The House That Lars Built has an awesomely cute party hat garland tutorial! You could make this one yourself following their post or even use pre-made party hats to save yourself some crafting! So cute and great for a billion themes!
If this isn’t cute enough for you to choke, then you will never need the Heimlich! Follow the easy tutorial on the source link below the pic from Oh Happy Day!
This might be the easiest and cheapest of all! Blow up balloons (no helium cost, yay!), use a needle and thread to pull a string through the balloon tip you blow into and hang!
In your cabinets, keep one bottle, one sippy, one pacifier. You may outgrow the baby phase, but someone else will always be smack dab in the middle of it. Have a few basic and necessary baby items on hand to surprise a desperate mother with delight when you whip out the very thing she forgot!
2. Make Everyone Feel Like Your Favorite
As a pastor’s wife, we have a lot of visitors to our home. If you entertain a lot or welcome people in your home for any reason, pay attention to your company and who may not be talking, who may be sitting alone or simply be aware if someone is coming who doesn’t know the group as well. Sit by them, make them feel welcome, and bring them into the fold! A person who is hospitable and nails it, makes someone comfortable in their home by whatever means that may be!
3. Toys
Even though I have only daughters, I always keep a few good boy toys around. I have a few tried and true toys that please both sexes and a variety of ages and a few baby toys in there as well. A good way to make feel people at home is to make it feel like home!
4. WiFi
When having a party or large dinner etc., write your wi-fi password on the kitchen chalkboard or set it out in a cute frame or plaque on the island amidst the food display. It’s convenient for you AND them and it makes anything a guest might need, easily accessible at their fingertips.
5. Have Commonly Used Things On Hand
In your bathroom, keep toilet paper easy to find if someone runs out so guests aren’t embarrassed to ask. Also, keep a small basket or bin of small toiletries of anything someone may need or may have forgotten: spare toothbrush, travel deodorant and shampoo, toothpaste…you know the drill.
6. Coffee Anyone?
I hate coffee, it’s true. My husband? He doesn’t drink it either. We decided about a year ago that we are on a coffee-less island alone and having a coffee option at your house is great for guests and visitors. We didn’t even have to buy our own coffee maker. We were given one from someone’s wedding gift surplus! Score! Coffee is a nice thing to offer for your company when you are chatting or just winding down from a meal.
7. Serve Dessert
Make being in your home something out of the ordinary for a guest. Dessert isn’t something that most families do regularly at dinner and for the price of a box of brownies, you can treat your company to a simple yet, not everyday little treat.
8. Actually Let Them Inside…It Helps
If you wait until your house is clean and perfect, you may never have anyone over ever. Get comfortable with good enough and know that the more your life and home reflects real life, the more comfortable they will feel because it will look a lot like their lives!
9. To Guests With Kids…Tell Them It’s Okay!
Tell them they can be kids at your house! Pull the toys out, shut the doors of rooms you don’t want them in and let parents feel like they don’t have to constantly police where their kids are and what they are touching. When a kid runs through my house or jumps off of our couch and the mom embarrassingly says, “I’m so sorry!” You know what I say? “They are fine! My kids do that all of the time!” You say whatever fits there, but you know what happens? Parents still will tell them not to do it again almost every time because they respect you and your things, but they just may breathe easier and feel a little more at HOME! If you can’t have kids in your house without a load of “Don’t touch that” or “Don’t be so loud” etc., you will never be able to make families with young children comfortable in your house. Everyone has rules for their home and that’s fine, but there is a line of trumping things more than the people who come to use your things. Let not just people, but families know that they can relax in your home! You aren’t running the Ritz Carlton. You are a real mom, friend, person, etc. with a real home with real people coming to it! As a frequent guest of homes myself, there is nothing more stressful or un-enjoyable than worrying about your kids every 5 seconds because of how someone makes you feel in their home. Have people to a HOME, not a museum and know the difference.
10. Forget the size of your home and bank account
Hospitality does not come with financial or home requirements. Hospitality is being welcoming with what you have and it’s making someone feel at home. Feelings don’t take dollars or square feet to achieve. If you can’t afford dinner, have people over for cookies or coffee or both if you’re feeling all sorts of wild and crazy. You may not have a big space, but you have enough to have some people over. Set up folding chairs or take it outside. Small is cozy and charming and bonding and making memories doesn’t have to be over steak! If you let what you can do or provide hold you back, you may be cheating yourself out of some great experiences and some great relationships.
