[Foodie Friday: Royal Wedding]

Well, I meant to post this last Friday but better late than never, right? If you're wondering, I did stay up to watch the wedding in the middle of the night, even though my husband thought I was crazy. I thought the Royal Wedding was a beautiful fairytale wedding. Everything went just perfectly.

[Such a gorgeous dress!]

[The sweetest kiss ever! I love how the little bridesmaid is covering her ears. So adorable!]

Anyways, last Friday I decided to do something small to celebrate the royal wedding. My daughter and I celebrated by eating this for dessert:

Just blueberries & strawberries arranged on top of whipped cream. It was supposed to look like the Union flag... Didn't quite turn out how I envisioned.

I really wanted to do this:

[via Birthday Girl]

{sigh} Maybe I make this some other time. I mean, Harry gotta get married sometime, right? :0)

And of course, while we had dessert, we had a little tea party. It was such a lovely day. :0)

[Jen]

Birthday Party Theme Ideas for Adults

For some reason, throwing a birthday party for an adult seems to be much more difficult than planning a child's birthday party. I guess it's because supplies and ideas are much more limited. But have no fear, I have "supplied" (no pun intended) with lots of fun and versatile ideas for hosting your next adult birthday party.

"Picture-Perfect" Birthday Party

{courtesy of Martha Stewart}

Spa Birthday Party

{courtesy of Vicki Lynn Photography}

Totally 80's Party

{courtesy of Kara's Party Ideas}

Mustache Party

{courtesy of Kangas Commune}

Paper Airplane Party

{courtesy of Buggie & Jellybean}

Country Western Party

[courtesy of Hostess with the Mostess}

Okay, I realize that some of them look like they are for kid's parties, but you could definitely incorporate the decorations and overall theme. As with any creative idea, you can customize it to fit however you like...that's the fun part! :0)

Tomorrow is the last day of "Party Week". I will be sharing with you a birthday card to help celebrate my birthday weekend! Yippee! :0)

[Jen]

Kid's Birthday Party Theme Ideas

To continue "Party Week", I wanted to share some ideas I've come across to help you plan your child's birthday. There are so many theme ideas out there that it can become a little overwhelming. But it's always nice to have a little inspiration to make this event really special for the birthday boy or girl. So here are some ideas I thought were super cute:

"Up" Themed Birthday Party

{courtesy of Wendy Updegraff Photography}

Carnival/Circus Party

{courtesy of Pottery Barn Kids, Kate Landers Events, & Martha Stewart}

All Pink Party

 {courtesy of Martha Stewart & P is for Party}

Rainbow Party

{courtesy of Hip Hooray & Buggy & Jellybean}

Kite-Flying Party

{courtesy of Tracey Lau} 

Baseball Party

{courtesy of Pottery Barn Kids}

Pirate Party

{courtesy of Pottery Barn Kids & HGTV}

Enchanted/Fairy Party

{courtesy of It's Always a Party at the Parkers & The TomKat Studio}

Sweet Shoppe Party

{courtesy of [Frame Fanatic]}

Stay tuned tomorrow for some fun birthday party ideas for adults! :0)

[Jen]

Retirement Party with a Valentine Twist

This past weekend I was asked to plan a retirement party for my former boss Pat. She has been a childcare director for years, so holding the party at the childcare center seemed fitting for the occasion. The theme was "We {heart} you, Pat" to send her off into retirement with our love. The main colors used are red, white, and silver with lots of heart embellishments. And with it being after Valentine's Day, I definitely took advantage of all the sales (without the decorations being too "Valentine-sy")! :0)

[The two cupcake wreaths (click HERE to view the tutorial on how to make those) greeted the guests as they walked in the doors. And peppermints in the silver bucket ($1 section at Target last spring) served as party favors for the guests to grab as they left the party. Do you recognize the little frame? I thought it fit perfectly with the color scheme, and it held a sign that said, "Happy Retire'Mint'!"]

[The cake table was filled with all sorts of sugary goodness. There were, of course, the 2 large cakes (one vanilla, one chocolate), and each held a little printable paper cake bunting (courtesy of The TomKat Studio) that said "Happy" "Retirement". The pennant banner and labels on the candy jars are similar to my daughter's Sweet Shoppe Party (click HERE to view posts about that).

