reader question of the week #2

"I was wondering if you or your readers have any ideas for a cow-themed rather than farm-themed birthday party for girls and boys? My daughter will be turning 2 and is obsessed with cows, so I wanted to incorporate them as much as possible into the the theme. Thanks! -Susanne"

reader question of the week #1

"My son, Oliver, is turning 2 on July 2nd. My little man LOVES sushi so we are throwing him a sushi themed second birthday party at a local Sushi restaurant. My question is what ideas do others have to make this party complete? What would you do for favors? Decor? Treat bags or favors? Invitations? Thank you! -Christine"

reader question of the week #2

"Our best friends are moving to Dubai for a new job opportunity with his company. We are hosting an outdoor going away party for them in July. Any inspiration for us?! Thank you! -Brooke"

reader question of the week #1

"My sweet 16 is going to be in december and I have to celebrate it with my twin brother (I am a girl) I was thinking maybe a candy theme? I need some color ideas (maybe blue,yellow and orange/lime?) and something that can be used for both a boy and girl! Help! -Paige"

reader question of the week #2

"I was wondering if anyone has altered a pinata to follow their birthday theme? I am having a party for my daughter which will be where the wild things are. My question is what is the easiest way to alter a pinata? My color scheme for the party is white, purple, and green. If anyone can give some helpful advice I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you! -Naomi"

reader question of the week

"My son is turning three this summer. He is very into planning a party (I dont know where he gets it) and has finally decided on a theme. "GIANT". I asked him what that meant. Giant cake. Giant balloons. Giant plata (translation- pinata). There will be more adults than kids and it will be at our home.Any ideas? Thanks! -LB"

reader question of the week #2

"I was wondering if you have any ideas for a dog-themed birthday party for girls? My daughter will be turning 2 and is obsessed with dogs, so I wanted to incorporate them into the theme. I could go in any direction on colors, but am still leaning towards pink/purple. Thanks!! -Carrie"

reader question of the week #1

"We are throwing a party for my son's first birthday (this coming Saturday), and we will have family members from both my husband's and my side of the family. The majority of family members do not live near us or each other and so do not know one another that well. I am trying to come up with things to do at the party that won't feel too orchestrated but will prevent everyone from sitting in silence (during those moments the one-year-old is not providing the entertainment). There really won't be any other children at the party to liven it up, either. I am trying to balance playing hostess with just enjoying all the family and our little birthday boy. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you! -Amber"

reader question of the week

I'm baaaack....missed you all greatly. We survived the Great Flood of 2010 with no flood damage. Thank you for your sweet comments and emails. So many in our area were not nearly as fortunate, so we are feeling very blessed and thankful. My son's school, unfortunately, was very damaged, which means no more school for the rest of the school year, and no more summer school! Yikes. We are scrambling to get some extra help, but I'm not complaining. (If you are truly interested in seeing some more firsthand photos of the flood, check out my friend, Miller's, blog)

On to this week's reader question of the week:

"Hi! I have a graduation party that I am planning for brothers who are graduating from high school and college and we are celebrating both together. I would love some fresh ideas for how to combine them and make both feel special. Plus we will be feeding about 30 people but many are teenage boys who eat alot. Food ideas are a must! Thank you! -Kelly"

reader question of the week #2

hmmm...this question veers into territory that I have not yet touched on this blog. I long ago asked a friend (ahem, Whitney) to be my etiquette lady on PP but she's one busy lady and thus, hasn't gotten around to it yet. But we'll try out this question to see how it goes and I'll decide from there if we want to go down this road in the future. Which brings me to reader question of the week #2:

"My husband and I want to throw a mother's day brunch at our apartment this year. We would like to keep it to just us and parents but here's the problem... my husband's 21-year-old sister lives at home and tags along to all family gatherings because her parents don't want to her to feel left out. I'd really like our parents to get to know each other without the sister there because her parents sometimes talk down to/treat her like a baby around others. Our parents have never had time together with just us and now that we're considering starting our own family I think time alone would be helpful. Am I crazy? I don't want to cause crazy family drama but have a nice, warm brunch for our parents. I guess my main questions is am I obligated to invite siblings if they live at home? Is there etiquette on this somewhere? -Emily"

