Heart Shaped Homemade Marshmallows

Chocolates and flowers are nice on Valentine's Day but I think heart-shaped homemade marshmallows are better!  Do you agree?

When planning my Snow in Love Engagement Party photo shoot, I was inspired by marshmallows and decided to take it two steps further by making them and cutting them into heart shapes (using cookie cutters).  The result was fabulous ... just ask my girls who helped me eat the whole batch!

I recommend this fluffy marshmallow recipe ... and if you still need a little chocolate on Valentine's Day, may I suggest a dark chocolate fondue!  Enjoy!

Did this post inspire you to make homemade marshmallows?  If so, please leave me a comment to let me know!

{Snow in Love} Snow Decor

Hosting a Winter ONEderland first birthday, Snow Sprinkle baby shower or Snow in Love engagement party this season?  Then, you'll need a little snow! Even if there is no snow outside, you can still create a snowy experience inside ... which is my preference anyways!  Below are a few ideas for snow decor.

Suggested snow materials include:

Swiss Dot white linens

White china

Clear  or milk glass serving dishes

White round votive candles

Bubble vase filled with baby's breath

Crystal or clear plastic and pearl garland

Clear gemstones

Snowflake ornaments

Clear ornaments

Granular sugar

Powdered sugar

Marshmallows

Coconut

Glitter

What other snow materials do you use or would think to use?  Please leave a comment to let me know.  As you can see in the photo above, I love a mixture of materials, which creates rich texture in your snow design!

For more "Snow in Love" design inspiration, including food and drink suggestions, as well as more photos, please read the January issue of party possibilities.

Mythbusters Photo Booth Fun

If you are hosting a party and want inexpensive interactive entertainment, add a photo booth!  Photo booths are fun for people of all ages. 

Need proof?  Here are photos from my family's recent Valentine's Day party.  For less than $50, I created a photo booth with a fabric backdrop, a few props and chalkboard speech bubbles.  The result was priceless!  Mild-mannered children became outrageously funny with mustaches, big red lips and feathered glasses ... and parents had a blast watching them.

The theme of our Valentine's Day party was Mythbusters, a family favorite TV show.  The original idea was to 'bust' [Valentines] myths (read this post to learn more) but then I came across a silhouette of the hosts' beret, glasses and mustaches (yellow mugs below); it reminded me of the popular mustache-on-a-stick photo booth props ...and totally changed my game plan! 

Just for kix, we did test one myth ... the popular 'will Coke explode when a mentos (candy) is added'.  Confirmed! Just ask my husband, who got sprayed with Coke and still smiled for the kids =)

The rest of the details (photos below) included red, pink and hearts decor; arts and crafts activities like decorate-your-own heart place setting, sunglasses and speech bubble); chocolate-covered spoon favors; and a dessert table that included a big cookie, heart-shaped brownies, fruit with heart-shaped watermelon and a tower of cupcakes plus bowls of M&Ms and Hershey's Hug & Kisses.

I hope that I've inspired you to incorporate photo booth fun into your next party or celebration.  Hands down, this party was my most successful kids party because they loved the photo booth ... and as a special events professional, I've witnessed countless numbers of adults enjoy photo booths at weddings, birthdays, corporate gatherings and networking receptions, too!

Unexpected Materials make a Lovely Tablescape

Happy Valentine's Day!  I've been working on a fun project that I want to share with you today.  It's a tablescape created for my client's Valentine's Day dinner party held this past wekend.

Last month, my client called to enlist my help with setting her table.  A veteran hostess, she has beautiful linens, china, crystal, silver, chargers and napkin rings but she wanted to create a fresh look ... specifically, a classic, romantic look that would include low centerpiece.

I proposed a custom centerpiece made from assorted Christmas balls, fresh flowers, feathers and frosted hurricane lamps.  I love the use of unexpected materials and I've been wanting to create this centerpiece for some time; it was inspired by a 50th birthday party in David Tutera's Big Birthdays book.  She agreed to it immediately ... and the rest is shopping history; who knew it would be so challenging to find Christmas balls right after Christmas???

