Blowout Party, making parties fabulous and fun!

{Elegant Impressions Magazine} May 2012

Amy Oren — Mon, 07 May 2012 06:24:31 +0000

Check out the May issue of Elegant Impressions Magazine! It’s full of gorgeous recipes and dessert tables!

Bowling Party

Amy Oren — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 03:29:09 +0000

Amanda Parker from Shindig Parties To Go designed this fabulous bowling party for her child’s party!

In her own words…

“Sometimes being the owner of a party business means own children’s birthdays can sneak up on you. And this year, a week before my middle child’s birthday we realized we had no plans — Oh no! We decided a last minute bowling party was the way to go. Acting quickly to pull it all together involved an almost all-nighter of designing a set of printables and luckily, we sent out invitations the very next day.

Starting with the dessert table, I decided to create an eye-catching centerpiece made from paper mache boxes covered in patterns to coordinate with the BOWLING PARTY COLLECTION. The base in bold black and white stripes was a fun find from Hobby Lobby, and the “11” on the top was created from wood numbers covered in turquoise glitter cardstock. The red center box was covered in red wrapping paper from Walmart and the top box was covered in the printable black chevron paper from the printables collection.

To save time, the cupcakes and cookies were also store-bought and embellished with printable cupcake toppers and gorgeous fondant toppers from the talented Brittany of Edible Details. Brittany is such a dream to work with and came to my rescue sending me adorable coordinating fondant toppers in just the nick of time.

On either side of the centerpiece, tiered boxes held a fun bowling topper created from the printable bowling pins from the collection and a styrofoam ball covered in decoupaged black napkins to resemble a bowling ball. A simple backdrop made from a 4’x4’ piece of ¼” plywood covered in alternating pieces of black and white 12”x12” scrapbook paper was a striking complement to the rest of the dessert table decor.

Other items on the dessert table included candy bars wrapped in Bowling Party printable designs and Dollar Tree favor boxes covered in a printable black and white stripe paper to hold popcorn for the guests. A printable bowling ball design was added to the front of each snack box to tie in the theme.

After a rousing round of bowling, the kids sat down to a fabulous party table with their own place settings including a trophy holding pixie sticks and a small pennant flag name card. Paper cups were embellished with ribbon and a printable bowling party logo.

The table itself was covered in a turquoise table covering from Party City and a simple strip of black and white dot wrapping paper was used as a table runner. This is a great way to add visual interest to the center of a long table without spending alot. Miniature bowling themed candy bars and Hershey Kisses lined the center of the table as well as various centerpiece pennants and starbursts from the Bowling Party printable collection.

Read more about this party at Shindig Parties to Go and get the printables here.

First Birthday Outfits {and Bow Giveaway!}

Amy Oren — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 04:54:20 +0000

How adorable is this little cutie?! I just love little tutu first birthday outfits! Beana Baby Boutique has a fabulous selection of birthday party outfits complete with colorful tutus, onesies, and hair bow to match!

They even offer customization on many on their 1st birthday outfits- you can add your girls name and initials. These gorgeous 1st birthday outfits are great for 1st birthday parties, photos, and make a great keepsake for your little girl.

If you’re doing a themed birthday party, they have a stunning array of themed first birthday party outfits too.

Beana Baby Boutique is not just for babies- they’ve got adorable and frilly tutus and outfits for little girls and big girls too!

Every little girl wants to feel like a beautiful ballerina!

I love their personalized hair bow holders! I’m always chasing those bows around the house. You’ve got to see their selection of colors and styles- these are great room decor!

You can find hair bows, headband holders and more!

Beana Baby Boutique is giving away a pack of 10 bows- just Like their Facebook page and leave a comment there to be entered in the giveaway!

Check out Beana Baby Boutique now! You’re gonna love it!

{Elegant Impressions Magazine} March 2012

Amy Oren — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 06:17:16 +0000

Check out the March issue of Elegant Impressions Magazine!

{Free Printables!} Valentine’s Day Party

Amy Oren — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:35:39 +0000

You can host a Valentine’s party just like this one- using all FREE PRINTABLES! Deanna from Mirabelle Creations shared this beautifully sweet party with us.

In Deanna’s own words…

I put together a small table, using FREE Valentine’s Day ”Owl Always Love You” printables. I styled the table as something I would do for my children (and spouse) for dessert on Valentine’s Day, a Valentine’s Day breakfast, an after school snack or even a Valentine’s Day playdate. On the table, I included blueberry muffins, strawberry heart-shaped fruit kabobs, strawberry milk and Valentines chocolates. The table also included conversation hearts, wrapped chocolate bars, peppermint marshmallows and cotton candy. It was a very inexpensive table. Here is a breakdown of the costs:

Printables: FREE!

