posts in category party
5.23.2019
It's that time again! Graduation! What I'm loving right now...Basic Invite
It's that time of year again...graduation!
I just can't believe how quickly time goes. I mean, I've heard people say that forEVER, but I think that until you get a bit older, and/or until you have kids, you don't really understand just how fast it goes.
Case in point...in just over a week, my almost 14 year old son will be graduating from 8th grade.
8th GRADE!
It seems like just yesterday he was helping my husband tune up our bicycles...
And now he's this man-sized, always-eating, hysterically funny, baseball-loving almost grown-up.
It's scary.
And awesome.
He doesn't want a huge party to celebrate his graduation...in fact, he just wants to have a few of his closest friends over...and that's OK by me.
But we still need to celebrate in style, right?
So when Basic Invite asked me if I would take a look at some of their design
graduation party invitations, I jumped at the chance!
Basic Invite prides itself on being one of the few invitation websites that offers almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. And, once you
select your design you can change the color of each element on the card
using 180 different color options! So you can make sure the card is
exactly how you want it down to the smallest detail.
I mean, really...180 different color options??? With instant previews???
PLUS, at Basic Invite you can order a printed sample of your actual invitation before you place your final order. I LOVE that option...I mean, seeing your choices online is one thing, but actually being able to hold your finished design in your hand before you order is really something that makes Basic Invite stand out.
Here are a couple of my favorite printed graduation invitation designs...
I LOVE this simplicity of this card...it's so timeless and lovely.
And the full-photo background is another one of my favorites...especially for boys.
My daughter will be graduating from high school in a couple of years...and I'll definitely be checking out some of these cute graduation party invitations for her.
I love the idea of putting your grad's future school on the card, too!
Basic Invite also has custom thank you cards available...
...and don't even get me started on the available foil options!
So elegant...
And just because I love them so much, I have to show you these gorgeous CLEAR business cards available at Basic Invite!
CLEAR BUSINESS CARDS!
I'm dead.
And right now, until the end of the month, Basic Invite is offering 15% off of any order with the code:
15FF51
Don't have a grad this year? Or looking for something different?
Basic Invite has you covered!
In addition to graduation invitations, announcements & thank you cards, they also offer every single piece of wedding/shower correspondence you could ever need...baby/birthday/Mitzvah invitations, PLUS stationery & business cards!
Basic Invite also hosts free wedding & birthday websites!
So cool!
Check out everything they have to offer HERE...and don't forget to add the code 15FF51 when you check out to get 15% off your order!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Now get on over to Basic Invite!
*Disclaimer: In exchange for this post, I have been compensated by basic invite. All opinions, however, are entirely my own and were not influenced by the fact that I have received payment.*
6.22.2012
Ready 4 Summer Blog Party - DAY 5 - Summer Entertaining plus Linky!
I can't believe we're already at the end of this marvelous blog party! We've had so many inspiring projects linked up...thank you! And our guest bloggers have done a knock-out job with the projects they've contributed.
Thank you so so much to all of you who have participated!
If you've missed the first four days, you can find them (plus the linky parties) here:
FOOD & DRINKS
CRAFTS & PRINTABLES
KIDS ACTIVITIES
HOME DECOR
Today's theme is SUMMER ENTERTAINING! Woo hoo! I love all of the ideas available for entertaining in the warmer months...the colors, the food, the activities...all of it.
So today I wanted to share some of my favorite entertaining ideas with you. I found all of these party ideas on Pinterest (are you surprised?).
This Lemonade Party by Lisa Storms for Fiskars is absolutely darling...I'm amazed by all of the ways she was able to incorporate her theme into her decorating...so cool...
That darling little banner just screams summer...and ummm...lemon cupcakes? Oh yeah.
I have always thought that holding a party among the trees, or in a forest clearing would be so cool. Wouldn't it just be amazing to lead your guests out to a beautifully decorated table in the middle of nowhere with chandeliers and decorations hanging from the trees? Oh my gosh, even just thinking about it gets me a little giddy...
This beautiful party from Postcards & Pretties is a wedding party, but it would be just as fantastic for a lunch or brunch. Oh man, I just may have to do something like this...the wheels are a turnin' my friends...
Next up is this BBQ Hot Dog bar from Jenn Sbranti at Hostess with the Mostess. Oh heck...so cool.
I love the " - bar" idea...sundae bar, dessert bar, hamburger bar, whatever...such a fantastic idea. What I really love about this hot dog bar is that there are little recipes for famous hotdogs available on the table...so guests can make the perfect hot dog with out guessing. You really must check out all of the photos from this terrific party...
Now it wouldn't be summer without pool parties, right?
This darling little pool-side party from Party On Designs (I found it at Kara's Party Ideas)...could easily be adapted for older kids, or even adults. I love the water bottles, the way they wrapped the silverware, and little containers with the brightly-colored candies...oh my gosh, everything is just so pretty!
