Parties and Holidays

Sparkling Fourth of July!

 

The time has come to deck out the porch in red, white and blue to celebrate our freedoms and thank the amazing men and women who make it possible! So, grab your sparklers, lay out a spread of the best 4th of July snacks and prepare for our favorite celebration of the year! Independence Day is less than two weeks away and we are more than ready to celebrate this exciting holiday!

When you think of the Fourth of July you think of American flags, backyard parties and of course sparklers! So, let’s start with the endless possibilities for decorations! For starters, if you have an American flag, display it! If your flag is already out check it, it may be time to replace it. When I decorate for a party I like to go all out, I just love the classic American red, white and blue everywhere from table cloths and plates to desserts and center pieces! One super cute and easy idea is getting some red, white and blue flowers for center pieces! I love to upcycle used jars, so I put an assortment of flowers in a jar and added a mini American flag and it was the perfect addition to our festive decorations!

Now for the best part of your fourth of July party, sparklers! Sparklers are always so much fun for the whole family! We have a variety of sparklers and 4th of July sparkler packages to add to your Independence Day fun. Our Patriotic Sparklers Party Package includes 10 packages of our 10 inch sparklers and a package of our gold star sparklers as well. The 10 inch sparklers and our star sparklers have a burn time of 45 seconds which gives you plenty of time for fun and pictures! To add to all the patriotic fun, we have included two confetti cannons, so you can be showered in a cloud of red, white and blue! Our confetti cannons are super easy to use just hold the confetti cannon with both hands, point them at the sky, twist the bottom and BOOM! You will have red, white and blue confetti shooting up to 15 feet in the air showering you in a patriotic cloud! It also includes 8 glow sticks, 4 boxes of kid snappers and 6 jumbo assorted color smoke bombs to add the party excitement. We also have our 20 inch sparklers which are perfect for sky writing with a burn time of one minute and a half to help capture the best pictures!

Let’s not forget safety this Independence Day especially while using sparklers! Sparklers are fun for everyone to enjoy but make sure all children are supervised by an adult. Sparklers should always be held at arm’s length and you should be standing 6 feet away from other people while the sparkler is lit. Once the sparkler has burned out, place it in a bucket of water or sand. Just because the sparkler has burned out does not mean that the stick is not still hot, once the sparkler stick is placed in the water or sand bucket and completely cooled it is safe to throw the sticks away.

I hope your Independence Day celebration goes off without a hitch and our patriotic party package will help add that extra spark to your party! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for all our party package updates and don’t forget to tag us in all your sparkling pictures! We love to see your smiling faces!

What is a Gender Reveal Party

 

What is a Gender Reveal Party? A gender reveal party is a party to announce a new arrival in the family! It is a fun new way to reveal the gender of your little peanut to-be and celebrates the newest soon-to-be born member of your family. Gender Reveal Parties are so much fun for parents to be and it’s a great way to include the extended family in this new stage of your life. Friends will also feel more involved, and they will appreciate being included in the excitement. So, invite all your loved ones to find out the gender of your new baby and celebrate this during this beautiful time of your life.

Decorating with pink and blue is an obvious tip for your party, but there are a lot of creative ways to do this. I have seen so many cute ways to not only decorate but to include your friends and family in the fun!  Ask your guests to come dressed in the color of their gender guess. It will be so much fun to see who comes in pink and who comes in blue! I have also seen some fun old wives’ tale games, where the mom answers old wives’ tales to help guest’s guess whether this new baby is a little mister or misses. Some families take it even further, keeping themselves in the dark about their new baby’s gender. They have the doctor’s office write down the gender and seal it in an envelope. This take some serious restraint on those parents not to peek! Then a trusted family member or friend does the gender reveal for them.

One of the most exciting ways to do the final reveal is to shoot a gender reveal confetti        cannon into the air near the end of the party. Our confetti cannons are made with compressed air,    and they shoot bright pink or blue biodegradable paper confetti up to 15 feet high. You simply hold the gender reveal confetti cannon with one hand and twist the bottom with the other. Then POP a cloud of festive pink or blue tissue paper falls down around you. Our confetti cannons can be launched indoors or out.

