I have to keep reworking this for my own kids to give to Dad for Father’s Day. I wasn’t really planning on posting a new one this year, but I decided I’d go ahead and share for anyone who might also like to have it. Here’s a new version with some new questions. Enjoy!
Download Granddad version here.
Enjoy! Can’t wait to hear everyone’s answers.
How do you best celebrate a 4th birthday in July? With a star spangled party of course. This Born on the 14th of July celebration for Lauren’s oldest was rooted in all things red, white and blue. Setting the tone for this event was a festive invitation, which foreshadowed the main event as requested by the birthday boy—FIREWORKS!
How much do I LOVE the regrets line Lauren came up with? “Dud?” Too funny!
Here’s the spectacular front door complete with outdoor wreaths made from Red Hots and lantern-lined walkway.
There were lots of outdoor luminaries, pinwheels, banners, table bunting and other fun flag- and firework-inspired décor adorning spaces indoors and out.
Inclement weather forced many activities to the back porch of the party house, but guests were still able to enjoy an outdoor movie with quilt-covered floor seating and star spangled popcorn, as well as a round of firecracker ring toss.
These “pucker suckers” are a throwback to my own childhood. Our school’s PTA used to sell them as a fundraiser during Field Day. To make your own, just kneed the lemon, slice off the top of one end, cut a small “x” in the center of the top and insert a soft peppermint stick. Then, use the peppermint stick as a straw to suck up the lemon juice. So yummy!
How do you like our ring toss made from scrapbook paper, empty Pringles cans and some inexpensive dowels from the craft store? I thought they turned out pretty cute myself!
For dinner, good, old-fashioned 4th of July BBQ fare was served in red diner baskets with a blue gingham wax liners.
Food items included hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, corn pinwheels, watermelon stars, blueberries and strawberries served with flag picks, “Call it Macaroni (and Cheese)” bites and mini cherry pies.
Tin cans and empty paper towel tubing were made into firework decorations using colored Duck Tape, washi and deco mesh tubing for the fuses.
Guests were also offered a range of red, white and blue of drink options. Kids could choose from American as Apple Juice, Firecracker Fruit Punch or Teetotalers’ Red, White and Blue Brew served in firework cups (complete with mini-cupcake liners made into fuses) while adults enjoyed Star Spangled Sangria served in mason jars with patriotic paper straws.
Here’s our Yankee Doodle Boy! Once the birthday boy blew out the firework candles on his fabulous red, white and blue flag cake by Crumb Gourmet, guests were able to enjoy a slice along with vanilla ice cream served in patriotic paper cups with “Happy 4th” stamped wooden spoons.
After dinner was served and darkness fell, the Yankee Doodle Birthday Boy and his guests stocked up on fun glow-in-the-dark items and flocked to the front porch for the main event…a firework display set to a playlist of traditional 4th of July favorites.
Thank goodness the rain held out long enough for the kids to watch the party dads set off some pretty spectacular fireworks and have a little fun of their own with sparklers, complete with cup guards to protect little hands.
While outside, guests got campaign-style favor stickers that said “4 More Years.” Too funny! After the fireworks grand finale, the kids rode off into the night with their own supersized firework favor made from white mailing tubes, Duck Tape and washi. Like the firework cups, these too featured a fuse made from fringed cupcake liners. A personalized favor card was attached thanking guests for “making it such a happy 4th.”
Inside the favors was an assortment of themed items like Pop-Its, a cherry or blueberry pie-shaped cookie and watermelon sucker, all a fun reminder of our birthday boy’s star spangled 4th.
CREDITS
Party inspiration and styling: Pink Peppermint Parties
All paper good including invitations, signage, food and drink cards and favor tags: Pink Peppermint Paper, LLC.
Cake and cookies: Crumb Gourmet
Photography: Kirk Giessinger
Custom wooden spoons: InTheClear Packaging
Custom appliqué shirt: Thread Serious
Favor tubes: Uline
OK, so I totally (and I mean TOTALLY) forgot I’d done these for the first day of school. A kind soul reminded me, and so I wanted to go ahead and post for you since our last day is this Friday. Sigh. These are just like the First Day signs – Pre-school through 12th grade with a few generic use ones thrown in. Links to download are included at the bottom of this post.
Also available are these “Seniors Class of 20__” signs for K-12. I took a picture of my son and several of the first graders in the neighborhood on the first day, and I’m hoping to catch them for another photo on the last day too!