And finally, this Community Potluck party from Martha Stewart would be so much fun!
How great would it be to just gather a few neighbors and have an outdoor potluck...oh my gosh, my "to-do" party list just keeps growing & growing.
For more summertime entertaining ideas, make sure to visit these amazing blogs today!
How about you? Do you have any amazing summer entertaining ideas you like to share? Cuz we wanna see 'em!
Link up your SUMMER ENTERTAINING ideas below...
Thanks so so much for partying with us!
We hope you've loved this party as much as we have! Thank you so much to all of you who have contributed to it's success!
Thank you so so much to all of you who have participated!
If you've missed the first four days, you can find them (plus the linky parties) here:
FOOD & DRINKS
CRAFTS & PRINTABLES
KIDS ACTIVITIES
HOME DECOR
Today's theme is SUMMER ENTERTAINING! Woo hoo! I love all of the ideas available for entertaining in the warmer months...the colors, the food, the activities...all of it.
So today I wanted to share some of my favorite entertaining ideas with you. I found all of these party ideas on Pinterest (are you surprised?).
***If you would like to pin any of the following photos, please go to the original post and pin from there...I want to make sure the people who have planned these amazing parties get full credit for them...thank you!***
This Lemonade Party by Lisa Storms for Fiskars is absolutely darling...I'm amazed by all of the ways she was able to incorporate her theme into her decorating...so cool...
That darling little banner just screams summer...and ummm...lemon cupcakes? Oh yeah.
I have always thought that holding a party among the trees, or in a forest clearing would be so cool. Wouldn't it just be amazing to lead your guests out to a beautifully decorated table in the middle of nowhere with chandeliers and decorations hanging from the trees? Oh my gosh, even just thinking about it gets me a little giddy...
This beautiful party from Postcards & Pretties is a wedding party, but it would be just as fantastic for a lunch or brunch. Oh man, I just may have to do something like this...the wheels are a turnin' my friends...
Next up is this BBQ Hot Dog bar from Jenn Sbranti at Hostess with the Mostess. Oh heck...so cool.
I love the " - bar" idea...sundae bar, dessert bar, hamburger bar, whatever...such a fantastic idea. What I really love about this hot dog bar is that there are little recipes for famous hotdogs available on the table...so guests can make the perfect hot dog with out guessing. You really must check out all of the photos from this terrific party...
Now it wouldn't be summer without pool parties, right?
This darling little pool-side party from Party On Designs (I found it at Kara's Party Ideas)...could easily be adapted for older kids, or even adults. I love the water bottles, the way they wrapped the silverware, and little containers with the brightly-colored candies...oh my gosh, everything is just so pretty!
And finally, this Community Potluck party from Martha Stewart would be so much fun!
For more summertime entertaining ideas, make sure to visit these amazing blogs today!
My Fabulous Co-Host!
How about you? Do you have any amazing summer entertaining ideas you like to share? Cuz we wanna see 'em!
Link up your SUMMER ENTERTAINING ideas below...
Link up any time this week and be sure to check back for even more summertime inspiration!
Please be sure to link to the hosts with either a text link or by grabbing a button:
Thanks so so much for partying with us!
We hope you've loved this party as much as we have! Thank you so much to all of you who have contributed to it's success!
4.10.2012
kate's birthday invitations...
My oldest monkey-child will be turning 9 in just a few short weeks...man, oh man...9. Just one year before the double-digits, 7 years before the driver's license, 9 years before the start of college. Incredible...
This year, Kate decided to have a small little party, with just a few of her friends (thank goodness...). We will be taking the birthday girl, and 4 of her bffs, to Justice for a shopping spree and then to Cici's Pizza for dinner...sounds fun, doesn't it?
We made her invitations using my new favorite toy...my Lifestyle Crafts Letterpress system...oh my heck. A few years ago I became aware of this whole letterpress thing and I've always wanted to try my hand at it. Well, now that I have, I'm not sure I could ever go back to store-bought cards and invitations.
These are the printing plates I used...the "Splendor" plates...perfect, huh?
First I squeezed out some hot pink ink onto the ink base...I wasn't sure how much to use, so I kind of winged it. What you see up there was more than enough...
Then I inked up the brayer...this was fun...the ink is kind of sticky and thick (which surprised me a little), so it's fun to playin with...
and bingo-bango...the start of my awesome, CUSTOM invitations...
This year, Kate decided to have a small little party, with just a few of her friends (thank goodness...). We will be taking the birthday girl, and 4 of her bffs, to Justice for a shopping spree and then to Cici's Pizza for dinner...sounds fun, doesn't it?
We made her invitations using my new favorite toy...my Lifestyle Crafts Letterpress system...oh my heck. A few years ago I became aware of this whole letterpress thing and I've always wanted to try my hand at it. Well, now that I have, I'm not sure I could ever go back to store-bought cards and invitations.
