Tissue Paper Pom Poms

I'm back everyone! I took a little break from blogging to deal with all the Christmas chaos but I made a resolution to keep up with this blog so here goes. My baby turned one this month and we had a little party at an ice cream shop to celebrate. I made these pom poms for decorations and they were super easy. This would be a great way to use up recycled tissue paper... or am I the only one that keeps tissue paper?? Anyway- The original instructions are from Martha Stewart, go HERE for those.

All you need:
1 package of tissue paper
Floral wire (I used twist ties)
Scissors

 Pull the tissue paper right out of the package and straighten it out, all 8 layers stacked on top of each other. Begin folding it like an accordion, each fold being about an inch and a half.

 It should look like this when finished. Pinch it in the middle and either tie your wire or cut the edges to be rounded or pointy. I rounded my edges with the scissors and then tied my twist ties in the middle.

 After that, begin gently pulling out each layer of the tissue paper one at a time forming a ball.

 That's it! Super easy. They are pretty big too, at least a foot and a half across.

We tied ours to the ceiling with fishing line. In retrospect I would have made more, but they added a little extra fun to the party anyway. Afterward, I hung them above my daughters crib and they look so cute!

Halloween Party Ideas

If you're looking for some party ideas for Halloween, you might find some new ideas here! We had a party last week for our kids and it was a huge success. This is what we served for food... My neighbor made the cookies, strawberries, and pudding. I made the sandwiches, juice boxes, veggie tray, and favors.

 Sandwich idea from Pure Joy Events.  There are tons of ideas on that blog!

 Juice boxes wrapped in white electrical tape. Idea from Parents.com

Pumpkin bowling was a huge hit! Idea from Be Different, Act Normal.

My neighbor made this totally awesome bat pinata! The kids had a ton of fun with that. She said it wasn't too difficult either. Instructions are at Martha Stewart. Also at Martha Stewart was a craft that we did... Check that out HERE. There are lots of great ideas there.

I forgot to take a picture of our ADORABLE favors, but here they are with a FREE printable. CLICK HERE.

Our easy and cute invitations were also FREE using a printable! CLICK HERE to see those.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Treasure Island

I recently joined a bunco group and being the "new girl" earned me the right the throw the first themed bunco party this month. I have chosen the theme of Treasure Island! It has been a lot of fun putting together gift ideas and I thought I'd post what I came up with.

The prizes are arranged in order the first 4 being more expensive and then the last

8 of the same value. The more expensive gifts are treasure chests filled with jewelry and chocolate...a bunch loot for girls! So I went to Hobby Lobby in search of treasure chests and found 3 wooden unpainted boxes and varnished them a dark cherry wood. After the varnished dried (2-3 days) I sanded the edges to try and give a aged look. It didn't work very well but I like finished look. I then lined the interior of the boxes with satin fabric and filled it with loot. (chocolate gold coins give a nice finishing touch!)

Halloween Parties

I LOVE Halloween and I LOVE Halloween parties! They are probably my favorite type of party to throw. This year my neighbor and I teamed up to throw a Halloween party for our kids. I know it's a little late in the season but if any of you need some last minute ideas for your festivities, you may get some here!

THE FOOD

We found all our food ideas from Disney's Family Fun website. I really wanted to find fun snacks that weren't totally loaded with sugar. (Too many treats + a group of preschoolers = complete insanity!)

Go HERE for the how-to on these pumpkin fruit cups. My neighbor made these and the mummy pizzas below. She said they were a lot easier to make than they look and they were SOO adorable. Go HERE for the Mummy Pizzas. They were a definite hit as well.


My treats weren't near as yummy but the novelty of eating eyes and fingers was fun for the kids at least. :) Go HERE for the edible eyeballs and HERE for the cheese fingers.


The drink was apple cider with creepy apple faces floating in it. I bought store-bought cider and Martha Stewart had the how-to on the faces. Go HERE for that.

We let the kids decorate sugar cookies at the very end for a dessert.

THE GAMES

We played two actual games at the party and then painted mini pumpkins for a craft activity. All our game ideas came from Martha Stewart as well. Go HERE for more fun games from her!

THE DECORATIONS

Well I only have one picture of the decorations because they weren't too elaborate but you get the idea... Streamers, balloons, orange tablecloths. The kids don't care. :)

The party was pretty simple but perfect for a group of kids. Good luck on all your upcoming celebrations this season. Happy Halloween!