Batman Birthday Invite

Before I go into the details of this rather adorable Batman Birthday Party Invite, I would like to say something.

When you are out of the habit of blogging, almost two months goes by with no post, and you don't even realize it. I am not sure anyone else realized it either. Probably because of my "radio" silence increasing more and more over the last year, I am sure the few people I had reading this blog have given up on me. So let me say thanks for sticking with me that long.

I have come to the realization, that I am okay with my blogging life (or lack there of). Of course part of me wants to be read by thousands and thousands. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to be known in the blogosphere for my mad skills. I want validation from friends, strangers, and mega bloggers. 

BUT...

I am not good at the life. I am not great at self promoting. I don't have the funds for a blog face lift (hence that I am in the dark ages and still have a blogspot) or to go to all the amazing and fabulous conferences out there. I am not a great entrepreneur (heck I couldn't even spell it...spell check had to help). I admire those woman who do and can. They are so very awesome at what they do.

For years I felt that because they are awesome at what they do and I don't do that well, it must mean that I am about as far from awesome as you can get. 

So I backed off of blogging. I backed off because, someone could do it better. No one out there would miss me or what I do. I was getting an ulcer watching my blog views go down. My comments become nonexistent. Basically I backed off in a pity party kind of way. 

So, why even blog a tiny bit now? 

This is why. I still love creating things. I can say in some confidence that there are things I am good at. Even if only my mom reads this blog anymore (thanks MOM I love you), I still want to share. Who cares if I am not a dot com. Who cares if no one sponsors me. Who cares. Who cares.

So I "blog" for me right now. I create for me because I like to. I decorate when I can. I make stuff when I have time. I share because it is fun. If someone gets an idea from me. Great. If people occasionally stop by from Pinterest. AWESOME and welcome. However, even if just my mom reads, that is good too. 

I had a good run for awhile. Who knows maybe when my kids are all in school if this blogging thing is still around I will jump back in with a little more professionalism. 

For right now, I am good with just sharing what I do when I do it. 

LONGEST intro to a blog post ever. Sorry about that.

So on to this Batman Birthday Party Invite.  I wish I could say I came up with the concept of this modern simple batman invite all on my own. However, thanks to Pinterest I came across my inspiration on The Hostess with the Mostess Blog via a party done by Posh Paperie. I really liked her design style and the concept of the party so I copy-catted her a bit.

For the invite I turned to my handy dandy PicMonkey.

I used geometric overlays for the flood lights. I used the bat overlays found in the Halloween section. The rest was just a mixture of some of my favorite fonts.

One of the things I liked the most was the idea of a geometric Batman. So I made one. This Batman was completely made from mixing and manipulating geometric overlays. He turned out pretty amazing if I do say so myself.

For the back of this card, I just copied and positioned image after image of the original Batman head.

I also used the Batman head for some birthday posters (which I will share soon) and these name tags that I taped to the outside of the envelopes.

The whole invite ensemble looked like this.

I was able to save this all to my computer and just print from my printer on to cardstock. Setting aside making the little Batman head image, it really was very simple and the perfect way to invite some fellow superheroes over.

A Pinteresting Wednesday: Charlie Brown Party Invites

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Welcome to another A Pinteresting Wednesday--Charlie Brown Party Edition.

I am kind of hoping you all aren't all Charlie Brown'ed out. When I do a party it tends to kind of consume all my creating time. Consequently I have a lot of party related projects to share.

So fingers crossed you guys are waiting on the edge of your seats for the next Charlie Brown Birthday Party installment...

Or at the very least you are mildly interested in the crazy antics of yours truly and are kind of waiting to see what I come up with next!

I have said before that Pinterest has made throwing a party all the easier.

Not only can you find entire parties in certain themes, but you can also find different ideas here and there that would fit into a specific theme.

I have used Pinterest to help me plan a Superman Party, a Harry Potter Party, an Avengers Party, and recently a Mexican Fiesta First Birthday and of course a Charlie Brown Party.

Most of the time I use ideas I pin as PINspration...sorry I had to..ehem..

So as I was saying I use Pinterest as a jumping off point.

Today I am sharing with you my Charlie Brown Birthday Party Invites.

I had THIS invite from Piggy Bank Parties on my Charlie Brown Pinterest Board.

I made a simple little version of their card for Little's invite. I used PicMonkey, of course.

I didn't just want the party invite, though. I also wanted an envelope for the invite.

I had this little idea to use Peanuts comic book images as the paper for the envelope.

I had this Peanuts comic book.

I scanned in one of the comic strips that I liked.

I edited the image in Picmonkey, adding a text box saying, "You Are Invited".

I printed off the image twice, once with the words and once without.

Then I sewed the two papers together right sides facing out.

That made a perfect little pocket envelope for the Charlie Brown Party Invite.

All I had to do is repeat so each little party guest got one.

Pinterest is perfect for a little inspiration.

My Time to Party Board is jam-packed full of party ideas.

Are you throwing a party anytime soon? Do you use Pinterest too?

