February 24, 2012 2 Comments

celebrate Dr. Suess’s birthday

My boys and I love Dr. Suess (The Grinch That Stole Christmas is my absolute favorite of all of his characters) and his birthday is only a week away! So of course I had to share it with you.

I think we’ll make some cupcakes that day and read a few of his books. AND maybe go see the new The Lorax movie!

The top image is from a fabulous Dr. Suess ABC birthday party from Nesting Instincts.

And these yummy Dr. Suess Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes are from Good Life Eats. She also made some adorable Cat in the Hat marshmallows.

Hop over to both ladies and take a look! As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create! Happy weekend everyone!

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February 15, 2012 3 Comments

Entertaining must reads in 2012

I’m a book lover. Pure and simple. And these are some of the “must have” wedding, party, baking and crafting books on my list for 2012!

Southern Living Wedding Planner & Keepsake - The talented team at Southern Living has just published it’s first wedding book and it does not disappoint. As a southern girl myself, this books takes me back to planning my own wedding (held in the garden of a lovely antebellum house overlooking the Tombigbee River in Alabama… it was such a beautiful day) and what I wouldn’t have done to have such a tool to help me organize! The book itself is a beautiful keepsake, but it’s also a step-by-step guide full of worksheets and checklists. PLUS, over 175 photographs to keep you inspired from real dream weddings across the South. It’s an absolute must have if you’re a bride and the perfect gift if you have a bride-to-be in your life. 

Events Exposed – This book is all business, think textbook with tons of must know details if you want to succeed. Written by Lena Malouf, she shares how to develop your strategy for entering the industry, meeting the client, building the business, venue essentials, managing money, presenting the proposal and more.  

Sweet Designs: Bake It, Craft It, Style It - Dessert designer extraordinaire Amy Atlas has created a fun and lovely book of sweets styling. The book has 15 chapters filled with more than 100 eye-popping recipes for irresistible treats, plus over 75 easy, affordable DIY craft projects. The chapters feature never-before-seen dessert tables, each inspired by themes Amy’s clients most often request: a favorite color, design, flavor, destination, passion, or holiday. The book releases in April, but you can pre-order today! 

celebraTORI – Actress and mom Tori Spelling planned her very first party (her own roller skate–themed birthday with a hot-pink- and-turquoise color scheme) at the age of eight, and she’s been hosting friends and family in her home ever since. In her new book she’s sharing all her party-planning secrets on a “real” world budget. 

Push-up Pops – I’m so incredibly proud of this one (not that I had a thing to do with it, it’s just the author is a dear friend of mine)! Courtney of Pizzazzerie is a fun loving creative southern soul and this book is brimming with her personality and “pizzaz!” It’s a must order if you enjoy throwing a party AND this is only the first of at least three books for her. {So happy for you sweetie!}

Cupcakes, Cookies & Pie, Oh, My! – Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, authors of Hello Cupcake! (one of my all time favorite fun food books), have a new book out and it’s full of all the adorable fun you’ve come to expect from them, except this time it isn’t just cupcakes!

Sugarlicious - My “sweet” friend Meaghan Mountford shares her talents daily as a blogger at Craft Gossip and The Decorated Cookie. And now her new book includes more than 50 ideas for crafting cookies, marshmallows, cupcakes, cake pops, cakes, petits fours and candy clay for parties, holidays, special occasions and just for fun. Plus, she shares a detailed list of the supplies for each project including resources for finding them.

Make and Takes for Kids – author Marie LaBaron, a lovely lady and blogger at Make and Takes, has a gift for crafting with kiddos and if you’ve ever visited her blog you’ll know that her book is a must have to keep your tiny tots busy. Marie’s book showcases 50 crafts for the year, 4-5 ideas for every month!

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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February 11, 2012 1 Comment

tea party inspiration

This morning I’m sharing some lovely tea party ideas like this sweet princess tea party from Laura Bunker Photography. I just LOVE the glass slipper favor idea. So clever.

And the ruffle cakes in this “Madish” tea party from Sweetapolita are just beautiful.

And how better to surprise your little girl when she comes home from school on her 13th birthday… a lovely mother daughter tea party from Crissy’s Crafts!

Oh, and what party is more girly than a baby shower?! This color-rich yellow tea party on Oh Happy Day is understated and perfect.

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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January 25, 2012 4 Comments

Super Bowl party bites

The Super Bowl is just a few days away and we’re updating our Cheez-It stadium printables (bowl/cup lines, pennants, football field mats) in game colors for 2013! Download your free Super Bowl party templates!

Here are a few Super Bowl bite ideas for your party!

  1. Stadium Brownies from Betty Crocker (peanuts, popcorn and chocolate!)
  2. Football Brownies from Betty Crocker
  3. Chipotle Cheeseburger Sliders from Snackpicks.com
  4. Oreo Cookie Footballs from Kraft
  5. Kickoff Pizza from Kraft
  6. Cheez-It Stadium from me on Snackpicks.com (printable downloads tomorrow!)
  7. Summer Sausage, Cheddar, Ranch football bites from Give Me Some Oven

And don’t forget…

download your Super Bowl wrappers, pennants and mats for your big bash in 2013 game day colors. They’re free! From me to you! 

