{REAL LIFE PARTIES} Happy Halloween!

Happy {early} Halloween, everyone!

We know it's a tad early to wish ghoulish holiday greetings, but we wanted to share the setup Mikaelah prepared for her Halloween party last year in 2011.

The party's color scheme included orange, purple, lime green and black. I just love that little owl Mikaelah displayed along with the party's treats ... and tricks!

The banner was custom made by your's truly. What a fun backdrop for any Halloween party: "No tricks, just treats!"

The party treats included yummy cupcakes and an amazingly good caramel apple dip. {Linked to original source here}

Happy Halloween! And thanks for looking!

Anna

{Real Life Parties} "Toy Story" for Avery's 3rd Birthday

Yeehaw! Jessie, Bullseye, Woody and Buzz helped Avery round up the whole gang for her "Toy Story" themed birthday party recently! The party was held at our house, and we couldn't have had a nicer day. The weather was perfect.

My daughter, the little cowgirl she is, for months kept saying how she wanted a Jessie and a Toy Story party ... so we delivered! Mikaelah had the vision for the entire birthday party. She rounded up the themed decorations, while I handled the baked goods and food. We came together as a team on the dessert table, Mikaelah putting it all together, of course.

We drew inspiration for this party from various posts found on Pinterest. {I think I've mentioned in the past how Mikaelah and I are both mildly addicted to Pinterest ... } You can take a look at our board here.

We made all of the food and decorations. The cloud background comes from the wallpaper in Andy's room in the movie. We recreated it with light blue felt and white card stock cut into the shape of the clouds. It turned out so fun!

Banner by Banana Lala. We used paisley, gingham and jean patterns in red and blue to bring out the Western theme. Paying tribute to Sheriff Woody, of course!

Our guests were welcomed at the door by this Balloon Celebration Wreath that the oh-so-crafty Mikaelah made! The idea was inspired by Catch My Party.

For at least the entire month before her party, Avery insisted on having a cherry cake. Not one that looked like a cherry, mind you, because she wanted Jessie on her cake. What she wanted was for it to taste like cherry. {I don't think she had ever had a cherry cake up until this point, so I'm still not sure where she came up with this idea.} So off to Pinterest to find a semi-homemade cherry cake. And, boy, did I find a yummy one! Check out the recipe for this amazingly easy and sooooo tasty cake here at Eat At Home.



We really wanted to carry the "Toy Story" theme throughout the party, especially on the dessert table and even into the party food itself. It was so much fun coming up with fun names to go with everything. And by the end of it all, I think we had more desserts and treats than actual food!

What was on our menu:

Buzz Lightyear's Delicious Hot S'mores (or "schmoes," as Buzz calls them in the movie)

Inspired by The Decorated Cookie

Sheriff Woody's Badge Cupcakes

Inspired by Disney Family

Pizza Planet Pizza Bites

Idea by Banana Lala

Jessie's Cowgirl Lassos (Twizzlers)

Idea by Banana Lala

Sarge's Dirt Mound Cupcakes

Inspired by photo on Flickr

Mr. Potato Head's Chocolate Mustaches

Inspired by Somewhat Simple

Slinky Dog Hot Dogs

Idea by Banana Lala

Jessie's Cowgirl Hat Cookies

Inspired by Disney Family

Just another look at the dessert and food table setups.

Ribbon Topiaries by Banana Lala

Avery's grandma and our mother (Gammy, as we call her) also has a love for all of the "Toy Story" movies. As part of her birthday gift, Avery received this authentic "Chatter" as seen in "Toy Story 3." She loves it! {Thank you, Gammy!}

Jessie, Woody and some of the monkeys in a barrel we just hanging around.

And what's a party without prizes?! So what prize did they receive? What they got was each others' friendship and love. ...

Ha! Who am I kidding ... they wanted REAL prizes! (But isn't this such a sweet picture of Avery and her cousin, Brylee. "Brylee's my best friend," says Avery.)

Here's a look at the favors we sent home with each of the kiddos. The tags were custom made by us.

We celebrated THREE

and said goodbye to TWO!

I know I've got

a friend in you!

We had games, too! FUN games. And since it was such a gorgeous day, we actually got to play some of them outside. 

One of the games we played was Guess How Many Army Men. We repurposed a glass jar (it's actually the maraschino cherry jar from Avery's cake), filled it with a certain, secret number of those little green Army men, and then had everyone guess the number. We found the idea on Oopsey Daisy just a few days before the big party. I'm glad we did, because it was such a fun and cute game to play.

Another game we played was a Toy Story Coloring Contest. This started as just a silly idea to have everyone color a picture and to have Avery choose her favorite. Everyone really got into it! We found these large coloring pictures of Toy Story characters, bought a new box of crayons, and everyone went to town.

