Travel theme

Wanted to share a few pics of something I have been helping out with.  Our local elementary school does a little graduation ceremony for their 6th  graders, and this years theme was "A New Journey".  I was in charge of the invites so what better way for the kids to start their journey than with a boarding pass.

I then put each set of invite and rsvp card in a travel themed paper tied with a ribbon

Then in the envelopes they went with a few stamp embellishments

I still have place cards and the program covers to design and will post those when they are done.

Celebrate the Love

Valentine's Day is soon upon us, so why not check out the great ideas over on the Disney family fun website
http://familyfun.go.com/valentines-day/. They have recipes like the fudge pictured above, crafts, printables to keep the kids entertained (cute coloring page below), as well as lots of reader submitted projects.

These adorable crayon hearts would be neat alternative for hands out for your childs class, most teachers frown on sweets these days. You can find little heart molds put some broken crayon pieces inside and melt in the oven on low heat, attach to valentine's card and your childs treat will surely stand out from the rest.  The complete directions can be found here.http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/crayon-hearts-671639/

Crafty Party Favors

As I was going through some of my supplies, I came across some of the business magnets I had left over.  I suddenly realized these would be a great little craft idea to do for kids to do for party favors.   What you need is a pack of self adhesive business card sized magnets(see pic below)\

I have always had luck finding them at Kmart and Wal-Mart in the office supply sections. Under that top white layer that you peel off is adhesive.   Gather together paper, buttons, chipboard pieces, and tape.  Stick on the paper and let the creativity begin.  The paper will stick very well, you just need the tape for attaching your accessories!  

Love my cricut machine

Ok, the photo may not be that great, but the words on there aren't important. If you don't have a Cricut machine, you might want to consider getting one, especially if you are involved in throwing parties.  My boys play football and I always like to be a part of their team party committee. This year I made some save the date cards for one of their teams, and couldn't have made it this cute without the help of my cricut.  I used the sports mania cartridge to cut out this helmet, attached a litttle eyelet piece with my crop a dile to add a little element to it, then just taped on the important info.   

I also used my Cricut to cut out some letters to spell out our team name and put them in different sized frames .

Halloween and Glow Sticks

My kids of course like many others love those glow sticks, which are great to use on Halloween. I have the boys wear them for safety while walking around at night, but I do use them for some decorations as well. I can't take credit for this , I did see it on Martha Stewart last year, but get yourself those styrofoam balls and some long glow sticks and you've got yourself an instant spider to hang from a tree or sit in the driveway. Alot of neighborhoods aren't very well lit, so to help our little trick or treaters I will line my walkway path with some arrows formed from those lovely glow sticks so everyone knows the way to the yummy candy! The best part is you can find these at the Dollar Tree store!

Yummy Desserts

If you're looking for something unique for dessert treats and drinks to serve at your party,stop over at Bright Ideas. It's done by the M&M,Mars family so the treats always include their yummy products.


Recipes are sorted by category and skill level and include nutritional value as well.

Photos courtesy Bright Ideas

Candy Buffet

Candy Buffet
Originally uploaded by Party Perfect Orlando

These days it seems Candy Buffet's are at all the events, from birthdays to weddings. But where to start and how much will this cost? I can't give a straight answer but I give you my opinion on how tto go about getting started on this project.
Obviously your event is going to have some sort of theme whether it be by color or something like 50's theme. Once you have that established you can decide on the types of candy you want to serve. There are a few sites that do nostalgic candy for those year themes, as well as finding candy by color. http://www.candywarehouse.com/ is one of those.
Depending on # of guests they say a good rule is to allow 3oz per guest but that amount wont usually fill up the jars/
Start shopping around for candy prices early, candy does have an expiration date but you can usually a few months out of them. Places like Target, Wal-Mart and drugstores are going to have the better prices on brands like Hershey and M&M and they are usually on sale.
For your jars , you don't have to have them all match. I always start out at the dollar stores and goodwill because you never know what you will find. Cost Plus also has been tall glass jars with lids that have a chalkboard label on the front for about $5. Not too bad, but remember, what are you going to do with all this glassware when the party is over. Look for things you know you could use again , or even better think disposable. There are alot of great looking boxes, like the chinese take out boxes that would work great and be very cost effective.
Don't forget if you plan on putting on of these together during a warmer month, probably not a good idea to have any chocolate!

Savvy Auntie Day

Gotta say I love the idea of there finally being a day to celebrate Aunts. Yes, I am an Aunt but I also have amazing Aunts that certainly deserve to have a special day. Savvy Auntie's day will be celebrated every 4th Sunday in July starting this year. This year that will be July 26th.
Melanie Notkin is the aunt behind this and has a website tailored just for all those Savvy Aunts in the world, Savvyauntie.com
Go check it out and gather your aunts for a get together to celebrate just how Savvy they are!

Share the News!

One of the things that I sell on my site are these cute Scratch off cards. Think of them as a lottery ticket with the same silvery stuff you scratch to reveal a message.
Instead of making your announcement over the phone why not mail out cards like the ones featured here.



They can also be designed for use for "you win" cards at showers, and for weddings when you need to decide who gets to take home the centerpieces.


htpp://www.simplywrapd.com/

Trick to Custom Candles

Being in the Party Favor Industry I'm always looking for a better way to do things , and still give my customers what they need. Personalized candles have been around forever and there are different ways to go about making them custom. You could order them from an imprint company, but these can get expensive. Adding labels is another option but then they can't be burned due to the label. The most common way I have found that people do to make their own candles is to print their graphic on tissue paper than dissolve it on to the candle with a heat element. Yes, this does work but getting tissue paper through your printer isn't always the best for your printer, nor is it easy to do without ripping.
Here is what I have found that works for me, and I think it's pretty simple. Whatever program you use for graphics,text, etc., you are going to need to be sure you can mirror the image so that it is backwards.



You are going to print this out on T-shirt Transfer Paper for Light Colored Clothes.Then you will cut out your image as close to the image as possible to eliminate as much of white part of the paper as you can.



Next place your image face down on the candle ,and using a popsicle stick or other similar tool, to rub on the image onto the candle. This will take a little longer than using your standard rub on graphic.



Once that is completed you will then using a hair dryer or heating element if you have one, to melt the image into the candle. Keep the heat moving in all directions so you don't end up with any dents due to the candle melting in that spot. The heat from the dryer will blend any of the white parts of your image into the candle




Once you see that all your white parts are well blended you are done. Be sure to let the candle cool so you don't smear your design. Practice makes perfect!