A Sweet Birthday Party

Shortly after Drew was born, I had my own birthday. I knew that I desperately wanted to see and go out with my best girlfriends, but with a 5 week old, that just wasn't going to be possible. I was trying to come up with a very low-key and simple birthday party that I could have at my house. I made sure to send out invites right before Drew was born.

I'm not much of a cook, but I do love baking. Whenever I see a good recipe on-line or in a magazine, I always keep it in hopes that I will try it at some point. Needless to say, the dessert section of my recipe book was exploding. And then the idea was born. I guess it was kind of like a Cookie Swap party that you do around Christmas. I gathered a list of all of recipes that I most wanted to try, emailed my gals something like this...

I'm throwing myself a birthday party! Figuring I will be really dying for some good girl-bonding time, plus, I'm presuming that getting away for lunches and dinners with you ladies one-on-one will be a thing of the past once the little girl arrives. Here is the plan...

We will be eating dessert...lots of it. I will provide beverages (WINE). For each of you that can come, I'm assigning you a special dessert that I've been dying to try. I promise, they aren't difficult or overly time-consuming. If you must bring a present, then there are rules...you cannot spend more than $10 and it has to be one of your favorite things!

Once the RSVP's started coming in, I emailed them the recipe that matched with their comfort level in baking. I had a TON of recipes, so some of my friends I sent about 3 to choose from and they picked. I couldn't resist and decided to make Snickerdoodle cupcakes myself.

For the decor, I chose black and white damask. The theme was born when I saw the butterfly wine glass labels from The Posh Event on Etsy.

I did little gift bags for the girls. I bought plain black bags and did a little tissue pom out of a black napkin as a cute accent on the handle (see picture above). In each bag, I bought a large disposible tupperware, because I knew we were going to have tons of leftovers. I also included a print-out of each recipe.

For the dessert table I made these flowers out of napkins. The DIY instructions can be found here. They would look awesome strung together as a garland, but I had no time! The napkins I had leftover from my baby shower, which you can check out here!

Here was the line up (clockwise): Pumpkin Squares (candy corn on top), Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies, Biscoff Cookie Cheesecake bars, Chocolate Eclairs, Oreo Cupcakes, Cinnamon-Sugar Doughnut Cupcakes, and Snickerdoodle Cupcakes (center). How heavenly do they sound? I have to say, they were ALL delicious! But as you can imagine, we all had sugar comas after!!! Cute plates were found from Target and went with my theme perfectly.

Honestly, everything was sooooo good. I couldn't possibly pick a favorite. If you are interested in any of these recipes, leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

Here are just a few of my awesome $10 gifts. Some of the other items I got (but not pictured) were an adorable apron and a pair of yummy soft socks! I loved the dishtowel below so much (thanks Amanda!) that I went out and bought another one.

Here is a picture of my beautiful and awesome friends! My best friend Shannon is holding Drew....look how tiny she was! Once I had all my friends in my living room and after looking at this picture again I realized that I have a lot of blonde friends!?!?! It was a lovely afternoon of just visiting and some of my friends were able to meet Drew for the first time. I think all of the husbands enjoyed the leftovers as well. I know mine did! I will say though, having all the leftovers in my refrigerator did NOT help shed the post-baby weight! :)

For those of you short on time, I highly recommend this idea. We are all so busy with family, work, and other obligations these days. Having this time was a good reminder of how special the bond is between women. I know I value my friendships with each of these women (and a special few who wern't able to make it)! I'm hoping to do it again sometime, but maybe with a different food item other than dessert. Maybe a wine and cheese party? Anyone else have any good ideas?

DIY Cupcake Stands

I found these super cute (and super easy) DIY cupcake stands on the Modern Moments blog today. Can't wait to try this out for our next get-to-gether. Check out the full post and instructions here .

Photo courtesy of Modern Moments blog

These would be a fun favor for your guests as well. Think of all the creative uses for it...

*put a tiny dish on top of it for your rings next to your sink

*on your desk at work, fill a little dish full of M&M's or some other treat

*set a small mason jar on top of it with some flowers in it

If anyone makes these, report back with pictures!

Samantha

My friend Stacey's daughter Sam turned 1 recently. When I asked Stacey what Sam wanted, instead of an outfit or a new toy, she wanted something for a bare shelf in her room. Sam's room is chocolate brown, pink, and white. Stacey left it up to me with what I wanted to do, so here is what I came up with!

Happy 1st birthday, Samantha!

Christmas Presents

Merry Christmas everyone! I may be a rare breed because I love wrapping presents!! This year was no exception! Check out some of my favorites...




Happy Holidays everyone!

Micah's 2nd birthday - Surfs Up!