Anyway, here is the outcome of my creative adventure:

Centerpiece up-close.  In addition to the assortment of ornaments, I tucked red craft boa into a few clear balls; tucked fresh white roses along the rim and repurposed clear ornaments on top as vases to hold a few fresh red roses.  I filled in any additional gaps with playful red feathers.

Place setting

Heart-shaped place card incorporates the playful red feather.

Scarlet red velvet chair ties are the finishing touches to this romantic tablescape!

Many thanks to Cathy for inviting me back into her home and trusting my creativity!

Be My Valentine Chocolate Covered Spoons

If you are looking for a last minute, easy to make and unique Valentine treat for tomorrow, let me suggest Chocolate Covered Spoons ... the perfect complement for hot chocolate!  Yes, I just made some for my girls' party this afternoon.  That's my photo below.

I really wish that I could remember who inspired me to make these charming treats because they are so easy to make.  Basically, I melted white chocolate chips in a double-boiler; dipped the plastic spoon into the chocolate; added a dash of sprinkles; and let it dry on wax paper.  To speed up the drying process, I put the spoons in the refigerator.  Once dried, I put the spoons in a plastic treat bag.

I'm so happy with the outcome of this treat! I hope my daughters' friends enjoy them with their hot chocolate.

Be Mine Mojitos and other Love Potions

Have you ever looked for one thing only to discover another thing, and it looks better than the original thing?  That's what happened this morning. I was looking for a love potion and discovered Be Mine Mojitos ... as well as Cupids Kiss, Hope Floats and Love Potion #9 on Oprah's Valentine's Day Cocktail Menu. 

Be Mine Mojito - I like this berry much!

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces Bacardi Razz (white rum optional)

1 ounce simple syrup

1/2 lime , freshly squeezed

12 to 14 fresh mint leaves

4 raspberries

4 blackberries

Sprig of mint

Directions

In a tall glass, lightly muddle the lime juice, 3 raspberries, 3 blackberries, simple syrup and mint leaves. The trick is to muddle just enough to release the oils from the mint leaves while leaving them intact. Add crushed ice and rum, and top with soda. Stir until the outside of the glass begins to frost. Garnish with the leftover berries speared with a mint sprig. Serves 1.

Cupid's Kiss - pucker up for chocolate!

Hope Floats - a little bubbly with sorbet is like a lot of XOXO's!

Love Potion #9 - this recipe serves a crowd!

Cheers to a wonderful Valentine's Day celebration!

Love Bug B-I-N-G-O

Looking for a fun activity to play at your child's Valentine's Day party?  Try BINGO!

I made BINGO cards for my Love Bug Bash last year and it was a hit!  The cards were easy to make.  I printed the BINGO table (or frame) on cardstock and rubber stamped the squares.  To make each card slightly different (and reduce the time stamping), I filled in some squares with different expressions like BEE MINE or LUV YOU.  We used M&Ms as markers; mini marshmallows would work too!

For more inspiring Love Bug and or Valentine's Day party ideas, including a Love Bug Party Planner (below), please read this month's party possibilities newsletter, published by posh parties, LLC.

Valentine's Day Party Ideas

Valentine's Day is about two weeks away.  Are you ready?  Me neither but I've been doing a lot of research this week and discovered some great ideas like ...

Love Rocks - and so does this invitation!

{Purchase printables}

Chic paper roses to adorn the table. 

Almost as pretty as the real deal for fraction of the cost and it has a longer shelf life.  Love that!

{Paper Flower tutorial}

You've Got Mail ... mailboxes on silver candlesticks! Pretty posh decor for a Love Letter Exchange.

Cute Cookie Centerpiece!  I'm borrowing this idea for my own party.

Remember this sweet dessert?  It makes me smile everytime ...

Stella & Dot necklace?  No, it's homemade with GUMBALLS!  Sweet!

iPhone Valentine's Day card!

