Star Wars Party - Hill's 4th Birthday

Jedi Knights of all sizes defeated Darth Vader and his evil allies from the dark side at Hill's 4th birthday party in September. We were so thrilled to be involved in planning this special boy’s big celebration. Of course, no detail was overlooked. See more pictures here.

Our Back to School Party is on Cookie Magazine's Website!!!

Earlier this week, I was thrilled to learn that a photo of our tablescape from theMerryB Events “Back to School” party is currently featured on the Cookie Magazine website for their School Year’s Eve contest! I entered because the winner receives $1500 for their PTA or school. Wish us luck!

Here’s how to find our picture:
1. Click this link
2. Scroll through the School Year’s Eve pics – Ours is the last photo in the gallery! And it looks like this:

See Us in Birmingham Magazine!

Joy! Birmingham Magazine saw fit to feature MerryB Events in the business section of the September issue. We couldn't be more thrilled. See the article!

Rosemary's 3rd Birthday: Princesses & Pirates

Sweet Princess Rosemary celebrated her 3rd birthday August 29th with a party fit for a royalty.... and pirates! Friends and classmates joined the celebration by donning the festive costumes provided by MerryB Events.The castle gates were adorned with the day's colors and welcomed guests from near and far.A sweet balloon arbor, provided by Bama Balloons, surrounded the Royal Craft Parlor where party-goers made their own jewelry and treasure boxes. After a princess and pirate parade, guests were treated to fun activities including a hunt for treasure and a little dragon slaying!
See more pictures by visiting our website.

Sneak Peek: Hill's Star Wars Birthday

I was doing some research for Hill’s upcoming Star Wars birthday party this week and I ran across an everyday waste basket on clearance that possessed a striking resemblance to R2D2. Naturally, I brought him home and commenced the conversion process. Using hot glue, spray paint that adheres to plastic, duct tape in three colors (blue, silver and white), and random household objects I transformed this plastic cast-off into a key Star Wars character.

My R2’s head may not rotate or transmit galactic images of Princess Leia in danger, but this little friend will serve as a great prop for Hill’s special celebration!

Because Dad's Need Birthday Parties, Too!

The special Dad at our house is celebrating his birthday today by working, working, and more working. Fortunately, he enjoyed his cupcakes and candles (not too many of them) yesterday with the little ones. We baked and decorated these homemade cupcakes in "Dad colors" and made a special cupcake topper to commerate the day.

Thanks for being a great dad and Happy Birthday!

Don't Miss Out on Baby Bites

Earlier this week, a friend revealed to me that she had never heard of Pastry Art in Homewood, AL. More importantly, this person had never had the pleasure of eating a Baby Bite – those divine little nibbles of single serving cakes Pastry Art prepares every day in a variety of flavors like red velvet, turtle, chocolate, vanilla, caramel and more. Shocking! Appalling! I had to do something about this!

So I ran by the shop to snap a picture for the blog (and well, pick up a dozen for my friend and me) because everyone in Birmingham needs to know about the melt-in-your-mouth joy of Baby Bites.

They also make specialty flavors like coconut, carrot and strawberry to order by the dozen, but my personal favorite is caramel.

I look for ways to serve these little treasures at every party I design. They’re reason enough to celebrate… and my friend wholeheartedly agrees!

Real Life Inspiration: End-of-Summer Picnic

I'm constantly checking the Conversations with a Cupcake blog for fun food ideas. Last weekend Brooke posted some beautiful pictures from the end-of-summer picnic she and fellow blogger/friend, Jaime at Sophistomom planned for their children. Check out both blogs for the full beadth of pleasure from this sweet summer event! The menu was delectable and the photos make me wish school was still out and that I had been invited along!

MerryB Events Featured on Enchanted Expectations!

We were delighted to find our paper cones from MerryBelle's Sweet Shop Birthday featured on the blog Enchanted Expectations! Many thanks for spreading the love!

Real Life Inspiration: Taya's Strawberry Shortcake Party!

Some parties are designed so well, we just can't help but pass them along. Taya's Strawberry Shortcake birthday celebration, designed by Kara from Kara's Party Ideas, is one of those parties! No detail is overlooked - from strawberry cupcakes to strawberry lemonade (and everything in between!).

Even if you're not a fan of "character parties", you'll find tons of fun ideas with this one (maybe for a "Day @ the Strawberry Patch" party)! See more pictures at Kara's Party Ideas!

Sneak Peek! Rosemary's Princess & Pirate Party

Rosemary is turning 3 and we're very busy making all the preparations for her big celebration in a couple of weeks. Here's a sneak peek at the invitation! More fun details to follow!

MerryB Events Fall Fundraiser: Silhouettes for Smiles!

Preserve your child's wonder years in a one-of-a-kind hand cut silhouette and help send a child with cancer to Camp Smile-A-Mile!

