Category Archives: Party

Halloween Birthday Party

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So I had promised low-key party this year. However, my daughter made a plea that I could not resist.

“What if we just have a Halloween Birthday Party at the house.”

An innocent statement. I thought we have lots of Halloween decorations already and I am already making your costume. How hard can it be? (Insert echoed voice and ominous music here)

As always we started with the best invitations by Nickel Design.

And we were off.

My little one made my heart swell this year by asking to be a villain. I was so proud, so I set off to find the perfect version. I found a few ideas on Pinterest. I said I can do this with no pattern and off we went to the fabric store we went, for the first time. Now how much tulle could this take, I mean really. Thirty-two yards! Thirty-two yards! So three trips to the store later and more glitter in the house than I care to mention. We had the perfect Queen of Hearts costume.

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She loved the costume so much. I was equally proud of it. The absolute best part was half way through the party when she promptly told me she was done wearing the skirt and proceeded to take it off and walk off. Yeah!

I needed fun but not scary food ideas for this year. Here are a few I went with. Amazing food cards by Nickel Design.

The Hummus Octopus was very scary.
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Banana GhostsDSC_0024

Orange Pumpkins –  a note on these. The peeling takes some time for all these little clementines and the meticulously cut bell peppers for stems. I was lucky enough this year to have a team of devoted Grandma’s helping.
DSC_0022 Mummy Pigs in a blanket complete with mustard eyes.DSC_0032

Fresh fruit for colorDSC_0026 KettleCorn fresh from the farmers market.DSC_0025 The World’s Best Sugar Cookies. I was very proud of the spider webs. I took white frosting and thinned it in the microwave for a few seconds. I dipped the cookies into the frosting and while they were still wet took black frosting and made a spiral on the cookies. Then take a toothpick and drag it out from the center.

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I may have gone a bit over-board with the cupcakes. I couldn’t decide if I liked the pumpkins or the owls more so I went with both.
DSC_0127DSC_0122 DSC_0121As favors I tried my hand at Carmel Apples.

DSC_0017And as the last person left the house this year I fell onto the couch and looked at my husband and said we were not doing this again.

Then my daughter came up and told me, “I was the bestest mom there ever was and this was the best party ever because she got to spend time with her friends and family.”

Resolve failing. See you again next year.

Epic Lego Party

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My family and I had the opportunity to go to one of those birthday parties recently where you just stand back and say, “WOW, what the hell am I doing with my time?”

You make recognize the work from previous posts as a very talented friend of mine. So when she invited us to a party for her boys I stood back in amazement, as did every other parent in the room.

Treat boxes for over 50 kids.
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Custom water bottle labels.DSC_1974

Yes, she did individually wrap each of the 50 juice boxes she had as Lego bricks. I didn’t pay this much attention to detail for my wedding.DSC_1976

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Custom signs with lego holder for the food.
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She made yes say it with me MADE chocolate Lego mini-figs and flag for each homemade cupcake she did. The children of course really appreciated the detail as they were cramming them in their mouths.DSC_1978

If the cupcakes were not enough she made marshmallow pops in the shape of the mini-figs heads.DSC_1981

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Each of the activities had custom-made signs. Just like the parties that you throw for your kids, right?DSC_1990

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As we left and my daughter lovingly appreciated the detailed treat boxes, and by that I mean tore it open in the car. She revealed that she got handmade chocolate Lego bricks and a handmade and packaged necklaces. They were amazing favors!


 DSC_2003Needless to say she had made MORE of her 24 useable hours than I can ever imagine. The important part was that her boys were thrilled with the party and it was artfully done. Congrats for an amazing party.

Fairy Party

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I will be honest.

I love throwing parties. Specifically, I love throwing parties for my daughter. And despite the promise I make every year at the end of her party, I went big again this year. My house looks like Ziggy Stardust exploded, coating it in a fine layer of glitter everywhere.

All of the invitations, thank you cards, and cut out decorations were done by an amazing company Nickel Design. We have been lucky enough to have my daughters invitations done every year by a truly amazing artist. You can see her first and second birthday invitations on her site.

We went with a fairy theme this year. Complete with a visit from an amazing fairy to do face painting and balloon animals. This was totally worth it as I am fairly sure my daughter thought she was real. In her mind it was indistinguishable from magic. Which made my day, possibly my year.

A bounce house seemed like a good idea when there are a multitude of children to entertain.

Wings for everyone. Hence the large amounts of glitter.

I did these easy fruit skewers. They are lovely to look at and the kids ate them up in minutes.
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These are my semi-famous spring rolls. Please see the previous train party post for the recipe.DSC_1440_2Herbed Goat Cheese Sandwiches are always a big hit and are easy to do.

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And then comes the treats. I decided to do cake pops for the take homes this year. What can be better than a favor you can eat before you even get home. A dear friend made these for my daughter. They were a huge hit and matched perfectly. DSC_1480

And my personal favorite part of any party.

The cupcakes.
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So next year note to self and reference this post so I can remind myself how tiring it can be and then be sure to dream it all up again bigger and better.