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Neon Pink Party

November 7, 2012

Here it is!  You may want to grab your sunglasses, it’s bright.

The inspiration fabric made it’s appearance as the table cloth on the dessert table.  I had so much fun setting up and decorating for this party.  My grey dining room walls looked so great with the neon pink.   I used the neon surveyor’s tape to make a backdrop of streamers.  I also printed a large number 11 on neon poster board.  It made a great photo backdrop for my beautiful birthday girl.    
The dessert table featured a few of Deanli’s favorites.  For the birthday cake, I made a New York style cheesecake and topped with my blackberry curd and fresh whipped cream.  I also made this neon Happy Birthday bunting cake topper using paper clay.  I’ll share a step by step of how to do this later this week.  
And I made Concord Grape Marshmallows.  Lately I’m been making a lot of marshmallows, they are really easy to make and a new party favorite. 
The super colorful squares are Trix Treats (like Rice Crispy treats, but made with Trix).  They are really pretty yummy.  My personal favorite was the Chocoholic Push Pops.  My mom got me a set of these push pops and a cook book to go with them for my birthday this summer.  These are great to make for parties because they can be made a couple days ahead and then just stored in the fridge.   I made a little stand for them by drilling holes in a piece of wood and then just painting it white.  I little washi tape around the push pops kept them in the color palette.  
Paper straws got a quick neon touch with little neon pink washi tape flag.  And glass milk bottles got a length of mason’s string (that I used on the invites)  tied around the neck for a little pop of color.
I kept the goody bags simple.  White paper bag got a simple neon circle attached to the front.

We had fun roller skating and we were totally hungry for dessert when we got back.  It was a great party!

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Neon Party Invites

November 6, 2012

I wanted to share the invites I made for Denali’s neon party.  I have been pinning a lot of Neon and Neutral combinations.  And as you know I LOVE grey.  Neon pink and grey actually look so fantastic together.
I came across a grand opening invite done by Mint 102 that had a length of neon string wrapped around the center of it.  I also loved Mint 102‘s layout and use of different fonts.  So,  I made my own version using some of my favorite fonts (Hominis, Rosewood Std, Homestead, Learning Curve, and good old Helvetica).  I printed the 5 x 7″ invites on grey card stock and then simply wrapped my mason’s twine around them a couple times. 

I think invitations are quite important.  They set the mood for the party and give guests an idea of what is to come.  With my limited Adobe Illustrator skills, I’ve had fun creating my own designs.  But, I’ve also made invites with cute scrapbooking paper and rubber stamps and used inexpensive companies such as Shutterfly to create custom ones.  Do you think the invitation is important?

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Neon Party in the making

November 5, 2012

I love everything about parties.  I love the process of planning, the hunting down party supplies and then putting it all together.  I shared about a month ago, when I was planning Olivia’s Scooter themed party, about how I like to gather supplies for quite a while before the party.  We had decided on a Neon theme a few months ago and I had the inspiration.  So, the hunt for all things neon pink began.  It was actually harder then you think to find fluorescent party supplies.  But, I think I found some really great things.

The color palette for the party started with the fabric.  What’s more neon then glow sticks? So, those went in the gift bags.  I also put Chiclets, a neon pink lip gloss from Forever 21, and a pair of hipster/nerdy glasses from Target in their goody bags.  We had purple striped paper straws and I made a neon pink Happy Birthday banner for the cake topper (I’ll share how I made that later this week).  For decorations, I used washi tape from Paper Source, a string of pom poms for Michaels, and neon pink surveyor’s tape and mason’s line from Home Depot.  My Home Depot finds are my favorite.  The tape was under $2 and the string was about $5.

Sometimes I buy party supplies knowing exactly what I’m going to do with them, but more often then not, I figure out what I’m going to do with them in the last couple of days.  My advice for party planning is to buy, buy, buy when you see something that might work and keep your receipts.  You can always weed out and edit things before the party, then return the unused supplies when it’s all over.  Last minute trips for supplies are not fun, it’s so much better to be prepared way ahead of time. 
You know, neon is totally weird to photograph.  I tried all kinds of light settings, changed my aperture and fiddled with my camera a lot.  For some reason the neon just blurs and looks like it’s glowing in all the pictures.  If you have any experience with neon in pictures, I’d love some advice or suggestions. 

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November Memory Verse

November 2, 2012

Where has the year gone?  This is the time of year when I start to panic a bit about all the things that need to get done in the next two months.  I’m sure I set expectations of myself that are way too high.  But, every year I think I can get it all done.  I am slowing down long enough to be thankful though.  Be sure to read about my Instagratitude Project, and come join in on the gratitude fun we’re having together.

I hope you enjoy the November memory verse print.  You can get the free download HERE. I illustrated these feathers a long time ago and have been itching to use them.  Have you been to Target recently?  All the Christmas stuff is out, and feathers are everywhere (I kind want this platter). I do have so much to be thankful for and I’m so glad a serve a God who is good, all the time.

If you want to know more about my Monthly Memory Verse, read here.

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Harry Potter, Hermione, and Hedwig Halloween Costumes

My kids are huge Harry Potter fans.  Last year Dylan read all the books in about 4 months (he was in 3rd grade).  Denali started reading them shortly after and has re-read all of them a couple times.  These were great costumes for their ages.  I don’t know how much longer they will let me dress them matching.  But, this was a fun year and they got lots of compliments while trick or treating last night.
A big thanks to my mother in law for knitting the fantastic scarves.  The kids love them and plan on wearing them when it’s cold. 
I made Dylan’s Harry Potter cloak.  It took way longer then I wanted it to, but I’m really quite proud of how in turned out.  I ended up fully lining it.  I made sure Dylan knew that this was not a costume, this is intended for REAL wizardry.  
Denali’s costume was a lot easier.  We decided to go with the school uniform look.  We ended up not having to buy much.  She wore her own skirt, my sweater and shoes, and we bought her some grey knee socks. She looks so cute and kind of grown up :(.
For all my Harry Potter fanatic friends, I’ll share close ups of the wands very soon, with a how-to.  I’m so pleased with the wands and they were fun to make.
I considered making Olivia’s Owl costume, because technically Hedwig is a white owl, but then I found this cute costume at Old Navy for about $20.  It was worth every penny and saved me soooo much time.  And she is so stinkin adorable in it.

