As summer approaches, kids get excited about opening up their lemonade stands.  Kids love that they get to be in charge and make a little extra cash for those summer treats! For this freebie Friday I designed a couple of printables for the kiddos lemonade stand.

You can can download the freebie HERE  One is a Fresh Lemonade sign, and the other one is a price list. Both come in JPG and PDF.  The price list could be fun in case your kids want to include other treats such as fresh fruit, candy, brownies or other treats.

Looking for some tips on how to create a successful stand? Check out this great article from Sunkist

How about getting really creative, or have a whole lemonade party?  Check out these creative ideas

How about these nice ideas from Maddycakes Muse. Lot’s of DIY tips.

Love the mason jars! Mason jars remind me soo much of summer, you can even use them as glasses and get some nice striped yellow straws to match.

Calling all dad’s and husbands!! They are the ones who can help build your very own one, the kids will be very thankful and have ohh so much fun, if you check out Lil Luna, they give you step – by- step instructions on how you can build a fantastic vintage lemonade stand.

and for all you crafty moms, check out MyGrafico for cliparts and papers to make your own printables for the lemonade stands and parties.

Memorial Day is Monday, May 28 and that has a lot of us getting excited about kicking off the cookout season!  I’d like to share some ideas with you on what I have found

The above is from Hostess with the Mostess and they offer a great BBQ theme with free printables. It’s  worth checking out.  I like the hot dog bar idea.

How about getting creative and creating some printables yourself.  At MyGrafico, we have lots of fun BBQ, and cookout themes and papers for you to choose from.

     
How about the food?? Here are some yummy ideas for your next BBQ or Memorial Day Party

• Ribs
• Hot Dogs
• Pulled Pork Sandwiches
• Corn on the Cob
• Kebabs
• Strawberry Shortcake
• Trifles
• Potato Salad
• Lemonade
• Margaritas
• Hamburgers
• Baked Beans
  —– I could go on and on!!

How festive are these strawberries!?? This came from Cupcake Kisses and Crumbs

this collection is really nice, a great way to dress things up! Check out The Party Dress for more

I hope this gave you some great ideas! Have a wonderful Memorial Day and a terrific BBQ season!

Happy Friday! Do you have someone in your life who could use some cheering up?  Or how about giving a gift to welcome the warm sunny days that are close.  For this freebie Friday I have some great printables, ” The Gift of Sunshine” !

Download your freebie HERE

To assemble a gift like this, is really easy! All you basically need to do is go shopping for anything yellow.  This particular sample is a little mix of everything.

• Nail polish
• Summer Drinking Glass
• Kitchen Towel
• Lemon Heads
• Lemon Gummies
• Wheat Thins
• Honey Nut Cheerios
• Mini Note Pad
• Silk Flowers
• Lemon Filled Cookies
• Lemonade
• Sunflower Lotion
• Hand Soap

Sunshine Party by Little Inspirations

You can buy this garland by Party Poms on Etsy

     

We are so excited to be giving this party tray set and graphics package from Zbooh Design Studio!!

Enter today for your chance to win:

• Pink Party Tray
• Pink Divided Tray
• Pink place setting holders

and a perfect Cherry Cupcake Party graphics package from Zbooh Design Studio featuring:

• Party Invitation (5x7inch)
• 3 lovely  toppers (can also be used as tags) (R-2inch)
• 3 lovely napkin rings (4.2×1.5 inch)
• 3 tag designs (2.2×3.4 inch) (can also be used as jar label)
• 4 circle tag designs (R-2inch) (can also be used as toppers)
• 3 place cards (3×3.7 inch)

FILE FORMATS YOU WILL RECEIVE

• 1 EPS file with all designs

• 3 A4 PDF sheets  to print

• 17 PNG in high resolution 300dpi

Also included are 12 x 12 pattern designs including cupcakes.   Ideal for birthday party invites, gift tags, and party decorations.

FORMAT

• 12x12inch – 300dpi JPEG

For our electronic die cut owners, we are also giving away the amazing SCAL3 software program from Craft Edge…If you want to get your copy today, Craft Edge is giving Mygrafico fans a 50% discount here.

HERE IS HOW TO ENTER AND GET ADDITIONAL ENTRIES…

For one (1) entry:

• Follow the Mygrafico Party Blog
• Post a link to this Giveaway on your Blog or Facebook page
• Comment below letting us know where you posted the link to this Giveaway

** GET additional entries:

• Tell your blog readers or facebook fans to visit our blog and post a comment letting us know who sent them…you will earn 1 entry for every 10 people who say YOU sent them!
• LIKE us on facebook for another entry

PLEASE NOTE: THIS GIVEAWAY IS OPEN TO US RESIDENTS ONLY! Entries will be received until we draw a winner on June 1st, 2012

Good Luck to all and thank you so much for being a part of Mygrafico!

