Shindig Diva

Beautiful aren’t they?  I have been noodling a camp party theme.  I threw a Camp Jacob 2009 party for our oldest when he turned 6 and it was so much fun.  It was all that is great about summer camp.  The favorite food item for any camp party is s’mores.  S’mores in any variety…trail mix, desserts, the real deal…any way it can be re-worked.

A trend that I have been seeing a lot lately is cakes and cupcakes in a mason jars.  Here is a great tutorial from the folks over at How Sweet It Is…and I can only imagine how sweet this is!  Head over to How Sweet It Is and check out thehttp://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/04/smores-cake-in-a-jar/

Curious how the Odebrech’ts spent Easter?  We really just kicked back and enjoyed with some treats, an egg hunt and a yummy brunch.  Here are the highlights from the Easter 2011.

Here’s the dessert table.  This is where I spent most of my prep time because let’s be honest, this is always my favorite part of a party!!

Here is my favorite treat of the day.  Carrot Cake cake pops as seen in Bakerella.  I saw this idea as a marshmallow pop and knew that Bakerella must have some and she did not disappoint!

These were some fun and festive goodies.  The classic haystacks make fabulous birds nests.  These are simple and could be great for a number of different spring parties.

The birds were a very simple project that I found on Martha Stewart Last Minute Easter Ideas.

Some plastic eggs, paper streamers and a permanent marker.

Each of the kids got a basket for gathering eggs in the egg hunt.

Aren’t these printables darling.  I found them on Catch My Party courtesy of Peace Love Cupcakes.  Added a little ribbon to the bottle and a 2″ circle.  Good to go.

I always love to find giant lollipops that fit my theme.  These were perfect at a buck a piece.  Perfect.

I don’t know why, but I love these Izze soda bottles.  They are so stinkin’ perfect for every table…

Here is the kids table.  Super simple.  Paper egg plates and napkins I found at Target.  I also found these cute little carrots with treats inside on Martha’s last minute Easter ideas.  Super simple and inexpensive.  I just used a chocolate bunny and wrapped it with an orange streamer and topped with a green streamer cut to look like a carrot top.  Easy peasy!

This centerpiece for the kids table turned out better than expected as a last minute idea.  I found these carrot bubbles in the Target dollar spot. first I placed some green Styrofoam in a trifle dish and covered it with crinkled paper.  Next, I taped a skewer to each of the carrot bubbles with packing tape (tried double sided and it wasn’t strong enough).  This centerpiece cost less than $5 and included a fun item for the kids.

Adult table featured some fresh flowers (of course…it’s Easter).

Again, kept it simple with paper products from Target.  Added a little Martha touch.  I selected some 12 x 12 paper and cut flowers with my Cricut.  Added a coordinating mini cupcake wrapper filled with Jelly Bellies.  Cute and simple (are  you sensing a theme…simple).

Isn’t this bread adorable?  It was as yummy as it was cute…well almost.  It sure is cute.

We did some Easter Egg hunting and then..

with these beautiful eggs, we did some…

Easter Egg smashing!! Always a big hit!!

Happy Easter all!! I hope you got some time to spend with your families!!

This is fantastic!! I love the impact this giant fringey 2 has!!  Fabulous.  It was featured on the  Oh Happy Day blog.  There is a really great tutorial feature that walks you through step-by-step how to do this.  Head over to Oh Happy Day for all of the details on the DIY: Fringey Monogram.  The happy mom said that the project took about 1.5 hours, but I think we can agree it was completely worth it!

Lots and lots of layers!

What a cool result!!

And a very happy 2 year old!!

Pinwheels are so much fun! They are definitely a sign of warmer weather.  Gwynn Wasson shared a great tutorial on her blog that I wanted to share with you.  Isn’t this a beautiful pinwheel.  The great thing about a DIY tutorial is that they are so versatile and use a paper that coordinates with your party and you can add pop anywhere!!

Easy supplies! Head over to Gwynn Wasson to see all of the fabulous details for the Pinwheel Tutorial and Free Printable.

This intrigued me…so I thought I would share.  I am going to attempt this tomorrow, so I thought maybe you would like to as well. Martha give step-by-step details for folding bunny napkins!

Martha Stewart Bunny Folding Tutorial

You know I love Rainbow Party decor…not sure why, but I am obsessed.  Here’s an awesome idea for a rainbow party from O Chickadee.  I love the combination of streamers and dot garland.  It has so much fantastic dimension.

Layers and layers of streamers and dots.  Fabulous.  This diva says it was a 2 person job that took 4 hours.  While that’s a time investment…so worth it for the finished product.

Head over to O Chickadee for the all of the Rainbow Garland.

I have to confess, my only attempt at a topiary ended about 3/4 of the way through after an hour and a half worth of pinning ribbons.  My sister had to finish it for me because I couldn’t I got bored out of my mind.  Turned out totally cute though.   With that said, I love the idea of topiaries.

The jelly bean version was totally unique!  LOVE IT!

Check out this jelly bean topiary tutorial on Gumdrops and Truffles .

I love simple ideas and I have been gathering idea for my own family Easter celebration.  Here are a few that I added to my list from Woman’s Day.  I love topiaries, but my first try found that they were very time consuming.  So, now I am on the hunt for quick and easy topiaries.  Haven’t tried this one yet, but I am going to.  Check out the How to Egg Topiary Tutorial.

I love this idea because I am not that artistic, so finding ideas that look amazing, but do not require any real artistic skill is fantastic.  Also adding this to my list.  I can select napkins!  Check out the  How to Paper Napkin Eggs

Now I just love the this.  Glitter and precut paper flowers.  Fantastic!!  Now get to glittering with the Glittered Egg Box Tutorial Also on the list.  (My list is getting longer…)

Check out all of these great ideas at Women’s Day.

So, last summer we had a crazy Mario party!  It was a ton of fun, but one of my favorite items from that party was an idea I found on Cool Party Blogs (here is the YouTube Tutorial.  The kids LOVED it.  LOVED IT!!  I had never seen the idea before, but now that we are getting close to Easter it seems to be everywhere.    The Surprise-Inside Eggs version are from Family Fun.

Really thought this was a cute idea…vegetable related easter idea.  Who knew? Carrots & hummus.  YUMMY!

Get all the cool super simple details at Family Fun Carrot Patch.