Baked Perfection - a cookie obsession

It was at a recent baby shower that I discovered an awesome local vendor for cookies! 

Paula Swain is the owner/designer of Baked Perfection, a mother-daughter company out of Ventura. I was so impressed with my cookie that I immediately went home and found her website. The cookies they make are nothing short of amazing. The best part is they taste wonderful too! It's obvious that they don't cut corners on quality. The cookies are super thick and most designs are 4-5", that's a big cookie! 


The designs shown on her website are absolutely adorable but they can also be personalized for your special event. There is a minimum order of one dozen cookies and they do start around $3.50/cookie but if this is your main party favor, that's about what you'd spend on a bag full of "party junk", right? I think we all have enough spinning tops and small boxes of crayons. I'd much rather have a sweet treat to take home.

If you're looking for something special for your next event, I would suggest checking out all the designs at Baked Perfection. Tell them, Angela at Park Talk Printables sent you!

Juice in the City- Roxy Stadium 11

Alright ladies
Today's Juice in the City deal might be more your style...

Can you say Moms Night Out?!

Check out this juicy deal for $5 movie tickets at either the Roxy Stadium 11 in Camarillo or the Plaza Stadium in Oxnard. Only bummer is it's one per person. :(

There are only 500 tickets available so act fast if this is something you want.

Looks like if you sign up for the Roxy's Newsletter, you'll get a free popcorn to sweeten the deal. I heard the movie Bridesmaids is hilarious and would make a great ladies night out.

Didn't find anything today? Sign up at Juice in City to have Ventura County deals emailed directly to you.

Full Disclosure: I was compensated for my time sharing Juice In The City with you. All opinions and views are 100% mine. I believe in blogging with integrity. I am a member so I wanted to remind you that MOMS Club of Camarillo East does not endorse any listed websites or companies.

Juice in the City- Juicy Deal -Golf N' Stuff

$10 FOR 2 GOLF N' STUFF MINI-PARK PASSES!

Here's a Juicy Deal you don't want to miss! 

Summer is almost here and that means finding things for the kids to do. This is a juicy deal, meaning limited quantities at a super great price.. only 200 available, so if this is something you're interested, jump on it before it's gone. Check out the fine print for all the details.


Do you think a 2.5 year old would have fun?


Sign up today to get these deals sent to your inbox. Don't live in Ventura County? Juice in the City has deals in select cities and they're rolling out new deals each week! Check out Juice in the City to see if they're in your area.


Full Disclosure: I was compensated for my time sharing Juice In The City with you. All opinions and views are 100% mine. I believe in blogging with integrity. I am a member so I wanted to remind you that MOMS Club of Camarillo East does not endorse any listed websites or companies.

Candy Anyone?

This is a super local deal but if you're in need of fun size candy bars for an upcoming summer party, Ralph's on Las Posas and Ponderosa has Snickers, York Peppermints, Mentos, Butterfingers and more all marked as manager's specials... they're anywhere from $.99 to $1.99 a bag... AND out printed a catalina for $1.00 off of two bags of Nestle so if you go back around, that's only $.50 a bag for the Butterfingers!!

Juice in the City - Today's deal- Bowling

50% OFF A FAMILY BOWLING NIGHT AT HARLEY'S CAMARILLO BOWL!

Looking for stuff to do this summer with the kids? How about a family bowling night at Harley's Camarillo Bowl? Just $24 gets you bowling/shoes, soda and popcorn for 6! 

Sign up today to get these deals sent to your inbox. Don't live in Ventura County? Juice in the City has deals in select cities and they're rolling out new deals each week! Check out Juice in the City to see if they're in your area.

MOMS Club of Camarillo Annual Tea Party/Fundraiser

One of my favorite MOMS Club events is our annual Mother's Day Tea and Fundraiser. We have a committee of wonderful ladies that collect donations from super generous businesses in our area. These items are then either used for raffles or became live auction items.

This is my second year on the committee and this year I volunteered to be in charge of decor. Just my cup of tea! (pun completely intended)

I decided to do a play on Alice in Wonderland.
Many of my projects were made possible by the Cricut Expression. There's no way I could have hand cut 19 teapots and 28 sets of petals for our flower corsages... well I could have, but I probably would have had both arms in slings at the actual event!

