My Creative Way: Food

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

All Dolled Up Barbie Party. Barbie Party Ideas.

Colorful Barbie Party Ideas

Party Planning

As I was planning my daughter's 7th Birthday Party she jumped from theme to theme until she decided on an All Dolled Up Barbie Birthday Party. I needed some ideas and came up pretty empty handed. I could not believe there wasn't anything on google search for a COLORFUL Barbie Party. Of course, there are some awesome Barbie party ideas on Google, but they all were black and pink. My baby wanted COLOR! It was especially disappointing not to find anything since mulitple stores have all this adorable All Dolled Up Barbie Party supplies.
Well, if anyone else is in need for a COLORFUL All Dolled Up Barbie Birthday Party ideas I've created one for my daughter and for you! I hope you enjoy and get inspired.

Party Theme & Supplies:

We bought our All Dolled Up Barbie Party Supplies at Party City. You could also get it at Walmart. We bought Barbie plates, cake plates, napkins, wrapping paper, a banner, gift bag, and table cloths.

The Barbie wrapping paper looked cute taped to the bar (1st picture). I bought the Barbie gift bag for her presents, but it ened up being too small so I just used it as decorations. You could fill it up with flowers or just tie several balloons to it for a cute centerpiece.

Birthday Banner

I really liked the Barbie birthday banner, but I think I should have tied some ribbon or tulle inbetween the letters.

Cake & Sweets Table

This was the Barbie Cake Table. I wanted it simple and sweet but with lots of character and pop.

The colorful balloons just pulls it all together and the paper chain was an easy and fun craft that Madison was able to create for her party all by herself. We took it old school and made our paper chain out of cardstock and tape. It was cheap and a great addition to the cake table.

Close Ups of the Cake Table...

A great way to add color to your cake table is with candy. Now days you can find candy in any color! I mean ANY COLOR and with creating a COLORFUL Barbie party it was an easy hunt. I bought Candy Dots, Pixie Sticks, and Jolly Rachers. Can we say sweet tooth?!

Every party needs cookies and I'm so lucky to have a wonderful bloggin' friend who makes the best cookies! Kathia from Pink Little Cake Blog made these Barbie Inspired Sugar Cookies for Madison's birthday and everyone at the party loved them. She can ship them too, so if you want one of kind, amazing cookies you should go talk to Kathia from Pink Little Cake.

Party Favors

I did simple Barbie Party Favors this year. I filled bags with Rodeo City Popcorn (YUMMY!!), added a Barbie Pencil, and a Thank You tag. I made the Thank You tag myself and printed them out.

Use colorful flowers to fill up your tables...

Strawberry cookies that my Mother-in-law made matched the party perfectly and tasted so good.

The glass jars are from my living room decor that I just added silk roses to. You may remember the jars from this post. Instead of buying all new decorations go through your house and see what you can use for the party.

Tulle Pom-Poms & Flower Ball

I do not think I could get sick of tulle puffs and I'm loving the flower ball I made. So many places these can be used. I've used them for Jaxson's Nursery, Madison's Zebra Party & Zebra Room, wedding showers, photography, weddings, and parties.

I made a few tulle pom-poms and a flower ball and my husband hung them from the ceiling with curly string and a push pin. The flower ball was something new and different. Madison wanted flowers at her party, so it was a great way to incorporate them in. I will have a tutorial for the flower ball tomorrow.

Learn how to make your own tulle pom pom puffs here.

The Cake & Cupcakes

I made the Barbie Cake and Cupcakes.

Learn more about the Barbie Cake Here.
Print out your own FREE Barbie Cupcake Toppers here

Making a wish...

Wow! My baby girl is 7 years old!! My oh my how the time flies.

Picture Backdrop

Over the fireplace I pinned up a Barbie Table Cloth to use as a backdrop. I'm going to start doing this every year. This was a great location to take pictures with the Birthday Girl and for her to open her presents.

The Finger Food Table

This was the table of the finger foods with half the food missing. I forgot to take a new picture with all the food setting out.

Great finger foods we had:
Crackers, Sausage, and Cheese
Cheese Dip (Crockpot) & Chips
Large Marshmellows on a stick covered in Pink Candy Melts
Colorful Rodeo City Popcorn in Watermelon, Key Lime Pie, Grape & Cotton Candy flavors
Pasta Salad (my favorite!)
Pinwheels (my other favorite!)
Barbecue/Jelly Meatballs (Madison's favorite)
Strawberry Cookies

Yum my mouth is watering just thinking of the finger foods.

