She's About to POP- Baby Shower

In the beginning of January one of my fellow MOMS Club of Camarillo East mommies was about to give birth to her third little guy. Another mom was sweet to throw her a shower and asked for my help with the decor.

I fell in love with the "She's About to POP" theme and went with it! Because she was having a boy we went with blue and green colors.

I started out by creating a circle pattern inspired by this photo and another She's About to POP shower found at Pen n' Paperflowers.

Well, truth be told, the first thing I did was locate plates, cups, and partyware so I knew what my colors were going to be. I didn't want to design everything in one blue, and then not be able to find matching eatery. It's a good way to start your party planning. Same idea if you're going to design your own invites.. start with the envelope sizes and color choices first! Nothing worse than spending a lot of time and energy on designing something you can't mail!

One of the coolest craft projects for this party with the balloon wreath. Guests were so excited to find this on the front door. I used a foam wreath from the craft store and a LOT of balloons. Two large packages and probably two or three smaller ones. I added a sign to the inside to show what the theme was but I could have left it blank.

The best part is I can reuse the balloons because they were just attached with floral wire that I curved into a "U". This would be adorable as a Valentine's theme... ah, off to find cheap balloons!

I probably could have done more with the "POP" theme but it was just after the holidays and I honestly didn't have the energy. I did get a chance to use my new Baby Cakes cake pop maker that I got for Christmas.

And I found some caramel popcorn (Poppycock) on clearance at Target. Perfect for the girls to munch on while the guest of honor opened presents. These cute popcorn boxes were pretty easy to create on my Cricut.

The hostess was going to order a plain cake and so I created my very first cake bunting. It turned out adorable but would have looked equally as great (if not better) an undecorated cake.

Water bottles of course! I can't seem to have a party without water bottles and custom labels.

Napkin wraps are so easy to create (just print on regular copy paper or use left over cardstock) and they make it really easy for your guests to grab a plate of food and head back to their seat without dropping a fork or forgetting their napkin. Plus, again, it's something so easy to tie your theme in with plain plates, cups, and napkins.

I made two banners just using my computer, cardstock, and some matching ribbon. The one on the window said "She's About to POP".

Ok, look away if you're easily grossed out. I'm not a huge fan of baby shower games but we did play two fun ones.. Name that Poop (at least that's what I called it). I melted popular candy bars into diapers and the guests guessed the names. That's a pretty common one, right?

Everyone really had fun with this one! It's amazing how some actually look like diapers I've seen!

We also played a blindfold game that was timed. This one might work well for more intimate parties. I filled a bowl with rice and (closed) medium sized safety pins. Each player had to pull out as many pins as possible in one minute. It's much harder than you think.. try it some time just for fun!

I'm lucky to be part of such a great group of girls. They keep me up to date on all the local happenings and I've make some lifelong friendships for myself and my little one.

Now we're just waiting for our friend to POP!

If you have any questions about the products I create or would like more info on how I can help you with a party of your own, just send me an email. I'd love to hear from you!

Angela
Park Talk Printables
angela.parktalk@yahoo.com

Minnie Mouse Party

I just love Mickey and Minnie themed birthday parties. My daughter's friend was having her third birthday at a local indoor play place back in December.  I helped out by making water bottle labels and a sign but as you can see, the mommy did a great job with decor without my help.

 She used the same cake lady we used for the girls' farm party and it turned out great! It looked exactly like the Mickey Mouse Playhouse and tasted great!

I love Rice Krispie treats... you can shape them like anything and add so much to your decor! Not to mention, they're delicious!!

By adding just a few personal items to your store stuff, you can really make your party special.

Tiny Prints Photo Contest

I know... two posts in a row about Tiny Prints but I really can't help myself. I remember when Maddie was born and we thought she was the cutest baby around.. then she got older and we thought she was the cutest toddler.. well, you get my point. We all think we have the cutest photos and here's a great opportunity to show off your little cutie!

Tiny Prints is holding a Talent Search Contest.

Prizes awarded for:

Cutest Baby (0-2 years old)
Cutest Kid (3-10 years old)
Cutest Family
Cutest Couple
Cutest Pet

As a reader of Park Talk, you have November 21st to enter your photos before the general public votes. You can enter via Facebook or their website.

Enter now for a chance to win the grand prize of $1,000 cash and a $500 Tiny Prints Gift Certificate. I think the best prize (besides the cash!) is the chance to be in their 2012 marketing campaign. Can you imagine?!

Good luck to you and all your sweet ones!

Holiday Cards- Tiny Prints

So hard to believe it's that time again, but just take a walk into any store and it's for sure, Christmas is coming! That means it's time to get working on my holiday cards.

