Holding On...

Here's a little sneek peek at the cuteness for Cait's party.

I just have to vent for a second.

I have taken on too much.  

I am selling bows at a craft show all day Saturday and Cait's party is Sunday.  I mean, it will all get done to some degree and it will all be okay and in the grand scheme of life, none of this is a severe tradgedy AT ALL...and here it comes...BUT, I feel frustrated.  

I want to do an awesome job at the bow sale. 

I want to make tons of new and unique items, I want to thik about the display and create new business cards and pump the event on Facebook...I also really really want to spend hours upon hours of time perfecting small details for Cailt's party.  

I really do.  

Don't ask me why, I just LOVE that kind of stuff.

So instead of working on any of that, I am sitting on the computer blogging away, paralyzed from productivity by my frustration over seemingly insurmountable pile of fun projects I have left to do. 

Thanks for listening!

A Little Change In Plans

Okay so my plan for an entire year, maybe even MORE than a year, has been to do a pink and brown giraffe party for Cait's 1st birthday.  I have been dreaming in pink and brown for months and I have lots of [party stuff ready to go.  

Maybe it's because I started planning way too far in advance.

Maybe it's cause pink and brown has been done a few too many times.

Maybe it's just because this combo of fabric sitting in the bin next to my sewing machine is just too delicious to ignore.

Funky giraffe stuffies made out of this will be much more fun than classic pink and brown ones!

Oh and did I mention the new bib that I just made for Cait?  

I can hardly stand it, I LOVE these colors!

So I am officially changing the colors of Cait's giraffe party.

Now I have 9 days to pull if off!

Poupee Girl Party

The party pics are here!  April from Forever In A Moment took some beautiful shots and I am so excited to share this super fun party with you!

SO..Poupee Girl is a website created in Japan.  Poupee (poo-pay) means "doll" in french.  On the site you are given a Poupee, a cute dress up girl.  You get to customize her coloring and her hairstyle.  You are given a small wardrobe as well.  Each day that you dress up your Poupee, you earn ribbons.  Ribbons are Poupee Girl's currency.  You can use your ribbons to purchase more virtual clothing and accessories for your Poupee.  Speaking of accessories, Poupee girls love to accessorize!  Now that you are more familiar with Poupee Girl, let me introduce you to my fabulous real-life fashionista sister in law Terri-Lynn...

Terri has been known to frequent the Poupee Girl site so a Poupee Girl party seemed like the perfect fit.  Not to mention, what girl doesn't want a dress up party for her birthday??  

We made sure all the guests knew to dress up and accessorize!!

 I'm loving these paper button flowers that I first saw over at One Charming Party.  I love how Brittany uses simplicity to make a huge statement.  These are fun to make and so charming!  The container at the bottom is a tin can with paper glued on it.  I cut a small piece of floral foam for the bottom of the can and stuck the flowers in...easy-peasy!

A button flower close up.

Party napkins in all sizes!  We asked the guests to bring an item from one of three categories:
-snacky (chips, dip, crackers..)
-hot (spanikopita, chicken wings...)
-fresh (fruit, veggies, salad..)

This worked really well.  The food was awesome and we got a really wide variety.  I am all for the potluck!!

We handed out tickets at the door and drew names for prizes.  Initially we had thought about having awards for best outfits but everyone looked so great we just couldn't pick!

 We set up a little photo shoot area and throughout the night each guest got their picture taken with the birthday girl...along with many many more shots...it was too fun!  Here are a few faves...

 The props were so Poupee and so fun!

 Our birthday girl was the best prop!  

Working the camera!

There's me with Terri:)

Here is the party planning crew holding a bunch of the sweets from the sweets table.  To see that you'll have to pop on over to Fig & Ruby Sweets!

We did not play games but we did have a jewelery exchange!  Each guest brought accessories that they were done with and we gave them "ribbons" in exchange.  We set the accessories up in the pink dollhouse and then opened up the Poupee Shop.  Everyone enjoyed shopping for a few new things.  This was a hit!

The birthday girl getting in on the shopping.

 This theme was different and took some explaining but it turned out to be so cute and so unique and most of all it completely suited the birthday girl which is always the ultimate goal when planning a party!

   Thanks for looking:)

As always, I am thrilled if you like my ideas enough to copy them...I am flattered really!  I do want to know about it and enjoy your version so please share and link back!!

