I'm Loving

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Loving these super quick and easy (and cute!) Halloween ideas from Better Homes and Gardens. Sometimes I pretend I work for BHG, because I think that would be akin to working for a Artisanal Chocolatier. (Cue my fave) DElightful!

Running short on time before that Halloween party? Cut out some eyes and stick on your tree trunks. Paint a pumpkin black and grab some pipe cleaners. And those snack containers...plastic water bottles cut down and covered in gauze and topped off with googly eyes.

Piece of Cake

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Tiffany recently contacted me with a question and sent a link to her blog. Once I clicked the link, my next post idea was literally A Piece Of Cake.

Tiffany is a mom, accountant and clearly a very talented cake artist. I love a good story about someone doing what they love, and especially when the product is this good! If you're in Arkansas I think you may have just found your new go-to girl for cakes for your events. I know I'd use Tiffany if I were a Razorback gal.

Good luck to you, Tiffany. I'll be watching from the sidelines as your success continues!

Party Fit For A Princess

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This past weekend I had the pleasure of doing a Princess Birthday Party for the most adorable 5 year old and her adoring parents. Working with Princess Avery's mom was a royal treat! All my party people know that it's usually a mad dash at the end to get some photos in before the guests arrive so excuse my non-pro pictures! (Click on photos to enlarge)



The party was held at the always amazing Jilly's Cupcake Bar. You may recognize it from here. Working with Jilly and Debra is so much fun that if you live in Saint Louis you must book your next party here!

All the girls came in Princess costume. I'd love to show you because it was adorable but want to respect their privacy since I don't have their parents' permission. Trust me...cute! In addition to making necklaces, decorating foam crowns, "Princess" dresses and mirrors, the girls enjoyed the Main Event... decorating their own cupcakes!



Tables were kept fairly simple for easy turnover when it was time to bring out all the cupcake gear. There were bags of frosting and sprinkles galore, but again, I didn't want to the Princess Paparazzi to show up. You can take it from me though, "Princesses. They're Just Like Us!" (someone just outed themselves as a Gossip Mag reader....ooopsy.)



Jilly's served a truly Royal Feast for the girls and also created that Giant Cupcake Cake to match the Birthday Girl's mermaid princess costume. Uh. Dorable.



Pink favor bags were provided so the guests could carry home all of their goodies. They left with cupcakes, crafts, miniature magic wands and pink crowns. Oh, AND the smaller favor containers you see with the A (for Avery) logo on the tables! The "A" favors contained bubbles, costume jewelry sets, fuzzy pens and princess erasers and were topped off with the bracelet from the jewelry set doing double duty as decoration. We couldn't let them get away without their glass slippers either, so small plastic shoes were adorned with stick on gems and filled with candy bracelets.

Tables were filled with varying shades of pink chargers, pink princess dress scrapbook paper, fancy pink floral arrangements, favors, crowns and a "runner" made out of a wall stick on that said "Once Upon A Time Their Was A Princess...." in a repeating pattern. While the center of attention was Princess Avery, the center of the room was a special feature table with the decorative dress form outfitted in a toddler's Princess Costume.

In an effort to not make this the longest post ever (too late), I'll post a separate post of "where to buy" for elements of the party if I get any requests.

Until next time, treat yourself like a Princess. I'm pretty sure that should always involve eating cupcakes.

And they all lived happily ever after, Amy

(Special thanks to the Queen, my mom, who was in town this weekend and got to do this party with me. Wish she could be here for all of them!)

Gorgeous Giveaway

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Have you seen this giveaway over on TomKat Studio? Click on over to win a fabulous prize valued at $75 from Papaya Art!


Ends September 30th so hurry on over!

Homerun!

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Chris at Celebrations at Home stepped into bat for me at the most recent Operation Shower event this past weekend and girl knocked it out of the park!

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You must check out her blog post today for a fantastic recap of the event!

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Thanks again to everyone involved to help us make this a memorable day of fun for these deserving military families! Truly a special day for the Operation Shower team.

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall...

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Sneak peek of the 5 Year Old Birthday Princess Party I did this weekend. More pictures to come soon!

GASP!

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You may have guessed I like parties. What you may not know is that I'm also a HUGE Game Nerd. So this party from Make Merry Events needs to get out of my dreams and into my car.

Yes, I'm THAT girl in the group that always finds a way to mention "Um, we could play a game." The girl who has been known to carry Catch Phrase in her purse just in case an opportunity arises. Seriously.

Just look at the dessert set up and the drink charms. For the love of Milton Bradley this party is just perfection.





Anyone want to play a game? I will crush you but it'll be fun. I promise. I mean, just ask all those other people who now refuse to play with me.

Bridal Shower (& What Did You Just Call Each Other?)

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Could you please bring all this food to my mouth? Thank you.

My good friend, Tracy, aka "Dirty" threw a bridal shower recently and sent me some of the snaps. Does it look delicious or what? I looooove green (and food) so this is right up my alley.

And, because it makes me giggle to think that Dirty probably never thought I'd use her reply word for word, I am doing just that.

From Dirt:

"Hmmm, this was a bridal shower for my sister-in-law, Shannon. There were approximately 18 guests. I took regular wine glasses, added some ribbon, chalkboard paint and added names -the guests took these home as party favors. The picture of the basket with the bottle of wine and cookbook was a prize from the "how well do you know the bride" game. I also had guests write a piece of marital advise on a piece of paper. The bride read these aloud and then picked one from a hat for another prize...and I just had a sticker on the bottom of someone's plate for the third prize...these were the gifts wrapped in green/white. It was a Tuscan wine tasting theme, but not with the standard Tuscan colors."

