Overdramatic Party Girl

Don't Forget Our Teachers!

2011-12-04T09:58:00.001-07:00

It's that time of the year again! Not only are we each trying to find the perfect gift for our friends & family, but we also need to remember those who have one of the most important jobs - and those who often receive the least amount of thanks and have one of H.A.R.D. job - our teachers.

The good girls over at The New Home Ec have put together a quick look book (complete with tutorials) of some great ideas from all over the blogging world.

And of course, we would love to make you some special cards to put along with your teacher gifts or to mail out to all of your friends and family. We do mostly custom work, so shoot us an email to let us know what you'd like and we can do it!

Merry Christmas!

2011-11-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

We each have so many things to be thankful for. Today, I am especially thankful for my wonderful family and my great friends. I am thankful for talents of my own and those of others. I am thankful for all of our customers & for all the different amazing things we have to celebrate!

Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!

With love and THANKS,
The Overdramatic Party Girl Team - Vanessa & Lori

Jack-O-Lanterns for Snack!

2011-10-16T21:06:00.000-06:00

As you might know, one of my daughters is in Kindergarten this year. At our school, we rotate through a snack calendar and when it's your turn to bring snack, you bring a morning and afternoon snack for all the kids (and if you're nice, you bring some of the teacher and aide too ;). This was really a dilemma for me because of two things...

1. I [try] to feed my kids healthy food. I also appreciate when others do as well, so I wanted to bring something nutritious.
And 2. I love cute. I love making cute snacks for each holiday. I love when you can make food look like things other than what it is.

So when I noticed it was our turn to bring snack in the middle of October, one side of my mind was thinking - scary licorice trees on graham crackers with candy pumpkins, rice crispy treats made to look like pumpkins, mummy oreo pops, Frankenstein chocolate covered marshmallows on sticks, monster cupcakes!!

The other side of my mind was thinking ______________________________________________.

Exactly - I was drawing a blank on healthy snacks to bring. Of course I could bring yogurt, cheese sticks, veggies, etc. but where's the fun in that?! I was so sad. Snack was either going to be healthy, or it was going to be cute, but not both....

That is, until my dear mother showed me this...

Now, this is not my idea - I 'borrowed' this picture from over at Family Fun.

Hallelujah!

I was so thrilled!

So, after carving out 28 of these bad boys (and making pumpkin muffins for the morning snack), I was ready to roll. They were SO well received! The teachers, the kids, the administration, the parents - everyone loved them. In fact, at the end of the day, the kids go around and say what their favorite part of the day was and kids were even saying "when we got to eat the orange jack-o-lanterns for snack!" The secretary took them, washed them out and is drying them, and it was definitely a conversation starter with the other parents. All in all, it was great....

however, I do have to tell you that it is a. lot. of. work.

But, now both sides of my brain are happy, as well as all the kids in my kindergartner's class.

Up, Up and Away! Airplane Party

2011-10-16T20:29:00.002-06:00

Up, Up and Away......

Fly high with this fun airplane themed party! (Perfect for a little boy's birthday or boy baby shower!)

This party pack is chalk full of c-u-t-e.
The invitation features an airplane complete with spinning propeller - AND all the party information is on the banner that is behind the airplane and can be pulled out.

Transform plain cupcakes into adorable themed cupcakes with our plane silhouettes souring through the clouds.

Tie your gift bags with our customized thank you tags that feature the nose of the plane in bright, fun colors; hand-stamping (customization is available); and ribbons to tie on to your goodie bags.

Carry the theme all the way into thank you notes you'll actually enjoy sending out (because they're so fun and cheerful)!

This Up, Up, and Away Party Pack also comes complete with Happy Birthday banner (see first picture) to complete your look and help you decorate. Other decorations are available on request.

Up, Up, and Away Paper Package $50, plus applicable tax and shipping.
What's included?
*8 Personalized Plane Invitations
*8 Cupcake Toppers
*8 Gift Bag Tags
*8 Thank You Notes
*1 Happy Birthday Banner

Different quantities available by request. Please email us at: overdramaticpartygirl@gmail.com so we can help you throw your perfect party!

As always - our products are of the highest quality. Everything is handmade with love and care. Customization is available, as are color changes.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Party

2011-06-28T09:16:00.000-06:00

Come inside, it's fun inside....

It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

Please tell me that I'm not the only one singing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song in my head. I promise, my kids don't sit in front of the TV all day, it's just that I happen to have the uncanny ability to get every kid song stuck in my head. For days. And days. And days.

We wanted to share with you this fabulous MMC party! A friend's kiddo loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and asked if we could put together a party for them. This is what happened: An adventure was created!

The keys to where the goodie bags were stored had been lost! <Gasp> Using Tootle and the detective skills of the kids, we are able to retrace Mickey's steps to find the missing keys.

The adventure works for all ages and is great for either a boy or girl. The adventure is also patterned after the MMC show which adds to the excitement and makes the kids feel like they are part of an episode!

Invitations are handcrafted to look like Tootle and are customized.

Handcrafted banner, Tootles and the "Helping Hands" cup cake toppers add the fun and cheer to the party. For the Adventure the party comes with:

Mickey's Foot Prints

Rubber Ducks

Nets

Tunnel

Mickey Mouse Ears

Keys

To say thank you to all the wonderful detectives we have Mickey Mouse goodie bag ties and thank you notes.

We know your little adventurer will love sharing in our Mickey Adventure!

Pictures courtesy of Cristine Strickland Photography

Owl Diaper Cake

2011-05-25T20:50:00.001-06:00

I have diapers, receiving blankets and ribbon.......what can I make for a baby shower???
A diaper cake!!! The real question is how do I make it look cute?
Simple usually looks better in the end, so that is what I did but I had to figure out what to put on top of the cake. The theme is owls so I just made an owl out of diapers and a receiving blanket.

I will go over how to make the cake but give details and pictures on how to make the owl.
I use the swirl method of putting the diapers in a circle and then tie with a string. Fold the receiving blanket so that it is the same height as the diapers. Wrap the blanket around the diapers and have a ribbon ready to tie it all up. You can use stick pins to hold things but I try to use as little as possible(just in cause they don't find them all). Make three tiers. The largest one you will have to use two blankets to go around it. To hold all the tiers together I used a paper towel roll in the center.

How to make the owl.
What you need:
Receiving blanket
4-5 diapers
2 buttons
felt - wings, beak
2 stick pins
thread - same color as button and felt

Fold blanket in half. Bring the outside edges almost to the center. Unfold the corners but keep the middle in the center creating a hourglass.

Place 3-4 diapers on one side of the hourglass. Wrap the sides of the blanket around the diapers.

