When I was a little girl and we would go to a fancy restaurant I always ordered a Shirley Temple. It was a special treat and I thought they they made me look so grown up. When Sarah and I were coming up with ideas for the drinks for the party we were going to serve strawberry milk (you know, to go with the cookies) and strawberry sodas, in keeping with the pink and red theme. But as I was searching the store for red sodas I came across a bottle of grenadine and it reminded me of my childhood and the Shirley Temples. So I thought they would be the perfect pink drink to serve. A little cheesy? Maybe, but never-the-less they were a hit; every one passed on the strawberry milk and went right for them.
Recipe:
A glass of Sprite
A little Grenadine (for the milk bottles I was using about 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons)
A couple of maraschino cherries.
It tastes and looks festive, plus I made them for my own children the day after and they thought they were really fun, too. Now if only I could talk them into liking Shirley Temple movies...
The party was really fun. It was great to spend time with friends, new and old, and eat lots of fantastic food; I'm guessing you want to see the Valentines we all exchanged. That was always my favorite part of reading my sister's posts about her Valentine Parties.
I took a few quick photos of each gift. I know that some of the ladies got their ideas of off Pinterest so if you happen to see one that you have a source for please let me know in the comments and I'll add it here!
Row 1: (Left) A cute smores kit using heart-shaped peeps for the marshmallows. (Center) Sarah made homemade hot fudge and packaged it with a hand stamped wooden spoon. (Right) A cup of treats with a really adorable felt bookmark.
Row 2: (Left) Beautifully decorated sugar cookies, and (Right) Amanda made dish towels she appliqued with a heart and added some treats.
Row 3: (Left) I found these light bulb vases at Hobby Lobby and knew I wanted to make a picture holder with them. I wired a heart to come out of the top with a star hanging inside and a quote from one of my favorite songs. (Center) I love the little bouquet of flowers in a paper cone which one of my friends brought. It reminds me of how Valentines would have been in Victorian times. (Right) Lastly, a beautiful burlap pin board.
There were so many fun ideas; hopefully some of them can inspire you, too!
My little sister, Stephanie, is the queen of throwing creative and fun parties. She started having her annual Valentine exchange party several years ago and it always looked so fun that my Mom started having them, too. I sadly live across the country from them so I never get to go. I decided, this year, that I would have one on my own, and my good friend, Sarah, agreed to host the party with me. I hate cooking for parties, but I love decorating; Sarah loves to cook and has a fun food blog. So, we make a good team.
It's always a little nerve wracking to invite friends to a party that requires them to work for it, so I always worry that people won't want to come, but this party ended up being a huge success! Everyone left asking us to do it again.
Here is how it works if you want to plan your own:
Each guest needs to make a homemade Valentine for all of the other guests. I kept my party small so no one would be overwhelmed with Valentine making; and everyone could get one of each Valentine. At the party, everyone talked a little about their gift and handed them out. My sister does it a little differently. She always has lots of people to invite so, instead of making a Valentine for everyone, you just make a specific number and then exchange the Valentines “speed-dating style” until each guest is finished giving out the gifts they brought. I think it is fun both ways!
Today, I wanted to post about the food and the details that we created for the party. First up, the crepe paper backdrop for the food table…
It was super easy and inexpensive, but it had a huge impact. All you need are several rolls of paper streamers in several colors. We used 4 rolls and 4 colors: red, white, pale pink, and magenta. Then, you just stitch them together with a really large stitch on your sewing machine. We used a 6 on our machine. It gathers them together to create ruffles. I had Sarah help with this since I don't sew but after a few minutes of watching her I realized that even I, a horrible seamstress, could do it! Then, I just looped each of the streamers on to a piece of baker’s twine and hung it from some hooks on the ceiling.
For the food we had grilled cheese heart croutons in mini glass trifle bowls of tomato soup (not pictured), fruit skewers, sugar cookies, mini-wrapped black forest cheesecakes, and Shirley Temples to drink.
I think it's the little details that really make a party memorable, so I added cupcake toppers to the top of the fruit skewers and flags to all the straws. Both of these were printables I bought from Rhonna Designs. You can find the kit I used here. We also bought little pink baskets for everyone to help them carry home their valentines. I added a tag with everyone’s name on them. I don't have the best hand writing but they still look pretty cute.
That is it! I have to say it was a lot of fun to get to create a party using pink! With all boys in this house it’s a color I rarely have an excuse to use.
I'll post more Valentine decorations and all the guest’s Valentine gifts next week!
While I do not love shopping, I do like picking out presents for the people I love; I especially like wrapping gifts. There is just something about creating beautiful packaging that calls to me. So, I don't mind spending a little extra time and effort when I'm wrapping Christmas gifts. I do give myself a rule, though: I don't spend a lot of money on supplies. I like to use things I already have around, and I like for them to match but not be exactly the same. I don't wrap everything like the ones in these pictures. Some are just basic with bows.
I thought maybe some of my ideas from this year might be helpful.
I try to always keep basic wrapping paper on hand. Craft-colored wrapping paper is cheap and you can do so many things to it to make it pretty so its always in my closet. I found rolls of it this year at Target. I also try to have plain white, red, or polka dot paper around. This year, I also grabbed one roll of the wood grain paper from Target for a fun accent.
Top row, from left to right:
1. I like to use crepe paper instead of expensive ribbon. A roll of crepe paper runs about 89 cents and you can find just about any color you want, but you have to work with it. Unlike ribbon, if you just tied a bow it would look cheap. Here I took a needle and thread and pleated the paper back and forth. Then, you just tie the ends and you get this gathered look. I had little white birds from an old project so I just glittered one and added it onto the package (Sebastian is in love with birds; "birdie" was one of his first words and he points them out everywhere we go so it was the perfect addition to his gift). I also made book page tassels just by slicing up some old book pages and wrapping them with a little velvet ribbon.
