Molly's Christening Party

We had our little Molly christened when she was 7 months old...a little later than I would have liked, but it seems a lot harder to get around to doing things when you have three kiddos.  She was Christened on February 6, 2011 at Resurrection Church in Rye, NY.  Both of my other daughters were Christened there as well and they were Christened in the gown I wore at my own Christening.  Since I waited so long to baptize Molly, the gown no longer fit so she got her very own gown.  Her Godparents are our very good friends, John and Jennifer Degl.  I planned a very small celebration at our house after the Christening.  The only guests were the Godparents, Grandparents and Uncle Jeff.  I still wanted it to be a nice party so I created some printables and a dessert table.  I chose the colors pink, white and silver and included crosses to go with the Christening theme.  The event was actually on Super Bowl Sunday so I chose a menu that would go with watching some football. 

Molly's NEW Christening Gown hung on the wall in the party room until we got her dressed. Her grandmother, Patty, bought it for her.

After we dressed Molly in her gown I hung my gown that I wore and my other two daughters wore when we were baptized in its place so it could, at the very least, make an appearance that day.  My Godmother had it handmade 34 years ago.

The party food was set up on the kitchen island and on the dining table which I pushed against the wall. The menu included Penne Alla Vodka, Cosi Signature Salad, Jalapeno Poppers, Mozzarella Sticks, Prosciutto and Mozzarella, Buffalo Wings, Grandma's Pizza, and a 4 foot Italian Combo Hero. 

I love my apothecary jars!  I always try to fill them with something to match the party colors.  This time it was Hershey's Kisses, Yogurt Covered Pretzels and White Cheddar Popcorn.

The dessert table included kid-friendly treats and sweets for the adults too.  I tried to keep everything in the pink and white theme.

I created a banner on the front of the table using scrapbook paper that I cut into cross shapes. 

The cake was from my beloved Cornerstone Caterers...love their cakes!

Kids love fruit, but it is even better on a stick!  These were a huge hit!  I slid grapes onto wooden skewers and topped it off with a strawberry.

I found Pops Cereal snacks in my grocery store.  The pink is strawberry flavored and the white is vanilla.  These were a hit with the kids too!

These are actually Brazillian Brigadeiros.  Find the recipe here.  I made the pink ones by adding Strawberry Flavored Nestle Quik.  The white ones were made by leaving out the Nestle Quik called for in the recipe.  I rolled them in sugar so they would sparkle.  These were gone in 10 seconds flat.

I found these cheesecake bites in the freezer section at Target.  Talk about delicious!

I created the water bottle labels to add to the decor.

These were Hershey's Chocolate Bars which I wrapped in coordinating paper and added a party circle so it would match the table display.

I even found Pink Champagne...how perfect!

I got custom Cookie favors from Totally Scrumptious Cookies on Etsy. 

I even staged the utensils and napkins.

I found these hanging daisies at Party City in the Wedding Section.  The colors were perfect, but I added party circles to the center to tie in the Christening theme.

The banner I created read "God Bless Molly".

And here is our little sweetie with mommy and daddy.

And here she is with her wonderful Godparents!

She did so well at the actual Christening.  She didn't make a peep.

God Bless Baby Molly.  We love you sweet angel!

XOXO,
Mommy

New Year's Eve Party

We had a small party at the house for New Year's Eve 2010. We had two other couples and their kids over to celebrate. We enjoyed yummy appetizers, Louisiana Gumbo, Champagne and good company. We watched the ball drop on TV and the kids got to stay up way too late! It was very laid back and a lot of fun. It was a party afterall, so i had to decorate for the occasion. I actually found free printables for the banner and cupcake toppers so I didn't have to make anything myself...just print, cut and assemble...gotta love that. The printables can be found here.

Sweet Shoppe Party

Today I'd like to share my daughter Madison's 4th birthday party.  The theme we chose was a Sweet Shoppe theme.  I decided on this theme shortly after her 3rd birthday Ice Cream Shoppe party.  I had read an article in People Magazine that featured Trista Sutter's (The Bachelorette) little boy Max's 1st birthday party.  They did a CandyLand theme party and it was absolutely adorable.  I loved all of the ideas and just knew I had to incorporate them into Madison's next party.  She loved candy so it didn't take much convincing.  I found the site Hostess with the Mostess who helped plan little Max's CandyLand party.  There was so much eye candy on there, I fell in love with the whole blog and was hooked.  Hostess with the Mostess led me from one blog to another and I saw so many beautiful Candy themed parties.  I didn't realize it was such a popular theme!  I ended up coming across a blog called The TomKat Studio whose owner Kim had featured a cute little Lollipop Party for her daughter and to top it off, she was selling the items she created for that party on Etsy.  I am pretty handy on the computer but was running out of time so I ordered Kim's Lollipop Party Package and it was so adorable.  The package I bought was a printable PDF file that included a banner, cupcake toppers, party circles, signs and the oh so cute invitation.  I was able to print everything at home and assemble it myself- the best part because I love crafty projects.  The party was a huge hit and the birthday girl had a fabulous time.  I'm going to try to give as much detail and credit as I can remember for the ideas I used.  The party was last June and I looked at so many blogs by crafty mommy's who also used this theme and I tried to incorporate lots of those ideas, as well as my own into this party.  I had so much fun planning this one....  First up...the invitations.  Thanks Kim!  These were adorable. 

