Happy Thanksgiving!

...And, don't forget to enter the notepad giveaway by this weekend!

Some new notepad additions!

Notepads are perfect for holiday gifts--they are pretty inexpensive, and there are so many different designs to choose from, its easy to find something for anyone. Here is a peek at a few recently added notepad designs:

This week, I will be giving away a notepad to one lucky Facebook Fan! Hop over & leave a comment telling me which pad you would choose (any from the notepad category!) and who it would be for for a chance to WIN!

Custom Christmas Photo Card

This is a custom card I finished for a friend this week that came out so cute! I will be adding the design to the site when I have a minute.

Mini giveaway!

I *think* we are through the woods with that nasty virus we dealt with all last week. To celebrate being healthy again, and also to kick off some holiday cheer, I am doing a mini-giveaway on Facebook! Winner gets to choose their favorite holiday labels or gift tags--lots of new ones have been recently added, like the ones HERE. ALL Facebook fans are automatically entered, but you can also earn some very quick & easy extra entries...

1. Leave a comment on my Facebook page this week (Each comment is an additional entry!)
2. Refer a friend who becomes a fan of my page! (Each friend is an additional entry--just shoot me an email or message via FB to let me know the name of the friend you referred!)

Stomach Bug!

My kids have been battling a stomach bug since last weekend, and yesterday it finally struck me down. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to retire to my bed for the day & was unable to process questions or orders on Friday. SO, I have re-instated the 15% off discount for TODAY ONLY. You must be a current Facebook fan or newsletter subscriber, or you must sign up today & email me to let me know so that I can verify. If you did not receive the code via newsletter, simply send me an email and I will give you the code to use.

Monogrammed Goodness!

These monogrammed circle cards make lovely gifts for anyone on your holiday list! Also available in other color combinations!



Also, if you missed the early bird discount deadline last night, just a little note that I have a very busy day & won't have time to expire the code until tonight....sooooo if you missed it, you still have a few hours left to take advantage! You must be a Facebook Fan or newsletter subscriber to take advantage--if you aren't, sign up today & send me an email to request the coupon code!

Happy Veteran's Day!

I hope all have taken a moment today to say thanks to these very special people. I read this quote online today & wanted to share because I thought it was beautiful:

A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his or her life wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America, for the amount "up to and including my life."

Also, a quick reminder that the 15% early bird discount for newsletter and Facebook followers ends tonight. If you are not already a fan or subscriber, you can still sign up & email me to let me know to get the code!

Candy Shoppe Themed Birthday Bash

It's been awhile since I have featured a party theme--I have so many to add--just have not had the time. This year, the candy/lollipop/candyland inspired theme has been hugely popular--such a cute party! Of course, the wonderfully talented Kara has planned the ultimate candy themed party--if you are considering this theme, you have to review her party because you are sure to get tons of great ideas!

Her full-length party description includes even more detail, so you can read her entire party post HERE for the complete lowdown. Here are some important highlights:

Party Favors:

You can see the buckets Kara used above.

There was also a little lollipop magnet in each bucket. They were actually cute little Christmas ornaments I found at Hobby Lobby last year and just snipped the ribbon off of and added a magnet to!



All of the older kids also got a candy shaped soap. For these I just made a bunch of round soaps {in different colors and with glitter in them!} and wrapped them up in shimmery cellophane and tied the ends with ribbon to look like pieces of candy. Another SUPER easy project!! I have made soaps for a couple of other parties and they are one of the easiest little crafts ever!! I promise!!

In the buckets for the girls were Starburst chapsticks and hair pretties. I found the chapstick in with the Easter goodies, but have since seen Skittles flavored chapstick in the teeny bopper make up section at Target {on an end cap}. And now the little candy hair pretties I made! I told you I am all about making things if I can!! For both types I used small styrofoam balls from the craft store. It took a little experimenting on both to figure out what worked and looked best, but once I figured it out, I managed to whip up a whole bunch! This is what I found worked best for me! On the lollipops I hot glued the stick in first. Once the glue was set up, I covered them in Mod Podge {one at a time} and then glittered away. It would probably be best to stand them in a piece of styrofoam to dry, but I didn’t happen to have an extra piece just sitting around so I was doing all sorts of crazy things to stand them up! Anyway, once they were dry, I tied on a tiny little ribbon and that was it as far as the lolly itself goes!! Once I covered the alligator clips in coordinating ribbon, I hot glued the stick onto the clip. And that’s all! From what I can tell, because of the sticks, these don’t work very well for pigtails but better as just clips! For the candy pieces, I just played around and cut little fabric squares until I got them the right size to wrap around the ball and leave some excess. I then just glued down the edge with my glue gun. After that I tied ribbon on each end and then used pinking shears to trim the edges with. Then I just hot glued them onto a matching alligator clip! Easy peasy!

The boy pails were a bit more empty since they didn’t get chapstick or hair pretties! But because we had a candy bar as well for all the kids to load up at, I didn’t worry too much about it!! I did change things up for the four kiddos under two that we had! Way back when I ordered the pencils, I only ordered twelve. And I only made twelve soaps and only had twelve straws left after my kids got into them!! So, for obvious reasons, the tiny guests didn’t get soaps, straws or pencils! Instead, they got a fun, yet practical, little lollipop treat! I actually saw these baby spoon/washcloth lollipops on a blog a long time ago. I pulled the picture off and stuck it in a folder on the computer for future reference!! I have since seen them on Etsy and admittedly went back to Etsy the night I made these to get some inspiration!! So, if you aren’t too crafty, you can certainly buy ‘em! They make cute baby gifts as well!

Alright…what I did for these was roll up two infant washcloths (contrasting colors) and then taped them at the end. I had to roll several times to get the feel for what I was doing and they never did turn out “perfect,” but with the ribbon and cellophane, nobody noticed!! Then I simply positioned a baby spoon behind the washcloths and wrapped it up in cellophane! I couldn’t figure out how to stick the washcloths to the spoon and get them to actually stay, so I didn’t bother! The cellophane was wrapped tight enough that it held everything together without a problem!

Party Games:


Bean Bag Toss

Pin the Stick on the Lolly

Candy Shoppe Bingo

Sweet Treats

Cupcake Tower


Candy Bar

Dum-Dum pop topiary

Decorations

Did I tell you it was a spectacular party or what?!! And, like I said, you can still find MORE over on Kara's Party Ideas blog.

And of course, don't forget that you can find all of your candy shoppe stationery needs here at Cutiepiescards. We have several cute candy inspired invitations & thank yous, and we can always customize to suit as well.

photo courtesy of Amy Hall.

I am being featured!!

I am the featured business for November on Maryland Work At Home Mom website! Please take a minute to check out my feature HERE.

I have been adding lots of new holiday stationery (and some non-holiday goodies too) to the site. Don't forget if you are a fan on Facebook, you can get a 15% off code to use on holiday orders, but it expires on nov. 11th so you only have about a week to redeem!

Finally, my youngest son turns 3 on Saturday--I will be busy tomorrow and Saturday with his birthday preparations & festivities, so I may be a tad slower in responses these next few days.

Our November schedule is really filling up (family wise) so the sooner you can get your holiday order in, the better! By mid November I will be on a delayed holiday turnaround schedule

Letters From Santa...

I wanted to share a great little holiday idea, but I can't say too much, so I will just say that a friend of mine is like THIS with Santa, and she offers a cute holiday service for kids. It was a big hit at my house when we did it! You can check it out here: