Pink Peppermint Blogger

Some college friends are expecting a little girl! They live out of town, as many of us now do, and quickly settled on a couples shower as a great way to visit with all the folks they don’t see as often as they’d like. Several girlfriends and I got busy putting together a sweet baby shower. I don’t get to do these very often so “Yea!”

I’ll admit this was somehow the first couples baby shower I’d been to, much less hosted. I was on the hunt for something feminine but not so much so that the guys would feel squirmy. I came across this Modern Due Date Shower from Hostess with the Mostess and decided that using mod printed papers and due date-themed elements would be a nice middle ground. If my math is right, the mom- and dad-to-be will be celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary this summer, and since this is their first baby I thought “All in Due Time” was a theme that worked well. Hope you agree!

Here’s the shower invitation!

I found a great set of coordinating scrapbook papers from American Crafts’ Everyday collection. I liked them because of their use of pink and green and the concentric (is that the right word?) circles–both themes in the baby’s nursery bedding. Plus, there was a number element that worked well with the due date theme. I used a strawberry colored envelope lined with numbers.

When guests arrived, they were greeted with this paper loop wreath also made from patterned papers.

I used a template I found online for the paper baby shoes that hung in the middle and were placed around inside the house for the party. Who could resist a little pair of Mary Janes? Not me. I added a small pink button closure to each.

In the foyer was the perfect place to sort of introduce our theme with some due date numbers. I picked these up at Michael’s, painted them and then distressed them a bit. I then hot glued them to some inexpensive craft boxes, which were covered with more decorative paper.

I also found this small craft figure, which I made preggars with half an Easter egg cut the long way. I dressed her in cut paper to match the numbers.

And here’s the full affect for the entry way complete with those beautiful pink flowering branches. I love Spring!

This was my first time making party poms. Like many things in my life, I saw these and thought “I could totally do that.” These must not have been as bad as I thought because a co-hostess asked where I bought them. Yea! Props to my mom for being a good sport the night before and fluffing those with me! I found that to be the hardest part. Also like many things in my life, it’s just something you have to do a lot until you get good. With the help of my dear husband, I hung them with those nifty little adhesive hooks by 3M that just peel right off after use and tied a bow at the top to hide the hooks a bit.

There were five of us hosting from four different states, so we divided and conquered for the party. One got the cake–a yummy white two-tiered number with our coordinating circle motif and the sweetest fondant baby shoes on top. Adorable!

Another handled the flowers. They complimented the color scheme so well. I thought they were perfect!

Another the food, and so on…

We served chicken kabobs, roast beef on rolls, spinach and artichoke dip, fruit, bruschetta, and a yummy sundried pesto roasted red pepper cheese cake with crackers. Tasty!

Here are the candy pacifiers I fell in love with from HWTM. I used store-bought cookie icing as the “glue” to hold these together so they were edible. It seems I made lots of them, so we placed them around the house in candy dishes, and tied some to the wine glasses.

I am always amazed at how easy it is to find even the unlikeliest of things in the colors you need. I found this mod polka dot fabric as well as the more floral one shown above. Then, I came across napkins that echoed both the color scheme and the fabric. What are the odds?

In keeping with our “All in Due Time” theme, we sent guests home with these pocket calendar favors. I bought inexpensive vinyl-covered calendars and once again used our patterned papers by trimming them to size and slipping them into the vinyl to cover the original. They were tied with a bow and adorned with a tag reading “All in Due Time” and including the baby’s due date.

Their big day was also marked inside!

I borrowed these little suitcases of my daughter’s, which strangely enough, matched perfectly. Plus, I thought it was a subtle nod to both the idea of having a bag packed for the hospital and to hitting the road when the fun ended.

The message says, “Time flies when you are having fun! Thanks for being here.”

We had an evening of fun reconnecting with old college friends, and I think it was a really special night for Gayle and Michael. We are all so excited for them to join the club and see what all the fuss is about! Now we are left to count the days until their baby girl arrives!

