Gumball Birthday Party!!

Did you see this inspiration party over at Kara's Party Ideas today?! It's FANTASTIC!!!

Kara was recently contacted by HGTV to put together an inspiration table for a birthday party. And I was so excited to be contacted by her to provide the printables for the banner and the party hats!! (Even though I had no idea what she was up to!!)

(I LOVE the pom poms she added to the banner!!)

(And the cute fringe and tassels she added to the hats!)

I was just singing Kara's praises last week about her insanely beautiful Vintage Valentines Table and now she has done it again, incorporating TONS of fun crafty ideas into this gorgeous tablescape as well!

Gumball Flower Bouquet

Gumball Machine Cake Pops

(Anchored in luggage!! I love that!!)

Gumball Machine Favors

(she's promising a tutorial for these soon!!)

And can you believe that this is actually a CAKE??!!

Amazing!!

Make sure you hop over to her blog for more fabulous photos and inspirational ideas!!

And you can check out our whole Circus/Carnival Collection in the shop!!

{Tips & Hints} Pretzel Heart Bunting Tutorial

When I spied these....

...in the grocery store the other day, I just knew that I had to come up with something fun to do with them!! Thus the Pretzel Heart Bunting was born!

For this project you will need the following...

- 2 8" inch cookie sticks

- 5 candy covered heart-shaped pretzels

- 1/8" ribbon

- 1/4" ribbon

- scissors

- cupcakes or cake

- hot glue

1. Cut a length of your 1/8" ribbon and tie two of your pretzels together

2. Repeat step 1 until all the pretzels are connected

3. Take one of your cookie sticks and your 1/8" ribbon. Put a dab of glue on the end of your ribbon. 

Adhere the ribbon to your stick and twist the stick winding the ribbon around the stick. When you reach the end of the stick, trim your ribbon. Add a dab of glue to the end of the ribbon and adhere the end of the ribbon to the stick.

4. Take your 1/4" ribbon and weave it through the center of one of the end pretzels. Add a dab of glue to the end of the ribbon and adhere the end of the ribbon to your stick.

5. Leave about an inch of ribbon between the pretzel and the stick. Loop the other end of the ribbon over to the stick. Trim the ribbon to length. Add a dab of glue to the end of the ribbon and adhere it to the stick.

6. Cut a length of your 1/4" ribbon and tie it into a bow. Add a dab of glue to the 1/4" ribbon adhered to the stick and attach the bow.

7. Repeat steps 3-6 for the other stick.

8. Secure the bunting in your cake or cupcakes. (I admit it. I was so totally smitten by the Potter and Butler bunting I featured last week, I just HAD to try a bunting anchored by cupcakes!)

Happy bunting!!

{Tips & Hints} Valentine Pinwheel Lollipop Tutorial

I thought it would be fun to show you how I made the cute Pinwheel Lollipops for my Be Mine, Valentine table.

For this you will need the following:

- 1 8" cookie stick
- 1 empty ribbon spool
- 2 pieces of scrapbook paper
- hot glue gun
- magic removable tape
- large heart punch
- Xacto knife

1. Carefully cut a "X" in the center of your spool with your Xacto knife

2. Insert your cookie stick into the hole in your spool and put your spool aside

3. Punch 6 hearts (3 out of each type of paper)

4. Arrange your hearts, alternating your papers and overlapping the hearts while lining them up point to point

5. Tape the circle of hearts into place using magic removable tape

6. Evenly place hot glue on one side of your spool

7. Center the circle of hearts over the spool and gentle settle it on your glue. Remove the tape.

8. Repeat steps 3-7 for the other side of the spool.

Tie on a cute ribbon and there you have it... Valentine Pinwheel Lollipops!!

{Press} GWD on Tucson Morning Blend!!

The amazing Coryanne Ettiene of Housewife Bliss is doing it again! This time on Tucson Morning Blend!! Coryanne will be on Tuesday morning showing everyone how to plan the perfect children's Valentine's Day table featuring items from our Be Mine, Valentine Collection!!! If you are in the Tucson area tune in for some wonderful tips.

And if you haven't checked out Housewife Bliss definitely take the time to hop over and check it out. Coryanne has fabulous tips including how to make these beautiful, festive ice cubes...

