the phantom

Some folks call it phantom-ing some call it boo-ing - whatever you call it it's a fun Halloween activity that brings the party to the porch.

The picture above is my kiddos a couple years back ready to start our yearly tradition.  Its all very simple...make or buy a treat, include a phantom note (google "boo poems") and get ready to ding dong ditch - and really, who doesn't love doing that?  I am a huge fan of ding dong ditching.

The point of boo-ing is to make sure all the neighbors, your group of friends or whoever you decide to do this for all get a special delivery on their doorstep by the time Halloween rolls around.  Once you have been boo-ed you now have to deliver treats to 2 people, those 2 people deliver to 2 people each and so on and so on.

Our family always starts this tradition on the first of October or right around there.  If you want to do the same get to planning - find a poem, make a treat and share some Halloween love with your friends, family and neighbors.

crawly cakes

Here it is...adorable cakes that don't involve a ton of baking.  What is there not to love about these multi eyed arachnids?

You can find the how to for all these creepy crawlies over at Not Martha.  Can't wait to make these for Halloween this year.  

pom pom love

During my morning rounds of blogs I stopped to check out the latest on iDIY - a favorite of mine.  A stop there introduced me to these glorious balls of fluff on a stick....

Do they make you feel all warm and fuzzy?  Me too!  I decided to go and check out the creative mind behind them and was led to domestifluff to check out Kristen's creativeness.

I loved her tutorial on these pom pom flowers and can't wait to make some of my own.  They would look great in a vase for your home (seen above) and equally cool as a party accent.  How about making them in bright colors for a Dr. Suess themed party or other whimsical theme. Tone down the color for a great baby shower addition - the possibilities are endless with these.

And to add to all this pom pom goodness Kristen has added pom pom printables - you have to check it out.  I am loving this!

kickin' it

Y'all ready for this?  Said in my best announcer voice with loud music blaring in the background.  

Friday was the big game...my daughter Megan's kickball party (that had been planned as an end of Summer party but had to be rescheduled at the very last minute)

The two teams, The Neville Kickbottoms 

and The Spongebob Kickpants played a good game but in the end only one team could be the victor 

Congratulations Team Kickpants!

I love the signs that one of the cute moms made for both teams - thanks Shauna!  Shauna is the one that drew who knows how many dark marks on the arms of the teenagers when we were in line for Harry Potter. 

There was some fine athleticism displayed ...

amazing form - Megan has never looked so athletic

speed

a sense of fashion even in the heat of competition

a fierce competitive attitude

the thrill of victory

the agony of defeat - "What?  I'm totally safe."

It turned out to be a great evening and we're glad so many kids could join in on the fun.  But the night didn't end with the game - there were celebrations to be had.

Any good game ends with a parent tunnel

Before leaving the field The Spongebob Kickpants picked up their winners trophy...

You weren't aware that there was a Kickball Championship Trophy were you?  Amazing what a $4 lamp from Goodwill, styrofoam and paint will make, huh?  Since no one person could take the trophy home because I'm holding on to that baby for next years rematch, I put together individual awards for each person on the winning team that they picked up once back at our house where the festivities continued.

They each received a mini trophy with a giant gumball kickball on top as well as a medal.  The "kickballs" were a hit and it was hilarious watching the kids try to chew them.

After all the competition on the field the kids were hungry.  There were lots of tacos and burritos consumed

and lots of this...

I'm not sure what it is but the teenagers have a love affair with this slightly thick, processed, yellow goodness.

Whenever we serve it (which is nearly every time we have teenagers over)  They surround the stuff, each trying to get their fair share and you can bet they will be back for seconds, thirds and fourths.

Here's to making this a yearly event - cheese and all!

the spongebob kickpants are victorious!

The Neville Kickbottoms played a good game but in the end lost 0-5 to those darn kickpants.  

My daughters kickball party ended up being a fun get together - one I would do again.  If you are looking for a fun party I'd suggest going with this as an idea.  

More pictures to come.

kickin' tees

Tomorrow is my daughters kickball showdown that we have been planning.  It was supposed to be an end of Summer party but got bumped on the calendar because of some scheduling conflicts. 

I thought I'd share some pics of the team shirts we designed...

Gotta love the underdog - Neville KICKbottoms aka Neville Longbottom of Harry Potter fame. Love this sweet unassuming guy.  

On to shirt #2, again with the "kick" reference - we are after all playing KICKball
Spongebob KICKpants - he's all thumbs up and ready to play.

The shirts were easy.  Iron on transfer paper, printer and iron and a shirt of course.  Come up with your design, print it onto the paper, cut, iron on and get to playing.

Look for more pictures of the game this weekend.

all hallows design

I just found a new blog that I love devoted to all things Halloween.  Head on over to All Hallows Design and check it out.

how sweet it is

How sweet is this Candyland party?  I ran across it at Katherine Marie Photography and I believe Katherine is the one that threw this beautiful bash.  She left nothing undone - it is amazing.

If I had to pick a favorite from the party though I would definitely pick these take home favors - gotta love that after a party full of candy the guests are going home with a toothbrush.  A perfect favor.
There are many more pictures at Katherine's site so head over there and check them out

the dads in the details

I just ran across this picture today - he's good looking, huh?  Yea, that's right he's my husband and you can't have him (although I am sure you want him after checking out this picture)

This picture goes to prove that my husband will sacrifice his own dignity to help make a party better.  