So my pal Katie came to me a few weeks before her baby’s first birthday with cows on the brain. She said “Holstein” so I played along until I could Google it. Ha! (and no I’m not joking). Duh. It’s the black and white ones–the ones you picture when someone says “cow.” Anyhoo, I whipped up some invitations, and she was sweet enough to share some party pics from the big night.

They had the party at a fave local pizza joint and brought in just the right elements to make this party udderly adorable with cow print, sky blue and green accents.

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There is something about cow print that’s happy! Am I wrong? It just perks you right up. Those plate and napkins are too cute!

And speaking of too cute, this is Henry, the birthday boy, sporting a super festive cow-themed longall that Katie had made. Big bro, Thompson had a matching shirt.

Here’s the cake–love the grass details and the darling cow candle. I wish my handwriting was that sweet in pen, much less in icing!

…and Henry’s smash cake. I’ve seen the pictures. He really enjoyed helping himself to it!

The little guests went home with what else but cow cookies! I love this shot. The blue and green of the invitation against all that black and white–delicious.

And here’s one of the thank you notes.

Moochas gracias to Katie for sharing, and Happy 1st Birthday Henry!

A few months back, I had a customer come to me with an idea for her son’s first birthday party. Golf! I confess that, having no golf enthusiasts in my family, I was a little thrown at first. But soon, Amaris and I both got swept up in the fun ideas, the bright colors and a hint at warmer weather in the bleak winter months. I just couldn’t wait to see how it all turned out, and I’m here to tell you, this mama did NOT disappoint. Prepare to have your argyle socks knocked off as you enjoy Amaris’ account of Bradley’s Hole-in-One First Birthday!

The cake was amazing!  I loved the whimsical “topsy-turvy” golf flags! To make the cake display, I purchased an 18″ round plastic tray from the party store and covered the tray with about an inch of potting soil.  I put a small bowl in the center of the tray to reserve space for a clear glass cake stand to hold the cake.  (my cake stand measured 11″ in diameter and the cake was 10″)

and here is the matching smash cake…

I tried to carry out the “one” theme and use circles when possible, like on the stickers and favor tags. I made a Happy Birthday banner out of red felt to resemble a string of golf flags, which hung behind the cake table.  I also found yellow hand clappers, or, golf claps as I like to call them.

Playing A Round

Our “sand trap” was created out of a huge galvanized tub which was filled with several bags of playground sand and plastic golf balls.  I placed the tub on artificial turf cut to look like a golf green.

The kids loved playing in the sand!

I found a Par 3 Mini Golf Course made by Step 2 toys, which was fun! It was a great interactive toy for parents and kids. The older kids especially enjoyed it, and I even saw a few daddies testing out their putting skills, too!

Here’s our birthday boy trying out his skills.

I also borrowed my nephew Jack’s golf cart rocker.  It was the perfect photo-op for parents and the kids loved taking turns going for a “ride.”

Par-tee Eats and Treats

We served typical golf course style food–mini hot dogs, chips and rotel dip, mac and cheese and fruit.  At the last minute, I found some straw sipper cups online which were on mega clearance from Christmas and just so happened to be red and lime green with coloring page inserts.  I had tons of felt left over from making the golf flags and birthday banner, so I got creative and cut felt inserts with each guest’s first initial to personalize each cup.  They were perfect!

We also had stickers to give out that said, “I played a round at Bradley’s 1st Birthday!”

I must admit, with all the excitement, I totally forgot to give out the precious stickers at the party.  Booo mama.  However, I did put stickers in each thank you note, which, I think worked well, too! Here are our thank you notes.

I loved the Hole-in-One Par-tee theme!  Most importantly, the design work that Pink Peppermint Paper did truly set the tone for the party and made it extra special.  I really enjoyed that I was able to be so involved with the designs and incorporate my ideas.

………..

Thanks for sharing Amaris! What an amazing job and a big day with their little boy! Happy 1st Birthday Bradley!