11. Mind your Fur Babies
I know Johnny Jumper Butts is your favorite dog on the planet, but not everyone likes dogs jumping on them, sitting on them, or around their kids. I have a cat, but I know people may be allergic and I even have a few friends afraid of cats. Put them in a room, shut them in the garage, but don’t make someone feel uneasy, sneezy or obligated to stroke your teacup Yorkie dog all night. They aren’t for everyone and putting them up for guests is an easy thing to do for your company. Unless you know for sure it’s not a problem, hug a tree, love your pets, but put the pooches and the pussy cats up for your persons.
Me and this wreath fell in love and made heart babies. This is one of my most favorite wreaths I’ve EVER made. I love the fuzzy little fern leaves, mix of flowers and bright cheery colors. I used a stick wreath vs. a covered straw wreath this time and I painted the sticks lightly, as you can see below. Me likes.
Using a mix of regular old Hobby Lobby felt, good fabric scissors and a lot of that dangerously burning hot glue, I concocted this little wreath baby.
My favorite flowers are the big coral peony lookin’ one and the yellow rolled flowers with dark centers. They remind me of anemones which makes me smile….big time. (Even though it’s not really what they look like. I said REMINDS. Let’s not get too crazy.)
Did you fall in love with this wreath?!? Just remember, I did too and we made heart children so it would be inappropriate to get too close. You can still love it from a respectable distance like an old woman Bieber fan.
I found this recipe in a Kroger magazine of all places and thought they were easy, cute and fun for kids to make!
For 10 dollars or less, you can make a few shy of 2 million bird feeders. It’s fast and you can be creative. Shapowzers. I also used cookie cutters in the shape of trees and houses to make different shapes. It was easier to fill up and pack down a cookie cutter then to mold them by hand.
Mail a half recipe of the dry ingredients to a friend and her kids as a fun spring craft or package it in a colored mason jar like I did below. Just fill the mason jar in layers of ingredients, just like you would a food recipe in a jar gift. I attached a craft paper envelope with the recipe, as well as an example feeder as decor. Pretty special, y’all. Pin, share, and enjoy this craft or easy spring “Just thinking of you” affordable gift!!
Recipe
1 envelope gelatin
1/2 cup warm water
3/4 cup flour
3 TBSP light corn syrup
4 cups wild bird seeds
Yeilds
Apprx 20 wreaths or more! Whoa mini bird feeders….calm down.
Directions
Mix all ingredients together with a whisk in a mixing bowl. Add bird seed once everything else is mixed through. Use a spoon, or ice cream scooper worked best for me, and dollop balls onto wax or parchment paper. Press down with a large wooden or plastic spoon. Use finger to make a hole in the center and let dry overnight! Use ribbon or string to hang your feeders in a semi-sheltered place from rain. Get your birdie on.
While I love to decorate and find that it comes pretty naturally, I have many friends who find decorating and figuring out what to do as fun as doing your taxes while listening to NPR.
To those of you decoration-ally challenged or to anyone who saw a room you just LOVE, you can put a room together better than you think with one easy step.
What is the secret? What is the step?
FOLLOW THEIR FORMULA.
Most people see a room and think, “I love it!” so I’m going to use those colors or buy that one rug or picture they have. But, how can you get a whole room that is more tied in together? Whether you know it or not, you love that perfect home picture or perfect decor pin for more than just that print or wall color. What you love and what you really want is how it ALL ties together and how they did that is the “formula”. It’s easier than you think!!
It goes a little something like this….check this, y’all. Look at this picture here. Let’s pretend I love this room from Young House Love, but no pretending necessary because I totally do! It’s a very simple room so a great example to start with.
Rug in a bold and LARGE print (Try Overstock for the best prices, free shipping and a gabillion choices to search by. You can find a similar rug to what you are looking for there, I’m sure!)
Nuetral Walls
Bring the color of the curtain rods into the legs of the furniture piece. Also note, they are both metal.
Use a chair in a SMALL, not large print. (Tip: If you use a large print focal point, you want to use smaller prints in other spots. A room can’t be all large or all small busy prints, but a balance adds interest.)
