{New to the Shop} -- Pinwheel Party Collection

Yesterday's featured Poignant Pinwheel Baby Shower  from Jar of Vintage Buttons was simply lovely.  Designing the printable party collection for this baby shower has been one of my favorite projects, thusfar.   

The Printable Pinwheel Party Collection is now available in my Etsy Shop.  And, if you're planning a baby shower or birthday party for a sweet baby girl, you won't be left out.  The Collection is also available in pink and green for your pinwheel loving girl, too! 

The Collection includes:

1. 4x6 Customized Invitation
2. Party Banner, text reads, "baby boy" or "baby girl
3. 2" Party Circles: pinwheel design, "baby boy" or 'baby girl" text and baby's name
4. Thank You Tags, text reads, "Thank you for coming!"
5. Fancy Labels/Placecards, blank
6. Wishes for baby card
7. Patterned Paper, blue or pink chevron, plaid, blue or pink polka dots, green diagonal stripes
8. Water Bottle Labels: pinwheel design, "baby boy" or "baby girl" text and baby's name
9. 8x10 Party Sign, text reads, "You are so loved."

The Collection can be purchased HERE.

{Real Parties} - Poignant Pinwheel Baby Shower

Last November, I had the honor of meeting Leslie from Jar of Vintage Buttons.  Leslie contacted me to invite me to participate in the Birds of a Feather Fair, a modern craft fair in Northern Kentucky.  Leslie and her friend, Misty, organized the Fair, which was not your mother's craft fair!  It was filled with lots of modern, homemade goods, just like the type of goods you might find on Etsy.  Probably the best part of participating in the Fair was meeting all the other creative, talented ladies who were involved.

After the Fair ended in November, Misty had plenty to keep her busy -- she was pregnant with her first child!  Then, in March, when she was 20 weeks pregnant, the unthinkable happened.  Misty was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer.  About eight weeks prior to her diagnosis, Misty had found a lump in her breast.  She thought it was a normal part of pregnancy, but asked her physician about it.  The physician ordered an ultrasound, which led to a biopsy. After the biopsy, her physician delivered the news that forever changed her.    

When I think back to all of the wonderful, scary, new emotions I felt as I prepared to be a new mom, I am struck by the strength Misty must have.  By the time her baby boy arrives, Misty will have had eight rounds of chemotherapy.  After he arrives, she will have a double mastectomy and reconstruction.  Misty's resolve, grace, and openness about her experience is truly inspiring.  If you have a moment to read Misty's story, please check out her blog.   And, please read below for all the details on this inspiring party.

Leslie contacted me back in April about Misty's story and a baby shower she wanted to host for Misty.  I jumped at the chance to help out Leslie by desgining the printable party collection.  It was an honor and pleasure to work with Leslie on such a special shower.  I was happy to help in a small way make Leslie's vision come to life.    

In Leslie's words:

On Saturday, I had the honor of hosting [Misty's] baby shower.  She was surrounded by her closest girlfriends.  We ate and laughed and even cried a little.  It was such a special evening for everyone, but especially for my friend.  Seeing the transformation of her not only physically as she undergoes treatments while watching her growing belly, but the transformation of her preparing for motherhood is just beautiful.  I can't wait to see her finally holding her baby boy in her arms.  He is truly a miracle and a blessing.

Party Details:

For dinner, guests were treated to a Make Your Own Mac 'n Cheese Bar.  Toppings included: chicken, sun dried tomatoes, bleu cheese, bacon, and goetta (I'm not sure what this is, but Leslie says it's a "Cincinnati thing").   I love that Leslie found the containers for the toppings in the garden section for a steal at her local discount store.  Guests also enjoyed cupcakes from April's Piece of Cake. 

Leslie crafted several DIY projects that really stand out in this party.  First, she made the metallic letters.  Leslie had this to say about the letters:

I purchased the letters from JoAnn Fabrics.  I spray painted the letters with Valspar's metallic silver spray paint and let dry.  I then took a sanding block and lightly sanded the edges and on the surfaces. The wonderful thing about these letters is that while they appear to be metal, they are so light you can hang them with Command Strips!

