Such Pretty Things

Happy Weekend!

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday weekend!

XOXO

Jessica

Happy Mother's Day!

We are hosting a Mother's Day brunch for my family this morning, which means I get to spend the day with my wonderful mommy and my most precious pretty things ever...

...my lovely, lovely daughters.

Happy Mother's Day!

XOXO

Jessica

* Beautiful pink peonies courtesy of the husband!

Never Too Old

So, there I was in the toy store yesterday afternoon with 'Mini-mini-me".  We had just finished up with her annual check-up at the pediatrician, which is NOT one of her favorite activities. And although she managed to get away with no shots this year, I still felt a special treat was in order.  Luckily, there was a very nice toy store conveniently located in the same building as the doctor's office. So we were wandering the aisles in search of the perfect toy, when I spied these...

Beautiful vintage-style bride and groom paper dolls!  I could barely contain my excitement.  When I was a little girl, I LOVED paper dolls - most especially bride and groom paper dolls!   Surely, Mini-mini would share my enthusiasm and choose them, right?

Nope.

Mini-mini would have no part of it. She barely gave them a momentary glance before she ran off to check-out the Polly Pockets and Barbies. "But, these are BRIDE PAPER DOLLS!", I called after her. "With pretty VINTAGE DRESSES!  In PASTEL COLORS! Do you have any idea how cool these are???"

Mini-mini just looked at me like I was totally and completely insane and continued on with her search for something "good".  I realized at that point that my efforts were futile and I wasn't going to be able to persuade her to get them.

So what was I, a bride-paper-doll-loving-grown woman, to do? 

You betcha! I marched right up to the counter and bought them for myself! Now, if only I could get one of my girlfriends to come over and play with me... 

:-)

Jessica

*This set of paper dolls is a re-issue of a Little Golden Book title that was originally published in 1952. You can find it here.

After-school Snack

I bought these colorful sprinkle cookies at the bakery to give to the girls as an after-school snack.

They looked so happy and pretty that I just had to share them with you.  Plus, they matched my new Cath Kidston plates so perfectly!  :-)

XOXO

Jessica

The Ice Cream Social Birthday Party

Hello All!  I do apologize for being MIA all last week.  It was not my intention, but Mini-mini-me's Ice Cream Social Birthday party ended up requiring my full attention! So, I thought I would show you some of the party today.  If you recall, the party was a sleep-over for Mini-mini and eight of her closest girlfriends. Since it took place primarily during the evening hours, I don't have well-lit pictures from the party itself.  But, I can show you lots of the little details. For starters, I kept the decorations really easy and simple - just hung up a bunch of pom-pom garlands and ordered a ton of pastel colored balloons...

The girls arrived and promptly changed into their PJs and set up their sleeping bags.  I had covered my family room sofas and rugs with lots of floral quilts - this served to protect my furniture (especially my white shabby chic sofas!) and made the whole room look like one big comfy bed!  For dinner we served pizza (from our favorite local pizza place) and veggies (not too popular).  After dinner, the girls decorated their very own evening bags.  I bought real, adult evening bags (collected from places like Target, TJ Maxx, etc...) that were very simple and gave the girls lots of millinery flowers, rhinestones, feathers, etc...to embellish them.  They did such an incredible job with them - I wish I had photos. :-(  After craft-time, it was time for the big event: Dessert!  We had to have birthday cake (a yummy, butter-cream rose covered one), but the main attraction was the ICE CREAM buffet!  I provided all the sundae basics (ice cream, hot fudge, pastel marshmallows, whipped cream, cherries, etc..)...and a "sprinkle bar"!

I put all the different types of sprinkles in cute little plastic bowls from Target (see, I've managed to fit in a Target Tuesday today, too!). They were only $1.99 for a set of four and just the perfect size...

I buy my sprinkles anywhere I can find them (grocery stores, cake-decorating shops, over-seas, etc..).  These pretty pastel non-pareils were from the Easter section at Target...

