New Years Eve: Pop in 2013

This is one of my favorite DIY projects of 2012. It's fitting that it would be one to celebrate the new year. 2013 is going to be the best yet, and I can't wait!

Head on over to One Charming Party where I spill all the beans on how to make your own New Year Poppers. Free printable included.

Merry Christmas to all...

...and to all, a good night!

Love,

the Schmutz family

DIY gift wrapping : tied up with string

It's only 3 days until Christmas Eve and, yes, I have a lot more presents to wrap. So I am going to pretend that you do too. If you haven't noticed, I liked string.. a lot. And, the Sound of Music song - My Favorite Things - has been running through my head for weeks. So if I keep on referencing the phrase, "tied up with string" or "a few of my favorite things", please forgive me.

But, it shouldn't be any surprise that I am tying up with string a few of my family's favorite things this Christmas season. I found that yarn was a cute accent to the stamped wrapping paper we did on Wednesday. I made some easy pom-poms and tied them onto a present as well as some yarn tassels. I am sure there are a lot of other adorable things to use, but I loved how simple and cute these turned out, which is just how the holidays should be - simple, cute and memorable!

DIY gift wrapping: stamped paper

I'll admit it. This was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. And my head is already coming up with new patterns, shapes, styles, etc for some more DIY stamped gift wrapping paper. I love how the stamps look on the page. A translucent and un-perfected style. Simply love.

And, the best part? Kids love this stuff. Set your children up to the table, folks. The littlest of Christmas elves are ready to start breaking out the holiday cheer.

You will need: craft foam sheet, wooden blocks, glue stick, paper, & ink pads.

Cut your craft foam into all sorts of different shapes. I liked using traditional shapes - stars, triangles, hearts, squares, etc - and then using those shapes to create patterns on the actual paper. You can use a more permanent glue, but I ended up using a trusty glue stick to keep my foam shapes in place on the wooden block. The last step is to just stamp away! (This is where the kids have fun).

I loved using the bright colors for Christmas. While I loved having just one color blocked onto a sheet of paper; I've got to say that the four colored triangle one is my fave. Watch out world, you just might start seeing a lot more DIY stamped gift wrapping from this gal.

DIY gift wrapping : little & small stuff

Let's face it. We don't always give our favorite people the biggest gift. Usually I end up with a handful (or more) small gifts that are harder than usual to wrap. They never come in a cute box, nor are in anyway box shaped. I've come up with this cute and easy odd-shaped-friendly way to wrap the small stuff.

The only things you will need are: a berry basket, ribbon, string, tissue paper, and your gift.

Wrap up your oddly shaped gift in some tissue paper. Bunch the tissue paper at the top and tie it off with some string. Fluff it around until it is at the desirable cuteness. Plop that odd-shaped gift into a ribbon dolled up berry basket. 

Remember - it's the thought that counts! 

So... do we get extra brownie points if we put just as much "thought" into the  gift as the actual gift?

Are you wrapping gifts this week?

via grey likes weddings

So I know that a good amount of my waking hours this week will revolve around picking up those last little gifts and then wrapping everything that has been hiding out in my car's trunk for the past week (we are out of town for Christmas, otherwise everything would be stuffed in my closet.)

To help easy my mind about forgetting all of the cute little wrapped gifts I've seen floating around the web, I decided to start a pinboard just on "how to wrap a gift". I hope you find it helpful! I'll be adding to it all week, as well as sharing, here on the blog, how I've decided to wrap my own gifts to give.

You can follow my board here - how to wrap a gift pinboard

good luck with this last week!

Some sweet holiday treats

Looking for some fun neighbor or friend treats to give out for the holidays this year? Check out my contributing posts over at One Charming Party for some kid friendly ideas! (seriously kid-friendly, my 4 year old was the model for my pictures.)

Mint Oreo Cookies

Donut Wreath

White Chocolate Christmas Cookies

Out on vacation...

So... I am currently gone on a wonderful holiday family vacation. It's that time of year, and I am choosing to spend it with family. Unfortunately, since I run a small family run business, my shop has to remain closed while I am gone. I am so grateful for your support and for all the orders I have been receiving. I love all my customers and readers!

All purchases made between 12/10 - 01/03 will ship out via USPS 2-3 day shipping (that's fast!) on 01/04

Thank you for understanding and supporting a small family owned business!!!

last SALE of the year...

It's the last SALE of the year! 

As many of you know, Confetti Sunshine is a small family run business. It is a wonderful business that my daughters and I just run out of our house. While we love the fact that we can run a business from home, it does make it complicated when it is time to go on vacation.

So, for that reason, we are closing up shop for the 3 weeks we are out of town visiting family. We are having one last sale this weekend before closing up. Please order before we leave early Monday morning!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Years!

Letters to Santa party: Activities & games

Once the breakfast has been had and the littlest of children are anxiously awaiting, that is the cue that games must commence. Party games for children can be the trickiest of business, but hopefully my ideas will help ease your thoughts and make your holiday party a successfully fun one!

