Monkeying around again...

No, I really haven't been. Its parent-teacher conference time around here, which means lots of extra nights spent getting papers and reports ready and some late nights at school talking with parents. Spring break in 4 days...whoop whoop!

Here's just a peek at a party I did a couple months ago...the same monkey theme as you've seen me do plenty of times before, but with a new color spin.

Brooks' mom Missie is a teacher, too...she's promised me some pictures after she gets done with her parent-teacher conferences. Can't wait to see them!

A FIN-tastic birthday!

I am combining two parties into one post since the decor for both parties was much the same. This may be a huge mistake because there are LOTS of pics...look at them in a few installments if you must! I am warning you...LOOOONG.

We will start with "the family party"...

As I showed you last week, the left pic is of the invitations...I made invitations for both parties exactly the same except for the date and times. I could kick myself for forgetting to take a picture of the labels for the envelopes before I sent them. I like to try to make an envelope really fun to get since the mail is mostly bills or junk these days. The right picture is of course the door sign...used at both parties.

And by now I am sure you know the basic setup of my house and decorating space! Of course I have to have a banner in the middle and lots of balloons. I am not sure you can see it, but a few of the banner circles have "shark bites" taken out of them. Tate loved that part!

Then to dress up the serving trays, buckets, and paper goods...

We made a small candy bar for some early party snacking, I think I still have a sugar high from all the Swedish fish I consumed the past two weekends! (YUM!)

As I said in my "peek" post...I had to make 14 hats this year! So fun to have so many kids hanging around. We also had to continue in the tradition of taking a pic of my sisters and I in the party hats. I am not sure who had the idea of making it a little crazier this year...maybe it was that we did have so many hats sitting there...but what I do know is that it was a little later, we were a little sillier, and Avery had to get in on the double hat craziness!

I will spare you the gift opening and meal pictures since this post is incredibly long, but maybe I will post those on the Newman family blog (which hasn't been updated since October...eek.) We'll skip to that ever delicious cake, made by my high school BFF, Tracie.

She actually made identical cakes for both weekends. I used the same shark fin and cake topper that I made for both parties and added some extra long candles in between.

We sent all the kids at this party home with a squirting shark. I loved these because they would be fun for every kid at the party from babies to 6 year olds! Tate also brought them to school as his "birthday treat" because they can't bring food as treats to his school.

Then on to the "friend party" held this last Saturday, which was T and I's actual birthday. This is the first party for little people only that we've ever had and I think it lived up to both of our expectations. The trend is definitely to go somewhere for a big party these days, but Tate and I both decided it would be fun to stay at our house and play shark-y games here!

I got to decorate our dining room...we always use this room for parties, but I don't usually decorate it since people are kind of sitting all over the house and we do more of a buffet style with that many people. But with 8 kids it was perfect to set the table, personalized for each guest...

My favorite new thing that I've been dying to use for a party is these vintage paper straws. After an idea I talked about with another one of my friends named Tracy, I made each straw personalized with the kids names that were great for the little soda bottles the kids drank out of. (Here you go, Runchey! "Tracy straws" they are!)

You can also see in the back of the picture on the right I covered the pictures that are normally on my wall with cardstock. I knew the images that are normally there would bug me in pictures, so I decided that for a very minimal cost I could cover them with paper and make them part of the design!

After the kids arrived we played several games and made a craft...

(The sharks for the game are SO easy to make!)

The theme song from Jaws is great for musical chairs! The only game we didn't get to at the party because we ran out of time was to play a "Sharky, may I?"... a version of this game I used to play as a kid. We even had this shark hat to wear! We have had a chance to play it as a family since then, though, and it is great for kids of all ages. Even Beckett loves it!

Again, I will skip the pics of gift opening and eating...onto the cake!

The boys were on their way home by noon...

We had a great time and then I spent the rest of the day with my family (I even got a much needed nap in!).

Happy birthday, Tater Tot. Love you!

Little Sweet Pea

When my friend Molly contacted me to help design her friend's daughter's first birthday I couldn't say no...they wanted to do a "sweet pea" theme which I've always wanted to do AND she loved a lot of the colors and papers from Avery's party which I love.

And because I adore this picture of little Sophia I have to show the invitation a little closer up...isn't she adorable??

Happy birthday, Sophia!

Oh how she's grown!

Hard to believe my baby girl is 4. I know people say it is amazing and that time just flies, but it really is true. I had so much fun planning Ave's party this year...she has gotten to be my little PDP apprentice and is so into the details. E took the kids out of the house one day so I could start getting decorations in order. Her face was priceless when she walked in. It made every minute I spent worth it!