See. I even did the math for you! Enjoy and have a great summer!
Download Last Day of School Picture Signage here.
Download Seniors Signage here.
OK, so the Father’s Day printables that I’ve done over the years are literally blowing up my blog and on Pinterest. Well, not literally blowing up, but it’s my most popular post. Every Day. Of. The Year. So, you know. Try not to look. It’ll be kind of like a surprise. Shoot this link to Dad. Or print x number of copies and put it in his hand with writing utensils. Make it happen. I think the answers are going to be pretty funny!
Enjoy and Happy Mother’s Day! We survived another year of Cheeto fingers and selective hearing – with some good stuff in between.
Download Mother’s Day printable here.
Download Mother’s Day printable from Scribd.
My friend Lauren is expecting her third boy, Baby Jack! We recently surprised her with a small, informal gathering of friends at a local restaurant. I wanted to do something to make it special but with the timing and limitations of a restaurant setting we had to keep it simple. I planned each element so it could be done beforehand since we only had 30 minutes before guests began to arrive.
The guest of honor’s place was set with a copy of the invitation since it was a surprise to her. We invited friends for “dinner and a little potty talk.” C’mon. Funny.
We had a decorative beveled paper mat with a ribbon accent that coordinated with the invitations at each place setting. Each mentioned her older two boys by name and welcomed Baby Jack to make three! Not your traditional use of the phrase, but he will make three boys! Wallace, party of five.
Simple vases brought from home were filled with blue hydrangeas.
They stretched down the length of the table and were interspersed with these over-sized jacks I already had from this Sip and See for Lauren’s second son. Seriously. How perfect!
We surprised Lauren good, had a a great night of food, funny conversations and opened a few gifts in celebration of baby no. 3, who is scheduled to make his debut this week!
Here are the coordinating thank yous I gave her as part of my gift.
And each guest left with a little something sweet.
I think his would be pretty for a bridal shower as well, sweet to change colors to match the honoree’s color scheme and easy for anyone to recreate using store-bought paper and a circle punch to bevel the edges of a square page.
I’ve been waiting for Easter to roll around again to share this adorable Egg Hunt First Birthday that Lauren and family hosted for her youngest son.
Here’s the invitation I designed with a custom bunny die cut. Lauren added a tiny blue bow. She does love some detailed hand work. “Hippity Hoppity, there’s a birthday on its way.”
There are lots of sweet little details sure to make everybunny weak in the knees.
Lauren took a class and learned to make these deco mesh wreaths, to which she attached bunnies in the center. I’m impressed.
There was signage letting guests know which way to go.
The festivities were around back so guests were pointed in the right direction with this giant carrot pointer and Egg Hunt signage.
Lauren made these great yarn eggs and hung them from the trees. I love what great visual impact they had for relatively little cost. Except time, that is. I recall that they took a while to make!
Sweet white child-size tables covered in burlap and topped with these white egg trees planted in candy were set up on the back porch. Love.
I’m pretty sure this is the cutest place setting I’ve ever seen. I love the addition of flowers and mini eggs to the grass mats. And don’t get me started on the bunny napkins. I am TOTALLY stealing that.
Each guest chair had a yarn pom bunny tail—blue for the boy bunnies and pink for the girls. Swoon.
The hungry little bunnies munched on sliders, carrots in flower cups with ranch dip, cheese, mini cream puffs, Annie’s bunny cereal dry in flower muffin liners, and assortment of fresh fruit, cheese, bunny pops, and plastic eggs for the littlest bunnies were filled with puffs and yogurt melts.
Thirsty rabbits drank from these lidded cups with bunny straws.
There were sippy cups on hand for the little ones.
Adults even got in on the fun with these cottontail drink cups.
The kids all brought their baskets and took turns hunting eggs, letting the crawlers and new walkers get in on the fun too!
There was a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny! The birthday boy was a little unsure.
Then it was time for cake.
And a sweet little Easter smash cupcake for the birthday boy!
This is one of my favorite photos. Look at the delight in his face!
I love the birthday banner too, made from kraft letters affixed to egg-shaped doilies. “Hippity Hoppy Birthday!”
Inside the house, there were more sweet decorations to be found.
Complete with a play space for baby, no less.
When it was time to pack up their eggs and go home, guests each left with a keepsake egg hand-painted by a local artist who donates proceeds to a local not-for-profit.