reader question of the week #1

"My girls are turning 10 in June and I'm at a loss as to what to do for them. For some reason when it comes to my boy I have plenty of ideas but ... at the moment all I have is a painting party, with a brush as the one for the cake and the finger palette as the 0 and the rest is a blur. I see mini painting easles with mini water color palettes for favors but that's it. And I don't even know if you can get mini painting palettes!!! aaaarrgghh! Could you please give me some inspiration!!? -Catherine (frazzled mother of four)"

reader question of the week #2

"My son is turning three soon and he's asking for a "big, red party." We're not doing Clifford the Big Red Dog because, well, I don't want to do a character party and--though we live in Cincinnati--we're not doing a Reds baseball party. I've got a few ideas--red, black and white decor, giant red balloons, etc.--but I'm having trouble tying everything together. To make things more difficult, we're combining his party with a backyard party we're throwing as a last hurrah for all our friends before we move to another state. So whatever decor/theme we do for the kids party has to be tasteful enough to do double duty for the adults. I'm starting to think this is too much to ask from one party! I'd appreciate any help! Thanks, Katie"

reader question of the week #1

"My daughter is turning 4 in June and she isnt 'into' anything much. She has started learning to ride her bike at our local bike park which has roads, roundabouts, traffic signs etc, and lots of play equipment. She would probably love having a bike party there, plus as the guests would range in age a lot, it would amuse all the kids and keep them out of my in-renovation-full-of-mud garden. It would be winter here in inland Australia so cold, but as long as the sun shines and its not too windy a morning there would be lovely. I like the colour scheme of yellow, pink, white and a dash of orange, but am struggling to find ideas for a bicycle theme - especially a cake that is still girly.Any ideas please - anything at all would be a huge help! -Shani"

reader question of the week #2

"I have twin boys that will soon be 1 year old. I want to throw a party for family members to come and celebrate. I am wondering if you have any good ideas for themes or decorations that I can do. So far since the boys have been born I have kept Jensen with the colors green and brown and Brad with blue and brown. Those are the colors I have in their room. I am not sure if I should just decorate the party with those colors, or if there is something else out there that I can do. Thank you! -Kelli"

reader question of the week #1

"I'm co-hosting a poolside bridal shower for my best friend at the Hotel Valley Ho in Scottsdale, and the space is fabulously retro. To keep with that theme, I'd like to do something that has sort of a late 1950s/early 1960s California cool vibe. Like that episode of "Mad Men" where Don Draper disappears to California. I've been desperately scouring stores and sites with no luck for party favors and decorations. Any suggestions or ideas -- either something I could put together myself or something I could buy pre-made -- would be SO appreciated. Thanks! -Lauren"

doll party

Laura writes, "My soon to be eight year old would love to have an American Girl Birthday Party. Do you have any ideas or supplies or anything that would help me plan and carry this through? I need help, as I'm not creatively inclined! Thanks!"

Laura- check out Princess and the Frog's recent doll birthday party (pictured above). Any other ideas, readers?

bake sale

Dawn writes, "my 10-year-old daughter and her best friend are having a bake sale to raise money for our local library. The library has agreed to let the girls have a sale on their front lawn. We have many families contributing baked goods, and it's up to me to make sure everything looks great the day of the sale. Any ideas?"

I've always loved this story from MS Kids. (I wish there were more pictures from the story on their site, I'll have to track down my back issue).

reader question of the week #2

reader question of the week #2:

"My daughter is turning 5 and she has selected High-Five as her theme. We sent out invites that had pictures of her holding up her hand showing that she was "a whole hand old". Now I am working to come up with some clever decor and goodies and maybe a game or two. Our ideas so far include ordering some foam hands for kids to wear and pose for photos in. Taking impressions of her friends hands to send home as a goodie bag item. We are having a Sunday afternoon party with finger sandwiches of course! I would love to hear some more ideas for decorating, cake, and games. Thanks so much!! -Dayna"

reader question of the week #1

reader question of the week #1:

"I'm throwing a baby shower for my best friend. She's having her third boy. They're very country, so we're doing a cowboy theme. Lemonade from mason jars, BBQ, the whole sha-bang. I just wanted to see if any of your readers had any good ideas for decor, among other things. Thanks in advance! -Lindsay"

reader question of the week #2

reader question of the week #2:

"I've offered to host a baby shower for a good friend. She and her husband refer to their unborn baby girl as Little Cutie Pie. I thought it would be fun to build the shower theme around this. I love the idea of pie lollipops and plan to try and tackle that project, but I was hoping your readers might help me with some other fun ideas that would fit with this theme. Thanks so much! -Maggie"