Valentine's Day Crafts

I love Valentine's Day, it's a romantic day full of opportunity to show those who you love how much you love them.  So it's not just restricted to romantic couples, you can send Valentine wishes to your mom, dad, BFF, your sister, your hairstylist, your childcare provider..well you get the idea.  Here are some fabulous ideas from Ms. Martha herself that won't break the bank.

Martha Stewart's Valentine Treat Cups

Martha Stewart's Sweetheart Pops

Martha Stewart's Bath Fizzies

Ahola!

I know, I know it's January.  What do you mean Ahola!?  Quite frankly I'm sick of the snow and cold so I'm thinking warm and tropical!  Hawaiian Luau's are my favorite type of party.  It's fun and colorful and you don't always have to stick the "traditional" luau food to pull the theme together.

Case in point, these pineapple mango cupcakes.  Can you say delicious???  I might not have mentioned it before but I am a huge fan of Bakerella.  I mean HUGE!  Talented and creative beyond words, she churns out cute ideas like some women change their hairdo.

For instructions on how to make go to the Bakerella website

Terrific Thursday!

The very first Terrific Thursday product is.....Bedazzle My Bonbons!  The first thing that caught my attention about this fabulous product was the company's tag line: Bedazzle My Bonbons...Chocolates for the FABULOUS that are both Dessert AND Decor!  Don't you just love getting a two for one? The bonbons come in 24 awesome colors that are guaranteed to compliment any decor theme you can think of for a party.  

Here are some of the ideas that are shown on their website, all of which work for a smaller scale party and celebration:

Now that's a Sweet Party!!

Do you remember the childhood game "Candyland"? A game board covered with bright colors and candy. No wonder it's a favorite game of pre -schoolers. My twin nieces will be turning 16 this year and thought about having a "Candyland" theme party (of course they have changed their mind already) but I searched for the possibilities for desserts anyway! Who knows, they may changes their minds again...back to "Candyland".

Photo & Recipe from Party Ideas Galore

Easy Candy Cake Instructions

• Mix 2 boxes of cake mix or double your favorite cake recipe.  Funfetti was used for this recipe.
• Put in two 8 inch and one 6 inch pans.
• Bake the cakes and cool.
• Place one 8 inch cake on your cake plate.
• Ice the top of the cake.
• Place the other 8 inch cake on top of that. Use skewers to hold the cakes together.
• Ice the two layers and add the last layer.
• Cut ice cream cones in half.  Use 8 big one and 8 child sized ones.
• Place cones on cake and fill in the "ice cream" with butter frosting and a number 32 star tip.
• Put a skewer in the top layer to hold the small cone on top.
• Place one on it's side with "ice cream" coming out.
• Add any candy you desire like gumballs, Twizzlers, gumdrops, and suckers.

A little more sophisicated for my nieces from http://www.pinkcakebox.com/.
And to make it easy on the chaperones...self serve, individually wrapped cupcakes!

Found at http://www.cakecentral.com/


Happy New Year!!

It's 2011 and for the first time in many years I do not have any resolutions.  Everything that I want to do and need to do should become part of who I am not part of a list that will probably be completely forgotten by mid-March.

My main goal for this blog is to share as many fabulous ideas for parties as possible.  Planning and executing a great party is something that I'm passionate about and I hope that I convey that passion to you through my blog posts.

Decisions, decisions

I haven't posted since October and instead of giving a bunch of excuses I'll sum it up by saying I've been busy.  Busy working full-time, busy being a mom, busy being a wife, busy being a friend, busy trying to figure out if I'm happy doing what I'm doing or if I need to do more or maybe even less.  I look at some people and I have to ask myself, "How the hell do they do it?"  I mean seriously.  How do they manage to have a successful business of their own, have multiple kids (more than 2), a husband, appear to manage old friendship and create new ones all while seeming to appear completely unflappable like it's so easy to do. 


Obviously I'm missing something.  Maybe it's not meant for me to have my own business but at some point I thought it was a very good idea.  Maybe I shouldn't pursue my graduate degree but at some point that was all I could think about.  I know for a fact that I need to lose 50 pounds and that will not go away no matter how much I try to ignore that spanx are a permanent part of my wardrobe.  Instead of being so scattered, trying to accomplish everything, I should focus on one or two things. I just need to decide where my focus should be.  Not to make anyone else happy or impress anyone but to make me happy.  Wow, wouldn't that be a novel idea?

Who is on your board of directors?

In the October 2010 issue of Essence magazine they focused on women having power in the work place.  One of the articles that jumped out at me was "The 5 People You Need to Have on Your Personal Board of Directors".  As I read the different types of people that you should have, my mind immediately thought of one or two people who already fill one or two of the positions.  The article suggests the following people:

1. The Company Veteran 
2. The Spiritual Adviser
3. The Reality Checker 
4. The Industry Insider 
5. The Fun Seeker 

I'm fortunate to have these people in my life.  Do you?  No matter what your profession is, you need to have these people in place to help you learn about the company, keep you in prayer, look at things from a different perspective, keep you abreast of what's new and help you blow off some steam.  If you have have your board of directors in place but haven't formally acknowledged them, let them know how important of a part they play in your professional and personal development.  You might make someone's day a little brighter.  You might even find out that you are on their board of directors too.