{sweet shoppe party} behind the scenes

For my kids parties, I love to use as much stuff around the house that I already have and do a few DIY projects.  Let me first start by saying, any DIY project I show you is so not going to be perfect. I am definitely not the "go to" queen for DIY's.  But, it works for me and it looks great at the party in the end.  So I am totally fine that.  So here are a few "Behind the Scenes" photos of the few DIY's that I did create for the party.

I knew I wanted to have the party in the dining room, so I tried to think of easy ways to really make it as colorful and Sweet Shoppe like as I could.  The first thing I did was buy polka dot wrapping paper at Hobby Lobby and wrapped our dining room pictures.  I have to say, I LOVED this look!  I didn't even want to take them down.  How tacky is that!  This is such an easy decorating idea that I love.

Next up is the banners you can see hanging in our "Sweet Shoppe'.  For those, Madelyn and I went to Joann's and purchased fabric that matched the invitation and overall color scheme.



We then traced triangles and cut them out. A lot out!  This was a great project for her to help me with.


After cutting out all the triangles, we used spray adhesive to glue the triangles on the back of a wide ribbon.  There you have it.  A cute, inexpensive little banner for your party!

I realized I had way too much fabric left over so I bought sticks at Joann's and made fabric lollipops to put into vases.  Okay so remember I said that I am not the perfect DIYer.  These pictures explain it all!  I figured the party is for 8 year olds and they won't see the back.  It doesn't need to be perfect!  So we used cardboard circles, leftover fabric, sticks and spray adhesive.  Easy peesy as Madelyn would say!  Oh and I used packing tape to tape the stick on.  Again, not perfect.

I sprayed the adhesive onto the front of the cardboard circle and made sure to smooth out the fabric.

Then I just taped the back.  Yup, totally not perfect.

 

Here is one set of them in a vase.

My cute little helper, Carson.

 "Easy Peesy"!

{sneak peek}

Sorry I have been missing but with the holidays approaching, it's been a little crazy around here. BUT, here is a sneak peek at what I'm working on for Madelyn's Sweet Shoppe Party this weekend!

{construction party} decor and food

My main goal when throwing a party is to use as many things around my home as I can to decorate.  This definitely helps cut down on the overall cost of the party, plus it lets you be creative with pieces you already own.  I do have to say that with having the party down at the pool, I find the decorating to be a bit more of a challenge.  So basically, we had two different areas to decorate.  The pool and the deck.

The deck is where is guests first enter when coming through the house.  It was also where we were going to have cake and open presents.  I made the food table the centerpiece by placing some of the boys orange cones on it, along with the some of their trucks and tools from the playroom.  Instead of using a tablecloth, I covered it with butcher paper and Tyler helped me make lines with yellow duct tape.  We also hung orange and yellow streamers around the pergola and tied yellow, orange and green cones onto chairs and the steps to guide the guests down to the pool.  I used a black shelf from inside the house to place the construction hats on for the kids to take as they left.  I bought Home Depot nail aprons for $.77 each as another favor and used them as decoration as well. 

Like I said, the pool area is always a little bit tricky to decorate.  I was so glad that we randomly had a bunch of stakes from some landscaping we did a few years ago.  We used those to place Construction Signs throughout the walkway and the pool area.  We always put up a canopy to provide a little shade, so again we pulled out the streamers and balloons to bring the orange and yellow in.  Tyler, once again, helped me place his orange cones on various tables and also, on the railing of the steps, to lead guests down to the pool.  The addition of the trucks on the tables were a great touch that everyone loved!

As you can see, we did not spend a lot of money on the decorations. For me, it was about using what we had, that coordinated with them.  The boys love construction trucks, so that is what we did.  We placed several of their trucks and tools on tables and stuck with the yellow and orange as our colors.  Plus, we mixed a little brown and green in their as well.

{Visit this post at Design Dazzle and  Bird's Party Blog}

{fab find} pinata

Recently I was on the hunt for a Superhero Pinata for a customer of mine. While searching, I found the most amazing Pinatas ever! The shop, TripleJCrafts is a small business run by owner, Joy. She specializes in custom pinatas which are truly to die for and I am not a huge pinata girl. Stop by and give Joy a visit when you are planning your next party.

If you are super crafty and feel you would love to make a pinata on your own, I found a simple, fun tutorial for you. Enjoy!

{diy party decor}

Simple, easy and inexpensive is the best way to decorate a party, especially for the kids. I love this tray idea! All that is needed is a frame, a little paint if you like and some large construction paper to place under the glass. You could easily change it to any theme party! Use a fancy scalloped frame for Baby and Wedding Showers.

{found at coffee, crafts & cupcakes}

{party decor}

So I am loving these lunchboxes as a party decoration. You could tie balloons to them and place them on a dessert table, entryway table or to call attention to the party favors. You can even get your specific party theme on the front and back, although I do really dig the acutal photo. It's a gift for the birthday child at the end of the party...bonus!