Yep. Here we are. Valentine’s Day is upon us. It was just Thanksgiving and now, at least in the South, we’ve got bathing suit weather barreling down on us. Awesome. All the more reason to steer clear of the candy if you can. We’re still working through the avalanche of Christmas treats that live in what my kids call “the basket.” Ugh.

I’m going rogue here and avoiding the candy almost entirely. Alas, when I spotted these adorably large heart suckers in the dollar bin at Target, I could not resist. You can make even the most commonplace of V-Day goodies festive with a cute tag and a playful message. These gift enclosures were made with a grosgrain tie and a rounded corner option.

Last year, I dug these little mailboxes (also from the hallowed bins of dollar goodness at Target). Imagine my delight when I spotted them again this year. My kiddos are both fairly into mail. Getting it, sending it, making it, checking it. So I figure that most kids are. Ages ago I bought some inexpensive blank white cards and envelopes at Michael’s Arts and Crafts and let my oldest make his own cards to send to friends and family for various occasions. I was back at Michael’s the other day and spotted an assorted pack of Valentine’s Card Stock Paper. They come 25 sheets to a pack and were on sale two pack for $5. I thought it would be cute to do some Make Your Own Valentine’s kits this year to include with the mailboxes. I just scored each page the long way and cut them in half to make folding cards. I think I’ll throw in a few envelopes just because my son LOVES that part and because of Pink Peppermint Paper, I happen to buy them in boxes of 250, but you could always just include some stickers to seal the Valentines.

Here are the mailboxes. Aren’t they sweet? I think they would also be charming as decorations for a Valentine’s Day Party. Don’t you agree?

And here are the cards I made for the kids to make their own Valentine’s.  These are for my daughter’s class of two-year-old pals. They are really into trying to peel and place stickers and are starting to color so will probably include some of those things to make it more fun for them.

Or if you want to include individual stickers or other lose frills, you can enclose your kits in zip-top bags. This also works nicely because as with most things like this, no plan is perfect. The mailboxes have a lid on each end and the cards at this standard size are too long, so you can just throw the extra lid in the bag for later use and let the mail just hang out like it’s too stuffed to close!

And finally a slightly more random idea. I got off on a tangent thinking about things that make your heart race. You know really get it pumping. I found some Disney jump ropes at a local discount store and decided that would be a fun alternative to candy for my son’s class of three- and four-year old buds.

Ahhh…the jump rope. Great for learning coordination. Great exercise. If you haven’t picked one up in a while, give it a try. Talk about wearing yourself out. More importantly, it will wear the kids out. My son is already begging for the race car rope he saw in my hand. And hey, if he can’t quite get the hang of jumping it yet, I’m sure he’ll find alternate uses. I’m fully anticipating that he will convert his little sister’s Cozy Coupe into a tow truck in no time compliments of that Max and Ruby episode we’ve seen 50 times.

Hope you’ve seen something that makes your heart flutter. If you like what you’re seeing, please leave a comment at the top of this or any of our posts. Funny thing about a blog is that it’s hard to know if anyone is reading it if no one comments!

And if you are in the market for some cutie V-Day cupcake toppers, check out these freebies  from Creative Party Place. Enjoy!

Our most recent soirée is proof positive that you can throw a sweet party without spending weeks on planning or execution. I pulled off the look of our daughter Caroline’s 2nd birthday in less than two hours at Hobby Lobby with both kids in tow. The dear girl’s birthday is December 27th, you see. I was later with my Christmas preparations than usual with all the holiday orders coming in and had thought up until the week prior that we would celebrate with some friends a few weeks after her actual birthday once school started back. But, we had family and friends already in town, and that coupled with my desire not to drag things out another few weeks made the decision easy. So this year, we celebrated her big day with an intimate Sunday brunch.

I started playing with digital silhouettes back in the Spring of 2008. My mother had the beautiful hand cut ones done of my sister and I when we were young, and even today when I see them, I am compelled to stand and study them for a moment. This was my inspiration for our party invitations. I love the keepsake aspect of it, and what could be more feminine and classic?  I created this sweet little girl look with a pink and brown invitation featuring a silhouette of our birthday girl. I used a scalloped paper punch to create matching return address labels with her monogram.

