Crazy for Coloring - for Adults!

One of the new crazes right now is Mandala art and adult coloring books.  Stores like Michaels and Target have devoted entire end-cap sections to adult coloring books, and many adults are enjoying the relaxation of coloring right alongside their young children (I know I am!). When one of my regular monthly dinner gals asked if she could bring an out-of-town friend to our June monthly dinner, I asked my friend for some of her guest's loves hoping it might provide some inspiration for the month's theme.  Two of her friend's likes were coloring and Mexican food - she moved from California to Georgia, so the Mexican food selection in not quite what it is here! I decided to incorporate both of these likes into our June theme.

Invite:  I designed the invite on Photoshop using free images I found on Google.  While there are a lot of art party invites out there to choose from, I wanted this dinner to focus on Mandala art and colored pencils (rather than crayon, paint, etc), so I created my own invite specific to that.

Entry Decor:  I made an entry sign with my Cricut Explore.  I found a Mandala art piece of an owl and cut that image out with the Cricut.  Because it was so large, it was actually difficult to do.  It didn't turn out perfectly, but it did the trick. I added color pencils a dollar store basket to elevate the sign. 

Inside Decor: I set my table with a red tablecloth and then a huge strip of white butcher paper on top. I printed out large images of Mandala art and glued them on the butcher paper.  I colored in a few parts of each image, and guests added to each as the night progressed.

For a centerpiece, I bought a colorful bouquet and cut out a Mandala image my daughter had already colored to adhere to the front of the vase.  She loved helping out with the party!

Also on the table, I made large colored pencils out of Pringles cans. First, I cut colored card stock to wrap around the can and attach with scrap book tape.  Next, I cut a beige circle and smaller colored circle for the bottom.  The top is a beige half circle with a 7 1/4" diameter.  I hot glued the half circle around the lid of the Pringles can and then colored the top in marker.  I added pails I found in the dollar section at Target and filled them with markers and colored pencils. The little rainbow cups I found at Dollar Tree.

The rainbow napkins I also found at the Dollar Tree.

The colorful plates my family uses for BBQ gatherings and camping, so we already had them.  Love the color they added to the table. I created 6" mandala art coloring pages to match each of my guests.  Shown above are a pregnant woman for my friend who is pregnant with her first baby, Star Wars, and a Harry Potter tribute.

A couple more:  Mickey Mouse and Hunger Games.  I created all of these on Photoshop combining images I found free online.

For place cards, I wrapped four colored pencils in twine and added a mandala art piece with the guest's name.

I sawed the tops off of colored pencils and added a mini eye hook to make wine charms.  They were really cute in person and easy to make.

I created the wine labels on Photoshop after finding a mandala piece with red wine glasses.

Menu:  I wanted food with a lot of colors.  I started with this recipe for Rainbow Salsa I found on Gimme Some Oven.  It was a win-win -- delicious AND healthy!

For the main meal, I created a tostada bar with grilled carne asada and chicken, refried beans, and cilantro lime rice. For colorful fixings, I had tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, olives, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo. 

For dessert, I made this rainbow cake with Mandala art on top.  My good friend came over and helped me with the Mandala art to place on top.  I made a stencil with my Cricut, and she used the stencil to carve the mandala out of fondant.  The cakes I made with 2 boxes of white cake mix.  I divided each mix evenly into 3 bowls and used gel food color to dye the mix the desired colors.  After baking, I leveled the cakes and stacked them with homemade buttercream icing in between. 

Favor:  I wanted to do something with Skittles candy because they are colorful and their "Taste the Rainbow" slogan went with my overall theme.  I found a template for pencil boxes here.  I took that template and resized it to my liking in Photoshop.  I also added color to make it a colored pencil rather than a regular pencil, and I added the "You Color My World Thanks for Coming" note.  After folding each pencil (I used glue and tape), I place and bag of Skittles inside.

