One Rubber Stamp - Endless Possibilities

A funny thing happened during a trip to my favorite paper store - I found love. And I'm talking about that crazy, where-have-you-been-all-my-life kind of love. The new love of my life is embossing. I've seen it a bunch of times, but never tried it myself until that day in the store. Now I'm hooked! By the way I don't feel like I cheated on my husband, because I told him all about this encounter when I got home.

If you haven't seen or tried embossing, you should because it's super easy. Basically all you need is a rubber stamp, stamp pad, embossing powder and a heating tool. Here is my first attempt at embossing at home - of course it's all about Halloween.



I thought it would be fun to create Halloween cards using the stamp. Here are some of the designs I made.

A witch's hat...


A pumpkin...


A bat...


And a monster...


I could also see these designs being used for menu cards, invitations, gift bags, banners and more.


I hope this post inspired you to try embossing - don't be surprised if you see a ton of it show up here over the next few weeks...I'm a little obsessed with it.

Happy Halloween!

Not Just Another Halloween Banner

The other day I came across some cool cellophane favor bags at the craft store that are shaped like pennant flags - they're called cello bags. Maybe because I have Halloween on the brain right now I thought it would be fun to make the bags look like candy corn by filling it with yellow, orange and white wrapped candy. I used the following candy : Butterfingers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and White Chocolate Mini Peanut Butter Cups.

Then I thought it would be cool to make a banner using the favor bags so that they could serve two purposes - take home treats and party decorations.

Here is the favor bag...



And here is the banner...



Super easy to make and kind of nice to look at too! Only 7 days until the big spooky day - I can't wait!!

More Halloween Plates

Apologies are in order - sorry for the brief hiatus! I recently joined up with an amazing group of party people over at the Children's Party Network...please check it out when you have a chance.



CPN is hosting an East Coast/West Coast Tablescape challenge that I am participating in, and I've spent the last week prepping for it. I'm honored to be representing the East - we're keeping all of the details about our tablescape hush hush so that the West Coast crew won't get too scared! I can't wait to show off some of the items I created, but until that time it's back to Halloween.

A few weeks ago I created some Halloween-themed plates and I've been thinking about other plate designs ever since. So here are some additional picnic plates that you can easily construct for a Halloween party.

Flying Bats


The Monster


A Tombstone


All you need to create these are paper plates, foam paper and hot glue. Hope you try making some of them - drop me a line if you do!

Orange You Glad You're a Pumpkin?

A few years ago I was asked to provide fruit for a fall harvest party at my son's school. I thought I would have some fun with it by dressing the fruit up in a "costume". See if you can guess the disguise.

I started off with these...



and then added some of these...



to make these...pumpkins!



Here is a how-to guide for creating "Orange Pumpkin Cups". By the way, this is my first attempt at a tutorial, so please bear with me!

Step 1: Cut about 1/4 off the top of the orange.



Step 2: Scoop out all of the flesh from the inside of the orange and the top. Note - this will be super messy, much like cleaning out the seeds from a pumpkin.



Try to get the inside as clean as possible. You might need to use something sharper than a spoon to get all of the little bits out.



Step 3: Cut a small hole in the top of the orange.



Make sure the hole is not too big - it will need to be snug enough to hold a gummy bear. Remove the little stem part and discard.



Step 4: Use a black marker to draw a pumpkin face on the front of the orange. Tuck a green gummy bear through the hole in the top of the orange so that it partially sticks out.



Step 5: Fill the cup with anything you like - I always use mandarin oranges.



That's it - hope this tutorial helped!

Finally...Pics from the Tiffany Sweet 16 Party

Here are a few pictures from the Tiffany-themed Sweet 16 party that I helped plan. I feel like I've been blogging about this one event forever! You can catch the whole saga from the very beginning here, here and here... enjoy!


Tayler, the birthday girl, graced the front of a custom yard sign that greeted guests at her house on the big day...



What would a Tiffany-themed event be without these? I created an oversized Tiffany's box to hold birthday cards from guests. In lieu of gifts, the birthday girl asked her friends to bring toys that will be donated to a homeless shelter. So I created an oversized Tiffany's shopping bag to hold the toys.



Tayler invited some of her family and friends to share in her day by being members of her Sweet 16 court. The girls took their roles seriously and stayed true to the Tiffany blue theme all the way down to their nails...



Tayler and the female members of her court. Aren't they adorable?



If the shoe fits, wear it! How cool are these blinged-out Chuck Taylor Hi-Tops?



Tayler's family is Caribbean, so it was fitting that a steel pan band entertained guests during the pre-reception.



The overall color scheme for the party was Tiffany blue, white and black. Tayler's mom found and fell in love with the Wanderfuls centerpieces, that also served as favors (each wand was filled with candy).



After mulling over several ideas, I decided to place a vase of white roses on top of the cupcake stand. I couldn't resist adding a little bling to it as well...



Tayler invited 16 people who had made a significant impact on her life to come light a candle for her...there wasn't a dry eye in the room after that.



Water bottles with custom labels were also provided as party favors...



Tayler - thanks again for allowing me to help make your vision for an amazing birthday party a reality. Now let's move onto graduation party planning!