Glass Blowing- Pumpkins

Being a creative person I like to try new craft mediums. I don't always stick with them for various reasons but I do enjoy trying them out. So when I came across a glass blowing class at Live Laugh Love Glass I thought it would be fun.  My friend agreed and we decided to make mini pumpkins. 

When we arrived at the studio we got to choose what colour we wanted our pumpkin to be. So many choices.  My friend chose white and I went with a gold/amber colour. 

The instructor gets a nice blob of glass on the pipe for you and then you take over and turn it slooowly. I kept turning mine too fast and the instructor kept telling me, slower, slower. 

 Next step is to add the colour. Again, rolling slowly to coat your plain glass blob into the colour shards. The more you roll over the shards the more colour you pick up. I wanted mine to be full of colour so I made sure my little glass blob was good and coated. 

 Have to make sure to get colour on the bottom. 

 Once the colour is applied the glass blob is taken to a super hot oven where the colour gets baked on.  That oven was HOT even behind the shield. The instructor is again telling me to roll the glass blob slowly. Like a hot dog in the convenience stores warmers the instructor is telling me. After the colour is melted on, the instructor takes the pipe and squishes the molten glass into the molds you see at my feet. The mold is what gives the glass it's pumpkiny ridges. 

 This is the fun part. As you blow into the tube the glass blob expands and starts becoming more pumpkin shaped. I'm glad the instructor is the one shaping it and not me. Not sure I'd get the nice round pumpkin shape if I had to shape it. 

How cute! both my friend and I were getting pretty giddy at this point. The mini pumpkin was really taking shape. It's just so stinkin cute! 

Hey hey, I'm making a mini glass pumpkin!! My friend and I had so much fun making these. This would be a fun alternative to having a party at home. Invite a group of friends out to a glass blowing glass. You'll have a lot of fun. 

Look at my cute little pumpkin!! The instructor adds the stem for you. 

Here's my friends pumpkin before the stem was added. A pretty mottled white. 

My friends finished mini pumpkin. So cute and so much fun to make. This was a fun way to spend the day with a friend.

My finished mini pumpkin. I love how saturated with colour it is. I now have a fun new party prop too. Be on the look out in future posts for this little cutie. 

What do you think?  Interested in taking a glass blowing class now?
Check your city for glass blowing glasses, invite some friends and have a fun day creating.

Fall Holiday Party

This year I had the pleasure of being part of the A Blissful Nest Holiday Team. I created this party as my contribution.  Grab a Moscow Mule, curl up on the couch and enjoy. 

The beginning of fall means leaves changing colors, crisp cool air and my friends looking forward to an invitation in the mail from me for a fall get together.  A chance for us to catch up after all the summer fun spent with family.  My fall party is always a casual get together with good treats, some good wine and minimal party decor. The emphasis is on time with friends. 

Plaid is so on trend for fall so for this party I combined plaid, natural elements and of course, a little glitter. Using a lot of elements I already had around the house. 

 Often times when friends get together conversations can turn to work. To prevent that this year I had Small Moments create gratitude cards to spur meaningful conversations and to keep the conversation flowing away from work. 

 To create the glitter pumpkins I picked up some small white ones at the store, painted mod podge on them and sprinkled glitter all over the areas covered in mod podge. For the glittered acorns, I collected the acorns from a local park, painted the tops in Elmer's white glue and sprinkled glitter over the glue covered areas. 

 Along with fall treats we enjoyed a glass of wine. To continue the plaid trend I bought some fabric and draped it over our ottomans.  I don't have a serving tray so I used a cookie sheet that I covered with wood themed paper from the craft store.

 I ordered custom sugar cookies for the party because this party was all about being casual and relaxed.  Ordering cookies instead of making my own saved me time and stress so I could focus on my friends.

Although this was a casual relaxed party I can't help myself when it comes to the details. Besides the custom sugar cookies to match the party I also had labels for the wine created. For the napkin rings I tied twine around the napkins, cut out fall leaves and acorns from paper and attached them to the twine. 

Parties don't have to be big over the top productions all the time. By using items you already have around your house and adding a few custom elements you can create a great looking party your friends will be impressed by.  No need to tell them how easy it was to put together. Just sit back and enjoy the compliments. 

Vendors: 
Concept, styling and photography by Fizzy Party 
Graphics by Small Moments
Cookies by Auntie Beas Bakery 

Party Style by Gemma Touchstone Book Review

As you all know, I don't have kids so I don't know the first thing about throwing a kids party. Luckily, Gemma Touchstone of Party Style  just released her new book, Party Style- Kids Parties from Baby to Sweet 16.  Her book is PACKED with ideas and inspiration. I don't think a single thing was left out of this book. 

The book starts with a great quiz to determine your party style followed by a party timeline check list to keep you on track. The check list includes everything to make your party planning run smoothly and effortlessly. If throwing parties isn't your passion the check list keeps you relaxed so you can enjoy the party planning process. Gemma covers party etiquette and formalities , tips and hints, recipes, DIY food stations and fun party themes filled with inspiration. See, not a thing left out.  This book is a step by step on how to throw a fun memorable kids party. Whether you keep it simple or go all out over the top. 

