Happy Easter!

Can you believe it's Easter already?? I sure can't... it means that I've officially entered what has been dubbed "Birthday Week." I'm not sure what it is about late July/early August that is so tantalizing, but come late April, there are A LOT of birthdays around here! Growing up, this time of year was filled with cupcakes and class parties. Four other people shared my birthday (the 28th!) in my graduating class alone, not to mention the several others who had birthdays within a week of that! It was kind of an awesome thing to celebrate all together and I wouldn't trade my birthday for a "rarer" one (do "rare" birthdays exist? I believe laws of probability would say "no"). What I love about so many birthdays being close together means more people are celebrating and enjoying themselves during that time. Hands-down, the best birthdays were those celebrated out in Colorado. This is because "birthday week" became exactly that - a week long celebration of several birthdays with my roommates. One on the 24th (Happy Birthday Julianne!!), another on the 26th (Happy early Birthday Mandy!), and mine on the 28th. It. Was. Awesome. I miss my birthday week buddies...

Like I said, I can't believe it's Easter - and Birthday Week - already! I did exactly one thing to prepare for Easter: Glitter eggs. Yup. Found a kit at Meijer for GLITTER EGGS! Do you know how excited I was to see these?? Actually, I'm pretty sure that I made no outward sign of excitement. It was just that I saw the kit, and within two seconds it was in my hand. Not in the cart - in my hand. And the eggs are so beautiful! I highly recommend this kit to anyone who enjoys sparkles, but not to those who dislike glitter's "automatically-and-permanently-attached-to-everything" attribute.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and that your Spring is a little less soggy than mine! Seriously, I know the adage "April showers bring May flowers," but I really wasn't expecting THIS many showers - AND SNOW! Oi. I'll just cling to the hope that May will be full of beautiful blooms, and then *sigh* sweet, sweet summertime... Can't wait! 

DIY Favors

Right now everything is CRAZY! But in a good way. I'm so sorry for not posting in awhile, but I'll try to make up for it. Last night I was looking at my calendar and realized my birthday is in just a few weeks, and I'm too busy to celebrate it! How sad... a Monday night get together with friends will have to suffice. Despite my inability to have a big party, they're all I can think about right now. Especially since I have 5 weddings on the books this summer and I'm playing a part in each. And really, what's a wedding other than an big party to celebrate love? In my opinion, that's the best kind of party. So, I've been perusing various themed favors, invitations, decorations, et cetera... and I love it. The best things that I've found are the DIY details. While it's far easier and less stressful to purchase tidbits for parties, everything just has that extra "oomph" when handmade. Here are some of the best things I found:

Photo courtesy of momomushy.blogspot.com

I'm a huge popcorn fan. The best is when you make a BIG batch of popcorn with an air popper and 

and put it all in a giant bag (I used to just use a garbage bag -while still sterile from the box of course!), pour in your ingredients, and shake it all up. Perfect for a party. And just look at this crafty little wonder of a favor! I suppose it doesn't have to be a popcorn bag, you can print whatever you'd like. But how great are these! At momomushy.blogspot.com you can find a tutorial on how to make these Printable Popcorn Bags. 

Photo courtesy of marthastewartweddings.com

Good ol' Martha Stewart. She never fails to make me feel incredibly lazy. Follow this link to see a whole slide show on her site about using "Favors as Centerpieces." You can do this for weddings, tea parties (I'm far overdue for one...) showers, etc. It takes care of two things at once and allows the guests to interact with the decorations. My favorite idea is to have flowers, herbs, or saplings as the centerpieces so your guests can take home something that will live on and last far longer than just the event. 

Uhmmmmm.... this WILL be happening at my wedding. These are sweeping the nation as a party sensation because, let's be honest, a candy buffet = AMAZINGNESS. I'm pretty sure that I would actually be quite content creating a candy buffet any chance I get because they are so beautiful while playing into that "kid in a candy shoppe" fantasy. Just look at the possibilities!

Yummmmmm... my favorite thing about candy buffets is that you can get (or make if you're so ambitious) candy in any color combination you want. Fabulous. 

Back to Martha Stewart. This woman is unstoppable. I know that she has a whole crew of crafters to help her, but... I'm still amazed by her. Who would have thought you could make a chandelier out of doilies?? I had no idea. But this will probably be something featured in an upcoming blog. Here's the tutorial - SO SIMPLE! And the result is so pretty...

Well, I am ready to plan a party for 300. How about you? =) Let me know if you have any other DIY party favor/decor ideas, I'd love to see them! Especially since this is my current obsession...