{Sneak Peek} Black & White Gingham Valentine's

Here's a preview of the other Valentine's collection I've been working on for my Etsy shop.

I looooove this gingham print inspired collection and I mean loooooove.  I started designing this over a year ago and I can't believe I am just about ready it to my shop.  I plan on using this for my daughter's annual Valentine's Day Play Date.  Can you guess what the theme is?  Here's a hint.....ooh-la-la!

Can't wait to show your the rest!!!!

{Etsy Shop} New Collection Valentine's Day XOXO & Love

On Monday's post I showed you a sneak peek of one of two NEW Valentine's Day Collections I was working on.  I am excited to share the rest of the first collection with you.

I love combining pinks, reds and blues together.  This set is a fun display of my favorite color pairings and patterns - dots & stripes.  I really wanted the collection to be modern, a bit trendy, but at the same timeless...and I think I nailed it (pats self on back).  The printables work well for both kid's parties and adult parties.

When you purchase the printable set you will receive:

5x7 Personalized Invitation

5x7 Blank Thank You Note

Two 4.5" square Valentine's

Four Heart shaped cut outs - to make a banner or for hanging decor

Two 7.5x10" signs that read 'XOXO' and 'Happy Valentine's Day'

One Sheet of Party Dots to use as cupcake toppers, tags or embellishment

Two styles of Cupcake Wrappers

Four blank 3.25 x 4 folded tent cards in four styles for food buffets or place cards

Candy Bar Wrappers to fit a 1.55oz Hershey Bar

Straw Flags in five different patterns

Decorative pennant banner

Five sheets coordinating patterned paper 

You can get your invite personalized!!!!

You can cut strips of patterned paper and wrap them around water bottles or soda bottles to create your own bottle bands!

This decorative flag banner makes a fabulous backdrop to your sweets buffet or hang along a mantle or window as a garland!

The heart shaped cut outs can be adhered to a length of ribbon or twine to create a banner, or used as cards, tags or hanging decor - sooooo many possibilities! 

There are two signs you can print!  XOXO or Happy Valentine's Day (Not Shown) - This would look great on a mantle!!!

Hope you love the set as much as I do. I'll be sharing more ideas on how to make the most of this collection in the next few weeks.  In the meantime, you can purchase your printables in my Etsy shop.

{Pin-Tastic Tuesday} Easy Valentine's Day Ideas

I 'love' these easy and simple Valentine's Day ideas I found while avoiding work - browsing Pinterest recently.

A.  I found this burlap banner with felt hearts to be a very easy DIY.  I plan on making one!
B.  A cute idea to dress up a plain glass bottle - gotta love washi tape!
C.  How adorably smart are these heart shaped pink ice cubes?
D.  Deliciously sweet pie pops would make a fun classroom treat for Valentine's Day!

E.  My very own heart-shaped breakfast!  Download & print my Lovely Valentine's Day Breakfast Printables for FREE!
F.   Loving these Valentine's Day party crackers - they are chock full of treats and surpises!
G. I could picture filling decorated mason jars with candies, cookie mix or chocolates and giving as teacher's gifts.
H.  Burlap & felt - can't go wrong with this heart shaped framed wall art.

Hope these ideas inspired you to create something lovely this Valentine's Day. Feel free to peruse my Valentine's Day Ideas 2013 board on Pinterest for more ideas & inspiration!

{Photo Credits: A. Finley and Oliver B. Pick Your Plum C. A Subtle Revelry D. Borrowed and Bleu E. Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams for The DC Ladies F. Not Martha G. The Pleated Poppy H. Embellishing Life Everyday }

{Cupcake Monday} 2013 Valentine's Day Printables....Sneak Peek

Hello!  I hope everyone is off to a fantastic new year!  I am finally back up and running with my blogging & party biz.  The tail-end of 2012 was no cupcake-walk; so many out of whack things happened over the course of the last two months.  There was a flood in our basement caused by Sandy, the flu, my husband's heart attack (super-scary, but he's doing well now, thanks), the shooting at Newtown (a town not too far from the town I grew up in), my step-daughter being mauled by a dog (fun times) and the loss of two family members.  With all that happening, I still say that God is good - always.  With him, along the support and advice of some super sweet party gal-friends and my family, I made it through!  I say all that to say that despite what you might be going through, there is always someone else going through something right along with ya!  SPECIAL SHOUT OUT to my DiD gals for all your love!!!! ;)...

