Super Hero / Police Party Sweets Table

Hello!  Oh happy day :)  I'm over at Maddycakes Muse today sharing Ethan's Super Hero / Police Officer / When I Grow Up 5th Birthday party.  I'll be there all week sharing great ideas and tips from Ethan's party. 

There wasn't time in the week to share everything I wanted to at Maddycakes Muse so here is one thing near and dear to my heart - the SWEETS!!!

The centerpiece of this table is a Pottery Barn Kids police station we gave Ethan for his 1st birthday.  I was so excited to be able to incorporate it into the party.  I just love that it served as the stand for my homemade cake and donuts :)  What could be better than to serve donuts out of a police station! I also had donut holes made to look so fashionable in my custom Kandy Kones from Superchick Studios.

Besides the cake, I made almost all of the sweets myself except for the beautiful sugar cookies that were from Happy Cookies.  I also purchased the donuts.  No donut machine at this house - only cake pops :)

The backdrop of the table is a shower curtain from Target!  I love using shower curtains!  They are easy, inexpensive and a perfect size.  The badge emblem is from the talents of Anders Ruff.

 

To give height to the table, I re-purposed the crates I had for our Ice Cream and Lemonade Party.  I used my Silhouette to cut out a city scape for the backdrop of the crates.  I made custom letters using MDF letters from Hobby Lobby that I adhered scrapbook paper and pinwheels.  I had to make a super hero out of one of them and chose the H to do so!

 

 

 

I used various printables from my Anders Ruff printable package in lots of different ways. When using printables, be creative! The cake decorations were printables I scaled down. Also, the embellishments on the pinwheels were also the same printables. 

 

 

 

I made the comic book pinwheels myself. So easy to make! I will feature all of the things I made out of the comic book pages later this week. Such a great inexpensive way to customize a super hero party! I

 

 

 

As I noted, most of the sweets I made myself.  Several members of my family (including me) have Celiac, so it is important to me that I make sweets all family members can enjoy.  It can get quite expensive finding great and good tasting gluten free sweets made by professionals.

 

 

I made the cupcake toppers using the same pinwheel technique, on a smaller scale, using the comic book pages.  I adhered a printable to the front.

My husband claimed the mustaches didn't go with the theme.  I think they made the perfect disguise for a "bad guy" or for a little guy wondering what he'd be when he grows up :)

The rice krispie bars were pre-made, packaged treats (not gluten free) that I simply dipped into chocolate and covered with sprinkles.  Everything tastes better on a stick!

 

The box I used for the custom Kandy Kones were from the $1 aisle at Target. I simply took the bottle wraps from the printable package and pieced them around the box. A simple way to dress up a $1 aisle find!  I shredded more comic books to use as the box filler.

 

 These cookies were my one splurge.  My "cookie lady" is local, and an amazing person.  I love that I can use her talents for my children's parties!

 

 

That's the tour of our sweets table.  Remember, keep it simple and keep it yummy!  Join me tomorrow on Maddycakes Muse for budget friendly party ideas.  You have to check out all the freebies I found for this party!

 

Vendor and Supply Credits:
Printables - Anders Ruff
Super Hero badge cookies - Happy Cookies
Shower curtain city back drop - Target
Peg Doll Cake Toppers - Creative Butterfly
Custom Kandy Kones - Superchick Studios

Sneak Peak of Ethan's Super Hero / Police Party!

Tomorrow my little boy turns 5!  It is so cliche to say, but so true - where did the time go?  And, can you still claim baby weight when your baby is no longer a baby, much less a toddler?

Ethan's party was this past weekend and minus some sprinkles of rain and deflated balloons (despite the promise that they would last for AT LEAST 2 weeks!), the day was perfect!  Ethan had an amazing time with his friends and family.

All next week I will be sharing lots and lots of details of the party on the all new Maddycakes Muse website.  I am so excited!  If you have not seen Michelle's new and improved site, you have to take a look!  In the meantime, because I usually have the first post up within 8 hours of my children's parties, I wanted to share a few sneak peaks of Ethan's party - in honor of his birthday tomorrow.  Please make sure you stop by Maddycakes Muse next week to see all the details.  The following week, I'll have even more details here on Buckets of Grace.

The birthday boy - 5 years later!

 

Sneak Peak of Party Pics

 

 

 

 

 

Deflated Masked Balloons (this pic won't make the Maddycakes Muse website!)

 

I can't wait to share all the great details of this party!  See you all next week!

Back-to-School Teacher Gift

My kiddos go back to school on Tuesday.  Part of me is sad that another summer is coming to an end, but I am also thrilled for some routine, structure and order back in our lives.  Summer has been a whirlwind of activities, no routine bed-times and go, go, go.   All good things must come to an end.

If you follow this blog, you know that I am always on the lookout for a bargain - even if it is several months ahead of when I need something.  This summer I found a steal on those cute plastic cups with the straws that seem to be everywhere.  So, I picked up a few that I planned to use for the kids' back-to-school presents for their teachers.  I added some packets of Crystal Light and here is how they turned out:

Thanks for looking!

Ethan's 5th Birthday Party Prep and EXCITING NEWS!

If this blog was considered a child, I would be reported to the authorities for neglect.  Summer has been SO busy for us like most everyone.  It was hard to think about sitting at a computer blogging when the weather here has been amazing (and HOT) this summer.  We've been on the go, go, go trying to pack in as much as we can before the snow starts to fly. 

With all of that going on, I also have some exciting news!  Michelle (one of the nicest ladies in the party planning business) has asked me to be a guest blogger on her amazing blog, Maddycakes Muse.  I am so thrilled!  Michelle was one of the first party planners to help me out when I started this blog.  Look for my debut the second week of September.

In the mean time, I've also been preparing for Ethan's big 5th birthday. I can't believe my little guy is turning 5. I am in denial.  As most soon-to-be 5 year olds, Ethan has quite the opinions about lots of things.  This year he informed me he wanted a super hero and police birthday party.  Daddy is a police officer and like most 5 year old boys, he thinks he is a super hero.  So, I was up to the challenge - as long as I could find some help in printable land to tie it all together.  Enter the fab ladies at Anders Ruff!

I've used lots of Anders Ruff printables for various parties.  What I love about them - they design for the rich and famous and still are so kind and generous to design for real moms like me out there.  They have two amazing printable sets that I thought would be great for Ethan's party - their super hero theme and police theme.

 

Unfortunately, a girl has to have limits - it would be too hard to use both printable packages.  So, working with Maureen, we came up with this invite:

 

 

To tie both themes together, the party is going to be Ethan's, "When I Grow Up" party.  I will be sharing lots of DIY party details on Maddycakes Muse and also here.  Can't wait!