These are the printing plates I used...the "Splendor" plates...perfect, huh?
GUESS WHAT? FROM NOW THROUGH APRIL 15, THE "SPLENDOR" LETTERPRESS PLATES ARE 25% OFF! WOO HOO! AND IF YOU USE THE CODE "MIDWESTERN" AT CHECKOUT YOU GET AN ADDITIONAL 20% OFF! NOW WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THAT???
And this is how I made the invitations...
Then I inked up the brayer...this was fun...the ink is kind of sticky and thick (which surprised me a little), so it's fun to play
...this is actually a photo of the plate post-printing...but I wanted you to see how it looked with ink on it...
Then I rolled the ink onto the printing plate I chose for the invites, closed the lid on top of the
paper I was using, ran the whole thing through the Epic 6 Tool (which is also a die-cutter AND an embosser...awesome)...
...those foam things are guides so that each paper is lined up the same way as the one before it...perfect impressions every single time...
Here are the 5 that I made (I made one extra just in case I messed something up...which I didn't...a miracle if there ever was one...)...
After these dried (which took a rather long time...like 2 days until they were COMPLETELY dry...I'm wondering if I over-inked), I headed back to the machine and printed "you're invited" in the middle of each white circle. Then, after that dried, I took some rub-ons I had around and added them to the invites.
Oh my gosh...I love these things!!!
Kate wrote out the details on the backs of the cards and we included this little tag in the envelopes...
Yay! Yay! Yay! I also made some little favor bags with the Letterpress system...I'll be posting about those tomorrow...AND I'll be including a little tutorial on something fun I did to dress the bags up a little...here's a little teaser...
Ooooh, have I piqued your interest? I hope so...
DISCLOSURE: Lifestyle Crafts sent me a Letterpress Combo Kit and the printing plates and ink used for these invitations. All opinions stated are my own...100%. I think this system is wicked-awesome and I love how the letterpress printing turned out. It's really classy looking...totally different from printing from your home computer and it's super-easy to do.
3.22.2012
Bring on Spring! with TCBY frozen yogurt #CBias #TCBYGrocery
OK...you guys know TCBY, right? The Country's Best Yogurt??? The place where we all went after class during high school to get full before dinner? That's right...you know it.
Well, that amazing frozen yogurt, that used to be available only in TCBY shops is now available at Walmart! You heard me right! Isn't that amazing?!?! And to celebrate the launch of TCBY's new products in Walmart stores, I decided to hold a "Bring on Spring" party after school with some of the kids' friends.
Kinsley and I went shopping for the yogurt and toppings last weekend and we loaded up on a bunch of wonderful things to top our yogurt with.
First we grabbed at least one of every yogurt flavor our Walmart had available:
*Strawberry Swirl
*English Toffee Crunch
*Supreme Cookies & Cream
*Classic Vanilla Bean
and the frozen yogurt novelty treats:
*Strawberry Swirl Bars
*Orange & Vanilla bars
*Classic Vanilla Sandwiches
*and Chocolate Fudge Bars (my absolute favorite!)
Then we picked up a whole bunch of things we thought would taste great on our frozen yogurt...
Wanna see the rest of our shopping trip? Well, you can...right here on Google+...
When we got done shopping, I shoved all of the frozen yogurt and treats into our small little freezer, and made some calls & sent some texts to see who could come to our little impromptu party.
Then, when Wednesday came, I set up all of our toppings and all of our treats and we waited for school to end so that our friends could come over and celebrate spring & TCBY!
We set out some waffle cones & chocolate-dipped cones...
Some cherries & sprinkles...
More sprinkles...
Strawberry & Pineapple toppings (love love love these...oh my gosh, my mouth is watering just looking at these photos!)...
Yum...hot fudge!
And then came the frozen yogurt...
And the novelty treats...
The kids absolutely adored the frozen yogurt! And the moms couldn't believe TCBY, the treat we all loved and enjoyed as kids, was now available at Walmart!
So did Cameron...he had 3 servings!!!
Grayson liked the Vanilla Sandwiches the best...
Not sure whether Kate actually got any in her mouth...but she loved the Vanilla Bean, too!
Leah said she loved the Cookies & Cream most...
...and Meg liked them all!
...this was the second container of Vanilla Bean!
This sundae was all mine...and it was gooooood. I really love the Fudge Bars the best, but I'll take one of these any ol' day...
Make sure you check out all of the flavors available at your local Walmart...some stores have a wider variety and different sizes than other stores, but you'll have no trouble locating the TCBY...the bright, clean packaging is super-easy to find! Wanna make sure your yogurt will be waiting for you when you get to Walmart? Just check here...
TCBY, friends & spring...what could be more perfect?
- DISCLOSURE: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias - ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN. Seriously...this frozen yogurt is delicious...
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