How charming and romantic…

The picture above came from Country Living Magazine

Don’t you love it when you see something that makes your heart say “ Oooohhhhhh”…..Well that’s what happened when I saw the beautiful PARTY TRUCK And look at the details…. So beautiful. Please, I want to DO THIS…!!!!
And look at these yummy “Sugared Pears”….

Aaaaaahhhhh..!!!!! I need a truck…How romantic. Pictures were found HERE: at Margaria’s Party Inspirations. Stop in to visit her.

Ok, I’m on the hunt for a TRUCK…!!

Cheers,

Your Creative Party Girl,

Dianne

One of my favorites….Bubble Gum Pink…..Paper Straws….!!! The perfect shade of pink. Oh so YUMMY..!!!

And you’re gonna  LOVE our new POLKA DOT PAPER STRAWS..!!!  Mix them with other colors and stripes. Perfect Party compliment…!!! FUN and CUTE…:)

I fell in LOVE with our YUMMY YELLOW Striped Paper Straw…It’s been a favorite with YOU too….!!!

And look at this Gorgeous Green…Perfect for the holidays…

Mix our Green Striped Paper Straws  with these pretty Red Striped Straws

And of course our RED POLKA DOT PAPER STRAWS…adorable…!!

Our pretty Blissful Blue Striped Paper Straws….In Stripes and Dots….

 Red White and Blue Striped Paper Straws….

Our Black Striped Paper Straws and Black Dots and Circles are great for weddings or other upscale events you may be planning.

Are you IN LOVE yet…!!! You’ll find these fun straws on our web site: www.thesugardiva.com
Be back soon to begin our Christmas Party Ideas…!!!
Your Creative Party Gal
Dianne

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I’m lovin’ this party.  You have to check out the picture where they put a HUGE rocket going up the stairs to make it look like it was blasting off!  What a fantabulous idea!  There are just so many cute details.  Love the rocket pop cookies too!

Enjoy Brittany’s Rocket Party…..

My boo is two!  I can hardly believe it! I thought this party was never going to happen! I had to reschedule it from his actual birthday until two weeks later because we were moving in the midst of all this fun!  The theme was inspired by this cute Michael Miller fabric, “Rocket Rascals” fabric. It had a fun, retro-vibe to it. I got the fabric off Etsy, from BellePepper Couture.

Isn’t he the cutest boy?

His shirt was custom monogrammed from my friend Mollie, who runs an embroidery business out of her house.

I need a big impact item for the front entrance of our house, since it is all stairs, so I went with a rocket blasting up the stairs. This picture does not do the size justice. I cut the shape out of a huge cardboard box and then covered it with butcher paper and painted it . The “flames” are cellophane.

Since it was an afternoon party, I went with a sweets display. We had candy, cookies, cupcakes, etc. To say that I have tons left over is an understatement!

I found the rocket birdhouses on either side of the buffet at Michael’s and hand painted them to match the theme.

The adorable cupcake toppers are from the lovely CiaoBambino on Etsy! She also did the favor tags for me.

A close-up of the tags. They had little astronauts and rockets and said “Greyson’s 2nd Birthday.”

I handmade all the cupcakes and icing from Martha Stewart’s recipe for buttercream and dyed the icing myself. I am a control freak to the nth degree.

The rocket cookies were custom designed and baked for me by Laurie at Whimsy Cookie Co. She is local in Memphis, but she ships!  Check her out, she was awesome to work with and she can do anything!

The marshmallow pops were the world’s easiest thing to make and the kids LOVED them. They had red all over their faces.

I made all the food tags on my printer with paint.net and photo paper. I thought they turned out super cute!  We also had Airheads as well. I got almost all the candy at Wayne’s Candy Company in downtown Memphis. We have one of the best bulk candy stores right in our backyard!

I don’t normally like working with fondant, but I took a chance this time and tried to make his cake myself. I accidentally put flour in the blue fondant instead of cornstartch and it looked crazy!  But, he didn’t care!

The beverage station was a combination of bottled water with custom tags, “Rocket Fuel” (Crystal Light), and soft drinks.

I got this cute dispenser at Target after mine sprung a leak at my last party!

The cute galvanized pail is from the Etsy seller, BrodyandMa. I didn’t even have her do this custom!  She already offered it in the fabric that I loved!

Since we just moved in, we don’t have a lot of stuff on the walls, so I painted this banner to put alongside the food table.

The favors were PopRocks and Milky Ways for the Adults, and Elmo Rocket books ($1 spot at Target) and the candy for the kiddos.

Again, the favor tags were from CiaoBambino.

I got this rocket tent on walmart.com for $20!!!!  Insane deal. This was also his present from us.

My sweet birthday boy!

He did NOT cooperate for presents!

Keepin’ it real.

