{DIY} Embellished Invitations

Printable invitations are a great budget saver for any party! I'm over at Piggy Bank Parties sharing some simple ways to embellish your printable invites for a custom look to WOW your guests.

Head over to Piggy Bank Parties for my tips!

Cookie Monster Cake

Cookie Monster is my FAVORITE character from Sesame Street! How could that sweets lover NOT be my favorite right?? So when I was asked to make a Sesame Street cake for a little boy who loves Cookie Monster I was thrilled!

The design inspiration was taken from the adorable and modern invite from WH Hostess. I incorporated the fun & bright chevron pattern, added polka dots and of course...Cookie Monster!

In addition to the cake, I also made cupcakes and topped them with cookie monster toppers as well.

C is for Cookie and for a CUTE birthday theme too!

70's Vintage Barbie Camping Party

My baby girl turned 6 a couple weeks ago...SIX!!! I still can't believe my baby is not really a baby anymore. Like many girls her age, she's really into Barbie. For Christmas she received a Barbie camping set and immediately asked for a Barbie Camping party. Yes, she picks her party themes 6 months ahead (good girl)! She's not a super PINK girly girl so I decided to put a fun spin on the theme and went with a 70's Vintage vibe. It all started with this great find...a 1971 Barbie Country Camper!

Of course I knew the awesome design team of Piggy Bank Parties would love this theme and knock it out of the park...and they did. They began with the invitation...which included a Barbie-esque illustration of my daughter. They also created the entire printable collection and the favor boxes!

I want to point out that this post is a mix of pictures from Wendy Updegraff and ones I took myself. I'm sure you can tell them apart LOL, but thought I would mention it ;)

I really wanted to give the party a girly but 70s feel, so I incorporated fun fabric patterns like paisley, bright colors (lots of yellow, aqua & orange) and FEATHERS! I also wanted to tie in the camping theme by using wood grain patterns and some natural elements like pine cones, tree stump and twigs. But keeping it "Barbie Style" I glittered and spray painted the heck out of it all!

Our dessert table included awesome cookies from Bambella Cookie Boutique made to look like the camper and delicious cake pops from Cuter than Cake decorated with feathers. I made s'mores on a stick, decorated Oreos with wood grain and fondant feathers and of course...the cake, which you can read more details about on my cake post!

I used a tree stump for my cake stand, added glitter pine cones and my beautiful cake bunting from the Purple Pug!

I found this kinda ugly frame at Goodwill, but loved the design. After some spray paint, printable wood grain paper,glitter letters, and feathers of course, it was perfect for my dessert table backdrop!

I saw this pine cone garland and it gave me the idea to make my garland. But I incorporated a fabric strip garland that I've seen & loved at so many parties out there! To give it that Barbie "Sparkle" I added glitter. These pine cones where one of my favorite things and totally worth all the glitter that was stuck to my fingers for a few days!

I edited the copy of a 70's Barbie & Skipper Go Camping book that I bought off of Ebay. I printed it and displayed it inside a frame that I decorated with the chevron tape and wood grain printable paper.

My daughter's favorite food is hot dogs and along with chips, it was the perfect camping food! Instead of paper plates, I used tins...an idea I borrowed from Dot & Dash's camping party. I used recycled cans, embellished with more of my printable wood grain paper and fabric strips, to hold our utensils and straws. For drinks we served juice for the kids and one of my favorite '70s sodas for the adults...Orange Nehi!

The food and beverages where displayed on my built-in shelf. I decorated the shelf with camping items...lanterns, cooler, camp coffee maker and a camping pot. I made bunting from chevron Duck tape to decorate a few of the items.

How awesome is the vintage camper "Happy Camping" banner from Stampin' Fanatic? I love that ribbon and those campers are ADORABLE!

I made a lot of the party favors. The first thing I made were the feather hair clips (tutorial coming soon), embellished backpacks, embellished canteens, and clip boards that I covered with more of the Duck Tape. I dressed up some inexpensive frames with twigs and feathers to hold our party signs.

Our first party activity was to go on an Adventure Walk and look for certain items. Our guests ranged in age from 3 to 6 so I felt a scavenger hunt was going to be a bit much in the 98 degree summer heat! Plus I have a really tiny yard with little room for scavenging! I used a free printable from Smashed Peas and Carrots for our list of items to look for and changed it up a little to fit our party.

Here I am prepping the girls for their Adventure walk!

The cutest little ladies in the neighborhood!

After our walk, we cooled off and ate lunch around the camp fire. I cut out pieces of fabric so each girl would have her spot!

After lunch we sang a few songs around the fire. Then it was time for my favorite activity...the S'mores Relay Race!! I got this idea in my head to create large "s'mores" that the girls would have to assemble. I used pillows for the marshmallows, foam boards wrapped in kraft paper for the graham crackers and spray painted more foam boards dark brown for the chocolate bars. They were divided into teams of 2 and had to assemble 2 s'mores. It was quite hilarious to watch them scramble...especially the littlest ones!

Back inside to cool off and enjoy some sweets! I sent our guests home with bags of trail mix, bubbles and favor boxes. Piggy Bank parties is known for their AMAZING favor boxes and these were no exception...detailed replicas of the Barbie Camper!!

Inside the favor boxes were Barbie stickers, some flavored Chapstick and bottle cap necklaces that my daughters made.

My beautiful daughter had a blast at her party! Seeing her smile lights up my world and was the best part of our celebration!

 My beautiful babies! Can you tell my youngest absolutely ADORES her big sister?

Happy Birthday my angel!

Vendors:
Photography: Wendy Updegraff Photography
Custom illustration, invitation, printables & favor boxes: Piggy Bank Parties
Camper cookies: Bambella Cookie Boutique
Cake pops: Cuter than Cake
Mini cake bunting: The Purple Pug
Happy Camping banner: Stampin' Fanatic
Straws: The Sugar Diva
Nehi Soda: Hometown Favorites
Fabrics: Hobby Lobby

**Vote for this party at My Insanity's 5th Annual Party Party! Click on the button below to head over!

Gator & Seminole Beach Party Cake

So what do you do when you have a house divided between college football team loyalty AND you happen to be celebrating BOTH person's birthday AND you're having a beach party??? This is what I was asked to make for a football loving couple and this is what I designed...

I thought it would be fun to create the Gator & Seminole mascots and put them on the beach in their beach chairs...with a cold one to enjoy!

I added surfboards with the college letters, waves and seashells in the team colors. I also added cute accessories like a cooler, football and beach towels.

The cake was dark chocolate with strawberry buttercream filling! A yummy and fun cake for a little friendly birthday rivalry!