Mommy's Little Sweetheart Valentine's Day Baby Shower

  

When the Christmas decorations start to come down, the house can look pretty empty, so I like to do a little decorating for Valentine's day to cheer things up a bit! Valentine's Day decorations are so fun! All that pink, red and hearts! What's not to love! 

If you know someone who is expecting soon - or a little girl about to celebrate a birthday - why not put those decorations to work and throw a "Mommy's Little Sweetheart" baby shower or birthday bash?!

Start things off with this cheery invitation 

to let guests know it will be an occasion 

filled with lots of love! Get yours in my Etsy shop

My daughter and I recently made these pretty cupcakes,

but what a sweet addition they would be to the party. 

It's all made right from a box - just cake mix, pink

icing and sprinkles and then a few heart chocolates

and heart sprinkles on top!

Little Sweetheart commemorative pregnancy posters

are available in my Etsy shop a Firefly Hill Creation

and make the perfect centerpiece for  

a Little Sweet baby shower!

Diaper cake tutorial - what I've learned through trial and error

Find the Two Peas in a Pod twin pregnancy poster in my Etsy shop

I have made a few diaper cakes over the years. This is the method that works best for me. I have always been so happy with the finished results - and it just happens to be super easy! Bonus!!

Find a different size basket or container for each layer of your cake. This is just so you have a solid shape to work with, the diapers won't be staying in the basket. My cake was three layers so I used a large wire casserole basket, a pie plate and a lid from a small decorative bucket.
Starting with the largest container, simply fold the diaper in half and start placing them in the basket with the fold facing out. This is so much easier than rolling and putting rubber bands around all those diapers. I find it looks cleaner, too. The basket helps hold everything in place until you tie a string around it at the end. When the circle of diapers is done, stuff something in the middle to help hold the shape. I used more diapers, but you could use a baby bottle or a rolled up onesie. Depending on the size of your cake, you will probably only have to do this for the bottom layer.

Tie some string around the outside of the diapers to hold it all together. This will be covered before the cake is finished, so don't worry about it looking nice. I just used some twine I found in my kitchen junk drawer. 

Removing the diapers can be the tricky part. Put a plate the same circumference (or slightly smaller) as the layer you are working with on top of the diapers and flip it over so the bottom becomes the top.  For the smaller layers you probably won't need anything if they are compact enough.

Now the fun part - decorating the cake!!

For the larger layers, fold a swaddle blanket to match the height of the diapers. Simply wrap it around the cake and safety pin it in the back. For the smaller layers, receiving blankets or oversized burp cloths work well. After the blankets are secure, stack the layers and situate the pins at the back of the cake. Next wrap ribbon around the center of as many layers as you would like. You may decide to just do the top and bottom, or maybe just one beautiful bow perched on top to cascade down the layers.
NOTE: If you decide to leave the diapers on your cake visible, simply skip the blanket step and cover each layer of twine with wide ribbon.

Find invitations for your Two Peas in a Pod baby shower in my Etsy shop

For this "Two Peas in a Pod" themed cake, I took it one step further and made tiny pea pods out of washcloths.
Here's how I did it: 

First I rolled two washcloths and taped them down to form the peas. Next, I folded a burp cloth in half lengthwise and then wrapped it around the peas to form the pod. I just used ribbon to tie off the one end and then played a bit to get it just right and tied off the other end. 

There are so many things you can put on a diaper cake. Just come up with a fun theme and go from there. This cake was for a "Ready to Pop" baby shower. I took a few onesies that matched the colors of our theme, used the same rolling technique, backed each one with a lollipop stick and then wrapped it in cellophane to create little lollipops t decorate the cake with! 

This diaper cake made the perfect centerpiece for a "Ready to Pop" shower!

Having a cupcake, little sweetie or sprinkle themed shower? How about creating a box of cupcakes instead of a whole cake? Or top off the cake with one beautiful cupcake on top! These were all made with receiving blankets wrapped around onesies and tucked into large cupcake wrappers. The results were almost sweet enough to eat.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Ok, so it's been months since I last checked in with you guys. I love the start of a new year and - even if I never seem to keep them - I love making resolutions.
This year we are expecting a new addition to our little family, so making my traditional "I'm going to lose 30 pounds" resolution is off the table (although check back with me after the little man has arrived. I will likely say the same thing then! Ha ha!) So I made my list of things I can resolve to do: Pack more lunches, get an emergency fund saved, add new items to my Etsy shop and blog more!
Keeping that resolution in mind, I thought I would share with you how we spent new year's eve!

