paper and cake: August 2010

Inspiration Board: Bird's Nest

>> Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Ever ask yourself, where do those Paper & Cake girls find their inspiration? Well, for our Bird's Nest Baby Shower, it began here.... with these gorgeous images:

clockwise from top left: DIY cloth napkins and rings, stunning cupcakes from the insanely talented Nevie Pie Cakes, Dinnerware in Aqua and Cherry.

And these....

top row: fabric for favor bags, DIY Bird Cage Mobile , Paper & Cake Bird's Nest printable party

second row: sweet salt water taffy, little birdie pillow, hand made bird buttons

third row: red birds to decorate the table, and don't forget a gift for the little one ~ like these soft pants, tissue poms are always a great DIY decoration.

oooh! and this!

and yes, I'm a little bit obsessed with Nevie Pie Cakes creations...

How To: Party-Favor-on-a-Stick

>> Monday, August 30, 2010

We love the mustache-on-a-stick trend for grown-ups! But what about those sad, left out, poor unfortunate children of ours (because they just never get anything)? Wouldn't they just LOVE a monster-on-a-stick, pirate-on-a-stick or princess-on-a-stick? We've made a few for you to play with...and the coolest part? You can personalize the word bubbles!

Supplies:

card stock
color printer
scissors or xacto knife
thin dowel or long skewer
hot glue (or white glue)
cute kid

How To:

1. Download your free templates here and here. Personalize by opening in Adobe Acrobat (version 9 or higher) and just typing in your own text!

2. Print and cut out designs

3. Adhere to dowel with hot glue (if you're in a hurry) or white glue (if you're not).

4. Play!

P&C on Television

>> Thursday, August 26, 2010

Last week, we had the opportunity to work with Amy Nichols a FABULOUS event planner. She was working on a segment for CBS5 in San Francisco, and asked us for some Pizza Party printables. Did I mention this was for television?

Anyway, here is some what she had to say:

~ ~ ~

It is time for a make your own pizza party! This past Saturday, I had the honor of appearing on the CBS5 Eyewitness Morning news in San Francisco to present an idea on an economical kid's birthday party. For the segment, I decided to do a pizza party. My thought was it was good for kids of all ages, as parents can tailor the level of involvement based on the child's age. In addition, rather than having a ton of party games that can get competitive, I came up with activities that would suit kids of multiple ages playing together.

So let's get started with the ideas!

I suggested getting inexpensive aprons from Michaels and letting the kids decorate their aprons before they got started with assembling pizzas. I'd suggest using the craft line from Martha Stewart Crafts or iron-on transfers from Michaels (of course with adult supervision).

It's time to make some pizzas! It is a good idea to start with a pizza peel, especially if you're making several pizzas at the same time. I like this one from Williams-Sonoma, and its also eco-friendly.

To make the assembly part more fun for kids, I love these decor elements from Paper & Cake. I chose to use their tomato sauce label (love it!) and also their small mise-en-place labels for the ingredients. There are many more options from this line, and the collection is now available in Paper and Cake's etsy store!

A party wouldn't be complete without dessert, right? Well no kid is going to opt for fruit instead of a birthday cake, but that doesn't mean you can't make a fruit pizza to offer the kids too. The recipe for this fruit pizza comes from San Francisco Entertains, the new cookbook from the Junior League of San Francisco. The book will be available 10/20 and can be purchased here.

You can't let your guests leave empty-handed, so I suggest sending them home with these adorable pizza cookies -- in both "slices" and "whole pie" shapes. Too cute! These are from Little Laura's Sweets. Laura will soon be launching her new line, Da*Lish. The cookies are topped with favor labels from Paper & Cake as well.

~ ~ ~

You can see the tv segment here, and be SURE to check out Amy's blog for the rest of the Pizza Party segment details, and to leave comments - we love comments!

Print, Cut and Party with Paper & Cake!

>> Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Print, Cut and Party with Paper & Cake!

Girls Night Out Workshop

October 1, 2010

7-9:30 pm

Long Beach, CA (location TBA)

In this printable party workshop, the girls from Paper & Cake will offer demonstrations and hands on training using three Halloween themed printable party collections.

Enjoy snacks, sweets, wine and coffee as you learn about:

• Personalizing your Printable Party
• Cupcake Wrappers and Decorating
• Printing, Folding & Assembly
• Embellishments!

Need to get started right away on your Halloween party decor? An HP laser printer will be available for limited use for a fee to print on the spot. Bring some scissors and tape and get started!

There will also be tools and paper available for purchase, door prizes and freebies!

Register here and you will be emailed a confirmation packet with 24 hours.

Recipes: Inspired by Pike Place Market

I just got back from a trip to my old Seattle stomping grounds. I spent one entire afternoon trolling through the labyrinth of Pike Place Market... the smells and sights were incredible. In lieu of one of my recipes, I thought I'd share some favorites inspired by the Market.

Honey Sticks in a huge variety of flavors. Find out how to make your own here.

Mouthwatering peaches, and a sweet sign! Try this Peach Cornbread Trifle recipe for dessert!

The Olive Counter at DeLaurenti's. Try this delectable Summer Salad using Cerignola Olives.

A trio of colorful string Beans would be fabulous in this Ginger and Garlic String Bean recipe.

