{Happy Customers} : Kylie

Well...it is possible that I am biased since Rach and I have worked so closely and become such good friends over the last year...or maybe its that I actually got to meet this little "nutball" as Rachel so affectionately calls her...but in any case I love these pics from 3 year old Kylie's popsicle party. She is a totally hilarious and smart little girl. I just wished she lived in MN so her and Avery could play together more often!

Basically when Rachel and I make something for each other's kids' parties, we give the other one the basic concept of the party and let the other run with it. Rachel sent me a pic of some popsicles she liked and the fabric she was using for the party and said "make me something."

In the end, she did request a few things, but I just basically made her whatever I wanted...so I sent her a banner, cupcake toppers, and the tutu I have been promising Kylie since I visited them in February. After seeing the kids lunch boxes from Beckett's party (and knowing that I had 90 left over!) Rach asked if I could whip some up for her as well. Rachel is of course responsible for Kylie's shirt and bloomers...

For a closer look or to read Rachel's gushfest about me =) (love you Rach!) head on over to {happy customers}...lots of other cuties there too!

BOO! Zoe is turning two!

I have a few clients this year working on Halloween birthday parties. I LOOOVVVEEE getting the kids dressed up for Halloween, so this has been totally fun for me! I designed some invitations for Beth (my repeat repeat repeat client!) for her daughter Zoe's second birthday.

Of course I snapped some pics of them before I sent them off to California to eventually get up on this blog, but my pics are usually done quickly before I send or late at night. To my delight, Beth sent some pics of the invites once she had gotten them all ready to send out. She made labels, stamped the envelope, etc, not to mention getting a much better shot than I did in the first place!

Beth says that Zoe loved them, too!



More matching partyware for this shindig coming later this month.

{Happy Customers} : Darrian Round Two

I'm sure you all remember Darrian's circus party from last year. It was the first time I was featured on HWTM and inspired my entire Circus Collection after the demand for that banner went crazy!

Michelle started emailing me about Darrian's second birthday in January and his party was last weekend! We had plenty of time to go over every detail. Since the theme was kind of midevil prince and princess with a cute dragon as the focus, I designed a banner and crowns for all the prince and princesses at the party.

Head on over to {happy customers} to check out the pictures in greater detail and read Michelle's kind words. Check out all the PDP cuties while you're there!

A wild time at the zoo...

These are possibly some of my favorite invitations that I've made to date...

Donna of Party Wishes (check out her blog!) asked me to make some invitations for her daughter's 9th birthday party being held at a zoo. She already had an idea board all made up with the banner she had already purchased included (check it out here). The banner is adorable...giraffe print backed in lime green, magenta, and orange. LOVE the banner. So I came up with these invitations to match...

So girly and fun for a 9 year old. You know that nine is the new thirteen, right? =) Can't wait for the pics, Donna!

Pirates x 2!

I was so excited when Shelley, a client from last year got on my schedule early this year! This time she was having a second birthday party for Harper with her little friend Jacob, also turning two. She loved Tate's pirate party, so we had to find a way to make it suitable for both boys and girls.

First I designed an invite and ordered some pink pirate paper that complimented the red paper I already had from Tate's party. Here is how it all turned out...

Invitations and sign to hang on the grounds where the party is being held

Favor tags, banner, beverage signs, and cupcake toppers

Thanks, Shelley! Glad you love it all. I can't wait to see pics from the party!

Bedtime for Baby Recap

So a while back, before I got totally consumed with being back at school, I told you about the baby shower my sister was throwing for her friend Darcy. As a refresher...here were the invites:

And here are the rest of her matching items:



The mommy-to-be showing off one of the many new books she has for Baby Hempel's library...

If my sister and her friends keep crankin' out the babes, I'll be in business for a long long time. =) Congrats Darcy and Joel!

Fun, food, family, and friends!

Last post about Beck's bday...I promise! Here are a few more details about the 4 Fs from the party...fun, food, family, and friends!

1. Fun...

Our big fun was the hayride I showed you on Wednesday, but we had a bunch of other smaller things to entertain everyone throughout the day as well.

I purchased a bean bag toss game for the kids to play...I think they played it more the week before the party at our house than they did at the actual party, though! We also had a "horse on a stick" as it was called in the store for the kids to ride around. It was so fun to see them galloping around the yard. My sister who is 6 months pregnant even took a ride. Nice, Rach.

The kids chose from pigs, cows, horses, ducks, sheep, and chickens and adorned their body with temporary tattoos. I have yet to meet a child who doesn't love a good tattoo!

The toy tractors that I used as part of our centerpieces entertained the kids quite a bit as well. When Beckett walked into the backyard that afternoon he immediately ran to a table and started playing. When I say he is obsessed people, I really mean it! When they would get sick of playing with them I would just place them back in the middle of the table where they were.

I ordered cow and pig suckers (they probably tasted awful but were adorable and cheap so I couldn't resist!) The kids loved them. They ate them at the party and got to take one home with them too!

Who knew straw could be so much fun! The kids honestly played with the bales for hours. They picked it out of the bales and made piles to jump into, they threw the bales off the rack, and even used the bales as a slide.