I started with the  Tea Party Card Making Kit and Tea Party Digital Paper Pack by Shery K and used the clip art in the card kit to create a personalized invitation to my daughter.  I mailed the invite to her as she loves receiving packages in the mail!  Again, using the clip art in the set, I created a wrap around label for the mailing envelope.

These tea cup and saucer favor boxes were the perfect addition to this little gathering.  One thing I like to do when hosting a small personal event is to give each guest a gift that has meaning.  My daughter is a true girly-girl so, I created favor for us both and filled cellophane bags with shredded paper, mini manicure sets and dress up jewelry and tied each bag with a sheer ribbon and then  I placed the bags into the tea cups for an adorable favor.

I used a Cricut to cut out these favor boxes, but you can find 3-D tea cups and saucer templates online and cut them out with patterned paper.  I also used a template to create a tea bag wrap and designed a small pop up embellishment that I attached to the wrap.  This is another cute gift idea and would look just as adorable tied to the bag as a tag.

For a fancy focal point I made a garland to hang against the fence by our table.  After I cut out the shapes, I inked the edges with  Distress Ink
to give the banner a very antique look.  Then,  I attached all the pieces together and strung the banners with sheer ribbon.  It was fun making this keepsake banner and my daughter will be able to reuse it for her ‘doll baby’ tea parties.  I can see it hung perfectly over her little pink play kitchen.

Place cards were set on our table along with buffet cards for the finger foods.  They were a perfect little touch to the table and fancy flower cart I used for our food stand.  By the way, I love how easy making food for a tea party can be.  Not a lot of fuss – especially for a party of two!  Small finger sandwiches, tea cakes (mini cupcakes) and cookies are all that we will need!

No tea party is complete unless you have TEA!  The best tea for kids is definitely one that is not caffeinated!  If you don’t have decaf tea, you can always fill your teapot with room temperature juice and have pretend tea. I  customized little tea bags with a tag to attach to the string using the clip art in the kit. I always say that using patterned paper is a great way to dress up an ordinary item and really make it your own.

Ideas from this tea party can be used for baby showers, bridal showers, girlfriend gatherings and birthday parties!  You can find finished products from this party, like the tea cup and saucer favors in my shop!

Of course we all know that Moms should always be the ones receiving special treatment come Mother’s Day.  However, it’s also very special when you can spend time with your child one on one to make them feel special too – and what better time to be reminded of the joy of being a mother!

Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful moms!

Keisha Sibert, Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams

Happy Friday everyone!  I have the pleasure of featuring a party from one of our very own designers BabyStar Design .  Regina threw a monster bash for her six year old daughter.  She celebrated her birthday with her friends at school.

as I mentioned the party was a monster theme.  Regina told me….

Actually she’s kind of princessy girl but this time I want to try something different for her party and with her approval we came up with the same idea, a monster bash theme. The party turned out very well as all her class friends liked the monster bash theme. Everybody was so happy!

Regina used her party printables found HERE to use for most of her decorations.

Regina  provided some goodie bags that some snack that Maureen likes such as chocolate bars, lolls, toys, biscuits, snacks, etc.  Check out the goodie bags, aren’t they cute, with the little monster faces on them?

What kind of games did you play?

Since we only got a very limited time to celebrate the party which was we only 30 minute snack-time break so we used that to hit the piñata. Our piñata monster was the most cutest piñata we’ve ever had and the kids loved this monster piñata. I filled it with lots of candies and small toys. Every kid has their turn to hit it with the help of the teacher. I think they enjoyed the short-time party so much.

I guess the party was a real success and fun had by all! Regina told me she was lucky enough to have a lot of talented friends who were able to help her out.

One of her friends, Dwi, helped her to make the monster piñata, she picked out the design from her clipart set she offers at MyGrafico found here

And for the birthday goodies I specially ordered the monster pillow from another friend, Leidi. She is also my loyal customer. She made cushions and for the cover she used the character from my Little Monsters Party clipart set. And each pillow is embroidered with each kid’s name, so it make it more personal. Those pillows became a very special birthday gifts for all kids.
You can visit her facebook page here:

Thanks again Regina for sharing your awesome Monster Bash! Have a great weekend

Happy Friday everyone!  So I know spring has arrived, and that has a lot of us thinking about our gardens right!?  I know a lot of people out there as well love to can all their great tasting veggies.  So for this Friday, I decided to create some canning labels.

I personally have not canned before, but my family makes the best homemade salsa, that I look forward to every year!

You can check out How About Orange on a great post about canning for beginners, They included a great article as well with step-by-step instructions.

You can also check out this site for some top canning recipes, lots of yummy goodness!

If you love to can, why not make it into a whole canning party with your friends? Enjoy some girl time, have some yummy wine and cheeses and breads and get your canning done, check out this great post by savvy eats

and if you are feeling really creative, you can check out MyGrafico for some nice fruit & vegetables cliparts to create your own labels like the ones below

again happy canning, and happy Friday.  Enjoy your FREEBIE!

