Sunday, March 21, 2010

{Real Party} - Valentines Favors

This year I got very excited about Valentine’s Day and made favors for both of my daughters classmates , teachers and school staff.


For my three year old I bought M&M’s and packed in a long zip lock bag, made a special valentine label and viol la!


For her teachers I bought some chocolates from Brazil – (Sonho de Valsa – very popular chocolate made of a cashew paste surrounded by a thin crunchy wafer covered in chocolate) – and put them in clear pillow boxes tied with pink and red ribbons (also from Brazil). Very simple and easy!
 

For my five year old I was more elaborated and made cute felt hearts to go with the rice crispy treats. The treats were wrapped in a craft paper and a valentine sticker. I included in the bag some 3D glasses I found in a special shop.
 



For her teachers and school staff (15 people!) I made chocolate chip cookies cheesecake and had the idea of packing them in mason jars (got the idea from a cupcake in a jar). Since I had two different sizes of jars (8oz and 4oz) I decided to use the big for the cheesecake and the small for a coconut mousse & berries coulis I always make. The results were cute (I think the cheesecakes were a little too dry...) and the coconut mousse was a hit!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

{Real Party} - Valentines Party - table setting


This is the kids area I created for the party. I didn't want to rent tables and chairs so I used what I have... not great but worked!


I didn't rent table linens (it was a budget friendly party!) so I came up with an idea of using a gift wrap paper as table runners. The plates and cups are from the dollar store and all the crafts from oriental trading (where else?).



Tomorrow I will post some Valentine Favor Ideas!
Thanks!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

{Real Party} - Valentines Day

This is the first year I hosted a Valentines Party. It was great! I invited a very small group of my daughters’ friends and they all enjoyed the RED, PINK, and SWEET day!



I always wanted to try making a centerpiece with Manzanita branches. Well, I happened to find the branches at Marshals and here is my creation:



I looked online I found a free template of paper cones (can’t remember where – sorry). They were very simple to make using scrapbooking paper (the thick ones), embellishments, and ribbons to hang them out. I filled them with valentine’s stickers, erasers, mini chocolates, and stamps.




The week before the party I was watching Martha Stewart and for my surprise Dylan Lauren's (Dylans Candy Bay - if you don't know the store you have to check!) was a guest on her show. She made a very fun candy bar topiary! Here is my valentines version!



For dessert we had vanilla & chocolate cupcakes, mini heart oreos, merengue, coconut mousse, and cookies.




Tomorrow I will post the kids table and some more fun ideas for valentines favors!
Thanks!