Parties

Party Like A Pineapple Party

19 · May 30, 2017 · 5 Comments

Whimsical and tasty, this Pineapple Party is the perfect summer hit for all ages. Come learn how I created this EASY and scrumptious party…

Party Like a Pineapple post brought to you by • Cricut

My sweet Em just turned 13 and of course we needed to have a fabulous, colorful party to celebrate this fun milestone. Em and I chatted about some party theme ideas and finally settled a PINEAPPLE PARTY, because… Who doesn’t love to Party like a Pineapple?! Well, to be quite honest, I’m not really sure how pineapples party BUT, the idea sounded colorful and fun. We set to work coming up with a few ideas for the party.

Now, my idea of a good party is one that doesn’t overwhelm me. I don’t want 20 different dishes and elements to put together. I also don’t want it to cost an arm and a leg either. Together Em and I decided on 6 design elements, 3 simple treats and 2 playful party favors. All of this in my mind was eye catching, scrumptious and easy to pull together. Here are the basic elements…

Design Element 1 | Party Like a Pineapple Watercolor Sign

This beautiful sign was a fun collaboration with my other daughter Jane and myself. Jane is super talented when it comes to art and I had her create this large water color pineapple for me and then I overlaid it with black vinyl cut on my Cricut Explore Air 2 to create the backdrop of the party. Don’t worry though… If you don’t have the watercolor gene, I have you covered there and will teach you how coming up in my next post so stay tuned!

Design Element 2 | You are the Pineapple of my Eye Doughnut Tray

This tray turned out so cute! Em has always preferred doughnuts over cake so, I thought it would be fun to create a tray with a secret message. As the guests take their doughnuts the secret message is revealed. How fun is that?! Again, I created this with my favorite Premium Outdoor Vinyl from Cricut and I’ll be sharing my design with you guys so you can use it for your own projects.

Design Element 3 | The cutest Pineapple Doughnuts EVER

Um, hello? Are these not CUTE?! This is by far the EASIEST birthday cake I have ever “made.” I cut out the pineapple leave topper with my Cricut and then taped the leaves onto a toothpick, stuck it in the doughnut and voilá… A Pineapple Doughnut! I’ll be sharing my cut files for this simple project as well shortly.

Design Element 4 | Pineapple Jars For Our Drinks

Another simple, yet eye catching design element that everyone will LOVE! I created my leaf pattern in Adobe Illustrator and then turned it into a cut file via the NEW Cricut Design Space software. Again, don’t worry! I’m sharing my files and will teach you how and what to use to recreate this fun drink idea.

Design Element 5 | Pineapple Party Birthday Banner

You know… One of my favorite things about creating with my Cricut Explore Air 2 is, I’m not tied to someone else’s color scheme. I can use whatever colors I would like! Em and I went to Michaels and picked out some of her favorite colors in their craft paper section and when to town creating this fun pineapple birthday banner. Yep, you got it. I’ll be sharing this design that I created with you for your little pineapple’s birthday.

Design Element 6 | Party like a Pineapple Invitations

Every good party starts with fabulous invitations! That’s my motto anyway. I printed this simple invitations right at home on cardstock and then added some foil love with the Cricut Adhesive Foil. Oh foil, how do I love thee, let me count the ways. I love adding foil elements to all kinds of stuff and the Cricut Adhesive Foil is top notch. I’ll share all of my files for this invitation as well.

Tasty Treat 1 | Pineapple Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

This fruity pineapple salsa is the bee’s knees. It’s full of fresh flavor and a few secret ingredient that I’m sure will tickle your taste buds. Soon, I’ll be sharing this recipe so you can mix it up for your next party!

Tasty Treat 2 | “Pineapple” Doughnut Cake

Like I said before, the EASIEST birthday cake EVER!! I ran to my favorite local doughnut shop and grab a couple dozen, topped them with my paper toppers and we were good to go. Done! Love those quick little time savers when it comes to party planning.

Tasty Treat 3 | Dole Whips

Now, any Pineapple Party worth it’s weight will for sure have Dole Whips at some point in the evening. It’s a must my friends. I have the perfect Dole Whip recipe that only has three ingredients and you’ll LOVE it.

Party Favors | Pineapple Beach Balls & Pineapple Bubbles

I’m sorry, I don’t care what your age is, everyone loves beach balls and bubbles. The fact that you can get the two from Oriental Trading is just icing on the pineapple cake. I’ll be sharing all of the details here as well.

Doesn’t it all look fun? Well, with that… I need to get to work. I have several posts to work on to help you guys have a fun Pineapple Party too. Keep and eye out, follow along on Facebook and Instagram to see when the posts go live.

Don’t forget to PARTY LIKE A PINEAPPLE!

