Home Confetti: October 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


The day is here!  I'll be at my kids' Halloween parties this morning and hopefully finishing up the porch decorations for tonight. I found this super easy milk jug craft on Pinterest and we put it out last night.  Cute, right?!

I'll be back tomorrow.  Have a fun and safe Halloween!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

GUEST BLOGGER: HEALTHY SNACK ALTERNATIVES


As much as I love Halloween, I dread all the candy that it brings into the house. My kids are now old enough to remember it's there and exactly what kind of candy they got!  So, I thought this was a good time to get a reminder on some fun, healthy snack choices for kids that might actually help to "woo" your kids away from some of that candy, and that you can use for your next party.  Introducing Tammy Mahan, a writer for Healthline who has some great choices for your kids.  You can even sneak these ideas into your Halloween parties tomorrow.

There are numerous alternatives to candy and sweets as snacks for kids; it just takes some thought. There are a number of ideas that are healthy and enjoyable to children that do not take a lot of money, time or effort to create.

The food is vital to a party but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, dried fruit snacks and mixes of nuts and fruit are healthy alternatives to cupcakes and jellybeans. Hot meals can include cheese pizza, salads or casseroles to give the children an actual meal while they are there. Most of the foods that children eat at parties traditionally include ice cream, cake, cookies and other sugary snacks but you can get them to eat healthy and enjoy it. It simply takes a little planning.

Fruit Cups
Cut up bananas, strawberries, and apples and toss in some grapes for a treat kids will enjoy. Place yogurt on the side as a dip; you can buy low fat yogurt or make your own with vanilla yogurt as a starter. You can also make yogurt with fruit simply by mixing it and putting it in individual serving containers.

Fruity Faces
This delicious, yet healthy snack allows the children to play with their food. Give the kids paper plates and pieces of fruit that has been cut into geometric shapes, some cheese slices and nuts so they can create faces. They will eat the creations they make.

Trail Mix
You can make trail mix in advance as a healthy snack for a kid’s party and put out all the ingredients to let guests customize their own. Use a cereal like cheerios or Chex, nuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins, shredded coconut, dried fruit, and pretzels.  Put them all in a mixing bowl, and toss them together. Use individual serving plastic bags or containers and set it out for the kids to enjoy. If you let them create their own, set all the things they will need out on the table for them.

Fruity Salsa
Another healthy snack alternative for your next kid’s party is fruity salsa. You simply blend up fresh strawberries, pineapple slices, bananas, apples and a little bit of lime and lemon juices to a salsa consistency. This works for dipping cinnamon tortilla chips.

It is easy to make cinnamon tortilla chips, simply spray them with cooking spray and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on them. These go in the oven for about ten minutes or until they get crispy enough to dip.

Ants on a Log
This healthy snack is simple requiring only celery sticks and peanut butter or flavored cream cheese in case of an allergy. Cut the celery into sections, fill it with either peanut butter or cream cheese, and sprinkle raisins on it. You can use strawberries or pineapples in place of the celery to give it a little variety.

These healthy snack alternatives will be a hit with kids, and you will not have to worry about their sugar intake.


Tammy Mahan has worked in the healthcare field for over 20 years. When her children were young, she realized how important it was to try feed her children healthy foods and avoid the junk food that has now created a world with several unhealthy and obese children. In her free time she enjoys writing for Healthline.

 

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

PUMPKIN PINATA CAKE

You may have seen these pinata cakes before–cakes that are filled with candy.  But Halloween seems to be the most appropriate time to make one!  How cute is this one??  Made with 2 bundt cakes, and the stem is a frosting covered ice cream cone.  So clever!  Find the full tutorial here.

Monday, October 28, 2013

HOMEMADE PEACOCK COSTUME

Up to this point, I have made things easy on myself and just purchased my kids' Halloween costumes.  Well, this year Renee wanted to be a peacock.  Dazzling idea but do they sell peacock costumes?  They do, but she didn't like them, because the "feathers" looked like wings–not real feathers.  I give her a lot of credit because she came up with the idea of using this dress she already had which was perfect. The only thing I had to do was now make it look like a full peacock by adding the feathers!