Pink and brown fabrics were an inexpensive and impactful way to dress up our two dining tables. I used coordinating polka dot scrapbook paper as place mats and we dusted off our fine china. Hey, we have to use it some time! Am I right? We use paper mache presents wrapped in Parisian-themed paper and grosgrain ribbon for the center of the table.

The kids ate from pink and brown nursery rhyme-themed toile and polka dot paper plates, and I used the same Parisian wrapping paper to make the party hats. I wasn’t sure about the four-year-old boys wearing pink party hats, but it turns out a party hat is a party hat, and they wanted in!

We had a fabulous spread of Cajun- and Creole-inspired dishes compliments of my fantastic husband. He not only planned the entire menu (he’s quite the foodie), but he and his wonderful mother, known as “Granny” around these parts, did literally all of the preparation and cooking. There was Shrimp Toast with Sweet Creole Tomato Sauce, Garlic Cheese Grit Souffle, Creme Broulee Lost Bread (a fantastic French toast dish), Baked Eggs with Crawfish and Mushrooms in Ham Baskets, muffins, pecan tarts and fresh fruit. The food was out of this world! I can say this because, as I said, I had no part in it. We had mimosas and coffee too because if you’re going to get yourself and your clan dressed and to our house at 9:30 on a weekend morning, then by golly, we’re going to make it worth your while!

Our cakes echoed the pink polka dot theme.

I used the paper punch again to make special candles for her big wish!

The kids played, and Caroline opened some fantastic presents while we all recovered from too much good food.

Look at her big bro so dutifully standing by to help her tear them open!

While our guests were here I took a few profile shots of them so that I could make their parting gifts. We said thanks with these folding thank you notes and what else but silhouette keepsakes?

Pink for the girls…

and red for the boys…this is one my favorite. He’s just a rock star!

What a great birthday brunch we had! Happy Birthday Sweet Caroline!

There are some things in this life that I believe with all my heart. Grosgrain ribbon improves anything. That’s right. Anything. Overuse of personal fragrance should be punishable by law. Dessert is always a good idea. And, most of all, it’s all in the little details. With this I give you my kids’ Christmas classroom goodies for this year–Holiday Magic Reindeer Food.

I know what you’re thinking. Yawn. Seen it before. Done it before. Anyone can throw some oatmeal into a baggie. True, but this is different–because at Pink Peppermint Paper, we throw oatmeal into a baggie with style. Easy for me to say, right? I design and print things for a living. I have all the stuff I need here at my disposal. Well, you’re about to get lucky. Times are tight and in the giving spirit of the holidays, we’re supplying a downloadable file for you to print at home. So where were we? Modicum of crafting skills? Check. Professional-looking uber cute Christmas goodies on the CHEAP? Check.

If you follow my blog, you may know that if there’s one thing I love, it’s a consumable gift. One that gets used up. One that doesn’t add to the mountain o’ stuff in my house. And during a season of abundant candy and not-so-good for you treats, this little Christmas happy doesn’t add to the excess but still delights the kiddos on Christmas Eve. Yea!

What you’ll need:

• small zip-seal bags approx. 4 inches wide (check your local craft store’s jewelry section)
• oatmeal
• color sugar crystals or nonpareils (pron. non-puh-rel for those of you like myself who have always wondered)
• double stick tape or glue dots
• a few sheets of 8.5×11 white card stock or 4 x 6 photo paper
• a color printer

Nice to have:

• a paper trimmer or the ability to cut a straight line with scissors
• a ruler
• a bone scorer to make a nice, clean fold

A what? For those of you who may not know, a bone scorer is a hard plastic tool that you use with a ruler to score your paper so you get a perfect fold without your paper cracking. You could probably use a ruler and a credit card, butter knife, etc. to that same end and it would be free. So you just trim the cards out, score them down the center, fold them over the top of your filled bag and adhere them over the zippered part of the bag with double-stick tape or glue dots. Grab another mom or two. Split the cost and the work. Or make it a play date and get the kids involved. Mine love to take ownership in this sort of thing!

