Posted on January 22, 2013 by Kara

Sweet Love Valentine’s Day Party

Oh how I LOVE this next feature! This adorable SWEET LOVE VALENTINE’S DAY PARTY was submitted by Jen Carver of Banner Events.

Jen is so incredibly talented! This party screams perfection and is FULL of so many absolutely darling ideas! Really, you’re going to die while seeing these party images!

Party description, tips, how to’s and more found at the bottom of this post…

Credits:
Event Styling: Jen Carver, Banner Events
Printable Graphic Designs: Anders Ruff Custom Designs
Photography: Karina Rigtrup, A Fresh Take Photography
Custom sewing (custom awning & shirts): Vivian Kerr, Kerr Kreations
Party goods/decor (striped straws, cupcake liners, plastic ice cream bowls, Divine twine, berry baskets): Hey Yo Yo
Custom Fondant (3-D Cake topper & cupcake toppers): Lynlee’s Petite Cakes
Cake Pops: Pop.O.Licious Cake Pops
Custom Cookies: Cookies Are My Canvas
Gourmet Artisan Chocolates: Vita Dolce Chocolates

Resources:
Target: Valentine mailboxes, napkins, plates, Valentine stickers/cards/envelopes
Michaels: Glitter heart topiaries, glitter heart ornaments, glitter heart wreath
Pier 1: tasting spoons (for brownie bites), ramekins

Items used in this party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop:
Striped Paper Straws
Cupcake Liners
Baker’s Twine
Apothecary Jars
Decorative Shred
Polka Dot Nut Cups
Ice Cream Cups
White 2-Sided Frame

Jen said this about planning the party- “A SWEET Valentine’s Day printable package + SWEET treats + the SWEETEST kids around (well, most of the time) = one pretty SWEET {LOVE} Day celebration.

I’m not gonna lie. Some parties are for the kids. And some parties are for me. I pretended this party was for the kids, and spent a few hours trying to convince myself it was for the kids, but in actuality I think it might have really been for me. (GASP! I know, how selfish!) There’s just something about pink + red + hearts + sparkles that speaks to me, not to mention all of the adorable sweet{LOVE} Day treats. (I’m pretty sure those sweet treats really were speaking to me too–as in calling my name and saying, ‘eat me’. Before. After. And during the party.)

Truth be told, the kids probably would have been fine if I had just dumped a bunch of candy & treats in the middle of the table and let them go at it! But, they are quickly learning that EVERYTHING tastes better when it’s cutened up with Anders Ruff printables and decor!

I’m pretty good at fooling my kids (I’m admittedly not as good at fooling my husband), so fortunately, they still thought the party was for them. After all, the little details were planned with them in mind (kind of, ha!).

Take the cute customized shirts, for instance–first name initials on hearts for the little girls and red/white polka dotted tie t-shirts for the boys. The darling shirts were custom made by my talented friend, Vivian, of Kerr Kreations. We knew the girls would love the oversized coordinating hair accessories, and we were right! A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

Every great party starts with an amazing graphic printable package (or should, in my opinion!). I fell in love with Anders Ruff’s Sweet Valentine’s Day collection the moment I saw it. I love the ‘sweet shoppe’ feel with the pink and white stripes and the darling dessert graphics. From the sweet invitation, to the pages and pages of printable party accessories (cupcake toppers, drink flags, banner, placemats, party favors & more, Anders Ruff knows how to do Valentine’s Day right!

Immediately after seeing AR’s Valentine’s graphic package, I began pinning ideas for an awning on Pinterest . Again, my amazing friend Viv and her husband set to work making my dreams of a sweet shoppe awning a reality. (Maybe I can convince them to share a tutorial on building it?) They were so sweet to let me borrow it for the party! We picked out coordinating pink & white striped fabric to tie into the printables. Vivian also sewed a coordinating runner to tie the kid’s table to the dessert table.

Filling the dessert table with yummy treats was the easy part. Along with a few sweet treats I picked up at the store, I recruited the talents of Lynlee, of Lynlee’s Petite Cakes , Christina, of Cookies Are My Canvas, Johanna, of Pop.O.Licious Cake Pops and Jessica of Vita Dolce Chocolates. I am always amazed to see the end products of talented dessert designers.

I had lots of fun products to display these beautiful desserts in, thanks to Amanda Graff of Hey Yo Yo! Amanda sent adorable pink trimmed berry baskets, red striped ice cream cups, cupcake liners & more! I added a little coordinating paper shred, some ribbon, a few of the sweet printables from Anders Ruff’s package to add some pizzazz, and what I like to refer to as ‘dessert heaven’ was created.

Lynlee’s fondant work (Lynlee’s Petite Cakes) was gorgeous! She was able to perfectly recreate the sweet cupcakes, sundaes, ice cream cones & fountain drinks from Anders Ruff’s printable package! Christina’s cookies (Cookies Are My Canvas)were also exceptional! She added edible glitter/luster dust which made the cookies have a beautiful sparkle in just the right places! I’ve been a long time fan of Johanna’s cake pops (Pop.O.Licious Cake Pops)! I’m fortunate to live close to her, but even if I didn’t, I’d still be choosing her for my cake pop needs! See those cute waffle cone and cupcake pops?!! Yum! Jessica (Vita Dolce Chocolates) sent a variety of yummy artisan chocolates, including truffles, heart shaped chocolates and ice cream cone chocolate suckers. I displayed them in ice cream glasses filled with pink & red M&Ms, topped off with a red glittered heart shaped cherry and striped straw!

