Categories Archive
Halloween is right around the corner. Are you ready to party?! Whether you are hosting a party at your house or helping organize the school party, we’ve got you covered. Check out our personalized placemats and stickers over at Frecklebox.com. Another fun project is to print out free personalized coloring pages for everyone in your class or party, super easy just click here to get started. And don’t forget our FREE printable Halloween labels, great for goody bags. You can print them on 4×2 Avery label paper. Just click on the label below for the PDF...
This weekend I was making some gluten/dairy free cookies. Often times they turn into a flat blob and Sunday was no exception. I wanted them to look decent not like pancakes since I was bringing them over to my sister’s for family movie night. My daughter and a couple of her cousins are gluten free but my daughter has the added issue of no dairy and no nuts (and many other things). Luckily my daughter had a brilliant idea that saved the day. We got out cupcake liners and put a small blob of cookie dough in the bottom then added a gluten free oreo type cookie (we used Trader Joes Joe Joes, tongue twister) then put another blob of cookie dough on top. We cooked them for around 15 minutes at 350 degrees and everyone loved them. Even the non-gluten free family members. You can use any cookie dough recipe you want, even peanut butter. I like using recipes, mixes and flour from Jules Gluten Free Flour it is the best and easiest to use, in my...
Time to get spooky with our Halloween Party inspiration board. Start with our scary invitation that you can find on SimplytoImpress.com and use a color palette of black and white, with pops of orange and sparkly glitter accents. We’ve also created this FREE Halloween Label download. It prints on standard 4 x 2 Avery style label sheets. You can use them for water bottles, favor bags, labeling food, etc. Use a white sharpie on the label to write in your info or leave them as is. Just click on the label below to download and print. Have a spooktacular time! Invitation, Spooky Eyeball Lollipops, Paper Plates, Bottle Labels, Cocktails, Pumpkin Crafts, Brain...
I bet ye didn’t know it was Talk Like a Pirate Day tomorrow?! What a freakin’ awesome holiday, way better than secretaries day (sorry hard working secretaries!). I challenge you to only speak and sing in Pirate lingo. To help you out there is an entire website dedicated to this very holiday, www.talklikeapirate.com and a pirate translator now you have no excuse! Below are some fun definitions to get you started. Ahoy! – “Hello!” Avast! – Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, “Whoa! Get a load of that!” which today makes it more of a “Check it out” or “No way!” or “Get off!” Aye! – “Why yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did.” Aye aye! – “I’ll get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over.” Arrr! – This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. “Arrr!” can mean, variously, “yes,” “I agree,” “I’m happy,” “I’m enjoying this beer,” “My team is going to win it all,” “I saw that television show, it sucked!” and “That was a clever remark you or I just made.” And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr! Beauty – The best possible pirate address for a woman. Always preceded by “me,” as in, “C’mere, me beauty,” or even, “me buxom beauty,” to one particularly well endowed. You’ll be surprised how effective this is. Bilge rat – The bilge is the lowest level of the ship. It’s loaded with ballast...
I love that you can now easily order die cut photo cards online. Here’s some inspiration for a couple’s shower in my favorite color combo – red and aqua. My brother and sister-in-law had a photo booth at their wedding and it was the highlight of the wedding. It was so much fun and the photo booth company made a photo book out of all of the images. It was a great gift for the bride and groom and would also make a great gift for the engaged couple, just ask the booth company to make two sets of photos (one for guests and one for the couple). The photo strips makes a perfect favor for guest to go home with. Invitation Pom Poms Paper Dishes Favor Boxes Cocktail...
I didn’t even realize I was being a psycho until most of my so-called friends called me that when I told them my plans for not one, but two, dinner parties in three days. I was thinking it was super efficient to entertain a couple of days apart since I was renting tables, dishes, etc. Am I right? The first group were U.S. members of my husband’s cult board and the second group was the international cult board. I like to be compared to Martha Stewart (but with a pinch of Jennifer Aniston) as often as possible AND I just traveled to Italy where every meal is described by region, so I decided everything had to be local. I dragged my husband’s sober ass to a winery about 15 miles south of my backyard to pick out wine. Did I mention that he doesn’t drink and my favorite wine is Coors Light? Luckily we have lots of alcoholic friends who are willing to educate us. We picked out a Pinot Noir (which is apparently what the Kool Kids are drinking) and a Chardonnay for those who prefer beer and juice boxes. Of course we had to have wine from Napa Valley, since it’s a stone’s throw away and known around the world. I thought beer tasting would be a nice start (not because I was trying to get everybody wasted in case they were no fun) so I got local beers too, from hubby’s college town and San Francisco (also in the hood) and one from San Diego just because it’s called Arrogant Bastard. How could I NOT serve that? I...
