Minnie Mia's 1st Birthday - Part 1 of 3

This post is for a "Minnie Mia 1st Birthday Party" I planned for my niece Mia Marie's birthday a few weeks ago.  My sister asked for mostly red with white polka dots and a little minnie mouse.  I've been planning this party since August and really had so much fun since there was no real budget!  I love throwing parties for my sister and niece because part of my gift to them is the party itself so I don't have to worry about a budget.  My sister and entire family did help out a great deal with this party and I know I drove them crazy with all the details, but we couldn't resist with such a beautifully sweet niece!  My sister and family are all in South New Jersey (I live in CA) so I ordered all party supplies online and arrived a week early to bake the desserts.

All of the desserts were homemade:
- "Minnie Mia Sweet Sugar Cookies" (decorated with red/black sugar sheets shaped with cookie cutter for minnie, 1, & M and white sugar sheets shaped with hole puncher for the dots)
- "All for One Pie Pops" (cherry pie filling with sugar glaze and sprinkles)
- "Mouseka-Cookie Pops" (oreo, nutter butter, and chips ahoy cookies and icing dipped in chocolate)
- "Minnie Mia's 1st Smash Cake" (box vanilla cake with cream cheese icing dyed red and white sugar sheets for dots); the black / red fondant flower was made by Maria Nicoletti of RooneyGirl Bakeshop
- "Walt Disney White Chocolate Cherry Pops" (cherry jell-o with white chocolate pudding on top, push pop containers from The Sugar Diva)
- "Showtime Snickerdoodle Cupcakes" and  "Pluto-Butter Chocolate Cupcakes" (snickerdoodle and chocolate / peanut butter cupcakes with cream cheese and fondant ears / bow; the black / red fondant flower was also made by Maria Nicoletti of RooneyGirl Bakeshop

We decorated the dessert table with
- red and black tissue garland from Shop Sweet Lulu
- homemade red and white tissue pompoms
- red and white polka dot small suit case from Shop Sweet Lulu
- red/white polka dot fabric purchased from amazon.com
- homemade "Mia is One" minnie banner, cake stands (made by my father), tutu table skirt, & homemade dessert labels

We also homemade the following for the party:
- smash cake photo shoot so that pictures could be used on a homemade smash cake banner decoration
- minnie cutout invitations with Mia picture on a magnet in insert on 1 side and invite on the other
- month to month banner with pictures from Mia's life
- "Happy Birthday Mia" & "Mia is One" banners
- red / black / white tissue pom poms
- black gable favor boxes decorated with ribbon & Mia picture (contents were 2 cupcakes & a cookie)
- signs for favors, gifts, games
- "Minnie Mia Bean Bag Toss Game"
- "Minnie Mia Activity Book" with minnie mouse pictures to color and personalized word search & word scramble
- Mia's high chair with tutu skirt and "Mia is One" minnie banner
- birthday hat with red/white polka dot fabric, black flower from Michael's, lace ribbon, and minnie, Mia, 1 cutouts
- food labels

Mia's outfit(s) minnie shirt, tutu skirt, hat, bib, shoe clips, bloomers, bow) was purchased by my sister through etsy and other online stores.

This part 1 of 3 shows pictures from the invitations we made & the smash cake photo shoot we did on Mia's birthday.  We then used the photo shoot pictures in a banner displayed at the party.

These chocolate cupcakes with a "tsp" of peanut butter in the center were a real hit!

These snickerdoodles weren't as good, but I think if we melt the chocolate before placing in center they'd be better

Punched sugar sheets for cake dots

the cake before we decorated it

Smash Cake # 1 finished for the photo shoot

Mia's cute bloomers for the shoot

Shoot set up waiting for Mia

Mia & her Mommy

Family Reunion BBQ Invitation - May 2011

I created this invite for a friend who is planning a family reunion BBQ - I loved how they turned out! :) 

Sweet Child O' Mine Rockstar Party in Progress

I was asked to help friends of ours with their first born's first birthday party and when I showed them a few party example pictures - they fell in love with a rockstar party :)  Especially since dad is a huge Guns N' Roses (GNR) fan.  We will add GNR details to the party, which will also include guitar hero games, drum set centerpieces, rockstar cake pops, and a black / white zebra with aqua blue color scheme.  Many more details to follow, but for now here are some pictures of the invitations.

This little one is amazing.  I met with mom and Reef to go over details and he was full of personality!  Definitely an entertainer :)  Mom and dad took this picture of little Reefster, which was perfect for the invite!

I attached magnets to the back of the invites so guests can place them on their fridges for easy remembering. 

I made the invites with my silhoutte digital cutting machine - here's the pattern I cut out.

and here's the finished pile of envelopes:

Here are the invites all ready to be stamped and placed in the mail.

Sugar and Spice Baby Shower (Part 1 of 2)

I try to reinvent the details I use with every event and with this baby shower we used a ribbon curtain as the backdrop for the dessert table.  This is something that I have seen and wanted to create for a while now.  I can't wait for the next time when I can make it even better!  this event was extra special because i got to work with my friends dana, cecelia, and elizabeth who really helped with so many details.

I split this post into two because we took so many pictures of planning, setting up, and during the event.  This first post has pictures from the planning (invitation, decorations, baking) and setting up (decorations at event location withouth goodies & guests).

Here are some photos from the planning stages:

Here are some pictures of the event set up before the goodies and guests arrived:

Parties, Potlucks, and Paper Products - through February 2011

The following pictures are a compilation of all the mini events I've been involved in over the last few years.  i have included a summary of those creations below instead of creating a separate post for each.  I am a TKB Group X instructor for 24 hour fitness gym and some of the pictures below show invitations, prizes, and pictures from either during or after some of the workout parties I've held.  I also love to help out with most office parties in my section and have included many of the invitations I have created for potlucks and holiday parties including pictures from each event.