Movie Night Got Published on MG Party Impressions!

As I already posted, we had a lot of fun at my girls' Movie Night party last week. But I am happy to report that I submitted the photos and a write up of the party and it was featured on MG Party Impressions! MG Party Impressions is a blog that writes about all elements of parties - decor, themes, printables, etc. It is a sister site to www.mygrafico.com, a digital design site that I am absolutely in love with. I swear, I spend way too much money there, and I already have to reign myself in. The clipart, digital scrapbooking papers, invitation templates, etc. can be used in so many ways. I used the "Movie Party Kit" by Lindsay's Stamp Stuff to create all of the party printables, and I recently used the "Ashley" papers by WoofyWorld to create a business hours sign for my studio that I share with Karin from K Bella Bambino. Here is a direct link to their blog post: Blog Post

Movie Night at the Turners

I am beginning to create a "Movie Night" theme for Princess Prettys and Parties. My daughters and I decided to do a trial run of the theme with some friends over Christmas Break. It turned out great, and the girls are already thinking about doing another one very soon!

We decided to do a Movie Theater Snack Bar for food. We served hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and candy. (To make things a wee bit healthier, I also served apple slices and grapes with a caramel dip and assorted veggies with ranch.)

After eating, we grabbed some popcorn and had a "Create Your Own Candy Mix" buffet. All the girls plopped down on tons of pillows to watch "Despicable Me." {Such a cute little movie!} Once the movie was over, we girls let out some energy by having a pillow fight and running around crazy.

To give the food table an authentic concession stand feel, I used a Retro Hotdog Roller and Hollywood Popcorn Machine, both by Nostalgia Electrics.


Soda Labels, Menu, Food Tents, and other party printables were customized using the "Movie Party Kit" by Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, available at MyGrafico.

A Lesson in Cosmetic Chemistry

A friend of my daughter is turning 8 in mid-January, and she mentioned that she really likes Wizards of Waverly Place. After she mentioned this, my head started spinning with ideas for a fabulous birthday party.


I have to admit, WWP is one of the tween shows that I can actually watch without wanting to bang my head against the wall. It takes the mega-popular "supernatural" concept and creates a kid-friendly show. A spunky Selena Gomez is one of the main characters in this ensemble cast. She is a teenage wizard who lives with her two wizard brothers, former wizard Dad and regular human Mom in the Waverly Place section of New York.


Now that you have a bit of a back story, I can start talking about some of the ideas I have for this theme. The first installment is a craft: The "Lotion Potion" Station. The girls would be able to create their own shimmer lotion, choosing the lotion color, fragrance, and shimmer. My girls Lia and Jayden decided to do a little experimenting in the kitchen today, and I decided to share it with you.


Here are the materials you need:
* Plain unscented lotion
* Fragrance oils
* Cosmetic Coloring
* Cosmetic Glitter
* Funnel
* Empty Bottles
* Plastic Bowl
* Spoon

All of these materials can be found at your local Michael's or other craft store. If this was to be done on a larger scale, for many party guests, it would be more cost efficient to buy your supplies online.


First squirt the correct amount of lotion for the empty bottle. We just guessed, and ending up having to make a little more of the "lotion potion" to fill up the bottle.

Then we added the coloring. Follow the directions on the packaging. Lia and I chose Turquoise, and then Jayden chose Lime. We each dropped in about 4 drops to fill a 4 oz. bottle of lotion.


After putting the drops in, mix for a few minutes until the coloring is thoroughly spread through the lotion. Now it is time to mix in the fragrance drops. We chose Honey Almond and put in 1 drop for each ounce of lotion. Mix thoroughly.


Adding the shimmer glitter was the girls' favorite part. Using just a small amount adds a nice, subtle shimmer to the lotion.


We used a funnel to pour the lotion into the bottles, using a spoon to put the lotion down. Make sure you have a helper hold the bottle so it doesn't slip out from the funnel spout and make a mess. I learned that from personal experience. LOL


After putting the lotion in the bottles, the girls decorated blank return address labels to put on the bottles. If we were doing this for a real party, I would have created a nice label that matches the party theme.

Free Printable from Alannah Rose

Baking up some sweet treats for friends this holiday season? You have to download this free printable available from the Alannah Rose blog. Cute red and pink polka dot tags that are customizable - just type in your goodie's name, print, cut and tie on to your package. It gives that extra special touch to your homemade creations.

1st Baby Shower - Check!

Today I had the privilege of styling a baby shower for a friend's family. Her sister-in-law Amy and sister Robyne were the hosts, and they helped to come up with a Girly Christmas theme. We used shocking pink, turquoise, lime, purple and silver as our colors. Robyne's husband is a chef, so we lucked out by having him prepare all the yummy food. Chicken Wellington, hot crab dip and spinach and artichoke dip with bagel crisps, fresh fruit, cheese and crackers, and vanilla and chocolate cupcakes. It looked awesome on the white and silver platters that I provided.