Bring the bottom of the blanket up over the diapers. Make it snug.

Do the same wrapping on the other side put use only one diaper.

Once the diapers are wrapped then put them together and pin the sides of the blanket together. Make as tight as possible to help give the shape to the owl.

Tack on the button eyes. Remember to only go through the blanket and not the diaper. Cut beak and wings and tack them on.

Once everything is on work on making the shape of the owl because it might need a little love to look like an owl. If it is for a girl you can add a bow by using a stick pin to hold it in place. To hold the owl in place on the cake I stapled the top of the paper towel row together so the owl can slide right on.

I hope this helps in getting creative juices going to solving an issue of how to finish a cake!
Vanessa

Kid's Craft! Easter Eggs with a twist

2011-04-11T14:23:00.000-06:00

Who doesn't love dying Easter eggs? I know that I used to love it as a kid. Now I ~~mostly~~ love it as a mom. Of course I worry about the kids spilling the dye, splattering the dye, dying the table, their clothes, their skin, and everything else around them. I think you don't realize how messy everything is until you become a mom.

Here's a fun craft that doesn't involve any dye that they can spill! I also love doing new things with eggs and so with no further adeu, I present the Crayola Melty Easter Egg! ... ok, that's a terrible name. My brain is still stuck on newborn function - ya know, not working much at all. It may be a terrible name (if you can come up with a better one, I would love it!), but at least it gets the point across.

Here's what ya do...

1. Get a pencil sharpener that you don't care about much and sharpen some crayons into small dishes. You could put a few (or a lot) of colors all in the same dish. Since I'm anal about some things, I put each color into it's own dish.

2. Boil some eggs. While they're boiling, cut up the egg carton so that each child has their own egg holders.

3. Take the eggs out with a slotted spoon and veeerrrry carefully put the eggs into the containers. A parent needs to do this. They will (of course) be HOT! I find that it's easier to have a space in between the eggs so the child can work on their masterpieces separately.

4. Have your kids put the crayon shavings over the eggs. Since the eggs are hot and the crayons are wax, they colors melt and drip down and make pretty interesting designs.

It was a fun project and got rave reviews from my 2 & 4 yr olds as well as the rest of the preschool class. It won't replace dying Easter eggs at my house, but it was super fun and pretty dern easy. And you can't really beat the clean up (sweeping the floor basically).

I used all random crayons - you know the ones in the bottom of the crayon basket with no wrappers. Most of the crayons melted good, but for some reason this orange was terrible and didn't really melt. I know that I used some Crayola and some Rose Art and they both melted fine. I can't image what the orange one was.
I did however make sort of a volcano effect.

Or maybe it looks more like hair.

She thinks she's caught in the act... but this time it's actually ok. She's not used to that.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

St. Patties Day is such a fun holiday but I just don’t have any decorations for it. So I made this little ditty to spice up the house. Next time I will take pics during the project (I am still learning) for a true tutorial, but I hope you can follow along without too many problems. Feel free to post questions in the comment section or email us at: overdramaticpartygirl@gmail.com. Either way, we'll get back to you quick so you can spice up your place too!

What you need: large chipboard letter (I got mine at Hobby Lobby), enough fabric to cover your letter (I found mine in the remanant bin), paint, white paper, chipboard tag, embellishments, and spray adhesive.

1 - Trace your letter on the fabric and cut out. Paint the sides and edges of the chipboard. I used simple white craft paint. I did cut the fabric to be a little smaller then the chipboard and frayed the edges.

2. Spray good ol' spray adhesive on the fabric, place on chipboard, and smooth out.

3. Next, cut out “St” and “day” and adhere them to the fabric covered P. I used a Cricut, but if you don't have one, you can always free hand draw on the paper and then cut out by hand. Or, you can print out your favorite font on your computer, cut it out, and then trace around it and cut by hand.

4. Trace around your chipboard tag onto white paper. Adhere the white paper to it. Write “atrick’s” on the tag and ink the edges. Then, glue buttons on!

5. Tie a ribbon around the P and tie on the tag. Add more ribbons to the original and other embellishments if you want. I used Glossy Accents and dotted the swirls on the fabric. It's really an easy project to make your own!

Hope you have fun!! And please let us know if you make one - we'd love to see it!

~Vanessa

Born Lucky!

2011-02-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

Some of you might have seen this last year, but if you're in need of a cute St. Patrick's Day shirt, here's an easy (and cheap) way to make your own.

Can you believe this year is going so quickly? It seems to me like it just started, but yet, here we are - almost to St. Patrick's Day already!

Here at Overdramatic Party Girl, we want to celebrate *all* holidays, so I thought that I'd make my oldest (now 3 & 1/2) a shirt to celebrate our Irish heritage... but I have to admit - I hate holiday shirts. I mean, a shirt related to the holiday is good, but I'm not a fan of literal holiday shirts - "Kiss me I'm Irish," "Happy Valentine's Day" - that kind of thing. I just want more wear out a shirt than just a day or two around the actual holiday. Hence, the "born lucky" shirt was conceived... and born, I guess you could say.

I used a freezer paper stencil. Never done one? Oooh, they're addicting. Here's how I did mine.... I cheated and used my Cricut. You could cut out your letters with an exacto knife and do it that way, but I like to do things the easiest way possible :)

1. When attaching your freezer paper to your Cricut mat, make sure that the shiny side of the freezer paper is down. If you're cutting with an exacto, make sure your image will be correct with the shiny side down.

2. Cut out your phrase. I used "born lucky" because I wanted her to be able to wear it other days than just St. Patrick's Day.

3. When you take the paper off the mat, be careful not to rip the paper. You won't actually be using the letters, you'll be using the negative image, or the holes that the letters left.

4. At this point, turn your shirt inside out, adhere a piece of freezer paper on the inside of the shirt (against the front of the shirt) to prevent the paint bleeding through. Make sure your piece of freezer paper is bigger than your design area. You adhere the freezer paper to the shirt simply by putting the shiny side down and ironing it onto the fabric. Viola!

5. Turn shirt right-side out and position your stencils on your shirt where you want them (make sure the shiny side of the paper is down!). I made hubs come over and make sure I was straight and centered, but you could use one of those new-fangled gadgets they call a ruler. Just sayin'.

6. After you've positioned the stencils, iron them onto your fabric. Make sure you pay special attention to the edges of your stencil (where the paint will be) so that you get a good seal and paint doesn't seep underneath.

