Strawberry Birthday Party!

My middle child turned 6 last month! And of course she wanted a Strawberry Shortcake Party!!!

2 years ago, she was Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween, and then last year, she was Strawberries friend, Blueberry muffin... and guess who she is going to be this year?

Apparently Strawberry has a friend named Raspberry Torte?..

Anyway, I didn't want it to be too commercially themed, so I made it mostly just Strawberry, but the cake? I let her call the shots on that

She wanted this... Strawberry Shortcakes house. But, she is my one child who doesn't like fondant. She is the buttercream girl. So, I didn't do much fondant, and tried out a few other things like chocolate (that's on the top), and green apple Twizzlers, and even candy coated sunflower seeds. 

She put the little toy characters around the edge.

I'm adding a few more pictures of the cake:

While we're talking about food, I'll tell you what else was on the menu:...

Of course we had Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jelly Sandwhiches (although I had to make a few plain Nutella for my girls:))

Strawberry Jello with Whip Cream and Strawberries on top

I found these strawberry trays at Tai Pan, and planned on filling them with Brachs strawberry candy... but of course, that was the ONE bin that was empty for the 3 weeks leading up to the party! So they got pretzels and green and red jolly ranchers (which were supposed to be for my strawberry stained glass cookies that I ran out of time to make... maybe next time!)

I also ordered a strawberry sucker mold from Amazon, and made red and pink chocolate suckers (on the left) and bought strawberry marshmallows, which I dipped in red chocolate and added white sprinkles to, as well as green chocolate tops (I found it easier to make these ahead of time and stick them on before the red chocolate hardens) 

We had homemade strawberry lemonaide in these mason jars decorated with red burlap, a doily, and strawberry printable tied with twine.

These were some pretty simple decorations, but they were really cute. Just red balloons that I drew seeds on with a black sharpie, and tissue paper leaf tops.

Instead of messing with helium, I blew them up and put them on balloon sticks. I could do them the day before because of this, and put them in vases.

Food table in the background included a picnic basket filled with bags of chips.

The strawberry balloons turned out really cute. I also decided to cover my big mirror for this party. I get tired of trying to take pictures and not get myself in the reflection. I also cut out a big number 6 from wrapping paper to hang on there as well.

The only pink shirts I could find at the last minute (Confession: I'm not much of a shopper) were school uniforms! So, I added these crocheted strawberries to them, and they turned out cute. Not only did the birthday girl get one, but her 2 year old sister did too. (I didn't do them for the party guests)

Here's the birthday girl!

I also made a bunting out of strawberry fabrics. That was fun because there are so many cute strawberry fabrics out there. It was an easy way to use a lot of them! Confession: I'm priming my next girl to want a strawberry birthday party just so I can use it again!

Our party favors included a strawberry hair bow for each girl 

Little sister got 2 since her hair is only long enough for 2 piggy tails!

For only $25 for 12 of them, a lady I know crocheted each girl a strawberry purse. They could put their party favors in them!

I also made cotton candy to look like strawberries. I used disposable frosting bags because they are kind of pointy, but taped back the tips so they wouldn't be too pointy. I also drew seeds on the bags, and tied them with green ribbon

We also had a strawberry flavored lip balm (from Avon) for each girl which was their prize from the bean bag game

Purple Owl themed baby girl Shower

I threw a double baby shower for two friends having babies at right about the same time! Although one of them decided to wait until the birth to find out what she was having, they both ended up having girls.

So, I think the shower theme was totally appropriate!

I cheated by buying the printable stuff on Etsy, and it was worth it! So cute, and so easily pulls everything together!

With the purple theme, I did grape kool Aid mixed with Sprite, but it was the water bottles that were the most popular. The labels for those were so cute!

We had a luncheon, so there were a lot of lunch foods. One of the mothers-to-be can't eat gluten, so most of the crackers, cupcakes, cookies, etc. were gluten free.