Orzo from the amazing Papparadelle's (they even have a dark chocolate linguini!). And better yet, they provide amazing recipes for all of their pastas, like this one for Rainbow Orzo with Vegetable Melange.

Stone Fruit at its peak. Try them in this Apricot Fool.

And speaking of stone fruit, Cherries for Frozen Berry Pudding by my favorite food doyen, Donna Hay.

And no Pike Place Market tour would be complete without at least one shot of the flowers....

How To: Gift Wrapping

>> Monday, August 23, 2010

Seeing as how we are a bit obsessive about parties (but isn't everyone?), it's no wonder that we're always on the look out for new gift wrapping ideas.

Supplies:

3 different wrapping papers
setting tool
floral wire
washi tape
double-sided tape

1. Figure out which paper you want as the outermost layer. Punch holes at semi-regular intervals, covering the entire area.

2. Layer the second paper underneath the first and pencil tiny dots in the original holes, making sure to not center all of them and leaving some blank. Match up the holes so that they are slightly off center and adhere the two papers together using double-sided tape

3. Wrap the gift in the innermost paper. Then wrap with the punched papers.

4. For the washi-tape twist tie, lay a length of tape on your work surface, sticky-side up. Lay the same length of floral wire down the center. Lay another length of washi-tape in the top, sandwiching the wire. Use as a twist tie.

5. Add a gift tag. Oh, you don't have a gift tag? Don't panic, we've got some CUTE "Merci" gift tags, download yours today!

P&C Real Life Party: End of Summer Party

>> Thursday, August 19, 2010

Did you see this one? Heather from Party Tinkers shares her End of Summer party using our Printable Lemonade collection. The details are fabulous! The only thing missing? My invitation! Here is what she had to say...

~ ~ ~

In honor of my of my oldest daughter starting kindergarten (snif snif) in a week, I decided to throw an End of the Summer Party for her and some of her girlfriends from school. I ordered all of these adorable Lemonade themed customizable printables from Paper and Cake. Here are some photos detailing the guest goody table!

Since black was incorporated into the printable design, I was able to use
some of the items that I had from Catherine's Ladybug Party.

I had seen several other party blogs where mason jars
were used as cups and decided to steal the idea!!

Now, what to do for my next party!!!

Inspiration Board: Bento Back-to-School

>> Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Continuing on our "What-the-heck-am-I-going-to-pack-in-their-Lunchbox theme", we went straight to thinking about Bento-Boxes. And what better way to celebrate the kids being back in school all day, than a little Bento-Box themed PARTY! (sounds better than homework doesn't it?)

Make origami invitations, or better yet, create some kirigami (the cute snowflake-y cut out above) and paste on cardstock.

Have the guests make the Yosoou sushi (remember this?).

Local Asian grocers like Mitsuwa are great, or if you don't have one close by, shop on-line at Asian Grocer for bamboo sushi mats and other fun accoutrements.

clockwise from top left: wooden sushi set from Ezi at Mookla; and oh-my-gosh this Harajuku-style little girl's dress from MeriMelo is just too much; Try a Japanese cotton for tablecloths like this one from lucky kaeru; and how about sushi stickers from mau studio; anime cupcakes from Hello Naomi; and of course you'll need chopsticks - plumparty has these great ones; Kitschy Digitals scrapbook embellishments; and what fun is this edible soypaper from sushi party; another Danielle Thompson digital kitsch idea as mentioned above; Martha's faux sushi; kirigami from lilzabubba.

...and you should offer pink pocky sticks with dessert.

Bento Box Dividers

Party Recipe: Yosoou-Sushi

>> Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Do we have Back-to-School-on-the-Brain or what?!

What better way to liven up boring School Lunches than Bento-Box Style? Here's an easy recipe for Yosoou Sushi (or Pretend Sushi). Kids love it, and the variation possibilities are endless. I have done this with 17 pre-schoolers! They had a blast rolling out the bread and adding their fillings. Imagine this as birthday hors d'œuvres, or even the main party activity.

Ingredients (for one Yosoou Sushi Roll)

1 slice soft bread (try white whole wheat, sourdough, honey wheat)
2 tablespoons soft white cheese (like laughing cow)
matchstick slices of carrot and red pepper

1. trim crusts off of bread

2. Roll out bread so its very thin

3. Spread cheese on bread, making sure to cover all areas

4. Lay veggies down the center of the bread

5. Tightly roll bread length-wide, pushing veggies in and pressing as you go

6. Slice into 1/2" rounds

Variations to try:

Roasted Sweet Potato & Applesauce

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Strawberries & Blueberries with Pink Cream Cheese

Deli Turkey, Cucumber and Ranch Dip

Banana & Nutella

And there you have Yosoou-Sushi, try saying it 5 times fast!

How To: Back to School Reusable Lunch Bags

>> Monday, August 16, 2010

At the end of the last school year, I lamented the amount of plastic baggies we went through. And while I did my best to "re-use" said plastic baggies, they really only made it through a couple of uses. So, what to do? Make my own! Here's how ~ with a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I am not the best stitcher in the world; oh, all right, I failed my pattern drafting class in graduate school for Costume Design; they had me do all the painting and dyeing my stitching skills were so poor. I say this, not to discourage the would-be sewer, but to encourage you. If I can do it (and no one looks too closely) you can too!

Supplies (for one bag):