Bella Bash Boutique

Have you ever started planning a birthday party or a bridal shower and realized that most party wares that are available in stores have been used to death, or that you have far less time to bring the whole thing together than you thought, making it much harder to create one of a kind hand crafted decor? I have your fix for this problem! Introducing Hello Bella Boutique! Jennifer Opsahl of Hello Bella Events has an etsy shop called Bella Bash Boutique with three adorable printable partyware collections.

Here's the low-down on what a printable party is. You purchase a party from Bella Bash Boutique, decide if you want it customized with a monogram, and then wait. For customized parties, will will receive and email within 48 hours. ( For non-custom parties it's just 24 hours) The email will contain all of the pdf files you need to print off your party. You can either print at home or email the files to your local print shop. Once you print as many copies as you need, just cut, assemble , and party!

Here are three parties from her Premiere Collection:

Classic Bridal Shower (simple designs are inspired by the elegance of traditional wedding stationary)

Western Baby Shower

(you can also print these for a bridal shower)

Vintage Silhouette Party

(Perfect for a shower birthday)

All printable party collections come with:

-invitations and envelopes

-cupcake wraps and pick toppers

-napkin wraps

-candle wraps

-gift tags/place cards/labels

-favor boxes/bags

-gift log etc.....

You can see more creations and get awesome tips at the Hello Bella Events Blog!

Marie Antoinette Party!

I recently went to/ helped organize a Marie Antoinette party fro my friend Andrea. We were inspired mostly by the Sophia Copola movie, which is a feist for the eyes, full of color and fancy.

Here are some photos from the evening. Enjoy!

Here's the lovely birthday girl Andrea!

covered lollipops sat in a suit case with purple satin lining

We set up an area for people guests to adorn themselves for the party.

A simple Ikea fixture what made fanciful with lots of bright ribbons!

A very important element for an event like this...the food!

It was an amazing evening!

The Office Party Plans

I am FINALLY throwing Matt's Office party! It's at the end of the month, and I am so excited! I have been developing plans for this party for a while now and it should be pretty quick and cheap to put it all together. I have been doing a lot of "research" for this party ( you know sitting in front of the tv watching The Office, hard research). So far I have pulled together a menu and a very simple list of decorations. Oh my! I feel like the head of the party planning commitee!

On the menu so far:
-soft pretzels (pretzel day!)
-mixed berry yogurt ad french onion sunchips (Pam's favorite)
-deviled eggs
-cheesy pitas
-sandwiches
-brownies
-cupcakes
-margaritas (ala a margarita karaoke Christmas)
-and of course coffee (the great incentivizer of the office)

The decorations will be simple. Balloons, streamers, and party hats will do the trick!
Does anyone have any tricks for putting a stapler into jello?

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

......and who isn't? I would love to have a beautiful snowy white Christmas but in this case I am talking about the movie White Christmas (a.k.a. my FAVORITE Christmas movie). This movie is filled with entertaining song/dance numbers and lovely fashion....it's an inspirational snack! I don't normally love musicals but I just love the way this one has been done! If you have never seen it (hopefully you have) please rent it immediately! You will not be sorry you saw this classic Christmas film!

Bing Crosby (top hat and all) and Rosemary Clooney singing at a piano...is that classic enough for you?

The Minstrel number is probably one of my favorite parts of this movie!

What's YOUR favorite Christmas movie?

Gingerbread Mug Perches

Check out these simply lovely mug perches found at Not Martha. How much do you want to make a million of these??? What a festive addition to your holiday traditions! These would make amazing garnishes for a Christmas party, and the PERFECT hostess gift for the times when you are the Christmas guest! I need to get into the kitchen and make these immediately!

You can find full instructions and helpful hints here.

Layer Cake Shop Christmas Lovelies!

Layer Cake Shop is FULL of ADORABLE baking compliments! My favorite part of the site to browse is the cake topper section. I can bake simple cupcakes from a box, add colorful frosting, and top with something festive and kitschy ....and I no longer have plain cupcakes...I have CUPCAKES!!! Check out this cuteness!

Oh tinsel tree ! Oh tinsel tree! How lovely are you branches!

(Silver Tree Picks $2.25 for 12)

Mmmmm peppermint cupcakes! top with a mini version of a Christmas classic and instant cute!

(Red Candy Stripe Baking Cups $3.25 for 50)

Layer Cake Shop is filled with all kinds of cute tags for pastry bags and boxes!

(Whipped Cream Bakery Labels 36 for $1.75)

I can just picture these train toppers individually on cupcakes surrounding a mini Christmas tree!

(Train Topper $3.75 1 set)

Now Bake away, bake away, bake away all!!!

(Merry Christmas Plaque .75)

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Dreaming of a white Christmas but don't live in a snowy state?

You can give your loved ones that white Christmas that you have both dreamed of with this clever idea! A girl that I work with came up with this and I think it's just too adorable not to share with you! This works best as a Christmas Eve project, it creates the most magic that way.

All you need to do is decorate your home with paper snowflakes , cotton ball strings, and paper chain ( anyone seen the movie Elf?)and turn down your thermostat to make is extra "snowy". I just love this idea! Imagine being a child awaken to your mother telling you "It's snowing! It's snowing!" when you live in Florida!

Further imagine the excitement you would experience when you get out of bed, put on a sweater, and rush through your house which has been transformed into a winter wonderland!! Magical!