Pink Peppermint Blogger

What a wild and crazy year for Pink Peppermint Paper! We finished our first full year of blogging and celebrated our fourth year in the stationery business both in late October. I worked with lots of great folks who make me feel so appreciated and creative even when I don’t always see those things in myself. Somewhere in there, Lauren and I started a party planning gig–Pink Peppermint Parties. Bought a house. Sold a house, and my family and I relocated to Mississippi. Well, all except for that “sold a house” part. Ugh. No worries. 2011 is the year. I can FEEL it!

I was taking a look back at all we’ve shared with you this year. Here are some of my faves (for one reason or another) with links back to the full posts if you’re new or just missed them the first go round.

Little Girl’s Birthday Brunch – silhouette artwork and party favors inspired by my favorite little girl

High-Flying Birthday Adventure - L.O.V.E. working this super creative mom (and my former boss). Airsick bags to hold party favors. “We’re sick to see you go”!?! Yes, we did.

Hole-in-One First Birthday – The cake. The activities. THE WHEAT GRASS. Seriously.

All in Due Time Couples Baby Shower – Eight or so hostesses all living in different cities. This had no real hope of working, but it did anyway! I love it when a plan comes together.

Backyard Birthday Carnival – Fun colors. Games. Carnival food. Yum! This post gets a LOT of hits. I think it’s because of this awesome ceiling drape!

Feather Her Nest Baby Shower – Lauren hosted this for a dear friend. Love the elements from nature as well as the pops of color inspired by the baby’s nursery. RicRac, how do I love thee?

ARTy Party Lots of colors. Fun invitation. All-time favorite themed regrets line. You’re welcome.

Lifesaver Party – Our first Pink Peppermint Parties customer celebrating a big grant for a small not-for-profit, StopSMA.org. Someone wants to pay us for this?! Yea!

Hungry for more? The bugs were too at this Bug Out Birthday – the fabulous Lauren schools us on throwing an uber creative venue birthday. Where to begin…

Heroes and Villains – I’m still tired from this party in early October–my boy’s 5th.

Setting the stage for a battle of good versus evil.

Good guys and bad stand defiant atop cupcakes, capes whipping in the wind. The industrial cupcake stand was made of dampers and such from Lowe’s gutter/roofing section. Score!

Some of the good guys watching carefully from above.

I like to include elements of fun for the adults, too. C’mon now. That’s good stuff.

Neighborhood Halloween Bash – a great mix of spooky and fun at my sister’s house!

Another Fab Golf ParTee – Here’s another fun golf-themed birthday with lots of creative touches including the sought-after Sippy Cup Trophy! Man, I love a pennant banner. And argyle. Don’t get me started.

And last are these recent bottle labels. Whip a few up for NYE!

In 2010, I also saw my business double, which is due, in no small part, to those of you who follow me, leave comments and share links with friends. Many thanks! I am truly blessed to do something I love. So looking forward to new and exciting things in the coming year! Happy New Year!

Eleanor

My friend, Lesley, touched base with me several months back. She was throwing an art party for her daughter’s upcoming birthday. None of the invitations she had seen were doing anything for her so she asked me to do a custom job. I worked up several options, and here’s a sample of the invitation she chose.

The party was at a local art studio. What a fun idea! And perfect because they can get all messy and you don’t have to clean it up. Awesome.

There was painting,

and sand art.

They strung beads and enjoyed all sorts of other fabulously messy creativity. There’s the birthday girl in deep concentration over her masterpiece. (Either of mine would be sticking their tongues out just so. It’s a genetic marker on my dad’s side.)

Drumroooooolllllll please…

Magnificent! And speaking of which, what a super colorful spread! I love the use of different colored solid plates for this.

Check out this artful display of cupcakes!

Can you stand it? She used an assortment of these tilt-a-whirl baking cups. So festive!

I love these super colorful homemade crayons too. Lesley said she and her sister did this a lot as kids. My mom was pretty stinkin’ crafty, but we never did this that I recall. The only thing I was melting crayons into was the floor mat of our car.

I hope some of theoe cutie crayons were included in the party favor pails. Take a look. What else but paint buckets?

Man, oh man. Look at all that good arty loot. And how about these sweet favor tags? Paint swatches. Love it!

And finally, here are the thank you notes I did for them.

Looks like much fun was had at Ella’s 6th birthday party! What a cute party theme too. I love the idea of getting back to basic fun with art! Thanks to Lesley for letting us share in the fun.