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modern sleepover

Written on February 25th, 2010 by Kim

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When I create an inspiration board, it’s usually one thing that inspires the rest. This time it was these adorable slipper cookies from Family Fun magazine. I just love this simple and yummy (donut hole covered in coconut), yet oh so pretty idea.

From there I thought about my nieces, now teenagers, and what would appeal to them and their friends. My oldest niece recently celebrated her sweet sixteen in hot pink and black bliss, so I’m very confident she will approve of my choices:

The slippers led me down the sleepover path, but these ideas could lend themselves easily to a modern bridal or baby shower too. As always, I hope you’re inspired.

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busy bee birthday

Written on February 24th, 2010 by Kim

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Not all birthday parties have to be bright primary colors, especially before your little one is old enough to have his/her own opinion about the theme and decor {wink}. So if you have a very busy bee running (or crawling) around your house, consider some of these fabulous ideas:

As always, I hope you’re inspired!

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dino-roar favor ideas plus

Written on February 22nd, 2010 by Kim

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I mentioned when we launched our dinosaur birthday party collection that my youngest has already claimed it for his upcoming birthday party. With that in mind, I went in search of favor ideas over the weekend.

I really like the dinosaur dig ideas (upper left from Toys To Grow On, lower left from eBay) for the activity. Our guests will be in the 3-5 age range so we’ll likely go with the sand version and then let them take their finds home. But for older kids, the Tricerotops excavation is very cool.

If I didn’t already have foam puzzle dinosaurs in primary colors to match the table decor, this Knex Dino Pal (upper right) would possibly be worked into the decor (maybe at the beverage station). As is, it may still end up as a gift for my little one. {wink}

Oh, and we must have the dino masks. I found these at Oriental Trading, but you may be able to score some at your local craft store.

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And I ran across a few more cake/cupcake  ideas I liked too. This very fun fondant dinosaur cupcake is from Nevie Pie Cakes on Flikr. For those of you who’ve never used fondant, don’t let it intimidate you. You can tint and mold it into anything you like. Just make a tasty cupcake, because the fondant won’t be (at least in my opinion). And the cake is from Pink Apron on Flikr. I really like the layered effect with the child’s name spelled out in cookies. Hmmm… we’ll see. I’m still undecided.

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introducing woodland fairy

Written on February 19th, 2010 by Kim

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My mom used to tell the most beautiful woodland fairy stories to my nieces, who are now teenagers (stop growing girls!), vividly outlining the smallest details. One of my favorites was that the fairies were tiny and typically unseen unless you knew where to look. So when we started developing this fairy theme, I thought of those stories and how my nieces little faces would light up listening to my mom’s magical fairytale. As you browse this collection’s decor, know that the moss on the cake plate, the squirrel in the forest and the sparkles on the invitation are all tributes to my mom’s creativity. {Love you Mom!}

I chose hot pink and lime green polka dot decor for this collection not only because it’s modern and oh so popular, but because pink is very fairy, right. And the green of course is very woodland. I know… I’m a genius {smirk}. We then incorporated splashes of light pink and brown throughout the invitation and printables collection for the softer side of modern. And don’t you just love the plaid tree!

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This is one view of the cupcake pick and wrapper set. There are four pick designs that could easily be mixed and matched with a few simple punches (2.5″ circle and 2″ scallop punches shown with foam adhesive squares for deminsion).

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This is a tight shot of the pick I lovingly call Woodland Forest.  

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And this one is even closer. See the little squirrel and the bird houses?! This is the same image used on the invitations.   

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I love how the fairies have sparkles on thier toes on this one.

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The green gingham in this pick is also available in the straw slips.

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This is just one of the six straw slip designs: hot pink with green polka dots (like the cupcake wrappers), light pink sparkles (like the sky in the invite), green gingham, green and white polka dot, green with pink flowers (shown and same as napkin ring) and light green and light pink polka dots. Just write each little fairy’s name (thin Sharpie works best) on her slip and no worries about the little ones confusing cups… that is unless they can’t read yet. {wink} Plus, since our shatterproof cups can survive the dishwasher, you don’t want to ruin them by writing directly on them.   

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For the placecard and/or food marker, perfect for candy tables and buffets, we made the tallest tree extend past the typical rectangle just to be unique.

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And for the napkin ring, we paired the hot pink polka dot napkin with a lime green ring embellished with mini white and hot pink flowers.

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On to the favors. We created both woodland forest scene cello bag toppers, and

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two favor tags: woodland forest scene and hot pink polka dot fairies.

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Oh, and we can’t forget the fairy wand cookie cutter. A dash of sparkling crystal sprinkles and they will be irresistable, and the perfect treat for the cello bags.

As always we added a few touches here and there to the table for the shoot. The cake plate was embellished with strips of moss and the base was surrounded by a fern, moss and branch spring wreath. There were also small flower arrangements, sprigs of hot pink and white flowers, along the table. You can see them behind some of the cupcake images. And last but not least, a fairy herself perched on the edge of the cake plate. Okay, actually it’s a butterfly, but it’s all about the imagination, right?! {wink}

Make sure you hop on over to the shoppe for all the woodland fairy details. Have a great weekend everyone!

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fairy village cake

Written on February 18th, 2010 by Kim

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It’s almost as if Family Fun magazine knew what was on my mind this week. These are shots from the March issue. How adorable is this cake idea!? And it goes perfectly with our new woodland fairy birthday collection, which by the way you’ll see lots of pics of tomorrow.

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Here are some close ups of the little cake houses. I’m loving the toadstool idea. I use Starburst for all kinds of baking ideas (i.e., my crashing witch cupcake boots), but I hadn’t thought of this one yet: red Starburst candy and marshmallows. Heat them up a bit and you can mold them into anything. Plus, since they come in so many colors, you don’t have to worry with food coloring.

Not only is this idea fun for the party, I know my kids would have a blast creating the scene. I can imagine it might be a little messy, but it would be quickly forgotten when I saw the smiles. Love it!

Get all the details, resources and recipes on Family Fun. Oh, and this isn’t all. They have more fairy birthday party ideas that I’ll share late this week or early next so if you don’t subscribe make sure and stop back in (and then go subscribe)!

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  • about me: kim byers

    creative party planner and owner of The Celebration Shoppe. I have a passion for crafting, baking, modern entertaining and all things beautiful. I'll post my ideas and share others in hopes of inspiring you for your next celebration.