JaeForsythe

I recently scored a playhouse for free from another mom friend. It needed some love to say the least to get it to where they could play in it. I asked my girls what they wanted it to be and they both agreed they wanted a bakery. So I sanded it all down, did a whole lot of painting and gave it some pretty whimsical little touches. My mom sewed up custom aprons, oven mitts and curtains from tablecloths I found at Target. I made a mini whisk chandelier, door mat, recipe holder from an old strawberry container & even a matching mailbox. My husband built a small oven to go under the counter. All paint & supplies came from The Home Depot. We added a floor out of plywood I sanded down and painted a light lavender with some glitter to it to make it sparkle. Once it was complete we invited some friends over for a Grand Opening Celebration. It was such a fun project and my girls love it!

My girls are so excited for Valentine’s day this year, so I wanted to put together a small get together to help celebrate it. They helped me make some yarn hearts and heart garland to hang from the ceiling as easy decorations. We made heart shaped pizzas and snacked on adorable mini cupcakes and traditional Sweetheart candies. We blew bubbles and just had an all around good time! Love was definitely in the air!

For the past year my daughter has been a superhero. Every chance she gets to dress up and protect her city against evil she’s all over it. We call her Super Sparkle because she shines so bright she blinds the forces of danger. So it was no surprise when I asked her what kind of birthday party she wanted this year that she said a superhero party.
I was told every superhero needs a sidekick so that had to be her younger sister, Twirlarina. She produces hurricane force winds with her twirls to blow the bad guys away. Then there’s Rad Dad & MOMTASTIC making up a whole family of superheroes. Glitterville is the city they protects and it’s so big they needs help protecting it. That’s where the “Sparkle Squad” comes in. Mermainia, Star Force & Princess Power. Between them they can jump high, breath underwater and have super human strength. Their mission for the birthday was to join forces and stop “The Chocolate Bandit” (aka Super Sparkles older evil brother) from stealing the birthday cake.
Since I knew the theme for the party pretty early I had time to shop for custom costumes for all the heroes. I pieced together different pieces I found on sale and stalked the after Halloween clearance section. I made sparkle blaster wrist bands and a belt, these were set up on the Sparkle Bar. I enlisted my mom to make capes including a special gold sequin one for the birthday girl herself. The guests were able to choose their identity when they arrived and sneak away to transform.
I had a digital caricature image drawn up of my daughter in her costume so I could use it on the invitation as well as the cake topper. I teamed up with Shindigz for this party and was so excited for all the great pieces they had to offer. My favorite thing from the whole party was the life size cardboard cutout of Super Sparkle protecting the dessert table. It even had a voice box option so we were able to record a message to play every time someone walked by it. I still have it set up in my office and love it! I used the caricature image for some custom confetti as well which I used to scatter on the kids table and for cupcake toppers.
Super Sparkles logo is a diamond so I used that when designing the printable items and on as many accents as I could like the placemats and silverware wrap. The kids table featured a place setting for each hero with their own name frame, Hero H2O, Super Juice and diamond light up wand.
After the heroes fueled up they hopped on their super trike and powered over to the obstacle course for them to warm up their powers. They had to break through a brick wall, run super fast through the cones, make twirls with the hoops, lift the 100lb dumbbell and blow super bubbles. While they were warming up a call came in through the phonebooth that there had been a Chocolate Bandit sighting. They grabbed their Bandit Blaster and captured him just in time to blow out the candles before he stole the birthday cake.
I really wanted the cake to stand out so I displayed it by itself. It was a delicious two tier chocolate cake that featured a gold glitter skyline and more diamonds. The dessert table had an iridescent backdrop with a skyline of boxes wrapped in wrapping paper with glitter windows. I hung a variety of tissue poms, honeycomb balls and accordion lanterns above. We served up some Power Punch and Emergency Hydration for drinks. Cupcakes, cake pops, marshmallow pops, jello squares, & cookies finished out the dessert table.
I made a photo booth area by hanging up a silver curtain, adding some balloon clusters and then Styrofoam letters that I glittered to spell out Shine Bright. On one of my many shopping trips I squealed like a little school girl when I found a diamond shaped piñata. I knew we would have had enough sweets so I stuffed it full of confetti and glitter. The girls each took their turn and then MOMTASTIC stepped in and busted it open while they danced and twirled in the flying confetti.
As the heroes were leaving they gathered up their wands and each were given a “Brushinator” toothbrush favor that helps rid the world of evil decay as well as a diamond ring that shines bright. We were happy to say Glitterville was safe for another day!

My daughter loves Peppa Pig so I knew it was inevitable that’s what kind of party she would want for her 3rd birthday. Her favorite episode is called “Golden Boots” so I loosely used that episode for my planning process. They feature a mud puddle jumping competition in the episode so I thought it would be fun to incorporate that since Peppa Pig is all about jumping in mud puddles. I used a pink plastic pool filled with muddy water and the kids went to town making a splash. I set up a judges panel table for the adults and everyone walked away with a perfect 10 and homemade trophies. I planned so many fun activities to keep the kids entertained. There was hopscotch leading up to the front door, there was an activity table where they could color in their activity books. I cleared out a section of our garden and made a mud pie station so the kids could get dirty making mud pies and selling them at their little bakery. After they were filthy they took a dip in the pool to get cleaned off just in time for some cake and ice cream. It was such a special day for my daughter and all her little friends.

Like many other little girls out there my daughter was hit with Elsa Fever so for her 3rd birthday we gave her a frozen wonderland. I stuck with different shades of blue and white. I made a gorgeous aqua tulle skirt and hung a variety of lanterns above. I covered the entire living room with fake snow fluff. Snowflake necklaces and little jars of snow were given as favors for the other little ice princesses. It was a magical day for my daughter that ended with her own visit from Elsa herself.

My daughter loves two things, Minnie Mouse and playing dress up, so I wanted to give her both for her second birthday. When we decided on the theme my thoughts went to a small children’s boutique in Paris so I knew she had to have one. I made space by clearing out the larger pieces of furniture in our living room and the two beds in my daughters bedroom. We used their existing dresser, brought in a velvet chair I had reupholstered and my husband made a clothes hangar fit for a children’s boutique. Their bedroom consisted of the dress up area where party guests could choose from pretty dresses & tutus, earrings and necklaces made by me and a selection of play heels, gloves and feather boas. A crystal chandelier adorned the corner stage area for photos. A vanity and stool that I refinished had a selection of play makeup and a handmade tutu chandelier hanging above. When stepping out of the boutique the kids were able to walk the runway into the living room where parents were seated and able to snap photos. The living room consisted of the brunch & dessert table which featured a white tutu skirt and mini Minnie cupcakes and pearl donuts. A variety of cookies and muffins and a two tier vanilla cake with a handmade flower Minnie topper. Touches of Minnie Mouse were used throughout the printables, decor, flowers and the desserts. 2 additional handmade chandeliers adorned the ceiling along with tissue paper pom poms hanging from strands of crystals and paper lanterns. The kids table featured Minnie inspired plates and individual wrapped gift boxes that had clip on earrings for the guests to dine in style. The tiniest of details like the pearl swags on the back of the chiavari chairs were adorned with bows and Minnie ears placed in the flowers. It was an amazing day for both of my girls and all their friends. Now every time my daughter sees Minnie Mouse she yells “My Birthday”