My dining table was overflowing with Valentine’s goodies too. Glittered heart topiaries and apothecary jars filled with colorful candies served as centerpieces. Each place setting included an adorable heart cut out placemat, cute Anders Ruff printable wrapped napkins, ramekins filled with cute candy bars with fun AR Valentine wrappers, a raspberry milkshake and gourmet cupcake. Of course, each little sweetheart needed his/her own mailbox for storing sweet treats, take home favors & letters & cards too. I dressed the mailboxes up with 2″ circle toppers and Hershey’s Kiss labels from the Sweet Valentine’s Day printable package. (That’s the great thing about Anders Ruff’s printables, there are endless uses for the different designs included in each package!) My quick & inexpensive DIY idea for dressing up the chair backs involved gluing red heart paper plates to leftover strips of coordinating fabric. It added a fun pop of color to each seat.

It was obvious the kids enjoyed themselves. Smiles were big and laughs were loud!

They ate….and ate.

They decorated Valentine’s Day cards, made cootie catchers (yes, even the boys…who loved them!), colored their activity placemats & played games (from Anders Ruff’s printable Valentine’s package).

I may have to throw my ~~kids and their friends~~ myself a Valentine’s Day party every year!”

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Kara

Valentine’s Day Love Party

I am just loving all the pink, red & hearts all over the place as we get closer to Valentine’s day! This darling VALENTINE’S DAY LOVE PARTY was submitted by Amanda Parker of Shindig Parties To Go. Here is what Amanda said about the party- “Valentines Day is such a wonderful time to remember that LOVE is truly what matters most. What could be better than an entire day set aside to celebrate friends and loved ones and the spirit of goodness? This year I wanted to create a stylish dessert table for Valentines that could hopefully inspire many of you to create your own Valentines displays. Using printables is such an easy way to get a party started and for this Valentines Set I wanted to create something that could work for all types of Valentines celebrations. The patterns from this collection are vibrant and fun, and I wanted to display them prominently using the large heart cut outs from the collection as a heart garland on the front of the table. Using tulle and silk roses (I have tons from a deal I got a few years back on silk flower garlands on clearance at Walmart) made it so simple and quick to pull together. I used the smaller heart cut outs from the printables set to sew together a heart garland for the backdrop, too. Gumballs are a fabulous way to add color so after quick trip to the party store, I had a centerpiece. Of course, the gorgeous cookie fondant toppers from Edible Details made the centerpiece really stand out, too. Brittany is a dream to work with and always amazes me with her creativity and perfection in fondant designs! The white, scalloped cake stands were one of my favorite shopping moments. I had just been to a little boutique in town and almost paid $130 for a set a three. And then literally, the next day I made a quick run to TJ Maxx and they had two sets for $19.99 each! I must say, I did a little happy dance right there in the store. These stands were wonderful for displaying the stunningly perfect cookies A Dozen Eggs Bake Shop created to match the printables set. When I opened the box of cookies that Laura sent me for the table I couldn’t believe my eyes at the beauty of her work! Laura’s cookies were also used on the white platter in the center of the table. Other party treats included the sweet little mailboxes purchased in the dollar section at Target which made adorable displays for the cupcakes topped with cupcake toppers from the printables collection. Marshmallow lollipops from Walmart with a doily for embellishment were used in Target small bud vases (also found in the dollar section). Miniature candy bars covered in printable wraps were displayed on the cake stands and Valentines candy corn and other heart shaped candies were used here and there for sweet accents. One of my favorite tricks is to use the printable papers to wrap Dollar Tree favor boxes and use them for snack cups. Here I used the pink and white stripe paper from the collection and created a sweet heart with a cupid arrow from the heart cut outs included in the printables. Filling the boxes with a popcorn and Valentines candy snack mix was an simple and quick party food, too. The boxes used to elevate the apothecary jars filled with marshmallow hearts were covered in strips of folded over pink crepe paper streamers. This is such an easy and inexpensive way to cover any box to use for display. Just fold the crepe paper in half lengthwise, crease and hot glue around and around the box until the entire box in covered. Adding a red silk rose and red ribbon completed the look. For the drink station I used a fun find from a thrift store to display strawberry crush bottles embellished with heart cut outs and a wrap of tulle. Pink and white stripe straws tied on with pink and white twine made these super cute. Water bottles were wrapped in printable wraps and small garlands were made for the front of the stand using small doilies folded over a piece of twine. Individual lunch boxes were made using pink felt containers from Target and were embellished with a heart tied with twine. Each lunch included a heart shaped sandwich placed inside a sandwich pocket made from a folded doily tied with twine, a small cup of strawberries (the cup was also covered in a half of a doily), and a glassine bag filled with pretzels and tied with more twine and a sweet heart. The printables include all that you see here and so much more! You can find them for sale for only $9.00 in my shop.” VENDORS: Party printables- Shindig Parties To Go Table styling, crafts, and photography- Amanda Parker Fondant cupcake and cake toppers- Edible Details Decorated sugar cookies- A Dozen Eggs Bake Shop Baker’s twine- The Twinery Waterproof sticker paper- Onlinelabels.com Ribbon- Hobby Lobby Fabric for backdrop- Joann’s Marshmallow Lollipops- Walmart Scalloped cake stands- TJ Maxx