morning routine

found these via Living Locurto

I know that is an insanely popular blog and everyone has probably already seen this one..

hey just in case right? Have a great Monday..



Kid’s Say The Darnest Things

I'm wrapping up Teacher's Appreciation Week with this final treat from some sweet little people! I'm a sucker for kids and the silly things they can say so I thought it would be fun to round up their thoughts on their teachers and how they perceive them outside of the classroom. Isn't it funny how as really young kids we thought it was such a big deal if we saw our teacher off school grounds doing....well, normal things?

{Image via Exquisite Banana}

What do you think your teacher does when she/he is not at school?

Kyle~Pre-school: I don’t know, but I do know she goes to church.

Madilyn~Pre-Kindergarten: I think she tries to find ladybugs because she loves them so much.

Angel~1^st Grade: My teacher drives around town and spends time with her family.

Derrick~Pre-school: I think my teacher makes worksheets for my homework while at home.

Katie~I don’t know. Hmmm…I think she makes dinner.

Kid A~6th Grade: Checks papers, cooks dinner & spends a little time with family.

Kid B~3rd Grade:Probably grades homework at home.

Kid C~Pre-school: Cooks dinner.

What do you think your teacher was like when she/he was in your grade?

Kyle~Pre-school: She played with toys and probably liked books.

Madilyn~Pre-Kindergarten: She played with toys and probably liked books.

Angel~1^st Grade: She was probably very smart and a good student.

Derrick~Pre-school: She was probably very tiny, smart, and friendly.

Katie~I think she was a reader!

Kid A~6th Grade: Got good grades

Kid B~3rd Grade:Like a normal 3rd grader.

Kid C~Pre-school: Probably played a lot.

What is one thing that

your teacher taught you?

Kyle~Pre-school: She taught me good choices and bad choices.

Madilyn~Pre-Kindergarten: She taught me a lot of fun songs and you know those “hand thingy's” {sign language}

Angel~1^st Grade: She taught me 2 + 2=4 and other math stuff

Derrick~Pre-school: She doesn't teach me anything! {Now before we throw stones at little Derrick’s teacher I suppose I should inform you his mommy noted he was a little angry at the time of his BIG interview and she wanted to point out his teacher did teach him how to write his name. Oh kids!)

Katie~She taught me how to graph.

Kid A~6th Grade: Stem & leaf plots.

Kid B~3rd Grade: Multiplication.

Kid C~Pre-school: The devil taught Jesus to fall off a mountain but he didn't.

Thanks to all these little people for taking time out of their busy schedules for their mini interviews!

More Cute Valentine's Ideas!

I've got some more great Valentine's ideas today for those of you who still need some cute ideas for those parties on Monday. Katrina from Snickerdoodles Bake Shop is the creative genius behind these little projects. I've loved Katrina's ideas since I first saw her "Ice Cream Sundae" party favor last fall. She definitely has a knack for putting together some adorable party treats!

First up, Katrina makes easy, cute and inexpensive Valentines favors out of chop stick cellophane bags. These measure 1" x 8" and you can find them online at GT Bag for only $4.00 for 100 bags -- I just love how unique and simple these are!

Katrina says, "On the back of the tag I also included a stamp that says, 'to a sweet friend.' My son helped me punch the tags and stamp. Then he signed his name on the back and is going to pass them out to his classmates on Valentine's Day. These turned out really cute and were a lot of fun to make! I am looking forward to making them for other occasions . . ."

And how about this one for a fun Valentine for friends..... candy cellphones!

Katrina says, "I made these for my son's Pre-K class this year. These are so easy to make and are just too cute. He can't wait to pass them out. I especially love the Pixie Stick antennae! All you need is silver card stock but you can really use any color you want. For the size, find two standard playing cards and tape them vertically together. Trace the connected cards onto the paper and cut it out and you have your phone. Just fold in half and round the edges with a scissors or corner rounder. Candy buttons and pixie sticks that can be found at a local party store. I used the label program in Word to create the names on the front of the phones and the "text" message on the inside. I also used a heart sticker for the power button."


