Tammy Mitchell Photography» Party Ideas

let’s party: throw a gingerbread man party

Tammy — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:58:30 +0000

Big boys are hard to plan parties for! That’s what I’ve decided. It’s easy to send everyone to play Lazer Tag, have a chuck e cheese party, etc., but it’s hard to come up with creative, fun parties where you can do something fun without it looking too girly and cutesy…know what I mean?? Last year I threw this party for my son during Christmas break. I just wanted a chance for him to invite some boys over, load themselves up on pizza and sugar, and be rowdy. We decided on a gingerbread man party. It was simple and fun. This year I have something a little more crazy up my sleeve and it requires a little more prep…I’ll be sure to share that later this month. But for now, here’s the gingerbread man:

I bought some gingerbread man kits at my local trader joes, loaded the table with candy and sweets and let the boys have at it. I was thoroughly impressed with their creations. They were actually much more creative and took a lot more time to work with them than I expected.

The table decor was made up of things from around the house. Andy’s already decorated gingerbread house, a few fake table top trees, a plastic tablecloth made clean up a breeze!

The cute little gingerbread dishes Ifound at Michaels for .99 cents each. A deal!! They worked well to hold icing for decorating. After the kids made their gingerbread men we had pizza and watched A Christmas Carol. It was a fun, easy and relatively inexpensive evening for the boys. I scored some big mom points with minimal work…that’s my kind of party!!

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

-tammy

make this: tutorial: how to make individual gumball machine party favors and decorations

Tammy — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 22:37:15 +0000

It has been forever since I promised this tutorial…sorry for the long delay!! The cute Elizabeth over at Swanky Press asked to feature the tutorial…but couldn’t find it on the blog…yeah, that’s cause sometimes I’m a dingbat and forget to post things!! lol!! These are the cutest little gumball machines that you can use as both decorations and party favors at your next birthday bash. If your kids are anything like mine, they will LOVE these to take home because they are gum fanatics!!

A few simple supplies you will need to create these machines:

-small terra cotta pot and base from your local craft or home improvement store

-small round votive holder (in the glassware/candle holder section at Michaels)

-red spray paint (or the color of your choice)

-E6000 adhesive (also available at your craft store)

-small wooden balls/knobs they are in the wood section of your local craft store. they are flat on one side making them easy to adhere to your machine

Spray paint the terra cotta pieces and the wood knob and let dry.

Once the pieces have dried, following the instructions on the tube of e6000, glue the wooden knob to the terra cotta pot base as shown in the picture, and the votive holder to the pot as shown.

once the glue has dried you are ready to fill it with gumballs!

can you imagine these lining the table at each place setting? For only about $2.50 (that includes the gumballs!) you have a darling favor for all your guests.

Have a great day!
tammy

Let’s Party: BHLDN…party supplies by anthropologie

Tammy — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:55:45 +0000

be still my beating heart. have you heard of BHLDN yet? i had seen it around the internet as of late, and let me just tell you, i visited the site yesterday. oh mama! i am in love!

the good news is there is TONS of eye candy. the bad news is it can get pretty pricey. but…i was shocked to see just how many of there items i had actually already USED in the wedding i just did…only I had mine made on etsy, or made them myself for a fraction of the cost. so, should we do some tutorials? i’ll put together a list of some of my faves and get started!

until then, you can always visit the site and drool……and get some inspiration.

have a great day!
tammy

Printable Party Collections: The Aloha Luau Collection: Throw a Luau Birthday Party

Tammy — Wed, 11 May 2011 22:38:15 +0000

With summer approaching and the nights getting longer I can’t help but think about the fun nights coming. Apparently neither can Ashley! She’s already started talking about her next party and has decided that she wants it to be a luau. This little girl is obsessed with all things Hawaiian. She talks non-stop about Hawaii and how she is going to live there when she grows up. She likes to look on realtor.com for houses that she might want to live in there…insisting that she is going to have 5 guest bedrooms so that everyone can come and visit. When she went to the American Girl store for her birthday she didn’t pick out a doll that looked like her twin…no, she picked the doll of the year Kanani, from, you guessed it, Hawaii. She also has told me that she is going to have 2 dogs named Hana and Lulu. Too funny!! So, I guess it should come as no surprise that she wants a Luau for her next party, huh?

