THE Ultimate I LOVE BEING A Girl Party!!!!

WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!!! I think that this party from Couture Parties is THE most beautiful GIRL CELEBRATION EVER!!!!

First, being a chip and dip girl, I LOVE the individual dip cups idea. SO COOL!!! Hello, lipstick on the mirror!!! SWOON!!!!

I might just pass out at the sight of this dress made of carnations and magazines & the "chandelier" made of Christmas tree icicles.! DOUBLE SWOON!!!

Stephanie's "THIS IS ME" wall has sent me over the edge and into a river of triple SWOON SOUP!!!!!!!!!!

YOU MUST my bloggy girlfriends go check out all the SWOONY details at Hostess with The Mostess Blog and then check out The Couture Parties Blog!

I LOVE BEING A GIRL!!!
Big Hugs From Texas, Tara

"When You Look at a Cupcake You've Got to Smile!"

If you look up ADORABLE in the dictionary I am pretty sure a photo of THIS cupcake topiary will be included with the definition!!
How fun and unique. I love unique and if you can EAT the unique, its even better!! Visit Miss Prissy Paige for her cupcake topiary tutorial!!

Speaking of baking. I am loving this and this BAKING BIRTHDAY PARTY theme. I MUST keep that in the "to do" file, for when my angels get a little bit older!

ADORABLE!!!!!
Hugs,
Tara

Tis the Season of Party Planning

I attend and host an INSANE amount of parties in the months of May, June and July. I have come across SO many FABULOUS party and gift ideas today. Here is a little sample of the fun...

Lulu and Junebugs Hair Bow Bouquets WOW, I thought using hair bows to decorate wrapped packages was a good idea but AS THE GIFT!!! I LOVE IT!!!

Mommy Topic's CANDY CAKE!!! The hubby LOVES M&M's and since we have the same birthday, I'm sure I will get at least one slice. YUMMMMMYYYYY!!!

OR
Mommy Topics Customized Party Plate Tutorial!! STOP IT!!! The possibilities are ENDLESS!!! These would even make a great hostess gift, right? LOVE IT!!

Ok, Ill admit it. I have a new "blog crush!" Do you blame me? After reading Rachymommy's "About" I've decided that she needs to be my next door neighbor. What a neat lady with FABULOUS ideas and anyone who loves 80's movies as much as I do MUST be cool!

Hugs,
Tara

Perfect Party Plan!

Friday night I hosted a party at my house and had 15 of my favorite girl friends over for a night of fashion, wine, food and fun.

Now, I'm not much of a bragger BUT, I am bragging when I say, I hit a food HOME RUN at this party. The only thing left on my food buffet was 6 celery sticks....EVERY SINGLE BITE of food was consumed. That has NEVER happened to me before, and we entertain A LOT! I LOVE hearing, did you make that? whats in this? I promised that I would post the menu on my blog.....If only I had remembered to take photo's of the food. (sigh)

- A wooden tray with sliced, strawberries, sharp cheddar cheese slices and Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits. (those crackers are THE BOMB!!!!)

- Carrots and celery with Kraft Cucumber Ranch. (Yes, the cucumber ranch DOES taste better!)

- A romaine lettuce salad with kalamata olives, feta cheese and chopped tomatoes. Toss in some OLIVE GARDEN salad dressing, right before your guest arrive. (yes, they now sell bottles in their restaurants and everyone LOVES it!)

- Erin's Black Bean Dip. (I cannot tell you how many compliments I get on her dip and its GOOD FOR YOU!) I don't have the exact measurements, because I watched her make the recipe and didn't write it down.
Erin's Black Bean Dip
One can of black beans, rinsed and drained
Half a can of mexi-corn, drained
Chopped cilantro
Chopped jalapenos
Chopped Tomatoes
Chunked Avocados
Limes (the juice keeps the Avocados from turning brown)
Mix the black beans and corn together, stir in cilantro and jalapenos, add some black pepper and a little salt. Put it in the fridge to marinate for awhile. 20 minutes before your guest arrive, chop and de-seed your tomatoes, cut avocados into small chunks and squeeze fresh limes over the top. Add to bowl and lightly stir. (you dont want to stir too much, because your avocados will get mushy) Serve with corn and blue tortilla chips!

