Owl Valentines Party

Details, details, details -- it's the key to every amazing party, and I must say, this one fits the bill. Kate from And Everything Sweet has created a masterpiece of a children's party with her owl-themed Valentines playdate for her two year old and friends.

Kate is the creative force behind these gorgeous cupcakes and that to-die-for owl fondant cake, and of course, all of the other party styling, too. Just take a look at her talent.....

It's always important to include some craft activities when entertaining little ones, and these super easy Valentine's mailboxes were a great solution. Store bought mailboxes with a few added stickers kept the preschoolers busy while also providing a sweet take home favor.

I couldn't wait to share this gem of a party. Thanks Kate for providing inspiration to us all - your cakes, cookies and cupcakes are divine, and it looks like Olivia and her friends had a spectacular day!

More Cute Valentine's Ideas!

I've got some more great Valentine's ideas today for those of you who still need some cute ideas for those parties on Monday. Katrina from Snickerdoodles Bake Shop is the creative genius behind these little projects. I've loved Katrina's ideas since I first saw her "Ice Cream Sundae" party favor last fall. She definitely has a knack for putting together some adorable party treats!

First up, Katrina makes easy, cute and inexpensive Valentines favors out of chop stick cellophane bags. These measure 1" x 8" and you can find them online at GT Bag for only $4.00 for 100 bags -- I just love how unique and simple these are!

Katrina says, "On the back of the tag I also included a stamp that says, 'to a sweet friend.' My son helped me punch the tags and stamp. Then he signed his name on the back and is going to pass them out to his classmates on Valentine's Day. These turned out really cute and were a lot of fun to make! I am looking forward to making them for other occasions . . ."

And how about this one for a fun Valentine for friends..... candy cellphones!

Katrina says, "I made these for my son's Pre-K class this year. These are so easy to make and are just too cute. He can't wait to pass them out. I especially love the Pixie Stick antennae! All you need is silver card stock but you can really use any color you want. For the size, find two standard playing cards and tape them vertically together. Trace the connected cards onto the paper and cut it out and you have your phone. Just fold in half and round the edges with a scissors or corner rounder. Candy buttons and pixie sticks that can be found at a local party store. I used the label program in Word to create the names on the front of the phones and the "text" message on the inside. I also used a heart sticker for the power button."


She also made these little brownies bites and added a few easy Valentine's touches..... some sparkling sugars in Valentine's colors and a sweet Valentine candy corn. You can purchase brownie bites at most grocery stores -- I buy them all the time from Sam's. Add a little icing to the tops (you can even buy this in a can with a decorating tip ready to go!) and top it off with you candy -- totally do-able!

Another quick idea from Katrina are these cute heart lollipop Valentines using a little scrapbook paper for a "flower" embellishment. I love the addition of the Hershey's kiss, too.

Don't you just love all of her super easy and super quick ideas?

Snickerdoodles specializes in delicious cookie jars as well as cute and fun items for gifts, party favors and party decorations so be sure to take a peek at some of her wonderful creations in her Etsy shop. She truly has some of the cutest and most original items I've seen! Here are those adorable Ice Cream Sundae party favors I mentioned earlier. How cute is that!

I also wanted to thank Kristy from The Purple Pug for the fun interview she featured yesterday with me about Shindig Parties TO GO. Kristy is a fellow "party girl" and vice-president of the Children's Party Network and quite an amazing talent, too. It was a honor to be chosen for her "Crush of the Day" feature, so go take a peek if you want to find out the REAL DEAL on yours truly.

Have a GREAT Friday, girls!

Easy Valentines Classroom Treats

Tomorrow is my first of three school Valentine's parties. Thank goodness for email because coordinating all of those moms and all of those treats for all of those kids can be a little daunting. I love bringing something a little different and a bit special for the kids, but time is quite a hot commodity these days. There's just not a whole lot of it to go around, so "easy and quick" is top priority.

How about this for an easy treat for class parties?