I made this photo booth using a large box that I wrapped in bright pink wrapping paper. I cut a circle for the kids to poke their face through, and made it look like a lollipop. The kids loved it! The back was open so the kids could go inside of it.  Something fun and different.

This is the cake table.  I made the banner hanging above...my first one ever!  I liked that the table was in the corner because we could stand behind it when blowing out the candles without it being in the way during the party.  The cake was from a local bakery (Corner Stone Caterers).  I made the cupcakes and used Kim's party circles for toppers.  Super cute!  I also stuck a Dum Dum in some and used knotted twizzlers on a few.  The plates held the yummy cookies from The Fancy Lady Gourmet on Etsy.  Draping on the front of the table was colored lanterns that I found at CVS.  You could plug them in and they light up, but I didn't do that.  I taped a lollipop stick to each of them to make them look like colorful lollipops.  This was a last minute up to 2 AM the night before add- thanks to my cousin Tanya for the idea..turned out super cute! 

I had a separate table for the "Sweet Shoppe."

I set up the "Sweet Shoppe" table in my dining room using my dining room table.  The banner was recycled from my middle daughter's 2nd birthday party which was Abby Cadabby themed.  I just changed out the picture of Abby and put on one of Kim's sweet shoppe party circles in its place.  Love that I could use that banner again!  The colors were perfect.  The idea behind the Sweet Shoppe table was that the kids would get to visit it and fill up a bag with some candy to take home.  I tied up each bag with a toothbrush and as I handed it to the kids, I said:

  "Thank you for being sweet, but don't forget to brush you teeth!" 

The table also included sweet Granny Smith apples which more than one child chose to put into their treat bag.  The parents were thankful I included healthy options on the table.  I made the cones from scrapbook paper and attached one of Kim's party circles to the front. I filled the cones with cotton candy and caramel popcorn.  Other goodies on the table included lollipops, rock candy, m&ms, tropical twizzlers and gummy lifesavers.  All of the candy were in colors that coordinated with the party colors- bright pink, bright green and turquoise.  The letters on the table spelled out SWEETS.  They are large foam glittery letters that I found at Michael's.  The candies hanging above the table are actually party lanterns that I covered in cellophane and tied the ends to look like wrapped candy.  Got the idea from for those from this fabulous candy party.

     

 

As the guests arrived to the party, they walked on the lollipop lined path.  Those lollipops were super easy to make.  I stuck a long lollipop stick into styrofoam disks (found at Michaels) that I wrapped with colored tissue paper.  Then I covered the disks with celophane wrap and gathered and tied with a ribbon around the lollipop stick. I saw these here and thought they were adorable.    

The welcome sign on the door greeted the guests as they came in.  Another cute idea from Kim!

As each guest arrived I tried to get a picture of them in the photo booth and then I had them guess how many jellybeans were in the jar. I found this site for games and they had free printables for some of the games and signs.  I used their sign for this game and for the signs on 
the photo booth as well. 

The majority of the party was held outside, so after the kids guessed how many jelly beans were in the jar they headed out to the backyard to make candy necklaces while waiting for the other guests arrived. 

Here is Madison making her candy necklace. 

The kids' tables were set up outside.  I made the centerpieces using sandpails and large Whirly Pops.  I found these white tablecloths with colorful circles that reminded me of lollies at Target. I used them as a table runner over a turquoise tablecloth.  The clear cups in the picture held the candies and elastic for the candy necklaces. 

I decorated the fence with Kim's printable happy birthday banner and more candy lanterns adorned the shrubs.

I attached empty wrapping paper tubes to these lanterns to resemble Dum Dums and stood them on either side of the steps leading up to the deck.

I didn't hire entertainment for the party, so I was the one running the show.  Besides candy necklaces, the activities I planned were Pin the Stick on the Lollipop, Ring the Lollipop, Candy Shoppe Bingo and a pinata. 

 I made the Pin the Stick on the Lollipop Game. I glued a lollipop cutout onto a piece of green felt. I attached velcro to the lollipop sticks so they would stick on the felt when the kids tried to stick them on.

For the Ring the Lollipop game, I used the printables from here. I set them up in the back yard.  

I found a round pinata at Party City and attached a deflated mylar balloon to it.  I made it resemble a lollipop by attaching a wooden dowel.

 

 I made the cards for Sweet Shoppe Bingo and had them laminated.  The kids used Skittles to cover the space. I also made a set of calling cards to go with this.

After playing the games, I served a light lunch of peanut butter and jelly pinwheel sandwiches and fruit lollipops.  Thanks to Glory from Glorious Treats for the idea.  You can see her candy party here.

 After lunch, the kids visited the Sweet Shoppe and chose candy for their treat bags.  They each went home with a bag of sweets and the classic game Candy Land. 

The birthday girl wore an adorable candy custom set by Etsy seller Smockinglisa708.  Super cute!

 

I hope you had a wonderful 4th birthday my SWEET Madison Grace.  Mommy loves you!  XOXO!