You can involve all your friends and family in the party by asking them to help make pink and blue cookies to celebrate. Set up a cookies station with all pink and blue frosting and sprinkles! This is a fun way to have some sweets and an activity for the kiddos as well.  Another fun party idea is to give guests a memento to take with them to remember your gender reveal party. Photo booths are a ton of fun plus it gives your guest a picture that one day they can show your little one. It is so fun to have these little keepsakes to show kids years later that you were there they day their mommy and daddy found out that you were their little prince or princess.

Do you have any fun gender reveal party ideas? I’d love to hear them! Tag us on Facebook and Instagram! Don’t forget if you used any of our products for your gender reveal to send them in to be entered into our photo contest!

Gender Reveal Party with Confetti Cannons

Pregnancy is such a magical time during your life. There is so much joy and excitement over this new sweet baby. As many parents do, we try our very best to be a prepared as possible for this new little one’s arrival. We buy cribs, diapers and all the cute clothes we can. But the big questions is, are we shopping for a little man or a sweet princess? Like most parents (and let’s be honest our family and friends as well) we cannot wait to find out if this little peanut is a boy or a girl. I mean the ones who hold out until birth or do the “team green” have super powers of strength and determination. As for me and the majority of parents to be out there, we cannot make that torturous 9 month wait. Besides gender neutral clothing is just not as cute! So, we have gender reveal parties! You invite all the family and friends over to reveal to them in some amazing way if your little peanut is a mister or misses!

Now we have all seen confetti cannons at some point in our lives. Whether it is at major events like 4th of July celebrations, New Year’s Eve parties and or baseball games, we have seen them. So why not use colorful confetti cannons for a gender reveal? It’s genius! Our confetti cannons are full of pink or blue confetti to highlight the moment when the everyone learns whether the baby is a boy or girl. What a fun way to make that moment extra memorable!

Our confetti cannons are made with biodegradable confetti making clean up a breeze! They are safe for both indoor and outdoor use. Our confetti cannons as easy to use, just hold with both hands, twist the bottom and POP! You will be showered with confetti that has been shot 15 feet into the air. Don’t forget to have someone on camera duty for this! Not only will you be showered in confetti making for amazing pitcures, but you’ll be able to captures the faces of all your friends and family as they find out as well! These pictures are priceless and a beautiful way to captures this beautiful moment!

 

 

Worried that the cannons will give away if they are pink or blue? We have got that covered! Our cannons come marked only with a number that indicates the color of confetti inside. So, your secret won’t be given away until your cannons are popped!

Did you use a confetti cannon for your gender reveal? Or did you have another fun and creative way to reveal your little peanuts gender? We want to see! Tag us on Facebook or Instagram! Don’t forget if you did use one of our confetti cannons we do a monthly photo contest! So submit your picture for a chance to win!

Sparkling Graduation Party Ideas

It’s Graduation Time! All the senior’s in your life will be walking across the stage getting ready to graduate high school and embark on the next big chapter of their lives! Throwing a big graduation party not only to celebrate what an accomplishment graduating high school is, but also what an accomplishment for you, (mom and dad!) you guys made it! You got your teenager through high school (alive) and you should have fun celebrating this accomplishment as well! So, let’s talk about Graduation Party Ideas!

A sparkling graduation! We have everything from cake top sparklers to our traditional smokeless sparklers! You can’t go wrong choosing any of these sparkling ideas for your upcoming graduation party! Our 20 inch sparklers burn for about 2 minutes and are perfect for the kids to take pictures with, to capture these last memorable high school moments with. Your kids will cherish these memories of their high school friends forever, as friends split up to go to college all over the country. We also have cake top sparklers which add that little extras glitz to any celebration! These sparklers burn for around 50 seconds, and they shoot up smokeless flames that are safe, fun and exciting for any party.

You have the perfect cake for your graduation party, but you are still looking for that cake topper that will make it unforgettable. Look no further, I have the perfect cake topper. Our number sparklers are the perfect way to display your graduates graduating year. Then once you light the sparklers they create a beautiful gold sparkler lasting about 30 seconds. These sparklers are virtually smokeless ensuring the best pictures, as well as making your graduation party unforgettable!

Want to add a POP to your graduation party? Confetti cannons are a great way to celebrate a graduation, and they make for picture perfect moments that you won’t forget. Whether you choose black and gold confetti cannon, or multi-color confetti cannon, you will have some great memories shooting these cannons off. Our confetti cannons are super easy to use! Just hold with two hands, point the cannon towards the sky, twist the bottom and POP! You’ll have confetti flying 10 to 15 feet in the air!

