Giant Lollipop Tutorial

Hello there!

It's been a while now since my last post.  We've been busy here enjoying the last few vacation days left before school starts.

Dawn over at Not Just a Mommy asked me if I could put together a tutorial for the tissue paper lollipops I made for Daniella's "Sweet One" birthday party.  It was harder than I thought since there was no one around to take the pics... but I did my best.. ;-)

Materials:

  • Tissue paper (4 sheets each in 2 or 3 different colors depending on what you want)
  • Dowel rod
  • glue
  • cellophane (I didn't have any on hand but you wrap the lollipop once done)
  • Skewer
  • Heavy books (or extra set of hands)
Start by gluing together the tissue paper on the short ends:

after you are done gluing, you should have 2 (or 3 if you want 3 colors) long strips of tissue paper like this:

Now it's time to fold the paper strips in 4 lengthwise, like this:


You now will need a set of heavy books (in case you don't have an extra set of hands that are willing to assist you) to hold the ends of the strips so you can start twisting each strip:


Now the second (and third if you are doing 3 colors):

Now you put the ends of the strips together and start twisting again (you can try to smooth them out and even them out with your hand as you go)



Now grab the other end and start gluing and rolling it up like a snail...


Here I used a pointy metal skewer to open a little hole so it is easier to put the dowel in:

Note that I also tried sharpening the end of the dowel with a knife.  Now put some glue on the dowel and carefully insert it in the lollipop:


Now you can use cellophane paper to cover the lollipop and use some nice ribbon to tie:



These really make an impact as outdoor decor!!  Hope you enjoyed!!







Daniella's Sweet One Birthday Party was chosen as Party of the Day!!

I woke up to very sweet news on Saturday.  I got a message from Jillian at Catch My Party saying Daniella's Birthday was rotating on their home page as "Party of the Day"!!


Check out their site... You can find a whole lot of inspiration there!

Summer Birthday Cakes

I have not done much baking or cake decorating lately.  Between working now full time and at home with 2 kids (one of them being a baby) there is not much time left for one of my favorite activities.

I was going through some old pics and stumbled across some cake pics that would be great to use for summer birthdays.

This one I made for my husband's birthday a couple years ago.  He likes windsurfing, so I made him this cute cake.  I saw the design somewhere on a book (can't remember), and I added a few personal touches.


Two pirate cakes:



Pool party cake:


Finding Nemo:  ( like this turtle... it kind of looks real.. too real to eat LOL)

This is Isabella and me on her fourth birthday party.  She gave me a huge hug of approval after seeing her cake.  She had a mermaid / pirate treasure hunt party.

Hope you enjoyed...

Slumber Party - Isabella's 7th Birthday

When I asked Isabella what she wanted for her birthday she said a chihuahua and a sleepover party... there's no way I am adding a four legged friend to our family (at least not for now...) so I decided to let her have the sleepover with just a few friends and got them little chihuahuas to stuff.

Fill a friend has the most adorable plush chihuahuas and their customer service is amazing!!  fillafriend.com.  I ordered little pj's for the doggies as well.

These were the invites. 


Here are the goody bags.  These were plain canvas totes which I embelished with fabric and buttons.
The table


These are the goodies!!  My first attempt at decorated sugar cookies.  I must say I'm proud of myself!!

The birthday girl wanted lemon cake.  It looked a bit weird because it was a very small cake but I was determined to make it a 2 tier cake!

The Birthday Banner

More goodies!!  Chocolate and strawberry swirl cake balls.


My birthday girl with her chihuahua



A lot of fun was had by all....!!

Thanks to Dawn from Not Just a Mommy for the inspiration.  Check out her silly sock PJ Party here: silly-socks

Daniella's "Sweet One" Birthday party

Here's a more recent party...
I created this party for Daniella's 1st Birthday.

I pretty much had this theme in mind since she was about 6 months old! 
My sweet thing!!


Handmade invitations


Party Decor:

Giant tissue paper lollipops

tags
goodie bags from 5 below and adorned with a personalized button with the name of each party guest.

yard sign

Here's the smash cake and the cake.

I thought I was being "clever" by using a plastic fishbowl upside down.... well, later on I happened to do a search on the web and saw a whole bunch of people, as clever as I am... oh well!


This is my first attempt at a sweets table a la Amy Atlas... one of my heros!!

Seating area:


This is how it was supposed to look... but the sun popped them all before the guests arrived... bummer!!

My two cutie pies!!
A view of my little one on the "gumball pit".  Isn't this dress super cute?
When I saw it on the internet... I had to have it!!! 

Check it out... I was featured here in Not just a Mommy. 
She is so full of great ideas.  Check it out!