7. Paint! You want to buy fabric paint that in *not* dimensional (think puffy paint from the late 80's, early '90's). I used Tulip Soft Fabric Paint - Permanent. (I like it b/c the consistency is good.) I did mine with a small gradient of green - so it went from lighter to darker and I used 'holiday green' and plain ol' white.
Just a small tip - if you want to do a gradient too, it's easiest to start with the darker color and work backwards. So I painted the "n" first with the straight green color. Then did one drop of white for every drop of green for the "r" and two drops of white for every one drop of green for the "o" and so on. Just do a light layer of paint.

8. Watch paint dry. Or, if you're like me, watch Lost and hypothesize to your hubby about all of the questions remaining. That should take up a couple of hours, so paint another layer. You'll need 2 to 3 layers of paint, but make sure to: 1) only do light layers so it doesn't seep under the seam of the stencil and 2) let dry before you paint another layer. If you're all caught up on your Lost episodes, you can use a hairdryer to speed along the process.

9. I painted "born" in green, but the "lucky" I wanted to POP, so I did it all in glitter and used Tulip Glitter Bond with green glitter.

Basically, you paint on the glue bond, and then...

GLITTER AWAY!

10. Once the glitter has been in place for at least 2-3 hrs, you need to shake off the excess. I wanted to be able to reuse the glitter, so I stuck the shirt bottom into a ziploc bag to catch the excess of glitter. Then I just poured it back into the container.

11. Now carefully peel the freezer paper up.

12. After you have the stencils pulled up, lay a thin kitchen towel, or something similar, over your paint and glitter and iron to set everything.

There you have it - you're done! Now you have a super cute, customized shirt and one very happy kiddo!

Monster Party

2011-02-11T12:23:00.001-07:00

Can your child be a little monster? We feel ya. Embrace the monster and make a birthday bash that everyone will adore!

Our Monster party is a ROOOOARING success!!!!
It is a great party for boys and girls any time during the year and for any age.

All that is included in the party pack is:

8 Handmade invitations w/ envelopes

8 Sets of monster gloves and spats

8 Handmade thank you cards w/ envelopes

1 "Happy Birthday" Banner

8 Thank you goodies bag tags

8 Cup cake toppers

1 "Warning Monsters" Sign

16 Paper monster foot prints

3 to 4 Games/activities that are age appropriate

Instructions on how to throw a bash without the stress!!

All paper products are made of high quality, heavy weight, recycled papers.

Your invitations feature a playful monster with removable 3D features that can be removed and rearranged with the included extra features into different monsters.

We custom print all invitations to fit your specific party. Nothing generic here - That's a promise!

These handmade monster spats and gloves make any kid turn into a playful monster. They come in different colors and a variety of sizes to make sure all of your party guests are the cutest little critters!

Once Upon a Time Baby Shower

2011-01-30T21:25:00.007-07:00

This is not your normal "Princess" baby shower. We threw a baby "book" shower. The new little bundle of joy is a girl and so we went a little more "girly" on the banner. The mother loves books so all the guests were asked to bring a book for the new arrival.

The main colors were pink and green with a little brown, but not pastel.

An add on to this baby shower are Memories Books. One is for the expecting mother that is a larger note book for the house to write down all the little things that happen. The little ones are party favors. All the ladies loved this because of the usefulness and how cute it was.

Apple Jubilee

2010-09-19T21:59:00.000-06:00

I have been really liking apples this fall. I saw a spread by Better Homes and Gardens that inspired me to go with apples this year for my fall decor. The party is easy, fun and can go for older or younger crowed.

I love dinner parties that have a theme and linen napkins (this would be my mother's doing). Apples are so easy especially at this time year. Invites set the mood. This invites is fun but formal enough for an adult party.

For the table I just added a runner, clear plates and mason jars. The red linen napkins have cinnamon sticks and curly willow tied with gingham. The name tags are placed in apples to complete the apple feel. A center piece with apples, curly willow and cinnamon sticks in a wooden bowel can be added to the table or anywhere else in the party location.

There are tons of ideas for dinner and dessert. Here are a few from Celebrations. A really cute idea I got from some where is making cookie cutter pies and putting them on sticks. I am not that talented but if you are you should try it out.

Activities that could be done for the younger crowd are Apple stamping, Carmel apple making and Bobbing for apples(or you could put them on strings).

Halving or quartering apples and then adding all the yummy stuff for caramel apples works really well for kids. Make sure to cut out the middle. Always have an adult helping out because they are working with something that is molten lava.

Party favors are something that is fun to make and receive. These crate paper apples are full of dried apples. To add a little extra the apples could be cinnamon sugar apple rings. Yum!!

I really hope you enjoy this wonderful fall season.

If you are interested in purchasing anything please send us an email

Pacifier Baby Shower

2010-09-10T13:43:00.000-06:00

I felt inspired after posting about the "Binky Blowout" game and thought I would pass along some ideas for throwing a pacifier themed shower. The theme is original and works for either a boy or girl, but even more importantly, this theme can go over the top with crazy fun!

Here's some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing.

First off - binkies, pacis, whatever you want to call them - now come in some really pretty styles. Some really useful ones too - ones that close when dropped, ones that are thermometers, ones attached to lovies for your kiddo. However, they also come like this...

It's shocking, a little disturbing, and kinda hilarious all at once. But if you have a mother-to-be with a great sense of humor, they just might be perfect for baby shower gifts and decorations.

There are some other great binkies that don't take your breath away though, if that's more her style.

I kind of love this last one. If this kung fu surprise turns out to be a boy, I might just have to get one.

What I love, is that there seems to be one for every mom's personality.

Ok, now that you have your creative juices flowing (and maybe a good chortle), onto more party specifics.

Decorations:

How can you use binkies to decorate? How can you not, is more the question.

Try putting cheap pacis in a cute glass containers around your party place. Better yet, buy one of each kind, if that's in your budget, and decorate with them. That way the new mom has lots of different ones to try out. Because really, what baby takes the first binky you give him/her?!

If it's not in your budget, ask each guest to buy one binky along with their present.

There are always cut outs of binkies you can put up to liven up the area as well. I believe I have even seen a pacifier pinata at one time, if that's your style.

Make a baby wreath - a cute, but relatively plain, wreath and then decorate with pacifiers. You can also do this with a small tree if you'd rather.

Balloons are always festive, so why not tie your balloons onto pacifiers to keep them on the table where you want them? Heck, you can even get balloons made to look like pacifiers.

There are a lot of pre-made binky decorations for baby showers! This can really cut down your prep time. Crystal pacifiers would be good to use in any of the above ways or make a garland out of them, use them in a centerpiece, scatter them around the table, etc.

Or you could decorate with (and then gift to the new mom) the pacifier holders that are so cute! Like the bibs that hold pacis or these adorable lovies.

Ok, onto...

Games!

I realize not every baby shower calls for games, but my guess is if you're throwing a paci party, that you'll want games!