  This book is a must for a hostess gift, birthday gift or holiday gift.  

If a book packed so full of how to a throw party information wasn't enough, you can get over $2,500.00 worth of exclusive party printables with your book purchase.  You just pop over to www.ILovePartyStyle.com 's web site and download them. Makes you want a copy for yourself too huh!?

How fun is this skate party! This is just one of the many fun themes in the book. Makes me want to throw a skate party. Adults like skate parties too right. Oh the nostalgia. All the skates are missing are the fluffy pom pom poofs. I had bright yellow ones.

As if a book packed with more information then one would think possible to fit in a book and free printables isn't enough, there's a giveaway! The GRAND PRIZE winner will win all of Gemma's party must haves. A Kitchen Aid mixer (love mine), IPAD air, Honeycomb Decor Pack with multiple sizes and colors (great for back drops), Bakers Bling sanding sugar in several colors, $100.00 gift card to Home Goods (love this store), $100.00 gift card to Michael's Craft Store (I'm here every week), an autographed copy of the book and 3 ft LOVE balloon set. 

  This giveaway runs from October 1- November 15, 2015 so be sure to enter here at Rafflecopter  giveaway. 

Want to meet Gemma in person?  She'll be teaching pin worthy parties at the pinners conference in Salt Lake City, Utah November 6-7, 2015 and you can save 10% off your tickets with the ticket code partystyle. 

Can't make it to the Pinners Conference? You're in luck. Gemma will also be speaking at ISSE along with Colin Cowie and some other amazing speakers. You can save $500.00 on your ticket when you mention PartyStyle book tour. 

Live in California? you can find Gemma at OC Date Night Market on March 11

For more dates on her Tour around the USA please visit her blog here. You better believe if she comes to Portland or Seattle I'll be there. 

Gemma's next Holiday Hostess book is already in the works and will be out in time for the 2016 holiday season. I'm SUPER excited already!!!!  Holiday parties are my FAV!!! to throw. I know her holiday book will be just as fantabulous as her first book. Can't wait!! 

Simple DIY Party Treat Cups

This Halloween season I had the opportunity to participate in Cupcake Wishes Birthday Dreams  

Halloween parties means a treats table.  The stars of the treats table are usually cake, cookies, cupcakes and pumpkin pie.  For the small treats like candy corn, gumballs and chocolate candies, I like to serve them in little cups I embellish up to match the theme of the party. This DIY is so simple and easy you can do it last minute while watching a Halloween movie. 

 First go to a dollar store and pick up a pack of plastic water glasses. They're the perfect size for small candies. Then hit up a craft store for stickers, clips, ribbon, feathers etc.  Or if you're like me you have all these items back in your craft room already. 

Having a Poe inspired party?  Add a raven clip and use a glue dot to attach a feather to the stem.  Simple, quick and your guests will love the detail you added to an otherwise boring plastic water glass. 

Haunted House themed party?  Pick up some felt, cut out a spooky face and attach to the cup with glue dots. As you can see from the slightly blurred image, this cup is haunted. 

Craft stores have lots of great Halloween stickers to match any party theme.  Just peel the sticker off it's backing and attach to the glass.  Stickers stick great to the plastic cups.  Adding a little bit of ribbon gives the glass that extra detail. 

Purple is a great colour for Halloween so for this last cup I attached a glittery flying witch sticker and tied a tulle pom to the stem. Purple Glitter Tulle poms are available in my shop, here

I love this Halloween project because it's so simple and can match any theme.  The kids can even help you create these for the party. 

It was a pleasure to be featured on Cupcake Wishes and Birthday Dreams alongside these other wonderful bloggers,

Salted Caramel Apple Snickers Cake

When I saw Salted Caramel Apple Snickers Cake on Half Baked Harvest's blog  I knew I had to try it.  Her photo's had me hooked. All that delicious caramel dripping down the sides of the cake and the chocolate ganache, oh my my.  When I told my co-workers I was making it they immediately said, " You ARE bringing in left-overs right?"

Half Baked Harvest warns you that this cake has a lot of steps. She wasn't kidding. There's A LOT.  She assures you the cake is worth all the steps.  Myself and everyone who tried it would agree. 

Now, my cake does not look as pretty as Half Baked Harvest's. As you can see, there is no chocolate ganache showing.  This would be because I accidentally burnt the chocolate and heavy cream which would have been the ganache. It was getting late at night when this happened so I improvised and grabbed the Hershey Syrup in the fridge and used that. Hee hee 

 You can also see the caramel didn't get as thick as Half Baked Harvest's too. Once again, I didn't wait for the caramel to cool enough. My friends, bless their hearts said the cake looked really good and they couldn't wait to try it.  The mmm's and the way they devoured the cake told me they all really enjoyed it. Yeah! 

Don't you love the faux twigs in the apples. Those are forks from Party Pail inc. I love these forks. They're realistic looking, dishwasher safe and every one of my friends commented on how much they liked them.

Have you ever seen baked goods on blogs that look picture perfect and think, mine won't look like that so why even try to make it?
Just look at mine! That's why. Although mine looks nothing like Half Baked Harvest's it still tasted amazing, my friends appreciated it and I learned new baking skills.  So try those baking recipes you've always wanted to try.