Sweet Shoppe Party

REMEMBER, you can click any photo to make it larger. ;-)

There is a tuturial for the party hats here... PARTY HATS

Finally, I'm going to share Peyton's Sweet Shoppe Party with you!  I don't think I've had this much fun planning a party in a really long time! Maybe since the twins were 4 or 5.  At the beginning of January, Peyton wanted to start talking about and planning her party.  We checked out a few party blogs and she really like the sweet shoppe theme but she wanted to mix ballet and tutus with it.  Since I couldn't find any rules against that, we thought it would work just fine.  You know, like a ballet class took a field trip to a candy store.  I brought Delilah down out of my room and she donned her tutu and stood at attention next to the table to try to tie in the tutu theme. Or something like that!

There are so many things here to share that I'm not sure where to begin!  If you've been following my blog a bit, I've already given you a few glimpses into the party decor.  For example, I bought some ugly plastic frames at
Goodwill and gussied them up here. There is a bit more detail infor here as well.   I did a lot of DIY for this party to not only keep the cost down but it was a totally fun process!  I sewed the buntings, the pink polka dot table runner and the sweet little cake bunting.  I also made Peyton and my niece Grace party hats but then decided the other girls might want one too.  I didn't have enough festooning to go around the edges of the extra party hats so I bought a 1/4 yard of fabric and ruched strips of it in my machine and hot glued it on the other hats I made. You can read about the cake bunting and the other buntings here.

I felt like the table was a little too crowded but I really didn't have room to add my leaf.  I think it would have been prettier if I could have spread everything out a bit, but I'm still happy with how the table turned out.

If you are anything like me, then you probably want to know about the SWEETS!  I put lollipop sticks into Oreo Cakesters and dipped them in white chocolate.  YUM! I love how they look in the white hobnail milk glass!  I made fun chocolate mustaches and puffy lips for the girls to hold up at the photo booth and to EAT!  My mother in law was sweet and made these lovely little ballet chocolate lollies for Peyton.

chocolate covered oreo cakesters



ballet slipper pops

 Let's talk CAKE!  The cupcakes are an extremely yummy coconut cake with seven minute frosting dusted with more coconut.  A great trick to keeping your cupcakes (or cakes) moist is to brush them with a buttermilk glaze, (it's a Southern Living recipe) it also adds a really yummy flavor.  The cake itself was the vanilla cake off of the back of the Soft As Silk cake flour box.  I was a bit dissappointed in the recipe because even with the buttermilk glaze, I felt the cake was on the dry side.  It did have delicious frosting.  I love Swiss meringue buttercream and I found one that used strawberries in the recipe.  Perfect!  It's not the easiest frosting to decorate with but it's so yummy you won't care.  Those little cheesecakes are delish!  It's a Martha Stewart recipe and I think it's the best mini cheesecake I've ever had!


dancing retro ballerinas on coconut cupcakes





fun striped straws from bake it pretty in recycled starbucks bottles    I LOVE THESE STRAWS



All of the girls had so much fun with the "photo booth" which is actually just a sheet covering a window! A basket of dollar store props like crazy glasses and wigs kept the girls amused for a long time.  I'll definitely do THAT again!  I'd also have Karioki at a girls party too, they LOVED singing and dancing!



Kara and Callie



my sweet niece Gracie

love her hair do    or is that a don't?



beverage station



These little Martha Stewart flags helped the girls know their own drinks.

my little poser

me and my sister Brandy

Even some of us moms got into the photo booth mood!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.  I could go on and on but I don't want to bore you!  I really had a blast planning this party and Peyton really loved it.  She's still talking about it!


Sources:  Bake It Pretty and Layer Cake Shop plus my local candy store, Stephanie's Sweets. The fabulous vintage vibe invites shown here are from Etsy seller B. Nute

my dear friend stephanie and me

singing AND dancing

make a wish!



twirl baby twirl




twirl twirl twirl





party hat cake topper




Peyton's blingified, vintage look party hat




party hats



birthday bouquet in antique ironstone



bunting and poufs

Well, that's the party.  Now my little one is a whole year older, it's her last year in the single digits!  I wish I could slow down the clock for all of my children and make the years go a bit slower.  Well, a lot slower actually!

I joined several parties, please check out all the lovies on the right under parties!

 

Buntings, Banners, Pennants, OH MY!