Oh, and the fact that we call each other "Dirty" is a story that must be told. Back in the days of yore we were watching an MTV Video Awards show together. For Justin Timberlake reasons, to be exact. (Don't judge us.) Some rapper won and thanked his "dirtys" for supporting him. I think we half jokingly decided to be fake "street" and call each other that from that point on. Years later...we're still each others "Dirty Dirt" and rarely use our real names. So see, Dirty really is just good clean (albeit dorky) fun.

And there ya have it. Thanks for the snaps, Dirt. Proud of you! Now make me some snacks.

Inspiration: Thing One and Thing Two Twins Baby Shower

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Would you LOOK at this cake made for the Cat in the Hat party that Butterfly Wishes threw for her little one?



Two things I love:

1. The inspiration was the Thing One and Thing Two Baby Shower.
2. The "truffula trees" aka fuzzy pens in the centerpiece. Way to get creative!

Stop by the blog for more pictures and a snapshot of the beautiful family celebrating this special day.

Thanks so much for sharing!

Midnight Madness!

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Looking for a festive touch for your Halloween Party or an over the top fab Hostess Gift for your Halloween Hostess? Hurry on over to Simply Creative Insanity then before midnight tomorrow and enter for your chance to win this wine topper that is so cool it's scary!



(Yes, it's time for Halloween again. I know. I can't believe it either.)

Worth a Thousand Words....

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New at Wedding Olala

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Looking for delovely and delightful new favor boxes? Wedding Olala has some fun new products in store. I'm loving the pink purses for a bachelorette party or a little girl's birthday party!



Also, check out the online help on how to build your own favor cake. This great tool will help you know just how many items to order from Olala so you can build the perfect favor cake So smart!

A is for Awesome (and Apple)

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I just have to give a big thank you to Kim over at The TomKat Studio for helping with the next Operation Shower event on the books. Look at the adorable invitations she made for us! She's also making flashcards for the shower itself and has been doing all this as a donation in addition to working with her own clients, being a mommy and, oh, yeah, selling her house! You know...no big deal. THANK YOU, KIM!



Wanna know something else cool? My Virginia homegirl Chris (Celebrations at Home) is styling this Operation Shower event as I have an event here in St. Louis the same day. So you KNOW it's going to be crazy cute. Let's not talk about how sick I am that we can't meet in person finally. Thank you, sweet friend for donating all your time helping us make this memorable for these moms. Alas, our love affair will continue to be electronic for now. Someday, Chris. Some sweet, sweet day.

Stay tuned for all the post-shower details coming soon. We have an amazing photographer (Lifeography) donating her talents as well. I cannot wait to see how she captures this special day.

Save the Fave for Last

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And the winner of my favorite party on the web this week is this gorgeous Clothing Swap Party from Christi of P is for Party.

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Recycling never looked so fabulous. The invites match the ottomans. I mean, seriously, people. That is perfection!

If you haven't already seen the rest of this party this week, go visit P is for Party for all the details.

I.Love.This.Party.

The End.

Have a fantastic holiday weekend!

Cheers,

Amy

40% Off! 100% On!

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The Well Dressed Home is offering 40% off of your purchase now through Tuesday. While they may be selling their goods for 60%, they are still 100% fabulous.

There is a little bit of everything on WDH (Jonathan Adler vases..helllooooo), but of course I would be remiss if I didn't point out a few fun entertaining items.

Throwing an 80's Party? Space Invaders Ice Cubes and 80's Table Topics cards are totally rad.




These ice molds are instant parties. Why not theme your Halloween Party? How about a Titanic Era costume party? A Rock Star costume party? Okay, a regular skull and bones "come in whatever you want" party is fun, too.

And, the branding iron? Well, as a massive football fan I think that is just calling out to be fitted with your team's name for a tailgate!




Why not make your next bridal shower theme "A Queen For a Day" and use these great coasters and grab some Wedding Shower Table Topics while you're at it? (The Queen coasters would make for a fun Bachelorette Party theme or just a day with the girls! Lots more Table Topics topics on WDH.)



Enter code WDHLABOR40 now through September 8th to get your groove on the cheap!

I Feel Dizzy

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Filled with so much joy it makes me dizzy when I look at this Car Party by Jack and Izzy.



Could Sarah have possibly thought of any more details when she planned this party for her son? Would you just look at it? I die. You must click her blog link above and see the rest of the details and read all about it from Sarah herself.



When you check out her blog it will all make sense. She's not just Jack's mom, and Jack and Izzy blogger, she's also the brains behind the Etsy shop of the same name. Now I get it...she's a pro. Thank goodness she's getting paid for talent like hers!



Reap the benefits for yourself and shop Jack and Izzy for anything from invitations to party sets to personalized notecards.

I think I'm about due for some monogrammed cards. How about you?

You Down Wit PDB? Yeah, You Know Me!

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Pepper Design Blog, Everyone.

Everyone, Pepper Design Blog.



Yes, friends. There is a new blog on the scene that is officially launching today. If you've been around Stem long at all, you know they pretty much had me at the post on lanterns.

PDB (as I now like to call it) is "a site dedicated to sharing inspiring and innovative ideas for decorating your home, organizing your space and throwing the perfect party."

Say no more. I'm there. Come with me.

Welcome, PDB and much success!

Cheers,
Amy