But not these cute owl cake pops!... A friend made these and they turned out absolutely beautiful!!

I also had jars of purple candy, kind of like a candy bar, but it was on the same table as all the rest of the food.

I made purple cotton candy and put them in snow cone holders. I had found these cool egg holders in the Easter clearance and since they were purple, they worked perfectly for the party!

"Ready To Pop" pink baby shower

A good friend of mine had a surprise pregnancy... at 41!

She had not saved any babies items from her other 2 kids, so of course, she needed a baby shower!

I was happy to throw it for her, and even happier to have a lot of help!

 A friend from her work had given her a "baby shower in a basket" kit as a gift. She handed it over to me, and I used it! It gave me a perfect theme to do- pink, and "ready to pop!" (that's what the pendant banner says, but it's a little hard to read...)
The kit included crepe paper, so I was trying to think of a creative way to use it.
I had taken my kids to a birthday party earlier in the week, and the mom had used multiple colors of crepe paper in a rainbow pattern like this, so I decided to alternate the light pink and dark pink.

 I loved how it turned out and will definitely do it again. It helps to cover the mirror, which I like. If it was February instead of October, I would have left it up. I did the balloons to go with the "pop" theme.

 Also carrying over the "pop" theme, we did a popcorn bar. I know two of those are empty- I took the pictures before the person bringing them arrived. They were really pretty pink colored pop corn.

(please ignore the staples, I was finishing it the night before... and I was tired!)

Since we did pink lemonaide in the drink dispenser, these were used as prizes for the games.

 Someone also brought a cake that went in the center... I hope someone remembered to take a picture of it!

 I somehow didn't get any pictures of the other room where we ate dinner. We had a few crockpots of soup, rolls, and salad, and all ate around my newly refinished kitchen table (post coming soon) and outside since it was so nice.
I made a cute diaper cake for the center piece... too bad y'all don't get to see it!

 

I was so glad when someone suggested taking a big group picture! What a fun memory!

Best White Elephant/Gag Gift Ever!

I gave this at a White Elephant Christmas party (life was too crazy that time of year to blog about it), but this would make a great April Fools day gift, or anytime you need a gag gift.
I actually got the idea from my friend, Paula. She had posted it on her blog about 2 years before, and I had been waiting to go to another white Elephant gift exchange party all that time so I could give this!
Finally got my chance last Christmas!

 So, here's all you do: you buy a Barbie doll. Preferable one wearing a swimsuit, and with brown hair. A blond would not show up the hair as well. Then trim off the ends of her hair, so you have a little pile of hair to work with! (These hairs do NOT need to be very long, I could have made mine a little bit shorter)

 Then you just glue it all over her legs and feet. I just used clear gel Tacky Glue. It did get a little messy on my fingers, but it just washes right off.

 You also need to glue some clumps of it under her armpits, and a little bit around her belly button.

 Yep, gross it what you're going for! I bought some disposable razors, and used some small hair elastics to attach it to her hand/arm. She's not a Barbie, without an accessory!

 I even carefully cut out the picture of the Razor from the package of razors, and attached it the Barbie package.

 Oh ya, don't forget to print off "Shave With Me" in a matching font and color on your computer, and glue it onto the package.

 When my friend made hers, she had a plastic package, which showed more of the Barbie. Since mine was a cardboard box, more of her legs were covered, so I carefully cut it away to show the feet and legs.

 I even cut the side of the box so you could get a good view (and also made it easier to attach the hair to her legs, without removing the doll from the box) I covered the "Choking Hazard" warning so it said, "Cutting Hazard"... can't remember the other thing I changed... it's hard to read, but I'm sure it's funny...
I also embellished the picture on the package by drawing hair on her legs, and armpits....

 Although I don't have any pictures from the party of the girl who opened it (and everyone else watching) the reaction was great. You want a total groan...

So, if you end up making one, email me or leave a picture in the comments.

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