Have a Wheelie Great Birthday!

Monster Truck Madness

6th Birthday!

Monster truck invitations and photo of my little guy

with a Monster truck for hire for the party!

Someone had a wheelie awesome 6th Birthday Party recently!

Front of the invitation envelopes

ready to roll!

His amazing cake!

I made custom Pit Crew passes

for each of the kids to wear....

Monster truck tire cupcakes!

My Route "6" cookie favors

turned out super cute!

Favor bags with custom tags,

Lots of cookie favors,

"Mud Juice" chocolate Yoohoo drinks,

and monster truck display boxes with custom labels

and color-coordinated gumballs!

The birthday boy

in his custom, personalized Birthday shirt from etsy!

Monster truck mylar balloons

checkered black and white balloons

black, white and red pearlized latex balloons

and mylar tire balloons made things coordinated and festive!

We printed out monster truck coloring pages

and had mini trophies at each place setting,

along with their Pit Crew pass!

This party was a blast to put together!

The only bummer was that the monster truck we hired

cancelled one hour before the party!

His trailer broke down en route to the party :(

The kids could've cared less!

They were so busy playing with all of their favors...

monster truck bouncy balls (a HUGE hit!)

flame pencils,

monster truck pull back racers,

racing car chocolates,

monster truck stickers,

monster truck and route sign cookies,

die cast cars,

and I don't even remember what else!

We like to load our guests up!! :)

I hope you enjoyed the pics!!



Gnome Sweet Gnome {cupcakes}

Well it was that time again, my son's turn to bring in a treat to school.  The last time it was his turn, we brought in healthy, skim-milk cheese strings and fruit.  This time, unhealthy but delicious cupcakes!

Since it was the beginning of spring, I settled on something from the garden ~ gnomes!

These cute little guys were made from fondant and coated in candy melts.

Their hats are candy coated bugle corn snacks :)

I piped on royal icing for their beards and food-coloring marker for the eyes.

I loved how they turned out! 

Then I made spring garden cupcakes, with spring-green {buttercream} grass, {candy sprinkle} flowers, and mini toadstools made from micro-marshmallows and fondant caps {with royal icing dots}.

Baked in bright, spring-colored, ruffled cupcake liners.

Didn't they turn out super cute?

And speaking of cupcakes,

if you have to transport a few dozen to a classroom or party,

You MUST get one of these...

It's called the Cupcake Courier,

and mine holds 36 cupcakes securely.

No more fumbling with cheap, cardboard bakery boxes or tupperware.

This thing ROCKS!
I bought mine on Amazon.com.

Gnome sweet Gnome cupcakes.

The perfect way to welcome the new season :)

Happy Spring

Valentine Favor Tags ♥

I'm putting the finishing touches

on my son's Valentine favors ♥



Above are the cute, custom tags I made for them.

I was going to buy some, but ...
 why buy what you can make yourself?  :)

These cute tags are extra cute personalized with my son's name.

Add some Valentine-colored candies...

red, pink, and white M&Ms are just perfect.

Can you guess what I'm making?! ;)

And the kids will have a sweet Valentine goodie bag.
Now to put everything together!

I hope you're having a good weekend!

This post is linked to:
Tutorial Tuesdays on Hopestudios.blogspot.com

Count Your Blessings

Counting our blessings is the focus of being what it means to be thankful.  These colorful Pottery Barn Kids Thankful Tree Countdown Calendars are not only adorable, but they're so helpful in getting little ones more involved in the Thanksgiving celebration. 

Thanksgiving should be more to our children than just a turkey dinner and a day off of school.  I want my son to always have a grateful heart for all the many blessings in our lives.

The calendar came with insert cards for each day of November.  We filled each day of ours with a note of something that we're grateful for...followed by a corresponding activity for our son to act upon.

For example: 

I'm grateful for my puppy, Autumn.

Take Autumn for a walk.

The turkey in the photo was one of his school crafts!  I love, love, love all of the beautiful treasures he brings home.  I've mentioned in previous posts that I use them in my seasonal and holiday decor year after year.  It never ceases to bring a smile to everyone that sees them.