Try out our Binky Blowout game!

Fill a huge (novelty sized) bottle or other baby item with pacifiers and have your guests guess how many are stuffed in there.

Bobbing for binkies. I've seen this done with nipples before but binkies would work just as well! Of course, the guests have to be willing to get a little wet. I personally am not up for this, but you could always replace the water with something else - another drink or even food.... like baby cereal. Very gross, but funny!

You can do the classic clothespin game, but instead use a binky. This could be a crystal binky, a binky necklace, a real one, a pin, etc.

Can you say, Pin the Pacifier on the baby?

And one last, sentimental one. Cut out large paper pacifiers (or buy them from us if you don't want to cut them out). You can even use these as a garland decoration, but sometime during the shower, perhaps while mom is opening presents, have each guest take a paper paci and write down one piece of advice, one well wish, one note to the baby one his/her birthday, one note of encouragement for the mom, etc. The possibilities are endless and can be tailored to your specific mom-to-be.

Now, go out and plan your own shower to give!

Tune in later for pacifier baby shower food!

Paci Baby Shower Game

2010-09-09T21:33:00.000-06:00

Need a great baby shower game?

I am sure that I have mentioned this before, but I seem live in the land of babies. I think I could throw a baby shower every week for someone that I know and still wouldn't get everyone! Because of that, I have started to get quite the repertoire of various baby shower games. Not all shower games are appropriate for every shower, so be thoughtful when planning one. Be mindful about if a mother-to-be or guests might be uncomfortable doing a certain game. However, if you have a group of girls that can be very outgoing and fun, try this game!

I think we'll call this the "Binky Blowout!" - It's simple to prep and a lot of fun at the shower.

Line guests up at a set starting line (crepe paper on the floor works well) and give each a pacifier. The guests then see how far they can projectile the pacifier using just their mouth. Sound like fun? We thought so. :) Whoever gets the binky the furthest, wins. You can do this one at a time or all at once, depending on your room and preference. Also, check the local dollar store for cheap binkies.

Cute Storage Box

2010-09-06T09:16:00.000-06:00

I was trying to figure out what to make my sister for her birthday and I came across the idea of a Sunday Box. A Sunday Box has things like bible flannel stories, church music, and other activities to keep your kids busy and learning on Sundays. However, if I was going to do it, I needed a cute box!

First I got a wooden crate, fabric, paper, ribbon, spray paint, wooden"S" and Mod Podge.

(I liked the wood crate because it is durable and light)

I spray painted the crate and the "S" brown. I would have gone more chocolate but I used what was on hand. If you have a light fabric, spray painting the area that will be covered by it may not be a good idea because it could be seen thought the fabric after Mod Podge.

While the crate is drying cut the fabric in strips to cover the slats on the side of the crate. These strips will be different sizes depending on your crate. Make sure you have enough material to over lap so the wood is completely covered. Here I applied a coat of Mod Podge to the bottom lip and top and covered it with the fabric.

I folded the edges to give it a clean look but I think frayed edges would look neat too(and easier). Once again I Mod Podged the wood and laid the fabric over the top. To make sure the fabric is smooth use a credit card to get all the bubbles out.

I tried having a finished look by having the fabric completely wrap around the wood. I am not a perfectionest but you get the idea. The bottom peice of wood I had to fold the fabric under because of the bottom of the crate. When you do this make sure to put Mod Podge between the layers or you get a "puffy" look as you can see in the pic.

Once you have covered all the pieces of wood with fabric Mod Pogde the top of the fabric to seal it in.

While everything is drying you can sand the wood "S". I did just the edges but you can distress it to your hearts content. Once it is sanded to your liking add ribbon. I just did three different types about 2" long each.

Once all the Mod Podge is dryed it is time to add lettering. I used my Cricut to cut "unday box" using Lyrical Letters Roley Poly 2". (I did ink my letters with a chocolate ink) You can also use wooden lettering, stickers or anything else you can think of instead.

Brush on a layer of Mod Podge and place the letters. Allow to dry for a few minutes then apply another layer on top to protect the letters. I applied two top layers just because it is for kids.

Once again allow everything to dry. Add your "S" using hot glue. Tie ribbon on the handles on the side and there you go.

This little craft would be great for a toy box, a "collect junk" box or what ever you can think of. It is cute enough that you can leave it out and not have to hide it.

Thanks for crafting with me.
Vanessa

Stars and Tiaras

2010-09-05T09:51:00.000-06:00

We wanted to share some pics of a recent "Stars & Tiaras" party with you! Stars & Tiaras is a fabulous princess party tailored just for your younger royalty!

Meilani turned two!!!

Oh my gosh - isn't she just adorable!?! I just want to squeeze those cheeks!

Here's some pictures of some of the fabulous-ness that comes in the Stars & Tiaras party pack.

Handcrafted banner,

invitations (which are tiaras with an insert),

thank you cards,

cupcake toppers and

goodie bag tags.

Tiaras, tutus, makeup and games to make every little princess feel special.

And can we just stop for a second on the invitations?! I know you're going to love them!
They are super original and super fun for your little princesses.... so where are they?
Hint: They're there, they just don't look like "normal" party invites.
One thing that we try to do for our customers is a really unique invitation. Between the two of us we have 4 little girls and I promise, we have never received a princess invitation like this one!

The invitation is actually the tiara above! It comes perfectly folded in a high quality, recycled envelope, but then you open it up into a fully wearable tiara! The party information is attached with a small piece of velcro to the inside of the crown and comes with a magnet so the mommies & daddies can just stick it right onto their fridge. (Super Handy!)
The invitation is unique and fun but it also sets the mood for your party. Guests know that this is a party they'll want to go to because it won't be your 'typical' princess party!

Little Princes and Princesses were greeted at the door as well by cute, classy (and supplied) decorations.

For a gathering activity the kids colored princess coloring sheets that can also be used for place mats.

All the little princess got a tiara and tutu, but they needed the finishing touch to go to the ball.

At the glamor station they applied eye shadow and lip gloss!

(as my little 3 years old says they got "Bbbeeautiful")

At the ball the little princess dance all their wiggles out.

I just love this picture of all the little girls dancing! Party music is provided in the pack and all you have to do is put it on and groove!

Pin the Kiss on the Frog and Crown the Princess are a few games that are easy and super fun for this age group.

After all the fun activities and the presents have been opened it was time for CAKE!!

Happy birthday Meilani! We hope two is better for you and your momma than it was for some of the rest of us! ;)

Pink Dessert Table Wow-er

2010-07-28T14:43:00.000-06:00

Another shot to get your creative juices flowing - Hostess with the Mostess posted this beautiful pink themed dessert table originally done by Eat, Drink, Pretty.