SEARCH FOR THE SLEIGH BELLS

Everyone (well, almost everyone) knows that Santa's reindeer rely on their trusty sleigh bells to help them guide the cold and dark Christmas Eve night. Without the chime of these little bells, Christmas could be ruined! Unfortunately, one slightly forgetful little elf has misplaced all of the sleigh bells. Have the children help gather them up in an Easter egg hunt turned sleigh bell hunt.

Hide all of your sleigh bells around the house/venue. Have the children race to gather all the reindeer's bells. I like games were everyone ends up a winner and we all save Christmas together. But, if you are looking for a more competitive game, you could have the child who finds the most wins, or have a search for the special bell with the blue ribbon (instead of red twine).

WHO HAS THE ORNAMENT?

Gather an empty box for each child. I found these adorable little 4 inch by 4 inch boxes to use. Have the children sit in a circle, with one child in the middle who is "it".

Who ever is "it" goes to a separate room while you hid the ornament. Hide the ornament in one of the boxes. Hand all the boxes out to the players and have them hold them close.

The "it" child then comes in and has to ask the different children if they have the ornament until he/she guesses correctly. Who ever has the ornament in their box, it is then their turn to be "it".

LETTER TO SANTA

This game/activity is a given. Have the children gather together to write letters to dear ol' Santa Claus. I've designed a little stationary sheet (download by clicking here) that you can print out for the children to write on. If the children are too young to write, encourage them to draw a picture of themselves or the toys they are hoping to receive on Christmas morning.

Letter to Santa party: the menu

If you didn't see the entire breakfast table and child's table, be sure to go see my feature on Pizzazzerie yesterday. Today I am sharing my favorite tips and recipes for putting together the breakfast. When I put together a party that is serving a meal, I usually pick out a few things I want to actually bake/cook and then the rest needs to be simplified so that I don't get too overwhelmed and end up hating myself.

STUFFED FRENCH TOAST DIPPERS

that's a mouthful folks!

Bread

Eggs

8 oz. cream cheese

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

Vanilla

Bananas (optional)

Maple Syrup

Soften the cream cheese. Mix the brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla with the cream cheese. Slice the bananas. Set aside. Cut the crust off of your bread and slice 1 slice of bread into 3 pieces. Cook each slice as you would regular french toast (beaten egg + bread + frying pan = french toast).

Sandwich together your dipper by layering 1 french toast slice, a healthy dose of cream cheese mix, sliced bananas and topped with another french toast slice. Place the dipper in a white baking cup with a little helping of maple syrup at the bottom.

ORANGES

This one is a cheat. Everyone loves cuties. My daughter adores the fact that they come with little sticks that say "Made for kids". Easily display them on the table in an opened mailing box.

MUFFINS & CINNAMON ROLLS

I cheated on the muffins and used a favorite box mix. But, I never cheat on cinnamon rolls. Those little babies are my favorite treat to make. But I would highly recommend dropping off at your nearest baker to pick some up since they are a beast to make at home, especially if you don't have a favorite recipe.

MINI QUICHES

6 slices white bread

1 Tablespoon melted butter

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch of pepper

1/2 cup shredded cheese

Remove the crusts from your bread. Roll the bread out with a rolling pin. Use a 3 inch round cookie cutter and cut 2 circles out of each slice of bread. Use the melted butter to grease the sides of a mini muffin tin. Gently press the bread slices into the muffin tin to create 12 mini crusts. sprinkle a little cheese in each bread crust. Whisk the eggs, salt and pepper together. Dish 1 tablespoon of the egg mixture into each quiche. Top with remaining cheese. Bake the quiches in the oven at 350 degrees, approximately 10-12 minutes, until the crusts are golden.

BACON ROLL-UPS

4-5 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 package of 8 crescent  rolls 

1/2 cup sour cream

1 clove minced garlic

Mix the crumbled bacon, sour cream and minced garlic together. Open the crescent rolls and roll them out. Fill each of the 8 rolls with 1/8th of the sour cream mixture. Roll up the rolls and place on a cooking sheet. Cook the rolls according to direction.

Letters to Santa party: featured on Pizzazzerie

I am so excited to be featured on the uber amazing blog Pizzazzerie today! Courtney is amazing, and I am thrilled (and blushing a little) that she would be willing to feature my party on her blog. Thanks Courtney!!!

Be sure to head over to Pizzazzerie for all the details!

And don't forget to pick up the free printables that go with the party:

Download the breakfast table mailing label free printables

Download the place card postcard free printable

Find the products used in the party here

Letters to Santa party : free invitation download

If you haven't noticed... I like to party. But what I like even more than having a party, is planning a party! All the little details, thoughts and coordination that goes into a party is just unbearably fun for me.

Christmas time is no different. This is the only time of year that I can convince my husband that we need to have a different party every weekend for over a month and a half. 

This weekend we are having my daughter's friend party - Letters to Santa! We have a holiday themed party every year with her friends, but this is the first year we have been writing letters to Santa!

All this week I will be showing all my little thoughts and plans as to how to host a Letters to Santa party of your own. But, first off, you need invitations...

I am sharing our invitation (and all other free printables throughout the week) with all of you! I love a good postal theme... seriously I think I am obsessed with postal. Hopefully you enjoy it too!

Download free printable fill-in-the-blank invitation here

Download free printable customize-it-yourself invitation here

Buy the most-adorable-in-the-world little envelopes here