Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes - For Isabella

We celebrated Bella's Birthday this past weekend at The Brown Cow Ice Cream Parlor.  The kids got to make their own sundae, the adults indulged in ice cream cake.  Both desserts got rave reviews and my family was checking out the Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches, that they sell in the store, so I think we'll be back some day.

Sarah and Bella made these cupcakes inspired by Bakerella.  So cute and yummy too!  It was a sweet and special day for our little granddaughter.  Happy Birthday Sweetie!  Love you Much!

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

Hello Kitty Party Projects for PreTeens

 As promised here are the details for the Hello Kitty Projects seen in my previous post.

Hello Kitty Journal - Cindy Rippe

I used the Westcott Brand® Titanium Bonded Non Stick Scissors to cut The Duck Brand® Duct Tape Sheets and Tape Rolls and cover the journal.  I folded the tape upon itself to create the tag and attached it to the cover with VELCRO® Brand Hook and Loop Fasteners.  A little bit of ribbon trim and a heart charm add just the right amount of whimsey.

Inside Cover of Hello Kitty Journal with Pocket - Cindy Rippe

After covering the inside cover with the printed duct tape, I made a pocket by leaving most of the backing material on the sheet of duct tape (to allow for a non-stick area).  I decorated the top edge with the printed tape and trimmed the backing away on the sides and bottom edge of the pocket to stick it to the book. 

Mini Hello Kitty Pennant - Cindy Rippe

To make the Mini Pennant I just folded pieces of the printed tape over a length of narrow ribbon and trimmed each into a triangle shape.

Hello Kitty Hair Bow made from duct tape - Cindy Rippe

and finally; I made a small bow from the tape and used a hair clip to attach it to the gift bag.  I cut two slits through white card stock topper and the bag using the Westcott Hobby Knife.   Favor bag decoration and a cute hair accessory in one!

Don't forget to add your comments to the WESTCOTT Brand Blog for your chance to win an assortment of cutting tools.

I was provided with samples from Westcott Brand Cutting Tools, Duck Brand Duct Tape and VELCRO Brand Hook and Loop fasteners for this Blog Hop and enjoyed designing with them all.  Thank you to all the participating sponsors and to Marisa Pawelko Craft Designer & Founder of Modern Surrealist for organizing this project.

Westcott Brand is the official sponsor of the October Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop! The Non Stick Scissors really did work great with all the adhesives.  I look forward to using them in future projects.  Here's a little information about the Cutting Tools that I used.

Westcott Brand® Scissors are the WORLD’S FAVORITE SCISSORS™ meaning Westcott sells more scissors than any other manufacturer in the world!
Westcott Brand® Titanium Bonded Non Stick Scissors are the BEST Non Stick Scissors on the market that never get stuck and can easily cut through Sticky Back VELCRO®, Duck Tape and multiple layers of fabric and other materials!
Titanium bonded blades are 3 times harder than stainless steel and never need sharpening!
Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools have the best performance! The 3” scissors can even cut through 5 layers of fabric!
Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools are ergonomic and come in several different color options!
 
" Life is not a written book you can pick up and read.
It is a journal waiting for you to fill it's pages."  Dana Atkin

 

 

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Hello Kitty Party for Preteens

Hello Kitty Party - Favors and Decor by Cindy Rippe

October's challenge is sponsored by:  

  AND

I went with a girl's party theme this month since I was inspired by all the pink goodies sent for me to design with. This is perfect for a preteen party. They can create the journal as a party activity.

You'll find the project details in this POST and find out how to get your chance to WIN a fabulous collection of  Westcott Brand™ Cutting Tools.

They are providing a giveaway of a deluxe assortment of Westcott Brand Cutting Tools to a random winner who comments on this post during the month of October. Please also show your support by posting comments about this blog hop their Facebook Fan Page!

*Giveaway winner must provide a valid US street shipping address.

Keep hopping to see what the other Designers have created for you!

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3rd Birthday Princess Party Theme

Isabella's 3rd Birthday party had a Princess theme.  Surprise, surprise... she's a girl, she's 3, she loves Disney Princesses.  She loves to act out the stories, recruiting willing family members to play the all the parts.  "No...you need to ride in on the horse please."  "You are Prince Phillip, Grandma Cookie is the Queen, I am Aurora" 

She waves her magic wand

Sarah's Mom and Dad really wanted to keep things simple this year.  They served sandwiches, salads and fruit which was perfect for a hot day. We used her Birthday Banner again this year.  (see last year's post)  It has become a nice tradition to use it every year (well, so far - until she reaches that age where it will look too "pretty"  :)

Fruit on Fairy Wand skewers made by Aunt Karen

Favor Bags

 The paper bags with handles that were decorated with Disney Princess Stickers were a hit. A few of the guests continued to call themselves a Prince or Princess after they went home.  Of course everyone got a Glittery Star Wand to create their own magic!

Star Wands from Oriental Trading Co

I decorated with Pom Pom's made from tissue paper and ribbons.  They looked so pretty as a chandelier in the center of the tent. Inexpensive and easy to make too.

Pom Poms hanging inside tent and out.

 The left over scraps of tissue paper tucked into a pink glass bowl and topped with a plastic tiara and jewels worked out great for the inside table centerpiece.

I twisted two squares of tissue together at a time and tucked them in the holes along the edge of the bowl.

For the tables under the tent I used the cases from our Disney VHS tapes, (I guess they're Vintage now)  pom poms, a tiara and a Star Wand.

