Birthday {EASTER} Printables!

After releasing Shindig Parties TO GO's Easter printables set last week, I've had quite a few requests for BIRTHDAY packages. What a wonderful idea! Do you have a little one with an April birthday? An Easter egg hunt party is the perfect theme!

So I'm happy to announce that I've put a BIRTHDAY EASTER PRINTABLE set in the shop this morning. It's super cute and includes a personalized invitation and a thank you note, too! Just take a look at some of the files below:

It also includes these cute bunny topper silhouettes, cupcake wraps and flags that you can make cute paper Easter baskets from for favors, drink wraps, cupcake toppers, candy bar wraps and more!








And at only $25.00 for the SET, with all the personalization of the invitation and other printables included, it's affordable, too!

Linked to: 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

{ NEW } Easter Printables!

Hippity Hoppity..... Easter's On It's Way!

I'm so excited to give you a few sneak peeks of my brand new EASTER PRINTABLES Collection..... Adorable Easter printables for all of your Easter parties, brunches and of course, Easter Egg Hunts!

There are so many cute items for food toppers like these 2" designs featuring a cross,

a silhouette of a bunny, an Easter egg and "Happy Easter."

The drink wraps feature pastel polka dots with multi-color bunny silhouette....

here I also used some of the lavender polka dot papers that come with the collection

to create a scalloped border around the drink wraps.

To add a little whimsy, I love using the striped flags that come with the collection to wrap around straws, toothpicks or even various desserts such as cookie, cake or marshmallow pops.

One of my favorite items are these bunny silhouette cutouts which are so versatile.

Here I've hot glued them to a toothpick and added a cute white pom pom for a bunny tail.

I love them as sweet food toppers such as for these marshmallow cookies, but they could also be used as tags on favor bags or for Easter crafts.

Here I used the pastel polka dot cupcake wraps and the striped flags that come with the collection to make an easy Easter basket favor for the kids. These would be sweet wrapped in cellophane and given to preschool or even Sunday school classmates.

First, I glued a small piece of styrofoam to the bottom of a nut cup (you can buy these at the craft store on the cake decorating aisle). This is for anchoring the Easter suckers (Dollar Tree). Next, I wrapped a cupcake wrap around the nut cup and secured it on the back with a piece of scotch tape. Then I used the striped straw flags as a basket handle and glue it in place. I filled the nut cups with green shredded Easter grass and added a few chocolate Easter eggs.

The "Happy Easter" banner that comes with the collection has cross, bunny and Easter egg

end pieces which makes it perfect for any kind of Easter celebration. And how fun

are these Easter egg cutouts that could be used for cupcake toppers as in the photo above

or for crafts and favor tags, too.

Wrapping yummy Easter cookies and adding this "Happy Easter" favor tag would be

the perfect send off for your Easter guests.

The collection is in the SHOP now at 60% OFF for only $10.00

and includes 31 Easter printables files!

So grab your set today and get a jump start on your Easter celebrations!

Tutorial: Thanksgiving Kid's Table Ship Centerpiece

Thanksgiving is only a week away -- time to get those menus together and decorate that pretty Thanksgiving dinner table. And we all know who usually gets the raw end of the deal at Thanksgiving -- the KIDS! While the adults are laughing it up at the "big people" table, the kids are relegated to some lonely, small, old beat up card table in a dark corner somewhere WAY away from the everyone else. Poor little things!

How are we ever going to instill that "attitude of gratitude" in them if we don't make Thanksgiving fun? Well, now we can!! I'm on a mission to change the dreaded "kids table" and make it something really special -- a place even the adults would like to sit!




How about this? Cute, don't you think? With a FREE Thanksgiving Kids' Table printable set, you can whip up a table like this for the kids this Thanksgiving in no time at all. And this week, I'll be showing you how. Today, we'll work on the centerpiece -- a little twist on the Mayflower. (Keep this one handy for a pirate party, too!)



First, the materials. Here's what you'll need to gather up. And, by the way, I didn't even go to the store before doing this table. I looked around, used what I had and just made it work. You can do the same -- be creative!

Materials:

-- 1 or 2 woven placemats from the Dollar Tree
-- Hot glue and hot glue gun
-- scissors
-- 3 small diameter dowel rods
-- 3 large ship sails from Shindig's FREE Thanksgiving Printables set
-- hole punch
-- small pieces of styrofoam or florist foam
-- small containers like terra cotta pots, pails, or boxes
-- shredded paper gift bag filler

Step 1: Making the ship base. Take a placemat and cut your 2 ship pieces from it across its length. Make the ends approximately 2 inches higher than the middle, which should be about 5 1/2" in the center, 7 1/2" high on the ends. (Ignore that pink box.... that was my first idea for what to anchor the sails on -- I changed my mind later.... I do that sometimes.)