How fabulous!  Leslie also made the beautiful wreath, using choclate brown and lime green yarn.  The food labels for the Mac 'n Cheese Bar were made using cardstock, that Leslie painted with chalkboard paint. 

Finally, Leslie made Lemon Sugar Scrub for the favors.  You can find the recipe for the scrub, here.  Leslie placed the Scrub in small jars.  Here is how she dressed them up:

The jars are Ball jelly canning jars I purchased from Wal-Mart.  To add a pop of color, I spray painted the lids and let dry and cure for several days.  The tags are attached with bakers twine and a cute tag from Martha Stewart's line of office supplies at Staples.  The jars were put into simple brown lunch sacks from the dollar store. I then flattened a cupcake wrapper and a mini muffin wrapper and folded them over the top of the bag and clipped it all together with a thank you tag.  For 20 thank you favors the total was under $20!

A beautiful shower for a beautiful, inspiring woman!  Thank you so much for sharing it with us, Leslie!  And, let's all continue to shower Misty with prayers during this time. 

Vendors:
Party Styling: Jar of Vintage Buttons

Bunting banner:  Hazelnut Designs

Cupcakes: Aprils Piece of Cake

Party Printables: Mirabelle Creations

{Trendy Tuesday} -- Chalkboard Paint

Chalkboard paint is inexpensive, versatile, easy to use, and readily available.  It's a great tool for party planning and design.  The following images show some creative, fabulous ideas for using chalkboard paint for your next party. 

I especially love this chalkboard "cake" that could be used to decorate a school themed party or even placed at the children's table at a wedding as a fun project to keep little hands busy.  Do you have some great ideas for chalkboard paint?  If so, please share them!   

Chalkboard "Cake" via A Pink Bliss

Chalkboard Table Runner via Rock Ur Party

Glass Labels via Catch My Party

Chalkboard Backdrop via The Sweetest Occasion

Chalkboard Placesettings via Project Nursery

Chalkboard Menu Sign via Save the Date for Cupcakes

Chalkboard Cake Decoration via A Dessert Blog

{Recipes} -- Root Beer Float Cupcakes

These Root Beer Float Cupcakes are a huge hit with kids!  If you are making them for a kid's birthday party, you might not want to leave them sitting around on the counter.  They are too irresistible for little hands! 

To decorate the cupcakes, I used striped straws, cut in half, and little root beer hard candies.  I would suggest putting the candies on top right before serving, because like all hard candies, they tend to melt a little bit once they are on top of the icing. 

These cupcakes also incorporate the Vanilla Bean Buttercream Icing that I used for the Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes.  It is my go-to vanilla icing for all types of cupcakes. 


Root Beer Float Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup root beer
1/3 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon root beer extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 24 muffin cups with paper muffin liners.

Beat cake mix, root beer, canola oil, eggs and root beer extract on medium for 2 minutes.

Spoon batter into muffin cups.  Bake about 18 -20 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from muffin tins and cool completely on wire racks before icing cupcakes.

For the Vanilla Buttercream:

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 whole vanilla bean, halved

4 cups of confectioner's sugar

3 tablespoons of 2% milk

Cream together the butter and vanilla extract using an electric mixer.  Scrape the insides out of the vanilla bean into the mixing bowl, using care to not include any of the woody outer portion of the bean.  Combine. Gradually add about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar alternately with 1 tablespoon milk, beating on low speed until blended and smooth after each addition

 

{Mirabelle Creations Party} -- Retro, Rustic Bowling Party



My son recently celebrated his 6th birthday with a bowling party at our local bowling alley. I knew that I would not have a lot of time to set up the party becuase we could only rent the space for a short amount of time. So, my goal was to quickly and easily create a stylish, colorful party to reflect his easy-going, fun personality.

He chose a color pallette of red, navy, tan, and light blue, which would also work well for Fourth of July party. Many of the same elements I used could be used for a July 4th party, particularly the paper fan backdrop, red lanterns, wooden crates, and all-American Root Beer Float Cupcakes.

Make sure you SPARE the time to scroll down to the bottom to read all the party details!