Olivia really started to take off on her walking this last weekend.  So, she really wanted to walk to every house, no stroller thank you very much mom.  She’s got a pretty cute little waddle.  I don’t think we’ll have our scooter too much longer.

This shot is one of my faves, Olivia really wasn’t into the whole picture taking scene at all.  We are totally torturing her as you can see.  

Hope your Halloween was as much fun as ours.

You can see more of our Halloween costumes by clicking the links below.
Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia
Cowgirl and Indian
Metamorphosis – Butterfly, Chrysalis, and Caterpillar
Wizard of Oz – Dorothy and Scarecrow 
Shark and Scuba Diver

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Instagratitude Project

November 1, 2012

November, really?  This is that super busy time of year where there just isn’t enough minutes in the day.  I do need to slow down long enough to consider all that I am thankful for.  So, I’m starting a challenge for myself. I’m going to share one thing everyday of November that I’m thankful for.  But, it will have a fun twist. I’m sharing it through instagram!  I’d love it if you would join in.  Everyday, capture an image that represents something you are grateful for.  It can be big or small blessings in your life.  My hope is that I can focus my mind and heart on what I DO have, not what I DON’T.  I want an attitude of gratitude.



Here’s how it will work.  Post your image on Instagram, but add the tag #instagratitude2012 and if you want, you can tag me @jeranmcconnel as well.

I’m sure that all my East Coast friends are struggling to be thankful.  With all the damage and lives lost, my heart hurts for you.  You are in my prayers.  Sometimes is so hard to see God and any good when you are in the middle of life’s storms (literally).  I am definitely not preaching, but I hope that this is helpful to you. This verse is such a good reminder to me.  Sometimes I have to say it to myself over and over again.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  


I hope you’ll participate in my Instagratitude Project, please leave a comment with your instagram username so that I can follow you also.  I’m excited for the good things to come. 

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Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

October 31, 2012

Is it really ever too chilly for ice cream?  I don’t think so, and this Fall flavored ice cream hits the spot.  This ice cream starts as a cooked custard, and I think that’s what makes it soooo creamy and yummy.



Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

In a sauce pan, whisk together the cream, sugar, eggs and salt.  Cook on med-low heat, stirring and scraping the sides of the pan often.  Cook for at least 10 mins. or until the mixture thickens.  It should coat the back of a wooden spoon.

In a bowl, combine the pumpkin, vanilla and spices.  Add the pumpkin mixture to the cooked cream mixture.  Whisk together well.  Cover and chill for a couple hours.  Prepare ice cream according to your ice cream makers instructions.  Store in an airtight container in the freezer.

I served this ice cream with Trador Joe’s Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies.  And the cute paper cups were from Target‘s dollar section.

This recipe is adapted from Williams Sonoma.

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Pumpkin Patch

October 30, 2012

Fall wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  Here’s a peak at our visit.

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Wizard of Oz Halloween Costumes

October 29, 2012

These Scarecrow and Dorothy costumes are classics.  All the characters from the Wizard of Oz make fantastic Halloween costumes.  Denali and Dylan had watched the movie that year and decided very early that they wanted to be Dorothy and the Scarecrow.

I’m sure there are a lot of patterns out there to follow, but I just decided to make my own simple versions. Dorothy’s dress was a simple, buttoned, bib front, blue gingham dress that I edged with eyelet lace.  Denali wore a white collared shirt and a pair ruby red slippers (of course).  She ended getting a lot of mileage out of those red sparkly shoes.  They worked really well with her Christmas dress.  She also carried Todo in a basket.

The scarecrow costume was also quite simple.  I used an old pair of Dylan’s pants and bought a green long sleeved t-shirt.  I used tan polar fleece fabric for the straw.  Then I just sewed all kinds of patches onto his clothing.  I made his hood out of more fleece and attached an inexpensive witch hat to it.  Then I just tied rope around his ankles, wrists and waist.  Dylan made sure to stay in character most of the night and flopped around and tripped often.

Last night our church had their Halloween party, so the kids wore their costumes.  It’s kind of fun that they get to wear them more then once.  I’m kind of relieved to have them done and ready to go for Halloween.  Are you still working on costumes?  Or are you trick or treat ready?  What are your kiddos going to be this year?

You can see more of our Halloween costumes by clicking the links below.
Shark and Scuba Diver
Cowgirl and Indian
Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia 
Metamorphosis – Butterfly, Chrysalis, and Caterpillar

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Neon Party Inspiration

October 28, 2012

Denali’s party is just a week away.  She will be 11 years old.  She’s also in Middle School, so we’re changing it up a bit.  The WHOLE family and ALL our family friends are not invited, yikes.  We’re have a just girls, tween party and we’re going roller skating.  My original plan was to do Glow in the Dark Mini Golf, but then it closed.  This kind of threw a wrench in my plans.  But, Denali’s happy with Rolling Skating, and there will be neon decorations and treats.  
About 6 months ago I shared how I was warming up to the come back of neon.  And my 11 year old is definitely into it.  So, neon it is.  I picked up this fabric last Spring.  It’s almost neon and I love the color combo – grey, purple and neon pink.  Fabric is often my inspiration for a party palette.  I’ll share more of the party process later this week.