Fifty is Nifty

My amazing mom turned fifty this week. My sisters, Dad, and I decided to throw her a big surprise party! We plotted and planned for weeks, trying to gather emails, make decorations, and order food.

The cake was my first ruffle cake! I will post more details about the cake soon!

We decided that doing a black theme was just too dreary! So we thought of something more cheery and bright and landed on lemons and limes!

We had mini Vanilla Cupcakes from Sweet Tooth Fairy. YUMMO. Best Vanilla Cupcakes ever.

We also had Coconut and Pistachio Macaroons from the Sweet Tooth Fairy. If you haven't ever tried a french macaroon, you must! They are light and fluffy and melt in your mouth.

Several of my aunts made gooey rice crispy treats. I love sticky melted marshmallows!

We got Citrus flavored and colored candies, and had them all over the table. Adding jars of colored candy helps decorate your party and adds an extra treat for your guests, especially if you have little kids! Using real lemons and limes in vases is a great way to decorate, inexpensive and pretty!

With the help of my Grandpa we gathered old photos of my mom and scanned them so we could make them black and white and order prints online. We used clothes pins and twine to hang them along the back wall for everyone to see.

Lemon water and Lemonade to drink, with grey striped paper straws. (which I found on Amazon for a great deal!) My sister printed out the cute labels using this free printable.

We used my silhouette machine to make the Happy Birthday Sign that we hung on the front of the table and the round paper streamers that were hanging behind the table. We cut our 150 scalloped circles and I sewed them together on my sewing machine!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!

Tangled Birthday

A Rapunzel Birthday Party fit for a Princess

This party was so much fun to plan, and much easier than Alice. I decided to go with a lot of store bought options, being pregnant I just don't have the energy I would need for anything else!

The Cake was homemade though... and it was a beast. It was supposed to have a tower, but it fell apart, and the first time I tried to make the fondant, it was a disaster. I accidentally grabbed the wrong size marshmallows! So at midnight the night before I made a quick run to the store, and it worked the second time. I used the same recipe on this cake, as I did the Alice cake.

I found watercolors at the dollar tree, and the table decor is from a local party store.

When the girls arrived, in their best princess atire, we did a Rapunzel braid with ribbons and a flower clip.

We had lunch, and then painted pictures of Rapunzel, just like she painted the walls of her tower. I got great printable pictures of Rapunzel HERE.

The sun bunting was a printable from Super Mom Moments. You can go HERE to print your own. She has some more ideas for a Tangled party.

We played Pin the Nose on Flynn, which was a hit.

My sister used THIS as a guide, but pretty much free handed the Wanted poster. It turned out awesome.

The girls also played a version of duck duck goose that my daughter made up for the party called, Flynn, Flynn, Rapunzel. It was pretty cute.

I used several of THIS printable Pascal to do a hide and seek treasure hunt for their little gift bags... since Pascal is great at hide and seek.

There are also some more great ideas HERE if you need them!

It couldn't have turned out better, and SHE loved it!

Gumball Necklaces

I am dying over these adorable necklaces, made out of gumballs! I found these over at One Charming Party. What a cute party favor, or Valentine gift! Go HERE for a How To!

The Dress....

Making her Alice in wonderland dress was so much fun. It was the first time I had made a collar since my beginning sewing class in college, which was 4 years ago!

And No Alice in Wonderland dress would be complete without a giant bow in the back! Also I did bubble sleeves, my favorite kind of sleeve. Maybe one day I will get my act together and do a tutorial on how to make a bubble sleeve!

Try to ignore the wrinkly apron... I washed it and was too lazy to iron it! At least it doesn't have frosting down the front right?


And of course, I had to use the giant ric-rac as trim. I love the scalloped look it gives!

And last but not least the bow, It is all made of felt. The easiest and sweetest headband I have ever made. There will be more of these for sure! Perfect finishing touch.

A Very Merry Birthday...

About a month ago my daughter asked for an Alice party... and I couldn't resist. Putting together an Alice in Wonderland party is crazy and fun, mostly because the possibilities are endless. Seriously. I got a little out of control. Here are pictures from the event, and in the next few days I will share recipes, how we made the decorations, etc. So be sure to stay tuned!

Of course Alice herself showed up for the tea party. And my daughter loved having tea with Alice!

Since the day of the party wasn't her actual birthday, we could call it an Unbirthday Party!

Checking out the cake and cupcakes. For the cupcakes we used Butter cream frosting, and the cake itself used fondant. (Recipes coming soon!) And yes, I made her dress and headband.

This cake cost me some blood, sweat, and tears. Really it did. While removing the top so I could stack it I cut my thumb, and had to head to the insta-care to get six stitches. Nothing like a trip to the doctor to add to party preparation. By the way, do you know how many things you need your thumb for? Alot. I guess I shouldn't try and cut a frozen solid cake with a cutco knife. OUCHIE.

One of my new obsessions is mini cupcakes. They are so cute and bite-sized. I love them. Some of the lanterns we made, others we bought. I will teach you how to make Lanterns soon!
The fondant was easy to work with, until it got warm from kneading it so much! We had to toss it in the refrigerator a few times to firm up.

The Party favors....

The food! I am not normally a fan of 'chick' food, but a tea party calls for it! It all turned out really yummy! We also made many of the platters. I will show you how soon!

Drink Me.

more food... Pasta Salad recipe, and wrap recipe coming soon. Also Cookie Tricks! The artichoke dip was from Costco.

Eat me... take one!

Turkey Spinach Pinwheel Wraps and Strawberry lemonade.

The table setting.

Centerpieces

Tea cups, and tea pots

We also found some classic Alice in Wonderland quotes to hand around the party.

And of course a party in wonderland wouldn't be complete without a game of croquet!

Alice played with all the kids, and even though we don't know the rules, they got the basic idea and still had fun.

Our Alice did such a great job, this was more of a family party, so only a few kids came. She just hung out with the kiddo's the entire time!

Happy Alice in Wonderland Birthday Sweetie!