{Free download}

More party inspiration?  Take a look at last year's Love Bug Bash!

Let me know which Valentine's Day idea inspires you!

Photo credits: Frog Prince Paperie, Divine Party Concepts, Paper & Pigtails, Create My Party, Maddycakes Muse, One Charming Party, Living Locurto and posh parties, LLC.

I *HEART* Twinkies!

This dessert makes me smile!!  Hope it makes you smile, too!

Thanks to Maddycakes Muse for originally sharing this recipe - and brightening my day!

INGREDIENTS:

3 Tbsp seedless red raspberry jam
1 cup fresh raspberries
2 Twinkies snack cakes

PREPARATION:

1. Stir jam and 1 Tbsp water in a bowl until smooth. Add raspberries; toss gently to coat.

2. Cut Twinkies in half diagonally, starting about 1 in. down from top left to 1 in. from bottom of opposite side. For each heart, put 2 halves together on 1 serving plate. Spoon raspberry mixture over and around hearts. Garnish with mint, if desired.

Love Bug Bash Valentines Day Party

Each year, my family hosts a Valentine's Day party for my girls' cousins, best friends and their siblings - about a dozen kids.  Each year, there is a different theme.  One year, it was a silly Knock-Knock party; another year, a Royal Celebration (for my little princesses) complete with a chocolate fountain.  And last year, we had an Out-of-this-World party and made paper airplanes to fly through the house; that was a blast!

This year, I decided on a Love Bug theme - inspired by Sizzix rubber stamps (on sale!); they are so cute.  From there, I had many ideas to bring the love bug theme to life - most shown below.

The invitation; bug juice (strawberry milk) served in bottles, which were later decorated into bug jars; a love bug'banner' on the front door; and adult refreshments.

Food for this afternoon party featured a dessert buffet - cake pops, heart shaped brownies, sweet strawberries, and antique dishes of Sweethearts and M&Ms (or talkin' love bugs and cupids mix as I called them)

Decor was minimal but colorful and fun for maximum impact.  I focused on the dining room table where the activities would be conducted and the dessert table (above).  I wrapped the table in pink wrapping paper (Paper Source), set out a red table runner (from Christmas).  Then, I put faux grass mats on top and decorated with bugs - yellow bumble bees (both from Heart to Heart) and lady bug candles (from my home).

To keep the kids busy, we made love bugs - decorated (bug juice) bottles with heart-shaped stickers, pom-poms and pipe cleaners.  See photos above.  This became a take-home gift that the kids could use in the spring to catch bugs.

After a quick snack, we made cootie catchers - also known as fortune tellers.  I showed the older kids how to fold a square piece of (Valentine's Day print) paper, how to decorate with colors, numbers and fortunes and finally, how to play.  This was a really fun activity and game!

Lastly, we played Love Bug Bingo - hand-stamped custom cards with a lot of images for the younger kids and letters arranged for special sayings (B-E-E H-A-P-P-Y, for example).  We used M&Ms for markers - but could only play 3 games because we ate most of the markers! 

Later in the evening, as I cleaned up, my 3 year old told me that she had the best Valentine's Day party ever - and I think she did, we all did!

Love Bug Bash

I'm so excited!  It's almost Valentines Day and my family is hosting our annual party.  Above is the invitation to our Love Bug Bash.  The theme was inspired by the 'cute as a bug' rubber stamps by Sizzix.

The invitation was super easy to make.  I wrapped lady bug ribbon around a red flat card.  On red oval-shaped cardstock, I stamped and embossed the bug and affixed to a slightly larger black oval-shaped cardstock; with glue dots, I attached both pieces to the ribbon.  On the other side, I printed text from a Word document onto a pink flat card and then, rubber stamped and embossed another bug. Using glue dots, I affixed the pink flat card to the red card.

Also, I decided on a new font - Ability (myfonts.com).  Do you like it?

I have a lot of ideas to bring this 'love bug' party theme to life.  I can't wait to share them with you in the next two weeks!