I love the colors of these digital papers and wanted to stick mainly with the purples, oranges and pinks, so I chose to use my favorite patterns from the set to create the invitation.  To start out I created a clip art image of a woman in a big hat and incorporated some of the digital paper into the silhouetted image I designed.

Since this brunch was at a restaurant, there were limits to what I could do style wise, but I was able to really add lots of color to the table with this gorgeous set.  I always love taking beautifully patterned paper to dress up a plain glass vase.  For this table centerpiece, I used a wide strip of paper and jute twine to create a pretty vase filled with beautiful spring time tulips.

If you ever throw a small gathering at a restaurant don’t be afraid to dress a table up to your liking.  You will find that often times the restaurant manager will allow you to bring in flowers, place cards, balloons  and table signs for your celebration.  I always like to add a table sign that coordinates with the event.  Using a contrasting pattern along with the the clip art image and a birthday message, I designed a small sign that tied  in perfectly with the beautiful colors and style for this party.

Part of my business is dedicated to creating fun & fabulous cupcakes for all of my events.  For this brunch, I created a delicious Tart Lemon Cupcake.  I am a BIG FAN of cupcake wrappers and toppers.  So, I added wrappers and flag toppers using the paper to dress up these cupcakes.

Be sure to try the recipe for these cupcakes at the end of this post!

As a favor, we packed cupcakes into small cellophane bags tied with white satin ribbon and a small thank you tag.  Each cupcake was nestled into a favor box I cut from the paper.  This is a very inexpensive, but fancy way to present a small token of appreciation to party guests.

If you ever happen to throw a lovely ladies gathering in a beautiful restaurant I hope the tips I shared with you today will inspire you to create fabulous pops of beauty along your dining table!

For a complete set of these parties, please visit my shop!

Tart Lemon Cupcakes w/Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

4 eggs – room temperature

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons shredded lemon peel

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and fill cupcake pan with liners.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a bowl and  set aside.

3. Using a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium high speed for 30 seconds and gradually add sugar.  Add eggs to butter mixture one at a time until well combined. Add  lemon peel, and lemon juice and vanilla.

4. Starting with the dry ingredients and setting mixer to low speed, add flour mixture and buttermilk to the batter, being sure alternate after each addition until combined. Pour into prepared lined cupcake pans.

5 .Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan on a wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans and allow to thoroughly cool on wire racks.

6. Frost cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream frosting (recipe follows) and  garnish with lemon peel curls. Makes 12 – 18 servings.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter, softened

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

THIS MONTH WE ARE GIVING AWAY A BEAUTIFUL PAPER CRAFTING COLLECTION BY PINK PAISLEE CALLED SPRING JUBILEE…ENTER TODAY TO WIN:

• 6″ x 6″ Petite Paper Pack
• Coordinating PressOn RubOn Transfers
• Spring Jubilee Shipping Tags
• Alphabet Stickers Pack with 680 letters
• Spring Jubilee Chipboard Stickers Pack
• Coordinating Collage Journaling Cards

This beautiful paper crafting collection can be used for invitations and more!

For our electronic die cut owners, we are also giving away the amazing SCAL3 software program from Craft Edge…If you want to get your copy today, Craft Edge is giving Mygrafico fans a 50% discount here.

HERE IS HOW TO ENTER AND GET ADDITIONAL ENTRIES…

For one (1) entry:

• Follow the Mygrafico Party Blog
• Post a link to this Giveaway on your Blog or Facebook page
• Comment below letting us know where you posted the link to this Giveaway

** GET additional entries:

• Tell your blog readers or facebook fans to visit our blog and post a comment letting us know who sent them…you will earn 1 entry for every 10 people who say YOU sent them!
• LIKE us on facebook for another entry

PLEASE NOTE: THIS GIVEAWAY IS OPEN TO US RESIDENTS ONLY! Entries will be received until we draw a winner on May 1st, 2012

Good Luck to all and thank you so much for being a part of Mygrafico!

Looking for some great invitations?  Try Corazon Dulce, she has lots of great invitations in some of the most popular kids party themes.  I am featuring her FARM PARTY one below.

Food Ideas:
Food for a farm party would be really easy.  You can use a lot of fresh produce, like apples, strawberries, carrots and more!  Lay out several fruit and veggie dips for the kiddos to use.  Here’s some ideas for you

Notice the cow print tablecloth, love it! The barn background as well really makes it stand out.
food table feature by Life is a Party

Decoration & Tablewear Ideas:

Birthday in a box has some nice tableware sets, this set would tie in really well with the farm theme.

Of course cowboy hats and hay will go with any farm theme, notice how the apples and flowers were added to the tables to bring in a little color.

This set up was found at Shindig Diva

Activity Ideas:

How about a hayride?  I’m sure lots of you out there own a little wagon, if not you can find them pretty easy at local toy stores and such.

Hay and Pony ride farm party featured by Pizzazzerie

Feeling a little creative and want to make your own decorations.  Check out these graphics from MyGrafico to make all sorts of printables and decorations