Such Pretty Things

Pretty Parties: Ribbon Flag Picks

While this is hardly an original or new idea, I thought I would share some pretty ribbon picks that I have been working on for an upcoming party.  I just love ribbon picks - they are such an inexpensive and easy way to spruce up hors d'oeuvres or simple cupcakes.

Plus, it's a great way to use up your precious ribbon scraps! All you need are ordinary food-safe toothpicks, ribbon, glue gun or non-toxic glue stick and scissors.  Just cut a small length of ribbon and glue it around the top of the toothpick. Once dry, use your scissors to cut a small triangle from the side-edge of the flag.  Or try using a pinking shears for a scalloped effect.

And you can make them in any combination of colors or designs you want to match your party decor.

Personally, I love this candy-colored striped ribbon with my pastel sprinkled-mini-cupcakes!

XOXO

Jessica

The Cake Decorating Party: The "Cake"

I can't believe I almost forgot to show you Mini-mini-me's cake from her birthday party last month...

Isn't it a masterpiece!  I just love her sense of color and form.  I'm just sorry I didn't get a good picture before a slice was taken out!

The bakery where we had the party (Just Cakes) did an incredible job. They provided each girl with her very own cake to decorate.  They were shown how to ice the cakes and then they were given a zillion pastry bags filled with prettily colored buttercream (the real deal!).  Each bag had a different pastry tip, so they could experiment with making different shapes. The girls were also shown how to work with fondant and how to make buttercream roses...a little advanced perhaps, but if you look real closely, you might see Mini-mini-me's first attempt at a rose!

The girls all did a beautiful job and really seemed to enjoy "sampling" the buttercream. And if you think Mini-mini-me may have over-done it a bit with the icing, I can assure you that she showed more restraint than most. :-)

Happy Weekend!

Jessica

Pretty Parties: Custom Crayons

I have been a fan of crayons ever since I was old enough to hold one.  As a child, there was nothing more exciting than a fresh, new box - all those pretty waxy sticks neatly lined up in their colorful rows.

I still love crayons to this day and they are one of my favorite favors to give out at children's parties.  Sure, everyone probably already has crayons, but I don't think you can ever really have enough. :-) But sometimes, the bright colors of crayons just don't "go" with an event's decor.  So, I often dress mine up a bit to make my own "custom" crayons...

This is the simplest project and lots of fun to do with the kiddies.  All you need is crayons, a scissors (or paper trimmer), some pretty scrapbook paper and some invisible (Magic) tape.  Just cut your paper into rectangles that are slightly longer than the crayon wrappers.  You don't even need to remove the wrappers. Just tape one edge of the paper rectangle directly onto the paper wrapper, wrap the scrapbook paper tightly around the crayon (overlapping it slightly), and neatly secure it with tape.

What's so great about this project is that you can completely customize your colors and patterns.

Bundle up a small bunch of crayons and tie them with some pretty ribbon.

These make a lovely addition to a goody bag, would look adorable in an Easter basket, and are a great favor to place on children's tables at weddings and holidays.

XOXO
Jessica

Romantic Homes & Hat Box Favors

I am so delighted to have my Hat Box Favors featured in this month's issue of Romantic Homes Magazine!

I must give a huge thank you to Justine Lopez for including this project, as it is truly one of my favorites.  It was actually inspired by my love of vintage hat-shaped candy boxes from the 1940's and 50's.

These sweet candy boxes were fashioned to look like woman's hats and often came in pretty pastel shades...

They were typically adorned with ribbon bows and a millinery flower or two...

You can find the complete tutorial for my party favor version of these in the "Make It" section of the March 2011 issue...and I will also be posting a link in my sidebar soon.

This is such a fun project for Spring and would be perfect for weddings, showers, Easter, and Mother's day!

Well, I am off on a little business trip for a few days, but I'll be back soon...

XOXO

Jessica

The Cake Decorating Party: Goody Bags

Today, I thought I'd show you the goody bags that I put together for the cake-decorating party.  In keeping with the bakery theme, I decided to use these adorable little Patisserie Shop boxes.

They are made by Meri Meri, one of my very favorite invitation and party decor designers.  I love the incredible attention to detail - the french pane windows, the detailed shutters, and the colorful striped awnings...

For the treats inside, I just collected anything that I could find that was cupcake or cake related - erasers (Michael's), a little pad of paper (Target Dollar Spot), a pretty flower-topped cupcake lip gloss (Michael's), and stickers...

And a sweet little cupcake necklace (Forever 21).

Oh, and some candy, of course!

Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend!

:-)

Jessica

The Cake Decorating Party: The Aprons

I have been working away on some of the final touches for Mini-Mini-Me's birthday party, which as you may recall from my previous post is going to be a cake-decorating party at one of our favorite bakeries. I really wanted to add a bit of vintage flair to this party and I thought that aprons would be the perfect way to accomplish this.