It really is gorgeous and holds a lot of inspiration for the taking. Ahh, I'm in love! If we ever renew our vows or have a super baby shower, this is what I want! (Until tomorrow when I find something equally as lovely but entirely different.)

Backyard Baby Shower

2010-07-26T06:24:00.003-06:00

I apparently live in the land of babies! It seems that at all times I have at least 5 friends that are expecting. Right now I can count seven without trying. It's great when you're needing a baby fix (although, that's not me since I'm expecting too, but when you want to live vicariously through your friends, it's wonderful!) but it can get a little crazy trying to keep up with everyone. I am starting to implement a high-tech, new-fangled deelybob called a list on my fridge (gasp! Will I be able to work it?!) in order to keep up with everyone's approaching bump date.

I firmly believe that every baby deserves to be celebrated - whether it's your first, your fifth, or your fifteenth... so needless to say, there are a lot of baby showers here, in the land of babies. In fact, I am planning one for a new friend and am loving the idea of a backyard baby shower. As I go about making the invites, planning the decor, and all the other general party details, I love to get some inspiration from other places along the way. Here are some great ones for your inspiration as well!

This bee shower is adorable. I love the grown up, sophisticated look to everything and can you get enough of that table and ribbon chandelier? Gorgeous! (Dare I say that the table runner and napkin rings are made from Amy Butler fabric? I <3 Amy Butler.)

This is such a cute idea for an invitation!

Love, love, love this!

(And I couldn't find the original source for this picture :( I found it on someone's blog who hadn't linked it, but just couldn't pass it up.)

Apparently I am very into yellow lately. It's such a fun, youthful color, perfect for summer!

Hello One Pretty Thing Readers!!

2010-07-23T15:49:00.000-06:00

If you're stopping by and checking us out because of One Pretty Thing - then welcome! (And welcome even if you didn't come from there!)

We're so excited to be featured today on the crafty food roundup and are supposed to be linked more in the future, so please keep an eye out for us. We'd love to have you become a follower and keep track of us! :) We try to add a new post every day or so, but admittedly sometimes we have to go a couple of days because of family craziness - -you know how it is.

But again, Welcome!

Yum, Yum, YUM! DE-licious Greek Dressing

2010-07-23T08:22:00.000-06:00

I know, I know - we just did a recipe post a couple days ago, but I couldn't resist! This is not my recipe - I found it on Allrecipes, but it is waaaay to good to not pass along! (One of the things that I miss most about Greeley, where I went to college, is Fonta's Greek Restaurant. This little mom and pop place that had the BEST and BIGGEST Greek salads!)

You try it out too! Make as much as you want - I just wanted enough for my little family... but I can tell that I might need to make more in just a couple of days, that's how good this is!

Ingredients

· 1/2 cup olive oil

· 1-1/4 teaspoons garlic powder

· 1-1/4 teaspoons dried oregano

· 1-1/4 teaspoons dried basil

· 1 teaspoon pepper

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1 teaspoon onion powder

· 1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard

· 2/3 cup red wine vinegar

Mix together the olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, basil, pepper, salt, onion powder, and Dijon-style mustard. Pour in the vinegar, and mix vigorously until well blended. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

I didn't have the Dijon style mustard on hand, so I just skipped it and it still tasted divine. It does separate quickly, you'll have to stir or shake before pouring. A tip: Shake, then pour a little dressing (how much you want on your salad) into a small dish, add your feta cheese, and mix. Then pour on your salad. YUM!

Come One, Come All to an Overdramatic Circus Party!

2010-07-22T07:26:00.001-06:00

Congratulations!!

Amanda Hodges won our Farmer's Market Giveaway!

To those of you who couldn't make it out, for our opening at Kairos, we had a drawing for all the paper products for our circus party! And we're not talking about napkins and plates here, Miss Amanda will get all the handmade, custom invitations, thank you cards, party banner, cupcake toppers, and goody bag ties needed to those one heck of a circus bash!

Here's a close up of our adorable invitations.

Hmmm, can't you just smell the popcorn and cotton candy of the circus? These are so cute because you have a popcorn box and three dimensional popcorn that slides out, revealing your party information!

Here's a better shot of the thank you cards - designed to be circus tickets! And the cute goody bag tags.
And last but not least...

Circus tent cupcake toppers!
Unfortunately Amanda won't get the cupcakes themselves, as they were made by Mande at Ava Sweet Cakes. Aren't they adorable?

(If you're interested in ordering the circus party, just email us at: overdramaticpartygirl@gmail.com and we'll get you taken care of! We already have one in October in Denver and are sooo excited about it!)

All Occasion Zucchini Bread

2010-07-20T09:22:00.007-06:00

Need a gift for a neighbor? Need to take a meal to someone who just had a baby? Need to get rid of all that zucchini over taking your garden? Well, here's the recipe for you! I tell you, it's fantastic and the only way I can ~~force feed~~ convince my girls to eat zucchini.

3 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tbs. cinnamon

3 eggs

1/2 c. oil (canola, veggie, etc.)

1/2 c. applesauce (no added sugar or regular both work)

1 1/4 c. white sugar

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 tbs. vanilla extract

3-4 c. grated zucchini

1 c. walnuts, optional

1. Grease and flour (or use that handy spray with both, like I do!) two 8 x 4 pans (or 9 x 5 will work too). Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Sift together flour, soda, powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

3. In a large bowl, cream eggs, oil, applesauce, sugars, and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients gradually until well incorporated. Add in zucchini and nuts (if you like them... I can't stand my bread with nuts, but that's me) and stir by hand until uniformly incorporated.

4. Pour into prepared pans and bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. Normally 55 mins is just right, but every oven can vary. Let cool in pan for 10 mins before removing and devouring.

Some newspaper love...

2010-07-20T08:31:00.002-06:00

Did you all see the small feature that The Daily Sentinel did on little ol' us?! If not, please check it out! If you want to see it on the web, here it is. Otherwise, here's the article!

"As Grand Junction stay-at-home moms who know how tedious party planning and hosting can be, Lori Troxel and Vanessa Young now put together parties for people who don’t want that hassle.

The duo formed Overdramatic Party Girl, a home-based, online, party-in-a-box business that Troxel calls “upscale and unique.” Their Grand Junction launch took place Thursday and Saturday inside Kairos Children’s Boutique, 533 Main St.

Troxel, who quit her teaching job four years ago when she had her first child and now is a mother of two with No. 3 on the way, said she discovered she loves to throw “big, fabulous parties” for her kids. She also discovered it takes a lot of time and effort.