These pictures are from a few years back when the second High School Musical movie came out on Disney Channel.  My then tween daughter wanted to watch it in the backyard on a big screen for her birthday so we went to work planning.

It was a fairly simple party to plan and we didn't go too big with it.  Food was served cafeteria style (on cafeteria trays) hence the good looking food service worker pictured above.  I made the aprons for both husband and I to wear and added the ever stylish hair nets.

There are a few other things I wanted to share from the party that would be great to use now during the college football season.  Just change the colors to match your fav team and your all set for a great football party...

These chairback/placecards are a breeze to make.

Cut felt into a triangle shape.  Use iron on transfer paper to cut out a collegiate style letter and iron on.  The letters used were the first initial of each guests name with their full name written within the letter.  Example...a big letter S with the name Sydney written in the letter (you can kind of see that in the picture above)  Use a coordinating ribbon I used a paw print for Wildcats and tie them onto your chairs.

These were the invites for our HS Musical party (sorry for the poor quality of the photos)...

The pendant is felt with the invite being printed out iron on paper and ironed onto the felt.  The guests initial/name was printed out onto card stock and tied to the top of the pendant (this invite went to twin hence the two initials)  The pendant was glued to a wooden dowel.

The dowel was placed in a megaphone (purchased at a local party store)  the megaphone had been glued to a round cardboard base and the edges were covered with shredded paper that I glues on to mimic the look of a pom-pom.

Now that I've seen these pictures again and remember how easy this was to create I may get to work on my own football fete. 

just what dr. cullen ordered

Check out this great label found via flickr to be used on some "blood" candy.  Adding it to my Twilight inspiration.  More Twilight food inspiration can be found here.

get ready

I need to get through all my September and October parties so I can get back to planning a Twilight/New Moon movie release party

gift bag goodness

So cute!

I found these over at Flights of Fancy as I was browsing for ideas for the upcoming baby shower I am planning.  The addition of the pretty little label to the brown bag is perfect.  Be sure to go check out the great step by step for making these.

some graduation inspiration

I realize that school has just started and that graduation is months away but I ran across this artwork today and I fell in love with using the idea for a party.

Hows that for a creative graduation theme?  The artwork comes from Jean Jullien. You can see more of Jean's work  here.

light up your party

What do you think about these gothic style lanterns that I found over at Martha?  What a great addition to a Halloween party.  Change up the paper color and clip art and you could use them for a bunch of different themes.

welcome foolish mortals

As a born and raised Southern California girl I have a huge place in my heart for Disneyland and Walt himself.  Talk about a man with an attention for detail.  I find him fascinating to read about.  I'm getting away from myself though.

Disneyland, yes that is what we are talking about.  I love the place.  I am partial to The Haunted Mansion (one of my dream jobs, there's a few, is to be a Haunted Mansion cast member) so when I saw these downloadable (is that a word?) mansion goodies from Disney Family I knew I had to share them.

Throw a Haunted Mansion themed Halloween bash in honor of the Mansion's 40th birthday. That's right, the Mansion is celebrating this year.

How about these changing portrait bookmarks as favors for your guests...

Love this cupcake toppers...
And how about these candy boxes designed with some classic Haunted Mansion graphics...
You can find these projects as well as Madame Leota invites, hitchhiking ghost masks and more here.

after dinner mint

Cute, huh?  What a fun little way to dress up an after dinner mint.  I love little details like this. Found on Etsy.

stick a fork in it

I am loving these edible eyeballs made out of doughnut holes, from Family Fun - a perfect Halloween party food.  Directions here.

alive and kicking

No posts - I'm sorry.  Here are my excuses...  

*4 kids starting school

*endless soccer practices and games

*homework headaches

*planning the following...

   kickball party cancelled - rescheduled for next week

   sons baptism and family dinner

   Halloween dinner party

   baby shower - Halloween theme, racking my brain

*costumes to plan and sew

*normal life on top of it all

Don't go too far - I will be back as soon as I can with party posting galore!

  

someone was hungry

Loving these plates by Merry Design Studio found via Apartment Therapy.

These would add a ton of whimsy to your next dinner party table.

dirty laundry

It's one of those days - I'm finding party goodness all over the internet.  

You have to check out this brilliant idea for a guest book from Etsy seller melangerie. It's beyond creative and so cute.

See what you get...

Decoratively air out the guest(s) of honor's "dirty laundry" at your next party by having attendees jot funny stories about the honoree on note cards shaped as t-shirts, tank tops, pants, and skirts. This kit includes the following packaged in a sweet mini laundry bag with space to fill-in your event date:

*40 note cards (10 t-shirts, 10 tank tops, 10 pants, 10 skirts) in a mix of moss, leaf, chartreuse and sage
*48 mini wooden clothespins (to clip up notes with)
*8 yards of clothesline
*1 coordinating prompt label that encourages guest's to write notes (shaped to fit on a 50 fluid oz. Tide detergent bottle)

I think this is a steal at $35.  Who wants a boring guestbook that folks just sign?  This is so much more meaningful for the guest of honor plus it becomes a part of your party as guests take time to write their notes and read the messages of others.  I love this!