Desserts for Party shares this twist on the cupcake topper. Buy a bag of heart shaped suckers if you can't find any like these, purchase some pre-made white icing cupcakes, and add some crushed sucker pieces for a topping. So simple!

This one is an easy one, too, from Domestically Speaking.

You could embellish store-bought cupcakes with candies or you could bring the cupcakes

in iced and ready for the children to add their own Valentine's candy decorations. It would be a treat and a class activity, too.

We make these quite often around here with Rolo's or Hershey's Kisses and pretzels,

but I love the Idea Room's version with Dove chocolate hearts and a Valentine M&M.

These only take a few minutes to make and would also be a

thoughtful gift bagged up for a favorite teacher.

Super easy popcorn balls on decorative straw sticks from Parents.com. Hint: Sometimes you can even find pre-made popcorn balls in the grocery store, especially around a holiday.

Heart shaped pepperonis from See Kate Sew would be a fun classroom twist on a Pizza Party! Use a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to turn round pepperoni's into Valentines hearts - so easy!

Gorgeous fondant cupcakes from Create Celebrate Explore using a fondant press (find on the cake decorating aisle of the craft store) to make the flower impression. It might look hard, but it's really a little like working with playdough.

Here's a great fondant recipe made from marshmallows to get you started, and best of all, fondant will keep for weeks if wrapped tightly and sealed in a ziploc bag.

Gorgeous red velvet macaroons from Delectable Deliciousness might be a little more difficult to make for the busy mom, but these were so pretty, I had to include them. I think you could try make something similar with red velvet cake cut with heart shaped cookie cutters or you can always try this idea from Bakerella for heart-shaped Oreo cakesters.

Best wishes with all of your own class parties, and don't forget your camera --

they are growing up fast!

Valentines Classroom Party Favor Ideas

Busy with party orders these days, I've fallen a little behind in the "mommy-preparedness" department. But no more excuses.... it's certainly time to get my act together and help my kids with their Valentine's favors for their classroom friends. I think with all the blogging about Valentines day, I thought I had their friends' Valentines treats all figured out,

and then..... wait, there's ANOTHER cute idea! I've got some to share with you today.....

In digging around the web, I've found a new website I love.....

Such Pretty Things. Jessica has so many

great ideas there including these glittery heart favor boxes

that started out as plastic Dollar Tree finds!

And for classroom treats for kids, you can't ever go wrong with marshmallow pops in Valentines colors. Make a batch for the whole class in an hour or so and wrap them in cellophane or a ziploc with the zipper cut off. Tie some ribbon around it....

add a sweet tag and you're go to go!

The Mother Huddle shares another cute and easy idea. Wrap some Hershey's miniature candy bars in scrapbook paper and add a handwritten note inside......

a little Valentine's twist on a fortune cookie.

Wouldn't these little pink boxes wrapped in lacey paper be a perfect class favor?

Such Pretty Things shares an easy tutorial on these sweet favor boxes. Fill them with M&M's or Sweet Tarts and the kids would love them for a Valentine.

Here's a classic, cute classroom favor..... a butterfly pop Valentine also from Skip to My Lou

for your little girly girl who loves butterflies to hand out to all of her friends.

And a Lollipop Lily from Skip to My Lou is pretty cute, too.

These just make me laugh! Give a "kiss" to everyone with these lip shaped

chocolate pops via Flickr.

Gatorade bottle covered in scrapbook paper with a sweet handwritten note

from My Creative Cafe. These were for a fourth grader who really thought s

he was getting a little too old for Valentines -- love this idea!

And of course, don't forget to download Shindig's Classroom Party printable for a super cute Tic-Tac-Toe game board favor, a treat bag topper and 4 different cupcake topper

and cupcake wraps, too.... and best of all, they're FREE!

And we can't forget our teachers! How about an adorable "candy sundae" f

or a teacher gift from Jess Kate Designs. Not only would your teacher love it,

but it's so easy to make the kids could help out, too.

I hope these ideas inspire us all a little to put in a little time and make

something special this Valentines Day for our friends!