazing party, and I'm in love with all the little details and decorations used to make this such a special event. The chocolates on silver tiers, the dainty glass plates, the beautiful ribbons, the layered table skirt, and the adorable personalized salad plates!

Head on over to her site to see the rest of the fantastic pictures and inspiration!

Cookie Overload!

We were on cookie overload for Valentine's Day! After batches and batches of sugar cookies, and hours of fun creating our own Valentine's, we loved sharing our treats with pre-school friends and sweethearts this year!

We created a 'Sweet Treats', a 'Love Bugs' and a 'Happy Valentine's Day' Valentine. The cookies packages were wrapped with twine, and the kids even had a place to sign their own cards!

 For the cookies, we used the classic Williams-Sonoma Recipe, and it was a hit!

Williams-Sonoma Sugar Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks/185g) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup (250g) sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Over a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, slowly add the sugar and beat for 2 minutes, stopping the mixture occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 1 minute, stopping the mixer once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Stop the mixer and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Add the remaining flour and continue beating until all of the flour has been absorbed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not over mix.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal balls, Shape each into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, up to 2 days. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 3/16 to 1/4 inch (4.5 to 6mm).
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.
Dip cookie cutters into flour just before using and cut out shapes. Place on the baking sheet. Gather up the scraps, reroll them and cut out additional cookies.
Refrigerate the cookies until firm 20 to 30 minutes. (I did not do this, and my cookies held their shape perfectly.)
Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. If baking more than one sheet at a time, switch the sheets between the racks and rotate them 180 degrees halfway through baking.
Transfer the parchment sheets with cookies onto wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies directly onto the racks and let cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Makes 12 to 15 cookies

The icing is a standard Buttercream Vanilla Icing that hardens after the cookie is iced.

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons cream

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan, over medium heat, heat cream and butter until butter is melted. Stir in the vanilla and confectioners' sugar. Remove from heat, and beat with an electric mixer until thick and smooth.



The Animals Go On Parade

We are so excited to share with you some pictures of our new Zoo Parade Baby Shower or Birthday Party line. It's been a big hit with baby showers this year, and we've had so much fun with it!



{Feature} It's Monkey Love

In honor of celebrating Valentine's Day without bombarding you with too much red and an abundance of hearts, today we're celebrating a different kind of love. I've been admiring this Monkey Love party that was featured over at the Party Dress for awhile, and I'm so excited to bring it to you today!

I love the the grass mats, and the way they embelished the wall behind the table with a personalized monogram - so cute! Pop on over to the Party Dress to check out the rest of the party and read about all of the details and designers that contributed. They did a fabulous job!



{Feature} Too Cute for Words

Head on over to Love the Day to check out this Little Man party. It is a perfect party for a growing baby boy!

{Feature} Love, Love, LOVE this idea!

Cupcake toppers are a great way to add a little sparkle to your party. I love that party designers are starting to add a little extra flare to their toppers. Lately we've seen more variations in shapes, colors and sizes, and the creativity that people are putting into their parties is so inspiring and fun! I thought I would share my latest inspiration that I am so in LOVE with! (Have I said that already, because I think this is adorable!)

Through the Birthday Girl, I found this fantastic tutorial on how to spice up your cupcakes with a fabric flower topper.  Head on over to Paiges of Style for fantastic pictures and step by step instruction on how to put together flowers for your next party!

Photo Courtesey of Paige of Style and Sprout Photography

Valentine Treats

A few weeks ago we came across these adorable valentine goodie bags that were featured over at Jones Design Company. We were so inspired that we are now working at creating some of our own!

We can't wait to share them with all of our little friends for Valentines Day! What's great is they can be so easily adapted and personalized for birthday parties too! Stay tuned for upcoming posts about the yummy cookies that are inside our little bags.

A Heart Surprise

Hop on over to I am Baker for a great tutorial on an adorable heart cake! Just in time for the holiday!

You can bet we'll be trying that over here!

Gather Your Family for Dinner

Enjoy this warm table we created for the holidays that can be used for any special occasion, 

and so easy to replicate!

{Featured Party} Loving A Valentine Party!

We are so excited to share this party with you! While admiring all of the fantastic parties in blog land, I came across this Valentine's Day Party created by Maureen and Adria from Anders Ruff Custom Designs. 

 

Jennifer and Sonny over at the Hostess with the Mostess, have already written up a great feature of the party. Head on over to their site to see the full party spread- it's adorable and can't be missed! Full of GREAT party inspiration for any party you have coming up.  Enjoy!

{Book Review} Funky Lunch

Wow! We really took some unexpected time off for the holidays, but now we're back and ready to kick off a great new year! Just in time for the new year, as kids are going back to school after their holiday breaks,  comes a book review we are so excited about! No, we're not getting paid for this, and we weren't contacted by the company to review the product, we bought it over the holidays to jazz up our own lunches and wanted to share it with you!

If you are looking for a fun to spruce up your kids lunch- this is your answer. I just ordered Funky Lunch, Happy Foods for Happy Children by Mark Northeast.

The author takes simple sandwiches and turns them into monkeys, pigs, rockets, ice cream cones, and much much more.

The only tools you need happen to be things you already have in your kitchen such as a sharp knife, vegetable peeler, apple corer, and circle cutters (which included a multitude of things in your kitchen drawer such as tips for cake decorating, glasses, a shot glass). How easy is that?

Most recipes include bread and a sandwich filling of your choice.

You decorate with carrots, cucumbers, olives, tomatoes, grapes and the list goes on depending on the recipe. My favorite sandwich is the giraffe and I can't wait to try it out. Please share your own sandwich pics with us, we can't wait to see what you come up with!