Speaking of love.....I have been working on two printable collections for Valentine's Day.  One collection, I actually started last year and didn't get to finish in time, so I figured why not feature it this year.  I'll be sharing photos from that collection later in the week.  The second collection, which you can catch a sneak peek of below, is too adorable....but I'm a bit biased.  It was loosely inspired by another party I did for my daughter a few years back.....but just a bit more updated; have a look-see!

The printables will be available in my Etsy shop this week!!!  In the meantime, you can check out my Bugs & Kisses and Pink Hearts collections!!!

Friday Freebie: Love Bugs Printable Party Collection Coloring Page

Here is a coloring page that I created from the Love Bugs Printable Party Collection.  Perfect for a kid's Valentine's Day party - also makes great classroom Valentines or fun favor bag stuffers. 





Print it out and color!!!
Don't forget - you can still get the complete Love Bugs printable collection on my Etsy shop for 50% off.

Love Bugs Printable Party 50% off

The Love Bugs Printable Party Collection is now on sale for $6 - that is 50% off the regular price!

50% OFF 

 This printable party pack makes it easy and convenient to throw a fun filled Valentine's Day party.  Just print, cut and decorate and you're all set!  Go to My Etsy Shop to get yours today!

 

Upcycled Valentine's Mail Box Tutorial

When I saw this Valentine's Chairbacker at Pottery Barn Kids I was instantly inspired to create a smaller paper version of one for the Bugs & Kisses Party that I'm having for my daughter.

I created one using a red, letter size file folder.  Actually I made a mock up of one last night but it was hideous.  So, I whipped up an entirely new one during my lunch break today - so, forgive me if the backgrounds look a little whacky!

Here's a Tutorial on how you can make your own.

Supplies you will need:

Letter size file folder (I used red)
Ruler
Pencil
Scoring Tools
Bone Folder
Scissors or Cutting Blade
Double-sided tape or Glue
Ribbon
Velcro dots
Chip Board, Die Cut or Sticker Letters
(You can also print out the letters I used found at the end of this post)
Love Bugs Printable Circle Tags

Trim tabs from the folder.

You should end up with a 17" sheet of paper to work with.

 Using the measurement guide (next photo) with a ruler & pencil measure your box then, score, cut and fold where indicated.  If you have a scoring board use it - I have one and I LOVES IT - didn't have it with me at work though......

Your disassemble box should look at bit like this:

Next - assemble your box!

 

About 3/4" from the edge, cut a 31/4" x 1/4" rectangle in the top center of  the lid. Next, attach a 31/4" strip of paper or ribbon from the front inside of the lid.  Add a Velcro Dot to the bottom of the strip.This creates a tab for you to attach a closure for your box. (btw-those lil' pink hearts are covering up a multitude of non-manicured hands sins)

Next decorate your mail box as desired.  Feel free to use the print and cut letters I used for my project.  If you right click on the words you can print the image directly.

Check this out: I didn't have a glue stick with me so, I stuck the letters to a roll of double stick tape and cut them out with a sharp blade.

 Voila!  Your box is ready for Valentine's and other sweet treats!

Bugs & Kisses Sneak Peek

Man, I am tired - beat - exhausted!  I was up working on a few fancy favors and a little decor for my daughter's Bugs & Kisses Valentine's Day Party.

I found this at Dollar Tree....

They have a lot of Easter stuff out right now and it was meant to be used for Easter eggs.  I thought that it would make a cute accent piece for one of my tablescapes so, I hearted it up.  These are foam stickers, stuck back to back, hole punched, strung with ribbon and hung from the branches! 

 I also created some fancy milk carton favors that I'll give to the girls as take-aways.

I showed them to my daughter this morning and she told me they were really nice and she can't wait for her play date (which is what we're calling it right now because the word party makes her talk non-stop about it for days on end, and I just can't take it).

