DIY Pretty Little Gift Ideas For Teachers, Friends and Family

I have a few more "box challenge" ideas for you today. These cute little gift ideas are from my blogging friend, Melissa Newell of My Party Passion.

Here Melissa used my white Breeve Gable Box and embellished it with scrapbook paper, twine and a fun cut out. Fill this little cutie with wrapped candies and gift cards, a perfect gift for your favorite teacher during teacher appreciation week or anytime during the school year!

Using another plain white Breeve Gable Box, Melissa created the perfect treat for a crafty friend. The box is decorated with scrapbook paper, ribbon and a cute tag. Inside some crafting embellishments like brads, buttons, washi tape, decorative clothes pins and a votive.

Last but not least using a plain Kraft Petal Box, a sweet birthday surprise for an adult friend. Not only did Melissa decorate the outside of the box with scrapbook paper, but also inside flaps. Fill the box with wrapped candies, a decorative magnet, a mini bottle of alcohol and a shot glass. This would make a fun bachelorette gift too! 

What little goodies do you think would be fun gifts to go inside my Mini favor boxes? 

DFTBA,

PS

New Modern Favor Box Designs

Being featured in BRIDES magazine has inspired me to create some new patterns for my mini favor boxes. I gave a sneak preview on Instagram and the response was incredible! Check them out...

The rainbow patterned mini gables aren't "new", but they have been updated with brighter colors and just like all of the boxes, they are now laser printed.

The "Leaves" pattern has been updated as well! Now you can choose up to 4 colors from our color chart of 30 colors to create your own unique box!

This is a NEW box pattern. The "Mod Triangle" pattern also allows you to choose colors, up to 3. The colors shown here on our Breeve Gable box are: Main-Blush, Secondary-Wheat, Accent-Navy. I think this is my new favorite box and I would totally create a party to go around it!

All of these boxes are now available in the shop. Like I said we have a NEW color chart available for our boxes which includes 30 colors to choose from!! MORE designs and box styles are coming in the next few weeks!

Have fun shopping!!

DFTBA,
PS

*In case you didn't know, all of our box patterns are designed, cut and assembled by myself upon purchase. Unique mini favor boxes made in the USA by a small business. As always your business is appreciated!! 

Happy 2nd Birthday to Party Start Me!

Cupcake by Marlein Overakker

It is hard to believe another year is behind Party Starters. Two years ago Party Starters opened up a very small Etsy shop with only a couple of paper cake samples and. Now I am happy to offer not only paper cake favor sets, but 10 additional styles of party favor boxes as well as banners and other printed decorations.

While life has definitely thrown some curve balls at me, Party Starters has been my constant and continues to be my dream. So as a thank you to all of you who continue to follow I will have a few surprises for you next week. Look for some freebies, a giveaway and lots of inspiration! 

Party Starters 4th of July display 2010 featured on MarthaStewart.com

As for the 4th of July, are you celebrating this weekend? We will be going to our local park to watch the fireworks display over the lake tonight. Check out the 4th of July inspiration board I have put together on Pinterest to get your creative juices flowing!

4th of July Inspiration on Pinterest

Have a very happy and SAFE holiday!
Hugs,
Pam

*Did you know?

• "PartyStarters.com" was already taken so we thought "www.PartyStart.Me" was amusing and went for it! 
• "PartyStartMe" is Party Starters username on Twitter
• Our most popular blog post EVER is my daughter's "Shabby Chic Fairy Party"

Stunning Rose Cake {Motivate Me Monday}

If the work done to create this cake doesn't motivate you then I am not sure what will. This cake by Nicole of Tradewind Tiaras Inc has taken my breathe away! Over 200 fondant flowers went on this cake...seriously I can't get over how beautiful it is with all of the hovering butterflies. WOW! 

I first saw this cake on the Catch My Party blog and couldn't wait to see more. Every detail of this party is absolutely darling! Really you must go check it out HERE!

I am SO motivated now to finish up two parties I am working on this week. One just happens to be pink and yellow!

Have a fabulous Monday.
Hugs,
Pam

12 Days of Christmas~ Day 4 {Stamped Candles}

Welcome back to our blog series the 12 Days of Christmas Crafts & Party Favors For Kids.  This craft is one that has been around for a long time. I first made these candles probably 4 years ago and thought they were such great inexpensive gifts. Now this craft is definitely one that is more for adults since you use a heat gun, but steps 1 & 2 are perfect for kids who are old enough to hold a stamp and slap it on paper.

Supplies you will need:
White candle (purchase a few smaller ones to practice the heating technique)
White tissue paper (used for wrapping gifts)
Rubber stamps of your choice
Stamp pad in your choice of color
Scissors
Heat Embossing gun

Step 1

Measure your candle and cut a piece of tissue paper to fit around your candle without overlapping. Make sure the height of your paper is approximtely 1" less then the base height of your candle. This will give you a half an inch border on the top and bottom.

Step 2

Stamp your image all over your tissue paper, either in a pattern or randomly. Aly used Stampin' UP!'s stamp set called Snow Swirled with the Ballet Blue Classic ink pad.