-Mini crock pot with lil smokies in bbq sauce. (everyone loves those things and since they are small, you don't feel guilty eating them, right?)

CD Kitchen's Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
I used their recipe as a guide but I used 4 packages of fresh mushrooms and 12 ounces of cream cheese. The stems from 2 packages of the mushrooms and that amount of cream cheese made enough stuffing for all 4 packages of mushrooms. Here is my version of the recipe, it made LOTS of mushrooms! I also made these in the morning, put them in the fridge and popped them in the oven, once my guests arrived.

Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
An entire package of bacon, fried and crumbled; reserve fat
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
4 packages of mushrooms, stems removed
The stems from 2 packages of mushrooms, finely chopped
Directions:
Cook the bacon. I poured off almost all of the fat before I added the onion and stems. Saute onion and mushroom stems in bacon fat until tender. Mix crumbled bacon, onion and stems with softened cream cheese until the mixture is workable. (I did this like I make my meatloaf, with my hands. It was MUCH easier to work with.)
Stuff each mushroom and place in fridge until you are ready to bake. Bake at 350degrees F for 10-15 minutes. Finish under the broiler just until tops are golden.

6 bottles of wine. Now, I am not a wine drinker SO even though I had a list of suggestions, it still took me 45 minutes to find 6 bottles of wine.
A. because they don't display wine by brand (like they do with beer...yes, my gauge is beer, don't laugh at me.)
B. they don't have them in alphabetical order.
Doesn't it just make sense to have all the Kendall Jackson wine in one section and the Robert Mondavi in another?? I mean REALLY??? And whats up with this whole, red wine in the rounder glass thing and white wine isn't the same as blush and don't buy pink wine. Ahhh, my head is spinning!!! In my world, wine should not be this difficult. Since I'm not a wine drinker, I'm thinking no one in the Wine Industry cares. Ok, glad I got that off my my chest. :)

Anyway, I WILL serve this spread in the future, cause it was ALL good and there were NO leftovers. I love that!!
Hugs,
Tara

"Love is the greatest refreshment in life."

Valentines Day is in one week!!! PARTY HEARTYand cover your entire world with hearts and kisses!!!Isn't this THE cutest do DIY party, ever?

Fuzzy Wuzzy Wreath

I LOVE My Insanity's
ADORABLE VALENTINE CARD IDEA when she discovered his school wouldn't allow them to bring any sweets. Flowers for the girls and pencils for the boys! SO creative!

Yummy handmade treats

Cute Candy Love


Big hugs,
Tara

What Cha Got Cooking? Bite Sized Potato Skins

Tonight we went to a Super Bowl party and since I was craving potato skins, I thought it would be fun to make mini party sized version YUMMY!!!! They were are HUGE hit. You know the kind of food hit where the tray was empty in about 15 minutes and even the guys wanted to know how I made them. I used this recipe but adapted it for big bite sized potatoes. YUM

My supplies: I bought those little potatoes at Walmart and thought they would be perfect for bite sized potato skins.

Wash em up and pop them into a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.
While they are baking, fry up a package of bacon. (we only eat turkey bacon at our house so my hubby was excited to see "the real thing" in my skillet.) After its nice and crisp, drain it on paper towels. Invite your favorite "bacon bit maker" to cruch those babies up nice and small! I've always wondered why they tell you to pierce potatoes, before you bake them. This guy literally exploded, as I took the potatoes out of the oven. There's my answer. Ouch.
I used my melon baller to scoop out the potatoes, it worked perfectly. Turn the oven up to 450 degrees. Turn the potatoes skin side up and brush them with canola oil. (I couldn't find my pastry brush, so I just poured a little oil in my hand and rubbed the potato in my palm. Bake them for 10 minutes. Flip potatoes over and rub with canola oil and then bake for 10 more minutes. Yum! Cover that crispy goodness with cheese and bacon bits and then either cover them to take to the party or broil them until the cheese melts. YUMMY!! Serve them with chopped chives and sour cream! They were the perfect snack for the kids and the adults. I will be making these again VERY soon!

Whats your favorite bite sized party dish?

Hugs,
Tara

Baby K's Winter One-derland Birthday Party!

