Grandma Jan's 75th Birthday

My Grandmother never asks for anything; so, when she told us that she wanted a party for her 75th birthday we jumped at the chance to make it a party/family reunion to remember!

 

 

We had a fabulous time and can't wait to do it again!

 

 

Star's Princess Party - with a UNICORN!

Princess Parties are one of the most popular requests for birthday parties today; this birthday girl also loved Unicorns and we were overjoyed to find a local company that would work with us to make her dreams come true!

And I must admit that I was pretty smitten myself!

They even brought a second pony that the kids were able to paint!

Our amazing baker, Lisa Nelson, from Inspired Desserts made a beautiful cake and matching cupakes to coordinate with our theme.

Aren't they gorgeous?! And as a bonus, they were delicous, too!

Emma's Purple Monkey Party

When you ask a kid what they want for their birthday party theme, the answer is often suprising. In this case, my client's daughter, Emma's response was "A Purple Monkey Party"! And a Purple Monkey Party is exactly what she got!

The invitations were one of my favorite parts of this party. I made them all by hand and LOVE how they turned out (although the photo is really crummy)...

We decided on a Banana Split Bar, instead of the traditional cake and ice cream and the kids LOVED IT!

I fancied up the whipped cream and chocolate syrup containers to match the decor.

Then, I put all of the toppings in pretty glass jars...

And a little iced tea & lemonade in my favorite decanters finished off the refreshments...

We played a fun round of Pin the Tail on the Monkey (I drew the silly monkey myself)

and each kid left with a Funky Monkey Cup (with sweet little lavender bows) as a party favor.

We had a great time "monkeying around"! 



Woodland Baby Shower

This party was a classic Baby Shower with natural elements and lots of texture.

 

One of my favorite party features is the bunting and I have been dying to do one using book pages. I am happy to say that Mommy loved it so much that it is now hanging in Baby Madelyn's Nursery. Adding a clothesline of some gently loved hand-me-downs was a nice way to add color and interest to a large non-focal wall.

I wish I could take credit for the awesome diaper cake in the center of this photo; but, I have to give love to my friend Faith. She is a diaper cake maniac!  Her work is amazing! I love all of the sweet details.

The birdhouses on the mini diaper cakes are all hand painted (by moi) and are now sitting proudly on Madelyn's nursery room shelf.

One if my absolute favorite elements of this party was the use of ribbon. We hung it everywhere: from the ceiling, off the table, and on a wreath! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

This frame is from Ikea that was spray painted white; then, I hand cut the Monogram out of white paper and glued it onto the pink background. <3 Love!

The spread was simple with mini quiche, fruit, veggies, crackers, spinach-artichoke dip, assorted cheeses, cupcakes and lemon cake.

I just had to have acorns at this woodland themed party! These acorns were so easy to make - just hershey's kisses, mini nilla wafers and some chocolate frosting. So stinkin' cute!

This Lemon Rosette Cake was made by my friend Maggie at Sweetwater Baby. Please hop over to see her post about this DELICIOUS and GORGEOUS cake.

We had fun playing silly party games - like when we gave them a pen, paper, and a book, then made them draw a picture of Baby Madelyn - ON TOP OF THEIR HEADS! So much fun!

This has been absolutely one of my favorite parties, so far. Welcome, Baby Madelyn!

St. Patty's Day

This year, I spent St. Patrick's Day at The Oro Valley Festival of the Arts at the Oro Valley Marketplace. The event was very well attended in spite of the crazy winds! I don't know if I spent more time interacting with the kids or keeping my table from blowing away!

I am very excited to unveil my new St. Patty's Day costume! Making new costumes is so much fun for me, and I love the reaction that I get when I am out and about... I am such a ham!

The kids were definitely in the spirit of the holiday! I had lots of requests for four-leafed clovers and rainbows and pots of gold. And some kids asked for some "Irish" versions of my classics.

 It was a fun filled day of Music, Arts, and Entertainment... a lovely way to spend an "Almost Spring" Saturday in Tucson.

Tucson Festival of Books

I had a wonderful time at the Tucson Festival of Books, yesterday. I volunteered at the Literacy Connects Booth for the second year in a row and had even more fun this year! Here are a few pics that I snapped.

More Face Painting

Here are a few recent examples of my work :)