Our little girl is all about everything princess and fancy right now. I was lucky enough to have the week off with her, so we decided to plan a "fancy party" for New Year's Eve.
It was just a little party for the three of us, so we wanted to spend as little on decorations as we could - while still keeping things fancy, of course! So off to Dollar Tree we went. If you have followed how I plan parties at all, you know by now that I LOVE the Dollar Tree! We lucked out and found a ton of stuff to fit our fancy New Year's Eve theme.

Here is how it all came together!

 

Our hallway tree got a quick makeover with just

a few items! It's a 12-foot tree, but slim, so it really

didn't need much to fill it up. We used one pack 

of silver star paper plates we picked up at Dollar Tree,

4 packs of silver and gold plastic ornaments that we

got on clearance for $.50 a pack, some paper clocks

just about to strike midnight, little paper banners that

read 2017 and gold Christmas ribbon we got at 

Michael's for 70 percent off! A little tip: I only wanted

to use the one roll, so I cut small strips and tucked

them throughout the tree. It looked like it was 

wrapped all around the tree, but really it wasn't. 

For all the paper banners and clocks, I just cut out

the shape on printer paper and used a black Sharpie 

to add the design. I should have taken a picture 

of the adorable little clocks filled in with scribbled 

crayon and the section of tree where all the balls

are clustered together - ahh decorating with our

two-year-old!! It's more important to me that she

gets to help and loves the decorating than it is that

things look perfect! She was so excited by all of it!

 We were walking through TJ Maxx one day and

Peanut saw these cardboard chargers. "Mama, we

need those for our fancy party!" At just more than 

a dollar a piece, into the cart they went! The plates

are just plastic plates from the grocery store with 

more paper clocks cut to fit the middle. We placed

the paper on top of the plate because we weren't going

to actually place food on them and it hid the logo,

but for an adult party, you could get glass plates and

decoupage the clock to the back of the plate.

Everything in this picture is cardboard, paper or plastic,

which made it all safe for our little fancy 2-year-old. 

I am kind of obsessed with paper straws. Our girl 

thinks they are so fun to drink out of, and they are

an easy way of adding a little interest to your party. 

These added to our silver and gold star theme. The

masks were a fun find from the Mardi Gras section. 

 I love this clock so much! Sadly it has stopped

working. I am determined to fix it and get it back

on my hallway wall, but for New Year's Eve it took

center stage on our buffet. The food wasn't out yet

in this pic, but we had all of Peanut's favorite foods

for our party: Strawberries, grapes, cheese and - of

course - chicken nuggets!

 Well, that's it! I hope you enjoyed our little party!

We all had so much fun that we think it might

become an annual thing. All the decorations are going

to get saved in a box for next year, but there are

several times throughout the year parts of this theme

might be reused. All the gold stars would be perfect 

for an Oscar party. The clocks about to strike 

midnight would fit perfectly at a Cinderella soiree and
(for my about to be engaged friends) as glitzy as the
silver, gold and black looked, I can't help but think
how pretty a New Year's Eve wedding would be. 

There are plenty of options to enjoy a little

"fancy" in the coming year! 

The only rule - have fun with it!

Happy New Year! 

Pirate birthday party

Avast me hearties! Arrrr ye ready for some fun?!
Over the last few years I have discovered a passion for Jamberry nails. You're probably thinking "Is this girl seriously talking about nails? I thought this was about pirate parties?" I promise you're in the right place, just stick with me.
My sister-in-law introduced me to the little nail wraps and I was in love. When I hosted my first party, I met her Jam lady, Amanda - visit her shop at Mandaberry.jamberrynails.net. She is such a sweet lady and I was so excited when she came to me for invites for her son's birthday party - a pirate theme! (See, I told ya you were in the right place.)
Below are a few pictures she shared with me of how the party turned out - spoiler alert! It was adorable!!
Like what you see? Head to my Etsy shop -  www.afireflyhillcreation.etsy.com - to get your own invites and start planning a pirate birthday party for your favorite little sea captain!

How cute are these favors?! Golden chocolate coins?!
Now that's what  I call treasure!

Adorable! What pirate party is complete without a treasure
chest and captains hat?!

I love everything about this! The grape cannonballs, the little cupcake ships and THOSE COOKIES!
Amanda mentioned that brownies would also work for the ships and cheese cubes
could be used for pirate gold! So many cute ideas! I have added a few of my own below!

Another cute idea for ships! Hotdogs! 

Polly want a cracker? Any crackers would work, but goldfish crackers - captain obvious, right?

Grab some brown paper bags (3 for $1 at Dollar Tree)
and draw a quick treasure map to throw those cute favors in! 

This is a fun little idea that costs almost nothing. I cut regular printer paper
into triangles and drew on red stripes with marker.
Then I scrounged up an old paper bag and cut
triangles out of it before drawing on a quick treasure map. I had scraps of
red ribbon from a previous craft project, so I just connected the triangles with
the ribbon and some tape. Ta-da! A quick pennant. 

