yesterday i posted about a fun ladybug garden party…maybe i should declare this birthday idea week. i have a bunch to share from over the years!

another fun summer party (as the summer wraps up in a month or two) is a fun cherry theme. i am lucky to have nieces to share in the creative process for their birthdays (as i am in a house full of adorable boys). again, one of my favorite parts of the birthday table are the custom party hats that i enjoy making. these were simply cut out and attached with ribbon. then i used scrap paper in the color scheme to cut out paper cherries to glue on the fronts! simple and cute.  with the left over scraps of paper, i decorated the gifts after wrapping in classic white paper. i could see this being a perfect party with a picnic location on a green summery lawn. ooooh and fresh cherries for everyone!

my sister put together an adorable ladybug garden party for my niece! she asked me to design party hats, cupcake toppers and favor tags to coordinate the theme. shades of fuchsia, light pink and green made it bright and summery. i designed a modern ladybug silhouette on a party hat template i made. after printing these out on heavy card stock, i cut them into their party hat shapes and attached pink ribbon long enough for the children to tie on. a circle punch and white candy sticks made the cupcake toppers the perfect size to insert into yummy frosted cupcakes. fresh flowers, balloons, artwork by a friend and fun favors decorated the table. the perfect location was their beautiful garden and lanai.

i enjoy baking sugar cookie cut-outs, even though it is a messy process and i never have enough counter space. (i dream of having marble counters for baking.) i have been the official sugar cookie baker for the family since high school.  so much that if i skip an occasion, i may hear about it from my uncle.

my favorite recipe is from the joy of cooking, rich rolled sugar cookies and i basically stick to it for every occasion. this past week however, i made some alterations for a special treat. my youngest son has severe food allergies since birth (another post and then some). with the new addition of egg to his diet, i altered the traditional sugar cookie recipe for him.  i substituted in rice flour, rice milk and olive oil. so no dairy, no wheat, barley, oats, corn or rye. i also used india tree sugars for decorating, great if you are concerned about allergies. they contain no corn syrup or any other fillers. you can also download each product’s information online to check. and the cookies- they turned out! (as good as rice cookies can)

for his homemade cookie session i found an adorable basic baking set from ikea, that is perfectly sized for small hands. as a montessori child myself and with my children in montessori, i really try and have them participate in as many  practical life activities as possible. how did they taste out of the oven? he was so excited that he ate all the cookies in one afternoon. and if you are wondering why there is a gingerbread man cutout for valentine’s day baking… my four year old is in love with the gingerbread shape after reading the jan brett book, gingerbread baby, over and over in the months prior. plus he said “mommy he has a heart… see?”

ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT OF JOYABABY 2010.

a tribute to red, part one

this is a sampling of photos of my holiday table outfitted for our holiday parties or Christmas morning breakfast with family, from over the last ten years. everyone who knows me knows that the color red is part of my life, or has been for so long. not just for the obvious holidays and my wedding, but nine years ago i searched high and low to find red french toile wallpaper for my kitchen and scoured antique stores for vintage red finds. when i found rolls and rolls of red toile wrapping paper, you can imagine how excited i was. i finally used up ALL the red toile paper two years ago.  and now the red era is over. and so i pay tribute to this vibrant, rich color and step over to the other side…. to the color grey. wish me luck.

A birthday party for my niece turning one! Theme of pink and green was chosen by my sister and then I created an entire birthday table with custom party hats and iced sugar cookies in shapes of cupcakes and number 1 for guests to enjoy. We used my milk glass vases for arranging pink, cream and green flowers. A black and white photograph was framed and placed in the center of the table. Coordinating gift wrap and a beautiful tiered monogram cake finished the look. If you look closely you can see a joyababy bib from our original collection, the perfect bib to scoop up any birthday cake crumbs. This is the kind of birthday party you create when you have all boys! lots and lots of pink!

-joya

as i post this “my baby bear” will turn 4 this month! my inspiration for his 1st birthday : a modern silhouette with sophisticated colors. i love the richness that chocolate brown gives with a cool, light blue shade.

for the party, we strung black and white photographs of the birthday boy from his first year. i discovered a love for handmade party hats years ago, that give a festive touch to the decor. grilled cheese were shaped like bears for little hands to enjoy. a single candle on a homemade cake with cookies for dessert. for this little one’s dessert, he had a special “allergy-free” rice cookie in a bear shape.

it looks like in this photo we are sharing a good laugh! it was an eventful year after all, as each child brings new joy to a family. happy 4th birthday baby bear!

all images are copyright protected by joyababy 2006-2009