She also made these little brownies bites and added a few easy Valentine's touches..... some sparkling sugars in Valentine's colors and a sweet Valentine candy corn. You can purchase brownie bites at most grocery stores -- I buy them all the time from Sam's. Add a little icing to the tops (you can even buy this in a can with a decorating tip ready to go!) and top it off with you candy -- totally do-able!

Another quick idea from Katrina are these cute heart lollipop Valentines using a little scrapbook paper for a "flower" embellishment. I love the addition of the Hershey's kiss, too.

Don't you just love all of her super easy and super quick ideas?

Snickerdoodles specializes in delicious cookie jars as well as cute and fun items for gifts, party favors and party decorations so be sure to take a peek at some of her wonderful creations in her Etsy shop. She truly has some of the cutest and most original items I've seen! Here are those adorable Ice Cream Sundae party favors I mentioned earlier. How cute is that!

I also wanted to thank Kristy from The Purple Pug for the fun interview she featured yesterday with me about Shindig Parties TO GO. Kristy is a fellow "party girl" and vice-president of the Children's Party Network and quite an amazing talent, too. It was a honor to be chosen for her "Crush of the Day" feature, so go take a peek if you want to find out the REAL DEAL on yours truly.

Have a GREAT Friday, girls!

Valentine's Soiree {A Children's Party}

Last year about this time my girls and I hosted a sweet Valentine's party for their friends. With both of my daughter's names beginning with the letter "M," I decided on a "M & M Sweet Shoppe" theme. A week or so before the party, we hand delivered some lollipop style invitations, with "M & M Sweet Shoppe" on one side and the invitation information on the other. We attached them to lollipop sticks, wrapped them up in cellophane and added a little ribbon to dress them up a bit. It was a fun way to let their guests know that something special was in store.

By using almost all store-bought baked goods and snacks and sprucing them up a bit, the party was relatively simple to put together and easy on the budget, too. I had set a budget of $100, and came pretty close to that figure in the end even with the crafting supplies added in.

I made the cupcakes and cake myself, which saved some money as well. It was my first experience using marshmallow fondant, and I have to say, it wasn't all that difficult, even for a newbie, and it tasted great! I've heard horror stories about the "cardboard" taste of fondant, but with this recipe, marshmallow fondant makes a pretty tasty treat. I made my own rice crispy treats, too, but added a little melted white candy coating and sprinkles to the tops for color.

I used Oreo cookie sticks and Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies and covered those with white chocolate candy coating and sprinkles as well. The pudding parfaits were a combination of store bought pink (cotton candy flavor) pudding and some vanilla pudding tinted red that I made at home. I added a little whip cream on top and put the parfaits in champagne glasses which, of course, the girls loved.

Using various red and pink candies in jars and adding some sweet labels really dressed up the dessert table, as did the pink and red poms that I made from tissue paper to hang over the table. A few M&M's, some Hershey's kisses and some marshmallow twist lollipops I bought at Walmart rounded out the treats.

After a few snacks, the girls were ready to begin crafting. I created a simple project for them and had all of the supplies ready and cut out before the girls arrived that day. Each child had a small terra cotta pot filled with green tissue paper, and they were to make their own Valentine's rose bouquet to take home with them. I used white, pink, hot pink and red felt and cut out circles for the roses. Then on each circle I drew a spiral from the outside edge, circling around until I reached the center of the circle. Then I cut each spiral out.

It was a little time consuming since each girl needed 6 or 7 roses to finish the vases, but it was a simple task that I worked on while watching TV one night. And I have to say, if you're going to have crafts with kids, it's always worth the extra effort to have the craft supplies ready to go at party time. Then it's just a matter of a few easy directions and a few steps for the kids, and they've created their own little masterpiece.

It was such a wonderful party and so nice to have a little "girl-time" with my kids and their friends. I hope it inspires you to throw a little girly soiree of your own!
Linked to: Craftomanic, Skip to My Lou, Making the World Cuter, Blue Cricket Design, Tip Junkie, Life as Lori, My Delicious Ambiguity, House of Hepworths, Craft Edition, Today's Creative Blog, Crafts Keep Me Sane, Under the Table and Dreaming, Funky Junk Interiors, Tater Tots and Jello, The Girl Creative, Sumo's Sweet Stuff

FREE Valentine's Classroom Pack Printable!