On all of the party blogs, they seem to be everywhere!  They are all over Etsy too, even as decorations for children's rooms and nurseries.  Whatever you want to call them there seems to be a bonanza of buntings, banners and pennants. I think they are super cute, a bit nostalgic and a tad vintage at the same time!  These are the buntings I made for Peyton's Sweet Shoppe Party (I'll be posting that tomorrow so come on back and check it out!)  This cake bunting was fun and easy to do.  I didn't HAVE to sew it since it's scrapbook paper but I wanted it to match the fabric one hanging above it.  The posts on the end are just skewers that I painted.  This is actually reusable which is kinda cool!  Don't mind the shoddy frosting job on the cake.  I used Swiss meringue strawberry buttercream and it's not the easiest to work with for decorations but it's DELICIOUS taste is more than worth it's appearance!

Peyton and I made this cupcake banner which was easy and fun.  I showed you this around Valentines Day, I think.  We used it for decoration at the mock "photo booth" we had set up in the corner of the family room for Peyton's party.  There was a basket of silly props the girls could use for the photos, they had FUN with that!  I definitely would recommend a little photo booth for any party with kids, they LOVE it!

Kate, Peyton and Hannah

I made two different fabric buntings, one in shades of pink patterns and one that was all pink with white polka dots to match the table runner.  You'll see that one tomorrow when I show P's whole party.  It hung at the front of the table.

The bunting and poufs behind the table

A chalk bunting on the wall behind the drink station

So what do you think?  Do you love this new party trend as much as I do?

Peyton's entire party reveal is HERE

Dollar Store Delights!

A couple weeks ago, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Bienvenue by the fabulous Susie Harris.  She had found these awesome faux moss covered rocks (the rocks are faux too!) at her local dollar store.  They looked so Spring-like, I HAD to have them!

I went on a faux mossy rock hunt to two different Dollar Trees and came up empty handed.  I'm sure that the clerks at both stores thought I had moss for brains when I asked them if they carried faux moss covered rocks!  I mentioned them to my sister and she remembered seeing them at her Dollar Tree in Delaware.  She was sweet enough to grab me a couple bags of them.  Aren't they cool?  I LOVE THEM!

I've been busy working on a post about Peyton's birthday party, I can't wait to share it with you. It was sooo much fun planning it! I should have the post up late Thursday or early Friday.

If you have a moment, please check out Susie's blog, her family could use some prayers.

I joined a couple parties, check them out over at party time on the right.

Party Hats and other pink party details of Peyton's Sweet Shoppe Party

EDIT: The entire party reveal is HERE

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I've been having so much fun with Peyton planning her totally pinkified SWEET SHOPPE Party.  I saw super cute birthday hats on Etsy that were adorable and a bit pricey (not that they are not worth it, I KNOW a lot of time goes into these!).  I made a prototype and showed it here and then I made the final hat which is above.  I know it's a little busy (umm, gaudy! LOL ) but in Peyton's world right now, the more bling the BETTER! It has a P on it that way she can keep it and have it in her room.  I used several vintage goodies including vintage seam binding, a lace heart and German glass glitter from www.jennibowlin.com and an antique button that was Peyton's great grandmother's.  Peyton's favorite part is obviously the little crown...typical Peyton!  I got a little crazy on the hat kick and made a few more for Callie and her friend and my niece Grace.  That green floral circle under the C in Callie's name is actually vintage flocked wallpaper!

We picked out some fabrics and I threw together this fabric bunting which I'm LOVING!

I wanted to show you how the UGLY PLASTIC  Goodwill frames turned out after I gave them a couple coats of bubblegum pink!

Peyton's vintage feel invitation is from a sweet Etsy seller called Bnuit.  Matt printed the little insert about wearing pink.

I can't wait to share ALL the details with you!  I've got so many fun little details up my sleeve that are going to be fun to share.  I'm doing a dessert style table made famous by the fabulous AMY ATLAS only with mainly candy not dessert. After all, it's a SWEET SHOPPE.  I can't believe I'm going to get all these little girls hyped up on sugar AND let them spend the night!  ...crazy!

I'm sharing this post on a couple sites, check out the PARTIES over there on the right and join in and check everyone out!

computer died again...

sorry everyone for the lack of posts...our brand new computer has decided that it no longer wants to turn on.  I promise I have a lot to post as soon as I get the tech out here this week!

INTRODUCING: Out On A Whim!