I would love for you to follow Just Another Day in Paradise on Pinterest.

Harry Potter Party Invites Tutorial

Today kicks off all things Harry Potter.

I thought I would start the week by sharing the Invite tutorial post

I did on Blue Cricket Design a couple of weeks ago as part

of my Party Styling Contributor.

ENJOY!

I love a good party. Okay I am obsessed with good parties.

The next party in our house...you guessed it a Harry Potter party. A party perfect for any Witch or Wizard.

Before any party though has to come a fun party invite!

Today I am sharing with you a how-to on making this Harry Potter party invite.

What you need:

off-white cardstock

vellum paper

envelope template (found here)
you can use any template you want...this one opened like I wanted
and fit on a regular size of cardstock

brown ink

red clay

First you need to print off the names of your guest on the off-white cardstock. This will take some adjusting, finagling, some chocolate (for your patience), and some trial and error...so do some test runs on regular paper. I addressed mine like Harry's letter to go to Hogwarts but I changed it to use each guests' name (see below).

Then you will print your invitations, 2 per page in landscape. Be creative on the wording...I tried to sound as Hogwarts official as I could. Another way too look official is to make sure to use Harry Potter fonts. These are the fonts I used and/or am using at the party.

all of the fonts can be downloaded HERE for free

After everything is printed out, it is time to cut out the envelope. Use the template. Make sure the envelope template is facing the right way to ensure the name will be the facing the right way on the back. My template was actually upside down.

Set the template over the name, aligning it in the center box. Trace around the outside. Then cut out.

Next, go crazy with the ink. Make it look old and all antique. When you are done, fold the envelope according to the directions on the template.

Almost done! Cut the invitations. Fold in half and make sure they fit inside the envelope.

Place the invite inside the envelope.

Now it is time to make your fake wax seal.

Take your red clay, break off a tiny bit and roll into a ball. Then smoosh...yes that is an official crafting term...the clay onto the point on the top flap of the envelope. Make is look like a melted circle. Then take a coin, any coin, and press it in the middle of the clay circle. This will help it look like a seal.

If you press hard enough, the clay should hold in place. However, if you find the clay seal lifting, you can hot glue it in place.

Now you have all of your official looking Harry Potter invitations.

Any Witch or Wizard would be thrilled to see his/her name on the invitation.

In true Potter fashion, of course the invitation will be delivered by OWL.

If you have a Harry Potter fan in your family and are planning any kind of Harry Potter party, these invites will be a sure hit!

I can't wait to share with you the whole wizarding celebration!

See ya tomorrow for more Harry Potter Party fun!

Party Styling Contributor

You guys know I love a good party, right? I am always going from one party to ideas for the next. My head is always hoping with what I can do to throw the next fun party for my Little Men.

Well I am lucky enough to have been chosen to be the Party Styling Contributor for the awesome blog Blue Cricket Designs. She has gathered together a bunch of really talented girls, all gifted in different areas, to make one pretty fabulous team of contributors.

I am beyond excited to be a part of this blog and Becca's team. I have some parties coming up and I can't wait to share some of my ideas over there and of course right here too. Head on over to Blue Cricket Designs and check out the other contributors.

AND since I was in the party reflecting kind of mood I thought I would go over some of my past parties and the little addiction love that I have of birthday parties and entertaining. 

Superman Party

Puppy Party

Pirate Party....arrgggh.

A Little Carnival 1st Birthday

Wii Bowling Party

I also love myself a good creative party invite.

Robot Party Invites

Pirate Party Invites

Superman Party Invites

We can't forget the cakes, cupcakes, and goodies.

Dinosaur Party Cake

Robot Party Cake

Superman Party Cake

Golfing Party Cake

Little Carnival 1st Birthday Cake

Whew. I really do like a good party. I actually feel a little overwhelmed and a whole lot of pressure for this new contributor position. There are so many amazing parties out there and some pretty amazing women throwing these parties. Ulcer! BUT, I am excited to share some of my ideas and to be all legit with my new Party Styling title. Hahaha.

See ya tomorrow everyone. I am SUPER excited to show you my Pinterest project for A Pinteresting Saturday.

It's a Bird...It's a Plane...

We had a photo shoot at our house. The shoot involved one finished costume, one little man suit, a pair of fake glasses, and the most handsome almost 5 year old I know.

I happened to luck out that the party theme Middle chose for this year's party was Superman. Since he had already also chosen that as his costume of choice I was golden for this photo shoot--which was for his party invites.

He was super cooperative and most of the pictures turned out great...

However, try explaining to a four year old how to look brave and strong. Well it is hard, and this is what you get...angry curmudgeon face.

So we stuck with his own cute serious face. Perfect.

With my oh-so-cute Superman photos in hand, I tinkered around in photoshop and made this party invite.

I got the idea from here. Their invitation is WAY adorable and has several more professional touches than mine does.Still, I wanted to see if I could figure out how to make a copy cat invitation and I was pretty happy with what I got.

Now I just have to plan the rest of the party...hahaha.