Everyday Celebrating

Stacked pumpkin cookies

photo credit: Cake Central

Adorable pumpkins made with stacked sugar cookies iced with royal icing and fondant stems and vines.

Decorate your own cupcakes!

photo credit:  Herbert Harper

Along the lines of the candy buffet, comes the decorate your own cupcake display.
This one was featured at a wedding, but the idea crosses all party lines - especially with children.

One thing to think about when planning one is the number of guests who will need to be accommodated at once.  No one wants to stand in line forever just to decorate a cupcake.  Using a round table like this, place a large stand or maybe even two at different heights at the center of the table.  Then totally surround the table with a circle of toppings.   Have two or three sets of the same toppings at the table so many more guests can be served at once.

The mini-barrel

Functional and fabulous!
The new Red Truck Mini Barrel holds 4 bottles of wine or 20 glasses of wine. $30
Debuting at Sam's Clubs in March 2009, these are popular with the wine tasting set.  And, they look good while doing it.   Use these barrels as the centerpiece to your vineyard decor surrounding it with grapes, vines, leaves, etc.

Makes a great looking gift too!  Housewarming, birthday, etc.

Tip:  The round grapevine wreaths you get at any craft store, can be pulled apart.  When unrolled they create a really nice, twisted, single vine that curls beautifully for uses such as over doorways, mantles, lining a table, etc.

Caramel Apple Martinis

Love this photo an apple martini presentation by Country Living magazine.

I love a good apple martini and even better, for fall, is the caramel apple martini.  I'll warn you, it's a bit on the sweet side, but it's unique and tasty and good for those that don't like the taste of alcohol.

First, mix up the martini:

2 parts of butterscotch Schnapps
2 parts sour apple Pucker
1 part Vodka

Shake all 3 together in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a martini glass. 

For an extra touch, glaze the glass with caramel.  Either melted caramels or caramel syrup.

Garnish with a slice of apple on the rim or float a cross section of apple in the actual drink.

Camp Rock!

Come visit me!  I'm guest posting over at Second City Soiree while my friend Jen is on vacation in the southern hemisphere!  Jen is a super talented event planner in Chicago and I'm honored that she asked me to share ideas on her site. 

Come over and see how I'm turning these Target signs (and other $1 items) into a rock style child/teen party! 
Camp Rock!

Labor Day Watermelon Treats

Photo Credit:  The Hungry Housewife

Watermelon is ALMOST GONE!
With Labor Day this weekend, take one last opportunity to serve it up in a special way!
All you need is a cookie cutter!

Easy centerpiece too!

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TODAY is the last day to enter the SmileBooks contest! 

Learn more here!  Enter today before Midnight PST!

Personalized banners

I've had a few people write in asking where you can get inexpensive personalized banners.  One of the best places to get banners featuring themes is Oriental Trading.  They have several of the common themes such as Luau and Farm!

Lots of common themes are included such as space, pirate, construction, etc. There are even plain banners and more adult themes like Casino, Classroom, etc.  Most banners are 50 inches X 20 inches and are $12.99!  A great find!

Airplane birthday!

Remember this? The plane I made for my son's airplane themed birthday?

Wish I would've seen this BEFORE then!  LOL
How fabulous is it?  And even with the expense, it would've been worth the cut down on a LOT of time!

Get one here.  And save it for HOURS of fun play!!!  OR... a great Halloween costume if you add a couple suspenders or belts to make it wearble.

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Don't forget to enter the SmileBooks contest!  Read about that here!  Easy and quick to enter!

Easy serving pieces!

photo credit: real simple

End of the summer means... clearance summer partyware!  Pick up some plastic margarita glasses for future use as serving pieces!

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Have you entered the SmileBooks contest?  Visit this link to enter!  So easy!

Top off a Mickey party with custom ears

Debbie submitted this easy, cute idea for adorable customized party hats!

Buy party hats in red and yello (Mickey's signature colors!)

Use this template to cut out the ears.  For a sturdier ear that has a cute mouse like texture, cut the ears out of black cardstock and cover in black felt.

Next, use a craft knife (like xacto) to cut slits into the sides of the hats. Slide in the ears. You may need to secure them with tape or hot glue.

That's it!  An easy way for everyone to play Mickey for a day!

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Don't forget to enter the SmileBooks contest!  Read about that here!  Easy and quick to enter!