Enjoy this Elmo birthday party…

handmade invitations set the stage
for the Elmo Train Express Extravaganza

balloon entryway greeted
the guests with whimsy & fun

custom centerpiece flags
Elmo ones were placed into
mason jars filled with crayons
tables were lined with white
butcher paper so guests
could color- a la Elmo’s World

napkins were rolled in bandana
print paper and secured with
Elmo Engineer sticker

handmade centerpiece flags
Train flags were placed in
mason jars filled with
Coal Bubblegum. Choo Choo!

handmade party Train Banner

the sweet birthday girl in her
rainbow tutu

handmade train cake topper sits
on a smash cake
jar/container labels and ribbon
adorn the front of hat box

handmade Elmo party banner

handmade Elmo cake topper sits
on a smash cake
jar/container labels and ribbon
adorn the front of hat box

Client hired a candy buffet
specialist to set-up a table
for the event

custom favor bags, favor photo cards

handmade favor tags jazz up the
party favor books
for the little ones

cupcake toppers and cupcake wraps

the dessert table was such a
beautiful presentation
and also provided
an amazing spot for photos

custom cupcake toppers
spelled out
“Happy Birthday Joshua & Jacqueline”

finger foods were served

party hats for the guests of honor
photo favor cards

all of the happy party-goers

the Train has arrived

birthday kids on the engine

gift table

party favor table

popcorn snack cones
made from bandana paper
jar/container labels
nice guy working the machine:)

dressed up drinks

Elmo & Train guest
party hats

The day finally came for the Elmo Train Party Palooza Extravaganza. This was one dazzling and spectacular event. I have been planning this party with one quite extraordinary Mom, Jessy, for about 6 months. Jessy is a rock star on so many levels. She is a Super Mom to 6 young children, helps run a successful business, is ridiculously gorgeous and the cherry on top is she LOVES to throw parties:) I am always working on something for one of her events and I am always honored. Jessy is also extremely organized and an unbelievable planner. Truly amazing and the cat’s meow to work with:)
This party was a combined birthday party for a son turning 3 and a daughter turning 2. Son loves trains more than anything and daughter is wild for Elmo. A bit of a challenge to combine the two, but I was able to come up with many ways to make it all cohesive and adorable.
My favorite artist, Joie, (like the boy’s name, but a girl..LOL) was able to create an Elmo in an Engineer Hat which became the starting point for my partyware designing. I used lots of bandana prints to coordinate it all. We also used a vibrant color scheme to make everything pop and to keep it all kid oriented and FUN!
Enjoy the pictures. There are tons of them. Jessy outdid herself on this one. Balloon artist, candy buffet, bouncy house and yes, she had an actual train come to this shindig to offer rides on the Elmo Train Express.
To see all that planning fall into place is, well, amazing.

Enjoy Marsha’s Autumn Inspired party….

WOW! I don’t know about you, but it’s been a crazy, busy week for us. Our little grandson had surgery, but, thank God, he is doing well. I haven’t had time to post or visit anyone much this week, but I did want to show you the fall bridal shower table after we added the food and made a few changes.

If you follow my blog (and if you don’t, you should, hehe!), you would have seen the table after I set it, but before the food was placed on it. To catch up, you can see the previous post here.
You may have noticed I changed the centerpiece from before. I thought it would be nice to have fresh flowers.
Be sure to check out a future post and I’ll show you how I put these burlap filled daisy arrangements together.

Remember the tiered cake plates? Here they are with a variety of cupcakes including One Perfect Bite’s Pumpkin Cupcakes.

And here’s the chocolate covered pretzels I told you about. Got the idea from Cozy Kitchen by the Sea and Our Family Attic.

Do you remember the pumpkin dip recipe I gave you? Here it is, served with green and red apples and gingersnaps.

Mixed nuts with candy corn mixed in.

I served an Autumn Spiced Punch from the kitchen bar. I’d love to share this recipe and how I made the ice ring with you in a later post.

And here’s a view of the whole table before we gobbled it up. We arranged the gifts in another room on top of our piano.

Ok, whoever came up with the idea for a cookies and milk baby shower is a GENIUS!  I’m completely in love with this idea.  In fact if I hadn’t just mailed out the invites for the baby shower I’m throwing in a couple weeks I would’ve totally changed my theme!  Besides the fact that it’s a totally fun theme…Jen took the theme and ran with it!  I love her colors and love all her little details!