Step 2: Glue ship pieces together. Take one ship piece and add hot glue all the way down one of it's sides. Now take your other ship piece and put it on top of the ship piece with glue. Press the pieces together to secure. (Only use the hot glue on the sides of the ship pieces)

Repeat on the other side of the ship pieces.

Step 3: Securing your ship sails. Now that your ship is glued on each side, open the ship pieces and place any small containers like pots, pails or boxes inside as shown above. Now cut a small piece of styofoam or florist foam to place inside of the pots. These will be anchors for your ship sail dowels. (If you don't have styrofoam or florist foam, playdough or clay make work as anchors, too.)

Cut 3 dowels to 20" in length. Next, print and cut 3 large ship sails from the FREE Thanksgiving kids' table set. Punch a hole in each in the center of the top and the bottom and thread a small dowel through. Insert the dowel into your styrofoam, and repeat for the other 2 ship sails.

Step 4: Making it pretty. It's coming together now...... you're almost done! One last little step..... take some shredded gift bag filler (I used yellow) and cover up all of the messy looking stuff on the inside of your boat. That's it -- wasn't that easy??

And this is what you get! Aren't you proud of yourself?

Stay tuned for tomorrow's tutorial on how to make the small ship cupcake or muffin wraps and sails. And I'll also tell you how to make that cute little pinecone turkey crayon holder.

Have a great day today!

FREE Thanksgiving Kid's Table Printables

Yes, that's right! In a collaboration with A Few of My Favorite Things (a fantastic website for all of you moms out there), Shindig Parties TO GO has designed an adorable set of Thanksgiving printables for kids and we're giving them to you..... drumroll please.........

FREE!!

Yay! Yay! Yay!

Aren't they the cutest?? I couldn't wait to design something fun for my own kiddos and their cousins this year as we'll be entertaining my husband's entire family for Thanksgiving. It all started with the idea of a ship sail as a fun, kid-friendly feature, and somehow by the end, became a "Mayflower with a Citrus Twist." Fun! Fun!

The collection includes lots of extras not even pictured above:

• 2" Thanksgiving logos in 4 different designs (They say "Happy Thanksgiving," "Give Thanks," "Thankful for You," and the other has an adorable polka dot turkey on it) - Perfect for favor tags
• 8" centerpiece sign (not pictured) featuring a polka dot turkey -- glue it to a dowel stick, add some ribbon, and you have an adorable and easy centerpiece
• Orange polka dot napkin or cup wraps
• Green polka dot ship sails for sandwiches, cupcakes or muffins
• Turkey coloring page
• Turkey parts to make a turkey pinecone crayon holder craft
• Brown & white stripe ship hull for a cupcake wrap
• Large orange polka dot ship sails for the table centerpiece
• "I am Thankful For" cards for the kids to fill out and make a banner or a Thanksgiving Thankful Tree
• 2 full sheets of papers to coordinate with all of the other elements in the collection

And this is all you have to do to receive your Free printable collection:

1. Become a FAN of Shindig Parties TO GO on Facebook (just click the "Like" button)
2. Look for the Discussions tab at the top of my Facebook page and click to find the SECRET CODE word
3. Email me at shindigparties@gmail.com with the SECRET CODE and I'll send the printables right to you!!

That's it! It's really easy, and your kids will be so excited to finally have a special Thanksgiving table of their own.

Stay tuned this week on my blog for some How-To's on how to make the centerpiece ship, the pinecone turkey crayon holder and the adorable "indian corn" treat bag. All are super easy and quick, too!

Linked to: Skip to my Lou, Tater Tots and Jello, CRAFT, Just a Girl

Decor Mamma, Craft-o-Maniac, Under the Table and Dreaming

NEW Adorable Christmas Printables!

The holidays have officially begun and the Christmas countdown is on! Put aside those turkeys for a minute and get your jingle bells ready, it's time to introduce Shindig Parties TO GO's newest printable collection, Let It Snow! A fun and festive collection to get you into the Christmas spirit, this printable set is filled with bright polka dots and stripes, snowmen and a polka dot font.

From party logos to make cupcake toppers and candy jar labels to sweet snowman gift tags, centerpieces and table signs, this collection is packed full of everything you would need to throw a fun Christmas celebration. Use it for a cookie exchange, a children's party, even classroom holiday parties.

Start by setting a theme-related table using bright Christmas colors and lots of crafty snowmen. Make snowmen cookies and cake pops, have snowmen craft activities for the kids -- Snowmen are simple to make using all sorts of easy to find supplies.

