Super Inspiration- Touchdown Time

Harriet, a sweet reader, sent me an email asking for some game day ideas.  To be honest, since we always attend a party a friend's house each Super Bowl, I hadn't even thought about it. If I were doing a party, this is a game day I would LOVE to host.  Since both teams are red, white, and blue, you must go with the good old American theme.  For long parties like this, I like to have food that keeps well and that people can grab as they come and go.  Chili bar would work perfectly- chili, hot dogs wrapped in foil, baked potatoes if you like and all the fixing- cheese, jalapenos, bacon bits, sour cream and onions. Print the party circles above on full sheet sticker paper and put them on hot dog foil or glue them to sticks for cupcake topper.  How else can you use them?  Let me know.  Hang this TOUCHDOWN banner and you're all set. I am happy to send you the party circles and banner if you do the following:

1.  Follow Bloom Designs on Pinterest or follow my blog as a Person in Bloom.
2. Post a comment with your email address or send me an email with your email address so I can send it to you.

Remember my Chili Under the Oaks Party.  It would be a great Super Bowl party.

For the dessert table, stick to most red and white with blue accents.  Its hard to find food that's dark blue. The red and white will give you a cleaner look.  Dessert table inspirations from around the web-

REMEMBER TO SIGN UP FOR THE AMY ATLAS BOOK GIVE AWAY!

XO

Make It Monday- Groundhog Cupcakes

I am so happy to finally put up a Make It Monday baking post.  When I first started the Make It Monday series, my original plan was that it would my time to share great party recipes.  I am actually much more a of baker than crafter, so it has always been a bit odd to me that I haven't shared any baking ideas.  This weekend though I was chatting with my dear friend Heather (who I am so blessed to also have as my neighbor) and she gave me the inspiration for these adorable Groundhogs' Day cupcakes!

Supplies- any kind of cupcake, green frosting, green sprinkles (decorettes), Teddy Grahams 

 Frost cupcakes and then add green sprinkles leaving the center open

 Smash a handful of the Teddy Grahams to make dirt and then sprinkle it in the center of the cupcake.

 Stick in your little groundhog (teddy bear).  You may need to add more dirt around him.

And you're done!

Now granted, these are bears and not ground hogs but I think they make a cute stand-in and I'm not sure my kiddos really know the difference. (I don't:))

AND....
I was so excited to receive this photo of the Make It Monday S.W.A.K. wreath from our sweet blog reader (and my dear friend) Tracy.  I absolutely love the red and black color combination.  Tracy's six year old son was so proud of his mommy.  He was boasting about her crafting skill to all of his friends! So sweet. Great job Tracy!

Share your Make It Monday pictures with me: bloomonline@sbcglobal.net

Back tomorrow with Super Bowl ideas for Harriet:) and THANKS to the 501 followers of my Valentine's Board on Pinterest.

XO

Happy Friday- S.W.A.K.

Recently, my kiddos invited some friends over for a mini Valentine's Day party.  My theme this year was S.W.A.K (Sealed With A Kiss).  When they arrived, the kids all received personalized lunch boxes filled with card making supplies and they spent their afternoon creating wonderful, handmade letters for their loved ones.  I just love pink so there is no way I am spending Valentine's without it and thankfully, it is also the color of my daughters' room which is where we decided to have the party.  They loved turning their sleeping space into a party place.  The chalkboard heart dictated the other color of the party.  I am very proud to say that this party was featured on Sweet Designs by Amy Atlas yesterday !!!!! (Remember to enter into my give away for Amy's book.  Your odds are good!) Here are some additional party pictures.

Today we reached a great milestone- 20,000 page views!

Starting next week- I hope to be posting four or five times a week.  

My goal is to share a real party with you each week-so send some in.  Wish me luck!

Have a great weekend

XO

A Sweet Give Away

I was so excited yesterday when I logged onto Sweet Designs by Amy Atlas, one of my favorite blogs (which I check three times a day for inspiration), and saw the cover of Amy's new book, Sweet Designs.  It is beautiful, to say the least.  For those of you who don't know who Amy Atlas is (this is for my dad who reads my blog), she is to the dessert table what Oprah Winfrey is to talk shows- the queen. She is totally in a league by herself. She is absolutely, without a doubt my party styling idol! On top of that, her commander in chief, Lisa, is the nicest, most endearing person have I come across in this business.  My first real party styling break came when my Thriller party was featured on Sweet Designs last October.  I actually sent the party in as a Hail Mary, why not, might as well.  Not in my wildest dreams did I think they would even respond. I honestly received an email back from Lisa within 10 minutes and it is like that each time I submit something.
So, to share some of this excitement with you, I am doing a giveaway of Amy's book, Sweet Designs.  Leave a comment below with your email by midnight, Wednesday, February 1.  The winner will be announced next Friday.  However, I would encourage everyone to go onto Amazon or Barnes and Noble and pre-order the book anyways. Amazingly, it is only $18.46- all 352 pages of this hard cover book. The only down side- you have to wait until April to get it.
Good Luck!
XO

Make It Monday- S'more Kisses

I found these adorable HeartMallows at Target and just had to use them.  If you've been reading my blog, you know how much I like using marshmallows for my dessert tables and for seasonal decoration.  These are perfect for so many Valentine's projects, but really, who doesn't love s'mores?
If you would like the labels sent to you:

1.  Follow Bloom Designs on Pinterest or follow my blog as a Person in Bloom.
2. Post a comment with your email address or send me an email with your email address so I can send it to you.