“I couldn’t help thinking that if I were still teaching, there is no way that I would have time to do these kind of parties for them, and that’s where the idea for the business was born,” she said.

Troxel and Young pack party boxes with handmade, custom invitations; thank-you notes; a banner; decorations; costumes; party favors; materials for activities; games; and more. They do prepackaged themes as well as customize, and they specialize in kid parties, baby showers and bridal showers.

Their base price is $125, plus shipping, or they can deliver locally. For more information, call Troxel at 683-1268; e-mail overdramaticpartygirl@gmail.com or go online to overdramaticpartygirl.blogspot.com.

By the way, Troxel explains the business name: If her kids were superheroes, one of them would be Miss Overdramatic Girl."

Yay! Our very first time being published in a newspaper! ((blush)) Reporter Tim Harty was very gracious, especially considering during our first, and only, time talking on the phone, my four year old runs into the living room screaming "MOM! Brielle took off her diaper and it was poopy and now there is POOP on the FLOOR!" ... ... ... I just about died. Not so much about the poop. I mean, as a mom, who hasn't had poop on their floor? But really?! Did it have to be during my five minute important phone meeting with a reporter? ... Apparently the Gods of Inconvenience thought it was funny. ;)

Welcome Farmer's Market Friends!

2010-07-19T20:30:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to put up a welcome to those of our new friends that we found at our opening at Farmer's Market on Thursday! Thanks for stopping by and we're glad to have you!

This website is always being updated with new and unique parties, cards, etc. that we sell, but we also try to put up other party ideas, tutorials, etc. so check back often to see what's new!

A note for those looking at purchasing - right now we're working through Etsy (as you can tell from the Etsy link or under our "purchase" tab) but we normally don't have too much in our Etsy store. That's because everything we make is customized to you, your theme, the age group, etc. Please, please, please - if you are interested in purchasing, just shoot us an email and we'll put up a custom listing for you!!

Again, we're so glad you're here and we wanted to give another shout out to Kairos for letting us do our opening there. I can't say enough about how sweet Carla has been to us and all that she has done. Big cyber hugs!

We've been featured!

2010-07-14T08:24:00.000-06:00

We've been featured over at Cristine Strickland Photography (a great natural light photographer in the Western Colorado area). Please go and check out her post about us and see the WONDERFUL product shots she did for us! Wow!! (She's not normally a product photographer - her families/babies/maternity shots are even more gorgeous!)

Sand Castle Cake how-to, Part 1:

2010-07-06T14:59:00.001-06:00

Finally getting around to our how-to for the sand castle cake! Whew, it's been a busy last few weeks!

Part one of our how-to is going to be the wonderful towers for the sandcastle. These really made the biggest difference and WOW factor for the cake - they are a must for a sandcastle!

What you'll need:

*poster board - not the gigantic sheet, the construction paper size

*stapler/staples

*white chocolate candy wafers

*crushed up graham crackers on a plate or something similar

*pencil

*scissors

1. Decide how big you want your towers to be - the height and circumference. This all depends on how big your cake is going to be. Just to give you an idea of how big our cake is and the dimensions, I used a 14" square pan for my bottom layers in the cake above, then three 8" square cakes, and a half ball for the top. It's a LOT of cake, but I wanted it to be big and impressive. And remember, you can always give your extras to a good cause. Our towers measured at roughly 8" tall over all with the cutouts for the turrets being about 3/4". I don't remember the exact dimensions for the circumference, but I'm thinking it was about 10" around. I'm sure it goes without saying, but to find the right dimensions for your particular cake, take the poster board and eyeball it with your cake.

2. Cut your paper and staple it together. We experimented with a few ways to staple - end to end directly, overlapping, etc. It didn't seem to matter which way we did it. The staples will be covered and towards the cake anyway.

3. Next, you're on to the fun part! Melt your white chocolate according to the package directions... and slather! Take a butter knife, dip into the chocolate paint the tower. The best way to do this is to actually stick your hand/wrist/part of your arm if you're like me inside the tower. You'll need a good thick, but even coat of chocolate on it. You'll also want to do the inside of the turrets a little. You won't have to do too much, but this way you won't be able to see the white poster board at all looking at the cake.

(Sorry about all the stuff in the background. I'd love to say I have a gourmet kitchen with all the room that I need, but alas, I don't believe in lying. Besides, I was in full party mode, and ya know, you have to have somewhere to put the hamburger buns before the BBQ!)

4. I can't figure out why I don't have a picture of this next step! I only have about 400 from the party day...

Now - roll it, roll it, roll it.... in the graham cracker crumbs that is. Make sure you press down slightly to cover.

Once the outside is covered, hand press crumbs onto the inside of the turrets as well. You will probably have to press crumbs onto places that didn't pick them up quite as well, like the bottoms in the picture above. If you have places where the chocolate is either dry or non-existent, take a toothpick or small pastry brush and paint on some extra chocolate, then press with crumbs.

Viola! Your towers should be done and you're ready to get on with the rest of your cake! Check back for the rest of the tutorials on the sandcastle cake!

Family Picture Pretties

2010-07-02T08:36:00.002-06:00

We recently (well... as you can tell by the snow on the mountain, although it IS Colorado and that can happen anytime, it has been a little bit!) had family pictures taken with Mr. ODG's family (Mr. Overdramatic Girl... yes, I realize I just called my husband a girl, lol. Maybe he can be Mr. Overdramatic Geek.... oooh, I can feel myself getting in trouble! lol) and I wanted a little accessory for me and my girlies to wear that was cute, fashionable, and would lump us together - as in "hey, I bet those kids belong to that girl" kind of thing. Plus, I wanted to make sure that if it got totally torn up, I wouldn't mind that much because I hadn't paid an arm and a leg for it. How'd you think it worked in the photo?

Yeah, I know you can't see mine, but I promise it's there behind Miss Overdramatic's head. Here's a close up of mine:

Want to make one? (Or three, or seven, whatever) Of course you do ;) because first, they're really cute. Second, it's even cuter when your little girls match you. And third, because they are sooo easy. I'm sure that tutorials for these are probably all over the web. I'm not claiming that this was my idea first, I just saw a cute one in a store and thought "I can make that!" And so can you! Really, it's super easy and gives a big wow! factor to outfits. I wore mine again the next day on a little cardigan to church (the pic directly above) and got so many compliments on it.

Here's what I did:

1. Raid your fabric stash. You'll want a fabric that will melt. I found mine in a remnant bin and it just said "synthetic" - that's all you need to know! I really liked this fabric b/c it looks almost like a silk and higher end than a lot of other synthetics can be. I bought this fabric months and months ago for no particular reason and this was the perfect project for it!

