Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious party

I LOVE Mary Poppins!! It's one of my all time favorites. So when Danielle of Belleza e Luce sent me this wonderful party for her daughter ~it was love at first sight and brought back wonderful memories!! Look at this entrance~Guests were greeted at the walkway to the backyard with Mary’s black umbrella and outing hat along with Bert’s chimney brush and hat.

How cute is this!!

White umbrellas suspended from above, the children’s dining, and a wood structure of the chimney skylines were the focal points in the yard. I could not love more the wood structure that Danielle had of the London chimney skyline!! Love it!

I just love the details!

It's 3 am and I'm starving ... I want a caramel apple!

Don't you just love the labeling???

This is party is so full of wonderful details...I just gave you a small sampling for the rest check it out here!! Thanks so much Danielle for sending this amazing and magical party my way!

Halloween/Fall Porches

I'm not into blood, guts and gore decor for Halloween. This is still my favorite Halloween porch that was in Pottery Barn last year. I couldn't convince the hubby to paint our front door orange for the season! It's just paint!! Here are some of my other favs....most of them can easily be recreated....without painting the door orange!

I just love the halloween garland with the tulle!

LOVE the topiaries!!

{Photos via Pottery Barn, Country Living, Cottage Living, Pottery Barn flickr, flickr}

No more wasted water!

When having kids parties~I always say it makes your life so much easier if you prepackage their lunches/snacks in containers. Especially if you are having a large party. You can still do a fabulous speciality table such as a dessert, candy, ice cream or popcorn buffet. I love this Wizard of Oz table setting. I love the apple trees and picnic gable boxes. BUT I really LOVE the chalkboard painted water bottles!! Why have I never thought of this??? How did I miss this? Don't you hate it when you have tons of barely sipped water bottles and you have no idea who it belongs to??? This is genius!! I know I will be doing this! Probably for Maddy's Halloween party!
By the way, the whole Wizard of Oz party is a must look at which was posted on the Imprintables blog. Do yourself a favor and check it out...it is way over the top goodness!!

Mini is In

First, let me apologize for not blogging for 2 whole days!! As you know my life is super crazy right now. Please hang in there with me until I get the store up and running~ then things will get back to my normal daily posting routine!

I am in LOVE with the Pier 1 Tasting party collection!! OH, the possibilities!

I'm not much of a drinker so I would use the shot and cordial glasses for desserts!

Isn't this just divine! Or you can fill them with gazpacho or tomato soup from your local market, like a Trader Joe's or a Whole Foods. Doctor them up with a sprig of cilantro, some fresh pepper and a few lime wedges and viola people will think you are a real foodie!! (trust me I know- I'm totally a Semi-Homemade kind of girl!) Get some grilled shrimp, some finger foods, some bruschetta, put them on these cuties and it's a party!

As you know mini desserts are all the rage~ you can give your guests guilt free desserts in a mini version with a variety of choices. Layer whipped cream and dark chocolate chips. Cube some store bought pound cake and lemon curd. Top with a few lemon shavings ~ easy peasy!

Real cool collection that is chic, affordable and simple! Go to Pier One's website to view collection and recipes. HERE!

Many blessings.

Pancakes and PJs party

This adorable party is from Jenn of This Mommy Loves for her 2 year old daughter. Jenn said that her little one loves pancakes so decided what better theme for her birthday. Plus how great is that to have a 2 yr old party before nap time!! Loving all the yummy fruit toppings going down the center of the table!

My buddy Carli from Dimpleprints made the invite. LOVE HER!!

Jenn's handy husband custom built the toddler size picnic table so that all the kiddos could sit together. There were 10 kids on each side. On the benches were kid's aprons from Dollar Tree which doubled as party favors.

On the invitation Jenn requested in lieu of gifts for guests to bring a dollar or 2 to hang on the Giving Tree. All proceeds were donated to St. Jude Children's Hospital. I absolutely LOVE this idea! I will be using it! I am doing a party in October for breast cancer and will use Madison's pink Christmas tree.

The photo prop breakfast plate is too cute! Thanks Jenn for sharing and go to her blog for more party info and details here!

Owl Smores

So on top of opening a party location and boutique, still having weekend parties, being a mom and wife~I am planning Madison's Happy Owl-O-Ween party! Yikes! Maddy watches mommy prepare for kid's parties all of the time so she gets 3 special parties a year that she can look forward to~her birthday, Halloween and Easter. I have started gathering my owl ideas...I was planning on posting a few tonight but from the closing of my eye lids it looks like one is all I can muster!

I think these Owl Smores from the always creative Amy from Living Locurto are too cute. For the 411 visit her blog here!

Halloween Vampire Party

Don't disown me but I have never seen a Twilight movie or watched True Blood. I know that there is a MAJOR vampire craze still going on-I've never jumped on the bandwagon. However, I love a unique party and party invitation. This Halloween Vampire party from All You has some creative and unique elements. Loving this DIY invite! Check out the black crepe paper curtains. Using the vampire teeth as place card holder.....too cute!