As we’ve come to expect, Lauren did an amazing job. Her attention to detail is unparalleled, and what a special day it made for her baby boy’s first birthday!
I’m excited to have gotten my amazing photos back from my sweet friend, Rachel, and to have finally gotten through all of them so that I can share my daughter’s Barbie: The Princess and The Popstar birthday party with you all. The movie is a classic “grass is greener” tale of a princess and a popstar who each think the other’s life is so fantastic that they trade places for a day and learn some valuable lessons along the way. Hey, I could write DVD sleeve copy. My Sweet Caroline was introduced to the movie by some neighborhood friends and quickly became obsessed with being “Keira,” the popstar.
Here’s the invitation and the envelope in which it was delivered. We kept the guest list to a few girlfriends and invited them to come in costume for an on-stage performance.
Most of them were hand-delivered in the neighborhood so we were able to embellish them a bit.
We kept things simple with the party entrance this time, opting for a sparkly door sign and some backstage credentials.
Backstage passes hung from a guitar stand on the front porch. I wasn’t happy with the materials I found for ID badges at the local office store, so I printed 4×6 cards and had them hard laminated, adding a lanyard to each.
When guests entered, our Stage Moms were directed to the left into the “Green Room.” We had earplugs on hand just to be silly. Purple, of course.
Our “Talent” was directed through the lit doorway to the concert stage.
We also had directional signage for the “Green Room,” “Wardrobe” and this one for the bathroom.
C’mon. That’s funny.
There are my kiddos “tuning” the inflatable guitar before the party started. This is the only photo I have of my son at the party because he hightailed it down to the neighbor’s house when he heard he’d be outnumbered.
We built the stage with a piece of plywood and some scrap wood from our playset.
I painted it purple and added a short shimmery curtain to hide the legs. It fit right over the fireplace hearth, and gave the girls a few square feet of room to get their popstar on.
We covered the fireplace and mantel with pink and purple goodness and lit it up with Christmas lights.
Overhead was an over-sized tree ornament we used as a disco ball. It even had a pink tiara on its head.
Guests passed from the stage area to the “Green Room” through this sparkly pink curtain, which was a source of great entertainment for the girls.
(Read: they ran back and forth through it until it bit the dust.)
We kept the food light with items you might find in a real Green Room.
Maria from Love & Sugar Kisses made these AMAZING fondant topped Oreos for us. I swear to you that they were so perfect, people felt bad biting into them. Ha!
The pink Princess versions featured crowns and magic hairbrushes and the purple Popstar versions had guitars and magic microphones.
Since most everyone walked to the party, we offered mimosas to our stage moms. In keeping with our color scheme (and because I don’t really love a classic mimosa) we mixed 1 part champagne or sparkling juice, 1 part orange juice and 1 part V8 Fusion Pomegranate Blueberry juice. The concoction was a beautiful pink color, and the sweetness of the different juice really cut the usual bite of the drink. Two thumbs up.
The girls drank regular juice out of these easier to handle cups.
I made this centerpiece for around $10, wrapping boxes with matching table coverings and using inexpensive princess and popstar props from a party store.
I told the birthday girl she could eat when her guests arrived, so five minutes in, she was ready to chow down.
The girls ate and then took their time warming up to the stage. We had a small craft area where they could make “rock band” bracelets using stickers, rhinestones and leather wrist bands.
I was sure if the parents made themselves scarce, the girls would be fighting tooth and nail for a turn so I made these names to draw from to see who was next. As it turned out, they were pretty shy about getting up there. Who knew? We had a karaoke machine with songs from Barbie: The Princess and The Popstar movie and other faves the girls could choose from like “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “Call Me Maybe.”
Everyone wanted to be on stage, but very few wanted to sing alone. Safety in numbers. That’s my girl at the mic rockin’ and rulin’.
They had cake, the birthday girl made her wish and everyone took the stage again.
When it was time to head home, everyone left with one of these light-up wands, which I thought looked a lot like microphones.
I hoped they would sing into them in the mirror like we used to do as kids!
The tags said, “You royally ROCKED it, girl. You really did your thing. Take home this magic mic, look in the mirror and SING!”
After the party, I snapped a pic of Caroline in her purple Keira wig and we used the photo on these hilarious thank you notes, designed to look like autographed headshots.
Every time I look at them, I laugh all over again.
