Annabelle's {Vintage Strawberry Farm} 3rd Birthday

As we say good bye to summer here is a little bit of berry cuteness on a sunny day in May!

Way back in early February my sweet little Annabelle got a new Strawberry tutu from Gymboree and as soon as she got it she told me she wanted to have a strawberry party so she could wear it for the party.....and so the planning for her May 23rd birthday began! I knew in my head I wanted the style to be vintage strawberry, homespun and farm chic all wrapped into one! I used red gingham, fun polka dots and accented with a bit of retro aqua. The dessert table was filled with goodies that my very talented sister {little miss sweet tooth} made....gorgeous strawberry ruffle cake, strawberry cake pops, strawberry cookies, truffles and strawberry french macarons! The food table had more of a "farm chic" rustic look with vintage popcorn bags, wrapped sandwiches tied with yarn and custom tags, mini homemade strawberry pies, individual strawberry spinach and dill potato salads and red lunch bags of chips. I love the pop of aqua against the red...it adds that little bit of retro charm that I love.

{the SWEET birthday girl}

 We have a big long picnic table that was perfectly set with red geraniums in red polka dot pots and mason jar cupcakes at each place setting with wooden stamped forks and vintage strawberry tags with each child's name.

 Strawberry milk with classic paper straws in glass bottles went perfect with the gorgeous cake my sister made! {find the straws in my ETSY shop}

 I used mini chalk boards as food labels to add a little bit of homespun charm.

 We served fried chicken from a picnic basket lined with red gingham fabric. The pinwheels from {paper polaroid on ETSY} were the perfect thing to top the tiers of salad cups.

 Fresh strawberry jam with custom labels were sent home with all of the guests.

I made red and white flower hair clips for all of the little girls and redesigned my Anna Bananna packaging  (my other little company) just for this party {a Berry Special Edition}

I hope you enjoyed this last bit of summer as we head into fall! Next up....I will share the details of Tyler's rustic camping party! Stay tuned!

 Photos by Maggie Russo.....for more photos of this party visit her blog post here!

For invite and other party printables visit my shop www.homespunhostess.com

{real} Lemonade Stand

Today my subdivision is having a neighborhood wide garage sale so my kids and I decided to kick off summer vacation with a good old lemonade stand!

We found this fabulous stick in the ground sign at Target for just $3 along with matching cups! Naturally I had to make a banner and cupcake toppers to match. You can download them for free HERE!

So here is a look at our little lemonade stand complete with lemon cupcakes, lemonade mini cupcakes, lemon cakepops and of course fresh lemonade! The kids had a blast!

Sunshine Day

Or at least I am wishing for a sunshine day! Here in Chicagoland it has been gray, cold and rainy! So I am in the mood for sunshine!!

Let's talk yellow! Shall we? I am especially loving Yellow with Aqua right now!

Have you done a yellow party? I'd love to hear your ideas too!

Here are some things I have been working on....

{mod}Yellow and Aqua Party Invite

and mactching note card

And a sunny Lemonade inspired Party...all about yellow...with a touch of gray

 Lemonade labeled mason jars with yellow custom straw flags add a personal touch and helps pull the color scheme together

Custom cake topper adds a nice homespun look to your dessert table and keeps with the theme

An added POP of aqua with a picture frame is an easy idea and fresh lemons are a great table decoration!

And don't forget the color coordinated sweets too!

Here's to hoping that I wake up to sunshine tomorrow....or better yet....on Sunday for my daughter's birthday party! Can't wait to share that one!

We ALL Scream for ICE CREAM!

The weather is getting warmer so what could be more fun than an ICE CREAM party!? I think the ideas for this theme are endless!

 

Make it easy and pre-scoop your ice cream into colorful waxed cups or white nut cups with colorful cupcake liners over them. Add cupcake toppers to make them festive!

Bright colored sodas wrapped to match the party theme and served with striped paper straws add a punch of color to the party!

 

Little paper cups with lids are great to personalize with matching party tags and papers and can be filled with homemade ice cream for a take home treat. You can also fill the containers with non food goodies for favors. These containers are now available in my ETSY shop.

{SHOPPING TIP}

Now is the time to check out Joann's Dollar section! The have adorable ice cream lip gloss, pencils, ice cream bar erasers and other fun ice cream themed dollar goodies! Also....in the Summer entertaining section they have great priced ice cream dishes, molds, fun straws and more! Check it out!

Find the entire Sherbert Collection in my ETSY shop now! Photos by Maggie Russo.

{SHOPPING FINDS}

And I am all about carrying the party theme throughout...check out these fun finds too!

Adorable ice cream top found here!

I love these bright pinwheels to add whimsy!

And of course the perfect birthday gift! We LOVE this Melissa and Doug Ice Cream set!

How about and Ice Cream Cone Pinata? How fun!

I'd love to hear what other fun ice cream goodies you come across! I know I see new ideas everywhere I go!