Even though I am going to be up all kinds of hours this week, I gotta admit - I'm with the kid - I can't wait either!!!

Sweet Treats Ideas!

I love these Valentine's Day Treats from Parents Magazine.

 

I am especially crushing on those heart shaped fruit kabobs - how cute are those?  Serve them with plain yogurt or my favorite fruit dip recipe:

Marshmallow Creme Fruit Dip

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese - softened
• 8 ounces marshmallow cream
• ½ teaspoon raspberry flavoring
• Red food coloring (optional)

To Make

1. Combine the cream cheese and marshmallow cream in a bowl until combined.
2. Fold raspberry flavoring.
3. Add food coloring until you reach the desired color. 

Tip:  For a healthier option skip the raspberry flavoring and red food color and mix in 1/2 cup of fresh pureed raspberries or strawberries. 

Bugs & Kisses V-Day Party Countdown

Last year I threw my daughter a No Boys Allowed Sweets & Treats Valentine's Day  party for her and her little gal pals. Well, this year, I wanted to do another party for her.  It seems that she goes through "par-tay" withdrawal every other month.  So, in hopes that  this party will keep her satisfied until her birthday in April (not holding my breath at all on that).

When I sat down to design a theme for the party, I was a bit stumped about what to make.  My first thought was Cupid's Arrow - but that really didn't fly with me (get it??? fly??? Cupid has wings.......anyway....), then I thought maybe to do just a bunch of hearts - but that kinda bored me.  Eventually, I decided use a  Love theme.  I got the idea from the Love Bugs printed bedding in her room and I thought it was perfectly cute for a little girls V-day poorty!  So, I created the Love Bugs Party Collection  as a printable pack for my Etsy shop too!

For the last few weeks, I've been collecting all kinds of sweets and goodies for the girls.  I'm so excited to put it all together!!!  Here's the invitation and mailer I created for my daughter to pass out to her friends at school.  I did this after the Super Bowl game last night (more on that later) - I was up until 3 AM - 3 FRIGGIN' AM - crazy....insane.....

I added a little lollipop treat and tied one of the circle tags with ribbon to it. Then I hand wrote 'You're Invited' on the front!

 The Love Bugs printable pack comes as a fill-in invitation - but for the party I created this version.

I love using coordinating foam stickers to seal my envelopes.  FYI - this idea works best if you're hand delivering invitations.  Sometimes, the foam stickers get stuck in the mail sorter or the Post Office won't mail them.  (side note: I have no idea why the envelope is this color pink - it's really a deeper more hot pink color - but whatevs!)

I wanted to add a little bit more interest to the invitations so I threw in some heart shaped confetti and stickers....it's like a little party inside the envelope.  It's also a great way to let guests know what's in store for them at the party - a fun time to be had by all!

I'm also working on some other crafts and decorations I'll be using for the party.  I'll be updating you on those throughout the week - so check back soon!

Oh, BTW, I made all this food for the game and I have no idea why, it was just me and my family (which includes my husband, the kids, three grandbabies - don't ask - and my stepdaughters and one of their husbands)......I was a little sad that more food did not get eaten, until my husband looked at me lovingly and said, "Baby, you always do much more than needed....it was just us, you didn't have to do all of that."  I looked at him and said...."I can't help it....it's just my nature....I love big, fun parties!"  He just smiled and went to lay down for the night.   Yeah, yeah...it really was nothing fancy, but the point is I made a bunch of food....wings, meatballs, sausages, a cheese and meat platter, hot dogs, chips & dips, MORE WINGS, a fruit tray.....I know it won't go to waste though.  Well, anyway, here's the food and table spread....


My daughter's after school  group had a nutritionist as a guest speaker last week - since then, she's been going on about eating healthy foods, I'm not going to complain....this is her creation.

 I love wings most of all.....they are my favorite....unfortunately, they're 3 points each!  I make mine easy, fry them naked (no flour) and melt 3 tbsp butter and a cup of hot sauce in a pan with some celery seed and pour the sauce over them wangs!!!! Mmm-mmm!

My party banner was just too cute, I think!!!

 This is my sandwich platter - it was huge!  not one person ate a sandwich - not even me.....can you believe it?

Some of the Spread