It's amazing what you can do with a hot glue gun! I purchased the feathers from Michaels.  (I did it on a few trips with 40% off coupons.) I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to attach the feathers without ruining the dress.  What I ended up doing was trimming the bottoms of the feathers, fanning them on a piece of posterboard and hot gluing them all in place.  I used posterboard because it's lighter than cardboard and figured it wouldn't weigh the dress down too much.  (I don't have a photo of this step because I really didn't know what I was doing, until I was actually doing it!) Then, I happened to have a piece of foam sheet in the perfect blue.  I covered the mess with it.  To make it look finished I purchased wide, wired ribbon, created curled pieces to finish off the tail. With bobby pins, I hung it on the back of her dress. The bobby pins are thin enough to slip in between the foam and posterboard so you don't see them.  Voila!
 Then with some thinner ribbon I had also purchased, and leftover feathers, I made a choker.  She was really happy with it, and so was I! It just might motivate me to make more costumes in the future!
What are your kids dressing up as for Halloween?!

Friday, October 25, 2013

THIS WEEK'S TIP-OFF: STAMPED CANDY

Here's a great tip from Handcrafted Parties. Use Airheads candy to adorn your Halloween treats.  So much easier and cost-effective than using fondant.  And frankly, I don't know many kids who like the taste of fondant–but they love Airheads!  In addition to the candy, you just need stamps, rolling pin, parchment paper and a microwave. Find the full tutorial here.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

FREE HALLOWEEN PRINTABLE: CARE FOR A BITE?

C'mon, you know you chuckled when you saw that! How fun to sneek that into your husband's lunch, briefcase, kid's lunchbox or just have it out on Halloween morning?  This cute idea is from Dixie Delights and you can find the free printable here.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

TIGGER THEMED 1st BIRTHDAY PARTY

Tigger is so adored by many young ones.  And it makes the perfect theme for this time of year, blending in with the season's beautiful orange colors.  Thank you to ashfall mixed media in North Carolina for sharing these photos from Noah's first birthday. It looks like Noah's favorite part was his smash cake!


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

CUSTOM HALLOWEEN BANNER USING FREE PRINTABLES

I mentioned that I was part of a committee putting together a "Spooktacular Soups and Stews" luncheon for our school's teachers last week.  I so wish I had a photo of the finished room. The committee did such a great job! Unfortunately I had to leave before the room was done, otherwise I would have tried getting a photo myself.  In any case, my contribution to the decor was this custom banner: "THANK YOU SPOOKTACULAR TEACHERS."  I thought it was worth sharing to let you know that you can easily make your own with free Halloween printables found at The Cottage Market. So generous, she includes the alphabet and numbers. Perfect last minute addition to your Halloween festivities.

Monday, October 21, 2013

DECADENT SWEETS PARTY FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE

Gene & Georgetti is a family owned and operated steak house in Chicago. Every year they deck the halls and invite customers, friends and family to celebrate the new year. To welcome in 2013, they invited Femme du Coupe and Sugar Chic Designs to decorate their dining rooms with delicious elegant sweets and tempting libations. As part of the celebration, they also honored Michelle Durpetti (daughter of Gene & Georgetti owners) with an amazing horseshoe birthday cake. She is not only an event planner, but a life long equestrian as well.  Thank you to Carasco Photography for sharing the event photos with us.  Makes us look all the more forward to our own New Year's festivities!

Participating Vendors:
Floral: Exquisite Designs Chicago
Cake: TipsyCake
Event Designer: Michelle Durpetti Events
Favors and Gifts: Sugar Chic Designs

Friday, October 18, 2013

MARBLED CANDLE HOLDERS

Love From Ginger saw candle holders when she spotted wooden chair legs at her hardware store. Love that thinking! Turned out they were perfect.  She then used nail polish to decorate them.  Use black and orange to decorate them for Halloween.  Find the complete tutorial here.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

FREE PRINTABLES ROUNDUP: HALLOWEEN TREAT BOXES

If you plan to curl up on a couch to watch a spooky movie or put together party favors this Halloween, there are some generous free printables being offered around Blogland that you can use.  Here are a few that I found particularly cute!  If you pin them, please pin from the original source–each listed below. Thanks!
Top Left: Trick or Treat box from Design is Yay!

