CELEBRATE - 4th of July Fireworks

Some of our favorite fireworks are the simplest- snaps and sparklers.
eighteen25 had the cutest labels for snaps complete with a downloadable file.

photo via eighteen25

And Twig & Thistle has an adorable sparkler holder in 4th of July colors.

 

 photo via Twig & Thistle

CELEBRATE - Summer Camp

My niece just got back from summer camp. She had a blast and made a lot of new friends. I wanted to give her a way to stay in touch with them through the summer and beyond. I came up with a candy wrapper that had her name and email address for her to hand out to her friends. I chose Kit Kats because it reminded me of signing yearbooks - K.I.T. Keep In Touch.

CELEBRATE - Birthday in a Box

 Since my sister couldn't be with me on my birthday she sent me a box loaded with all the supplies to make my birthday special. It's a great idea for someone that you can't be with to show them how much you care and that you're thinking about them on their special day. Simply adjust the contents to reflect the individual. Here's what she sent in mine...

 

(Top row, l to r) Brownie mix and candles. She knows that's what I like. Other  options could be cake mix, cookie mix or prepackaged goodies like hostess cupcakes for those who don't bake or don't have access to an oven. 

She sent me pom poms to hang over the table. These are actually made from napkins, they don't tear as easily so they hold up better and match the decor perfectly. Other options could be streamers, pennant flags, posters or balloons to blow up.

She sent candles and placemats to dress up the table.

(Bottom row, l to r) Napkins, plates and straws, notice the black and white brocade flags on the straws, so cute!

She also made this cake topper, or in this case a brownie topper. The pennants say happy birthday and I love the green ruffle.

Last is a fun game to play with friends and family around the table. Each card has a question and everyone goes around answering. It's a great conversation starter.

 

 

I know she went to a lot of effort to make my day special, even though she couldn't be here. I love all the details. They really came together to make a gorgeous table.

CELEBRATE - Father's Day gift

 We had an fun Father's Day - celebrating in several state. For my Father we wanted to give him something he would really enjoy- and since his favorite way to relax is to spend his Friday on the lake, my siblings and I pitched in to rent a slip at the lake for the boat. I asked my sister to come up with a way to present the money. As you can see in the photo below, she did a fabulous job.

She folded the money to look like a boat and then created a beautiful card with a pull out to tell him what the money was for and who it was from. I love all the little details, like the orange flag, the wire waves, and the yellow rope/ski line. It reminds me of good times spent boating with my Dad.

At my other sister's house I helped her kids whip up a dinner of BBQ Ribs, Mac & Cheese, and Artichoke. My nephew saw a grocery ad with ribs and decided that's what he wanted to give his Dad. It was an adventure as I had never cooked ribs before, but the kids were really did help and were excited to present it to their parents.

A week earlier my niece needed a project so we found this cute idea at Our Best Bites. They had it for Mother's Day, but we just adjusted the colors and filled it with her Dad's favorite candy - Mike & Ike's.

Finally, Whipperberry had an adorable idea for a Father's Day Gift -soda. As a die-hard coke fan, my Dad would love this. Maybe next year.

Photo via Whipperberry

BEAUTY - How to Site

My sister, the hairstylist, recommended The Beauty Department to me, it's a fabulous site by Lauren Conrad, Kristin Ess and Amy Nadine. Not only does it look gorgeous, but it has informative articles, discussions of the latest trends, and (my favorite) fabulous how to's.

Via The Beauty Department

I can't wait to try out this one- how to create the chingon, they call it "Modern Bride." I'd like to try it with textured hair instead of so straight like they have it in the tutorial. I also like "The Everyday Wave" and the "Twisted Sister"
 Are there any other tutorials that you like?

CELEBRATE - Pirates

For my nephew's 13th birthday, he felt he was too grown up to have a big party and do the whole theme thing, but we had to celebrate. So we decided on dinner  and a movie - that weekend Pirate of the Caribbean was opening so that's what we went to see and so the theme was found.

I create a 4 layer 6" round skull and crossbones cake and used the extra cake better to make cupcakes. I created the skull and crossbones by sculpting fondant.

 

Red tableware and skull napkins made the table look fun. I added a pennant banner with red , black & white stripe, and treasure map printed paper to make the event festive.

Amazingly, I pulled this all together in a couple of days. It probably a good thing that I didn't have more time, or I would have gone totally overboard! (No pun intended)

P.S.  I just found this link that has a cute pirate party and other cute ideas for boys parties.

CELEBRATE - Pinata

The planning continues for my niece's birthday party.
Another tradition in our family at birthday's is to have a pinata, it's a fun way to entertain the kids plus give out the favors.

We do have a few rules. We have the kids line up youngest to oldest so each kid gets a chance to hit the pinata. We use a soft foam bat and make the rest of the kids stand in line away from the action so no one gets hit. Once the pinata is broken everyone gets one of each item - or if there is candy, we encourage the kids to share so each kid gets some. (Usually this means asking the older kids to give the younger kids a few pieces, but they are usually really good about it.) We also try and get other items like small toys, notebooks, plastic jewelry, and bubble wands. Not only do these kind of items take up more space fill the pinata more, but the also eliminate the need for a ton of candy and keep the cost down. With birthday cake and ice cream, the less candy the better.

For this pinata we are trying to gather inexpensive items that the kids can take to the fireworks later that night and play with, like glow sticks and small bottles of bubbles.

Anyway, I saw this idea and loved that it goes with our 4th of July theme...

via Joy Ever After

These rockets would be more of an individual treat and they are the pull tab kind, which if you ask me eliminates half of the fun of whacking the pinata, but the rocket design is so cute!

CELEBRATE - 4th of July Birthday Party

I am trying to help plan a 4th of July party for my niece, who will be turning three. It is quite a feat, as I am in one state, she is in another and the party will be held at my sister's place which is in a third state. Needless to say many emails have been exchange.

So far we have decided that the theme will be pinwheels in red, white and blue plus aqua to add a fun twist.  So here is the inspiration...

via Hostess with the Mostess

I love this party, all the little details are so well thought out, especially the cake. I love the way the little chocolat epinwheels give it a sense of motion. However, tradition for this niece is to have cupcakes, so we'll see maybe I'll just put the chocolate pinwheels on the cupcakes. Or I could do something more like this...

via A Baked Creation

I would change the colors to match our decor, but I love the way this looks.