I was so busy greeting, pulling raffles and helping to auctioneer that I didn't take many photos at the event. We did have a member do that so if there are any must see projects, I'll update my post. Until then you get to see my not so brilliant photos! (Click on photos to get a closer look at them.)

It all started with the banner... cute teapots and a little bit of Alice.

Paper used: The Blossom Song Stack by DCWV - purchased at Michael's.. a very pretty blend of sparkly and glittery paper.

A twist on name tags for a garden party.. Flower Corsages. Cut layered flowers on Cricut, put together with a pretty brad. We then folded in each petal and hot glued a leaf and pin on back. They turned out super pretty! After the party, guests can rip off the leaf and put on a purse or pretty bag for a little flair.

Of course we needed Eat Me/Try Me/Take Me cookies... how else would we grow and shrink to fit through the door?!

This was my first attempt at using Royal Icing.. although not super pretty, it was easier than I thought and with practice I'm sure they could be cuter! I have a great recipe that I found for the cookies and the icing. Let me know if you'd like me to share.

Cupcake toppers with various "alice" silhouettes  and tea images. Hot tip for cupcake toppers.. Starbucks stir sticks, cut in half, are the perfect size!

This signed greeted our guests in the front of the home and directed everyone to the backyard

Drink me tags were added to random cups on the tables

These Teapots were cut out on the Cricut Expression and used various patterned papers.. they made great raffle boxes! The .svg file was found at Denise's Scrapbooking Room. I tied a tag with the prize description to a piece of floss to give the appearance of a tea bag.

We had a huge table filled with donations!

Our check in table needed a sign to let guest know about our name tags and also raffle costs

Don't you just love the monkey's foot?!

The singing flowers made an appearance as table decor

Our wonderful organization raised $928.00! Not bad for a bunch of budget-conscious stay at home moms! Way to go MOMS Club of Camarillo East moms!

Free Frozen Strawberry Lemonade - McDonald's

Did you get the free McCafe frozen strawberry lemonade coupon in yesterday's paper? If you already recycled your paper, it was in the Parade insert. Here's a link for $1 off if you don't feel like dumpster diving. The website is pretty cute.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Snack Day

At the end of April my friend Sarah and I had snack duty for our Horizon Hills class.. most moms bring hummus or bagels and fruit for the kids and parents to share... um, we took it a bit further. I've been dying to do a Very Hungry Caterpillar party and with no kid birthdays coming up, I decided to use this opportunity to have some fun. And oh boy, did we!

Our teacher, Mrs Kandy had this awesome caterpillar puppet and large fruits and objects to go with the story. One mom read the book while the kids waited for their turn to come up and "feed" the hungry caterpillar.

Cheeky Monkey was an orange! She really took her role seriously.. lol


The kids had so much fun!


Then it was snack time!

We had water bottles


Butterfly crackers


Watermelon that was devoured!


caterpillars made with grapes and strawberries


Fun Fun Fun! There are so many things you can do with this theme.

Juice in the City - Coming to Ventura County


One of my favorite things about being a part of a group of ladies is sharing any hot tips I've found in and around town.. from free classes for our kids to to great clearance items at Target.

You've probably heard me say this before but as a stay at home mom, I really feel my new found "job" is to save my family money. I'm forever looking for a bargain on everything! (yes, I do have a mini-stockpile happening. Let me know if you run out of deodorant and I'll be right over!)

I'm a huge fan of those daily deal websites we've all heard of by now. But, more likely than not these "deals" end up in my trash folder because they don't pertain to my busy life as a mom. Yes, half off kayaking would be nice, if only I had the time, and the energy!

When I heard they were launching a Ventura County version of Juice in the City, I thought I'd check it out. It's just like those deal of the day sites except for a few key things that I absolutely love..

First of all, my favorite part is, it's a site for moms that's ran by moms! That's right! When I heard this, I thought it was genius! Each day, they feature an awesome deal that a local mom near you has personally recommended.