2.Cut circles out of your fabric. I was making three flowers, so I cut quite a few circles. You don't need to be exact in any way, shape or form - just freehand your circles and cut a bunch of them. (Um, can you say the perfect activity for watching Project Runway?) For the girls' flowers, I used about 8-10 circles and then mine is bigger so I used approx 15. Cut a variety of sizes. The smaller, girls' flowers, range from 2.75" to maybe .5". The petals on mine are about 4" to .75".

3. Singe the edges. Take a candle and carefully hold your circles so that just the edge gets close to the flame. You'll soon find out how your particular fabric will curl and how quickly the edges will singe versus burn. Don't worry if you lose a few circles - just cut more. One word to the wise - your petals will start to curl. Be careful how you hold/singe the rest of that petal b/c you don't want to flip it over and have one side of your petal curving up and one curving down.

Singe all the edges. For the smaller ones, be careful not to burn your fingers.... yeah, I got mine a little bit, but just a tiny bit. No first aid required! If you have teeny ones, you might want to use tweezers or something.

4. Lay out your petals. I laid them all out by size originally and then you want to start to decide how you want your flower to look.

Here's the larger one.

And the two smaller flowers.

5. Arrange beads in the middle of your flower and sew. Pick out your beads and lay them in the middle of your prearranged flower before sewing. This way you can see if you'd rather have smaller or larger beads and how many look good on your flower. I chose the step up from seed beads for mine. The girls' flowers got three in the middle, mine has five. Or some reason, I like odd numbers, which is odd considering I used to be a HS math teacher and have a weird affinity for symmetry.

Ok, back to your lovely flower. I found it was best to start from the bottom, go through the middle of the flower, through a bead and back down. Then, come back up and attach another bead, etc. so you're making one stitch through your flower for each bead. This adds more stability to your flower than attaching all the beads at one time and also, it allows you to determine their placements better.

6. Now that you're done with your flower, you need to figure out where you're going to wear it. Events! Parties! Soirees! ... but what I really meant was, do you want it on a headband, a hairclip, a pin? I took the easy way out and attached Velcro circles on the back. This way I can change it out between all the different looks. You just attach the other side of the Velcro to your fav (ribbon covered, metal, or high end) headband, your broach pin, your ribbon covered hairclip, etc. I love being able to switch it out!

Sorry, I thought I'd taken a picture of the Velcro on the back and of switching them, but now I can't find them... but you get the idea, right?

Now go. Go make something pretty! :) (And of course, come back here and tell us about it. Email us the pic at: overdramaticpartygirl@gmail.com and we'll post it too!)

Send in the Clowns!! Grand Junction LAUNCH

2010-06-24T16:03:00.001-06:00

I'm super excited about this - our official business launch is going to take place on Thursday, July 15th and Saturday, July 17th at Kairos Children's Boutique!!
They are moving into their new space at 533 Main Street and Carla was so nice to let us have our opening there! It's going to be a fun party, so plan to stop on by!

Thursday the 15th we will be there during Farmer's Market and then Saturday the 17th we'll be there in the morning. We have lots of stuff planned and will keep you up to date with exact times, but plan on coming :) We'll have some products and parties displayed,
but also there will be giveaways!

One lucky winner will win the invitations and other fun, handmade paper products to throw their very own Circus Party!
And since we are all about parties, there is guaranteed to be some fun circus action going on!

Mermaid Paper Products

2010-06-22T16:46:00.001-06:00

Here are some of the rest of the mermaid party paper products!

The all-too adorable mermaid invitations, the thank you notes, the gift bag ties, and the cupcake toppers.

(We didn't use cupcakes, so here they're just laying as decorations, but if you wanted cupcakes, they'd be super cute with a pick stuck into the tops!)

Not pictured is the beautiful birthday banner - will try to get that one up soon, as well as the games that are included in the package.

All in all - a very fun, but still classy, little girl's birthday party!

Sneak Peek - Cake

2010-06-21T15:45:00.000-06:00

A sneak peek into the Mermaid Party -

The Sandcastle Cake!

I'll post more on the cake, and some tips and tricks later when I'm feeling ~~like I haven't been run over by a truck pulling a smelly cow trailer~~ better.

Party Tip - Left Over Cake?

2010-06-18T11:31:00.000-06:00

I love going a little over the top for parties... can you tell?
Not least of these is our birthday cakes. We've kinda ran the gammant around here - small cakes, big cakes. Cakes with fondant, cakes with frosting. Cakes that looked fabulous... cakes that may have rolled around the inside of the lid of the cake server on the way to the venue.
I bake and decorate all of our cakes - a trait that I learned from my mother, although I am not nearly as good as she is/was. She made us feel very special on our birthdays by making us whatever creation we wanted... but that's another post for another time.

Right now, I want to talk about left overs!
So you make this beautiful (or not so beautiful) cake and you have a ton of left overs. What do you normally do with them? In the past I have tried to pawn left over cake on guests, but it never fails that most of it remains at my house... and I eat it. I tell myself I won't - but it calls to me from the counter... "Lori... I'm in here. Wouldn't I taste so good!?" So then I normally end up throwing it out after I find myself having had three pieces of cake in a day.

This year, our left overs will go to a local homeless shelter. We called and asked if they might want our left over (giant) cake and the lady was estatic about it and very appreciative.
I'm so happy!
It's a win-win-win for us. Win for the people that will be able to have some yummy cake when they normally wouldn't. Win for my girls seeing us give to those less fortunate. And WIN for my waistline.

Where will your left over cake go?

Mermaid Invites

2010-06-17T10:49:00.001-06:00

Here are the mermaid invites, thank you's, gift bag tags, and banner!!

The mermaid doll is removable so the kids can take her off and play with her. She features a pearl necklace and a sequined accented tail. Her hair and skin color are, of course, customizable to your child. Your little mermaid is swimming in waves of blue with inked edges to give your invitation even more depth. Your child and invitees will cherish this adorable card!

My eyes are bigger than my time

2010-06-14T22:39:00.000-06:00

I have SO many ideas for parties and I try to get a lot in when it comes to my own kids' parties - you know, the invites, the decorations, the games, the food. (It's a good thing we don't put the food in the party boxes, I would go insane with all the ideas and work!)

I'll just post one idea for now, but it's such a super yummy one that you'll want to run out and get the stuff right away. Not only fabulous, it'd be a fun summer activity to do with your kids for a family night or just a special treat. It's chocolatey. It's chic. It's simple. It's fun. It acts as tableware. What am I talking about?....

This!

The photo above is from SprinkleBakes.com. How much fun is this!?! I'm hoping to find the ~~sanity~~ time to do this for the party on Saturday. Wanna make them too? Go here.

