{NEW COLLECTION} - Celebrate the 4th of July!!

Those wonderful days of summer are here and with July 4th only a month away, it's time to start planning those neighborhood block parties and BBQ's. And I've got the perfect JULY 4TH PRINTABLES  set to make it  easy for you! I've been working on this one for many, many days now.... it's packed FULL of goodies and can be used year to year for all of your patriotric celebrations!

Just look at all of the files included.....

And that's not all -- Last night I made 6 more pages of star cut-outs in 2 sizes from all of the coordinating papers. These will be perfect for making banners, garlands, table runners or even hanging chandelier decorations.

I plan to have some photos ready of the printables with some great July 4th table ideas sometime next week so stay tuned. Until then, be sure to grab your set of JULY 4TH PRINTABLES at the very discounted price of only $9.00!!! That's a deal folks - it's about 45 different files! 

Have a wonderful weekend!!

{NEW COLLECTION} - Cupcake Cutie!

I've been working for the last month on a really sweet custom order for a little girl's first birthday. The first thing her mom asked was for bright, hot and scrumptious pink combined with an equally fun yellow. Great colors -- happy colors -- and a cute cupcake theme make this a perfect party for girls of all ages. And now it's available in my shop to everyone -- hooray! And seriously, what could be easier and more fun than a simple decorate-your-own cupcake party. No work, mamas! Just put out plain cupcakes, frostings and other goodies like sprinkles, jimmies, crushed oreos and chocolate chips and let the kids go to town!

As with all of my party printable packages, there are loads of files with just about everything you can imagine to decorate and plan a cute birthday party.

One of my favorite pieces are the cupcake toppers and cupcake wraps. I love these wraps! I used my Fiskars "cloud" decorative scissors to cut the top edge so that it gives a circus-like feel.

This package is full of personalized items. The napkin wraps and an 8" centerpiece sign feature your child's monogram, while the cupcake toppers (2" logos), the 4" and 8" centerpiece circles, the water bottle wraps, door sign and favor tags will all feature your child's name.

The banner pieces come without text as shown above and also with "Happy Birthday" and cupcake end pieces. Add a little ribbon and tulle and these make adorable party decorations.

The 4" and 8" circles can be attached to wooden dowels or skewers with hot glue and used in centerpieces, as hanging chandelier decorations or even as party signs in your yard.  

With 20 different typeset food labels and a page of blank ones, too, you'll have lots to choose from for your party dessert table or even a cute cupcake bar.

The INVITATION and thank you note set is another favorite of mine from this collection.

And sweet favor tags are perfect for attaching to small trinkets or treats for your guests to take home with them.

Attach the 8.5"x11" door/party sign to some scrapbook paper, add some sweet ribbons and tulle and tack it up just about anywhere for a really quick and adorable party decoration.

So be sure to check out the new CUPCAKE PARTY listing and take advantage of my discounted full party package pricing -- about 35 files for $29.00!

{Customer Feature} FIretruck Party!

Well, HELLO out there! Did you think I was ever going to post again? I took a little hiatus from blogging while I was on a family vacation to the beach. I had big plans to get up early and blog before the kids came running in searching high and low for breakfast doughnuts (that's a ritual when we're at the beach), but I think the BIG GUY upstairs had other plans for me.

I didn't know how hard it could be getting an internet connection while traveling.... well, maybe "hard" isn't the right word.... how about impossible!! My vacation quickly turned into a daily fiasco of phone calls to internet providers, phone calls to the owners of the condo, going from one room to the next trying to find the single, tiny signal that might actually connect me for 5 whole minutes before it, too, disappeared. And then there was the hotel lobby.... 3 buildings away.... the car rides to local cafes and all the rest just trying to get files to customers. It was a little nightmarish and I think my husband was ready to chunk my computer into that deep, blue ocean. So blogging definitely had to go for a while, but I'm happy to say that I'm home safe and sound and thankfully connected once again to the blogosphere!

Today I wanted to share a cute firetruck party one of my customer's put together for her son, Cole, using the Shindig Parties TO GO Firetruck party printables. Amanda did a fabulous job decorating the house and the dessert table, too. Just take a look:

I love how Amanda used streamers as a backdrop -
a simple and inexpensive way to add flair and color to any party.

For her cupcake stand, Amanda covered rectangular boxes with wrapping paper and added a little ribbon, too. Then she used the polka dot cupcake wraps and cute personalized cupcake toppers as a focal point of the dessert table.

Amanda used the different papers that come with the Firetruck party printables collection to wrap candy jars and add pops of color to the table.

Don't you love the old firetruck that Amanda used as a prop on Cole's dessert table?

And the Dalmation adds a cute touch, too.

Adorable fire hydrant cup favors with personalized tags are the perfect take home treat for the kids.

Cole is one lucky boy - mom even got Elmo to come by to say "Happy Birthday!" Thanks so much, Amanda, for sharing Cole's party with us!

Be sure to check out all of the FIRETRUCK PRINTABLES in my shop. From invitations and thank you notes to everything you'll need to decorate the house and party table, printables are a simple and affordable way to throw a stress-free, personalized party for your little one.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday yesterday! God Bless our troops!