Step 3

Once you have finished stamping, lay your your tissue on the candle. Make sure to hold the paper firmly so that the air from the embossing gun doesn't blow it all over the place. Little by little in circular motions heat up the tissue so that the wax from the candle melts underneath and adheres to the tissue. I only do about a 1-2 inch vertical area at a time. MAKE SURE you pull your gun away every few seconds and don't leave it in one spot OR ELSE you will melt the candle too much and you will have weird waves or ripples on your candle. Another result of over heating would be scorching your tissue paper, don't want to do that either. TAKE YOUR TIME, it will so be worth it!!

Step 4

Move your way across the candle inch by inch and again please take your time...slow and steady win the race!!  I keep my candle on the table and roll it as I move along. This helps flatten out any wax that might be soft yet. Practice does make perfect, so by a few extra candles even if they are smaller versions to get the hang of it. Once you have it down you will want to make a million of these, they are addictive.

Step 5

You are FINISHED!! Once the candle has completely cooled you can hardly tell there is any paper on there at all.
Wrap these up in some cello with a pretty ribbon and give them away this holiday season! Heck if you are like me and own 50 million stamp sets, make these for any occasion!

• A giant birthday candle to help someone celebrate or as party favors!
• Every Holiday
• As a thank you gift stamped with flowers or leaves
• Make smaller versions as shower gifts with monograms stamped on them. 

The list could go on and on! Try them they are SO much fun!!
Hugs,
Pam

The Create My Party "Speak Easy"

I am so excited to finally show you the photos from my birthday party. It was a small gathering with some of my best girlfriends and all done up Speak Easy style. As many of you know I ran a contest asking my readers to "Create My Party", if you missed it you can read all about it here. Well, Debbie from Table Tops For Tots created an unbelievable display of inspiration and suggested I go with a 1920's-1940's themed party. SO here is what I did...

First of all I ran over to my Mom's house and snagged up what props I could find to fit my theme. Since my parents used to cater way back in the day they had some old liquor bottles and shot glasses that I snagged up. For my signature drink, which was green I decided to go with what we were calling the 3M shot. It was a mixture of Malibu Rum, Midori and Milk...get it 3 M's. Totally yummy and dangerous because they are so yummy! The orange and purple poster was from the 1940's and was from the band that my Great Grandfather managed called the Mississippi Ridge Riders. It was a five piece band and when there was a need for a 6th member my Grandfather would play saxophone. This was something I just learned while looking for fun memorabilia. My Dad gave me this portion of what used to be a large poster. Unfortunately someone along the way cut it into 4 pieces, but I will take it non the less and get it framed.

My Mom also let me borrow her framed photo collage of her parents. All of the photos were taken between the 1920's- 1940's. So fun to look at all of these old photos and notice how much I resemble my grandmother in some of them.  The artwork surrounding the photo collage are actually reposition-able decals. I thought they fit the feel of this time period, plus I loved how inspirational they are! I found these at Cost Plus/ World Market for $19.

Since I just got back from Iowa I didn't have a lot of time to back, so I ended up ordering chocolate and white cupcakes from the local bakery. I had some "help" from my son making frosting. I HAD to have home made buttercream and cream cheese frosting.  Corbin did great with the first batch, as I kept reminding him that you ALWAYS start your mixer at the lowest speed...Well the second batch didn't go over so well as you can see... 

This of course happened 30 minutes before the party...powdered sugar everywhere!  OH well, it was rather humorous! 

I had a lemon and a key lime filling, fresh fruit and then of course 3 different types of frosting for everyone to create their own cupcakes. Each guest made a few extra cupcakes and took them home in clear containers. I printed out the fabulous tags that Jen from Blush Printables created for me to tie on top with green ribbon. My favorite cupcake creation was a chocolate cupcake with buttercream frosting topped with a slice of strawberry and drizzled with Kaluha....SO GOOD!
I set everything up on my Grandmother's Dining Table which was also from the 1940's and was handed down to me. I SO love all of these pieces that have been passed down from generation to generation. The stories of these items are worth more than all the money in the world!

Thank you so much Debbie for the fun party theme. We had a great time! 

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL  Thanksgiving!!
Hugs,
Pam

Tasty Treats Thursday {Cake Donuts}

Since donuts are all the rage, how about a cake doughnut recipe today. I searched for a simple recipe that didn't require frying, instead these sweet cakes are baked! Let mess and maybe a few less calories! When and if I can get some baking done this weekend, I definitely want to try these out, OH but a doughnut pan would be helpful...hmmm oh what to do what to do! Amazon here I come!!

Image from Inmagine

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon shortening

Glaze

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a doughnut pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. Stir in milk, eggs, vanilla and shortening. Beat together until well blended.
3. Fill each doughnut cup approximately 3/4 full. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until doughnuts spring back when touched. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan.
4. To make glaze, blend confectioners' sugar, hot water and almond extract in a small bowl. Dip doughnuts in the glaze when serving. 

Recipe found on AllRecipes.com

Just in case you missed the news yesterday, I am celebrating my 38th birthday next month with a Cupcakes and Cocktails party and I need your help to create it! Click HERE for contest details!! Thanks to Jen from Blush Printables for surprising me with this fabulous Party Logo!! I love it!!

Have yourself a fabulous day!  

Hugs, Pam