[The "Retired" heart sign is attached to the back of Pat's office chair by a thick white ribbon. I found the heart on sale at Michael's and knew I just had to use it! The topiaries are made out of the same cupcake liners (Easter section at Hobby Lobby) as the wreaths. I followed [this] tutorial by Kara's Party Ideas, painted a skewer white & wrapped it with ribbon to give a "spiral" look, and attached the Styrofoam ball and a Styrofoam plant insert with the skewer to help it stand. I then placed it in a small silver bucket ($1 section at Target last spring) and filled it with peppermints. I also found this adorable little DIY Valentine Mailbox on sale at Hobby Lobby and thought it would be perfect to hold little memory cards for the guests to fill out and "mail" to Pat.]

[There was LOTS of food (courtesy of Walmart's fabulous party trays) and even more candy. Yummy peanut butter M & M's, cinnamon hearts, peppermint nougats, and Dove chocolate hearts are just to name a few. The little red branches, heart napkins, cups and wrapping paper used as a table runner on all the tables I bought on sale at Hobby Lobby. The silver square plates and plastic "silver"ware I bought at Target. I already had the tablecloths and heart plates that hold the silverware. The raspberry punch was so delicious! I will have to share a recipe on that soon!]

Not pictured:

I made 8 tissue pom-poms (4 red, 4 white) and held them by fishing wire throughout the room. It brought all the party decorations to a new "vertical" level. :0)

All in all, I think everything came together really well. I just love planning parties!!

Linking up to [these] parties!

[Jen]

[How-to Tuesday: Cupcake Liner Wreath]

Recently I stumbled upon an adorable little Whimsical Valentine Wreath over at Tatertots & Jello. And you are not going to believe what it is made out of....cupcake liners! How ingenious! You can view her entire tutorial [here]. And this is what her wreath looked like:

And this is the one I made:

To make this you will need:

• a Styrofoam wreath (I used the one pictured above from Hobby Lobby. It's the 10" Styrofoam extruded wreath.)
• wide ribbon
• cupcake liners (I used about 150 liners since my wreath was large.)
• hot glue gun
• LOTS of hot glue

[Step 1: Tightly wrap the entire foam wreath with some wide ribbon. Fold 1 cupcake liner like a flower, by folding the bottom of the liner to a point.]

[Step 2: Place a glob of hot glue onto the wreath, and then carefully place the folded cupcake over the glue. Hold it there for a few seconds to secure its placement.]

[Step 3: You will repeat step 2 many, many times. I found it easier to work in sections, to allow each section to cool properly. Once I had all 4 corners of the wreath completed, I filled in the gaps with more liners. I placed the liners in sort of a staggered pattern: started with one liner in the center, then staggered another liner on the inside and outside of the wreath. Does that make sense? Once you find a pattern that works for you, it will go by very quickly.]

[Voila! A beautiful cupcake liner wreath. I have to say I am quite proud of it!]

I made 2 of these wreaths for a retirement party I threw this past weekend. Stay tuned tomorrow for details and photos!

Linking up to these [parties]!

Happy "Party Week"! :0)

[Jen]

[Motivational Monday: Oscar Night Parties]

I am hereby proclaiming this week to be "Party Week" at [Frame Fanatic]. And since my birthday is coming up this weekend, I thought I might party all week long! So come join me! You're all invited! :0)

To start off this "Party Week", I just want to get a recap of one of the biggest parties in Hollywood: Oscar Night. I unfortunately did not host an Oscar viewing party, but I would love to host one next year! Here are some clever ideas to throw this fancy occasion.

Decor Ideas:

[I am in love with this black, white, & gold Oscar party by HWTM. Such elegant party decor! She always has such amazing ideas on her blog!]

[LOVE the napkin envelope with the "And the winner is..." printable! And the popcorn bags add a nice touch along side the golden statues.]

[Such a lovely flower centerpiece all in corresponding colors with the various movie titles wrapped around each vase.]

[Clever little tags attached to beautiful champagne glasses to toast off each award. I, of course, would choose the glass with "Best Actress" attached to it! :0) I am sure my husband would agree!]

You can find all of these FREE printables [here].

Food & Drink:

[Super cute red & gold Oscar party by Second City Soiree. I love the red velvet cake with the gold star cake decorations. Almost too beautiful to eat!]

[How adorable are these little Oscar cookies by Bakerella?? You can learn how to make them [here]. They look super yummy!]

Stay tuned tomorrow as we continue "Party Week" on how to make this:

[Jen]