There was a little playful "cheating" going on, with certain people using only Avery's favorite color, PINK of course. And then there were those of us who intentionally chose Avery's favorite characters as a way to coax her into picking their picture. {I'll admit that I colored the "Alien Babies," because I know she loves them!)

Everyone {not just the kids} had fun with this game!



We hung up all the colored pictures so Avery could choose the winner.

Steph's was the winner! {And the picture is still hanging up on Avery's door to her room. So cute.}

Another outdoor game we played was There's a Snake in My Boot. The object of the game was to throw a plastic snake into the "boot." The kids had a blast wit this one ... even if they kept sneaking RIGHT up to it to they could get it in.

We somehow managed to fit all five kiddos into the top of Avery's little playhouse. Here is Avery along with CJ, Bryson, Brylee and Landon ... Landon is the only one taking notice of the photo op going on.

Avery had a great time at her party, and so did all of us! It's so much fun to browse some really great and creative ideas online, but then also to be able to think of some really fun ones all on your own. Take some time to check out the original sources on some of the ideas we used here. There are so many blogs out there with great party ideas, so be sure to check them out.

And if you like the decorations created by us and would like to have something similar for an upcoming party of your own, let us know! All banners, topiaries and wreaths are created on a custom order basis.

Thanks for looking! To infinity, and beyond!

Anna

{Party Banner} Colorful Candyland

I've always loved the game of Candyland. The bright colors, the fun characters and the game of moving back and forth across the board. I've always had a sweet tooth, and Candyland just seems to hit the spot.

And it's not only a fun game, but it's also becoming a popular and FUN theme for children's birthday parties. (It's actually the theme we had for my daughter's 2nd birthday. Check out that Candyland Birthday Party blog post here.)

So with that in mind, we couldn't help but create a fun banner to go along with the theme.

Each letter even has a little extra for the sweet tooth, as we've added candy embellishments. Lollipops. Peppermints. Oh, yes.

You can find this banner and lots of other fun party decorations at our Etsy shop.

Thanks for looking!

Anna

{Custom Wedding Creation} Candy Stick Labels in Fall Colors

We were thrilled to be able to create something special for a recent wedding! Remember the "Just Married" banner in fall colors that we created a while back? These custom labels were created for the same wedding reception.

Sarah, the bride, was having candy sticks as favors, and she wanted us to create some custom tags for the display. The flavors sound so yummy! Orange Pineapple. Raspberry. Root Beer. Blueberry. Passion Fruit. There were 15 flavors to choose from, but how could you choose? (I would have wanted all of them!)

Here is what we created. The custom tags were complete with coordinating ribbon.

Best wishes to the newlyweds, and thank you for letting us create these for you!

Anna

{It's Party Time!} Tea Party for Our Little Princesses

I asked my 2 1/2-year-old if she had fun at the Tea Party we recently held for her and her cousin Brylee.

"I want more. I wanna go there again."  <--- I think that says it all!

As I mentioned a while back, this is a VERY belated birthday celebration for the girls. Their birthdays were back in March and April, and of course they had parties then, but we also had to have our 2nd Annual Tea Party. It's a tradition now, and we cannot break tradition. Plus, they're at the point where they remember every promise we make ... =)

Pictures and details of their 2nd birthday parties are here on our blog. Avery's party was a Candyland theme, and Brylee's was a Wild theme.

But who doesn't love a tea party? I'm talkin' frilly pink dresses, decadent desserts and "pretend" tea complete with pinkies in the air. Here is a glimpse of our special tea party:

One of our tissue paper door signs. The party theme colors were pink, purple, lime green with a small accent of yellow, so we created a special sign to go with it.

Mikaelah created this Tea Party ribbon topiary. (Picture clearly wasn't taken at the party, but this way it shows off some of the polka dot a printed/patterned ribbon she used. Have I mentioned we love polka dots?!)

Mikaelah's fabulous green wire dessert stand makes another appearance. (Love this item because it can go with almost anything!) I made and decorated the cupcakes, and the cupcake toppers were a creation of Ciao Bambino on Etsy.




I baked the chocolate chip muffins. Talk about yummy! They're made with absolutely no oil or butter, and applesauce is used instead. Our brother Jonah would eat a whole batch of these on his own because he loves them so much!



I also whipped up some marshmallow pops =)

Our Tea Party banner can be found on our Etsy shop.



And now for the table set for the princesses ... oh yes, and Landon, Brylee's older brother! (He secretly loved the tea party!)

They're ready to party: from left, Brylee, Landon and Avery.

 Pinkies in the air! (See, Landon, I know you had fun!) And now for some candid shots of the kiddos:

Success! I think they all had seconds of the desserts. (I think Brylee liked the icing more than the cupcake.)

Happy Tea Party!

Anna