Star Wars Party Light Saber Invitations

Melissa at A Little Loveliness made some adorable Light Saber Invitations that I used as my inspiration to make the invitations for Jack's 5th Birthday.

To Make These Invitations, You Will Need:

toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls

12 x 12 glitter paper

8.5 x 11.5 vellum paper

aluminum foil tape (found at Home Depot)

electric tape in black

buttons

scrapbook embellishments

hot glue gun & sticks

scrapbook adhesive

Print your party invites on vellum paper within a 4" x 5" space.  You can print two per vellum sheet.

Trim to 4.5" x 6".  (Double check this measurement just to be sure.)

I started with toilet paper rolls, but decided the paper towel rolls were a little bit easier.

Put a strip of adhesive on each end of the blank side of the vellum.  Wrap around paper roll. 

Cut your 12" x 12" glitter paper in half (you will have 2 - 6" x 12" pieces.)  If using toilet paper rolls, go ahead and roll your glitter paper.  I used an left over gift wrapping roll to get the right size. If using a paper towel roll, I left about .5" between the invitation and where I added the glitter paper.  This allowed for a little bit longer light saber.  Use hot glue to secure the roll.

Next add a 6"strip of the aluminum duct tape to the bottom of the glitter paper tube. Its super shiny, but also wrinkles.  I cut a 6" inch strip, then took off the backing and added it to the saber.

To connect the glitter tube to the toilet paper roll, use the electric tape.

To finish it, I added another piece of electrical tape at the base of the toilet paper roll, and buttons made from actual buttons and scrapbooking embellishments.

May The Force Be With YOU!

Click Here for Full STAR WARS PARTY Details!

Smiles!

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Weekend Wrap-up Party

Pretty Packages Party #5 - Highlights

Thanks to everyone for sharing and stopping by this month's Pretty Packages Party!

  You guys are so creative and talented!!! 

My apologies for the delay in posting the highlights (or even getting the party up this month...stay tuned to see what I was working on!)

Here are some of my favorites from this party...its so hard to pick just a few!

Handstamped tags at Belly Feathers - Betsy included a ton of beautifully wrapped packages and handstamped tags in her Pretty Packages entry...go spend some time checking out all of her other lovelies over at Belly Feathers!

Valentine Boxes at Buckets of Valentine Ideas - Don't miss Mrs. Bucket's Valentine's only blog (she also has other holiday specific blogs!)

Mini Greenhouse at Sandy's Space - Isn't this a terrific gift idea for your gardener friends?  I like to share my wisteria seedlings with friends and this would definitely dress up those repurposed plastic plant pots!!

Glitter to Gumdrops Gardener's Basket - Christy not only gives you and adorable idea for a gift basket, but she share links for the creative items included...chalkboard spoon plant markers and zucchini bread.  You can also spend sometime looking through her amazing blog and find some of the cute aprons she's been making!

Issa's Thanksgiving Gift Boxes - Issa not only shared these sweet little boxes, but she also shared them with free printables.  You can also use her pattern to create your own boxes out of your favorite craft paper! 

The Autocrat - Just go to Haley's blog...it's cute and adorable.  She submitted both of these and they are just so cute (like everything else over at The Autocrat!)  For the CANS or for the FAVORS....also, don't miss her clever idea for wrapping a mixer!

Valentine Love Birds at Elements Interiors - Kara created this beautiful valentine for her sweet husband.  You can steal some of these elements to dress up a valentine for your loved one!

Recycled Bag for Sweetheart Gift at House of Revivals - Amanda made this sweet gift out of things (not just craft things, but those things you and I don't think about to wrap a gift,) she had around the house...my favorite was that she used an old dress pattern for the tissue!

Thanks again to all of the entries.

   Let's do it again February 6th thru February 12th!

Smiles!

Kathy's Black Bottom Muffins (Cupcakes)

*  Looking for the 5th Pretty Packages Party? Click here!

First, you have to know I've been BEGGING for this recipe since May '10.

If you know me, I don't ask for many recipes...I have an enormous

 (and still growing) cookbook collection and can usually find what I want. 

 (I have a gift for picking great recipes...not so much for cooking, but for picking great recipes.) 

 Anyway, I had these DELICIOUS muffins at a Mother's Day event at

my children's precious preschool. 

 One of the director's (Kathy) made these...and she made a lot of them. 

 I was amazed at how delicious AND fresh they tasted...

did she get up at the crack of dawn to make the hundreds of muffins I saw? 

NOOOOOO...that's the beauty of these little delights. 

They HAVE to be frozen! 

You make them the day or even week or two ahead of time.

  Then, on the day of your event, you just remove them from the freezer and let them thaw before serving. 

Trust me, if you try these (and you WANT to try these,)

you will be over the moon with the results. 

Thanks, Kathy, for sharing this home run of a recipe!

Black Bottom Muffins (Cupcakes)

mix #1
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (not low fat)
1 beaten egg
1/3 c. sugar
1/8 t. salt
12 oz. chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli milk choc)

mix #2
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
1 t. soda
1/2 t. salt

mix #3
1 c. water
1/3 c. corn oil
1 T. cider vinegar
1 t. vanilla

Beat 1st 4 ingredients well and stir in chips. Set aside.
Mix next 5 ingredients in separate bowl, then add last 4 items.
Beat chocolate mixture well.
Use mini cupcake pan and fill with liners.
Fill 1/2 full with chocolate mixture,
then 1 t. cream cheese mixture.
Bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes.
Cool and freeze overnight in container or bag.
Thaw 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Smiles!

Linking to:

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Prairie Story Recipe Swap Thursday
Month Long Cupcake Party



Pretty Packages Party #5

Finally!

I know it has been awhile since the last party...life has gotten in the way of computer time!

Let's see all of your gorgeous Christmas gifts

 (or any other pretty packages you've created over the last 2 months!)

Parties around here are pretty simple:

Link up, say something nice to the person in front of you,

come back and say something nice to the person behind you.  Easy peasy!

Oh!  And don't forget to add a link back to the Pretty Packages Party...

you're followers want to see all of the other pretties, too!

Smiles!!!

Pink & Brown Baby Shower Cake

Vanilla Cake with Classic French Buttercream filling and frosting.

Linked to:

Take a Look Tuesday

Show Off Your Stuff

Sunday Showcase

Peace Sign Cake Pops

These are the cake pops for my sweet friend's birthday party!

To see how I made the candy peace signs, click here.

Her mom was giving the pops as party favors, so I made some tags, too.

All wrapped up!

I think the cake pops matched her party ware pretty well, don't you?

Sweet photo sent via Iphone by the mom. 

Those cake pops don't even compare to the adorable birthday girl!

Happy 9th Birthday sweet Grace!!!

Smiles!!

Please Stop By The 5th Pretty Packages Party!

Check out the pretty gift wrapping ideas AND

add your own!

Click here for the 5th Pretty Packages Party!

Linking to:

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Sugar and Spice

Peace

A sweet friend wanted peace signs on her birthday cake pops and I was determined to deliver.

Instead of trying to freehand them, I decided to try a technique I'd seen before.

First, I printed off a page of 1.5" peace signs.  Click here for the free printable.

Next, I laid a piece of wax paper over it.

Using melted pink candy melts and a #2 tip, I began tracing the peace signs.

They were a little pale and plain for my sweet friend's party, so I found some hot pink sugar and started coating the peace signs.  They turned out so festive and fun!

When it came time to decorate the cake pops, they were easily placed on top of the still wet chocolate.

I'll share the cake pops in the next post!

Smiles!!