Cookie Exchange, Winter Solstice and Advent

I hope you are all enjoying the festive season. We certainly are wrapped up (pun intended) in Advent. It's been great fun weaving in big seasonal activities with the simpler things we do to prepare for Christmas. I love keeping the kids on their toes and their interest peaked. They never know what the door will open for them each morning. Receiving treats is balanced with a whole lot of giving. Remembering the reason for the season and keeping it dear to us is so very special.

Party Invitations

We are hosting a cookie exchange for the kiddos and an Open House for the adults in celebration of Winter Solstice (did we get it all in with one party or what?). It's an intimate low key affair. No bake offs here. As an added bonus, preparing for the party has lended at least four advent activities (making the invitations, baking the cookies, decorating the cookies and the party itself).

If all goes well, we'll make it an annual tradition. You know how I love a good tradition!

Super Sleuth [Nancy Drew] Bags

The party prep continues. Since we will be solving a very important mystery, it's only fitting that each sleuth should have a customized trinket bag with their essential MacGyver-ish items.

I was inspired by these trinket bags [tutorial available] and think I may make them for any and everything possible. The fact that my kids love to collect things further spurs on my frenzy...An iPod bag, a bakugan bag, a rock bag, and adventure bag, a here's-all-the-little-things-that-have-gone-missing-bag...You see where this could really help out?

Anna carefully and very thoughtfully chose the fabric for each of her party guests' bags and personalized letters. I have to say, she expanded my thinking a bit. I hadn't considered some of the pairings she came up with.

Each bag includes basic sleuthing essentials:
: magnifying glass
: gum
: string
: pen/pencil
: paper clip
: notepad
: wooly willy suspect sketch
: flashlight

Naturally, we'll watch the Nancy Drew movie with Emma Roberts as a crash course on how to be a good detective.

Still more to come...

Past posts: Party invites here.

Super Sleuth [Nancy Drew] Party Invitations

We are deep in projects and preparations for Anna's 7th birthday. This year we will be celebrating on vacation with family friends (Remember how crazy we are?!). Since we've been intrigued by a good mystery and feel we have some super sleuths among us, the Mystery at Mammoth Mansion appears to be developing into quite a 'who done it?' situation.

Invites set the stage for a serious mystery that needs to be solved. Each guest has been given a password (pocket necklace). Nancy Drew is the inspiration for the 12 girls and Sherlock will guide the 3 (only three, two of which are mine) boys. The individual passwords, written in invisible ink, will be checked at the door to confirm they are, in fact, on the guest list. We can't allow for imposters!

More to come....

Party Perfect

Thanks for the blog love on Party Perfect. Sara featured Parker's party on her fabulous blog (a daily read for me) and we are so tickled about the photo she chose. It just makes us giggle. He's a funny little guy, huh?

More on the party here.

Holiday Hostess Gift

Holiday Remarks & Replies is a hoot of a hostess gift. It's especially suitable if your host and hostess have any sense of humor. I have just discovered there is a whole line from Knock Knock. Good to know.

P.S. I partnered mine with a fun snowman sponge and a unique sugar spoon.

Super Parker Turns Three

I've been a little lax about posting lately. Please forgive me but a little restorative break is required at times. The holidays seemed to sneak up on me, partly due to a stomach monster that has invaded our house and won't leave. It has completely worn out it's welcome!

Invitation art was commissioned by none other than super Adrienne.

Anyway, slowly and surely I will make my way back to posting. Let's start with a little summary of my babe's third birthday.

A few things you should know about Parker:

: He has an alter ego: Parker Man, or Super Parker
: Spaceships, rockets, and capes are big hits for him
: He may or may not be his father's son as he does not care to have the birthday spotlight shine on him. In fact, when it does, he tries his best to deflect the attention with a very strong protest to move on.

: He has not responded well to me taking endless photographs of him. He may actually hate my camera ("No more pictures, Mama!"). This makes capturing him an especially crafty feat. I can really sympathize with the paparazi.

: We are big fans of small, intimate parties. We've done the big ones and much prefer a sweet managable gathering of little people; especially for my 'shy' guy. Incidentally, Parker's closest friends are all girls. He doesn't know or seem to care. (This may bode well for him in about 15 years.)

Cape and mask custom from Super Fly Kidz. Wristband from My Family Ties.

