My Leisure... My Life: 2010

Spooky - Chic Halloween Party

Last weekend we had a small Halloween party for the girls. We had very few friends over but had a great time. The kids worked on some crafts, played, ate yummy treats and then we all went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. It was the baby's first time and she really had a great time.

While browsing the web for ideas, I fell in love with the non traditional color scheme that Kim from tomkatstudio used on her Halloween glam collection. I went ahead and purchased it 50% off, ad started the planning and execution. So much fun!

Here's the goody table:

Another view...

some spooky treats... I found these at Walmart at $1 ea. They were really creepy. The picture is not that great, but the green lollipops had a very realistic spider inside. I also got some lab specimen candy with lizzards, frogs and snakes inside... the kids loved them!

I kept the treats super simple... they were all store bought and I just added a little pizzaz!! Simple, yummy (kid approved) and cute.

More TomKat designs hanging from the table centerpiece. I also hung hershey kisses in the party colors from the branches.

The kiddie table:

I think these were from Target... perfect for the party and what I like most is that I can use them for years to come... go green!!

Isabella decided since last year she wanted to be Hermoine... It was quite a long wait...

Here she is casting a spell...

A little wizzard love...

We all followed of course, so Daniella was Hedwig:

And here's the rest of the family: Harry Potter, Hermoine, Hedwig and a plain ol' witch!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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.