To all my Peeps out there ...a Peep Tree!

Happy Monday everyone!  Since Easter is less than a week away, I'll be posting Easter tips every day to help with your party décor or gift ideas.  Today's tip is dedicated to all my Peeps out there!  Marshmallow Peeps only come out during Easter and they are quite adorable. They aren't expensive and you can find assorted flavors, colors and animals.  Instead of giving them as a gift in a traditional Easter basket why not create a Peep Tree and display it on a table for your guests to eat.  It's super affordable and very easy and quick to make. 

(The Peep Tree displayed here was for a baby shower.  

The theme was rubber duckies).  

 

 All you need is:

- 1 Styrofoam ball (it doesn't really matter how big or small it is-it all depends how many Peeps you have) 

- 1 Skewer stick

- Toothpicks

- Floral Foam

- a short Vase that you have lying around the house

- Easter hay or raffia

 

 

Here's what you need to do:

 

1. The first thing you will need to do is cut the floral foam with a knife to fit the size of your vase (I always cut my floral foam in the sink to avoid making any mess).  Make sure the piece you cut is a little smaller than the neck of your vase so it can fit in easily. Also, the foam should be as high as the height of your vase to give extra support to your Styrofoam ball. 

 

2. Push the foam to the bottom of the vase.

 

3. Insert the skewer stick (you can decorate the skewer stick with ribbon or paint it) into the centre of the foam.   

 

4. Gently push the Styrofoam ball into the top of the skewer

 

5. Once the ball is in place, take one peep at a time and insert a toothpick at the bottom of the peep.  The idea is to stick the bottom of the peep into the ball so that it looks like the peep is sitting on the ball. 

 

6. Take the end of the toothpick that's sticking out and insert into the ball. 

Remember to start at the top of the ball to make the peeps look like they're set-up in a pattern.

7. Continue doing this until the ball is completely covered in peeps.

 

8. Finally, top the vase with the colored hay or raffia for a finishing touch.

 

It makes a really cute edible table decoration. 

Who doesn't enjoy a good marshmallow? 

Keeping It Fresh During Your Wedding Reception

 

My apologies for neglecting my daily posts this week.  I've been feeling under the weather these days. - I think there may be a flu-like virus going around.  Since I've been feeling a little out of it, I thought it would be appropriate to share a Wedding Tip that has to do with freshening up and pampering yourself.  I did this for my wedding and it was a hit.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pics but there are lot of ideas on google images that may inspire you.  I created 2 complimentary bathroom baskets that were tailored for men and women.  The woven baskets were decorated to match my theme and were placed in both restrooms.  Guests were invited to take what they needed when they visited the restroom.  Some ideas were:

 

-Gum

-Mouthwash

-Advil

-Sewing kit

-Hairspray

-Bobby pins

-Band Aids

- Hair brush

-Dental floss

-Tums

-and the list goes on and on...

 

Guests will appreciate this personal touch especially if they forget an item at home and find it for free in the restroom! 

 

Have a great weekend all!  Keep it fresh and healthy!

A Stress-Free Way to Eat!

 

Planning a menu for a party can sometimes be a little tricky especially with so people who have food allergies nowadays.  The last thing you want is to make one of your guests ill during your celebration.  Here is a quick and easy trick that will help eliminate some stress when it comes to serving food.  It's always best to plan your menu around your guests food restrictions.  If your friend is allergic to shellfish, avoid serving a shrimp platter!  Even though you are careful with what you are serving, it's always a nice touch to let your guests know what food items they can or can't eat.  It shows them that you care and kept them in mind when planning your menu.  With all the chaos that comes with throwing a party, it can sometimes be impossible to tell everyone what ingredients you used. Why not add Food Labels to your platters!  You can make them yourself and create fun names to describe each food item.  It adds a little personal décor detail to your party and it reassures your guests that what they're eating is safe to eat. Bon appétit! 

 





My latest guilty pleasure

 



Shopping for parties can sometimes get out of hand.  You set a budget, you make a checklist of all the things that you "need" to get, you enter a store and... BANG!  You forget that you ever had a checklist.  $200 later, you are on your way home trying to justify to yourself why you absolutely needed to buy a pack of 12 designer paper straws.  Yes, you read right...designer paper straws.  As an avid Professional Event Planner for over 10 years, I can honestly say that my latest obsession is to buy paper straws to help set the theme to my parties.  I don't know why, I just love them.  They come in a variety of colors to match your scheme. You can add them to your Couture Party Table (a fancy table where you can display your sweets or your meal).  What I love to do is to add them to a mason jar (as seen above and yet another one of my guilty pleasures).  They are just so darn adorable!  They aren't really a party necessity, but if my husband asks...they are!  

Seeing Dots?

If you're seeing dots it's probably because you're suffering from "Crafting Fatigue" (i.e. when you find yourself crafting past midnight and can't see straight) or you're using Glue Dots!  Some of you may be scratching your heads saying to yourself, "What in the world are Glue Dots?"  Glue Dots are the next best thing to using a glue stick.  It's an easy, glue-smudge free way of gluing crafts together.  I use them to assemble invitations and pretty much anything else that needs a little bit of glue.  I adore these little dots and can't say enough about them!  They usually come in a pack of 200 and each dot is placed on a glossy reel of paper making it easy to stick onto stuff.  Each pack costs about $4.00 each.  If you're lucky, you might even find them at Dollarama where you'll pay half the price!  See ya later glue stick, hello Glue Dots! 

Leave your old clothespins out to dry and invite the new party pin in!