Simplicity was a big part of his birthday this year. We opted for a fun play date at one of our favorite parks in Laguna. We were rained out of our original party date but rescheduled to the following day (another advantage of a small group). It turned out to be a beautiful fall morning. Perfect for a picnic. We had hot spiced cider, deviled eggs and pumpkin bread with cream cheese dip for the adults.

The rocketship was the obvious meeting spot.

For the kiddos we had essential power packs with 'Super Parker Power Water" (I'm a big fan of DIY water bottle labels. Easy and fun.). We topped it off with our favorite sparkler candle (The spectacular affect was not all that pleasing to the birthday boy. I may have to tone it down for him in the future. Dang!).

The party favors with power gumballs, a mix of PJ's favorite tunes (He WILL NOT move beyond John Mayer's cover of Crossroads. I won't lie. I'm a little proud of his choices.). We also had custom wristbands made for each of his little friends. A big hit, I tell you!

It was a fun celebration of Super Parker turning three. We slipped in just a bit of attention on the birthday boy, but not more than he could stand.

Little Birdie Party

One of our dear friends celebrated turning two with an intimate gathering of close peeps at her nest. We were delighted with all the birdie details.

Mom, Krista, put a lot of thought into the sweet birdie theme and called upon her very talented sister to help with a few special details. (Trust me when I tell we are all lucky that Rachel set up shop and has allowed 'outsiders' to also experience and own her treasured pieces.)

Come with me. Let's take a bird's eye view of this sweet celebration among friends...

Seriously cute set up. Take in all the details. The wool nest with eggs, the hanging nest outside, the gallery of birthday wishes from sisters, the hanging bird, and my most favorite of all....the happy birthday wool banner in the window. Can't order my own fast enough.

Birdseed treats...for the birdies, of course.

The birthday girl with the most fantastic and fabulous wool felt hat. (Ordering one of these too.)

Who doesn't love a bird cookie?

And finally, the sweetest favors. Individual birdies in their nest. All labeled with their nicknames.

Sea and Jae Sparkler Candles

I have to give a shout out to Sea and Jae. In addition to lots of fun items in their collection, they have fantastic number sparklers that take any celebration to whole new level. Aren't they fun?!

For my husband's party I found myself down a "0" (previously back ordered). Jae got that number to me in time for the party. Superb service. They really did have my number. Many thanks.

Photo from Sea and Jae.

Lady Bug Birthday Party

Our dear sweet friend, Sofia, celebrated her 4th birthday with a lady bug party. A local park overlooking the harbor provided a beautiful backdrop to a mellow gathering. A few must-shares from the shindig:

: Ladybug cupcakes :

: Pet rocks and lady bug crafts :

: Bug boxes personally decorated :

: Lady Bugs! Bring home some lady bugs of your own :
(Evidently putting them in the freezer preserves their captive lives a little longer. Poor dears.)

Party highlight for me was gift time. Sofia is a special little girl who I could easily sweep up and add to our family. Her desired birthday gift? A lemon tree. The genuine delight in her eyes when she saw her gift was so sweet and redeeming. Not every kid wants another plastic toy that has been over marketed.

Shark Sushi Treats & Phooeys

For Christopher's birthday celebration at school I thought I'd break from the cake/cupcake mold and bring rice krispie treats--but not just any rice krispie treats...Shark sushi treats.

Super easy: Rice krispies cut in rectangles, shark gummies from World Market, wrapped with fruit roll-ups. Simple.

It was fun and different and all was well and good until we passed out phooeys (animal shaped pencil buddies that are all the craze with elementary kiddos here). These little critters are loved and adored so much that the kids collect and trade them. Naturally, everyone wanted the one they didn't already have. And my supply did not offer enough of the rare variety.

That's what I get for trying to go there. I need to leave kid crazes to the kids.

At least the 'sushi' was a hit.

Great Favors and Gifts

I love a good party--even if I don't attend. My friend, Lauren, just held a very sweet baby shower for her sister. She had a lovely spread including her own twist on Ina's Chinese Chicken Salad. Yummy food, good drink and lots of attention to detail.

The best part, for me, was the favors. I am in love with this idea and will be using it every chance I can. We have discussed, at length, the many uses of these cute little gifts. Sweet treats, salty nibblers, favorite spices....

Lauren stuck with the pink and brown theme and filled her spice jars with m&m's, added a ribbon and topped with a circle label. So cute. She used butterflies from 12 X 12 scrapbook paper so each gift was unique.

These would be great for Mother's Day (topped with a photo), or teacher gifts (topped with an apple), or even for Christmas if you share a favorite recipe and include a key spice.