If you choose from any of these fun graduation party ideas, you are certain to have an unforgettable graduation party full of fun, laughter, and memories. Our number sparklers are a great way to show pride in your graduation year, the confetti cannons are a fun party favor to use with your friends capturing memories, and the cake top sparklers are sure to make your cake unforgettable from all the other graduation cakes that will be made this year. You can’t go wrong choosing any of these party ideas, and your friends and family are sure to love them as well. Don’t forget to tag us on Facebook and Instagram! We would love to see all your sparkling graduation pictures!

Create a Magical Birthday Celebration

Want something different than your ordinary birthday candles? Cake top sparklers or bottle top sparklers are exactly what you have been looking for. These sparklers will make you feel extra special on your birthday! Cake top sparklers add that little bit of magic and excitement to every party. Just imagine a cake that lights up with spectacular smokeless sparkles!  What an unforgettable birthday celebration that would be. Our cake top sparklers come in two different sizes for you to choose from. Our 4 inch cake top sparklers come in silver wrapping and create a gold sparkle that shoots about 10 inches high. These beautiful sparklers last about 30 seconds giving you plenty of time to sing Happy Birthday!  Our 6 inch cake tops sparklers last about 60 seconds and shoot 12 to 16 inches in the air! Talk about a birthday cake for the books! These 6 inch cake top sparklers are wrapped in gold wrapping and create a gold sparkle. With the extended burn time for 60 seconds you not only have plenty of time to sing Happy Birthday but also get beautiful pictures to remember this special day!

Kids look forward to their birthday every year! Add some excitement for the kiddos this year with our 20 inch sparklers. Watching kids laugh and play are what make memories so precious. Give your little one some magic and wonder this year at his or her birthday with some surprise birthday sparklers. Our 20 inch sparklers are safe and have a burn time of 2 magical minutes of fun and excitement.

 

Number sparklers are another fun addition to any birthday celebration. Whether your little man is turning 7 or your baby girl is turning sweet 16, these sparkler numbers will be the highlight of their birthday celebration. Lets be honest, the birthday cake is the best part of the party and what every kid remembers. The singing, the candles, making a wish, so make this year extra special with a cake and candles they will never forget. You can also pair our sparkling numbers sparklers with regurlar candles allowing your child to still blow out candles as they make their wish! These wonderful birthday candle number sparklers are available in numbers from 0-9. So whether it is your first birthday or you ninety ninth make your birthday celebrations one to remember!

Did you use our any of our beautiful sparklers at you birthday celebrations? We would love to see your pictures! Tag us on Facebook or Instagram! I hope these ideas will help you create a magical birthday for you or your loved ones.

Creating Christmas Traditions

First comes love, then comes marriage, then come babies….and realizing that making Christmas magical can be a lot of work (and expensive)! If you are like me and you love this time of year, it can be hard not to splurge for every expensive Christmas “experience” out there. I have 2 little girls and another little on the way so we are trying new things to find the traditions we really love and can afford to continue. Here are three inexpensive things we have tried and loved.

Christmas Book Countdown

This tradition has been a favorite of mine for a couple of years now. I collected Christmas books from my childhood, garage sales, and discount stores throughout the year and set them away. You could also borrow some from your local library for free. In the end, it doesn’t really matter how many books you have. How many books you have will determine when you start the countdown.

All you have to do is wrap your book collection and put it under the tree.  To save money, I use leftover paper and scraps from last Christmas. The wrapping can be tedious but you can get help from older children. My four year old loved helping this year. She is learning how to write numbers, so she also numbered each book in black marker from 1-24.

Once the prep is done, the kiddos get to take turns finding and opening one book from under the tree each night.  My kids wake up each morning asking if its time to open another book. It doesn’t matter to them that it’s the same books each year. It actually makes for a good guessing game.  Added bonus: they don’t beg to open their other gifts early.

These books looked better than ours but my girls loved helping! Via River’s Edge Curriculum

 

Follow the Bright Star

Adorable sticking out of the tree!