Top Right: Halloween Cones from Like a Pretty Petunia

Bottom Left: Treat boxes from Paper and Cake

Bottom Right: Halloween Treat Bags from Press Print Party!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

BAT AND GHOST HALLOWEEN PUDDING CUPS


Have you seen these cuties on Pinterest?? I used this idea for a dessert at a teacher's appreciation luncheon.  The luncheon was a "spooky stews and soups" theme so it was perfect.  Plus, it's something that can sit out all day without going stale. And they're so easy to make.  Using glue dots I stuck the eyes on the chocolate Snack Packs, then cut out wings from black cardstock and used double-sided tape to stick them on.  (You could also add fangs with white duct tape, too!) I simply drew the ghost faces with a black Sharpie on the vanilla cups.  I hope the teachers enjoy them!

You can add one of these to your child's lunchbox or use this idea for a Halloween party.

Have you made anything from Pinterest lately?

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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

SPOOKY CRYSTAL BALL HALLOWEEN CANDLESTICKS

This Halloween project from Flamingo Toes is probably one of the coolest I've seen this season! Images appear to be floating in magic crystal balls.  See how she did it here.


Monday, October 14, 2013

OUR REPURPOSED HALLOWEEN MANTLE

I finally managed to get some Halloween decorations up over the weekend.  I had some stuff from old Halloween projects and I just repurposed them for the mantle.  You'll find out where everything came from, including the free printables, after the photos. I thought this would serve as a good reminder of past Halloween projects I've featured.
Starting from left to right on the mantle shelf:

- The yellow ghost mason jar is from this old project.  Paint a variety of them like we did, insert battery operated tea lights and they look really cute outside at night.
- The spooky tree is from a Halloween party I did a while back, that you can see here.
- The glittered haunted house is the only thing I purchased this year.  It was $6 (on sale) at Michaels.
- The Halloween ornaments in the apothecary jar were purchased on clearance last year at Target
- The skull with glittered bow is a free printable from Persia Lou.
- The bat garland is a free printable from Party Planning Center.
- The painted craft pumpkins are from this project, which is still a popular post.

Did you get your Halloween decorations up yet??

Friday, October 11, 2013

PAPER STRAW SPIDER GARLAND

It wasn't too long ago that you could only get paper straws online.  But now Walmart and Target even carry them–and I just saw them in these orange and white colors for Halloween. So, making these straw crafts is pretty easy.  You can even buy black rubber spiders to make it even easier. The orange and white striped straws give this garland a great pop of color.  From Oh My Creative, find the full tutorial here.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, October 10, 2013

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY: DRINK STIRRER PLACE CARDS

Place cards are one of those details that people love to have fun with – especially for a wedding. We saw apples being used as place cards last week here. This idea to use drink stirrers as place cards is really cute. 1) It's different and 2) It encourages guests to get their party started right away! Find the full gallery of wedding photos at Ruffled here.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

HALLOWEEN THEMED BIRTHDAY PARTY FROM ITALY

It looks like our friends in Italy enjoy Halloween as much as we do! This kid-friendly party from Rome was a fun setting for little Luca's 3rd birthday.  It offers the right combination of cute and creepy.  I love how they really took advantage of everything in the room–including decorating the refrigerator as a ghost! And I especially love the chocolate pumpkins.  Big thanks to photographers Fibre di luce for sharing the photos with us!
Additional Participating Vendors:
Event Planner: Cakes a Go-Go
Event Designer: Bambini in Festa
Reception Venue: Baby Luna Park
Cake Designer: Fatte a Fette



Tuesday, October 8, 2013

PAPER FLOWER GARLAND

I came across this lovely paper flower garland in a post about wedding trends here.  There weren't directions but I think it's totally do-able.  You just need some patience to make all the paper flowers, but I think the effort is totally worth it!  If you need a tutorial on how to make the flowers, there is one here.  The garland certainly looks better using different colors and patterns.  Perfect for any kind of party!

Monday, October 7, 2013

HANDMADE BABY SHOWER

When it comes to party planning, nothing shows how much you care for someone than handmade items. Taking the time to make something, no matter how big or small, is always appreciated. This mama-to-be's girlfriends showed their love for her with this special baby shower. Everything was handmade, including the decorations, sugar scrub favors and finger foods. They even infused the mama-to-be's favorite color purple into the decor.  Big thanks to photographer T.C. Engle Photography for sharing the handmade details with us.


 
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