2. Here I used a little tulle. It's inexpensive and, if you are traveling, the bows won't get ruined because they don't smash. I also used a strip of muslin to stamp on the name.
3. More pleated crepe paper and a shipping tag I painted with chalkboard paint left over from another project.
Middle row, left to right:
4. Baker's twine is another thing I always keep on hand. You can buy it in bulk from a baking company and it lasts forever. I added a few cheap pom poms and cut some paper in the shape of holly leaves.
5. I love using little muslin bags for gifts. Here I stamped on the name and added a little wooden tag.
6. This is why I love craft paper so much. I added polka dots by just hand drawing them on with a gold foiling pen. There are so many options, you could add dots, stripes, letters, a poem or quote. Then I used a doily to add the name.
Bottom row, left to right:
7. Here I just added a few office labels and some bakers twine. The box was pretty itself so I didn't even wrap it.
8. This time I just stamped the name all over the present.
9. This is crepe paper again, but instead of pleating it, I just made fringe by cutting the top and bottom over and over. Just make sure you leave space in the center to hold it all together. Also, you want a few layers to make it feel full, so wrap it around the present a few times. I thought little crowns would be really cute as gift toppers so I made these by cutting up toilet paper rolls (I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that). Then, I painted them with gold leaf (Martha Stewart has great gold leaf paint at Michael's). After that, I just added the name with a pen. Here is a closer image of that gift.
If you want sources, or if you have questions about anything, let me know in the comments and I'll answer them!
Last year's Christmas mantel was light, bright, and I loved it, but I always love to try and use what I have each year in a new way. This year, I tried for a more traditional approach and kept a "Dickens" Christmas in mind as I decorated. So there are lots of books, trarnished silver, and live greens with pops of red. I like it.
Here are some of the details:
Last year, I didn't even hang stockings. With the addition of Sebastian to the family we didn't have a set that matched and I didn't love the ones I had picked out years before. But this year for my Christmas gift, my very talented Mother handmade me a set of beautiful black and cream linen stockings. Each stocking has it's own unique design. I love them so much and I will think of every year as I hang them up.
Here are details of two of the stockings. The first one is my specific stocking and it has a broach that my great grandfather, who immigrated to the United States from England, gave my great grandmother for Christmas in 1924. I love it so much.
The second is Grant. I really should have just taken photographs of them all, but you get the idea. Don't you just love them, too?I think handmade gifts are the BEST.
So that is it for the mantel details this year. If you want to see last year's mantel again you can go here. Tomorrow, I'll post a few other Christmas details from around the house.
Hi! I feel funny posting to the blog again since it's been such a long time! It's mainly because of this class and one other new course we are working on. Developing new classes takes a massive amount of time because it's super important to me that they are high quality.
A few months ago I was photographing something when my oldest son Grant asked me when I was going to teach him how to "do all this photography stuff" and I realized that I hadn't really taught either of my boys about the one thing I really know how to do well! It occured to me that if they want to learn about it other children might want to as well. Thus the Summer Photography Camp for Kids was born.
Here are a few of the details:
Who: This class is designed for children ages 8-13.
Equipment: The child can use any point and shoot camera; even a cell phone or iPod with a camera.
What you get: In this three-week course we will cover many basic photography and composition techniques. Every weekday your child will get an email with a printable card that includes a new photography technique and a new assignment. There are weekly videos, a class forum, and a class gallery where they can ask questions and post their images. Each Friday they will receive a fun photography scavenger hunt to keep them learning and discovering new things all week long!
Is it safe? There will be a lesson the first week on Internet safety. Candice and her T.A.s--Nancy and Kimber-- will strictly monitor the class forum and gallery. They are all mothers with children from 9 months to 15 years old. Anything they find inappropriate will be taken down immediately. Your child’s safety is our first priority, with education and fun following closely behind!
And even better, we have a discount for families with multiple children who would all like to take the class. Just add ten dollars for each additional sibling instead of the whole $36!
Leave a comment and one lucky child will win a place in the class! For a second chance post about it on facebook and let me know!
Here is a little preview clip for the class:
I think it's going to be a lot of fun!
Sign up here! for Junes Session from June11-29
or
Sign up here! for July's session July 9-27
P.S. Mark wrote the music to the video. That is him wistling, playing the piano, clapping and playing the guitar. And isn't my video guy pretty great? I have the best team!
The give-away will end Midnight Thursday the 7th and announced on Friday so that we can make sure your child is added in time for Mondays class to start!
One of my very favorite blogs Design Mom featured a DIY I created today! Hop over if you want to learn how to make lime meltaway's and chalkboard twist ties! She also has a link to a free set of labels I made for the project that you can download from her site!
This little boy has brought so much joy to our family in the last 6 months, but at the moment he is rocking our world. In the last two days Mark and I have had about 4 hours total in sleep. He's been up all night crying. I think it's teething, but we are going to the doctors today to make sure it isn't something else. Seriously, not having a baby in the house for 8 years makes you forget how very hard it can be! Is there anyone else out there that had a large gap between children that has advice on how to adjust to starting all over again?
On a side note he may have cried all night which may have led to a few tears from me too. But how can I not smile again by the morning when I get to look at this sweet face!
I love the music and you are too cute! I think my 9 y/o DD would enjoy this class. Thanks for the chance!