Their sales force of local moms (Local Business Consultants) find the deal and write it up so you can get in on the deal too!
Bonus: They write hilarious stories about the crazy-fun activities. You may have thought my personal blog was well written, these ladies are great writers!

Secondly, you'll find local deals that support our local business owners. In this economy if I can help a small business stay in business, AND get a great bargain, I'm all for that! I love finding hidden gems in my own community.

No way am I driving to L.A. for some cupcakes... darn those deals that are killed by the gas money I'd spend getting there AND darn those cupcake deals (says my gut.. not me, I love those deals.. my pants, not so much!)

It's easy to get started.
Go to the site and sign up for an account. That way you won't miss out if you see a deal late in the day. If you're like me, 10 pm is when I finally get down to answering emails and cleaning out my inbox. (Who am I kidding.. I have 19,859 emails in my inbox!)

Then you just wait for a deal that you're interested in. When you purchase a deal, you’ll receive an email with a link to sign in and print your JITC Deal Code. The following day, you may print out the voucher and use your deal. The JITC Deal Code has redemption instructions included. (Always read the fine print on each deal before purchasing, they're very good at spelling out the particulars)

It's not complicated. If you want the deal, you can get it….no need for a certain amount of people to sign up before you can buy it. Deals generally expire at midnight….and they accept all major credit cards.

Good News for us forgetful mommies: If you accidentally let your voucher “expire”, you can still get the equivalent value of services you paid from the vendor, you are just not guaranteed that specific deal.

There honestly is no other opinion you can trust more than a fellow mom. We are known to be picky, voice our opinions, and expect the best! That’s how I know Juice in the City will be an amazing addition to our area.

The launch begins on Monday so get ready, as I’ll be bringing you some “juicy deals” I spot occasionally from Juice in the City. I've seen the list for the next few weeks and there's some good stuff coming up including a Roxy Theater deal you may not want to miss.

Angela D

Full Disclosure: I was compensated for my time sharing Juice In The City with you. All opinions and views are 100% mine. I believe in blogging with integrity. I am a member so I wanted to remind you that MOMS Club of Camarillo East does not endorse any listed websites or companies.

Sesame Street Party

Original Post: November 2, 2010- This is my favorite party to date!

Somehow my "baby" has turned into a super talkative, emotion-filled toddler full of energy and life and quickly on her way to being a "little kid"... all since her last birthday!



She was born at 10:09 PM on Halloween Night, 2008. Six months later, I started forming ideas and planning her birthday parties for the next 12 years! :) I figure I at least get 2 or 3 before she gets to decide on her own.

Months and months of planning went into little Miss Cheeky's 2nd Birthday party. Small details that only I would notice didn't get overlooked, except that is, one very important detail... the NUMBER of CANDLES on her birthday cake!!! My husband pointed out the next day there was only one candle instead of two... oh my! Will somebody please remind me next year we need three candles?

On to the stuff I did get right!


THE THEME
Monkey watches Sesame Street every day (how else would I get to shower). She loves Elmo and Abby Cadabby (the fairy in training). At first I thought of an Abby party, but she has more boy friends than girl friends so I decided to include all the characters. I didn't want it to overwhelmingly be an Elmo party so I used primary colors in dots as an element to tie everything together. You'll find it used throughout the day.

Abby Cadabby Banner - This was one of my first projects. I created the background papers and template and hand cut out these scalloped circles.. everything was tied together with purple and blue ribbon


THE INVITATIONS
These were hand cut but so much fun to make. I think it set the tone for the party and got people excited to attend. Lots of mommies said their kids ooh'd over them as they hung from the fridge.




This Sesame Street Scene Setter has been discontinued but I was lucky enough to find one on Ebay. A super inexpensive way to have a large decoration and potentially could be reused for a child's bedroom or playroom.