There were the usual things we enjoy at the farm as well...Grandma and Grandpa's swingset...the new playhouse...the hammock...they all make for an enjoyable afternoon spent with friends!

2. Food...

As I mentioned yesterday, I had an adult menu and a kids menu. The adult menu was bbq pork sandwiches, salads, chips, pickles, and no farm party would be complete without sweet corn! Perfect timing...they took my dad's field a couple days after the party. The kids lunch boxes included Uncrustable PB & J sandwiches, grapes, carrots, and a juice box. A few kids had corn on the cob as well!

Every party needs a good round of cake and ice cream...Cousin Addie got some good practice blowing out the candles for her party thisi weekend. I am sure that Beckett will return the favor! =)

3 & 4. Family and friends...

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who drove out to the farm for the day. We had so much fun and we are all so blessed to have you in our lives.

A HUGE HUGE thank you to my mom and dad (pictured lower right) for hosting the party and for all your help. Your house and farm are a place my whole family considers one of our favorites on the entire Earth. We love you!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Beckett James!

Beckett's Farm Decor

As I've said before...we are so used to having MN winter birthdays, which means we have to have them inside. It was so fun to be able to decorate and have the party outside...a TOTALLY different ballgame!

I had a door sign-turned-garden sign as the guests walked up to the front of my parents house, but the majority of the decor was in the backyard. I used a pyramid of straw bales to backdrop the banner, which I again hung with shepherd's hooks...works perfectly for outdoor parties!

I now own almost every color of fabric to use as table cloths...my husband is SUPER THRILLED. I am sure you can sense my sarcasm! I just hate using the plastic ones and throwing them away...these look so much nicer and can be reused. I am sure I will get lots of use out of them in coming years. Just need hot pink and my collection will be complete! =)

I found small straw bales at Michael's for centerpieces and used the Ikea frames that I am using in Beckett's new bedroom to frame some of the pictures I took when I was getting a pic for his invitation. I used small toy tractors we already had to complete the centerpieces. I framed one of Beckett's invitations in a striped frame for the drink table...wish I had snatched some more of those up when I found them...it was so perfect with the paper I ended up using!

Last year a client did brown bag lunches for the kids since they usually don't like all the food the adults do anyway...perfect idea (thanks Michelle!)! I purchased gabled boxes and made coordinating labels. They were so easy to throw together and set on the table so the adults could get right in line for themselves instead of having to get the kids all set up first. We saved the empty boxes after the kids ate and they took their favors and goodies home in them. I no longer feel bad in having to invest in 100 of them to get a good deal...I know I'll be using them in the future!

As always, I purchased my plates and napkins from platesandnapkins.com...they always have the best selection and fun things to coordinate with any decor! Added a few napkin rings, threw them in a nice bucket and we were set!

It would not be a PDP party without some party hats and a crown for the bday boy. I drew the animal images on my computer that I used for much of the decor. I consider Tracie's cakes decor as well...I wish you could taste it through the computer. Yumm. And yes, I forgot the candles. And my camera. And the plastic cups. But you make due...in this case two partially used tea lights...ha! They were not as cute as the ones I had purchased of course, but what is a farm girl to do? No Target store a mile away, that's for sure.

Each of our tiny guests went home with a new tractor to play with...green of course. If you're not a farm kid, you probably don't know the difference, but there are red tractor people and green tractor people. We are green tractor people. Great Grandpa Merle sent the message that he is a red tractor person by wearing his bright red shirt. Very funny, Grandpa!

One more set of pics to post tomorrow night!

The Hayride!

Well, I survived the first day of school...I actually forgot how much I love teaching the first day of school. The kids are so excited and fun. I didn't, however, forget how much work teaching is. So in an attempt to stay sane (not to mention get through these 400+ pics from last weekend) I am going to break Beck's party up and make him last all week. If this annoys you, don't check my blog again until the weekend...ha!

Beck's party started at 3 o'clock...we had a few activities (more on those another day) and then went for a hayride at 4. It was so fun for all the kids (age 2 to 77!) I just LOVE the farm in the fall!

Decor pics tomorrow night! :)

At the farm...

Give me one more day to edit all the pics, but we had a great time celebrating Beckett's 2nd birthday at the farm.

Lots more pics very soon!

The Future Mrs. Lytle

Last weekend was kind of busy for my sister and all her friends and relatives. Pretty much this entire week is business drummed up by her! Thanks Rach!

Rachel's friend Gina threw a bridal shower this past weekend for her SIL to be. She sent me these invitations so I could match the decor...

So I made this banner...

and these wine charms to match!

Wine charms were a new thing I had never made before, but once I bought the right tools they were fun and pretty easy! I think I'll have to start making them for some of my own parties and family gatherings!

Miya's 1st Birthday

My sister's niece Miya celebrated her first birthday last Saturday. Her mom Melissa was going with a bright summery feel and said she might use some flowers and butterflies to decorate. She wanted me to make a tutu she had seen here and ordered the bloomers from *golden* as well.

You can tell she really loves her crown, right? =) It is hard to see in the pic above, but the banner's letters have polka dots to match the material on her bloomers...

Hope you had a happy birthday, Miya!