Throughout the year I took advantage of several offers for free personalized cards from Tiny Prints. All the recipients were really impressed with the quality, plus I love receiving cards that are personalized and/or have pictures of people I love. Those cards are guaranteed to NEVER be thrown in the trash!

Because Tiny Prints has been so generous with their offers, I decided to check out their website to see what they were offering for holiday cards.

Wow! Now I'm confused because there are really just too many choices!

Here are a few of my favorites:

Retro Wishes: Wave
I really love the fact that the back of their flat cards have decorative backgrounds instead of just white. You can always print your family's yearly review on a sticker and center on the back. Another detail that I really LOVE is rounded corners! I think they make everything look more special.

Lasting Links
This card is just adorable in either the green or blue. That's so cool that you can change the coloring on some of their cards. So many times I've fallen in love with a design but it doesn't work with my photo.

Shared Joy
I thought this card is great for someone that may not have a traditional "holiday" photo. Not sure what I was thinking but we're wearing black and pink in our latest family photo.. not exactly great on a "Jolly Old St Nicolas" Red background.

Traditional Tidings
I thought sending out ornament cards is genius! Wouldn't it be great if everyone did and your tree could be filled with family and friends?! If I received one, I know it would get saved and used from year to year.

What about you, have you thought about your holiday cards yet? Know which photos you're going to use? Time to get going because before you know it, it'll be Thanksgiving and your mailbox is going to start filling up with cards!

Any cute ideas for displaying your cards?
Because we don't have a mantel, I usually do what my mom did when we were growing up.. hang a thick holiday ribbon on a wall and pin the cards to it as they arrive. Sometimes the ribbon ends up going up and around doorways or from the ceiling to the floor. I'd love to hear what you do in your house.

Card Photos
This year we had family portraits done at a studio. Last year I just took Maddie in the background and got some super cute shots of her. Guess that means you don't have to spend a lot of money on your photos. Some of my favorites are candid shots of families or couples at a party or sharing something they all love to do. I guess that's when the smiles are most genuine. That and I'm a sucker for close ups of the kids. They're the ones who change from year to year and that people really want to see, right?!

Whatever you decide to do, I would highly recommend checking out Tiny Prints. With so many choices, there's no way you won't find something you love!

Halloween Party

On October 21st we attend our annual MOMS Club Halloween party. It was so much fun seeing all of our little cheeky monkey's friend's wearing their costumes. A few weeks prior, the hostess contacted me to work on decor. She didn't have any guidelines, just said "go for it".... here's what I came up with.

(You may click on any images to enlarge to see details)

One of my favorites is water bottle labels. I overheard one mom say she was sad she didn't get one... aw! A few on the table really make an impact and although they are covered by packing tape (little secret) they aren't officially waterproof so don't submerge. Instead keep cool and place out just before the party What I've found is most people don't mind (and some prefer) room temperature water.

Fry Boxes... kids and adults love them. They're easy to hold and you can use them for almost anything... little sandwiches with the crusts cut off, popcorn, or in this case, every two year old's favorite, GOLDFISH!

This Trick or Treat banner was really fun and could easily be cut out and pasted. I purchased sparkly card stock to give it a little pizzaz! This could easily be folded up and tucked away for next year. I love the look a food table with banner behind it. Everyone always hangs out there so why not decorate the walls too?! Random Bats and witches were also taped around the room.

My snack contribution was cupcakes. Normally I would leave that to the baking moms (and I did leave it to the grocery store) but I really wanted to use the cupcake toppers that I created. What a great way to again, a personal touch whether it's for a birthday or a MOMS Club Halloween party. Starbucks stir sticks cut on half are the perfect size for a cupcake topper!

When I saw this "Boo" "Spooky" banner online I couldn't way to try it out. I still can't figure out how it only cost her $2 but I did have fun with my first paper/felt project. First I cut out all the letters and ghosts bats and corn on card stock. Then I hot glued them to felt on the wrong side and cut around. My glue gun broke (boo) but I managed to get the project finished and sewn together with a bright yellow floss. I almost wanted to keep this one for myself! It was a lot of work to work with the felt and all the sewing and probably could have just as easily been done in all paper and tied together with colorful ribbon but I'm glad I tried it because the results were very cute!

I've been searching high and low for the creator of this SVG (if it's yours please contact me so I can add credits). I'm a HUGE fan of word art, sometimes called Subway art. Usually I just print them out and frame but I found a cut file that I could use with the Cricut that cut just beautifully. I added a little MOMS Club in a slime font to fill up my frame. oooohhhhh!!!