I'm so excited to announce that I've got a new FREEBIE for all of you today. It's a fun little classroom pack, perfect for those class treat bags and Valentine's parties. I've designed some "Toad-ally" Awesome froggie cupcake toppers, cupcake wraps, a sweet heart shaped tic-tac-toe game to use as a favor for friends, and a ziploc sized favor bag topper, too. So be sure to grab your set -- DOWNLOAD HERE -- and have those treat bags ready early this year! The download is set up on Scribd, so you'll have to be logged into Facebook to download the files -- while you're there, make sure you've become a FAN of Shindig Parties TO GO by clicking "Like" HERE.

Here's what you'll need for MATERIALS:

• photo paper (premium paper in a soft gloss finish)
• printables files
• scissors
• scotch tape
• hot glue gun
• 1" circle craft punch
• 2" circle craft punch
• ziploc bags (quart size)
• stapler
• ruler
• butter knife
• coffee stirrers or lollipop sticks
• ribbon (optional)
• cupcakes

Now let's get started -- it's really easy to put these together as long as you have a 1" and a 2" circle punch. If you don't have the punches, you can purchase them from Michaels or Amazon.com. You may use white cardstock if you like for printing, but the photo paper produces much more vivid colors and professional looking results.

1. Download, save and then print your FREE Classroom Pack using soft gloss or semi gloss premium photo paper (for best results) or white cardstock.
2. To make cupcake toppers, first cut the 2" party logo sheet into columns
3. Using the 2" circle punch, punch out all 12 Valentine's logos
4. Use your 1" circle punch to punch 1" circles from the tic-tac-toe game sheet. Cut out the heart-shaped game boards.
5. Using a hot glue gun, put a small amount of hot glue onto a coffee stirrer or lollipop stick. Cut off approximately 1" from one end of the coffee stirrer.
6. Hot glue the coffee stirrer to the back of the 2" logo
7. Finished cupcake topper
8. Using the favor bag topper sheet, cut along the outside line of each design with scissors. Place a ruler down the middle of the backside of the treat bag topper and score a folding line with a butter knife. Fold the topper in half and make a center crease.
9. Insert one game board, 5 "X" game pieces and 5 "O" game pieces inside a quart size ziploc bag and seal. Fold top of ziploc bag over one time (approximately 1" fold) and insert ziploc top inside of folded treat bag topper.
10. Staple topper to ziploc on each side and in the middle.
11. To make cupcake wraps, cut along inside edge of each printed cupcake wrap approximately 1/8". If desired, cut top edge of wrap (the longest side) with decorative scallop scissors. Wrap around a cupcake baked in a liner and secure along back with scotch tape or a dot of hot glue.
12. Congratulations -- you're done! You've made an adorable Valentine's party set -- perfect for your child's classroom Valentine's party.

I hope you all love your new printables!

.... oh, yes, I DID say "HOPPY!"

Linked to: Craftomanic, Skip to My Lou, Making the World Cuter, Blue Cricket Design, Tip Junkie, Life as Lori, My Delicious Ambiguity, House of Hepworths, Craft Edition, Today's Creative Blog,Crafts Keep Me Sane, Under the Table and Dreaming, Funky Junk Interiors, Tater Tots and Jello

Kids' New Year's Party Tablescape Challenge!

This last fall, just as I was opening my Shindig Parties TO GO shop on Etsy, I decided to join a FABULOUS team of designers in a NEW YEAR'S EVE Children's Party Table Challenge. It was EAST against WEST....... a great group of party planners and designers from all around the country playing a fun little game of "Who's party table is better?"

Living in the heart of the South, it felt a little odd to be called an EASTIE, but once I started receiving some of the photos of everyone's work, I was elated to be a EAST Coast girl. Kristy, from The Purple Pug, was our team leader, and somehow miraculously organized all of these women and all of their designs into these amazing tables. Kudos to our "Purple Leader" -- she did a FANTASTIC job!