Close up of the centerpiece and a vintage VHS case.

Prince Cooper peeking from behind a centerpiece.  Isabella cuddles with Suzanne while waking up from her nap.

Blog Parties I'm attending.  Come on over and join me!

Larkspur - Flower of the Month

Since I love to draw botanicals and birthdays are a reason to entertain, I thought it would be fun to do a series of "Flowers of the Month".  I've been researching the Meaning of Flowers, Birth month Flowers, State Flowers and more for about 10 years.  The Romans were probably the first to include flowers as part of birthday celebrations. The Victorians gathered flowers into Tussy Mussies (a small bouquet) with careful thought as to what each flower meant as they shared the bouquet with friends or enemies. 

Blue Larkspur

The Birthday Flower for July is Larkspur. It's a wildflower and grows in late spring in a variety of colors  I love the Blue, no surprise to those who know me, especially the very pale blue.  It's  also known as delphinium with even more varieties available now.  The name comes from spur of the flower, which reminded some people of the parts of the lark.  The plants have very tall stems with many branches.

The meaning of July's Birth flower is an open heart, levity, lightness and ardent attachment.

There are hidden meanings based on color:

Pink symbolizes fickleness

White is Joyful, happy-go-lucky

Purple - You have such as sweet disposition and first love.

You can find more information about July's Birth Flower at Birthstones.org.  I've taken lots of pictures of Larkspur and Delphinium over the years.  I think I'll start a new sketch!

God has sown his name on the heavens in glittering stars; but on earth he planteth his name by tender flowers.  Jean Paul Richter

Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop Week 3 - "Celebrate" Pennant Banner

Here we are at Week 3 of the Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop.  I made a multi-purpose Pennant Banner.  You could use this design for Birthdays, Showers or Spring Parties.  It would also be cute in a child's room with the letters of their name.

Our challenge, this week, was to create something with pieces cut using the Sizzix Flower, Beauty Bloom, Originals Die #655455 by Brenda Pinnick. 

I received this package of pre-cut flower shapes. My kit included Felt, Fabric and Card Stock. (Although I didn't use it yet, isn't the Pink Striped Fabric adorable? Not only did Brenda design the Die shape she designed this fabric as well!)  

To create the pattern I designed the basic pennant shape and letters and then traced the cardstock die cuts to draw the flower shapes. I cut out 9 pennant shapes from white fabric and used a light box to draw the design on each pennant with the Pentel Fabric Pen.

I used the DecoArt So Soft Fabric Paints to fill in the shapes.  In addition to the basic colors, there are Glitter and Pearl paints which add some glitz to the design.

After the base colors were dry I added strokes of the Pearl and Glitter paints on the large flowers and each letter.  I also painted some of the card stock and felt flowers with the Pearl paints.

I used the Fabri Tac to glue the banner and flowers together and Gem Tac to adhere the buttons.

Here's my Supply List with links to the sources:

Sizzix Flower, Beauty Bloom, Originals Die #655455 by Brenda Pinnick
Sizzix Big Shot
Felt – National Non-Wovens
DecoArt So Soft Fabric Paints
Pentel Gel Roller Pen for Fabric
Loew-Cornell Round Stroke Brush
Beacon Adhesives - Fabric Tac and Gem Tac
Sew Classic Bottomweight- Rodeo Cotton Solid White Fabric
Sheer Ribbon and Vintage Pearl Buttons from my stash

Have fun looking at all the creative ideas on the rest of the Hop!

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Candy, Polka Dots and Pinwheels

It seems like balancing life lately (what needs to be done and what we want to do) has made it important to keep things simple as possible.  We aren't the only ones going through this I'm sure!  So once again, this time while planning for Isabella's 2nd Birthday, there were a few last minute ideas to dress up the party.  We all agreed that this would be a really simple and casual picnic but you know how it goes....Sarah found some cute polka dot plates and while I was shopping for a few last minute food items I saw the pinwheels.  Next thing you know we are playing phone tag with design ideas. In every call we both emphasized the need to keep it simple,easy for everyone and worked really hard at reigning in our design enthusiasm.  So for those of you that expect "over the top", I'm sorry.  For those of you that just want to see snapshots and ideas of "really easy party ideas", here you go!

I took canning jars, replaced the top with cardboard wrapped in pink crepe paper, and poked a hole in the center for the pinwheel.  Lee helped me count the assorted candies to fill and weight down the jars.  They were so easy and looked really cute on the picnic tables spinning in the wind!  The adults took guesses at how many candies were in the jars and the closest guess won the jar full of candy.  The pinwheels were the favors for the children.  I attached the crepe paper and ribbons with Glue Dots which was very quick and easy.

Balloons tied to the corners of the tent repeated the multicolor polka dot theme.

We used the Isabella's banner from last year, which may end up being a tradition for as long as it holds up. The banner is made from scrapbook papers, cardstock and die cut letters attached to sheer ribbon, again, with Glue Dots products.

I loved the cake with the butter-cream crown and polka dots.  It was filled with fresh strawberries, yum!

Sarah made her "Mini Pink Lemonade" cupcakes and tucked the cake stand into Isabella's tutu from last year's birthday. I love how she does the same thing that I do.  Use what you have already in a different way.

We also had an Ice Cream Sundae bar, which was a hit since it was so hot outside, and Nani's Popcorn cake.  Yep, as usual, too many desserts!  But that means everyone gets to take some home for later!

Happy 2nd Birthday Isabella!  Love You Much!