I'm all about unique pumpkins this year. I am going to attempt to do some really cool black and white ones~wish me luck! I always love the unexpected and the little details like adding fangs to black and white photos of the family. To see all of the party details and how to....at ALL YOU

Maybe I'll finally watch Twilight this Halloween!

Design on a Dime

I'm finally getting around to posting some of my projects at the new store. I have been working so hard! As you know, I am doing all of the renovations myself and on a seriously tight budget. Hence, doing all of the renovations myself!! I love my hubby but he is not the handy type so this is truly my baby. All of those years and countless hours watching HGTV is finally paying off!
Here was the old view when you walked into the room from the front door. (Disclaimer~ all of my renovation pictures have been taken using my IPhone so sorry if not the best) I'm not sure why there is a half door in this location..it just leads to the hall?? There are actually 2 of these~the other one is around the corner and it leads into the kitchen. I first thought of taking out the complete door frame and putting in dry wall. Who am I kidding...I have no idea how to do that! Plus the walls are textured plaster and no matter how hard I try the dry wall part would never be the same texture! So this is what I came up with.

I took out the bottom part of the door and cut plywood to fit in the space. I painted it using chalkboard paint and nailed it into place. To make it look intentional, I framed it using molding. I still have to put the bottom base board molding on. In this picture you see caulking around the frame and chair rail. I hope to finish painting this room tomorrow.

You can't tell in this picture but the bottom white half of the wall is actually bead board wall paper. Yes, I wallpapered the entire bottom half of the room and installed chair rail! I will be showing you the 411 on that this week! Do you like the gray wall color? I really wanted to pick a neutral color because with this being a party room all sorts of colors and party themes need to complement not compete with the walls.

Can you guess what I'm doing with that ugly linoleum floor??

Here is what the ceiling looked like when I started. Don't you just love the lighting fixtures??? NOT!!! This is what it looks like now! I found this chandelier at a used furniture store.

I love this chandelier! I wanted something elegant and vintage looking to be the lighting in the main party room area. My Maddy loves it...she says it's so sparkly...that is what I was going for. You know Madison is my design partner~after all I specialize in kid's parties! :) Who knows what kids love better than a kid?! Thanks for coming along with me on this journey!

Paper Chains

Do you remember making paper chains out of construction paper when you were young?? Well, how about making them now for some really great party decor! Can you say inexpensive but can be chic! I LOVE this dessert table from Snowybliss blog! This is one extremely talented mommy of three!

She actually used the same garland that she made for this Alice and Wonderland midnight tea party!

She used an old book that she got for $2 at Goodwill! Genious!!

Retro paper chains from Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Decorations You Can Make 1974. I'm loving the shapes they are using. (pdf pattern here).

Anthropologie Holiday Window

Paper chains used as "curtains" at Cielo in San Francisco. Great way to reuse those magazines.(Remember assembling chains with colored construction paper strips back in grade school?) Give me some glue and paper~I'm on a mission!

I'm getting floods of entries in the Designer's Challenge!! Thanks for all of you who have entered. I'm not sure how in the world I am going to able to narrow it down to just 3! However, keep them coming...I love feeling the LOVE!

Superhero DIY Capes

To repurpose old T-shirts I'm loving this creative idea from Ohdeedoh. Have a superhero birthday party and make personalized capes for each guest. Not only do they make super-cool party favors, but the kiddos can wear them during the party while playing superhero-themed games.
Here's what you'll need:

Adult-sized T-shirts
Felt
Glitter paint
Velcro

For a complete how to visit Ohdeedoh.

Designer's Challenge

Do you know of the HGTV show Designer's Challenge? Well, I have a challenge for all of the wonderfully, talented invitation graphics genius peeps...whether you already have an established business or just a mom who loves to tinker. The inspiration board is merely used for the color palate. I am having a Happy Owl-oween party for Maddy and these are the colors I would like all of the stationary and party decor to be! Now, for the fun part~I'm asking you all to send in a sample of a design for an invite or cupcake topper to my email address(contact@maddycakes.com). I will post the top 3 designs I like and let everyone vote on the best.

I will then purchase and use at Madison's party. I will send you all of the professional photographs of your design. I will also purchase another set for a lucky follower to use as well.

I hope I wet your whistle for this designer's challenge??? Please submit entries to email address by September 30th.

Graveyard tablescape

This Graveyard tablescape may not be for everyone. However, you must admire the creativity that it took!! The tablescape was on the exhibit floor at a event planners convention I attended. I do like the chair cover which has a tombstone and name.This tablescape was not actually for Halloween but since we were in New Orleans the designer was going with a voodoo theme. As you can see the centerpieces are mausoleums since all of New Orleans cemeteries are above ground. This could easily be replaced with tombstones. Everything was created using foam core board. Cut holes in the eyes of pictures and insert small battery operated lights. You can find almost all of the skeletons and decor at Dollar Tree right now. You can either spray adhesive your stone pattern onto the foam or you can use stone spray paint. It has a rough texture and looks and feels like real stone. I made an entire graveyard last year using the stone spray paint and Styrofoam.

That chicken drumstick does not look appetizing to me! :) Really cool concept though!

Here is the menu also done using foam board and cardstock.