Pretty Pretty Poupee

We had a fabulous time tonight at the Poupee (again, it's poo-pay...french word for "doll") girl party.  Seriously, I can not express in words how much I enjoy times like tonight.  It is so great to see the birthday girl with all of her favorite people, surrounded by a terrific party.  I am not sure why the decor and all those little details are so important to me but they ARE and I am learning to embrace that and not apologize for it:) Do you have this problem?  Do you ever feel like the rest of the world thinks you are silly for "doing up" you parties?

This party was so fun for me because a few of us did it together and that takes a lot of the pressure off. I was able to focus on the details that I love while the other girls brought their own gifts to the mix. Also, we did the party at a clubhouse so I didn't have to clean my house- BONUS! 

I have lots of details to share but I do not have lots of pictures.  I am waiting patiently for April to provide me with some eye candy from the party!!  I am so excited to see her pics!  Here is just a taste...this photo is the birthday girl (in black) and her sister (two of my 3 fabulous sister-in-laws) posing for a little photo shoot...with props...of course!

Do You Know?

The countdown is on for my sister's 25th birthday soiree.  Many of you may not be familiar with the theme for this one so I thought I'd give you a few days to familiarize yourself with this fun phenomenon that is Poupee (poo-pay) Girl.

HERE is the link, check it out, surf around, see the cuteness.

Too Much Fun To Blog

Hi.
I am still here.

Real life has just been too much fun to miss out on.
5 sweet kiddos keep me super busy and really blessed just about all the time (the dinner hour is a little hairy but other than that...)

Mikayla, Mailee, Maddie, Caleb and Caitlyn!


Don't be dismayed, real life still allows for lots of creativity and tons of fun parties!  Coming up this month:

-Poupee Girl dress up party
-Cait's pink and brown giraffe 1st b-day
-Caleb's "dirt bike" 4th birthday

Hello Kitty Party Details

My 6 year old loves Hello Kitty.  When she asked for a Hello Kitty party I kinda cringed.

I don't like character parties.

I don't like how easy it is to "buy the matching plates".

I like a good challenge.

I like an original party!

So I got to work dreaming up a "Hello Kitty Party" of my own.  It was a ton of fun and Maddie loved every minute of it and it was over way too fast.  Please enjoy these photos and if you have questions, please ask!

The Decor

{Left to right}

-Simple balloons tied to curling ribbon

-Cute bouquets lined the table

-A fun felt Kitty welcomed the guests at the front door

-My birthday girl made the name tags herself.  CUTE!

-The kids adored the Hello Kitty balloons!

-I covered tin cans with cute card stock and filled them with silk flowers and button flowers for the kitty balloons.

The Crafts

{Left to right...}

-"Pin the bow on the Kitty

-"Pass the package"

-Home made coloring books

-Place mats the kids glued in place and we covered with contact paper

-Coloring pages are better printed on card stock!

-Every time the music stops, someone gets to unwrap one layer!

-Packing tape on the back of felt "bows"

-Kitty looks pretty!

-The girl who unwraps the last layer of paper gets to keep the prize inside.

The Main Event

Hello Kitty Store!

My daughter Maddie told me she wanted a "Hello Kitty Store" (like the adorable Sanrio store in San Francisco and other fun cities).  One night I woke up with the idea to display the goody bag items in our cute dollhouse and let the girls buy their treasures with play money.  This activity was so much fun.  The girls were completely into it and my older daughters loved running the store!

The Outfit

 I found the gorgeous pettiskirt in bubblegum pink on Etsy .  The seller was so great to work with and the quality of the skirt is top notch at a fantastic price!

Maddie put the skirt on Friday night and wore it to bed!  When she woke up she was ready to party.  

I bought a $4 plain white shirt and ordered this fantastic iron-on rhinestone from Bling Bling Transfer on Etsy.

I love Etsy in a big way!

The shirt turned out so adorable.

I made the bow. 

The kitty is on a bobby pin and can slide off the bow and be worn alone.

Did you know I sell bows?

Want some?

GO HERE!!

  

Thanks for visiting and taking a minute to check out this fun party!

If you are inspired to use any of these ideas, I would LOVE for you to send me a photo or a link so I can see what you come up with!!

See cake HERE.