 Don't forget to stop over at my Etsy shop  a Firefly Hill Creation to get your digital pirate treasure map invitations. They are easy to have printed, print yourself or share on facebook. And when you buy the invitation, you receive a free thank you note file, too! Want a photo on the thank you file, just let me know! Don't forget to check out the matching milestone poster while you are there!

Two peas in a pod

I was so excited to find out my cousin (who is more like a sister to me) is pregnant - and was even more excited when she told me it's TWINS!!! I can't wait to meet them. When Greta, another cousin of hers, asked me if I wanted to help plan a baby shower, I was totally on board! I suggested we do a two peas in a pod theme or a Noah's Ark (two by two) theme. Two peas won out and I am so glad because the results were adorable!

I designed this invitation to set the tone for the shower. If you are planning a Two Peas in a Pod theme, you can buy your invitation HERE
Plus it can be custom designed for two boys, two girls or one of each!

Here is how our shower turned out and a few easy ways to make your shower just as special! Don't forget to stop over at my Etsy shop, aFireflyHillCreation, to get the invitations and a poster for your party!

Since my cousin is having a boy and a girl, we went with green and pink for the color scheme: Green for the boy and pink for the girl!

DIAPERS DIAPERS EVERYWHERE

The first thing I knew I wanted to make for her also doubled as a decoration. What do you need when you are having twins? Well, twice as much of everything, but especially diapers. There were about 75 diapers used to make this diaper cake. I have seen a lot of different tutorials on how to make them, but the easiest way for me, just happens to be one of the quickest! I love what the swaddle blankets do for the look of the cake. It just gives a smoother finish. And finding a swaddle blanket with little peas on it was icing on the - um - cake! I was so excited that day!!
Be sure to check back soon for my tutorial on how to make one yourself!

Greta also used diapers to create a usable decoration! These diaper "peas in a pod" centerpieces looked adorable placed on each table. Two paper baby heads peeked out of a collection of rolled diapers that were wrapped inside tissue paper fashioned to look like a pea pod! Guests were instructed to take a diaper and write a silly or sweet message for the parents-to-be! The same idea was done at my baby shower and, my hubby and I can attest, reading the messages makes late-night changes so much more fun!

Of course I had to make a milestone poster for her. As time goes on, it's so easy to forget those special little moments about your pregnancy. From cravings to wishes for the babies' futures, my hope is for this poster to help her remember all the special moments about her pregnancy for years to come.

Sweet peas

 

These sugar cookies were a last-minute idea I had the night before the shower. I just happened to have all the items on hand and thought I would give it a try. Store bought ingredients made for quick results. I simply dropped cookie batter onto a cookie sheet, topped it with bagged frosting and pressed a single heart sprinkle at the center of each cookie. After they cooled, I tucked two cookies into a ziplock bag (I cut the zipper part off of each bag before I started) folded the top back and taped it down. Then all that was left to do was wrap green tissue paper around each set, gather the ends and tie it off with some ribbon! Adorably "sweet" peas in a pod!

Greta also had a cute idea for a "sweet" pea, two. Smarties were wrapped up in tissue paper and set at each place setting as a little way to say thanks for coming! Now that's a "Smarties" idea, right?! Haha! You know you think I'm funny!

Let's eat!

Guests were greeted at the front of the buffet line by these adorable Two Peas in a Pod plates I found on Amazon. I have mentioned before that I LOVE the dollar tree! These plates were so cute, but too pricey for my budget to be able buy enough for a shower where nearly 100 people were invited, so I simply bought 1 set of 16 and filled in with pink plates from Dollar Tree. It worked out perfectly!

I cut sandwich bread out with a round cookie cutter and topped with cream cheese, which had been mixed with ranch powder, and two cucumbers. Topping the platter with one of the Two Peas napkins helped reinforce the theme. 

My mom made these adorable pea pods stuffed with her homemade chicken salad. The two peas perched atop each one was the perfect finishing touch. Adorable!

We've already talked about the cookies, but check out the adorable cupcakes that were served as dessert. mmmm

He and she was highlighted on a Hershey bar in honor of the sweet babies. This is also a great idea for a gender reveal party!

Don't forget to wash it all down with some green punch!

Prizes

With so many guests, a lot of prizes were a must. Double mint gum, double stuf Oreos, Double Bubble and a Sweet Pea candle were all perfect prizes to be given at a shower for twins!

That's it! I hope you enjoyed our shower! Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out www.afireflyhillcreation.etsy.com to get your invitations, posters and see other themes!