MerryB Events is so excited to be teaming up with skilled silhouette artisans to bring you these beautiful keepsakes that make amazing momentos for moms, dads, and grandparents (Christmas is right around the corner!).

Each silhouette is cut freehand in the European embellished style and mounted to a white 5" x 7" mat suitable for framing. Oval mats and picture frames are also available. See the order form for pricing.

There are two ways to order your silhouettes:

1. We take the picture for you.
Bring your child to any of the following local events and we’ll help you get a suitable profile shot for the artist to work with. We’ll have order forms on hand or you can print one ahead of time.

August 16 - Ross Bridge Market Place @ the Welcome Center, 2-6 p.m.
August 18 - Castles & Crowns Trunk Show @ Ross Bridge Welcome Center
August 25 - Castles & Crowns Trunk Show @ Lake Cyrus

We can also schedule an individual sitting. Just email info@merrybevents.com to arrange a date and time.

2. You take the picture for us.
Snap a good profile photograph of your child and bring it (printed or on a disk) to any of the events listed above. Or email it to info@merrybevents.com. We’ll email you back with ordering and payment instructions.

We'll be taking orders through the end of August and proceeds will benefit Camp Smile-A-Mile! Contact Dawn Ey at dawn@merrybevents.com or 205.215.3035 with any questions.

Favorite Summer Treat: Lemon Sticks

Since tomorrow is the first day of school for our kids, we thought we'd hold onto to summer a little longer by sharing one of our favorite summer treats - the lemon stick. Sweet and refreshing, they're easy to make and adored by all!

Ingredients

1 Large lemon (halved)

2 Old-fashioned peppermint stick

Insert peppermint stick into the center of the lemon. Squeeze the lemon. Suck on peppermint stick like a straw. The acidic juices will create little tunnels of sugary sweetness in the peppermint stick. Makes two (but you'll need to make many because everyone loves them!)

To serve at parties, nestle inside of a cupcake wrapper or a small children's cup. And be sure to have lots of baby wipes and napkins on hand. Lemon sticks are a little sticky.... but oh so worth it!

Polka Dotted Shakes!

How cute is this adorable polka dotted strawberry shake featured on Paul Lowe's blog Sweet Paul? We tought it was so sweet we just had to share it with you!


The recipe is easy to make at home (see it here)! The "trick" to making the polka dots is marshmallows! Just think of the color combinations you can do with all the different available marshmallows now - pink, green, blue. So many options for your next polka dot party!

Hop on the Bandana Wagon

Your style doesn't need to be "country" to appreciate how these colorful bandana table decorations by Country Living can set the mood for a fun birthday celebration. At MerryB Events, we often use bandanas for napkins and placements. You'd be surprised at the variety of colors and designs available at Hobby Lobby! In fact, we used pink with white polka dots for Peyton's Teddy Bear Picnic Party earlier this year.

Back to School Party Ideas

With school starting next week here in Alabama, hosting a Back-to-School party will help ease your grade-schooler back into the fall routine. Have your party before school starts and invite friends and neighbors or push it back to the weekend after school starts so that you can include all of your child’s new classmates.

Make invitations in the shape of a school bus or crayon using cardstock or print party details onto a designed invitation. We like these mod apple postcards designed by Antionette Palmieri and found on etsy.com.

Decorate with all the necessities of fall. At our event, a chalkboard hung with ribbon announces the occasion. Table decorations include an assortment of apples and cheerfully colored school supplies, which can later be dropped into personalized brown paper bags and given to guests as party favors.

An apple place card and watercolors mark place settings for each guest and placemats are made of basic handwriting paper. PB & J sandwiches tucked into oversized pencil cases are paired with all the traditional school lunch trimmings – chocolate milk, baby carrots, applesauce and Hostess™ Ding Dongs – for a festive meal. We tucked a napkin and spoon into little paper pockets similar to the ones that were pasted inside library books ‘back in the day’.

Plan a few fun party games or activities such as:

* Don’t Miss the Bus Race – Have the children pack a lunch, grab homework, collect milk-money from mom, put it all in their backpack and hop on the bus

* Volcano science experiment – Things have changed since Peter Brady got hot lava all over the Brady den. Now you can pick up a pre-made kit that erupts more gently… and the kids still love seeing it in action.

* What I Did on My Summer Vacation Charades – Give each guest a turn to act out their favorite summer memory.

* Scavenger Hunt for school supplies.

* Show & Tell – Invite guests to bring something to share with ‘classmates’.

* Create handprints using tempura paint and colored construction paper.

* Play Red Rover, Freeze tag or Kickball.

Additional Party favor ideas:

* Personalized back pack tags. We found these designed by Sunnydaytags on etsy.com

* Gift certificate to a local office supply store.

* An artist sketch pad and pastels

* Personalized stickers or labels for school gear.

With these fun Back-to-School party ideas, you’re sure to relieve any worries and give enthusiastic students an outlet for releasing all that energy!