After dessert, the girls danced to music (Adele was very popular - LOVE her!) and watched movies. And just in case they weren't on enough of a sugar high, I set up a concession stand with boxes of movie-style candies and popcorn in cute little boxes. After much pillow-fighting and giggling, the girls finally went to sleep around midnight. We had some early risers (6 am) in the morning. For breakfast, I just served a variety of cereals, donuts, and bagels.  I had originally planned to make pancakes, but then I thought better of it.  :-)  When it was time to go, the girls all received a personalized "ice cream" tubs...

...filled with (yes!) more candy.

I ordered the ice cream tubs from Amazon and then made my own labels with scrapbook paper.

Each girl also received a delicious Ice-cream cone cookie from another one of our favorite local shops, Bundles of Cookies.

It was a really fabulous party and Mini-mini-me had such a wonderful time with all her friends. And hey, I even survived the experience.  Now, I think I just need to take a little nap...

:-)

Jessica

Butterfly Favors

"Mini-mini-me's" Ice Cream Social party isn't for a few more weeks (thank goodness!), but today is her day to celebrate her birthday at school. In addition to the requisite sprinkled cupcakes and juice boxes, I also needed something cute to give out to the kiddies. I was super short on time yesterday, so I had to come up with something really simple and quick. So, I ran over to Michael's and picked up some pretty pink polka dot treat bags (from Martha's Valentine's Day line) and some whimsical pink and green glittery butterflies.

I filled the bags with Hershey's Kisses, pink M & M's and pastel candies - then added a butterfly and bow.

I think the whole project took about 20 minutes to make all 15 bags! Anyway, I'm pleased with how they turned out - a little girly perhaps, but I doubt the boys will object to the sweets inside!

:-)

Jessica

Heart Cookies

The girls and I made some heart-shaped sugar cookies this morning.

Pale pink icing with colorful sugar crystals...

And a cold glass of milk, of course.

Yummy practice for Valentine's Day!

XOXO

Jessica

The Ice Cream Social: Invites

Hi! Thought I'd just pop-in and share the invites for Mini-mini-me's upcoming "Ice Cream Social" birthday party...

Aren't they adorable!  I was thinking of making some myself, but when I saw these from Meri Meri, I couldn't resist! I just love the tiny "sprinkle" beads and buttons and the pretty mint-colored envelopes!

More party details in the weeks to come!

Have a happy day!

:-)

Jessica

A Winner and A Party Idea

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the give-a-way! I truly wish I could send each and every one of you a package of pretty things, but alas, there can only be one winner.  So, I assigned each comment entry a number (in the order in which they were received) and enlisted the help of a random number generator. And the winner is.......Jill Lang!  Congratulations, Jill! 

Now, on to some fun party stuff! I can't believe it's already time to start planning the girls' birthday parties. "Mini-mini-me's" is first and she desperately wants a slumber party this year.  I can't say that I am completely overjoyed by this fact. I tend to prefer kids parties that end after about two hours and leave my sanity intact.  But...Mini-mini really wants a slumber party and her older sister has already had several, so I guess I am doomed. ;-) I've decided that to make it more fun (for me!), we should at least do a theme that we (I) haven't done before.  But what???  I feel I've done just about everything after all these years. I was really having a hard time coming up with something and then I just happened to see these by the check-out line at grocery store the other day...

Cotton Candy Ice Cream Cups!  The minute I saw them, I was instantly inspired to do something that involves ice cream. Really pretty ice cream! So, after much discussion, Mini-mini and I have decided on an "Ice Cream Social Slumber Party"! I'll be sharing projects and recipes as I plan over the next month, so stay tuned...

XOXO

Jessica

Target Tuesday: Magical Straws

When I was a little girl, my sister and I always loved to drink our milk with Crazy Straws.  Do you remember them?  They were these fun, plastic (reusable) straws with lots of loops and turns!  Well, when I found these colorful plastic straws at Target this week, I just had to buy them for my girls.

While these aren't quite as "crazy", they are quite magical - when placed in cold water they change colors! So pretty and fun!  They are called Color Change Straws and are actually made to fit the Aladdin To-Go Tumblers, but I see no reason why you can't use them in just a regular old glass.

They come in several colorways, are dishwasher safe, and BPA-free! Just $3.99 for a set of four. The ones on the left are shown after the color change and the ones on the right are from before:

Pretty cool, huh? :-)

Happy Tuesday!

Jessica