Entries Tagged as 'Party'

Panda Themed Birthday Party

1

03.2.16

Panda Party

Does anyone else have a panda lover in their house? My youngest has been crazy obsessed lately! He requested a Panda-themed birthday party this year, and since he’s not going to be cool with themed parties for much longer you can believe that I was going to run with this! So, with a little help from a perfectly timed release of the Kung Fu Panda 3 movie and some jelly beans, I was able to pull it off.

I am not at all gifted with baking skills, so I always try to keep things pretty simple. I searched Pinterest for inspiration, and found lots of panda faces made of chocolate chips or fondant icing (heck no!). Basic icing and some carefully placed jelly beans work for me! I love how the curve of the jelly beans totally mimics panda eyes and ears! How has that idea not made it’s way to Pinterest already! You’re welcome people!

And, of course, what birthday party is complete without an invitation? This little heart-nosed panda invitation is now listed in the shop here so you can put together your own panda party!

Blogger Party Behind the Scenes

15

08.4.13

I thought I’d start the week off with some exciting news! (exciting for me at least!) I was invited to attend a party in this beautiful backyard last year, and the party has made its way into this months (May issue) of Style at Home Magazine! I didn’t want to say anything until I had a copy of the magazine in my hands and saw it for myself, and now that I have I thought I’d share some behind the scenes pictures of the night that you won’t see in the magazine… so here goes!

I’ve been to many parties since starting my blog, between media events and blogger meet ups, but this one will forever be a highlight. My friend Tracey Ayton is the amazing photographer behind all the photos for the article, and she also happens to be the owner of this lovely home! Our friend, and talented interior designer, Karla Amadatsu styled the backyard for the event and cooked up an amazing meal for all of us to enjoy. It was a beautiful evening, thanks to all their hard work, and I am so happy that I was able to be a part of it. I couldn’t resist taking some pictures on the sly with my iPhone at the end of the evening just to capture the moment.

You can see Danielle, Karla, Victoria, Stephanie and Andrea in the pictures above, but also at the event were Barbara, Lily, Sheila, Carol, Colleen, Sari, Amanda, Michelle, and Nancy. An amazing group of talented women, that I’m happy to call friends.

Photo Credits: Top (cover) & Middle, Tracey Ayton. Bottom two, Rosa Pearson.

Super Spy Party Time

20

29.1.13

We celebrated a very special little boy this weekend! Our baby turned 6! If you follow along then you’ve already seen all the prep and the invitation. This post is about all the fun and games that ensued once the kids showed up! Which, of course, is what it’s all about! It’s definitely not about my mad cake decorating skills! Ha! Any cake professionals out there, please avert your eyes. As you can see I opted to take the same approach as I did on the last cake I made, cutting shapes out of wax paper and shaking some icing sugar over top to make a design that matches the party theme. Dirt simple. No shame. At the end of the day the cake tasted just as good.

When the children arrived they received their super spy attire, consisting of a peel-and-stick mustache and a black hat. To make sure no imposters had made it through the door they were all asked to head straight to the table for fingerprinting… which they all thought was pretty cool. Then they played a game of “don’t let the bomb touch the floor or it will explode” (aka, work together to keep the black balloon in the air). It really doesn’t take much to get a group of six year old boys excited. The party favourite was an idea that is making its rounds on Pinterest, the “laser beam” obstacle course (aka, red neon twine). The boys were so excited to try and make it up the staircase without touching the laser beams.

I think that covers the highlights! Older brother has announced that he liked this party so much that he wants a complete redo for his birthday in the Fall. Sounds good to me!

Have a good week!

Super Spy Party Preparations

19

21.1.13

Gift Bag

How was your weekend? I was busy getting organized for the big birthday party that’s coming up this week! We are now well stocked with spy hats and mustaches for the mini-spies arrival. And when it’s time to leave they will all be taking home an “evidence bag” which will include Top Secret Spy Notebooks sporting labels that I designed to coordinate with the invitations. Also, tubes of M&M’s wrapped in red tissue paper (aka “dynamite”), and some laser finger lights. Now I just need to think about food and games and we’ll be good to go! Oh how I love a good party theme!

I’ve got a busy week ahead, but I’m looking forward to it! How about you?

Birthday Weekend

7

24.9.12

What a weekend! It’s hard to believe, but our oldest turned eight! Baking is not my thing, but I needed a gluten free cake and had the mix on hand, so I thought I’d give it a shot this year. I used his love for baseball as the starting point for the cake decorating… just added some icing sugar and m&m’s! And, do you notice that the two balls are touching so that it creates a subtle 8 shape?!! Yeah, maybe it’s not super obvious, but I love that it’s there.

The take home gifts this year were water guns, because we’ve had such great weather this September! I handed one out to everyone as they walked in the door, and then sent them to the backyard for “target practice”, which consisted of two saw horses and a 2×4 lined with empty containers. This was a HUGE hit! If you’re looking for game ideas for older boys, I highly recommend this!