Lesson Learned.. do not spend 5+ minutes on each (Martha Stewart) tissue paper ball before hot gluing to cardboard. If I ever make a large M+2 again, I'll just cover them in tissue paper like I did and then scrunch up tissue squares and glue.. that would have been MUCH faster! Plus it was very hard throwing them away after the party after spending so much time on them. boo hoo


Each year we try to have our pumpkin carving match the theme


Centerpieces- canning jars filled with cookie crisp cereal, crayons for Elmo, and bird seed for Big Bird


THE CAKE
I found a very talented lady on Craigslist to make the cake and cupcakes. I sent her photos of ideas and even created a spec sheet for her to follow. It turned out different but wonderful just the same. Everyone thought the Zoe, Elmo, Oscar and Cookie Monster cupcakes were adorable and the tie dye cake was really fun. The cake looked cute and tasted good too... she even delivered it!
Jenny Prado jennyscakes4all@yahoo.com or 805-263-3711 Contact this girl before her prices go way up!






GAMES

Pin the Nose on Elmo- Kids liked putting the stickers on elmo and it had double use as decor


Rubber Ducky You're the One- First to Pick the ducky that had a number "2" on the bottom won a prize.. I held the winning ducky in my pocket until each kid had one turn. As soon as the game was over, the water was moved. Water crisis adverted!




Oscar's Trash Toss- This turned into more of an activity than a game. Kids liked tossing the bean bags into the bucket


Count The Candy- Guess how many candies in the jar. Oldie but a goodie game that the adults like to play... at least my friends and family do!


FOOD

Because the party was from 2:30-5:00, I didn't feel as though a full meal was needed. We served some munchies and sweets. The spinach pastry puffs were a big success and I got so busy I didn't even put out the ABC tater tots we bought.

(Blue) French Onion Dip with chips and individually packaged Fish Crackers


Popcorn and Kettle corn - in these cute snack boxes


I didn't get any photos of it out on display, but they were filled and lined up in a dotted box


Water with Custom Water-proof Labels & Juice Boxes with Big Bird and Elmo for the little ones


Chocolate Covered Brownie Bites (Pillsbury Sweet Moments)


Various Candies (gummy worms, large lollipops, etc)


Wrapped Utensils
These weren't really used. I displayed them in Elmo buckets from the dollar section at Target, but because most of the food was finger food and I handed out forks with cake, we have most of these left over. Simple way to use solid colored items but to personalized for your theme.



This Party was brought to you by the letters "M" & "2" so I made, decorated, and packaged these cookies




ATTIRE
Birthday Crown- $1 foam crown and pink feather material from Michael's, Cut out pink sparkly paper and Abby image.. She kept it on longer than I thought she would


Monkey's Shirt- I created an iron-on with Abby Cadabby and the number 2. This photo looks like a mug shot of Maddie and her BFF + Birthday Twin. We haven't figured out how to get them to BOTH smile at the same time. :)


Mommy's shirt. I ironed on a design to a shirt I knew I'd be comfortable in. I didn't get a great photo of it from that day but it turned out super cute and super easy to do.


I asked my hubby to wear this shirt and I was so glad when he did! Me LOVE Elmo + Me LOVE my hubby.. (this shirt has never been seen in the light of day since the party day.)


PHOTO BACKDROP- didn't turn out exactly as visioned but after cutting 120+ circles and gluing to a foam roll, I was ready for it to be done. Next time a cool patterned fabric or sheet would be much better.





The great part about it was we got a photo of everyone that was there before they left


I think the most fun I had was with the gift bags. I found these really cute Elmo backpacks at the 99 cents store. The dollar section at Target had cute Sesame Street storybooks to add. I also made homemade play dough (so easy- it's basically flour water and salt) with Cinnamon added for a sensory twist



Contents


Audio CD with popular Sesame Street Songs. Used my Lightscribe drive to make the design right on the disc


Each bag had a tag to identify it's owner. girls vs boys had slightly different things

Homemade Play dough in green and blue


Despite all my careful planning, we did have a few hiccups... we had some missing chocolate lollipops that didn't make it on time and a photographer who cancelled that morning but we survived and managed to all have a really great time!

I find inspiration everywhere and at any moment.. unfortunately sometimes that means getting up from bed at 12:30 to write these ideas down. I've always said my favorite ideas come from a google search. :)

Obviously these products that were created were not licensed Sesame Street products. I do not own copyright on them and therefore if you wish to purchase a recreation, you'll be paying for materials, my creative design, and time only.