My baby is five. Wow. When did that happen?
Special thanks to Caroline’s Nana and Mrs. Lauren, as usual, for their hands-on help and party inspiration, and a special thanks to Mrs. Stacy for taking me in her giant truck to the home improvement store and staring blankly with me at a wall of plywood varieties. How could there be so many?!
Photography: Sweet Magnolia Photography
Cake: For Heaven’s Cakes
Oreos: Love & Sugar Kisses
Invitations, Paper Goods and Party Planning: www.pinkpeppermintpaper.com
My team is playing in the National Championship Game tonight! I couldn’t let today go by without sharing two pieces I designed over the Fall for some friends and neighbors who share my love for my alma mater, The University of Alabama.
My friend Jolie and I talked months out about a football tie-in to the plans she had for a 40th birthday surprise for her husband Mike. Since everyone’s Fall schedules fill up so quickly around here with football games and kids’ activities, there was a little pressure to get on everyone’s calendars as far in advance as possible. We knew it would be a road game in NOLA on a certain weekend, but time, location, etc. were all still TBD, so I created this playful Save the Date card to mail out while she and her Mother-in-Law worked out the specifics.
Here’s a look at the more detailed invitation that followed several weeks later. This one was a little bit hard for me, because I LOVED the way the Save the Date turned out and wanted the two pieces to coordinate without being too matchy matchy.
I had fun playing with all the football terminology, referring to the surprise as a “game plan” or “trick play,” the party start time as “kick-off” and the outdoor setting as a “back yard scrimmage.”
Here’s a better look at both pieces together. I was very pleased with the way they turned out, and we had a blast in NOLA for the weekend!
More importantly, {he swears} we got the birthday boy good! Roll Tide.
This past weekend my sister and her family threw their 6th Annual Neighborhood Halloween party. The more they do it, the more awesome the party gets. This year’s get-together (and Halloween costumes) were inspired by a spring trip they made to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. For starters, let’s catch the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9 3/4. I love the brick element they added to the storm door. Excellent.
Oh, good! They’ve been BOOed. Wonder where they got that cute sign…
I am loving the garland and cool arrangements in the planters on the porch.
I made these reusable pumpkins for their kiddos last year using Funkins and a templates found here. Sort of gives new meaning to the word “Jack-O-Lantern.” Sorry. I couldn’t resist.
Look! There’s Prof. McGonagall now.
Here’s their party invitation–a daily dose of The Prophet inviting Hogwarts alums to attend the annual Halloween Feast. Other articles featured the kids, their daughter as a witch wanted for questioning about a Honeydukes break-in and their son as the champion seeker for the Gryffindor team.
There was a Quidditch field set up on the lawn. Brooms for everyone! The kids had a blast.
The spectators and players alike enjoyed a taste of Butterbeer straight from The Three Broomsticks.
There’s a thirsty player now. Watch out! She’s got her wand ready to strike.
Inside, there were all sorts of appropriately creepy details.
How much do I love this Ministry of Magic decal? I have a feeling it’s going to stay for a while.
And look, there’s Hedwig in the Owlery.
Watch out! The Whomping Willow lies in wait in the living room. He doesn’t look so menacing here as in the movie.
And what a spread Hogwarts puts out for their Halloween Feast! There were lots of yummy treats. Love Ollivander’s Wands made from chocolate-dipped pretzel rods.
Firebolts and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans
Sorting Hats and Cauldron Cakes
Wizard Hats
Slytherin Sandwiches for Prof. Snape and his cohorts
Nimbus 2000s
And let’s not forget the Chocolate Frogs!
And if that wasn’t enough, how about a stroll through Honeydukes Sweetshop, which they recreated using these printables from Bakingdom.
And here’s a little Liquid Luck to wash it all down with.
What a fun way to change things up for your annual Halloween party!
My hilarious and always dazzling friend, The Purple Pug, is celebrating three years of sharing fun, fabulous and funky real parties over on her blog. Some amazing party girls and I are sponsoring a giveaway celebration, where you learn about some great vendors and get your name in the hat for a drawing of not one, but TWO KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixers. YOU choose the fabulous color!
Just over two days left to enter! Swing on by, check out her blog redesign and click the like button to be entered. Again and again. And again. SUPER easy! Enter here. Good luck! And if you win, you can bake me a cake with your new mixer. Chocolate.