And here’s the finished product!

Now do me a favor. If you’re going to do this, do it well. Represent. We have received magic reindeer food before (read: oatmeal in a sandwich bag with a magic marker label) that made me ask, “Seriously?” So let’s all have a little respect for the presentation. I like to shoot for a could have done this herself, but MAY have bought it look. I’m planning to put personalized stickers with a holiday message and who it’s from on the back of the bag.

My other festive freebies are two t-shirt designs. Now, I get some catalogs at my house. OK, I’m pretty sure I get every catalog. And they all have cute kids tees. Ones with cute graphics or funny sayings. Ones that they want me to buy for $38. Sadly, I have been cursed with a practical streak that kills any enjoyment I might glean from such a purchase. If I can’t bring myself to pay that for an everyday shirt, then I won’t be shelling out for Christmas shirt with five weeks of life at best. I saw this idea for a saying somewhere and could think of nothing better to capture the essence of my son. Then, I needed one for his little sister.

What you need:

• a t-shirt (washed and ironed)
• a dark t-shirt transfer for your type of printer–inkjet, etc. (usually in the labels section of the grocery store or at any craft supply store)
• scissors
• an iron and a hard flat surface to iron on (NOT an ironing board); I used a granite countertop
• a razor blade or small utility knife

I had never attempted a t-shirt transfer prior to the infamous garbage party, but I got GREAT results the very first time. The key is to use the highest non-steam setting on your iron and to use a hard surface like a counter top or floor that doesn’t distribute the heat like an ironing board would. The hardest part (and I’m totally serious) is getting the backing off of the transfer page. I finally had great success with a razor blade. Get one. Seriously. Or you will want to pull your hair out.

In my opinion, the results are a lot less homemade looking if you trim around the wording and lay it out as separate pieces on the shirt before you iron. Otherwise, you have a sea of white background that makes your shirt look…well, buddy. The way our downloadable PDFs are laid out, you can fit two designs to a page of transfer paper. Print one, turn it around and run the paper through a second time to print the other end of the paper. They are spaced to give you room to trim them out. PLEASE don’t take these and transfer them onto your shirt as they are. Trust me. It won’t be pretty. You MUST trim them out. And hey, if you have a real stinker on your hands, you can switch the percentages on the naughty/nice around!

So you place all the pieces out on your shirt, cover the design with the piece of the tissue paper provided, iron for two minutes and Voila! My kiddos sported theirs over Thanksgiving weekend, and it just makes folks smile–probably because they can all relate.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get busy! Enjoy these little freebies, and Merry Christmas from Pink Peppermint Paper!

Download Magic Reindeer Food Tag 4×6

Download Magic Reindeer Food Tag 8.5×11

Download Christmas Shirt Iron-ons

I do this every year. I saw it coming from a mile away. Just like last year. But it was summertime. My kids were out of school, and I had only the few hours a day they chose to take a nap (or not) to accomplish anything. I told myself it’d just have to wait until school started. By the time I had my wits about me, October was barreling down on us–my son’s birthday. Everything would just have to wait until after the party. Then, BAM. Halloween. November.

November is gonna be the month. I can feel it! I’m already thinking ahead. School fundraiser. Crud, I need a new picture of the kids. What will they wear? Shopping with the kids. Holiday photo session. Adult beverage. Well-managed gift idea list. One that’s really thought-out. One that attempts to manage the toy creep–the exponential explosion that’s taken over the den and is already threatening adjoining spaces. One that takes into account October and December birthdays. Ugh. If I can just make it to Thanksgiving. Early bird card orders. I LOVE YOU. Thanksgiving feast at school. I signed up. November is my month, right? Wonder if the Pilgrims had UncrustablesTM? Thanksgiving. Travel. Overeating. Black Friday. Back to work.