I came up with this new Aloha Luau Party Printables Collection just for her.

Add a few touches to your party like grass skirts as table runners or table skirts, sand pails and inexpensive flip flops as party favors and you’re all set! For food serve coconut cupcakes, fruit kabobs, and pineapple juice. Have the kids make leis and play limbo and your party is DONE!! How easy is that??

Here’s what comes in this collection:

-5×7 printable invitations

- 16×20 or 8×10 welcome sign (can be printed at Costco or on your home computer depending on which size you choose to print)

- 2 inch party circles to punch out and use as cupcake toppers, napkin rings, favor tags etc.

-2 inch mahalo tags to use on thank you’s for your guests

-3 inch party circles

-a printable happy birthday banner

-printable drink labels

you can order this collection securely through paypal here:

let’s party: gumballs

Tammy — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:40:21 +0000

i’m a busy girl working on a new party theme and printables complete with activities, pictures and a tutorial on how to make these little cuties as favors for your guests…all for under $2!! Here’s a little sneak peek:

have a great Monday!

-tammy

Let’s Party: Kid’s party ideas: Throw a bakery birthday

Tammy — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:32:20 +0000

Throwing this little party was SO much fun!!! And, believe it or not, it was surprisingly easy too. If you’re looking for a fun and easy idea for your little one’s birthday this year, maybe this will work for you too!

I wanted the house to resemble a bakery counter. I made a simple sign with cardstock and some poster board and the help of my great neighbor Karen’s cricut machine. I set the island full of cookie sheets of homemade cookies, cupcakes to be decorated, donuts…etc. When the girls arrived they were each given a cute apron and a chef’s hat with a matching yoyo on the front to wear while they were baking. The talented Bobbi from Bobbityboo on etsy made the aprons and hats…they were SO cute!

We kicked things off by making sugar cookies. The girls rolled the dough, cut the shapes and made a giant mess…they were having so much fun!

Once the cookie fun was done I whisked them away to bake them while the girls decorated pink bakery boxes. I picked them up at my local donut shop for $1 a piece. They probably would have sold them to me for 50 cents, but since the lady looked at me like I was nuts when I told her I wanted to buy just boxes…not donuts, I offered her $1 a piece.

I collected stickers, rhinestones, glitter, die cuts and all sorts of other fun scrapbook supplies from my never ending stash and let the girls go to town. I labeled each box with a blue polka dot flower that had their initial stamped in the center to identify them and tie them into the rest of the party decor.

then we played pin the sprinkles on the cupcake… By then the cookies were baked and cooled and I brought out the decorating supplies. We spent some time decorating cookies and cupcakes, sang happy birthday and ate till their bellies were full and opened presents. Each guest then took their pink bakery boxes that they had decorated and filled them with goodies that they had made and some from the bakery counter to take home and share with their families.

Ashley STILL talks about it. I have to say that aside from making some cookie dough and cupcakes ahead of time, there really wasn’t a whole lot of prep. It was fun and easy and a lot of “bang for my buck.”

I hope you are feeling inspired to throw a birthday bakery! If you do, send me some pictures so I can see it!!

Do you have a great party to share? I’d love to see it! Check out the submission guidelines and send it on over so I can feature you here on the blog!

Have a great Monday!

-t

let’s party: an eloise themed birthday party

Tammy — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:47:11 +0000

oh…i am SO excited!! Ash and I have been trying to come up with the perfect little girl birthday party and I think we may just have it! What’s black and white and pink all over?? Eloise!! If you have little girls and aren’t familiar with the Eloise books and Disney movies, then you should run right out and get them! Eloise is a funny, cute, precocious, denis the menace type that lives at The Plaza hotel in NYC. The stories and movies all revolve around the trouble she causes and yet she always ends up the hero. The Plaza has embraced the idea of Eloise and recently, when they renovated the hotel, they added an Eloise suite and specialty shop at the hotel. John and I had the pleasure of staying at the hotel last May when we visited New York and Ashley was hysterical wanting know if we had seen Eloise. Of course we visited the Eloise shop and brought back a few goodies for her and she was just elated!

Here’s a shot of the suite at the Plaza:

isn’t that cute? Eloise loves nothing more than dressing up, making noise and having tea parties…so, we’ll be having a day complete with tea parties, dress up relays and pin the tail on weenie (Eloise’s dog).

