wear your favorite hat!

so i've made a decision.. a garden party it is!! the little munchkin loves flowers and hanging out in the yard with daddy watering the grass and picking flowers.. so i was thinking that she would really enjoy hanging out with her pals watching the bumble bees and sipping on mint juleps (juice boxes that is:-)

i'm totally going to have the kiddies get dressed up and wear thier favorite hats!!

I'll be looking for an old wheel barrel like this to fill with ice and water and sippy cups:-)

last year I made this birthday banner. I'm very excited to pull it out again this year..

It will be our birthday staple!!

time to stalk the neighborhood thrift stores for chairs to paint..

tee hee!! i'm so excited!!

time to think about the menu.

p.s. i didnt do a very good job of tagging these photos.. most of them came from livingetc.com.

let the sun in

love, love, love when color is used as inspiraton for parties. this yellow party done by simplyradiant is sure to BRIGHTEN your day!

design on the invites...tres chic!

the bunting and custom framing are super duper cute.

the yellow accessories are all nice touches...wait, are those pinwheels i see???

yep.

pinwheels.

ok, this is the third post we've done this week about pinwheels...i think it's a sign.

let's do a pinwheel PARTY!!

you are cordially invited!

so i really believe that the invitation sets the mood for the party. so i'm in search of the perfect invites.. and in the process i realized that i dont really like invites with pix of the kids on them.. i'm not sure why.. i LOVE looking at pix of the kiddies having a blast and putting on a big grin for the camera.. just not on invitations.. but i digress..
tinyprints (and sam flax) is my "go to" place for invites for all occasions. as usual they had some cute stuff.. but nothing that made me say.. "THIS IS IT!!" at any rate, here are a few that got my creative juices flowing...

i'm a fan of simple and classic. not boring. just clean, you know?

and this one looks really fun!

i wasnt overwhelmed so i decided to look at baby shower invites.. and these really knocked my socks off.. i rarely need to look any further than tiny prints.. thanks guys!

for a garden theme

for the little "hoot":-)

animal fun

oddly, "turtle" is one of the words that my little munchkin says most clearly..

may i pour you a spot of tea?

jungle fun!!

i LOVE these colors.. what about a pin wheel theme?! that would be a GREAT party favor as well..

still searching.. but these were a great start..

not on my china!

because i don't think serving cake to munchkins on my noritake china is practical, i've been on a hunt today trying to find fun, really cute "kid friendly" dinnerware for parties.

i think these heavy duty melamine plastic plates by pop ink are perfect! love the colors and design.

for something with a little more punch in color, these simple plates from http://target.com/ would work for the kiddies as well. these pinwheel saucers and cups are fun too!

for the queen..

guess i'm on a marie antionette vibe here lately (see previous post).

loved the movie. loved the soundtrack. my little munchkin is a bit too young for this theme.. it would be more for me than her.. but i thought this idea was pretty cute..

 pix courtesy of creative hostess blog.

thank you for coming...

The hardest part for me is finding fun favors that are unique and wont get thrown away. I'll admit that last year I did personalized bubbles and hand painted piggy banks. not necessarily "out of the box" but they turned out pretty cute. i'll definitely post pix of the munchkins first birthday sometime.. in the mean time, i found these to get my creative juices flowing..

my little munchkin loves her sidewalk chalk so i was thinking about miniature versions for her pals to take home. i found these tiny chalkboards on etsy. maybe with a less fancy frame?

 

the little munchkin made this one for valentines day this year. i think personalized gifts are the best. and hand made is even better. monograms made with crayons are sure to be a hit with the kiddies and the mommies too..

  

 

these are the cutest little snackbags for cheddar bunnies or graham crackers or these for the little munchkins.. stitch on a little monogram like a B for bunnie!!

 

i saw this super cute idea on prudent baby blog site. thinking it might be cute for the gardens with bumblebees theme, i'm kicking around..

 

 i'm actually having a hard time finding things outside of the run of the mill plastic kazoo. the clock is ticking...

pop-a-licious!

while carrying my little lovebug i became obsessed with any and everything lamb! she has a lamb mobile, lamb swing, lamb bibs, lamb...oh, you get the picture. anywho, when i saw these sheep cake pops from bakerella i almost passed out.

they are made of sugar pearls, licorice and rainbow chip sprinkles. yum-o! these would be perfect at a lamb themed 1st birthday party!

and what about this chocolate covered creme cheese frosting yummy goodness? delish!

and i'm no spring chicken, but the little chicks cake pops are perfection!