                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                  

The other day I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked into Michaels and saw that they were actually selling 4 clothespins that were painted with pretty paint and designs for $4.  How crazy is that?  I've been using clothespins for awhile now on just about anything to help add a little pizazz to my parties.  You can use them to attach a thank you note on a loot bag, a place card holder for table seating's, or to hold up any décor at your party.  All you need is craft paint, a paint brush, wooden clothespins and a little imagination!  You can paint the entire clothespin or just the front of it.  For my daughter's Fairy Party I had painted them with Tinker green glitter paint and attached handmade name cards to the top of each clothespin.  The clothespins were used to hold fairy wings; each fairy guest was invited to take their wings upon arrival. They even make cute take-away's for your guests especially if their names are on them.  It really is as simple as that!  So forget about hanging your clothes out to dry, grab some clothespins and starting pimping your pins for your next party! 

 

 

 

Cheers! It's Friday! Let's Name a Drink!

 

TGIF! 

Let's have a drink! 

My favorite thing to do at parties is to create a "signature" drink.  The drink doesn't have to be complicated or expensive to make.  At my last party, my poor sister-in-law was stuck squeezing 30 limes to make my homemade margaritas.  After all that squeezing, her husband who is also my brother said, "why didn't you just buy lime juice?"  Thank God the limes were worth the squeeze cause it turned out to be a really delicious margarita!  With that said, it doesn't have to be complicated.  Choose something simple and make it in advance. Add pretty décor to the glasses like ribbon or name the drink after the guest of honor (as seen here in the picture above "The Olivia-tini"). 

Cheers! Have a great weekend everyone! 

 

Some"Bunny" Loves Cake!

Let's add a little Easter cheer to today's Party Tip.  This is an oldie but a goodie.  It was my late grandmother Huguette's party tip (let's just say, I inherited my love for parties from her,

my mom and godmother). 

Every Easter she made a Bunny Cake.  It's not only easy to make and easy to eat but... it's also pretty darn adorable.  It's so cute to look at that nobody wants to cut a piece of cake!  Really, I'm not kidding!  (speaking of "cute", look how cute my mom looks posing with the bunny last Easter!)

 

Here are a few quick easy tips on how to make this cute cake:

1. Add cake mix (either boxed or homemade) to 1 8-inch round cake pan and 1 4-inch round cake pan. 
2. Bake as indicated on the cake box mix or as indicated in your recipe.
3. Once the cakes are ready, let cool on a cooling rack.
4. Cut the 8-inch and 4-inch cakes in half.
5. Add frosting of your choice in the middle of the 8-inch halves and then do the same with the 4-inch halves.
6. Then, stand up 8-inch halves on a plate.  This will be your bunny's body.  Place the 4-inch halves at the front of the body so that it looks like a head attached to a body.
7. Once you've placed the cakes, generously apply frosting of your choice to the entire cake. White frosting is always the popular choice!   
8. Sprinkle coconut all over your cake (you can add food coloring to the coconut beforehand in a separate bowl.  This will add color to your cake).
9. After you've sprinkled the coconut, let the fun begin!  Add the jelly beans for the eyes and nose and pretzels or black licorice for the whiskers.  
10. Also, add a few marshmallows at the back of the cake to create a puffy tail.  You can even do the same with whip cream! 
11. With the leftover jelly beans and coconut you can add it to the plate to spice up the Easter décor. 
12. Lastly, using construction or card stock paper, cut out 2 ears and ask your kids to color them.  Once complete, add the ears into the cake. 

How adorable is that?  Now go and make some"bunny" a cake!  :)

 

 

 

Leave a "mark" at your next kids birthday party!

If you have kids over the age of 2 you will probably relate to this post.  Tattoos are the latest craze (not to mention, character band aids!).  If my 4 year old had it her way, she would wear 20 tattoos on each arm and probably another 10 all over her face.  So with that said, why not spice up the old kiddie games at their next birthday party?  Instead of playing a game, invite the birthday girl or boy and their party mates to choose and apply their favorite tattoo.  If you want to offer something a little unique they also sell face tattoos at Target and Michaels.  At my daughter's Fairy birthday party I had purchased fairy face tattoos and all the girls wanted one (even me and my girlfriends!). They're a little challenging to apply but they are darn cute and complete a fairy outfit! 

One last thing, tattoos are also a great thing to add to a loot bag!  They are inexpensive and like I said before, kids love them! 

A Very Sweet 'n Cheap Party Favor Idea

Sugaring Off season has already begun in Quebec despite the cold weather! 

Why not give maple syrup sugar cones as a party favor? 

They are not only delicious but also very inexpensive.

 You can gift wrap them with pretty paper or simply tie them

with decorative ribbon.

 This party favor will leave your guests drooling

(or they may ask you for a cold glass of milk)!  

Move over Cake Pops...there's a new POP in town. Marsh Pops!

Who really has the patience and time to make Cake Pops besides Martha Stewart?  Wait...I'm sure she doesn't even make them!  This is a super easy affordable way to make your own version of cake pops.  They're called Marsh Pops!  Kids are guaranteed to love them!  All you need is a bag of regular sized marshmallows, edible glitter (add to a plate or bowl), cake pop sticks and a bowl of water.  Here are 3 easy steps to making your own Marsh Pops:

 

1. Insert a cake pop stick into the bottom of a marshmallow
2. Dip the tip of the marshmallow into the water
3. Dip the tip of the marshmallow into the glitter

and...

Voila!  That's how easy it is to make a Marsh Pop! Try it!  You can thank me later!  :)

The Birthday Wreath

Do you have 180 or so balloons lying around your house from past celebrations?  Here's a super easy and festive way to use your balloons.  Create a birthday wreath and hang it on your front door when a birthday is celebrated in your home.  All you need is 180 or so balloons (color of your choice), a craft wreath (either cardboard, styrofoam or metal), florist wire and a decorative ribbon to enhance the colors of your balloons!  Very easy to make and the kids will look forward to seeing this wreath come out on their birthdays!