Emails and orders flying. Printing. Shipping. Mailing lists. Festive holiday postage. Baked goods. Classroom treats. I wonder if anyone is allergic? If I can just make it to my order deadline…Wrapping paper. Wishing I had one of those hoses that they use to blow in insulation that spit out red and green candy stripes all over our gifts to conceal their contents. Patent pending.

One more week until the kids are out. Draft twenty-three point list of To Dos before said time. And, hey. Maybe I’ll print some Christmas cards of my own. If I can just make it to Christmas. Wait. What about my poor little December 27th birthday girl? I knew I should’ve applied myself in math. If I can just make it to New Year’s. I hate New Year’s. If I can just get the kids back to school I can recommit to my annual pledge to fitness. Right. If I can just make it to Spring Break….OK I’m giving myself palpitations just writing about it.

So that’s officially half the year I’ve wished away, and it occurs to me that I’m blowing through the sweet spot, the best years with my two kiddos, without soaking it all in like I should. This season, we’re going to get crafty and make things. We’re going to bake and cut and glue things. I may even let them use glitter. OK, who am I kidding. No glitter. But this season, I mean it. I’m going to slow down and really roll around in the holidays.

My kids are both preschool age or younger so there are quite a few occasions to give classroom goodies. We got candy last year. Lots. Starting with Halloween and keeping steady pace straight on through to Easter. So much candy that I ended up having to throw some out. And I love candy. My oldest was saying things like “Mom, I finished my breakfast. Now what can I have?” expecting me to reward him with candy at 7:30 a.m. Nice.

It’s even trickier when you have really young ones on your list because, let’s face it, none of us needs any more little trinkets in our house, and it’s hard to find age-appropriate and inexpensive gifts. I personally like to go for consumables–paper, food, things that get used up. Recently, I was discussing options for Halloween with my friend. She reminded me of some pastel chocolate candy carrots that we made for Easter treats using cone-shaped cello bags and of another mom who made carrots the same way out of cheese balls–genius! She mentioned candy corn and voila! We had our fun idea for edible but mildly nutritious Halloween goodies. Just add super festive Pink Peppermint gift enclosures or stickers to taste.

I tried recreating the look of both traditional and chocolate candy corn layers, mostly just because I had to work some chocolate in there. These use yogurt-covered raisins, Kix TM cereal and Goldfish TM crackers–both cheddar and chocolate graham. My kids are foaming at the mouth for me to fork them over. The trick, I found, is to twist, flip up and tape the bottom inch or so of the bag–the very tip end of the cone–or it still just looks like a carrot. Be sure there is enough color differentiation between your white and yellow layers too. Yes, I do realize I sound disturbed. Promise I’m not. OK, maybe a little, but only about stuff like this.

What You Need:
Cone bags: I searched online for “cone-shaped cello bags” and found them sold in quantities as low as ten.

Gift Tags: You gotta let people know who they’re from, right? I designed the ones shown.

Good Eats: Some thoughts for the different layers

White: Yogurt-covered raisins, Yogurt Burst Cheerios TM, mini marshmallows, M&Ms TM or other white candy

Yellow: Original Goldfish TM, Kix TM, Corn Pops TM or other cereal (aside: for some reason King Vitamin TM just popped into my head. Anyone? No? OK.)

Orange: Cheddar Goldfish TM, Cheese Balls, Cheez-Its TM, M&Ms TM or pumpkin candy corns

Brown: Chocolate Graham Goldfish TM, Whoppers TM, M&Ms TM or chocolate-covered raisins

This is a fun project for including kids preschool aged and up. If there’s one thing my son likes almost as much as getting a goody bag, it’s making a goody bag. Seriously.

My other bright idea was individually wrapped store-bought popcorn balls tied up in orange tissue paper with green curly ribbon.

Cut and paste a jack-o-lantern face or if you’re good draw one on with a marker. I myself cut and pasted after attempting to draw. This would be cute for candied or caramel apples too.

Halloween? Check.

