Category Archives: Party!

DIY Paper Flower Crowns

01 Monday Apr 2013

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I hope you all had a good weekend, and a great Easter if you celebrated.  We are back at home after a lovely weekend in New Hampshire. We got to visit with family, hunt for eggs in the snow and eat lots of good food.  The girls loved their Easter treats.  I made up some extra flowers when I was working on their Apple Surprise Balls and used them to make flower crowns for their baskets.  These lightweight crowns make a nice alternative to party hats for birthdays and are inexpensive to create.  To make your own Paper Flower Crown you will need:

*How to Make Crepe Paper Flowers book (We have the 1922 version)

*Variety of Crepe Paper (We used this 100 gms paper from Papermart, and each flower used less than one roll of paper)

*Thin Headband

*Floral Tape

*Floral Wire (We used straight 18 gauge wire)

*Craft Glue

*Scissors

*Pinking Shears (optional)

*Card Stock for Patterns

1. Follow these directions to make Flower Crowns.  We omitted the ribbon for these light-weight crowns.

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Josie’s Party on Apartment Therapy

27 Wednesday Mar 2013

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We are thrilled that Josie’s Second Birthday Party has been featured on Apartment Therapy!  You can see the Jade and Red Post on Best Kids Parties here.  Thank you Apartment Therapy!

Happy Birthday Josie!

01 Friday Mar 2013

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It is hard to believe our little Josie is already two!  It seems like just the other day when Chris and I were planning our last weekend alone and my water broke two weeks early.  Josie has been sweet and kind and funny ever since her unexpected arrival.  Thank you for always making us smile Ms. Josie.  We had a little party this weekend and celebrated the actual day yesterday with cupcakes and berries and a pair of footie pjs from Daddy.

* Party Decorations.  Balloons from Bargain Balloons and silver and white lanterns from Tail of the Yak.  Heart Garland How-To Here.

*Coconut Cake from Ina Garten’s yummy recipe.  Beeswax number candle from Clothes  Pony/ Dandelion Toys in Fort Collins, CO – The Best Toy Store!  The Jadeite was an amazing Craigslist score.

*Bathroom hyacinth in a favorite Swanky Swig.

*Josie’s yearly Birthday Crown.  Cape by Wovenplay.

*Gift Bag Contents.  (I used to be anti-giftbag.  We never had these when I little, but kids love them and Ada insisted on making these).  Straws from Shop Sweet Lulu, mini fans and spirals from Pearl River Trading ,tape from Target.

*Cherry Vanilla Birthday Ice Cream.

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

27 Wednesday Feb 2013

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CherryIceCreamJosie turns two tomorrow (!) and we came up with this Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe for her party.  I was dreaming of cherry ice cream this year, even though we are months from seasonal cherries.  We ended up using frozen cherries and changing up Ina Garten’s Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.  We added almond extract and concentrated black cherry juice to make the flavor more intense and the results were pretty yummy,  if I do say so myself.  Josie just saw the ice cream photo on my screen and begged for more ice cream for breakfast.  Success.  To make your own Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream you will need:

*Ice Cream Maker

*3 Cups of Good Quality Heavy Cream (The quality makes all the difference!)

*2/3 Cups + 1 Tablespoon Sugar

*1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

*3/4 Teaspoon Almond Extract

*One Vanilla Bean

*Two 12 Oz Packs of Unsweetened Frozen Cherries

*4-5 Tablespoons Black Cherry Juice Concentrate (We used this from Dynamic Health.  You could also cook down unsweetened cherry juice)

1. Heat cream, sugar, vanilla, scraped seeds from vanilla bean and empty seed pod in saucepan until sugar dissolves.  Place mixture in refrigerator to cool.

2. Pour the frozen cherries into a deep sauté pan and cook down over medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring often.  The cherries will release a lot of liquid at first and then begin to look more gel-like.  When liquid seems to be thickening, add cherry concentrate, almond extract and tablespoon of sugar.  Cook a few more minutes until mixture resembles loose jam.

3. Place mixture in refrigerator to cool.

4. After an hour add cream and cherry mixture together, put into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s directions.

5. Allow ice cream to chill in freezer when complete and soften slightly before serving.

Enjoy!

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Our Etsy Shop is Open!

12 Tuesday Feb 2013

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EtsyBanner2Our Etsy shop is open!  We have been working hard to get the final details finished and I am happy to say we are open for business.  You can find our Headband Feather Crowns at http://www.etsy.com/shop/jeannerondeau.  The crowns are made in adult and kids’ sizes and my girls like to wear them for dress-up.  All of the pieces are made by hand using vintage fabrics, beads and sequins and each crown is one-of-a-kind.  We also do custom work.  We will continue to add more items to the shop, so please visit us often!
 
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Kid Gifts: Target Art Supplies

31 Thursday Jan 2013

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GiftsArt supplies are one of my favorite gifts for kids.  I try to keep a supply on hand for birthday gifts and moments of desperation.  These Kid Made Modern art supplies by Todd Oldham for Target occupy a large section in our emergency party box.  The quality is great and I love the Kid Made Modern packaging and smart, thoughtful art kits.  This Construction Zone block of paper has lots of great colors and patterns and different weights of paper.  The Mini Colored Pencils are perfect for little hands and the colors are beautiful.  I recently added these paper tapes from the Target office section to our arsenal.  The tapes come in packs of four and are $4 per pack.  My kids can spend hours tearing and sticking paper tape (exhibit A here).  It is good to be prepared.