I did create a fun Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin game but with all the candy and action, we never got around to playing it. I did see a version of this at Target for $5 or so that would be just as fun as a homemade one. But this was a pretty easy project and could be done last minute. Just cut out yellow triangles and write name before they play. Glue dots would make easy work for pinning too.

This Front Door Welcome Sign was a combination of two free SVG files found online. I used sparkle and matte card stock that had a fantastic result. Witch Legs and Witch Silhouette The text was created in SCAL and cut out on black card stock.

As you see, working in personalized items with store bought things can really give you a big wow factor and impress your friends. Although these days most things are made using my Cricut but every now again, I cut by hand. Small scissors are the key to accurate cuts. Printing things out using your word processing program (flip text before printing) and then cutting out doesn't always take that much more time.

If you're looking for decor for your next party, start by searching online for ideas or just contact me, I have TONS! :)

More Closet Dividers

After giving the jungle closet dividers to my girlfriend's daughter for her shower, she contacted me to make two sets for her to give to friends that were expecting.

One set was to match the NoJo bedding Zoom Cars link and the other was turtles (no bedding specified). While I don't own the rights to the NoJo Cars and patterns used for the bedroom sets, I did my best to match and create. It's a bit of mix matched patterns but I think they turned out cute.

The turtles set was a little easier because I just created two paper patterns and used on the turtle and the backs. At first I had smaller eyes on the turtles but something didn't look quite right. After changing them, I realized they were much cuter!

It may seem with so few posts I haven't been active but I've been EXTREMELY busy working on projects for my soon to be 3 year old's birthday party... It going to be amazing (if I do say so myself). Lots and lots of projects that I hope will impress the party-goers.

I also worked on party decor for a MOMS Club party that I'll post about next.

Angela

DIY Closet Dividers - Personalized Baby Shower Gift

Look what I made!!

The second I received an invite to a friend's daughter's baby shower I knew I wanted to create something personal. When my own little one was born, I was so grateful for the baby clothes, blankets, and all the necessities a newborn baby calls for but the gifts that meant the most were the personalized ones. They're the ones sitting on her shelf or on the wall and not packed away for the next lucky recipient.

I found out from her mom that she's really excited about putting together her little guy's room and oh how I remember those days where I would just go sit in there and adjust this little burp cloth just so to make everything p-e-r-f-e-c-t. Of course, then she came home and reality set in, lol... rookie mistake!

Anyhow her guy is getting a jungle theme Lambs & Ivy- Cocoa room. A really fun idea hit me... Closet Dividers. If I know my girlfriend (the baby's grandma) this kid is going to have clothes! They'll need some way to keep them organized. The dividers go between hangers to tell you what sizes you have. I can't tell you how many times I found an outfit in Miss Monkey's closet that still had tags but she had outgrown because I forgot it was there. It's a shame to waste a cute outfit!

I've always wanted to try cutting chip board with the Cricut. I did a little research and realized cereal boxes work really well. So, using Sure Cuts A Lot's basic shapes I created a rounded rectangle 3.5" x 9.125" with a 2.75" circle and a slit to fit over the bar. The cereal box was easy to cut (just did a double cut- blade at 6 and max pressure/speed). Then cut a cute green plaid paper using layout. I didn't want to leave the back unfinished so I found a cute animal pattern in the same stack.

I used a thin layer of Modge Podge to adhere the paper on one side to the cereal box and let it dry, then I did the other side. (don't forget to flip your template if you plan to cut paper to fit the back side). I found stacking heavy books on top helped to keep them from curling/warping as they dried.

Paper Used: Animal Crackers Stack  by DCWV, and random scraps for the animals.
Cricut Cartridge: Create a Critter
Font for numbers: Palatino
Animal sizes
Lion- 2.25"
Monkey- 2.75"
Giraffe- 4"
Zebra- 2.5"
Elephant- 2"
Small grass- 1.25"
Large grass- 1.5"

I got to use my new Sizzix Texture Boutique to add a little embossing to the lion's mane. I just received the Create a Critter cartridge in the mail (Yay Sarah! She's the actual owner of the Cricut that I use so now "we" own this super cute cartridge) and couldn't wait to start cutting. I've only really used SCAL2 so I was a little afraid to figure out the cartridge buttons and sizes but using a piece of white card stock was super helpful to figure out my cuts before using the more expensive card stock.

I did make one extra (a total of 6) but didn't label it or add an animal yet.. what do you think 18 months and an alligator? Leave me a comment if you have a cute idea.

I hope they love the special gift I made for her little guy! The shower isn't until September so now I can relax a little and get back to my daughter's birthday party plans.