I wish I could have had time to post these great photos before New Years, but I think they will provide inspiration for all kinds of parties, from kids' parties to adult parties.... just take a look.

Our theme was Black & White with Comics and Bling all over

It all starts with a great invitation.... it's so important to every party to give

your guests a little glimpse of the fun in store.

And we used these fabulous little glitter chandeliers -- did you see them for only $2.50 at Target last Halloween? They were selling out as soon as they got them out of the box and on the shelves. Kristy from The Purple Pug added a little of her glittery magic to the "drops".

And now for the food......

Let's start with the feature of any party table -- the cake. I'm loving this simple but chic cake bunting. This is such a great idea.... have your local bakery make a plain white cake and embellish it with all sorts of fun items to coordinate with you party. Bunting is so simple to make.... a couple of skewers or lollipop sticks, small ribbon, some cut triangular pieces of scrapbook paper or cardstock and wah-lahhh.

And how about this adorable marshmallow treat sticks from Stix-n-Pops - so cute!

And blinged cotton candy cones, too.

Just look at these adorable pop-tart cozies. I love all this creativity..... how you can turn the everyday into something really special with just a few simple touches.

Black and white snack boxes, yummy sprinkled doughnuts, and my favorite.....

shot glasses of milk rimmed with chocolate and nonpareils.

Adorable personalized place settings

Sparkling grape juice rimmed with Pop-rocks, paper comic rosettes

and sweet blinged comic tags on jars of jelly beans welcoming in the new year.

One of my contributions was the cute and blingy clock -- you can't have a New Year's party without a clock. I took an unfinished round wood piece from Hobby Lobby, covered it with glittery silver scrapbook paper and white cardstock, then added circles of the glittery silver paper for the 12, 3, 6, and 9 spaces on the clock. I used purchased clear gems (also from Hobby Lobby) and glued them on for the other number spaces, and I purchased the clock hands and inserted them in the center. Then I used some ornament picks (Hobby Lobby) and made the clock pendulum. It was easy and quick, too.

How fabulous is this menu card?

I love the twist on an elegant dinner party, yet it's for kids.

My 11 year old and her friends would just die to have a party like this.

Fun party hats with frilly comic paper toppers

And a table full of fun for the kids

And another my contributions, a lighted fabric garland. It was pretty simple, although a little time-consuming, to make. I used two strands of Christmas lights together and cut strips (approximately 3" x 19") of fabric in many patterns and tied them onto the lights.

Embellished noise-makers - as if the kids don't make enough noise on their own!

But aren't they perfect for a kids' New Year's party?

I thought Kristy's addition of the Light Bright was ingenious!

And you certainly need some activities to keep those little ones busy....

these coloring sheets and markers are great for all ages.

I was honored to be a small part of this AMAZING team -- it was great fun and money was raised for a good cause, too. If you'd like to see more photos, check out Courtney from Pizzazzerie's post here.

Designers:
Kristy, The Purple Pug {stylist, various projects, lucky leader of the East}

Stacy, Scrumptious Swirls {cookies}

Cari, Socially Circled {beaded napkins, pop tart cozies}

Lindi, Love the Day {Happy New Year sign, black blowouts}

Amanda, Shindig Parties TO GO {Fabric Lighted Garland, Bling Rosettes, Bling Clock}

Staci, Lizard & Ladybug {Glass etched favor jars, embellished favor tags}

Kim, Party Frosting {Silk Screened, Embellished Favor Bags & markers}

Melissa, Truly Chic Inspirations {Custom blinged and embellished party hats and DIY hat activity}

Danielle, A Few of My Favorite Things {tulle pom poms, comics rosettes}

Latoya, Eventruly Yours {star confetti favor bags}

Laura, Brilliant Bash {handmade, glittered ribbon flags}

Kristin, Hatter & Hare {Custom Invitations/ comics lined envelopes}

Elizabeth, StixnPops {Custom Marshmallow Stix}

Nicole, The Party Animal {Black and White Build a Dalmatian Kits}

Kori, Paper & Pigtails {Popcorn Snack Cups}

Jen, Blush Printables {designed printable kid’s dining menu, placecards}

Courtney, Pizzazzerie {embellished blinged out kid’s dining menu and placecards}

Khaliah, The Party Muse {Comics sewn on, blinged snack cones}

Melissa, Adventures in Heels {Sunday comics and glittered banner}

Heather, Chickabug {Custom designed comic strip coloring pages}

Leslie, Mom Planning Parties {comics and bling embellished noisemakers, handmade ribbon blowouts}

