DIY: A Roaring Center Piece

One my friend's son is turning 4! She has been busy organizing her son's Dinosaur themed party for a couple of weeks now. Check out the adorable center pieces for her tables!  The best part, it's simple to do.  The printables are available from the Etsy shop, Wants and Wishes.  All you need are glass jars, chopsticks, paper ribbon, and some herbs.  My friend used Rosemary from her own garden, but you can use any herbs.  To my friend's own prince, Happy Birthday!

DIY: Party Centerpiece

I got these adorable centerpiece sticks from WH HOSTESS.  Yes, it comes with the ribbon too! If you saw the e-design board Kelly Lyden sent to me from this post here, you will notice what picture inspired me to make these centerpieces.  I want to show you how I made them.

The materials you need are: 

• Kerr packing jars (you can use any jar you have at home doesn't have to be these.)
• Flowers. I got mine for $1.00.
• Moss sheets (I got mine at Michaels)
• Foam to hold the centerpiece stick while in the jar.

Clockwise: glass jar, moss sheets, flowers, foam.

Here's a close up of the moss sheet I used.

My Kerr packing jar.  Aren't  my nails pretty? 

  I used wet foam.  You can find this at the floral section of your craft store.

Fake flowers. I chose this to match the theme of my daughter's
birthday party.

I inserted the wet foam into the glass jar.  I had to trim it for it to fit.

I lined the inside with the sheet of moss.  You can line first and insert the foam later.  Whatever is easier for you.

I inserted the stick into the wet foam.

I added moss on top.

I applied glue around the jar  and attached the ribbon.

I then topped it off with flowers!  You're done!

Flower Power Party

1st Birthdays are always the most memorable ones for the parents. It's a huge milestone.  I started planning Cupcake's Birthday party back in May. The last time I planned something this big was my own wedding! I wanted something special for my daughter, so I enlisted Kelly Lyden from WH Hostess help. I told her I wanted flowers and the colors to be bright and cheerful. In a week, Kelly sent out an e-design board to get me inspired. Check it out!

Kelly chose her bold flower vine design for what she called my daughter's "flower power" party.

These are more items from Kelly's bold flower vine collection.  For all items such as cloth, plates, water bottle labels, you name it...check out her site.

This was put together by Kelly to help me get ideas for my daughter's dessert table!    The pics have links too, so it was so easy for me to find items I wanted to use!

More great inspiring ideas for my daughter's birthday!  Thank you Kelly for putting this e-board together!

I took Kelly's e-board suggestions and tried my best to implement them.  

I had Kelly create a "Welcome" sign.  I topped it off with pom poms I created from tissue paper.

Aren't these 8 oz water bottles just darling especially with Kelly's water bottle labels?!

These bottles of bubbles were a hit at the party.  I made the "Thank You" sign using a chopstick, ribbon, and 2 of Kelly's "Thank You" gift tags. 

These sidewalk chalks were also great!  It helped keep kids occupied for some time.  I ordered the cello and matching toppers from WH HOSTESS.  I just got a basket and decorated it with ribbon and a "Thank You" gift tag.

This was the dessert table.  I had to keep it on a smaller scale, since I knew parents wouldn't be too happy about this.  The Birthday cake is MIA in this pic because I didn't want the whip cream to melt away.

Tried to get candy to match the color of the party theme: green, orange, hot pink, and yellow.  I got all the candy from the Candy Warehouse per Kelly's suggestion!  Got Gummy Bears, M&Ms,  Orange Slices,  Whirly Pops, & Sour Balls.  The scoopers were from the Container Store.

Here, got stickers provided by Kelly to put on the cups which houses the Kettlecorn.

From right to left: The cupcake stand was from Martha Stewart and cupcakes were from a local bakery.  The cupcake toppers were Kelly's! The cupcake fondant toppers were from Two Sugar Babies, Kelly's recommendation.  Charynn (owner of Two Sugar Babies) was great!   I bought the treat bags and placed the "Thank You" gift tags on each one.   

Here's the chocolate cake with whip cream and strawberries.  This cost me $15!  My sister decorated it using Kelly's cupcake toppers and Charynn's fondant toppers.  She did a pretty good job!

Here's a close up of the cupcakes!  Charynn and Kelly collaborated so well!  Everything matched!

Here's Leia's Birthday banner also from Kelly!  

I made these from tissue paper.  

I rented the tables, chairs, and umbrellas.  I decided to go brown on the table cloths since there was already a lot of color from the centerpieces and the colorful balloons.

Here is picture of one of the centerpieces I created using Kelly's centerpiece stick.

Kelly also has a blog, called The Party Dress.  She shares party ideas and recipes to inspire any hostess out there!

Garlands Galore!

Garlands galore!  I was browsing through Etsy looking for garlands and found various types being offered.  Check out these garlands from Short Cake Party Picks.  They are so colorful and happy...you can not only use them for parties but also in bedrooms too!  I just love the pom pom garlands made of yarn.  It looks so soft and plush adding a nice touch to any child's room.  Short Cake Party Picks allows you to pick the colors for the garlands too!  So you can customize it to a party or room color scheme!

Color Yarn Pom Garland

Tulle Pom Garland

Felt Fringe Garland in Blue and Green

Felt Fringe Garland in soft pink and hot pink

Crochet Flower Garland

Another Etsy shop I found is  Sugar Owl Design. They sell these beautiful butterfly garlands available in various motifs.  They have butterflies in Tropical Island colors and prints as shown below.  They have these garlands in Picnic Jubilee, Ocean Meets Sky, Strawberry Cream, and Fashionista. These gorgeous garlands are made of high quality cotton fabric sewn together with heavy duty upholstery thread. The smaller inside layer of wings have also been individually pressed to achieve a 3D effect. These garlands can be used for parties as well as decor to add color to a room!

Butterfly Garland in Tropical Paradise

If you are looking for  good classic pom pom garlands, Pom Love has them!  Again, these garlands can be custom made so colors can be designed by you!  Won't these look pretty in a nursery?

Pink, Peach, Purple Pom Pom Garland

Want to go neutral?  You can get a beige and white one!

It's Party Time!!

Planning a party any time soon? Check this site out from Party Dress!  It's the First Issue of their Magazine.  You can see lots of cool party ideas from food to decorations. Second Issue comes out in June.  Can't wait to get my copy!