So as far as inspiration {as I said in an earlier post} came from some paper I found and loved. From there I made these invitations {also posted earlier!}

I decided very early on to use the pettiskirt that I had bought for our family pictures and a scallop shirt and scallop "a" hair clip from Em Tanner paired with my very favorite Babylegs for her outfit. The scallop was very flower reminiscent and I loved the fonts and knew I had them and could use them for the rest of the decor as well.

I made close to all of the decor I made myself...you know the usual stuff...the pics from the actual party are not great...it was so dark and I didn't have my camera set on a good setting for night pics. I took some pics earlier and some after during daylight hours, but the ones from the actual party aren't wonderful...but you'll get the overall idea!

A sign to greet everyone (I had to brave -20 degree temps to get this pic!)...

Some flower cupcake toppers to top the always pretty AND delicious cupcakes from my BF Tracie...

(Stands are from Crate and Barrel...thank you to my Mother-In-Law for borrowing hers so that I could have a matching set!)

Napkin Rings...

(Paper goods from Plates & Napkins of course!)

Hats and a crown for the birthday girl...

Flower Lollipop Favors for each child to take home...

I always try to look for something fun to do as a guest book. I took a shadow box that I had here and lined it with some of the paper I had to match the party, stuck Avery's invite in the middle, and had the guests sign flowers that I made to give Avery birthday wishes. They just attached them with a glue dot. I am going to keep it up in Avery's room...a fun reminder of the party throughout the year...

I did not go at this party completely alone though...I found a fabric line designed with the same prints as the paper I already bought, so my girl *golden* hooked me up with an awesome table runner (no name or age so that it can be used for many years and birthdays to come!) and some napkins that had "4"s and "A"s with flowers on them that we used for serving food and under lamps in the living room...

Then I tried two new Etsy girls I've had my eyes on FOR.EV.ER. They did not disappoint and I was even able to trade products for some of it which is always fun and a money saver!

First PomLove...

These pics don't even really do them justice to how pretty they are and what a design punch they really add to a space. I used them both on the sides of the banner I made and then after seeing this on Party Perfect (via Design Sponge) I made a small cluster of poms and lanterns and made some garland from the matching paper to wind in there as well...

Then maybe one of the cutest things ever came from Lollipop Workshop...

I found through a friend and knew I wanted to do one for Ave if I could...meanwhile they started popping up all over the place. After seeing one on Bakerella here, I got the idea to make her her own little PDP banner...

This is where Avery almost passed out. It was her favorite thing at the party...her own little dolly with her own little banner! She says she's going to use it for her dollies to have birthday parties. =) That's my girl.

So after pics were taken of everything, it was time for cake...

Three screamers out of nine kids...not bad. Kids LOVE my hats, I tell you. Then just a couple other cute pics from the party...

Happy birthday, Aves! I love you!

More on Whooo's turning 2!

Here is more of the party that I posted invitations for a couple weeks ago! I made items for Ellen's cupcake 1st birthday last year. This year her parents fell in love with this dress and decided to do a woodland creatures theme that matched it.

So here are the rest of the goods...a banner, hats, crown, cake topper, and a door sign.

The party was last night...can't wait to hear how it went and see pictures, Cyndy!

{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!

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!

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!

SUPERJACK recap!

Its hard to believe my nephew Jackson is already three...but I guess I say that every time one of my kids turns a year older, too. Time just flies!

Last year Jack's baseball party was at our house because Rach and Brad's condo wasn't quite big enough for the amount of people that were coming. We loved it, but we were all overjoyed this year when they were able to sell their condo and buy a home (which just happens to be less than a mile away from our house =) in order to make room for Baby #2 coming in November.

We had a great day...here are some of the details...

Here is Jack and I...LOVE his cheeseball smile...and Jack's banner.

And then some party details...

1. First the cake...made by my high school BF Tracie, who always makes our cakes...they're so darn cute and delicious.

2. I made Jack's crown and hats for my kiddos to match. Rach bought superhero masks from Superfly Kidz on Etsy. Get them here!

3. My mom made Tate, Avery, and Jack superhero capes last year. Beckett was too small at the time, so she got one done for the party so they could all be superheroes for the day. Thanks a million, Mom!

4. I didn't get a very good picture, but Rach got plates, napkins, and silverware in coordinating colors from my fav online paper goods store, Plates and Napkins.

Time for cake!

I had designed a SUPERJACK logo for Jack's invitations (check them out HERE) which Rachel had used to make shirt for him. Then she asked if I could make logos so she could make T, A, & B their own shirts to wear to the party. They all looked so cute together!

My sisters and I always take a picture in the kids' hats. I am really not sure how this all started, besides the fact that we look for any excuse to take a picture together. =) So we decided this weekend that when we're old and we've all had kids we're making a book of all our pics of us in our kid's party hats. Total nerds...we realize.

Thanks, R, B, & J for the great day. Happy Birthday, Jackson Pete!