Cover wallpaper with wrapping paper...

If you look in the far corner you will see grape wall paper. YUCK.. Doesn't go with this Barbie Party, so I just covered it up with barbie wrapping paper :)

Close-up of the food table...

Pictures Left-Right

Large Marshmellows- on a stick and covered in pink candy melts. Kids loved them! Just cover a styrofoam square with wrapping paper and stick the marshmellows in.
The Fork Holder- Old candy dish I found at my mom's house.
My Plate of fingerfoods- Pasta Salad, Pinwheels, Popcorn, Crackers/sausage/cheese.
Pinwheels- My mother-in-laws famous pinwheels!

Birthday Girl enjoy...

Madison taking a break from playing to enjoy some finger foods.

Barbie Party Decoration Ideas

Not only do I sugest finding things around your house to use for your party, but make things for your party that you can use in your house. I made the barbie wall art using a ceiling tile, paint, ribbon, and a boa. Easy, ADORABLE, and can be used as a bulletin board in Madison's room after the party is over.

Learn more about the DIY Barbie Ceiling Tile Bulletin Board Here

wow.. say that 3 times fast

Table Decorations

I dressed up a wired mannequin with a boa and some shades and used it as a table centerpiece. Dont forget to frame your childs birthday pictures and have them throughout the party.

Great Bounce House Company

I've used Jump For Fun for 2 years now and really like the options you find. Jaxson's Mickey Mouse Party had a boys castle that went perfect with his theme and this pink castle went well with Barbie or a princess party.

Birthday Outfit

Don't forget an adorable outfit for the Birthday Girl!

Barbie Shirts can be purchased at Tutu Fairy.

Barbie Invitation

Mommy's girl...

Oh, how I love this girl! Happy Birthday Madison Dae!

I hope you enjoyed this Barbie Party and I hope it gave you some new ideas.

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Thursday, February 2, 2012

DIY Prepare 39 Meals in a Day. {Guest Blogger} Austin TX Mom

My friend Lacey has a great blog with lots of great dinner ideas. Since, I lack in the department of cooking here is Lacey with a great creative post on family dinners.

{Guest Blogger}

Lacey From Austin TX Mom

7 Hours, $154, and 39 Dinners.

Those are the final numbers from my dinner making experiment, and I've got to say, I'm happy with that! That comes down to $3.94 a meal(each meal will serve 4 people). Being that this is my first try, I think that is pretty good!

I strayed from the menu I came up with yesterday, simply because some recipes didn't make as much...or I found something in the cabinet that I decided to make instead.

Here is what I ended up with:

1 large package of shredded chicken

3 pans of meatloaf (we actually had one last night. Delicious)

2 pans of San Francisco Pork Chops

2 packages of Chicken Teriyaki

2 packages of taco meat

3 packages of spaghetti and meat sauce

1 package of Beef Stroganoff

2 packages of Sloppy Joes

2 pans of Macaroni and Cheese

2 pans of Baked Chicken Penne w/ Sundried Tomatoes

2 pans of Chicken Enchiladas

2 packages of mashed potatoes

4 packages of sauteed green beans

2 pans of Mushroom Lasagna

2 packages of meatballs

2 packages of shredded pork

7 packages of garlic bread

2 pots of Chicken and Dumplings

2 packages of marinated steak

I still have stuff to make 2 more pots of Chicken Tortilla Soup, but I ran out of chicken broth!

Some tips that I would definitely recommend in undertaking something like this:

1. Clean out your refrigerator and freezer before you start! You are going to need every ounce of space you have.

2. Make a prep station before you start cooking. Chop up all of your veggies and keep them on hand, so you can use them in the recipes as you go. This saves you tons of time.

3. Cook all the meat first, unless it's something like meatloaf or something going in a marinade that you won't cook until you serve it.

4. Buy the chicken pre-cooked. You can get the same amount of chicken out of a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store than you can a whole fryer that you have to prep and cook, and usually for less money or the same price. Another huge time saver. You can also take the bones and make a chicken stock.

5. Keep your kitchen free of distractions. This is a marathon cooking session. One day of hard work is going to pay off big time and give you lots of extra time in the next few weeks.

6. Buy disposable pans. It will keep your serving sizes where you want them, and you'll have use of your pans in the meantime.

7. Don't be afraid of the sales at the grocery store. It's all going in the freezer that day anyway. This is where you are really going to save. Look for the manager's specials. You'll be amazed how much you will save.

8. Keep a glass of wine on hand at all times. :) This is just to keep your stress level down and keep it fun!