I contemplated sewing them myself (as I had for Mini-Me's cake decorating party several years ago), but the whole point of having a "not at home" party this year was to make life a bit easier for Moi - so, I nixed that. :-)  Instead, I spent hours on-line and running around town looking for the perfect aprons.  I wasn't having much luck and then I found these...

Aren't they adorable!  I just love all the bright, happy colors and the wonderful mixture of vintage-style patterns.

The details on these are fantastic - sweet ruffles, ric rack, and fabric-covered buttons.

For a little extra girliness, I decided to add some pretty flowers that I found at the craft store.

I just love how they all look together and I can't wait see all the girls dressed up in them!

* If you want some for your next party, head on over to Marshalls, HomeGoods, or TJ Maxx - it took me a total of about five trips to find all the best patterns, but I think you will agree that it was well worth it!

Happy Friday!

Jessica

Target Tuesday: Valentine Heart Favors

I found these cute little plastic heart boxes in the Dollar Spot bins at Target this week.  A package of eight of them for only a dollar!  You can't beat that!

I immediately decided that they would make the perfect little Valentine's day favor boxes for the girls and their friends.  They just needed a little embellishment! If you want to make some, here's what you'll need:

-Heart-shaped favor boxes

-White craft glue and foam brush

-Glitter (the more sparkly, the better)

-Ribbon

-Paper flower embellishments

-Double-sided tape

-Candy

To begin, open the heart boxes and coat all exterior surfaces (except the bottom) with a thin layer of glue. Sprinkle on your glitter until well coated and shake off any excess.  I used three shades of Martha's pink and lavender for variety. Allow to dry completely.

Fill the boxes with little candies or other treats.  I used the classic conversation hearts (I just selected the colors from the bag that I wanted to use).

Reassemble your boxes and wrap a small length of ribbon around the entire box, securing it on the bottom with some double-sided tape or a dab of hot glue. Attach some paper flowers to the top...mine are from Martha, but most craft stores will carry a variety of brands.

Now, you have some very pretty (and inexpensive!) little favors to give to your favorite valentines...

Happy Tuesday!

:-)

Jessica

Pretty Popcorn Favors

I recently discovered this gorgeous popcorn...

It's just so colorful and fun!

And it tastes good, too - wonderful flavors like strawberry and cotton candy. I used it for these party favors recently.

I just placed some in these adorable miniature popcorn boxes (purchased at Michael's). So simple and easy...

Aren't they cute!

***Pretty popcorn coming soon to the Such Pretty Things Shop.

:-)

Jessica

The Cake Decorating Party: Part I

I can't believe it's that time of year again. Time to plan the girls' birthday parties.  With their birthdays just two weeks apart, I am always a bit stressed trying to plan and execute two fabulous parties in such a short amount of time.  Plus, lately it seems that I have a million, zillion projects going on.  So, this year I'm shaking things up a bit and trying to take some of the pressure off myself.  For one, I am not having any parties at my home.  I feel guilty just saying it.  :-) I love having at-home parties, but they are sooooo much work.  I am also...oh, horrors....repeating a theme from a previous party for Mini-Mini-Me's birthday.  But, lest you think that I am truly copping out, I must tell you that it was a really, really good theme.  It was a "cake-decorating" party and we did it for Mini-Me's sixth birthday.  Sadly, it took place before I began blogging, so I don't have much in the way of documentation (although I will try to dig up some pictures). But, I figure, by repeating the theme, I get a chance to do it again...maybe even better this time around! 

So, over the next month, I will be periodically sharing my party plans with you. Today, I thought I would show you my invitations for the Cake Decorating Party.  I spent about three hours on the Internet searching for the perfect cake-themed invitation, but I just didn't find anything that I loved.  So, I decided to just make the invitations myself.  I drew my inspiration from these pretty cake stickers by Martha Stewart that I found at Michael's.

I knew they would be perfect, as I just adored the yummy, bakery-hued colors and sweet design.

To make the stickers "pop" on my invitations, I decided to place them on some pale aqua-blue scrapbook paper.

Then I glued them to these pretty pink and white polka-dot cards that I found at Paper Source (LOVE that place!)...

They came with plain white envelopes, so I wanted to spruce them up a bit.  I bought matching polka dot scrapbook paper and used it to make envelope liners.  You can buy an envelope-liner template kit at Paper Source.  It's a great investment - it comes with many different sized templates and you will find that you use them over and over again.

I printed the party details on more aqua paper and glued them inside the card.  These were so simple and easy to make.  I am quite pleased with how they turned out - so bright and happy and girlish!  Just the look I was going for!

More party details to come...

XOXO

Jessica

 

Happy 2011!

I want to wish all of you a very, very Happy New Year!

May your 2011 be filled with lots of love,

good health,

prosperity,

great happiness,

and lots and lots of pretty things!

XOXO

Jessica