I hope as you're finalizing your Thanksgiving plans that you can find time to include some valuable lessons on gratitude with the little ones in your life.  Children learn by what they see us adults doing and saying.  It's easy when we're rushed to be harsh.  Lovies, it's not the succulent turkey or the creative tablescape that our familes will remember. What truly matters is letting those we love know how thankful we are for them in our lives.

Seasonal books are a focal point in our home.

This weekend as I get things ready, I'll be sure to take a few extra moments with my baby.  I promised him that we'd make cookies and do Thanksgiving crafts together.  Pure bliss!!



A headband we made last year with hand tracing feathers

I'm so very blessed to have my handsome, precocious, sweet boy and my loving husband, and I intend on counting every one of my blessings ~ not just on Thanksgiving, but always :)

Looking for an easy and cute Thanksgiving cookie idea?

Try making my Pilgrim Hats

they look darling on the kids table ;)

For more Thanksgiving posts, click here.



5th Birthday Movie Party

Lights! Presents! Action!

5th Birthday Movie Party!

My baby boy turned 5 recently!

Turning one whole hand is a milestone event!

The fun festivities kicked off the week beforehand by attending his first ever NHL game between our own Pittsburgh Penguins and the Minnesota Wild.  Because it was his birthday the following day, he was choosen to ride the zamboni prior to the start of the game! 

The staff of the Penguins gave us the all-out royal treatment! 

We were given free tickets to see the game, and got to see the players warm up!

One of them even was so kind as to give Andrew a practice puck

(thank you, Matt Cooke)!



On his big day, his dad and I took him to see the Pittsburgh Pirates! 

After the game, we went out for dinner at one of his favorite local restaurants, Quaker Steak and Lube!  Perfect place for a car-loving boy! 

The following week was his birthday party with his friends!

He chose a movie theater party to see

Dolphin Tale!

Adorable magnetic invitations from Deb Den Designs

I loved his invitations! 
They were created for me by etsy seller, Deb Den Designs!

I can't recommend her highly enough!  She worked closely with me to get everything just right!

Right down to the coordinating "ticket" Thank You cards!



Movie-theme cake from Faithfully Cakes

His cake (topped with REAL popcorn, coated in delicious white chocolate and drizzled with buttery-looking yellow candy melts) was created by a local cake designer named Tammy.  She was so friendly and helpful in creating the movie-theme cake I envisioned with movie reels and fondant licorice (oh and the chocolate chip flavor was DELISH!)





His cookie favors from Bee's Knees Creative

In keeping with my movie-theme, I had these adorable cookie favors for all of the kids at the party.  Darling tubs of popcorn and directors clapboards were a huge hit!  The cookies arrived in perfect condition (packed with lots of care) and were even cuter in person!

For favors: I purchased popcorn boxes and filled each one with a cookie favor, movie-theater candies (dots, rainbow licorice, tootsie rolls, rainbow lollipops, and gummies) - along with a Dolphin Tale movie poster!

Each guest received their own movie poster in their popcorn favor box!

Giant mylar balloons helped give the party room

extra cuteness!

Mixed in with theatrical red, pearlized gold and pearlized black latex balloons in
classic movie theater colors, the mylar balloons jazzed up the room's decor instantly!

I wrote party details on the directors balloon with a poster paint Sharpie!

The birthday boy on his extra special day!

His adorable popcorn shirt was from mini Boden.

Before the movie, each child and parent was given a movie meal consisting of popcorn, taffy candy and choice of drink in a cute, portable box to carry into the theater!



I made each child their very own

V.I.P. All Access Movie Pass!

I wanted everyone to feel special, not just the birthday boy! 

A party is a celebration and guests should feel pampered and included in the festivities!

They looked so cute walking into the theater together

with their VIP passes into our own special section...

like they were attending their own Hollywood premiere!

** Please note: I would not recommend lanyards around smaller children's necks. 

Please use caution.  You could substitute stick-on passes instead.

It was SUCH a fun day! 

Popcorn, an inspiring movie, pizza, candy, and presents!

Giant buckets of popcorn lined the party tables.

The kids felt so grown up getting to sit together in a darkened movie theater

(with their parents in the row behind them, just in case!)

What a magical way to celebrate turning 5!