I really love how everything turned out, and we had a great time coloring. Hope you enjoyed this post, and let me know what you liked best!

Brown Bear Brown Bear Birthday

Our daughter just LOVES the Brown Bear Brown Bear book.  She recites it all the time as she sees birds in the sky or ducks at the park.  I thought it would make a perfect theme for her 2nd birthday.

Invite: I found the image background online and added the text to it.  The fonts I used were "Return to Sender" for the colorful shaded words and Comic Sans for the white text.  I printed these and then added bright colored card stock behind them before sending them out to guests.

I always like my kiddos to dress in theme if possible.  For this party, I found some Brown Bear Brown Bear fabric on Etsy and purchased one yard.  I bought the coordinating fabric, ribbon, and buttons at Joann's.  My amazing mother sewed this beautiful dress.  She is so amazing, she even did it without a pattern!  Thanks Mom!! Oh...and isn't my daughter just the cutest in it! Just loved it.

Entry Decor:  I made this entry sign with a little help from my 4 and 6 year old.  I basically cut up a white poster board into 5 pieces and gave the kids paint.  They each got 3 shades of their color.  Then they painted randomly all over the piece of poster board.  Once it was dry, I made patterns of the animals from images found online and cut them out.  I glued them together and put them on the sign, but this method gave the animals the same look as the ones in Eric Carle's book.  The letters I cut from my Cricut.

I made these centerpieces for each of the tables.  I made the wraps on the vases using Photoshop and
printed them on card stock.  I filled the vases half full with gumballs to add color.  The animals I ordered off of Amazon.  They were part of our birthday gift to Jenna. I made simple tissue paper flowers for the top.  It was a windy day, so I did have to tape the flowers down.

I made a Brown Bear Brown Bear birthday banner. I couldn't find the brown bear paper, so I used an image I found online and used Photoshop to make it a wallpaper.  I then printed it on card stock to use as the background.  The letters were cut with my Cricut.

I already had various colorful napkins from past parties, so I decided to incorporate all the colors into Jenna's birthday.  I designed the napkin rings on Photoshop.

Party Activity: Besides a jumper outside, the only activity I had was for the kids to create their own Brown Bear, Brown Bear book. The kids really enjoyed creating their books.

I had the necessary animals, googly eyes, yarn, etc. packaged in individual Zip-lock baggies.  This way those kids that didn't want to make their book at the party could just take the baggie and paper home.  I also had a box of the "common" materials in the center of the table.

Here is my daughter's finished book before we put it all together.

These are the directions I placed inside each Zip-lock baggie.

Menu: I served Hot Dogs with all the fixings - chili, cheese, onions, jalapenos, avocado, pickles -- whatever the guest's wanted to add.

I also made bear shaped peanut butter and jelly with a bear cookie cutter I found on Amazon.

 For sides, I served various fruits to match the colors of the book.

I couldn't forget Goldfish crackers alongside other chips.

I saw this fun cake online and just had to try it.  It was actually very easy. I adapted the recipe I found online a bit.  I made three 9 inch round cakes.  I used two for the head and the other for the ears.  The nose is an upside down cupcake.  The eyebrows are a mini chocolate donut cut in half lengthwise and then covered in the frosting. The eyes are Wilton's chocolate melts warmed a bit in my hand.

I also made cupcakes.  I used Photoshop and my Cricut to create the cupcake toppers.

Favor:  Aside from the Brown Bear book craft that the kids got to take home, I also made small bags with Chocolate Teddy Grahams inside.  The tag I modeled after my invitation and created on Photoshop.

I found a chocolate lollipop mold of a brown grizzly bear at Calico Cake Shop in Buena Park, so I couldn't resist make chocolate bear lollipops for the kids as well.

It was a super fun birthday party for our little girl.  She had a blast.  After the event it was:

Mommy, Mommy...what do you see?  Sleep, Sleep..calling to me!

May the Fourth Be With You - Star Wars Party!