Linking up to: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Keeping it Simple, Craftomaniac, Tater Tots and Jello,Skip to my Lou, Under the Table and Dreaming, Blue Cricket Design, Someday Crafts,Fireflies and Jelly Beans, House of Hepworths, Somewhat Simple, Tidy Mom,Romantic Home,Shabby Nest, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, The Girl Creative,Tater Tots and Jello, Be Different Act Normal, Funky Junk Interiors,Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie, The Idea Room, C.R.A.F.T., Today's Creative Blog, Between Naps on the Porch,Thrifty Decor Chick, Making the World Cuter, Tea Rose Home, The Shabby Chic Cottage,The Trendy Treehouse, The DIY Showoff, Whipperberry,Gluesticks,Beyond the Picket Fence, Mad in Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts, All Things Related, Savvy Southern Style, The Thrifty Home, Passionately Artistic, Nifty Thrifty

DIY Fabric Letters

What a great DIY project this is!

I love using monograms and large initials for decorating and for parties. Everyone seems to love seeing their "special letter" as a focal point, although sometimes it's difficult to find "your" specific letter. The stores always seem to be sold out of the very one you need. Or sometimes I want something really large, especially for a great party feature or centerpiece, but those large letters are not only hard to find, they are expensive, too.

That's where this little project comes in.

When I came across this cute idea for fabric letters from Lindsay over at Artsy Fartsy Mama, I knew I wanted to share it with all of you. Make them as large or as small as you wish.... hang them on the wall.... use them for party table backdrops or even banners.... give your toddler a new tactile play toy.... the possibilities are numerous. And the part that I like best is the fabric -- I'm kind of a fabric junkie anyway. No painting.... no decoupaging.... just pick out a few of your favorite fabrics and wah-lah! You've got a perfectly coordinated bedroom or party decoration.

Here's what you will need:

Fabric for front and back of letters
Quilt batting
Sewing machine
Scissors, pin, etc.
Letter templates

And Lindsay is sweet enough to share a step-by-step tutorial for all of us newbies, too.

Cute and textured, too. I love these!

Lindsay was inspired to make letters to decorate her daughter's bedroom after seeing these adorable alphabet toy creations from Oh So Happy Together. If you take a look there, she's even got some great templates for the letters. Here's the download link for the uppercase ones.

How much fun is that?

I just have to say how glad I am that it's Friday...... our last Friday of the school year!

Only two more school days left.... yippee!!

Circle Punch Table Runner

What do you get when you cross this 2" circle punch from Marvy Uchida.....

With some scrapbook paper?

How about this great idea for a party table runner! Wendy over at Wendy in Florida has a super idea for an easy and inexpensive but adorable party decoration. How great for an art party or rainbow party or even Sesame Street! And better yet, you could fill the whole room with circle garlands or streamers hanging from fishing line.... make placemats for the kids.... or maybe even have a circle crafting station where the kids take the circles and glue them together to make some cute and creative artwork to take home with them.

Oh, how I love easy!!

Wendy was inspired by this gorgeous table setting as seen on Say Yes to Hobeken. How amazing is this display! It just goes to show that mixing the inexpensive and ordinary with a touch of "fancy" can make for a stunning showcase.

I hope this little project inspires you all to make something awesome from every day items around the house. Happy Wednesday!

Graduation Party Food Ideas

Wow! Can you believe the school year is almost done? What they say must be true.... time flies as you get older! Didn't we just sign up for PTA and buy new lunch boxes??

With graduation so near, I thought I share a few cute graduation food ideas with you today that I've seen around the internet. You could use these for kindergarten graduations to high school and college graduations, and best of all, they are super simple to implement. Simple is really, really good this time of year!

Aren't these amazing? Fondant graduation cap cupcakes from the talented Glory of Glorious Treats with a fabulous tutorial to show us how to do it ourselves.




Those cupcakes would be perfect on a dessert table like this one from Paula of Frog Prince Paperie as seen on Kara's Party Ideas .... isn't this the cutest?




And my sweet friend over at Bird Crafts has some adorable free graduation flags for table centerpieces. How easy is that? Grab your download here.



And we can't forget about the amazing Bakerella and her fun graduation cap pops.



She shows us how using these great little store-bought bites. This one is so easy ANYONE can do it!

No Fuss Fabulous has a twist on the same idea and makes cupcake toppers

with the graduation cap candies.

And if you don't really care to make some treats yourself, you can always order something perfect from the Diva Entertains like these chocolate graduation suckers.

And if you've got sweets overload and want some "real food," how about these cheese and cold cuts wrapped into a diploma from Family Fun.

So many cute ideas! I hope you are all inspired to make some classroom treats or throw a little congratulatory shindig for your favorite graduate.

{Customer} Pirate Party

I received an email the other day from one of my pirate party customers who is also a talented photographer. Nicole of Barrett Photography sent a link to these wonderful photos of her son Jaden's 5th birthday party and today I'm going to share them with you.

From the eye patches to the swords to the sashes and bandanas, these kids not only looked the part but had a blast, too. I mean, really, what's more fun than having permission to use a sword to fight your friends!

Nicole used my Pirate Party cupcake toppers to set a swashbuckling mood. She decorated her house and the tables using lots of pirate-y items that her mom made with vinyl and also some pirate party paper products that she found at Target..... gotta love Target!
The centerpiece pirate ship was a birthday gift to Jaden and worked perfectly on the kids' dining table.

















What a fun pirate crew!




As a game at the party, Nicole made clues that she hid all over the house which eventually led to this great pirate chest filled with treasure for the kids.



Jaden and his sister posing for a piratey photo.





Sword fights and tattoos are a must at any pirate party!

Nicole says, "It was such a fun party, and Jaden felt so special."

That's what it's all about.... making the birthday boy feel special, so I think all of Nicole's work paid off. Great job! If you'd like to find out more about Jaden's party, be sure to visit Nicole here. And if you need any pirate party printables to host your own high seas adventure, be sure to check out all of my pirate party items here.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!