Sweet Kitchens

I love a nice kitchen, but these are just darling. I've seen very pricey versions in the Pottery Barn catalog and in the store. These are so darn cute and they are made from old, ugly TV cabinets. This is my favorite. You can read more about it at http://giggleberrycreations.blogspot.com/2009/11/millas-kitchen-handmade-by-papa-grandma.html

Here is another version. Adorable as well.





You can read more about this darling creation at

http://betterafter.blogspot.com/2009/08/lil-kitchen.html

Would you like to own your own cafe?

Now you can! This little cafe is a fabric playhouse that fits over a standard card table. Cool, huh? They can be found at http://www.etsy.com/shop/missprettypretty. She has several different versions for boys and girls. Not only are they cute, but they can store very easily. Now that's a good toy!

A colorful party

I've mentioned before how I love a party theme that doesn't come straight from the party supply store. Joslin really likes to color, so what better than a coloring birthday party.Party activity #1...coloring of coarse.Some colorful sand art.Story time, featuring The Crayon Box that Talked.The cake. (The crayons were made from fondant wrapped Little Debbie Swiss Rolls)I love this picture!
Enjoying some cake.





A crayon relay.

A colorful scavenger hunt. Cute party favors! Personalized crayon boxes for the older kids and coloring book and crayons for the younger siblings.

Thanks for sharing Julie!

Don't forget the invitations!

I forgot to add the pictures of the Shopping Party's invitations in the previous post. These were too sweet not to share.

My daughter Mailee is having a "shopping party" next weekend. This will include lunch at the mall, a scavenger hunt, and spending money for each of the girls to shop with. She has 3 friends coming. The invitations for this party were so fun to make. I made each girl a wallet invitation with all the information on little cards in the inside pocket!

The little wallet with everything tucked inside...

The pretty rhinestone "clasp" was a fancy brad from the scrapbook store.

I laminated a little card for each girl with their own picture on it. These were a big hit! The back side was zebra print...too cute!

What every girl needs.....

Back in the fall, I had the pleasure of making this adorable cake and cupcakes for a sweet little girl. I loved the details of the phone and "daddy's credit card". After all that is what every 6 year old needs, right?

This reminded me of a party I had seen on one of my favorite blogs, www.figandruby.blogspot.com . Colleen is a mom of 4 girls and one boy who throws the cutest parties and she makes adorable cakes too. I thought I would share her daughter's Shopping Party because it would be a perfect party for any girl, especially a "Tween".

Shopping Party Details

Mailee's shopping party was a blast! This is a great alternative to having the party at home while still avoiding the chuck-e-cheese route!! My best advice is to keep this type of party to a smaller number of kids. Here are a few of the fun details!Spending Money "Goody Bag"- as opposed to filling a goody bag with "stuff", I gave each girl an empty goody bag and some spending money for the mall. I gave my daughter the choice, 8 kids with $7.50 each, 6 kids with $10 each or 4 kids with $15 each. This particular daughter is a quality over quantity kind of girl so she went with inviting her 3 favorite people and having a little more spending money. For what it's worth, I think the party would be equally as enjoyable for the kids even if they had a smaller amount of money.

Scavenger Hunt- I made two lists, one was labeled "take a photo of these..." the other was labeled "complete these tasks...". Each item listed had a box next to it and they all enjoyed checking off the boxes as they completed the tasks. This kept the party moving around the mall as the girls were shopping with their spending money. The even bigger bonus to the scavenger hunt? GREAT PICTURES!!! The kids were happy to strike a pose as long as there was a little box to check off!

Completing a task- "play hopscotch".

Clearly this takes a bit of planning. I went to the mall a few days prior to the party armed with my camera and a pen and paper. I scoured the mall for fun little free activities. interesting items to look for, and counted up the number of bank machines and exits. Don't go too far in advance, the mall is constantly rotating stock.

Completing a task-find a card at the Hallmark store and "give" it to Mailee.

The girls loved this activity. They took their time and picked out great cards! I don't know about you but with 3 kids in school and at least one friend party a weekend, I do not allow my kids the extravagance of purchasing cards from the store. It's all about the make-at-home cards! They all enjoyed pretending to pick a "real card"!

This is the card my older daughter picked out for her sister! I thought it was a perfect choice coming from a first born!

Stick with the theme- make the gifts match!!!

After 3 hours at the mall, we moved the festivities to the house for cake and gifts. I invite the whole family, aunties and grandparents for this hour of the party. I enjoy doing all celebrating on one day!Lazy Lanterns- Sometimes hanging lanterns is just a lot of work! I tied beautiful bows on the top of each lantern and plopped them on top of varying sized vases and candle holders. They looked fantastic and they were quick and easy!

Purse Cake- A shopping party must have a purse cake, yes?
This is my version.

Here are my favorite photos from the scavenger hunt..."Put on a ring, a hat and some glasses and get them all in the photo"

The family photo!
Thanks for looking, I hope you feel inspired to go out and plan a shopping party of your own! I did this theme with my own friends when I was a teenager and again as a bachlorette party in college. It's a winner every time and with any age!

Now wasn't that just darling!!!-Thanks for sharing Colleen!!

One WILD party

Do you know any animal loving kids. I sure do! Luke had an awesome birthday party that would even make Jack Hanna proud! The face painting was definitely the highlight of this shindig.

Just look at these faces!

Fun animal puppets.......

A lion feeding game.

The leopard cake.

So excited....

My baby is turning 6 in a few weeks and I am in party planning mode full swing. OK , so actually I've been planning for months because I am a nut. Here is a sneak peek of the inspiration for his 6 year old celebration. That's all I'm going to show for now. Pics to come in a few weeks!