One cute idea is to place a powdered doughnut hole over a straw, add one of our Let It Snow Collection straw flags and create an adorable snowman sipper in a glass of milk that any child would be over the moon to try.

We all know how much kids love to make things themselves and marshmallow pops are a great party activity for them. Provide skewers, toothpicks, marshmallows and a few other candy supplies and let the kids make their own treats.

Shindig Parties TO GO loves to customize your designs, too. All you have to do is ask! Having a December birthday? Let us customize your printables set to say "Happy Birthday" or include your child's name or age. Need placecards for your table? We can customize those, too, just like the ones pictured above.

Make the place setting even more fun by crafting a cute snowman to hold your placecards. With a few styrofoam ball ornaments and some toothpicks, you can make a sweet snowman placecard holder. Add some embellishments with ribbon, candy, and some scrapbook paper cutouts and you have a fun take-home favor for the kids.

Snowmen are easy and fun for kids of all ages! I hope this collection has inspired you to plan a memorable holiday celebration for own kids. What a fun way to celebrate the holidays!

The Christmas Let It Snow Collection is on SALE now at 50% OFF in my Etsy shop! Hurry, girls! Get yours today!

FREEBIE Fall gift tag

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and now is a great time to share our many blessings with those friends, neighbors and teachers who are such an important part of our lives. A sweet, simple gift goes a long way to brighten someone's day. A little candy or fall treat favor would be a wonderful way to show our appreciation for all that they do for us.

With that in mind, I've designed a fall gift tag that coordinates with the Shindig Parties TO GO Thanksgiving printables collection, and I'm giving it to all of my readers for FREE! Here's a little glimpse of what you'll receive.

Wrap up some candy, a yummy treat or a little gift, add some ribbon and use these tags to make someone's day!

You can download the gift tags and the background geometric paper shown in the photo here. The download is on Scribd which requires a Facebook account -- if you aren't a Facebook user, just leave me a comment below with your email address and I'll be happy to send the files to you.

I hope you enjoy this little FREEBIE that is a part of the Shindig Parties TO GO Thanksgiving Collection that is shown below.

Don't forget -- It's on sale now 40% OFF in my Etsy shop.

Have a wonderful day surprising someone special!

Thanksgiving Menu DIY Tutorial

With such a great response to the Shindig Thanksgiving printables revealed yesterday, I thought it might be fun to post a tutorial on how to make your own personalized Thanksgiving menu. A menu at each place setting adds such a special and beautiful touch to your Thanksgiving table.

Materials you'll need:
- Scissors
- Photo paper in a soft gloss finish (for the background paper and logo) and white cardstock for your menu
- Ribbon
- 2" circle or 2" scallop circle craft punch
- Hot glue and glue stick

Your first step is to print out the background paper that you've chosen and the Thanksgiving 2" logo that you like and then punch the logo out with a 2" craft punch. With 12 different logos to choose from in the Thanksgiving printable collection, there will surely be one that suits your taste and table perfectly. (NOTE: If you don't have a circle craft punch, no problem! You can cut around the logo in a square and use a square shaped logo on your menu card.)

Then using any word processor like Word or Microsoft Works, type up a menu of the items you'll be serving this Thanksgiving. On mine I typed "Thanksgiving Day Menu" at the top but you may want to put "Smith Family Thanksgiving Menu" or "Thanksgiving 2010 Menu" or whatever title you would like.


Step 2: Cut out your menu and place it over your background paper. Using a ruler, trace lines onto your background paper approximately 1/2" - 3/4" larger all the way around your menu. You may want to add a little more space at the top like I did for your ribbon, maybe more like 1" larger at the top. Then cut out the background paper on the inside of your line.

Step 3: Center your menu over your background paper and add a touch of hot glue to the back of your menu and attach it to your background paper. Then cut a length of ribbon approximately 6" long and pinch it in the middle and center it over the top of your menu.

Step 4: Add a touch of hot glue to the back of your ribbon and secure it to the top of your menu.

Step 5: Attach your 2" Thanksgiving logo to your ribbon and menu with a dot of hot glue. If you are placing your menu on your plates you can stop here. If you would like to have your menu standing in a placecard holder, you might also want to decorate the back of the menu. Use the other half of your background paper sheet left over from your first cut and apply a glue stick to the back of the paper.

Step 6: Attach the front finished menu card to the decorative paper for the back of the card, lining up edges and press down firmly. Cut off any excess paper with scissors. Now your menu card is beautiful on the front and the back and ready for a standing display.

Beautiful, don't you think? Menus and placecards add a warm, personalized touch to any celebration dinner and it's so easy to do, too. I hope that you enjoyed the tutorial and remember that the Thanksgiving Collection is on sale now at 40% OFF!