I'm working on my Mother's Day set myself. Perhaps I be able to post my finished product later this week. Clearly, I've been inspired. Thanks, Lauren.

Beach Bonfire Party Invites

My oldest is coming up on his seventh birthday. We are celebrating with a very casual beach day culminating with a bonfire party. Here are the invites I whipped up. They are simple and fun. I love the message in a bottle containers. I kept a few to have on hand for a fun gift topper or gift container. (From Michaels)

Woodland Fairy Party: The Big Finish

I love the parties and the details but once the party is over, I am over it too. This series of posts has been challenging for me to complete. Partially because I have so little computer time and partially because I am on to the next soiree, or in this case Easter preparations. But I will not give up this close...and so I give you the final post on the Woodland Fairy Party.

This year was a turning point for us in our party planning. Usually I have a vision that is fueled by the honoree's interests and I embark on a mission to fulfill that vision. This year, I had to put some of that aside and Anna was intimately involve in the details. It seems only fitting that she should have some involvement in her own party, but she really embraced it. I have a partner in crime in the making, which is a wonderful growth for both of us.

So, in addition to the ivy crowns, wands and fairy houses, the girls received parting gifts (again, the benefit of a small gathering). I found these fairies on mark down at the Gap. I was able to snag a different fairy for each guest (with a switch of a bow here or there). Anna laid all the fairies out and thoughtfully considered who would go with each of her friends. We made tags and hung them in the forest trees.

I found these adorable burlap bags on clearance here (They sold out of mine but others are available). The toadstool mushrooms here. And the forest fairy paper doll books at a local toy shop. I think the burlap bag can double as the fairies sleeping bag.

As I was considering the birthdays this year I wanted to be modest but thoughtful. I wanted to spend time and attention to detail (as much as real life allowed) yet not a lot of money. Kids don't know or care how much money you spend. They just want to feel special. So that's what we aimed for and I think we accomplished just that (not to mention the fun Anna and I had prepping everything).

And that, my friends, concludes the longest party post ever (at least for me).

Woodland Fairy Party: The Activities

Anna's fairy party posts continue (we're almost there). With a crafty group we were able to do some fun activities. We started by making ivy crowns. The girls added flowers and butterflies to personalize their crowns.

Every fairy needs a silk wand.

Then we had a special delivery. A letter from the fairies with a map. Evidently they need a new home and the map provided some good stops for supplies to help make a suitable fairy house.

Hidden throughout the neighborhood were items like, moss, pebbles, pixie dust, sticks, and flowers. Each guest had their own bag to fill and then returned back to make their own fairy houses.

The girls loved the fairy houses and I even got word a couple were perfecting their homes the following day. That made the prep work for these little homes worth the effort.

Woodland Fairy Party: The Girls

Before I get any further into this party I am compelled to share some of the girls' creative costumes. Naturally, they were asked to come as woodland fairies (No tinker bell here. Nature inspired pixies.)

Roma
Fairy of the Sea

Anna
The Birthday Girl

Morgan
Always fashionable, leading the way with her uber wings.

And then there's Parker crashing the party.

Woodland Fairy Party: The Scene

Anna's Woodland Fairy Party was an intimate gathering that allowed for great crafting and dining with her best friends. I may never go back to a big bash again. Mark my words.

I'm a sucker for details. With a small group, my obsessive tendencies become more manageable. Inside, the dining table was a very simple and sparse setting with bamboo plates and utensil. The girls were old enough to enjoy sparkling pink lemonade from real glasses with butterfly straws. And, at the start if the party, their place settings had their fairy houses waiting to be made into homes.

Outside was the 'enchanted forest'. We live in a Southern California suburban beach town. Our yard is very small. With a few extra tress we spruced the place up to feel more green. I set up an area for food and drink (appetizers) near the girls' crafting area. The young ones enjoyed berry punch while the mamas had a spiked version that was quite refreshing. My favorite part of the outdoor set up was Parker's sound machine playing a whistling bird in the background. It felt like a forest--at least to me.

More posts to come on the menu and most importantly the activities. Stay tuned.

Woodland Fairy Party: Invites

The woodland fairy party planning is underway. We made these very simple invitations from sticks and craft paper. We finished the scrolls with a little pixie dust and hand delivered them with much delight.

This is a fun party to plan. I am looking forward to a small, intimate group of crafters. More to come. Stay tuned.