Party Details

Decorations:

Since our town's bowling alley has a decidedly retro feel, I created a rustic, retro vibe for the party.  I first started with the design of the party paper goods.  They incorporate retro stripes and polka dots.  The paper goods included the invitations, party circles, placecards, favor tags, drink tags, table signs, and thank you notes.  The Vintage Bowling Party Collection, used for this party, is available in my Etsy Shop. 

 

 

For the other decorations, I first made scrapbook paper fans for the backdrop.   Paper fans were quickly stuck to the wall and were easy to remove, which made them ideal since I had a short amount of setup time.  I found a king size striped sheet on clearance, that I used for the fabric to make the dessert table skirt and the table runner.  The dessert table was also topped with burlap.  Unfinished wooden crates, antique compote bowls, and red lanterns filled with mini “bowling balls” added to the rustic look.

The table where the kids ate was topped with a pale blue table cover and the striped table runner I made.  Each child’s placesetting included a water bottle with a custom label and blue Gatorade in glass bottles.  Wooden balls were painted to look like bowling balls and tied to the tops of the bottles.  

Each guest took home their very own bowling trophy and candy bags that read, “Thanks for SPARING the time to celebrate with me!  Love, Sam”.   The kids all loved receiving their trophy. 

Food:

The party was held in the evening, so upon arriving, the kids ate pizza.  Popcorn was also on the table, in folded paper bags.  After bowling, the kids came back to the party room for cake and desserts.  The birthday boy picked out Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Filling.  The cake was made by The Twisted Sifter.  The stripes on the cake mimicked the invitation design and the stripes on the dessert table skirt and the table runners.  The cake was also topped with fondant bowling pins and a bowling ball.

I made Root Beer Float Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream Icing. The striped straws and root beer candy were added to make it look more like a root beer float drink.  Oreo Truffle Pops were made to look like mini bowling balls.  I made the  Bowling Pin Rice Krispie treats using a bowling pin cookie cutter and topping them with sliced Fruit Roll-Ups.  Candy was served in antique compote bowls.

My son had a wonderful birthday party!  He loved his special bowling shirt that matched the party paper goods.  And, the guests were so proud of their bowling trophies.  All of the parents enjoyed watching the kids learn to bowl and, luckily, no toes were broken! 

{Trendy Tuesday} -- Lovely Ombre Dessert Tables



Ombre is yet another fashion inspired design that has been showing up in party design.  I love the gradual color shift of ombre design.  It allows you to add interest to your design or dessert without having to use more than one color.  I hope the following ombre designs will provide a little inspiration for your next ombre project!

HERE

via Amina Michele

Glorious Treats via Shauna Younge

Top It Off Designs via Pretty My Party

via Paper Bird Design

via Paiges of Style

{Recipes} -- Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

I have seen numerous recipes for chocolate and Guinness cupcakes, that I have been wanting to try.  I am certainly not a stout beer drinker.  In fact, I don't really drink any beer or alcoholic beverage anymore.  However, something about the combination of chocolate and Guinness sounded delicious.  When I decided to do a Grillers & Growlers themed Supper Club, I knew that it was the perfect time to try out Chocolate Guinness cupcakes.

I found the original recipe (that I tweaked slightly) for the cupcakes on My Baking Addiction, but I used my own recipe for the buttercream.  These cupcakes were easy to make, delicious, and the whole house smelled fantastic while these baked. 



Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes

Cupcake:

1 (12 ounce) bottle of Guinness Stout

1/2 cup of 2% milk

1/2 cup of canola oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

3/4 cup of sour cream

1/2 cup of dark chocolate cocoa powder

1/4 cup of regular cocoa powder

2 cups of sugar

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 24 muffin cups with paper muffin liners.

In a mixing bowl, combine Guinness, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time until each is combined.  Mix in the sour cream.

In a separate bowl, combine cocoa powders, sugar, flour, and baking soda.  Whisk together.  Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients on low mixing speed, until combined. 

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each tin about 2/3 the way full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until risen and inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes in tin, then remove cupcakes from muffin tin and cool completely on a wire rack before icing the cupcakes.