Dreamy Backyard Summer Birthday Party

2 · Jun 1, 2016 · Leave a Comment

There is nothing more magical than a summer birthday party when you’re turning 12…

Ok, well maybe 16 and 18… Oh well, you get the idea. Birthdays are pretty special. We’re big fans at our house.

I’m not one of those Mom’s that throws over the top parties every year for each child. We like to alternate years. Some years we do something special with the just family and other years we like to create a simple yet fun party for friends.

This months Michael’s Makers Challenge was timed absolutely perfect! The challenge is…

…And my sweet Emily just happened to turn 12!

We are a family of summer birthdays so it seems like summer is always the time that we party the most. The cool thing is, with Michaels… Parties are a snap!

My first stop was at the Michael’s Party section where we found the perfect little accessories for our event. Some canvas flags to make a banner. Some gold letters that would go with Emily’s color choice; black, white & gold. They had the cute berry baskets that are perfect for party favors and black and white straws that were perfect to add to the color of the night.

The center piece was our favorite Heidi Swapp Light Box that is perfect to add a little pizzaz to you summer party.

Another little Heidi Swapp gem… Her fun Light Star Lanterns that you can find at Michaels.

We bought a few of these guys and placed them throughout the tree to add a little dreamy air to the night.

We scoured the store and found all kinds of fun goodies in gold and black to add to our favor baskets. They turned out so cute. We have some notebooks, some Heidi Swapp stickers, cute pencils, some washi tape, little clipboards. They were perfect!

The girls had a ball playing with another Michaels gem, our Fujifilm Instax™ Mini 8 Camera

I grabbed some film and let the girls go nuts taking photos…

Duck Lips anyone? A must at a 12 year old’s birthday!

It was so fun to place the photos on the buffet to add to the memories of the night.

I even found these great Happy Birthday balloons at Michaels along with the ever popular tassels AND the helium tank to blow them up! SCORE!!

So many fun ways to dress up your backyard and turn it into a dreamy scene, perfect for a fabulous party! I have a few more details that I’ll share tomorrow.

For now… Here are even more amazing ideas from the rest of the Michael’s Makers.

An InLinkz Link-up

Disclosure // I am a member of the Michaels Makers Crew and receive product in order to complete my challenge assignment.

DIY Yard Yahtzee

5 · Aug 20, 2015 · 4 Comments

Are you looking for something fun for your summer holiday gatherings or even a lazy Sunday afternoon? Labor Day is coming up & kiddos love games. The bigger they get, the bigger they want their games! We were getting ready for a family event and I thought it would be super fun to create a DIY Yard Yahtzee game with large dice for the family to enjoy!

This is a great way to gather everyone for a little fun this summer. The dice are super easy to make, I whipped up 2 sets in a couple of hours. They are simple 4x4x4 blocks of wood that are faux stained with BB Frösch Chalk Paint. When they aren’t being used to play games, they make great decor for your home.

Here’s your materials list…

12 4x4x4 blocks ( I bought a 4x4x10 board at Home Depot and cut it into 4x4x4 blocks.)

8 oz. BB Frösch Chalk Paint – Brown

(You can select whatever color you like, I’ve used Mink from Benjamin Moore mixed with BB Frösch Chalk Paint Powder. You can just grab a sample pot of paint at Home Depot in your favorite color and mix it with BB Frösch. You can even ask them for Mink, they have it in their system even though they don’t carry Ben Moore products.)

8 oz. BB Frösch Chalk Paint – White

BB Frösch Premium Finishing Wax – Clear & Dark

Paint Brush

Wax Brush

Round sponge

Directions

Please make sure you sand your blocks once they are cut, you don’t want any rough edges. Dust them off and get your space ready for a quick paint session. CLICK HERE for a quick video tutorial on how to make these cute dice.

Large Dice for Yard Yahtzee from Heather Thoming on Vimeo.

It’s really just that simple. A little paint & wax and you’re good to go. This is a great painting technique for furniture and all kinds of stuff… It’s not just for dice!

Now, all you need to do is gather the troops and PLAY!!

If you’re new to Yahtzee, here’s a link to the rules of the game that you can print if needed. You can download your printable Yahtzee score sheet here.

I’ve also created a fun printable that you can download.

Click HERE to download Yahtzee Score Card

Now all you have to do is grab the troops and have a ball!!