Here are a few ideas of some of the things that I’m pulling inspiration from…

ooh it’s going to be fun!!! now I just have to get busy!! only a month to pull it together! I can’t wait to show you the finished product.

hope you’re feeling inspired!
have a great day!
-t

make this: fringed crepe paper streamers…and…be featured on TMP!!!

Tammy — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 12:34:50 +0000

Every now and then I run across an idea that is just pure genius. Don’t get me wrong…I see a ton of amazing ideas every day, it’s just some of them make more of an impact on me than others. Usually they are ideas that involve more bang for your buck. Well, this idea definitely caught my attention! It will add SO much personality and flair to your events and cost you just pennies!

Don’t those look SO cool?? What a great idea!! Head on over to Oh Happy Day to check out the full tutorial and get to know the amazing girl behind this awesome idea.

Are you a party planner, event sylist or wedding coordinator? Are you a scrapbooker with a great eye for design and a desire to share your craft? Are you a master in the kitchen and love to create a new spin on recipes? Do you have fun tutorial for something crafty that you’ve created? Do you love putting together inspiration boards that you’d like to share? One of the new features I’ve added here on the blog is the opportunity to showcase YOU and your designs and ideas. I love to be inspired and I know that YOU my readers, do too. I also know that many of you are crafty guru’s yourselves and probably have wonderful ideas to showcase. Well, I’d love to feature you here on the blog and introduce you to my readers! You may have noticed the new page on the site Submissions/Be Featured on TMP on the menu bar at the top of the site. Head on over to find out more information about submissions. Let your neighbors, friends and anyone else you know that has something to share know about it so we can all get to know you!

Have a GREAT weekend!

-t

let’s party:super bowl party ideas

Tammy — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 18:23:10 +0000

Well, i had great intentions to get a few people together to watch the big game this weekend, but with the round of sickness we’ve had, and from the sound of things, that everyone else has, we might be hanging out with ourselves this weekend!

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I won’t party like it’s 1999, but it will just be a smaller occassion. I found these cute party supplies and a great styled party with them while I was searching the internet last night, so I thought I’d share. The great news is you can still order them from Spaceships and Laserbeams because they are printables from your own computer! You CAN throw a last minute party and still have it look this cute!

I am SO making these cupcakes. I don’t even care if I have a party. I’ll eat them. They are just way too cute!

So, do you want to party yet???

Have a wonderful weekend! Go Packers!

-t

southern california children’s photographer: i {shoot} kids

Tammy — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:15:57 +0000

lol! I always have to laugh when I’m talking about shooting my kids, or other people’s. It just sounds so funny!! I have been agonizing over this decision for quite some time now and I have just decided that right now, this is the best decision for our family. As many of you know, I am tackling homeschooling my 3rd grader this coming year. I am VERY excited about it, but also very worried about the time committment required to do a knock-out job. Combine that with being a mom, CEO of the house, cleaning lady, taxi driver, personal chef, running a couple of growing businesses and a husband with a schedule that is completely wild and unpredictable and life is crazy!!

I started in this business shooting kids and it’s really what I love to do…where my heart is….so I am returning to my roots. I am excited about the possibilites of refocusing just on the little ones in our lives. I love to create a scene and let them play. My philosophy and style are very photojournalistic, provide a fun environment and let them be.

As a result of these changes I will be making a few changes to pricing and packages too, so if you are planning on scheduling a shoot, please make sure to check those out. Pricing and Session Info

Throughout the month of August I will be running a special for children’s shoots…$75 for the sitting fee. Sitting fee includes 1 8×10. Spots will go quickly, so email me at tammy@tammymitchellphotography.com if you are interested.

Along with regular shoots I will be offering a few “themed” mini shoots throughout the year where I will set up a great scene and the kids will be invited to come and play. I am SUPER excited about these!!! It will allow me to combine my love of design and party planning with my love of photography!! Stay tuned for details of the first theme shoot coming in Sept. It will be a back to school shoot…details and session information/sign-ups coming soon!!

Here’s a little taste of what’s to come. A “fake birthday” I had the pleasure of creating for a client last week…watch for these shots in your local craft store and even on HSN and QVC!!

have a great day!
-t