Claudia, Tini Posh {tutu}

Joie, Artistic Soul {photographs}

Linked to: Craftomanic, Skip to My Lou, Making the World Cuter, Blue Cricket Design, Tip Junkie, Life as Lori, My Delicious Ambiguity, House of Hepworths, Craft Edition, Today's Creative Blog,Crafts Keep Me Sane, Under the Table and Dreaming, Funky Junk Interiors, Tater Tots and Jello

EASY Homemade Hot Chocolate Gifts

Homemade Peppermint Hot Chocolate

I've got a quick and easy gift idea for classrooms, teachers, friends and more today. Homemade hot chocolate with some mini marshmallows and peppermint -- yum!

A quick list of ingredients and supplies:

25.6 oz Nonfat instant dry milk
16 can of Nesquick
16 oz Coffee creamer (Whoops! Forgot this one in the photo so make sure you add it)
1 pound of powdered sugar
1 bag of mini marshmallows
candy canes
small plastic bags
curling ribbon
christmas tag

Now for the directions:

Put the first 4 ingredients in a very large bowl and stir and then stir some more. Now take all of your candy canes (without the wrappers!) and put them in a ziploc and crush them up. Make sure to leave a few chunks so that they look pretty for presentation. Now take your small plastic bag and add about 5 tablespoons of hot chocolate mix. Next add a few marshmallows and then some crushed candy cane.

Use your curling ribbon to tie the bag off and add your gift tag... the one I've shown is from the Shindig Parties TO GO Let it Snow Collection.

That's all folks - it's super easy! (I found the original recipe here -- don't you just love the internet?)

I'm making 90 of these today for my kids' classes and it's going pretty quick -- what a fun and EASY idea.

And by the way my new friend, Kirsti, is hosting a giveaway of the Let it Snow Collection of printables on her Blog -- the giveaway will run until December 20th so hurry on over there and sign up! It's a great collection -- you can see more photos from it here.

Hope you have a wonderful day today!

Cookie Decorating Party

Today I wanted to share a sweet cookie decorating party that a customer styled using the Shindig Parties TO GO Let it Snow Collection. Laura from Live, Laugh, Celebrate, put all of her creative genius to work to create an adorable and unforgettable party for her stepdaughter, Lola, and a few of her friends. She was even featured on Celebrations at Home this week! Just look at all of these wonderful ideas Laura has for styling a party with printables.

Laura created a sweet party table using an eye-catching red and white polka dot backdrop. I love how she improvised "snow" as a frame around the 8" centerpiece snowman circle using of all things -- cotton balls!

Laura also took advantage of the extra polka dot and striped papers in the Let it Snow Collection as used them as "ribbon" around candy jars, as wraps around the drink bottles, in frames and as liners for cookies and other displays.

Isn't this the cutest? Laura, used a shelving furniture piece as a display for her party -- perfect for featuring all of her goodies in fun and creative way.

The paper chains are one of my favorites. Laura took all three of the polka dot papers in the collection and cut them in strips to make a festive paper chain. What an adorable decoration for her cabinet display!

Thanks so much, Laura for sending me the photos from your party! It makes me so happy to see customer's enjoying Shindig Parties' printables. Lola and her friends

must have LOVED their party!

Indian Corn Cupcakes

I hope that you all have LOVED your new FREE Kids Thanksgiving Table Printables! I have had an absolutely wonderful response to the collection, and I am so very happy that lots of children out there will be enjoying their little boats and coloring page this Thanksgiving. Thanks to everyone who has become a FAN on Facebook of Shindig Parties TO GO -- I truly feel blessed!

Today I wanted to introduce you to a fellow "party girl" friend of mine, Nicole from The Party Animal. Nicole has a shop full of all kinds of party supplies, and she is an amazingly creative baker and crafter as well. I love all of the holiday creations I've seen on her blog for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see what she comes up with for Christmas!!