We've had a lot going on in the Jones' household these last few months! A new baby, a new job, travel, a crazy toddler...the list goes on and on. I obviously didn't have as much time to plan an elaborate party for Micah, like I did with his Camp Out 1st birthday, seen here. I started planning his party last year about 2 months in advance...with a newborn, that was not possible this year! I was so excited to have Micah's 1st birthday party featured on The Creative Hostess blog, that I wanted to try to do something special again, but a bit toned down.

This year, I was on a strict budget from the hubby and I was up for the challenge! I will say, having a baby so close to Christmas has some challenges when planning a party. You run out of time with the craziness of Thanksgiving, Christmas and just having enough time to find what you need. Not to mention most of your friends and family having a lot of other social obligations this time of year.

I was inspired by the Retro Surf Party seen here on the HWTM blog and it gave me a lot of great ideas. In my planning process, I began to search the web for some more ideas. For me, I always start with the invitation. I searched iStockPhoto and found some images, and my friend Alice, who designed Micah's 1st birthday invites, designed these for me this year.


I always like to make a great first impression, or to set the stage for the party right off the bat. My very creative dad likes a theme just as much as I do, and made all the great signs, as well as the surfboards that you'll see throughout the party!




After guests pass through our dining room, the entrance to the kitchen is where they enter party-zone. Below is another sign that my dad made, as well as a surfboard with Micah's name on it. I took Micah's easel down from his room, bought some chalk, and copied the "surf report" from I Love Parties that was posted on the HWTM blog (mentioned above)....it was just too cute with all the "2's"!


The streamers were the biggest time commitment. I actually wanted to have a ton more streamers on the ceiling, but time (and my neck) didn't allow. But what a fun, inexpensive way to add some color and visual interest to your room. I tried to make them look like waves. The streamer "curtain" was a great way to not have our gigantic Christmas tree to be a focal point when you walked in....plus, it was a huge hit with the kiddos! I'm not usually a big fan of balloons for birthday decor, but Micah loooovvvveeessss balloons. We barely can make it out of a grocery store without getting him one.

One way to cut down on the cost (and stress) was to not serve lunch. I decided to have the party in the early afternoon and serve light snacks, drinks and sweets.

Perhaps my favorite detail of the entire party was the "surf wax". Again, my friend Alice who designed the invitations, made these adorable labels for me. I made Rice Krispie treats, cut them out with a 3 inch round cookie cutter, wrapped them in saran wrap, then stuck the label on (label paper bought from Paper Source).


What can I say, I love cupcakes! I enjoy coming up with fun ways to decorate them too. Budget didn't allow to get my favorite banana truffle cake from CAKE this year, as we did for Micah's 1st birthday and my baby showers. I used the cupcake stand that I made for Micah's party last year, except I swapped out some of the material with some fabric I had on hand. The "sand" is graham crackers and those surfboards are sugar!


I love incorporating fabric into party decor. I made this boardshorts banner out of fabrics I had from Micah's room and some thread. I found the mini clothespins on amazon.com for $1.99. I was really happy the way it turned out!


For the kids (and some of the adults), we had temporary tattoos for them to wear if they wanted. I got them from Oriental Trading. The kids had fun putting them on. Micah couldn't quite figure out what was on his arm and kept trying to scratch it off. For San Diego and a surfer party, I was a little disappointed that we had rain. I knew it was in the forecast, so I brought down Micah's Ikea table and chairs from his room for a craft table. I bought some color-on frames and got some extra kid's menus from Islands!



For the food, we had a good mix of sweet and salty. For the sweets, I made mini jello cups, with a gummy shark floating at the bottom. We also had bubblegum balls, "2" sugar cookies, the above mentioned Surf Snacks and the cupcakes. For salty, I did blue corn tortilla chips, with a white queso dip as well as a pineapple salsa. We also had rainbow goldfish. For the drinks, I made lemonade, got some blue Mt. Dew, blue Gatorade, and was thrilled to find Surfer Cooler Capri Suns for the kids! The hula girl straws are from Oriental Trading.





For the favors, the adults got gummy sharks. For the kiddos, they also got some gummy sharks, surfer stickers, and plenty of temporary tattoos for home.




All in all, I was able to do his party for just under $200. I was really happy with the way it turned out and I know Micah had fun, which is the most important detail of all!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet boy, Micah! Surfs Up, Dude!!!

Wreaths

Here are some wreaths that I have made.... they are really simple to make. I went to Michael's and got the foam wreath, some yarn and felt. The fabric and ribbon was extra scraps I had around the house. Here is a picture of the first wreath I did for our front door.



Below are some of the others I made...one for my mom and one for my friend Alice!



This last wreath is my wreath that is up right now. I'm going to be using it as a "template" going forward, probably just switching out the felt and fabric flowers as my tastes and the seasons change. I am currently working on a Christmas wreath...check back soon for the results!




xxx

Ohdeedoh

I am so thrilled to announce that Drew's room was featured on Ohdeedoh!