This year I wanted to be sure that we emphasized the Nativity story.  So, I picked up a package of gold star sparklers. The star sparklers come 6 to a package so just one was plenty for my little family. Once I opened them to take a look, the sparklers were so cute I decided to stick them in the tree as decoration. (Disclaimer: I have an artificial tree and double checked how warm my lights got after being on for an extended period of time. Sparklers obviously can catch fire so use your best judgment if you decide to try this.)

On the night we opened the story of Jesus’s birth we talked about how the 3 kings followed a bright star to find Jesus in Bethlehem. I told them that they should also always seek out Jesus and that He is the real reason for why we celebrate Christmas. Then I let them go and “seek out” a star on the tree to take outside to light.

Sparklers are such a treat for kids that they really only get to enjoy once or twice a year. My girls loved this so much they wanted to burn them all in one night. I decided to make them wait and we will burn one each week and talk more about the story of Jesus’s birth each time. This could also be a fun kids Christmas party idea or even as take-home favors.

 

Christmas Eve Box

This tradition is really simple. I wrap a present for my girls with pajamas, snacks, cocoa mix and a Christmas movie to open the 24th. Last year I had purchased Polar Express on sale but you could even record a favorite from the Hallmark Channel or the “25 Days of Christmas” special to watch. We love this tradition, the kids love it and it is a low-cost gift that doesn’t require buying anything the kids don’t already need (face it, by the end of the year they all need a new set of PJs.)  My husband and I also really enjoy all of the snuggles and curling up with a cup of hot cocoa before the craziness of Christmas morning.

However you choose to celebrate the season, we hope its wonderful and full of good cheer!

Make Your Holiday Card “Sparkle”

No doubt you have noticed that the Holiday Season is already beginning. The music, decor and inevitable barrage of advertising are all signs that it is once again time to start thinking about holiday cards. Since we live in a warm climate, capturing the magic of the holidays is hard to do before Santa comes. The temperature still climbs into the 80’s most days and the thought of donning the entire family in flannel is not appealing. If this sounds familiar or even maybe if it doesn’t, fear not, we have a couple of ideas that may help inject some spark(le) into your otherwise lackluster Christmas photo tradition.

Let it Snow with the Wedding Confetti Cannon

Some of the best photos are unposed action shots and what better way to capture the spirit of the season than the joy of falling confetti? The white color of the Wedding Confetti Cannon will give the feel of falling snow and will undoubtedly spark big, genuine smiles from even the most stubborn of kiddos. For this idea we suggest a large seasonal blanket set out near a wooded area or even a Christmas Tree Farm and 2-4 of the Wedding Confetti Cannons depending on the size of your party. The wedding confetti cannons shoot 15 feet into the air so you could even have someone out of frame shoot the cannon overhead so it would not show in the photo.

It would be amazing to capture not only the initial fall of the white confetti but also children, fur babies and even the adults throwing and playing in confetti.  The blanket will serve two purposes, one is to add depth to the picture and the other is to catch the confetti to make it easier to gather and throw again if needed. The Wedding Confetti Cannons do “pop” when fired so we would suggest doing at least one test run or allowing small children and skittish pets to play in thrown confetti or piles on the blanket for best results. These confetti cannons shoot biodegradable confetti so any stray pieces should not cause issues.

Kids playing in confetti snow

Photo Credit: Britain Earl Photography

 

Light it up with 20″ Sparklers

What I love most about this idea is that even if you don’t get around to photos in time, or you get the cards and forget to buy stamps for 2 weeks (yep, I did that), your “Christmas Card” can easily become a “Happy New Year” card.  All you need to do is work with your favorite photographer to find the best time and place to capture your family encompassed in glowing light and sparkle.

The 20″ sparklers burn for over 2 minutes and come in larger quantities in case you don’t get just the “right” shot the first time. These are the same 20″ sparklers that we recommend for weddings so they will put off minimal smoke and are safe for children and clothing. Besides holding the sparklers, you can also talk to your photographer about slowing down the shutter speed to do some light writing that will send a message that really sparkles! You could write out 2018, create shapes or make a special announcement in the glittering light. For instance, this Christmas Tree design would make an awesome addition to a collage card.

 

Your holiday photo tradition shouldn’t have to be a dreaded obligation. Why not make it a memorable and fun experience instead? Call to book your favorite photographer now and let the creative juices flow!