Etsy to the rescue:

Little side projects have been a nice distraction during these last six months. Normally I don't have time for much, between day job, hospital runs, and my active 2 year old, but I made it a point to find the time and help a friend who needed ideas for her daughter's birthday party. I had less than a week to round up the details to bring it all together! Thank goodness she fell in love with a theme I already had in my Etsy Shop!

 

You can get this design here!

Bee Party Printables:

I finally got around to adding a new item to my etsy shop! The Vintage Bumble Bee Party Kit from my daughter's birthday! Enjoy!

Buy it here!

Favor Bag Tutorial:

I dont consider myself a very crafty hands on person. I can cut and punch things out, but dont ask me to sew, or build things! So I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to make these favor bags with a custom iron on. Here is a close up picture of the muslin favor bags I created for my daughter's birthday party.

I ordered the muslin bags from Celestial Gifts, they have a wide variety of sizes, and the prices are very affordable.  I bought these iron on transfers from Walmart, but you can find them at any office supply store, Michael's Craft Supply Store or order them directly from the internet. I used Illustrator to create the design, but you can use MS Word to create text, and even import clipart. Click here for a free download of the design I created, if you are planning your own Bumble Bee Theme Party.

Here are some simple instructions:

1. Make sure to print your iron on using an inkjet printer (But follow the instructions of your iron on paper)
2. Always iron on a hard, flat surface (not a padded ironing board), I ironed them on the floor. Just make sure you place something underneath to protect the surface. 
3. Once you have cut out the design, lay it on top of the muslin bag. (To make sure the muslin bag surface was flat and neat, I pre-ironed all my bags)
4. Place the sticky side down onto fabric, and apply the heat. (Follow any specific instructions on the iron on paper you are using, since they all vary) 
5. After about 60 seconds of constant heat, your bag is done!

I would recommend getting an extra bag for practice, we learned with our first bag that our iron wasn't hot enough and the iron on transfer bubbled!  

This is great for any type of favors for showers and even weddings.

Bee Party:

 I finally got the time to go through my daughter's First birthday party photos. When I started planning her party eight months ago,  I wanted to design something special & unique for this celebration. I figured when she gets old enough, I may not have a say in the theme of her parties. I loved the idea of a Rustic Bumble Bee Theme, and we were touched by the opening line of The Bee Movie - According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. It's wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee of course flies anyways, because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. My daughter was born at 26 weeks, and overcame many obstacles to make it to her First Birthday, so we knew this would set the tone for her Bumble Bee Theme.   

I designed all paper goods, including the invitation, tags for food, the banner, and the goodie bags. For the kids’ goodie bags, I ordered Muslin Bags from CelestialGifts, and then designed a custom iron on logo, that read “Thank you for Buzzing by”. The goodie bags contained bubbles, bumble bee tattoos, sunflower seedling starter kits, and The Bee Movie.

My creative friend from Paperglitter was kind enough to offer her help and make three Beehive Piñatas for different kids’ age groups. This helped a great deal since there were about 30 kids ranging from ages 3 to 10.

The dessert buffet had lots of treats, besides the birthday cake, it included honeycomb cereal, honey teddy grahams, yellow gumballs, various flavors of candy sticks, and chocolate and vanilla cupcakes by a local baker, Golosinas. I found wooden letters at a local Michael's store to spell One. 

I worked very closely with my friend from The Posh Nosh Cakery to design a cake that had a hint of the Bee Theme without being too caricature like.  

Photography by: www.denisecruzstudio.com

Color Straws: HeyYoYo

Papergoods: Fresh Linen Press

Let them eat cake:

It was so exciting to celebrate Victoria's First Birthday. We decided to capture this special ocassion with a cake smash session. My friend Denise from Denise Cruz Studio truly captured the moment, and Victoria's very vibrant personality. We also wanted to thank everyone who donated to the March of Dimes in Victoria's honor. It is because of their on going research that preemies have a chance at life!

Miniature cake by The Posh Nosh Cakery

A Miracle Birthday:

I can't believe Victoria's first birthday is fast approaching! I must say, there were times last year that I thought we'd never make it this far. After Victoria's premature birth at only 26 weeks, we had an emotional rollercoaster ahead of us. Each passing day was a challenge and a blessing. The three long months she stayed in the hospital felt like an eternity. The day she finally came home, only two days after my very first mother's day, was very bitter sweet. We had become so attached to all of her nurses, or as I like to call them, her NICU Mothers. They were our support system, reassuring us with each passing day, she would be okay, and one day she would finally be home. Today she is a chubby, healthy baby, who is growing way too fast. I feel thankful and blessed to finally be celebrating this joyous occasion. She is our little miracle, who changed our lives forever.

In celebration of Victoria's birthday, we have created a virtual band to make donations to the March of Dimes in her honor, and in honor of so many babies who were not as fortunate as our precious Victoria.

{Click here to make a donation in honor of Victoria}

Sweet Tooth:

Are these not the most beautiful cookies you've ever seen? I can't wait to start planning Victoria's birthday parties to have an excuse to purchase them!

{Find them via Etsy seller TS Cookies}

Totally Bananas:

I'm a little late posting this, but I've been feeling under the weather and not getting to my computer much. I'm excited to be sharing the first 'Boy Friendly' party kit from Paperglitter. It's absolutely adorable!   

{Purchase Monkey Party Kit here}

Happy Birthday:

Happy Birthday to me....(and I'm such a bad blogger that I forgot my blog's One Year Birthday that was on September 2!)

{I'd love me some goodies from Bakerella}

Damask:

I'm in love with the latest dessert table featured over at the Amy Atlas Blog. Besides loving beautifully designed parties, it reminds me of the colors and pattern my hubby used 3 years ago for a surprise birthday party he threw for me. Poor, sweet thing, I must have been obsessing over black damask and green so much he ended up using it on everything from the invitation to my cake!  

{Above photos via Amy Atlas}

{Invitation design by the hubby}

Fomato:

Finally, greeting cards that express exactly what Im thinking! Check out more adorable and hilarious cards from Fomato.

{Found via Paper Crave}

Bella:

This past weekend was my niece's 5th Birthday, and I couldn't believe how quickly time had passed. I also couldn't help but to reminisce at all her little birthday parties that have been so carefully planned by my sister and I, and wonder if she will ever remember any of them! {Probably not} So far, the one that will stand out most in my mind is her 1st birthday party.  I'm a firm believer that you don't have to spend a lot of money to put together something that's beautiful and memorable, and I wanted to share a few of our ideas with you! I hope the images will inspire you to create something beautiful and budget friendly. 

Sign in pages for guests were added to a scrapbook 

my sister had been creating for her First year

 Matching china was found at the local Marshalls & TJ Maxx

The basket for cutlery was found at your local Michael's

To add an elegant touch purchase a beautiful frame

and create a Menu on your computer

You don't have to purchase an expensive fancy fondant cake.

Have your local baker add a monogram to a simple

butter cream cake. 

35:

Happy 35th Birthday hubby! Looking forward to spending many more birthdays together!

5:

Why do I always get so utterly happy when planning parties? Next month is my niece's 5th birthday, and my sister has decided she's ready for a fun little spa party with 10 of her closest friends, my niece's friends that is!! So say no more, I was in full research mode, from invitations to fun favors. I fell in love with this adorable cookie invitation I found here! It's fun and unique, and since she wont need to mail them, it's a perfect choice!