+ This post originally aired on Skip to my Lou +

Ladies Fiesta Dinner Party

3 · Jun 30, 2014 · 6 Comments

+ This Ladies Fiesta Dinner Party brought to you by Pepcid® +

As you all know… I LOVE to entertain! The idea of spending time coming up with a menu and cooking all day makes me happy… Seriously I love it! Recently, I had the chance to throw a fun Ladies Fiesta for a few friends for a fun Girls Night IN at my place. SUPER FUN!! Some of you may have followed along on Instagram while I was prepping for the night. Here’s the menu…

Frozen Shirley Temples

Spicy Scallop and Shrimp Cocktail

Creamy Avocado Gazpacho

Light Tacos

Creamy Corn Cups

Fiesta Summer Salad

Dirty Diet Coke

ChocoFlan

Many of the recipes are from or inspired by one of my favorite Food Network Chef’s Marcela Valladolid from Mexican Made Easy. When I decided to have a girls night, I thought a classy fiesta would be super fun and Marcela was the perfect chef to turn to for all kinds of classy fiesta recipes. I didn’t want a night full of chips and guacamole followed with a pan full of enchiladas. I wanted it to be light, fresh and refined. This menu was perfect… Except for one thing.

Here’s a little known fact about me… I have struggled for years with mild heartburn. Over the years, I have learned what foods trigger this condition in me and you would be surprised that even a relatively fresh and light fiesta menu like the one above could cause all kinds of issues with my sensitive stomach. You would think that the typical fiesta fair like heavy burritos and enchiladas would be the only culprits, but it’s not. Everyone is different but even fresh food, if they are high in acid like tomatoes, can trigger a rough night. That’s why when it comes to nights like this, I turn to Pepcid® to help me enjoy the food that I so lovely prepared for my friends! Wouldn’t it be a shame to go to all that work just to suffer in the end? If you are like me at all, you should visit the Pepcid® Facebook page for all kinds of ways to help keep your stomach happy!

Here’s how the night went… I prepped food all day, and while I was doing that I watched as the clouds rolled in. The plan was to eat outside and enjoy a nice summer evening and a rain storm was NOT on the menu. Sure enough, about an hour before the ladies were to arrive, the clouds opened up and DUMPED a ton of rain. YAY! Not to worry, I kept working on party prep and when my friends arrived I put them to work, drying of the table and chairs, no worries there. The rest of the night was perfect, so we didn’t let that little bump create issues for this fiesta! We set the table with fun mismatched plates and dressed it with some simple greenery, lanterns and candles. It looked lovely!

Cocktail + Frozen Shirley Temple +

Once everything was dry, we had my version of a frozen Shirley Temple.

How fun is that? I made a cherry popsicle in my Zoku with all the tasty cherries that are in season right now and then paired it with some coconut La Croix seltzer water to make a fun “cocktail” to start off the night (we aren’t big cocktail drinkers here.) You can get the recipe here!

Appetizer + Scallop & Shrimp Cocktail +

For an appetizer I served a scrumptious scallop and shrimp cocktail…

I kicked this up a notch with some doctored cocktail sauce and then added pan seared, chilled scallops to the shrimp and it was divine. To make it even easier I removed the tail on the shrimp and added it right to the cocktail sauce. It’s much easier to eat with a fork and you don’t have to deal with messy hands… perfect! You can get this recipe here.

Soup + Creamy Avocado Gazpacho with Spicy Croutons +

Next, for the soup course… I served a creamy avocado gazpacho that really hit the spot.

When it comes to cooking for a dinner party, you want simple, yet tasty. Especially in the summer, when you have access to all kinds of fresh veggies, gazpacho is perfect. It’s a chilled soup that is perfect for a classy fiesta. You can find this recipe here.

Main Course + Light Tacos, Fiesta Summer Salad & Creamy Corn Cups +

Since this was a fresh summer take on a fiesta, I decided to go with a lighten-up version of tacos. I found this fun recipe from Marcela for a light taco that used butter lettuce for the shell rather than your traditional corn tortilla. It was super tasty and you can find Marcela’s recipe here.

With the light tacos I served the most amazing salad…

It is a mexican take on a panzanella salad full of tomatoes, olives, spicy croutons and few more tasty surprises. You can find that recipe here.

The last side dish was a little more decadent than the other lighter recipes that we had enjoyed throughout the night. Creamy corn cups are an iconic Mexican treat full of all kinds of creamy goodness. I took that recipe straight from Marcela and you can find that recipe here.

Dessert + CocoFlan & Dirty Diet Coke +

Get ready… this dessert will ROCK YOUR WORLD! Yea, not kidding…

If you are a chocolate cake lover and a flan lover (which apparently I am) This recipe will knock your socks off. It’s chocolate cake and flan together. Again this is one of Marcela’s recipes and it is for sure a show stopper. I will have to say, your guest may beat down your door the following day to get access to the leftovers (if you have any!) Surprisingly enough, this actually pairs nicely with a dirty Diet Coke! You can get the recipe for the ChocoFlan here and the dirty Diet Coke here.

All in all the night was SUPER fun, a total flavor festival and thanks to Pepcid I wasn’t regretting it afterward.

Disclaimer // I have received information, product and materials from McNeil Consumer Pharmaceuticals C0., the makers of PEPCID®. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post.