reader question of the week #2

reader question of the week #2:

"My husband and I are having a Vintage Vegas/ Martini Lounge birthday party.  I am struggling with the centerpieces for the dinner/poker tables.  I don't want to spend a ton of money on them because they will not be visable once the poker starts, but want them to make a statement upon entrace to the house.  Also, any other ideas for decor for my house?  I am thinking silver, blue-turquoise and white for the martini lounge feel.  Thoughts?  Thanks! -Jennifer"

reader question of the week #1

My inbox is again full with party questions for you super creative readers! So I'll post two questions again this week. Thank you in advance for all of your responses, you are an amazing bunch...

reader question of the week #1:

"My daughter Ellie is turning ll.  I want to use the double ll in her name and number 11 in a cute way for her party theme, but I can't think of anything.  Have any ideas? Thanks, Marcy"

weekend project (baby photo albums)

This was actually a project that lasted several weekends, but I officially got it off my to-do list this weekend, and I couldn't be happier! I've been meaning to do albums periodically, as my son grew up. However, time slipped away (as it always does!) and it never happened. I told myself if I didn't get the albums done before baby #2 arrives, then it would never happen. So with the help of iphoto (a Mac application) and some time, I managed to edit the thousands of photos down to several hundred. It's been bittersweet to look back and see how much my baby has grown in the past 19 months. Such a whirlwind. Anyway, I am feeling so accomplished and ready to tackle the rest of my long list of projects! For those of you that don't have Macs, it looks like blurb.com (thanks, Whitney!) is a good alternative. 

clever keyboard cake

Lucky for us, Candice Drew shared this great idea for a keyboard cake she made for her daughter's 5th birthday party. Don't you love it? I think it could be adapted for any music lover, regardless of age. (Candice's daughter has recently been loving her piano lessons, which served as inspiration).I even love the mod graphic platform she used to display it.

Easy directions from Candice... "I baked two cakes in 9x13 pans, then trimmed the edges to get the shape that I wanted. Placed them together end to end on the cake board, frosted the whole thing, scored the frosting with dental floss, then used kit kat candy bars for the black keys. VERY easy!"

painting party

I was cleaning up my inbox today and was surprised to find this colorful party that I never shared! 

Hugo chose to have a painting party for his 10th birthday. Mom Cassie wasn't sure how that would go over with a gaggle of boys, but they loved it! Even better- activities were centered around the pool so the mess wasn't a problem. 

invitations and favors...from imprintables (Australia)

monkey cupcakes

Clever monkey cupcakes from 1-year-old Phillip's birthday party. Looks like trimmed Nilla wafers were used for the mouth and waffle chips for the ears. Fun!

(correction: nutter butters for ears- see comments section!)

super cool baby shower

Remember that awesome Star Wars party? The same mom is preggo again, and it looks like she has cool friends, too- who threw her a rockin' baby shower. Check out all the details right here. I'm especially fond of the quiz (top photo).