Strawberries: $2.99
Muffins: $3.29
Chocolates: $3.99
Strawberry Syrup: $2.50
Conversation Hearts: $2.00
Chocolate Bars: $3.00
Marshmallows: $2.00
Cotton Candy: $1.00
Ribbon: $5.00
Total: $25.77I already had extra straws, doilies, tablecloths, serveware and paper, used to make the pink paper fans. Although I love throwing big parties, with big budgets, for special occasions, it is nice to be able to make something special for a holiday, without having to spend a lot money. Also, as a mom of two, it is not always feasible to spend hours on a dessert table for holidays, especially since Valentine’s Day falls on a Tuesday this year. This table provides some inspiration for a beautiful, yet simple and inexpensive way to celebrate Valentine’s Day with family and friends!

Fashion Blogs

Amy Oren — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:18:59 +0000

I can’t help it, I love pretty things. It’s why I follow countless blogs, on topics ranging from parties to food, fashion to makeup. One of my favorite fashion blogs out there is Fashion-Isha. Sharon’s writing is funny and interesting, and she showcases fabulous fashion in wonderful taste. Women who value modesty will especially appreciate her refined style. Sharon shows us how to look gorgeous while still emphasizing inner beauty and grace.

Here’s Sharon with Jessica Alba!

If you love fashion, you gotta check out Fashion-Isha‘s blog!

Valentine’s Day Cupid’s Post Office Party

Amy Oren — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:20:10 +0000

Debbie from Wants and Wishes shared with us an incredible Valentine’s Party printable collection that she designed.

This party is setup in 2 parts: the dessert table that is filled with sweets and treats that are cupid worthy, and a Valentine station…. aka Cupid’s post office… where the kids can make valentines and “deliver” them to everybody’s mailboxes.

In Debbie’s words…

Since Cupid’s post office was our theme we incorporated postal items including candy bar wrappers that look like an envelope, post card and stamps. My favorite one is the 5 things I heart about you. You can write your top 5 things you love about your valentine! The favor toppers are square like a postage stamp and has the seal of delivered from Cupid’s Post Office on it. Also, we included hearts and arrows throughout the collection, like our shot through the heart brownies and arrow garlands. We cut heart shaped brownies and stuck an arrow through it! We created arrows out of paper straws and the arrow points and heart “feathers” are included in our Valentine collection. They are very easy and fun to make! This would be a great activity to do with all the kids as well! We have fun heart boxes that you can fill with treats and a little note to give to your valentines! My favorite part… well one of my favorites is our heart cupcake toppers. They are 3 dimensional heart pockets!!!! Fill with candy and a little note to send some love this Valentine’s Day on top of your cupcakes! We have also used our heart pockets attached to a box or attached them to twigs and fill them with candy and love notes that the kids could take off the tree. We will be having 14 days of how to use our printable Valentine collection for your Valentines at wantsandwishesdesign.blogspot.com.

For Cupid’s post office we created a red and pink stripe awning to invite the kids in to sit and make their valentines. The back drop was a hand drawn chair rail and paneling on butcher paper and red and white stripe wrapping paper as the “wallpaper”. We strung garlands, rick rack and mailboxes from the awning. We wanted a spot where the kids could create their valentines. They had array of contains (boxes, paper bags and clear bags) candy and valentines to make, allowing them to create a special valentine for each one on your list!

Stylizing and photography: wantsandwishesdesign.blogspot.com

Printable collection: Wants and Wishes

{Elegant Impressions Magazine} February 2012

Amy Oren — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:55:38 +0000

The new issue of Elegant Impressions Magazine is out and online! Check it out- it’s full of Purim ideas like DIY costumes, decor, tablescape ideas, lots of DIY, and gorgeous and delicious recipes!

Pinspire!

Amy Oren — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:32:17 +0000

I found a really fun social network, I think you’ll love it and I wanted to share it with you. Pinspire is a new way to browse and share beautiful images. Blogs use it to get traffic, and users just have fun browsing it. It’s a lot like google images and twitter combined: where users can post interesting pictures, and visitors can follow their posts, and also follow back to their blog .

The concept is simple you see a picture you like you can pin it into an album and share it with the world. Organize your favorite images into collections, and browse other people’s collections. Check out my new Food collection. Makes me hungry!

I love browsing and finding beautiful images. Here’s my new Design collection.

Pinspire is a much better way to search for images, and it’s a fantastic way to bring free traffic to your blog.

{Elegant Impressions Magazine} January 2012

Amy Oren — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:14:14 +0000

Happy New Year! We welcome the new year with a fabulous first issue of our new party & food magazine Elegant Impressions. This magazine is freely distributed in New York, and it’s available online for all of you as well! It’s a compilation of amazing talent and I know you’ll enjoy reading it. Full of parties, recipes, and tutorials- check it out!