As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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January 5, 2012 7 Comments

yellow baby shower inspiration

I’m a lover of yellow in combinations of white, gray and/or black as you can likely tell from my buzz baby shower invitation and printable party decor collection. {Sidebar: Growing up my mom’s kitchen was tastefully decorated in yellow (my dad always said it was like the morning sun) and now my kitchen is yellow (from mid-February to October).}

It’s crisp, bright and since there are so many natural yellow elements (lemons, simple flowers), it can be very economical if you get a little creative. These ideas are lovely: table setting and placecard from Three Apple Events via Style Me Pretty; Centerpiece beverage bucket and lemon vase from Martha Stewart

Yellow is also a very easy color to incorporate into desserts, like these lovely lemon burst cookies from Tidy Mom, mini lemon souffles in “real” lemon peels from Martha Stewart, and candies and dessert pops featured on Style Me Pretty, photographed by Verve Photography. (Follow me on Pinterest and visit my ”yellow” for even more ideas!)

And if you don’t have a shower in your future, these ideas would also be lovely for a Mother’s Day brunch or tea this year! As always, I hope you’re inspired to craft, bake and create!

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December 26, 2011 No Comments

black & white new year’s

I love masquerade parties at New Year’s Eve. A pretty dress + A pretty mask = A happy girl.

These are a few of the ideas I picked up at Pier 1 Imports. The masks drew me in and then the rest just came together. I think my absolute favorite item on this board is the black and white stripe wine/bottle stopper with a close second the chalkboard bottle marker. Both can be used throughout the year and will look fabulous in my kitchen!

As always, I hope you’re inspired! Oh, and no… Pier 1 didn’t ask me to write this. These are just my opinions. {smile}

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October 27, 2011 4 Comments

snowman party ideas

I’ve been collecting some ideas to host a snowman party this January. I know… it’s not even Halloween yet, but I’m a planner. (I already have my Christmas party planning underway too with some fun new designs; more to come on that soon!)

January here in Ohio will be cold and most likely white. And by then, with the holidays over my kiddos will be getting a bit closterphobic from hibernating! Here’s what I’ve got so far:

For more Christmas party planning ideas, follow me on Pinterest. And as always, I hope you’re inspired!

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October 3, 2011 2 Comments

inspired to entertain in fall

We had the most beautiful Sunday afternoon yesterday. The air was crisp and fresh, the boys were happily playing in the yard and it just felt like fall. Plus we started decorating our front porch. We always start with fall items (straw bales, Indian corn, pumpkins) and then follow-up in a few weeks with Halloween items like jack-o-lanterns, trick or treat signs, spider webs and lanterns.

So this morning I started pinning away to my Pinterest board for fall inspiration and I just had to share a few of the lovely things that have me inspired to entertain this fall.

As always, I hope you’re inspired! Happy Monday everyone!

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September 9, 2011 4 Comments

western party round up

Hi everyone! My name is Bridget. I’m Kim’s creative assistant at the shoppe and I’m so excited to expand my role and start contributing to the blog from time to time. We plan that I’ll share a bit about what is inspiring us and I’ll manage some of the features, so start submitting your craft, baking and party ideas! We want to see them!

This morning I thought I would start by sharing a bit about myself. I’m a mom of three (one boy and two girls). My education and career were in pharmacy, but once my oldest was born I decided I really wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. And if you’re wondering what brought me to The Celebration Shoppe, Kim and I met at our children’s preschool several years ago and when Kim shared with me that she was looking for a creative soul to add to the team, I told her I was her girl!

Okay, enough about me. For my first contributing post (yay!), I’m sharing some of the fun and fabulous ideas that have inspired my youngest daughter’s birthday party planning this year. You see, she’s pleading for a cowgirl party!

  • Ruffled Dessert Table Skirt and Rope Art from Jen at Peas and Thank You’s
  • This adorable DIY horse for a fun lasso game from Restless Risa
  • Cactus Cupcakes at the Cupcake Gallery (I can’t resist a cute cupcake!)
  • Simple bandana napkin rings from Country Living  (I’m definitely going to try these!)
  • And my personal favorite, is the hobo stick favor from Three Pixie Lane; a simple goody filled bandana tied to a stick

Of course, the ideas and inspiration don’t stop there, so if you’d like to see other great ideas from around the web, check out our Pinterest board.

As always, we hope you’re inspired!

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August 31, 2011 5 Comments

robot birthday party ideas

I shared our new robot invitation and printable partyware design (invitation and thank yous in the shoppe) a few weeks ago and mentioned that this is the theme my oldest has chosen for this year’s big bash. So this morning I thought I would share a few of the things that have inspired me during the planning process.

The party is only a few weekends away so much more robot birthday party inspiration coming soon!

 

Oh, and if you want more ideas right now because you just can’t wait {wink}, check out my board on Pinterest.com. There’s more there now and I’m sure I’ll be adding!

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