She originally posted the tutorial for the holidays but I think, using cherries as she suggests for one variation, they could be ADORABLE and FUN for a children's Valentine's Day party!!

{Tips & Hints} Candy Heart Topiary Tutorial

Yay!! It's almost the weekend!! And just in case you have a little time on your hands (like, say, you're buried under a few feet of snow and just happen to have some crafting supplies handy), I wanted to leave you with this cute little Valentine's Day topiary project. (I, obviously, simply did not get enough of the combination of candy and hot glue during my holiday candy wreath project!)

For this you will need the following...

- one 5 7/8" styrofoam heart
- one 8" cookie stick
- one 4" styrofoam ball
- one piece of styrofoam (to support the topiary during painting and assembly)
- one cupcake liner (or moss)
- one 18 oz bag of conversation hearts
- ribbon
- hot glue
- spray paint
- small flower pot

1. Insert your cookie stick into the center of the bottom of your styrofoam heart. Gentle pull the stick out and put a little hot glue in the hole. Re-insert the stick and let the glue harden.

2. Insert your topiary form into a piece of styrofoam and thoroughly spray paint all sides of the topiary form.

3. Once the paint has dried, lay your form on a flat surface and create the design of your outer ring. (I advise figuring out your pattern first before gluing.)

4. Glue each candy of your outer ring into place.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have covered both sides of the topiary with candy. (If you get to middle of the heart, and your candy pattern is not looking as lovely as it does in the outer rings, do not despair. This is why there is a both fanciful AND functional bow in the center of the topiary.)

6. Line the outer edge of the topiary with two single file lines of candies.

7. Take your styrofoam ball and wedged it into your pot. (You may need to trim down the sides a little if your pot is very narrow.)

8. Glue a cupcake liner (or moss) over the styrofoam to cover it.

9. Insert your topiary stick into the center of the pot.

10. Decorate your topiary by gluing a bow in the center and adding two bows (one facing in either direction) on the stem. To make the ends of the bows look pretty, simply shape them and then add a piece of double-sided tape to the backside of the ribbon and stick it to the pot to hold the ribbon in place.

And there you have it... a Valentine's Day Candy Heart Topiary!!

Happy crafting!! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. And I hope all of you, who are stuck in the terrible winter storm, are able to stay safe and warm!!

{Press} GWD on Arizona Midday!!

I'm SO excited!! Items from the Be Mine, Valentine collection are going to be featured tomorrow on Arizona Midday!! I know I should have given all you out in Arizona a little more of a heads up but I was on the phone tonight with the always delightful Rebekah from Blissful Nest commiserating about the terrible twos and about desperately trying to balance life and work. And, then I spent an inordinate amount of time staring into my nine week-old baby's beautiful blue eyes and watching him smile and giggle at a world he is just barely beginning to understand.

But now that all that nonsense is over with... here I am, letting you that if you're in the Arizona area on Thursday, check out Arizona Midday where the lovely Coryanne Ettiene of Housewife Bliss will doing a segment on setting the perfect children's Valentine's Day holiday table using some our Be Mine printables!! What fun!!

And if you haven't ever checked out Housewife Bliss, definitely hop over for a little visit. Coryanne's blog is a treasure trove of advice about how to live well and, well... blissfully!!

And, I have to give a HUGE shout out to Chris at Celebration's at Home, not only for featuring our Be Mine shoot but also for hooking me up with Coryanne. Thanks SO much Chris!!

Valentine Cuteness

When I saw this bunting on Party Frosting last night I squeaked with delight!

(potter and butler via party frosting)

Sooo cuuuuute!!! Right??!! I LOVE that it is anchored by two cupcakes! Genius!!

And there are a lot of other fabulous Valentine ideas both at Potter and Butler and at Party Frosting! (I know I've said it before, but I seriously don't know how Kim finds all the great inspiration that she posts. I swear she must have already maxed out the limit on her Google Reader!)

And have you seen this AMAZING Vintage Valentines tablescape from Kara at Kara's Party Ideas?!

Just gorgeous!!! I am ALWAYS blown away by Kara's party styling. And I am simply IN LOVE with the Cupcake Liner Pom Poms!!

Lucky for everyone she posted the tutorial here, as well as several other tutorials so you can replicate her fabulous holiday table. I know I will definitely be breaking out my glue gun in the near future for these!!!