For the Vanilla Buttercream:

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 whole vanilla bean, halved

4 cups of confectioner's sugar

3 tablespoons of 2% milk

Cream together the butter and vanilla extract using an electric mixer.  Scrape the insides out of the vanilla bean into the mixing bowl, using care to not include any of the woody outer portion of the bean.  Combine. Gradually add about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar alternately with 1 tablespoon milk, beating on low speed until blended and smooth after each addition

{Trendy Tuesday} -- Homemade Marshmallows

I've made homemade marshmallows for two recent parties.  For my daughter's Groovy Disco Birthday Party, she requested lemon lime marshmallows.  For our recent Pub Style Grillers & Growlers Party, I made vanilla, coconut, and raspberry for the S'mores Bar. They are one of my favorites to make because they are surprisingly easy and guests always rave about them!

The texture of homemade marshmallows is amazing.  They make store bought marshmallows taste stale.  And, they burn perfectly if you are planning on grilling them for S'mores.  I also love that you can make them in a myriad of flavors.  For the recipe I used for the lemon lime marshmallows, check HERE. 



from Shauna Young Dessert Tables via The Sweetest Occasion

from Amy Atlas via Hostess with the Mostess

via Emmy and Gabbie

via Celebrating Moments by Marcie

via Gourmet Baking

{Mirabelle Creations Party} -- Pub Style Grillers & Growlers Party

We are so fortunate to belong to a supper club that consists of eight other fabulous couples.  Our group gets together on a monthly basis for good food and good times!   We recently took our turn hosting, this May.  Last year, we hosted a Royal Wedding themed evening, which was very girly and pink.  So, this year, I wanted to have a theme for the guys.  Since grilled food and beer is one of my husband's favorite food and drink combinations, I went with a Grillers & Growlers theme. The menu included either grilled or beer themed food.  We made the main dish and desserts and all the other guests brought the delicious appetizers, salad, and side dishes.  This masculine party would also work well for a guy's birthday party or a neutral shower.  

With Father's Day this weekend, this party could also provide some inspiration for your Father's Day Party.  The black and tan color scheme would work perfectly for a Father's Day Dessert Table, too.  Please read below for all the fun details! 

Party Details

Decorations:  The color scheme for the party was black and tan.  The decorations started with the invitation, which had a pub feel to it.  All of the printables for the party coordinated with the black and tan invitations.  The printable party collection for this party can be purchased in my Etsy Shop.

Giving a nod to the man in my life, I used recycled materials because there is nothing more that he likes than a party on a budget!  Other than the ribbon I used, I didn't purchase any new items for the decorations.  I used newspaper to make paper fans that were used to decorate the dessert and drink table.  Newspaper was also used to make paper "bowties" for the paper bag lanterns on the table.  Recycled grocery bags were used to make the circle runner for the dessert table.  I used leftover garden burlap for the dinner table runners.  No flowers were on the tables -- just perennials/succulents planters.  Drinks were served in mason jar glasses, with each guest's name attached using jute twine.  Wooden crates and galvanized buckets also helped create a rustic feel for the dinner that was enjoyed on the screened-in porch. 

One of my sweet guests, Tim, brought a great smelling candle that not only matched the party perfectly, but also included our hometown's name on it.  What a fantastic gift!

Food:  For the main course, we served Grilled Chicken, with three homemade dipping sauces -- Satay Sauce, Raspberry Chipotle Barbeque Sauce, and Honey Mustard.  Guest brought a grilled sausage platter, beer cheese tray, and a beer braised corned beef Reuben dip for appetizers.  We also enjoyed salad with beer bread croutons, cheesy rice, corn pudding, and grilled vegetables. 

For dessert, I made Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream, to incorporate the beer theme.  Additionally, I set up a S'mores Bar, for grilled dessert.  I made the Raspberry, Coconut, and Vanilla Marshmallows.  Guests got very creative with their S'mores Choices and enjoyed grilling them over the fire pit.  For drinks, we had two types of Growlers (a glass jug that hold a half-gallon of straight-from-the-tap beer) from The Beer Engine.  Iced tea, water, wine, and Bourbon - a Supper Club favorite - were also served for the non-beer drinkers. 

Activities:  Grilling, Eating, Drinking Beer, Corn Hole, and Fire Building -- lots of fun guy-ish activities!

Vendors: 
Printables, Party Design, and Photography: Mirabelle Creations
Growlers: The Beer Engine
Candle: Mermaids Bistro