Paper Doll Baby Shower

There comes a mile stone in every hostess's carrier when you know you must be good, and that mile stone is when you are asked to cross state boundaries to do a party. It is quite the feat to pack a party and execute  it far from home, but I can now check it off the list of things I have done in the universe of part planning. Here is the Paper Doll themed baby shower I did for my Sister-in-law. Invitations, Decorations, Food and all. Thanks to the help of a group of ladies in Arizona that have been throwing parties a lot longer than I have it went off with out a hitch.

Everyones Mad Here

This year for our joint birthday Jayna and I decided to have an Alice in Wonderland themed tea party. It turned out great and everyone had a wonderful time in "Wonderland" celebrating with us.

We sent our invitations out with little skeleton keys attached to them with direction to bring the keys back to the party. I copied the invitation idea from an Alice in Wonderland comic-con party Disney held. It was easy to find a free Alice in Wonderland font online too. The skeleton keys were a little tricky to find at first. I kept thinking I needed antique ones, but they were really expensive and ranged in price a lot from place to place. Then I tried my luck at Lowes and to my surprise they had the perfect little key. The secret is to go ask the "key making man". They were not out in packages, he just had a little box of them behind his desk. If I remember right they were like $3.00 each which was cheap compared to the $10.00 antique ones.

Mans Day Out

On the 7th of this month the husband turned the big 30 and yesterday was his surprise party. I had been planning this day out for him and his two friends and brother for a long time, so it was fun to see it finally come together. I got the idea for this party from a real party featured on hostess with the mostess. I wasn't with the boys for all the events so my pictures are lacking unlike theirs.

The "Queen" has arrived

This year I made Jayna a little queen costume for Halloween. She had this cute white dress that would be for a wedding or fancy event and since we have not had any of those I thought it would make the perfect queen dress. The best part about this costume was that everything was so simple and fun to make. 

Faces Party

I recently helped a girl friend with a surprise party for her husbands 30th and it was tons of fun. We went with the same idea and theme as I did for my brother-in-laws B-day celebration and used a picture of the B-day boy for our decorations.

One Year Older and Wiser Too

This last weekend we threw together a quick party for my brother-in-law Devin's 24th birthday. You would think someone who loves throwing parties would be better about remembering when her relatives birthdays are, but my husband and I are horrible at that.

Birthday Month

This month is Jayna and I's birthday month! Almost two years ago she surprised me and came into this world on my Birthday. I love sharing my birthday with her! It has made the 14th that much more special for me. I know in the future she may not like the idea of sharing her birthday with her Mom, but I am willing to give mine up. After all I love to host and plan for parties! So as long as I can plan a party for her I am happy and that can be my birthday present. So I think it will work out well for both of us.

For our present this year the husband got us family pictures. This will be the first professional photo session we have done as a family. Crazy to think about since I have always been really into photography. We have not yet taken them and I have been searching for a photographer that will not charge and arm and a leg, but edits pictures in the style I like. I think I have found one, so hopefully by the end of the month I can show you pictures and do a post on the photographer.

Next year Jayna will be 3 and I will be 30. This will be the only time our birthday ages will match up number wise, so I am planning on celebrating big. I want to have a 3 ring circus theme and go all out. The weather here in Utah during March is still sketchy, but I am really wanting to do it outside. I have already started researching what I want to do and will most likely spend the next year planning it. Unfortunately we will not be having a big party this year since we had our Hip Hop party last year. The husband has put a party limit on things to keep us girls in check. I think it may end up back-firing on him though, because it makes me want to do even more the next year. Here are some fun inspirations I have found so far for next years party.

Beauty Night

For activity day this next week we are doing a big "Beauty Night". I got the inspiration and tag line from this clever lady. These are the invitations I made to mail out to the girls. I usually just drop the little reminders off at their houses, but I am trying to make it a big deal for them. I thought they would be excited to get something in the mail too.

We are going to do their makeup, take their pictures, do facial masks, and have treats. I have tons of makeup from my 7 years of being a make-up artist for Macy's and Nordstom, so it is fitting this will be at my house. This party idea and invitations would be fun for any girls birthday party though. So next week I will be working on turning the basement into a day spa for nine 10 and 11 year old girls.

Good grief!

Mums the Word

I finally get to share pictures with you of the flower themed baby shower I worked on. This is a great example of how you can have the Bird and the Berry help you as much or as little as you want with events you are hosting.

For this event I did the invitations, guest favors, food signs, some decor, and all the desserts. Paige also had me put together little headband and flower hair clip kits so that guests instead of playing games could make the baby to be hair accessories. I loved this idea! At the end of the shower the honored guest had twenty little handmade headbands and bows for her baby made by her closest friends. How sweet. I helped consult Paige on which color paper goods and table clothes to purchase along with going over some setup ideas. Paige is actually a good family friend so she did come to help bake all the desserts the night before the party. Then she picked out which serving dishes of mine she wanted to use for the event and took with her everything she would need for her party she was hosting the next afternoon. Paige did all the setup and other food for the event and then just brought me back my things when she was done with them. It sounded like the mother to be enjoyed her shower and everyone was happy with how the event turned out.

If you have any questions about this event just send me an email.

Sprinkle Some Fun on Breakfast

Add a little sprinkle of fun to your kids breakfast.

Jayna loves all the colorful sprinkles I use while making desserts for parties. So I decided to surprise her by adding them to her breakfast pancakes. It was a simple way to put an extra big smile on her face. This idea would also be fun to do for Birthday breakfasts, or when your kids have done good in school, or any other fun excuse you can find to praise them and make them feel special.