I thought I would share her tutorial for Indian Corn Cupcakes -- this was her version of some she saw in Woman's World magazine. These are just the cutest things! What wonderful presentation! Just take a look......

This is Nicole's Step-by-Step Instructions from her blog on how to make these cuties:

"I have seen many Corn Cupcakes made, but I had never seen them with the Husks and I thought that was so cool. Being I live in the country and I am surrounded with Corn I decided I really needed to give these festive fall treats a try. So let me show you how it is done.

Here is What you will need to create your Indian Corn Cupcakes:

■Cupcakes of course – I used Vanilla
■Vanilla or White Frosting – I used Vanilla
■Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
■Phyllo Dough – Thawed if Frozen
■Jelly Beans in Fall Colors
■Tin Foil

Here are my Ingredients. For the Jelly Beans I went to my local Candy store and picked out a mix of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans in Fall Colors. Now the recipe said to pick flavors that went with Fall like Toasted Marshmallow, Cappuccino, Banana, Chocolate Pudding etc…. I may have gotten some of those flavors, but mainly I went for the colors like the Oranges, Browns, Gold, Cream, Yellows and some Red. I am not a Jelly Bean Fan myself, but I know the kids would have fun tasting them and if not they can just scrape them off. You also need Phyllo Dough which can be found in the Freezer section of your grocery store. I had never worked with this before so it was all new to me.

To make your Corn Husks this is where the Phyllo Dough comes in. Now make sure you defrost the dough ahead of time, unlike me who did not read the directions – lol. I ended up defrosting it in the microwave and although this worked I would do it the way they said next time – I get too excited and forget to read a lot!!! Now Phyllo Dough is very thin and to me it felt like Latex Gloves, but it tasted good raw cause I had to try it. I have eaten it in the Greek Restaurant cooked of course, but never raw. Anyway, open up the dough about 1/2 way and with a few sheets high and cut a leaf shape.




Then cover a cookie sheet with some foil. Then with a few more pieces of foil crumble them into like a Canoe shape so they are as long or if not longer than 3 cupcakes lined up. Lightly Spray with Cooking Oil. Then take your Phyllo Dough Leaves and lay over each one – this will help give your dough the Husk Shapes when baked. I think after they were baked I got about 12 Husks from one batch. I was only making 9 Cupcakes so if you are doing more then you will need to do it a couple times.

Now stick that in the oven at 350 for maybe 4-5 minutes – just keep checking them. When they are done they are VERY fragile due to being so thin so Be Careful. The dough tastes good cooked too, but now it tasted like thin paper. Not sure if anyone will eat the Husks, but they look good.




Once the Husks are done set them aside and get frosting. Take your Vanilla Frosting and a small amount of the Cocoa Powder and mix up well – this is just so your frosting is more of a natural color vs. white. Then go ahead and Frost your Cupcakes.




Now for the tedious part – adding all those Jelly Beans to the Cupcakes. This part probably tool the longest. Just have fun lining then up alternating colors so they resemble Indian Corn. Lucky for me I only made 9 Cupcakes, but if you are doing more – get the kids involved and turn up the music!!!



When all done with adding your Jelly Beans you can then set the scene. Make sure to have a large flat surface or plate to do so. Also remember the Phyllo Husks are thin and fragile so some make break when plating and that is ok – Corn Husks are not all perfect. Have Fun and watch as your Friends and Family are amazed by your creation. I think mine came out pretty cool for my first try at it.

You can also do this same thing making Regular Corn Cupcakes using just Yellow Jelly Beans and adding the Husks for your next Summer BBQ."


Thanks, Nicole, for that awesome tutorial! You are the best!

Be sure to go check out Nicole at The Party Animal to see other fun crafts, recipes and favors like these Turkey M&M Treat Bags..... ADORABLE!

And while you're there, make sure to take a look at Nicole's 27 Turkey Cupcake Ideas. Talk about creativity!! Wow!

I hope you all enjoyed a little of Nicole's magic today and get started real soon on creating some of your own Indian Corn Cupcakes!