I am really happy with how it turned out, and I am anxious to show you all the beautiful photos that were taken by Tristan B Photography. Once the photos come back, I will be posting a tutorial on how to make the snow flake garlands and Christmas ornament topiaries. Check back this coming week!

Thinking about a party for your little princess? Tea parties are great for girls 3-8. Have your guests come in their fanciest dresses, and we will have all the accessories they need - tea hats, gloves, feather boas, and plenty of bling. Choose 2 activities from a variety of fun games. Choose a tea party related craft - decorating teapot photo frames, painting jewelry boxes, making teapot charm bracelets, and more.

Promo Flyer for Sports Theme Parties

I am working on flyers for each of the party themes that available through Princess Prettys and Parties. The first one showcases photos from an All-Star Party that was held in October.

SRDK Winter Promotion

Sherry Rings, of the fabulous SRDK Photography, is offering a Winter Promotion that is great for holiday greeting photos, Christmas outfits, and more! Just thought that I would pass along the information so that you can get high quality photos for a great session price. Click on the photo above to go to the SRDK website.

Thanksgiving at MY PLACE??

It was just decided that Thanksgiving will be held at my house this year. Don't worry all those that know me - most of the food will be made by my husband's family! We just have enough room for everyone at our house, as well as all the toys and activities to keep 5 kids from going crazy.

The good news is that I get to set up my first Thanksgiving table. I have so many ideas bouncing around after searching my favorite party blogs. So far, I have decided on some great craft activities for the kids from Oriental Trading. Pilgrim and Indian Sticker Scenes will keep the kids busy. Once their stickers are set, I'll cover them with clear contact paper to protect and use them as place mats. Thanksgiving Create a Scenes


Next, the kids will make Trees of Thanks, where they write reasons to be thankful on colorful foam leaves. The brown foam tree stands up, creating a 3D centerpiece for their table or the hallway entry table. Standing Tree of Thanks

Maddie's 6th Birthday Tea Party

A friend of my mine that moved away a few years back recently moved back to Michigan. Since she was pregnant with her first child when she moved, it was so cool to go to her daughter's *6th* birthday party! Can you believe how time flies?

Her daughter Maddie wanted a dress up tea party. Her mother Angela is super talented at design, and created a beautifully elegant table setting for the 5 girls. I was there to coordinate the games and crafts.

When the girls arrived wearing their party dresses, they were given a fabulous tea hat for them to keep. A basket of accessories was available for the girls to put on gloves, sashes, and necklaces.

Angela used white chair covers with pink organza sashes, white table linens, and a bouquet of fresh pink roses for the centerpiece. A pink necklace was set at each place for the girls to wear. Real china tea cups from Angela's family set were used.





We played a game called "Pass the Parcel." I wrapped a small box with a surprise inside (a bottlecap necklace and a bottle of bubbles) is multiple layers of different colored tissue paper. Written on each layer of paper was a silly thing for the girls to do, such as do the "Macarena" dance. Kind of like musical chairs, I started music, and we all passed the parcel in a circle from one girl to another. When I stopped the music, the girl holding the box unwrapped one layer of paper. The girls then had to do what was written on the box. Once the last layer of tissue paper is unwrapped, the girl holding the box wins the prize inside.





Next, we did a craft project. We headed to the table where I had a charm bracelet craft inside a pink organza sachet. The girls had fun stringing the beads and charms. To secure each bracelet once they were done, I put a small drop of hot glue on the knot.






The girls dined on petite peanut butter and jelly and chicken salad sandwiches cut into small flowers. Petite cupcakes were served for dessert. For drinks, they had the choice of hot chocolate or pink lemonade served in their tea cups.








In addition to the necklaces, tea hats, and charm bracelets, the girls were also able to bring home a tea pot frame craft kit. This is a simple and mess-free craft that uses tea cup, heart and star foam stickers to decorate the tea pot-shaped frame.

Angela was nice enough to send some photos of the party - here they are!

Aiden's All-Star Sports Party

I love my sister's in-laws. They are just an awesome, super-nice group of people that have become friends of ours over the years. We go up to their lake cottage for an extended weekend every August, and have come to know not only my sister's mother and father-in-law, but also all the others in family, including brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews.

So I was very excited to plan my sister's nephew Aiden's 3rd birthday party for some of his neighborhood friends. A true boy's boy, Aiden likes anything to do with sports, especially basketball. We decided to give him an "All-Star Sports" theme to incorporate all the different sports that he likes to watch and play.