The Magic Garden

23 Wednesday Jan 2013

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MagicGarden1MagicGarden2MagicGarden3Do you remember these?  We used to get smaller versions when we were kids, but I’d never seen one quite so elaborate until I found this at Pearl River.  This Mystical Garden by Toysmith has cardboard trees, grass and a mountain to assemble before the mystery liquid is poured into the base.  (This assembly is best done by an adult).  Our crystals formed within the hour and were done growing within 10 hours.  The mountain really looked like it was growing snow and the trees bloomed cherry blossoms.  Kids should not touch the crystals or liquid, but these are pretty amazing to watch grow on a shelf.  The small price tag makes this Mystical Garden a fun party favor or add-on gift for kids.  Magic.

DIY German Glass Glitter Stars

20 Tuesday Nov 2012

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German glass glitter is amazing stuff.  It tarnishes as it ages and creates a super-sparkly vintage look.  We used silver to make our stars, but the glitter also comes in lots of beautiful colors.  German glass glitter is actually made from glass, so you need be careful and wear gloves when you work with it, but the results are worth the extra care.  We made these star and moon decorations for a friend’s birthday party.  They hung on the edges of a stage and were bright in the candle and stage lights.  We took some home for Ada’s room after the party.  To make your own Glass Glitter Stars you will need:

*Cardboard (We used recycled boxes)

*German Glass Glitter

*Craft Glue

*Hole Punch

*Scissors

*Large Paintbrush (To spread glue)

*String to Hang

*Wax Paper

*Rubber Gloves (to protect hands)

1. Draw stars and moon shapes onto cardboard and cut out.

2. Punch a hole in each for hanging.

3. Lay cardboard shapes out on layers of wax paper and squeeze a generous amount of glue on each star.

4. Using the paintbrush, spread glue evenly over the entire surface of stars and moon.

5. Put on the gloves.  Sprinkle glitter heavily over glue and leave a thick layer of glitter as the glue dries.  Be sure to leave the punched hole clear of glitter.  Use a pencil to clean out hole if needed.

6. Carefully shake off excess glitter onto the wax paper when glue is dry.  The paper can then be folded and extra glitter returned to the container for reuse.

7. Flip stars and moon over and repeat glue and glitter process.  (Don’t forget to leave your hole clear for hanging).

8. When both sides of stars are dry, string them up out of reach of the kids.

*These stars would make beautiful Christmas tree ornaments or garland!

Some other sparkly projects you might like:

DIY Vintage Crepe Paper Flower Hat

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in Party!, Projects, Vintage

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My Mother-in-Law gave me this amazing How to Make Crepe Paper Flowers book for my birthday last year and I have been waiting for the right time to put it to use.  My copy is from 1922 and contains the secrets to making realistic flowers from crepe paper.  Needles to say, I am in love with this book!  Ebay has several copies for sale here.  The flowers turned out better than I had thought possible and we used them to make a special birthday hat for our friend Sandy.  To make your own Crepe Paper Flower Hat you will need:

*How to Make Crepe Paper Flowers book

*Variety of Crepe Paper (We used this 100 gms paper from Papermart, and each flower used less than one roll of paper)

*Headband

*Floral Tape

*Floral Wire (We used straight 18 gauge wire)

*Craft Glue

*Scissors

*Pinking Shears (optional)

*Card Stock for Patterns

*Ribbon to Tie Hat (optional)

1. Prepare patterns.  Our copy of the book did not come with the original patterns, so we followed the drawings in the book and made our own from card stock.  Label each pattern for future use.

2. Following directions from the book, make up flowers and leave stem wires long until you are ready to apply to the hat.  We used 9 flowers to make our hat.  It is helpful to hold finished flowers in a vase or cup as you go.

3. Lay ribbon over ends of headband about 2″ and glue.  (Our hat was a little heavy, so we added the ribbon to make it more secure for dancing).

4. Wrap headband with floral tape up until the point you want to add a flower.  (Start on one side of the headband and add flowers up and over to the other side).

5. Put a spot of glue over the floral tape and wind a 1″ strip of green crepe paper around the headband over the tape, gently pulling tight as you go.  This will be the visible headband covering, so try to keep it neat.  Our strip was about 15″ long x 1″ wide.

6. Trim the wire on first flower to about 3″, position it and use floral tape to secure to the headband.

7. Wrap green crepe paper over floral tape as you go, covering the headband between each flower.

8. Position the second flower and repeat the wrapping.

9. When all flowers are in place wrap the floral tape and crepe paper down to the other end of the headband and secure crepe with a little glue.

10. Allow the hat to dry.

Get your party on!

You may also like these projects:

Happy Birthday Lily!

14 Wednesday Nov 2012

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Happy Birthday to my beautiful, brave, friendly, inquisitive, funny, crazy friend Lily.  Thanks for the adventures- from traveling the world to chasing Monita around Manhattan to searching for secret subway tunnels with the double stroller…We are so happy you are in our lives! XOXO