Pull a solid color from the chair for the curtains.
Add greenery as decor and use a natural wood to add texture like they did in the table top.
Large metal pendant fixture, nuetral, but ties in with your rods and furniture legs.
If you can, paint your ceilings and make that color choice, your accent color.
Pull accent color down into the table and or wall decor.
If you cannot paint your ceilings and you are mimicking a room, use a large piece of art and pull a main accent from that piece.
The overall formula: a few bold pieces and a simple 4 toned color scheme (including the white walls as part of that scheme) with simple decor. Clean, non busy, airy, with pops of color.
You can do this with any room or pin you see! How and where did they use a pattern? What is the main color they use and what are the accent colors? How often and where did they use those accent colors? I’m basically telling you, don’t copy a room, copy it’s blueprint! You can look like a better decorator than you are! You might just surprise yourself…and your walls….and your friends….and your family….and your eyeballs.
Send me a picture of a look you want to achieve by attaching a picture in the comments or sending me an email herpartypants@gmail.com and I’ll break the code for you!
Now THIS is a simple cake from my rainbow party pre this site! Even if you aren’t all that crafty, I created this cake largely using fondant cutters. What’s easier than basically using cookie cutters, guys? Nothing. It’s sort of like being a Playdoh expert. Just make sure that you use a fondant roller to make your cut outs even pre-cut, Playdoh queen.
I free handed the rainbow and cloud, but I used a circle cutter and petal cutters in 2 sizes to make this beast mode sun. Like the rainbow, I love doing cakes where designs spill over the side!
I used a different flower cutter, daisy I believe, to make the grass border. I cut solid green daisies out, sliced them horizontally and laid them end-to-end making a grass trim. I added tiny little flowers to the grass to add a little simple touch and guess what? I used fondant cutters for that 🙂 And the number 1? I won’t insult your intelligence
I designed this simple, clean, playful and colorful cake and I truly believe you can make it. Go be a baller and if you’re lucky, a shot caller.
This detail is from my Simple Rainbow Birthday Party I did years before I ever thought I would start planning parties. I still LOVE these favors. For these I used Izze drinks which are a colorful, healthier and already sweet in their original packaging. ‘
In small celophane bags, I added colored gumballs and Skittles to the bottom, centered a drink in the middle of the candy and added colorful paper straws. I tied them with orange ribbon and “Thank You” tags I stamped myself. They looked awesome on the tables and the kids loved them. AND I think they are unique which, you know, gets me all kinna’ excited!
I love the display, the color and the clean modern look. This favor WINS!
P.S.- These pictures were taken under fluorescent lights, our home’s previous owners favorite thing. The show must go on!
Many moons ago, I use to make cakes in my pre-children life. Making cakes is crazy, but I’m glad I did it for a season. I wanted to add some of my cakes to the detail category so here I go with numero uno.
I made this cake for my oldest’s 1st birthday which was “modern farm” theme. I will do the invites in another post because they were cute but modern and not too kiddish.
This cake is iced in buttercream and decorated in fondant and it’s all edible. It’s one of my favorite cakes that I ever made and I’m glad it was for my own! I love the details of the hen which I’m pretty sure isn’t accurate with it’s gobbler thing and the horses. Horses were on both sides of the cakes but only one set shown here! I think it’s cute which may not count since I made it….
A friend of mine recently had a new baby and when someone has a few kiddos already, you get creative and gift the whole family! I made a practical family gift box (and it literally was a box wrapped in paper) and I included something little for everyone.
What’s in the box?
Mom and Dad’s favorite chips and a drink for each
BabyGanics bubble bath for the 2 big sisters (completely free of all dyes/perfumes and ANYTHING that can bother little girl’s particulars in the bath)
Diapers for the new bundle
A gift card to Pizza Hut for an easy, hassle free meal
Disposable cups and plates to save mom the chore of dishes for a little while
Easy, practical and you can make it anything you want! And before I go, can we get a moment of silence for that killer wrapping paper?!!!! A little known factoid on me: wrapping paper is my favorite and this Ikea gift wrap was so perfect, I bought in two colors! Hollllerrrrrr! The colors aren’t really neon-y in person but either way, killer!!!