Because the weather in Michigan is tricky, especially in October, it was an indoor event. As each child arrived, we had them get a sports-themed temporary tattoo. A crafts table was set up for the children to decorate a felt pennant with markers and basketball, baseball and football felt stickers. It was a quick and mess-free craft for the kids to do while waiting for the party to start. For activities, we had a Baseball beanbag toss game set up. Instead of the usual red and blue bean bags, I bought soft squishy baseballs for the kids to use. There was also a game that had the children throwing colored ping pong balls into red buckets lined up at various distances (ever played the Bozo bucket game at Chuck E. Cheese?)

The favorite game was the obstacle course. I set up cones to weave through, pillows to jump over, a tunnel to crawl through and a kids basketball hoop to make a basket. The kids did it again and again, asking to be timed to see who went through the fastest.

We decided to do a candy buffet and simple snacks for the children. The buffet had chocolate sports balls, gumballs, Big League Chew and baseball and football suckers. Drinks were adorable baseball and basketball shaped bottles filled with red and blue sports drinks - a great grocery store find.

I created the Big League Chew basket and Pinball Game/gumball tube platform using different shaped boxes. I stuffed plastic bags inside the platform so that the tubes would not fall down into the box. After measuring and cutting out circles with a box cutter, I wrapped it in artificial grass carpeting found at any home improvement store and secured a ribbon and tag around it.

For the table, I used fake grass placemats to simulate "turf." I found coordinating paper goods with different sports balls. Each child found their seat by looking at the trophy placecard holders. Each plate held a soccer ball whistle and decorated straw.







Thank you to Stephanie Wagenborg for taking the photos. I will link up Steph's website once I make sure of the correct web address.

The best part of hosting this party for me was setting up and having Aiden get so excited every time I pulled something new out. His gasps and squeals of excitement were so precious. I think he had a good time.



To see all the photos from this party, go to my Facebook page - Search: Princess Prettys or go directly to this link: Aiden's Sports Party . What do you think?

Why Have Princess Prettys and Parties Throw Your Next Event?

10. No rush to set up the party and no mess to clean up
9. Incredible themes that are built around your vision
8. Custom invitations and thank you notes
7. An experienced host to run activities and crafts, as well as keep the party flowing smoothly and on-schedule
6. Unique favors for party guests
5. Professional photographer taking photos
4. Upscale party decor and tableware
3. Avoiding the stress of the details, saving time and energy
2. Creating a one-of-a-kind experience for your child
1. Getting to experience the special moments as they happen

More Photos from the Woodland Fairy Party

Here are more photos from the Woodland Fairy Party. The food was very simple - pretzels, craisins and Granny Smith apples. Double chocolate muffins with toadstool cupcake toppers were for dessert. The little fairies drank pink lemonade - "Fairy Berry Punch." I am working on the photos of our storytelling circle - complete with mushroom and rock stools. This is such a fun theme for toddlers to pre-tweens.

Announcing My New Business Venture!

I am so pleased to announce that Princess Prettys is now hosting mobile parties!

I *love* throwing parties for my children - crazy, over-the-top parties. I love taking a theme, and then really running with it. My first party theme, Woodland Fairy, is sure to be a hit with girls from 3-8. Inspired by Tinkerbell and her band of fairy friends, this party theme uses elements of nature to create an enchanted setting for your princess and her friends. Here are some photos from a "Woodland Fairy" party: The first three photos show a side view of the table setting. Fern-covered place mats, white porcelain dinner ware, cloth napkins with butterfly napkin rings create a beautiful place setting for each little fairy. The centerpiece is a twig cage that is circled with greenery and flowers. Inside the cage are two woodland fairies. Topiary place holders let each fairy know where to sit.
Each party guest was transformed into a fairy - complete with tutu, wings and wand. Their place settings continued the fairy theme, with a small bottle of "Fairy Dust" at each seat. On the plastic bottle with cork topper, a label reads "Fairies are invisible and inaudible like angels, but their magic is present in nature."

More photos of the food table and fairies in play will come soon.

Interested in having Princess Prettys host a "Woodland Fairy" party for your princess?
The Standard Party Package ($200) includes:

• Invitations and Thank You cards for client to send
  
• Upscale, Unique and Detailed Party Decor suited to your child's theme choice
  
• Complete Set up/Tear down
  
• Experienced Party Host
• 2 hour party time frame for up to 8 guests ($10 for each additional guest, up to 10)
• Use of Fairy Tutus and Wings during party (New costumes available for sale)
• Fairy Dust and Favor bag for guests to take home
• Choice of 1 craft activity (Client chooses from a list of available crafts)
  
• Choice of 2 games/activities (Client chooses from a list of games/activities)

More Basic Packages for the DIY'er or Deluxe packages that handle every detail, including food, are available. Call Corey at 616-901-1625 or email her at: geboraco@princessprettys.com with questions.