I have always wanted to host a Star Wars themed monthly dinner, so I have been waiting and waiting for our dinner to fall on May 4th.  It finally did this year...hence, the May the Fourth Be With You theme! This theme was so fun, and super easy to pull off.

Invite:  I made the invite on PhotoShop.  The Star Wars font is available for free from tons of sites.  I used the Star Wars Rounded font for most of the invite.

Entry:  I have a very talented student leader in my class this year, and she helped me make this amazing Darth Vader entry sign to welcome guests "to the Dark Side".  We made it out of poster board and card stock.  I borrowed some light sabers from a friend to add to the entry.

Inside Decor: For the dinner table, I bought a Darth Vader backpack from a local store to place as my centerpiece and some mini C3PO figures to place on each side of it.  I used fishing line taped to my ceiling to hold up two crossing light sabers.

I love the C3PO water bottles and R2D2 cups I created for the party.  I found the template for the cups online on the Catch My Party website here.  I just used white paper cups I bought at the Dollar Tree and glued them on. Since these two droids are always together, I wanted to have C3PO next to him.  I came up with these water bottles. I bought gold metallic spray paint and sprayed them after removing the label. I then cut two large circles and the rectangle mouth out of gold card stock, drew the lines in thin black sharpie and taped them on.  Super easy.

I bought black square plates from the Dollar Store and used scrapbooking tape to adhere a Star Wars logo to the middle.  The light saber napkins were easy to make. I came up with the idea for these and was rather excited, but then discovered someone else on the internet had this idea too. Lucky for me, they had already create the image, so I just used what they had already created here.

I thought long and hard about what to make as a place card.  I even watched the original movie one more time to get inspiration.  I came up with these super cute tie fighter place cards.  They do take some time to make, but since I was only making some, I was able to get them done.

I designed two simple wine bottle labels using PhotoShop. For the Red Wine, I chose to use Darth Vader who is associated with red. I used Yoda for the white and phrased the label's words the way Yoda speaks in the movies.

Menu:  I went with a simple menu because these items were easy to fit with the characters of the Star Wars movies.  I started with a Tie Fighter appetizer.  These are just octagon crackers I found at the grocery store and cheese rectangles.  The are held together with cream cheese mixed with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and a little bit of salt and pepper.  Yummy!

For the main dish, I served "Han"burgers of course after Han Solo.  I placed all the fixings on the side to add what they wanted.

I served easy to prepare fruit kabobs as one side dish. Since I teach all day on the days of these monthly dinners, it is great to do some things the day before.  Definitely helps with my stress level -- yes...I am always super stressed since I'm always so last minute!  These Obi-Wan Kabob-ies were also a way to tie in the character Obi Wan Kenobi.

I called on my amazing friend Deanna for help in making a pasta salad.  She is an amazing cook, and this salad was just another example of her talents.  It was delicious. We used bow tie pasta to represent the character Boba Fett.

For a yummy and sweet dessert, I made Princess Lea cupcakes.  These are so cute, this awful photo doesn't do them justice.  I used black frosting to make the hair and attach the Oreos.  At first my plan was to use brown (so it would be more like Princess Lea), but that meant I would need to dip the Oreos in chocolate so they would match.  That was too much work for me, so I just went with black.  The rest is just frosting I piped on.

Favors:  I had so many ideas for a thank you for coming gift, that I had to figure out a way to incorporate them all! I designed these Darth Vader and Storm Trooper bags using card stock and bags I found at the Dollar Tree. Don't you love how they turned out?

I designed these tags to attach to the bags.

Inside, I used little favor bags bought from Michaels to put small candy in.  Rolos for Han Solo (Rolo), gummy bears to represent Ewoks, and chewy Lemonheads to represent Chewbacca.

This is a great theme for a kid or adult birthday party.  My kids were loving everything, and they are already asking for a Star Wars themed party of their own!

Happy May the 4th...May the Fourth Be with You!