So my son fell in love with a toy garbage truck at the store over two months before his birthday. When he asked to bring it home, I quipped about how he had a birthday coming up and unknowingly sealed my fate—a garbage truck party. Rubbish! I angled for a heavy machinery theme. Rejected. So I took a deep breath and dug in. Way in. Knee deep in garbage and recycling!

I looked all over the Internet for ideas, and most of what I found was dozens of other moms asking for help throwing a garbage/garbage man/garbage truck party. Awesome. Where to begin?

I started thinking about all the things you would normally find at a party and attempted to trash them up. We set the tone for trash with these invitations I created. Check them out at www.pinkpeppermintpaper.com. I used paper grocery bags to make the envelopes and mailed them with coordinating return address labels that hinted at our theme.

I decided that we could turn our trash into decorations for the party.
I made flowers out of drink boxes and food boxes and used yogurt cups for the centers.

Our house is hard to spot until you’re right on top of it so I rolled our garbage can up to
the street and tied some balloons to it. We supplemented our planters with recycled flowers.

Pennant banners made from old drink pouches and scrapbook paper in our colors—
blue, green and orange—hung above the main table.

It was decorated with layers of vinyl tablecloths used to help create a cheerful garbage route.

Pages from old magazines trashed our party hats.

The iPod bellowed songs like Oscar The Grouch’s “I Love Trash,” “The Trash Can Band,”
Jack Johnson’s “The 3 R’s,” and “Stuck on Trash” by Recycleman & The Waste Band.

My son is always really interested when we see workers picking up trash on the side of the road. I found some inexpensive robot pincher claws online and added a sticker to make them Garbage Grabbers, and our garbage pick-up game was born. We told the kids that litterbugs had scattered trash all over our yard and asked for their help to make it all clean again. Some of them really got into it!

There was some spontaneous can-stomping fun too. What boy doesn’t like to do that?
I also made garbage truck coloring sheets for those not into picking up trash.

The summer camp at my son’s preschool gave me the idea to make bottle cap necklaces.

At the party, the kids got choose their necklace colors, look for the charms with their names and choose from other designs like ballet-themed, football teams and super heroes. We had some garbage and recycling charms too like the 3 R’s and a frog from one of my stationery designs that said “It’s not easy bein’ green.”

I created the designs, punched them with a one-inch circle punch and glued them into bottle caps I ordered from a home brewing supply place. I used jewelry glaze to give them their 3D effect without the smell or mess of resin.

We also used the bottle caps on the candles, for cupcake toppers, on the main table and as decorations on the seedling trees we sent home with the kids. They got a small reusable shopping bag to carry home all of their loot.

Small, galvanized trash cans held some of the party food and flowers.

Now for the junk food! We had Junkyard Dogs aka Pigs in a Blanket, Funky Chicken Salad, a Stinky Cheese Ball, Hubcaps with Cheese and Old Tires with Jelly—both Uncrustables sandwiches and the birthday boy’s favorite—Mini Mud (Meat) Pies and Fruit Fly Skewers.

Water bottle labels got people thinking about the potential after recycling.

The cake was a little garbage truck I attempted. Not my best work
(there were circumstances people), but the four-year-old thought it was the coolest!

And here are our bottle cap cupcake toppers!

I made the birthday boy a t-shirt for the big day using the garbage truck art from our invitation.
I used a dark t-shirt transfer with great results! It’s true. He’s quite the Trash Talker!

The other kiddos got garbage truck stickers that I printed for the end of the party.
It’s hard to pass up a good sticker.

Out-of-town family and friends shipped us Reese’s birthday presents so in keeping with our theme, we recycled newspaper and magazines into wrapping paper and bows. And, let me tell you when you can get away with it, a trash bag made the perfect gift bag for an oversized toy!

We thanked our guests with these garbage truck folding note cards.

And since we clearly hadn’t trash talked enough, later that week we made dirt cups to celebrate with his classroom friends.

Whew! Happy 4th Birthday to my little Garbage Man!

Source List

Bottle caps: online from a home brewing supply store

Choker Necklaces: Etsy

Garbage Grabbers: eBay

Galvanized Garbage Cans: www.galvanizedpail.com