Calling All Mermaids!

2010-06-14T11:05:00.000-06:00

My daughter, Little Miss Overdramatic herself, is turning 4 in just a little over a week. (How'd that happen!? I don't know, but that's another post entirely.) We're having her party this weekend so that some out of town family and friends can come and I'm so excited!

We decided, well, let's be honest - I decided on a Mermaid Party since she's in love with mermaids. Of course, after the party we'll give a full run-down of all the festivities, but just a few little tidbits for now....
one of the games that our little mermaids and pirates will be playing are
"Mermaid Relay Races!"
I hope this turns out as good as I see it in my head. The first relay will be to go down the slip 'n' slide like a real mermaid (feet banded together). Talk about a Kodak Moment :) I will definitely have my camera (mainly for video though) at the ready!

Father's Day

2010-06-13T13:21:00.001-06:00

A Father's Day card that is simple and sophisticated. Hand stitched and embossed giving that extra touch.

Inside of the card with embossed lettering

Excuse our dust.

2010-05-01T20:13:00.000-06:00

Um, as you can probably tell - we're working on the website.

Please bear with us as we tinker with everything to get it looking right.

Launch Announced!

2010-04-30T10:57:00.000-06:00

Details will be coming over the next couple weeks, but we wanted to give you the first head's up -

We're planning on our

official business launch for Saturday, June 5th!

Ooooh, we're so excited!

And what's a launch without a party? After all, we are a party business ;)

Safari Party

2010-04-01T15:07:00.011-06:00

The Safari Party is perfect for either boys or girls! Like all of our parties and cards, it's fully customizable so we can help you gear it towards a birthday girl or boy and appropriate ages.

Here's a shot of just some of the things that you'll receive for your Safari Party.

Now let us tell you a little more about the Safari Party Pack.

First, your beautiful, handmade invitations - customized with your specific party information.

All of our invitations are handmade by us and are made of high quality, heavy weight, recycled papers.

This invitation features adorable safari animal silhouettes, stitching around the edges in contrast colors, and embossing. Just lift the animals up to find your party information.

Colors can be customized to make the invitation more "girly" or more "boyish."

We aim to make your party as great as possible, with as little work from you as possible,

so you'll also receive handmade cupcake toppers, gift bags with handmade tags, and a "Happy Birthday" banner.

Of course, you not only want your party to look beautiful, but you want it to be FUN as well!

In order to make your party a stand-out, you'll also receive all the things that you'll need to lead your little adventurers on an Animal Safari, complete with party games!

Each child will receive a field journal that he/she will decorate as other guests arrive or while waiting for lunch, etc.

They'll also receive a safari hat and binoculars so they'll be sure to get into character.

As you lead the children on a safari, they'll use their binoculars and find hidden animals, which they'll record in their field journal.

Along the way they'll play party games that are sure to keep them entertained!

Along with all the supplies to make your party great, we'll also send you specific party guidelines that will help you get the most out of your party.

All in all - this is what you'll receive for $125, plus shipping.

*8 party invitations complete with envelope

*8 Cupcake Toppers

*8 Gift Bags and Tags

*Happy Birthday Banner

*8 Safari Hats

*8 Binoculars

*8 Field Journals with stickers to decorate

*Googley eye stickers to help little ones record their spottings in their field journal

*Animals for the adventurers to find on their safari

*All the supplies and instructions for 3 party games during the safari

*Handmade thank you cards that coordinate with your party theme

*Instructions and helpful hints for you!

As always, if you are expecting more than 8 children (remember to count your own!), we will gladly do additional or half party packs at a discounted rate.

We can also do additional decorations, invitations, etc. for a small additional fee.

Please email us with any questions that you might have: overdramaticpartygirl@gmail.com

How to Order?

Email us at overdramaticpartygirl@gmail.com and we'll set up a custom Etsy or send you a paypal invoice once we've determined your exact party needs.

Earth Laughs in Flowers

2010-03-21T14:49:00.003-06:00

Our family got a new member in January so I did not want to send out Christmas cards and turn around and send birth announcements. The compromise - Spring Cards.

I used everything from the Close To My Heart line. Not on purpose but it all matched so well!
The paper is Unforgettable collection, Ink colors Baby Pink and Desert Sand, Stamps are Make My Day and Solos "1" Everything else you need is silver eyelet, coral ribbon, brown ribbon and a pack of white 5x7 cards. To make 24 cards takes about 5 sheets of 12x12 paper.

1. Cut your paper - Cut your patterend paper to be 3 1/4" x 5"
Cream paper 3 1/2 x 2 1/4,
Coco paper 3 3/4 x 2 3/4
These measurements work well, but if you don't get them exact I will show you a few ideas on how to make it work with different paper sizes. Not that I figured that out the hard way or anything....

2. Stamping - Using the Baby Pink ink and the 1" flower from Solos, stamp across the cream paper.
Clean the stamp and then stamp a few flowers with Desert Sand over the top of the pink flowers.

3. Distressing and Inking-

Distress the coco paper with an edge distresser. Just run it over the edge of the paper till you get the look you want. If you don't have one, you can experiment with what gives you the look you want - a razor blade, the edge of a table, etc., but since you can get one for about a buck, it's nice to have on hand!

Now, using the "Desert Sand" ink, ink the edges of the cream and designed paper.

4. The Tag - The tag is 1 1/2" circle. I found something to trace to get the right size then used a cricut to make a bunch.
Using the stamp "Earth Laughs in Flowers" from the Make My Day collection and desert sand ink, stamp in the circle. Make sure to leave a little more room on the top of the tag for the eyelet.
Once stamped, distress the circle with sand paper.
Punch a hole and add a silver eyelet.
Cut the coral ribbon about 3 1/2" and tie the tag on the coral ribbon with brown ribbon.

5. Assemble - Glue the picture on the coco paper. Glue the cream paper, design paper and the coco paper to the card. Glue the ribbon with the tag onto the paper and wallah you have a Spring Card!

If you happen to cut paper and it does not match up, here's a couple variation. I did ink the edges of the cards to match the paper distressing.

Spring is wonderful! Flowers, sunshine, and most importantly - playing outside! Have fun with spring!!

~ Vanessa

Please stay-tuned!

2010-02-25T14:32:00.003-07:00

Welcome!

We're so glad you stopped by. Come on in, put your feet up, have a cup of tea. (I'm a Diet Coke girl myself... with added lime juice. Not the icky "Coke with Lime" but real lime juice - heavenly!)

We are working on developing the blog, and the business, so please stay-tuned! (If you become a follower, you'll be able to see when we get things up and running w/o having to check back all the time.) We have some exciting things planned - tutorials, giveaways, projects, products!