The birthday girl is dressed and ready to party!!This is the sign that greeted all of our guestsWe have 12 foot ceilings so I decided to hang the snowflakes from the light fixtures, using fishing line and a hole punch.

A couple of $1.00 rolls of wrapping paper, served as fabulous table runners! I used these sparkly snowflakes from Hobby Lobby as "scatters" on the tables! I love sparkle! The snow girl candles greeted guests as they arrived! A few sweet thank you's for the present table. I Love Popcorn Papa, they have popcorn in tons of colors and flavors! (yes, the lollipops are standing up in Playdoh..works perfectly!) The Hot Chocolate Station was very popular! (I got the mugs at Ikea for 59 cents each. Those cute dishes holding the toppings and the drink pot are actually little plant pots from Ikea, too.) Big Sister LOVED the hot chocolate Don't you just want to hug this precious cake? Stacey over at Icing On The Cake (I call her THE goddess of cakes) shares how she created this sassy lil snowgirl and her adorable cake pop friends. "Bug" loved the Tic Tac noses.The craft table was a HUGE hit. The kids made candy snowflake necklaces, painted wooden snow girls, made marshmallow snow girls and decorated foam snow girls. They LOVED it!! So creative! If you are looking for a great indoor party activity for little ones, My Toon TV is fabulous. It takes a child's photo and animates them on the tv AND it shows them dancing on the tv screen. I got it on sale for 20 bucks at Target and they LOVED it! For party favors, I had a local bakery make these HUGE snowflake cookies! I put them in some pink polka dot bags and tied on these cute little mittens! I had so much fun planning and preparing for Baby K's birthday party!!

Happy Birthday to my precious little snow angel!
Hugs, Tara

"I Might Even Be a Rock Star!!" (Hannah Montana Party Ideas for my Sister-In Law)

THIS is my beautiful niece and in March she turns 6! (Wow, does time fly) Her mom sent me a text today announcing that she wants to have a Hannah Montana Birthday Party and asked if I could help her find some ideas. WOO HOO!!!!! I love parties!!!

I'm not a big fan of the cutesy theme "overkill." I like working with one big theme piece, like this 5 feet tall Hannah Montana Scene Setter (Party City for $5.99) and then coordinating the decorations with the colors. (What a cute back drop for photos!)
Last year, Bug and I attended Rylee's super cute Hannah Montana/Rock Star Birthday Party! I love the hot pink zebra theme...throw in a little purple and you've got a party!!!
For the party activity, Rylee and her friends made a music video. With 6 year olds, I think it would be fun to have a trunk of rock star clothing and props and do a dancing fashion show.

How cute would it be to line the "runway" with these Wallies Chalk Board Sheets and let the girls decorate them!
Miley's super cute dressing room is the perfect inspiration for party colors. (How much fun would it be to paint an old pair of roller skates to look like Miley's?)




Need a lil Zebra inspiration? The SASSY & CREATIVE Mommy, over at Together Is Our Favorite Place threw her daughter THE coolest, most creative and fantastic zebra & hot pink party EVER!!!! There is so much inspiration on her blog. WOW!!











LOOK at this table setting from Personally You Parties!!!!! I'm thinking it would be cute with multi- colored microphones, instead of flowers. My sister-in-law has a HUGE dining room table that would make this the perfect "centerpiece" for the whole party!




Party Food: I have read that Miley/Hannah's favorite food is Chinese. (not sure if that's good for a 6 year old audience) Perhaps serving her other favorite's, in cute little Chinese Food take-out containers, would be fun. She likes Starbursts, Gummy Bears, Peach Rings, Dots, Lucky Charms and Sugar Cookies.

Party Favors: Our Hobby Lobby always has Hannah Montana goodies in the clearance section AND The Disney Store has Hannah Montana Party Favor Sets (for 4) on sale for $5.99!! They also have party sets for 8 on sale for $5.99! Another alternative is cute little bags with nail polish and lip gloss. (2 items my niece REALLY loves!) OR how about these cute lil monogrammed mirrors...

More Rock Star/Hannah Montana Party Inspiration:
Aspired Kreations
Designed To Be Sweet Invitations
I'm loving these musical note cupcakes, too!
How about these ADORABLE Microphone Cupcakes from The Celebration Shoppe!!