I hope you had a good weekend too! What did you get up to?

Robot Themed Party

9

24.8.12

I have to share some pictures of the adorable robot-themed birthday party we went to last weekend. Our fabulous neighbors are responsible for all of this cool stuff. So, if you’re trying to find some ideas for a child’s party, read on!

After that amazing cake, I think my favorite part was the giant robot built for a game of toss. The colored circles are taped onto the back of the plywood robot frame so that they break when the ball hits the center. Pretty great idea!

All the kids had a blast creating their own robots with the help of the adults. All you need is some empty tin cans and supplies from the dollar store. And magnets came in handy to stick on the bolts.

And no party is complete without a pinata, right?! This homemade pinata was amazing! I don’t know why I didn’t think to move the sunscreen out of the way for the shot. Ha!

My oldest son’s birthday is coming up next month, and this has inspired me to get going on the planning for it! But first I need to focus on the weekend ahead… so many exciting plans! Have a great weekend!

Race Car Birthday Wrap Up

19

30.1.12

We spent Saturday celebrating this little guy’s 5th birthday with his favorite things… cars! I love having a theme for a party, but I also like to keep things simple. So, instead of buying Hot Wheels tablecloths, napkins, etc. I bought items that could be reused in the future and adapted them to work with our race car theme.

I also staggered black & white napkins for the look of a checkered flag.

I’m thrilled that Kellogg’s has made Gluten Free Rice Krispies available in Canada now… since I was able to make mini Traffic Lights for him!

And here are the License Plate Thank You’s that I made last week, now attached to the take home gifts!

I hope you had a great weekend! What did you get up to?

Race to the Weekend

12

26.1.12

It’s a race to the weekend for different reasons this week! Our youngest is turning 5 on Saturday! And Friday is a Pro-D Day! Yikes!! So far I’ve been working on race car invitations, and license plate thank you notes to attach to the take home gifts, as well as planning some pretty fun race-themed food! I’ll be back on Monday to share some pics of the big event! We’ll be hosting the kids party in the morning, followed by a party for family in the afternoon, so I imagine that we’ll all be crashing hard on Sunday.

Do you have exciting plans for the weekend? Know any good party games?

Whatever you’re up to, have a great one! I’ll see you on Monday!!

Design & Photo Credit: Rosa Pearson (FlutterFlutter)

IDSwest & Blend

21

03.10.11

I have to start off by saying that I don’t have weekends like this very often!! Thursday’s IDSwest Opening Night kicked the weekend off to an early start, and the momentum pretty much stayed strong until Sunday!

On Saturday I got to hear Suzanne Dimma and Mark Challen banter back and forth while discussing her & and husband Arriz Hassam‘s amazing cottage (above), which is featured in the current House & Home magazine. I found this H&H video if you want to hear some more about it too!

Then, I spent some time interviewing Brent Comber, who definitely deserves his reputation of being a great guy. That will be coming soon!

Fast forward to Saturday night, and after a wardrobe change, the Canadian Design Bloggers West met up for Blend!! Suzanne Dimma, Mark Challen, and Kelly Deck all came out for the party! And IKEA Canada, who sponsored our entire party, was there too! And you should see the huge swag bags we took home… wow!!

Members Erica, Tracey, Sarah, and Tamara, all looking fabulous!!

Suzanne has such an amazing sense of style. It was great to chat with her!!

And of course, this post would not be complete without a huge thank you to Barbara, Nancy, Karla, and Victoria, who organized the event! I look forward to doing this again next year!!

Photo Credits: 1. Sari McNamee 2. House & Home 3. Jacqueline Mavin 4. Sari McNamee 5. Rosa Pearson 6. Michelle Molinga 7. Sari McNamee

The Big 4-0!

7

21.8.11

If you’ve wondered why I’ve been blogging less, other than the fact that it’s summer, this is the answer! I have spent all child-free moments planning for the parties that happened here last weekend. On Saturday the family party started early so that the kids could help celebrate Jason’s 40th birthday! And, keeping with tradition, my mom brought one of her delicious homemade birthday cakes.

Saturday evening was a backyard BBQ with good food, friends, and a fire in the firepit! Yes, you can see the finished patio in all it’s glory to the left of Jason, where he sits eagerly awaiting cupcakes by the fire. We still need to landscape, but it’s done!! It was great to have the parties in our backyard to break in the patio!

With Style & Grace, my go-to food blog, was the inspiration behind these Caprese Skewers that I served up as an appy that night. I took the pic before I drizzled on the balsamic, but you get the idea… very yummy, and so pretty!

Today we are celebrating another big 40th! It is my mom & dad’s 40th wedding anniversary!! I made up this card in honor of the big day! Congratulations to you both!!

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