Supplies: cellophane bag, Hersey Kisses, Kraft HeartMallows, graham crackers

Assemble all the fixin's for a strawberry s'more treat

Aren't these great? Cupcakes, hot cocoa, heartmallows on a stick, the list is endless.

xo

Catch My Party

No- it's not Groundhog's Day, yet.  It felt like it though this morning when I woke up and found out that one of my parties was Party of the Day on Catch My Party. Once again, I am so delighted to be picked by Jillian for this honor.   I haven't had the chance to share my Hillary in Paris Party with you, so check out the entire party here.

I love this little lady cake.  It is not even close to perfect but my Hillary and I had a great time making her.  She was so proud of it!

Make It Monday coming in a few

XO

Catch My Party

I was so thrilled and honored this morning to find out that a spa party I hosted was chosen as Party of the Day on Catch My Party.  Catch My Party is an amazing site with tons of party ideas and lots of inspiration.  On top of that, site founder,  Jillian Tohber Leslie the nicest person and has an amazing work ethic.  Check it out by clicking here.

Happy Friday- Pinterest Love

The past 24 hours have been amazing for Bloom.  If I wasn't so overwhelmed, grateful and completely humbled by all the interest, I would be floating on air! Yesterday, our blog received 3,500 hits from Pinterest and my Blow Me A Kiss idea has been pinned and repinned over 2,600 times.  I was also given the chance to write a guest blog post next month on an incredible site (Ucreate- check it out!).   I can't thank you enough for visiting my site and in return for all your kind words and love, I'm offering these 2" party circles from my s.w.a.k. collection to you for free if you:

1.  Follow Bloom Designs on Pinterest or follow my blog as a Person in Bloom.
2. Post a comment or send me an email with your email address so I can send it to you.

Use the 2" party circles to make cupcake toppers, gift tags, party hats and more.  In addition- use the code pinterest at checkout in my etsy store and receive 25% off! The code will be valid for the next week.  I'll be showing the valentine's party I had that was inspired by the collection next week and have lots of great ideas for  the month ahead.  Can't wait.
Have a great weekend!
XO

good vs. great #2- relabeling and repackaging

Relabeling and repackage is another tiny, inexpensive detail that can take your party from good to great.  Anyone can create a simple label on their computer in Word using the colors of their party.  Depending on your computer skills, add a border and simple clip art.  Print your label on a full sticker sheet (which you should always have on hand), trim and cover up those ugly, off colored manufacturing labels.  Doing so makes your party looks a bit more pulled together and personalized.  Of course, there are tons of water bottle labels available for cheap on etsy but think beyond the water bottle and put cute covers on craft supplies, candy bars, soda bottles, and even juice or crayola boxes.  

Good:

Great- personalized to the theme of the party

 

relabeled chocolate bars

 

Craft supplies with party specific labels

 For the over achiever, crayola and juice box covers

Repackaging also does the same thing.  Cellophane bags come in all different sizes and are available in boxes of 100 for pennies apiece.   

Happy wrapping!

Make It Monday- Blow Me A Kiss

I am so excited to share this Make It Monday with you with you!  I love these.  This came to me very late one night while I was brainstorming phrases for my Valentine's party. These Blow Me A Kiss tubes are cute, witty and of course can be done in any combination of colors. I used plastic gumball tubes available here but you could easily use plastic chocolate covered pretzel bags available in the baking section of most craft stores.

If you make some- send me a picture and I share it with other readers!  If you want the file for the tags- send me an email or leave a comment.

Happy Friday- Free Valentine's Word Art

Valentine's is in full swing at my house.  I've been working on some decoration for my valentine's party and thought I'd share these with you.  These sweet printables fit in an 8x10 frame and are an easy way to spread some love around.  They are yours for free if you:

1. Follow Bloom by email.

2. Sign up to follow Bloom Designs on Pinterest or follow on Facebook.
3. Post a comment below telling me which sign/signs you want along with your email address so I can send it to you.

I love you alphabet

alphabet pink

alphabet red

pink love

white love

If you need some Valentine's printables check out the ones I've been working on here.

Have a "love"ly weekend!

XO