Enjoy Jen’s Cookies & Milk Baby Shower…..

when jamie and i saw the idea for a cookies and milk baby shower here… we knew we had to have one for jodie. we planned the whole thing on our drive to utah a couple months ago. it was so much fun. we both had the same idea for the color combination, which just happens to be one of my favorites right now! red. aqua. and pink. we were really happy with the way everything turned out!

jamie made the invites of course…

i was dying to do something with big round balloons. i actually wanted them a little bigger but they worked!

jamie made the cookie labels and the papers to go in the jars…

my mom, jamie, jen, tauni, and i all made the yummy cookies.

thanks for the help girls!

my mom also made the cute polka dot tablecloth

All the color really draws you in and this party just pops right off the screen.

Enjoy Lindsey’s Party…..

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Here is the Birthday Girl looking super cute in her Birthday suit!

Proud mommy and daddy!

And of course one of Big sister!

Yellow…it’s just so yummy! It just grabs you and pulls you right into this party. Personally I’m terrified of bees….because I’ve never been stung before…but this Bee themed party even won me over! How could it not with all the fun little touches.

Enjoy Silly Bee’s Chickadees party…..
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We celebrated my mom’s big birthday and it was soooo much fun. My sister, a few of Mom’s girlfriends and I hosted Queen Bea’s Surprise Birthday Jubilee! The party brought together a group of amazing women from across the country who have been awesome friends to Mom over the years. It was a great afternoon and so much fun visiting with old friends and new. Boy was she surprised!!!

The theme was bees and circles representing Mom’s circle of friends. The party room was decorated in white and shades of yellow, which just happened to match my dining room! (No, I didn’t paint the walls to match, Silly Miss Sillypants). Round paper lanterns, honeycomb-style paper globes and handmade tissue paper flowers hung from the ceiling above the food table and in the corners of the den.

My sister made fun party favors with cute little jars and yellow Jelly Bellys-one of Mom’s faves. She also made fabulous baskets for the door prize winners filled with loads of Burt’s Bees products and a yummy candle. She even sewed a little bee onto the baskets! The biggest basket went to the party game winner- the one who knew the most facts of Queen Bea’s life. (Q- Where did Bea meet Victor? A- At the Hurry Burger. Dad flipped hamburgers and Mom was the shake girl.)

Wanna see more pictures and details from this bee themed party? Visit the original party post. There’s a ton more to see!

Candidly I was really unsure what I was going to do until a few days before the party. I decided on a chocolate and vanilla cupcake tier with a 4×4″ cake (for my little guy) on top. Not only does the tier give the table height, but it also made a clear separation between his cake and the guest cakes… especially since I tried my hand at chocolate transfer. {loved it!}

So for his cake, I could use dairy-free chocolate transfer (trust me you can’t tell the difference in taste), but I’ve only been able to find it in regular chocolate, no white chocolate or other colors, and I didn’t think that was very interesting so I opted for a rice crispy (which he loves) sherrif badge. No worries, I made more as favors for his little buddies.

Click here to see some tips on how to make the cupcakes and use chocolate transfers.

My little one has food allergies. He’s a big fan of the rice crispy treat so I molded the sweet treat into star cookie cutters (available in our shoppe) and then iced them as favors for our guests. We placed them in pails that were embellished with bandana ribbon, the same used on our cake plate, and a fun wooden cowboy boot from the craft store. {50 cents already painted people!} As for the sign, I just picked up a sheet of scrapbooking paper that looked like old wooden boards and imprinted it with the Playbill font (commonly found in Microsoft products).

More details on the rice krispy badges can be seen here.

As for the treats, I slaved over placing the Twizzlers (aka cowboy ropes) in the tall vase {wink}. The chocolate dipped marshmallows took a little more time, but not much. Melt your chocolate in a double boiler, spear three marshmallows on a lollipop stick, coat the marshmallows using a silicon brush, add a few candy stars and lay them on wax paper to cool. For the final touch, package them in cello bags. I have to admit, I didn’t make enough. They were a hit.

So of course I couldn’t just have fun food for my little boy’s third birthday bash, I had to have some really fun decor too. We decorated the entire backyard, but these are a few of my favorite crafts.

Make sure to checkout the instructions for how to build the horses and make the other decor items you see above.

A fun craft for any child birthday is to create a character photo op. We made this one for our cowboy birthday party so that the children could stand behind it and wear the cowboy hat. All the detail on supplies and instructions are on The Celebration Shoppe Blog.

Kim’s got some great items in her shop to compliment her Wild West Cowboy Bash. Invitaions and Table Settings.

There are more pictures and party details to see….so leave a comment and then hop on over to the Phillips Family Blog to see more! Enjoy the party………….
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Oscar’s first birthday party was so much fun. There were some many things you could do with a whale theme however purchasing things with a cute whale is impossible. With that said I had to be creative and make my own decorations. I designed the invites with a friend, paper cones with a whale were provided with “whale goldfish”, bubbles were given to the kids with mini invites as the gift tag, a sea of balloons lined the deck, handmade signs adorned the patio and a whale birthday hat for our son.