I'm so excited to share the details of the girls' 2nd birthday party. We went with a little girls' vintage theme - all soft, floral and girly - and I made all of the decorations myself. I fell in love with Crate Paper's Emma's Shoppe collection the first time I saw it so that's what I built the party around. To give you a little background on the party - we're waiting until the girls are a little older before we start inviting their little friends to birthday parties. For one thing, we have so many family members come that we would probably need to have another party just for friends. So when they are older and invite friends, I'll most likely expand the party a bit by adding games and party favors.
Here's a photo of my kitchen where a lot of the party action took place.
I created the banner using my Cricut and cutting the pieces out of Emma's Shoppe patterned. I inked each of the pieces and then sewed the tops of them together in a banner using my sewing machine and pink thread. Then, I tied pieces of light pink tulle in between the pieces. It was simple, pretty and set the stage for the party.
I made the birthday cake myself this year. It was nothing fancy but I did use my favorite new recipes for
chocolate cake and buttercream frosting that my friend, Virginia, alerted me to from KevinandAmanda.com. I'm usually not a chocolate cake fan but this is seriously the BEST chocolate cake I've ever had and will be my go-to recipe from now on.
I also made the cake topper by creating a banner. I cut the banner pieces using my Cricut and sewed them together again. The middle piece was created using a paper doily, a scalloped circle and a "2" foam Thicker by American Crafts. I hot-glued three of the pieces to lollipop sticks and then stuck them in the cake.
My girls are allergic to wheat, eggs and peanuts so I have to make them separate cupcakes. I just use a box mix from the health food section at my local grocery store. The cupcake toppers were created using
vintage little girl tags by Pretty Little Studio. I just hot-glued them to lollipop sticks and stuck them into the cupcakes. The little ruffled cupcake liners were just ones I picked up at Michael's. I borrowed vintage blue and white and red and white trays from my sister to hold the cupcakes and other party decor.
I created the party centerpiece by placing vintage children's books on top of a tray. The "vase" is actually a recycled tulle spool (that I used on the banner). I covered the spool with patterned paper, a "2" Thicker by American Crafts and a raffia bow. The doily flower was made by scrunching up three paper doilies and securing them with a silver pipe cleaner. The red beads were something I once bought at Hobby Lobby around Christmas time. (By the way, I borrowed the red and white checked tablecloth from my mom).
I had fun creating the girls' party hats once again this year. The bases are created by cutting a huge circle out of an entire piece of 12 x 12 patterned paper. The circle is then cut in half and folded into a cone and secured with hot glue. (You can get two hats out of once piece of paper). I accented the hats with blue and pink crepe paper by Melissa Frances (cut into strips and hot glued).
The marshmallows were fun to make and my girls loved eating these treats. I dipped them in pink Wilton's candy melts and added sprinkles before placing a lollipop stick in the middle. These were displayed on another vintage tray.
And here's my invitation...I kept the design simple since I had so many to make. The "2's" were cut using my Cricut and the patterned paper is also by Crate Paper.
On the inside, I adhered the party details and a punched strip (punch by EK Success).
And here are my little birthday cuties sporting their birthday hats and tutu's. It was a beautiful day for a party and I'm so happy everything came together as I envisioned it.
Thanks for looking! :)
Jill
I made this simple book so that I had a more permanent place to keep my grateful thoughts in.
It's really simply made out of paper kraft bags and patterned papers & embellishments from several NoelMignon kits (especially Mary Ellen &Jump and Jive).
I also threw in some papers from a little Jenni Bowlin Studios notebook I've had for a long time.
And masking tape. Of course, masking tape. :)
I hope to fill it up very quickly with gratefulness...
I also made some cute cake toppers out of some die cuts I found at my LSS. 
I didn't get a shot of these in action (note to self: HIRE someone to take pictures at the next birthday party!), but I wrapped patterned paper around old formula cans that I saved from when Ariana was on formula, and put pretzel rods and silverware in them. 
The dino dudes quite enjoyed themselves. 
For party favors, I cut out vinyl from my Silhouette machine in dinosaur shapes and adhered them to plastic cups. The boys also took home compasses and tiny dinosaurs that I found at Michael's. 
We had a plethora of dinosaur books on hand, to look at while waiting for our turn to play a game or two...
The dino dudes dug for wooden, dinosaur bone puzzle pieces (from Michael's for only $2!), along with donning a dinosaur costume and knocking down block towers with their tails. We also hunted for dinosaurs hidden in the yard. 
With just a little creativity and a spin on old favorites, we made this party ours! It was so fun!