I've decided to add a new little feature here at whimages, it's called OUT ON A WHIM.  Basically, periodically I'll be featuring a new site that has caught my eye.  I'll at least feature a new one once a week but in the beginning I'll probably show off more because I'm excited about this!  I think it's going to be so fun!

My first "Out On A Whim" is called THE GIVERS LOG   The description says it's a pretty packaging inspiration board.  It's all that and soooo much more!  It's just chock full of all kinds of inspiration. PERIOD!  Even if you are only inspired by the packaging ideas, you'll be happy you checked it out.  I LOVE a pretty package! I love throwing a gift into a gift bag just as much as the rest of you but it's also SO FUN to start the party with the wrapping!   Check out this UBER AWESOME cool Target gift bag wrap!


Another little side note, I've been working on all kinds of fun stuff for Peyton's party and I can't wait to share.  So stop on by in a bit and I'll show you a little bit of the fun I've been having!


I'll leave you with a few more cool things from the givers log...there are so many that I could go on and on and on...

Bow From Old Magazines...now that's GREEN!

Super CUTE Zip Locks

Be Mine

Today I remembered a photo of little packets of wax paper sewn together with candy inside.  I had wax paper and some peanut butter M & M's so it was ON!  I took a handful of candy into my craft room and started sewing.  I probably do not even need to tell you that I am NOT a seamstress and I do NOT know my way around a sewing machine. However, I can thread it and make some simple stitches.  These little Valentine pillows would be so sweet to drop into the kids lunch on Monday as a sweet surprise!  The big heart is a bit low on candy because I kept dropping them on the floor.  Not to worry, my handy vacuum cleaner, Cosmo, was right there to help me out.

As soon as Cosmo realized that I had candy in my pocket, I became the object of his extreme affection.  These photos are on the poor side because a. a furry little muscle man with big sad eyes, wants to eat the candy b. no natural light today and c. a furry little muscle man with big sad eyes, wants to eat the candy.  I had to crop his wet schnoz out of these photos.  Cosmo is the king of LOVE and he has so much to share!

 Disclosure:  This is NOT an original idea.  I saw little wax paper pillows somewhere recently but I can't remember where.  I *think* it was in a magazine.  If anyone knows, please let me know so I can credit.  I'm joining a couple parties, I'd love for you to check out everyone's goodies over there on the right under parties.

Terrain At Styers, AKA: Come ON SWEET SPRING!!

Have you heard about Urban Outfitters/Anthropologie's "secret" home AND GARDEN center?  It's called Terrain At Styers.  Even if you have a green pinkie instead of a green thumb, you will LOVE this store.

 Terrain effortlessly blends the line between home and garden into a magical place where even I felt like I wouldn't kill the most delicate of houseplants.  The incredibly inspired marketing/design fingers of Anthropologie and UO are most definitely at work in this fabulous charter store.

There is somethingspecial about glasses lined up like soldiers

My husband and I were attending a Scentsy event in Allentown, PA the other day.  In order to break up the drive for my back, we made a slight detour at Glen Mills, PA to check out Terrain.  I first heard about Terrain from Eddie Ross sometime last year, I quickly Googled it to see how far of a trek it would be from our house.  Luckily, it's only about an hour! 

Much to my husbands embarrassment, I took my camera with me into the store.  There were so many beautiful vignettes to shoot!  In the end he was glad I did because there were a few things he wanted photos of because he felt he could make something similar.  For example, we both LOVE this worn turquoise potting bench, but the $1,200 (from what I recall) price tag is a bit steep for our shallow pockets.  However, we both think it would be fabulous on our patio and we could use it as a buffet for parties!  
I am in LOVE with those INCREDIBLE perforated light globes.  They could have not been MORE STUNNING! They have a bit of a Moorish/Turkish/Rajasthan feel to them.  This design trend is showing up in many places from West Elm, Pier One and Anthropologie to Scentsy!  (At the event, we were able to see all the new warmers for Spring/Summer...AWESOME!)
This store left me praying for Spring to speed along a little quicker.  The lush bright greens of new growth mirrored by the bright green accents were so gorgeous. The scent of rich earth and lushly growing plants was intoxicating! We left feeling we had to go home and plant something!  Think Spring!

well-loved terra cotta! AHHH



I LOVED these bright hoses all stacked in a row!



Must plant a container garden this Spring!

So in LOVE with these clocks, dishtowels and kitchen signs!

Baby it's cold outside! I need a CLOCHE! ...and those HANGING terraniums!

Planting in an antique bakery bundt pan...genious!

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