Coco's Ghostbuster Party - TONS of free printables!

Ghostbusters (the original) has been one of my very favorite movies as long as I can remember, and it's one of mine and Tony's favorites to watch with the girls. After the reboot, with the female cast came out my girls (who previously only *liked* the originals) came to LOVE all of the movies. In fact, we were all Ghostbusters for Halloween!

So, when Coco decided she wanted a Ghostbusters birthday party I was more than a little excited! I apologize in advance for the crappy pictures, but they were all taken quickly with my iPhone, while the party was happening. To make up for it I'm sharing a bunch of free printables at the end of this post ;)

One of my favorite lines from the original movie. Went right over the kids heads! 😆

Green jello with Slimer!

Can't have a party without pizza!

Coco's favorite character from the movie is Abby, so I was excited to find this little toy for her!

The kids made their own Ectoplasm (slime) with THIS easy recipe. Warning - sooooooo messy and sticky!

A little something for the grownups...

Another one of Coco's birthday presents put to good use, as decor! I set up a little make your own Stay Puft Marshmallow Man station with some toothpicks, marshmallows and markers. It was a big hit!

I was SO excited to randomly find Hi-C Ecto Cooler, too! Who else remembers it from the 80's?! 

  We had (S)LIME green cupcakes for dessert:

 And green caramel corn too!

We had lots of fun celebrating our sweet girl!

As promised, here are the printables I made, free for you to use. Simply right-click to save them to your computer. I bought the cute Ghostbusters (and other characters) clipart here if you want to make your own. Enjoy!

PIN me!

Leila's boho chic birthday party

"So.....boho chic is like fancy hippies?" Leila was flipping through one of my magazines, and there was a page dedicated to boho chic street fashion. After looking at the pictures Leila said "So...boho chic is like fancy hippies?" and that put the idea for a boho chic birthday party in her head.

I found the perfect (and super affordable!) invitation on Etsy:

The week of Leila's party was a bit of a whirlwind, and to say that I was less prepared than usual was an understatement, but we made it work. This party was simple, and fun and the girls all had a blast!

Decor was BEYOND simple! The Target Dollar Spot (which is not at all the dollar spot, but more like the $3 and $5 spot, and YES - I know they changed the name of it to Bullseye's Playground, but to me it will always be the Dollar Spot!) was where I got just about everything, including all balloons and the happy birthday banner. I threw up a couple of free printables I found from Pinterest, and that was about it!

A cactus vase I already had, and a cheapie bouquet from Trader Joe's worked perfectly with the party theme.

The first thing we did was make terrariums. I found the perfect, little bowls at Michaels, picked up stones and moss, and my friend Jessica from The Petal Company got us the succulents.

 I told the girls the basics of how to make them, and they got to work. All of their terrariums turned out beautifully!

(And how cute do they all look in their little flower crowns?!)

After lunch they had a simple lunch of Leila's requested favorites - mac and cheese, strawberries and grapes and goldfish, and then it was time to make dream catchers.

Tony painted that little dream catcher - he's good, right?! I bought a bunch of embroidery hoops, yarn and various trims for the project.

 Superdad over here, teaching them how to make them, but first having them wear them like crowns ;)

The girls got into it! They were all so creative!!

And all of their dream catchers were beautiful!

Dessert was a store-bought cake that I added oreos too, and cactus and dream catcher cookies.

We had such a great time celebrating our sweet girl!

Happy birthday, Leila!!

Here are some images to PIN:

Three Tips for Throwing a Stress-Free Party (with bonus tips and easy recipes!)

Tony and I throw several parties throughout the year - birthday parties for the girls, backyard barbecues and more. But one of our very favorites is our annual Adults-Only Christmas Cocktail party. After throwing this big bash for several years there a few things I've learned along the way to keep it fun, and stress-free and today I'm going to share them with you!

1. Make one or two big batch mixed cocktails, and let guests serve themselves. While it's fun to play bartender when you're hosting just a few other couples, it can take up ALL of your time when you're hosting a much larger party, leaving you with little to no time to hang out with your guests. My cinnamon apple sangria is one of my go-to's, and so incredibly simple. (Seriously - just combine one bottle of apple cider, one bottle Pinot Grigio and two cups of vodka. I like the cinnamon sugar vodka, but we've made it with caramel vodka, and plain and they all taste great. Let the ingredients sit together in the fridge for a few hours and you're set. Add some cinnamon sticks and sliced apples to be extra festive)

I also tripled the recipe of Jingle Juice, which was a HUGE hit, but be careful - it sneaks up on you!

 Let your guests know there are other options (including non-alcoholic ones!) available. Make sure to have a bottle opener or two nearby, as well.

2. Chinet® !!! I am all about the disposable dishes, glasses and cutlery for any party, but especially a big one like this. We always use Chinet®  because not only is it beautiful, but it is extremely durable. For adult parties we like to stick to the Chinet® Cut Crystal® line, because it's classy (I especialy love the stemless wine glasses) and there is a full line of coordinating products. Serving and cleaning is a breeze, leaving you more time to spend with your guests! (BIG thank you to Chinet®  for sending us product to use at our party!)

Keep Sharpies near all of your drink stations. That way your guests can write their name on their glass, and easily find it.

3. Keep food simple, and when a guest offers to bring something take them up on it! I am known for my cheese boards. I love doing them, and I always offer to bring one whenever we are heading to a party. For our big Christmas Cocktail Party I make a HUGE cheese board (the board is actually a really big pizza board from Pottery Barn, similar to this one.) Make sure to include a variety of soft and hard cheeses, some meat (salami is always a crowd pleaser) and fill in any blank spots with some fruit, like dried cranberries or grapes.

Who doesn't love a photo-op? Get some cheapie props (I found them at Homegoods, there are also tons available on Amazon), create a super simple background by taping streamers up, and twisting them, and put out some Instax cameras! 

It's a fun, little activity and your friends will go home with a mini souvenir!

Red Wine Brownies! This isn't so much a recipe, as much as it is a hack. Get a box of brownie mix (I used Ghiradelli dark chocolate brownie mix) and replace the water is calls for with wine. (I used an open Cabernet Sauvignon and it was delicious!) Bake according to the instructions on the back. The cab played really well off of the dark chocolate, and I will definitely be making them again.

These tips and tricks are especially helpful for a large party, but can be applied to a gathering of any size! Do you have any party tips? Let us know!