{Parties} Spring Babyshower

Last year I had the pleasure of working on a dessert table for a girlfriend's girlfriend's babyshower.  No that wasn't a typo it was for my friend who was helping host another friends babyshower :-)

The colors were mint green and light blue.

The goodies included mini-chocolate mints, decorated sugar cookies....

..my signature brownie pops.

Can't have a dessert table without the cupcakes!  These were chocolate, vanilla and red velvet.

Most of all the decorations can be found at Joann's and the display dishes were found at HomeGoods.  The tags were from a babyshower scrapbooking kit.  I could have purchased them online or made them myself but because of the lack of time, this option was much easier and faster and it still turned out super cute.

{Parties} Fun Ideas for a Girls Night In

These past two weeks have been very difficult and they've reminded me not to take life or loved ones for granted.  While at times it feels like we'd like the world to just stop for a minute so we can take a breather, life reminds us that it'll keep on going whether we're ready for it or not.  So, in order to take the days one day at a time and help myself focus on happier things, I've decided on a girls night in for closest and dearest girlfriends.  It had actually been scheduled for the month of February when the day of love and friendship is celebrated but because of events that have transpired, I've rescheduled it for March.  It is nice though, to have moved the date, because I have a lot more time to brainstorm and come up with cute ideas on decorating, baking, and cooking and I wanted to share these ideas because they are too cute not too.  They have been taken from other websites whose authors are brilliant and creative women and credit will be given appropriately so put the phone down...no need to call in big shots ;-)

Baked goods are my niche but I sometimes like to look around and see how to make them cute and presentable.  My first source of inspiration is this beautiful dessert table presented by Glorious Treats.

It's such a cute table without being too "baby girl".  The tulip flowers give the table an air of sophistication and there aren't too many treats provided making the choices of what to eat a little easier.
And get this, Glorious Treats set up an almost identical table but with much healthier choices....

Love it, love it!  Notice the fruit kabobs on the lower left.  Yup, those are definitely going to be part of the menu at my little get together. 
Another item that will be placed on the table is this yummy appetizer I found on Gina's Skinny Recipes.
They are Skinny Baked Jalapeno Poppers.  My stomach is seriously rumbling right now just by looking at this picture.

Jump on over to her site for the recipe and how-to pictures here...Gina's Skinny Recipes.

A little hartiness is always recommended to help filler-up the tummies and I found the perfect appetizer also on Gina's Skinny Recipes.  I promise I'm not trying to keep my friends from the chubby side but Gina has so many delicious recipes on her site with the most appealing pictures that I just didn't bother searching other sites.  I mean if I can eat more for less of the calories then I'll take it!!!  Who wouldn't.  So anywhoo, her other recipe I was eyeing was this one for Southwest Turkey Balls with Creamy Cilantro Dipping Sauce.

Do these foods not make you want to come over and crash my party?

For dessert, I found these adorable Pie's on a Stick on Our Best Bites.

How cute are they?  Even dessert is served as an appetizer and in a very convenient way.  Who needs a plate for their pie?  No one because it's on a stick and it looks so cute.

Since my little shin dig will be a group of fun, grown up ladies like myself, I plan to serve drinks.  And even the drinks have to served stylishly.  So to my rescue comes this nifty DIY Ice Bottle Cooler idea from Celebrations At Home.

I tell ya, if I don't get the ooh's and aah's I like to hear I will have to plan another get together....hmmm I think that's a great motivator.

Parties - Disney Cars and Racing theme

Here is a Disney Cars themed dessert table created by yours truly :-D

The table included popcorn, candy coated pretzel rods, sugar and chocolate chip cookies, and of course cake, made of course, by yours truly :-D

Here's a close up of the cake and cookies.  The cookies had edible images on them of Lightning McQueen.

The pretzel rods were covered in candy shaped like racing cars and they were delicious!  Party hats were used as popcorn cones.

A seperate table was used for gifts and was decorated with a Cars pinata and the birthday boys picture. 

Baby snack trays were also placed on this table to seperate them from the adult food.  Each tray contained a snack bag of Gerber Crunchies, a peach fruit cup, a baby banana, and a sandwich with Apple Butter spread to avoid an allergic reactions from using peanut butter.

These cute little coolers were handmade and provided by the birthday boys grandmother.  Aren't they the cutest thing?  The were filled with Capri Suns and Sunny Delight juice bottles.  Two of them were made and one was placed on both the dessert table and baby snack tray table.  Darling!

Each table contained a chips and salsa tray and decorated with a few plastic cars on the tables for the kids to play with.

Of course a Cars themed party wouldn't be complete without the Cars Pinata!  The little guy looks a litte sad to be hitting his Car friend. Awwww, but there are so many yummy things inside.

Cake - Maroon & Eggplant Colored Bridal Shower

The cake was iced in buttercream and beautiful, fresh maroon colored blooms were used.

Each of the boxes you see on the tables had a cupcake in them.  You can make these yourself, I've posted a tutorial on this blog, click on this link to view DIY-Cupcake Favor Boxes.  What you can't see is that each of the cupcakes had the bride-to-be's monogram on them in the coordinating color.  Pretty cute idea right?

Parties - Toy Story

This is a cool pinata, yah?  It's unordinary because it's a box filled with ballons, books, and other toys.    This is such an innovative way to keep tradition without decaying our childrens's teeth!

Anyone thirsty for some green radio active liquid, aka punch.

How cool is this!  A bubble machine.  Give your party a kid fun atmosphere by turning one of these on at your outside party.  You could use it if your party is indoors if you don't mind the blotches it will leave on your couch, curtains, dog....etc.   

Another awesome idea...an outdoor movie viewing corner.  A TV was set up outside with chairs for the little viewers.  A popcorn machine right next to the space added a little more fun to the space.  What movie was being shown, you ask?  Toy Story, the movie, of course!

Can't have a party without cake.  The cake had little Toy Story figurines on it.

And to compliment the cake...a side of Jello a la Toy Story.

And the coordinating plates of course my horse ;-)

All in all, it was a super fun party.  It was awesome for the kiddies and adults alike.  The day ended in Toy Story bliss.  Great job Robin!  It all looked so awesome :-D

Parties - Bringing my inspiration to your home!

I, myself, love looking at pictures of other parties so that I can get ideas, or in other words "copycat" ideas for other parties or parties I may host myself.  Is it wrong to copycat?  I don't think so, especially when things don't ever turn out exactly the same as what you had seen.  In any case, the times I have taken ideas from others is merely for the purpose of using their great ideas to my party, and isn't that a compliment rather than a "stab in the back".  Or if that was the case, we'd have to pay Martha Stewart "royalty fees" or some other fees to use her ideas and what fun would that be?  It's all about saving money and doing this yourself these days, is why I myself love to share things I've done and hopefully inspire your inner "Martha" :-D  So on that note, the sections titled Parties will be pictures of real parties from others and myself.  Enjoy!  You copycat....just kidding ;-D

Fine print:  No, Martha doesn't endorse this blog.  In fact, she has absolutely no idea who I am.  I am only a small person in this big world with Big dreams.