Simon+Kabuki Invitation, Cupcakes, Dishes, Pom Poms, Cake Pops ...
We recently designed a Circus party invitation for SimplytoImpress.com. We designed a girl version, boy version and also a black and white adult version (not up on the site just yet). We had designed a Circus collection quite a while ago but when I was reading the Night Circus, I got inspired to design some birthday cards as well. It’s a fun theme, especially for little ones and you can do so much with it. Depending on how old your child is turning you could include a little petting zoo, a popcorn machine, a bubble maker, tickets for various circus games, animal cracker favors, etc. The cookies above are from BabyCakes Bakery, a vegan and gluten free bakery that I’ve been dying to try out for my daughter. I hope they open one up in Northern California soon! Invitation, Straws, Cookies, TableWare and...
We survived our whirlwind of a week! We had senior ball, graduation, last day of school, a graduation party that we hosted, 2 soccer tournaments and a soccer party. I feel like I need a vacation! Thank goodness school is over. The graduation party was a great success and everyone had a lot of fun. We were a little worried since the set up of the party was during 100 degree heat, but by 6pm it cooled off enough to be comfortable. And by 7:30 the kids had the fire pit going. The party was for my son and niece who both graduated together from High School. My sister and I did most of the planning and set up. To make our lives a little easier, we hired a taco company to do tacos at the party. This eliminated the set up, cooking and cleaning of the main dish. We added chips, salsa and watermelon. We set out big metal buckets with drinks and also had a lemonade dispenser. For easy decorations, we bought mixed flower bouquets and split them up in blue mason jars for the tables. Our main decoration was 5 x 7 photos of the two grads growing up. This continued the theme from the invitation which used a picture of them when they were little. We had approx. 80 prints made and hung them with clothes pins in the yard. The kids thought the “shrine” was a little creepy but the guests loved it and at the end of the evening we let them pick which photos they wanted to take as souvenirs. Even their...
We have a new collection on Frecklebox just in time for July 4th or anytime you want to be patriotic. It is based on our fireworks design collection. We’ve also used it on paper partyware. Who doesn’t love a red, white and blue party theme! Besides the partyware which is sold in stores, Frecklebox.com is selling a placemat, stickers and puzzle. You can also get a free personalized coloring page which will be live in the next week or so. Print a bunch for all the kids at your BBQ to keep them...
The end of school and start of summer is so close! This last month of madness when every school play, soccer tournament, finals and reports are all due gives way to the relaxing, lazy days of summer. I can’t wait. I know there are parents that love when their kids are in school, I am not one of them. I hate all of the paperwork and buying of supplies, the endless homework and projects. I just want to chill with my kids and go to the beach or park. I appreciate that they can carry an intelligent conversation so I know that school is important, but I sure do love summer! Why not celebrate the start of summer with a BBQ party?! 1. Invitation 2. Paper Plates 3. Straws 4. Cookies 5. Pulled Pork 6....
Looking for a fun theme for you Graduation Party? You can’t go wrong with a Luau theme! Always easy to find decorations and party supplies for this theme, plus some great food ideas. My son and niece are graduating this year and we are hosting a joint party. To personalize the party we are making flag banners out of photos of them growing up and will hang those in the backyard. I also plan to make personalized favor boxes filled with little candies and personalized coasters. I just need to sit down and plan everything. It’s kind of like the cobbler’s children having no shoes, I get so busy designing things for work that I have no time to do my own party! Better get started before I run out of time! Invitation Dishes Cookies Food Recipes Coconut Cups Tiki Torches Tiki Bubble...
Up until 7 or 8 years ago we did not license our artwork, but we did do a lot of custom wedding invitations and stationery. In 2005, an unknown company called Tinyprints, asked us if we’d like to be one of their first online stationery designers. They were setting up their system to print digitally and we had a lot of experience in digital printing from doing corporate collateral for so many years in Silicon Valley. As they say the rest is history. Tinyprints took off and so did our licensing business. Now we license to many different manufacturers from fabric, to dishes, to wall art but we still do the majority of our licensing in paper products and love it. Being a graphic designer, I think we will always have a love affair with paper. We don’t often do custom invitations anymore but if you can’t find that perfect wedding invitation or baby announcement or anything else give us a shout we’d love to help out! Here are a few custom projects we’ve done over the years. Also to see some of our corporate work head on over to our corporate site, E and I...
I thought it might be interesting to show how we design our collections and then incorporate those designs into licensed artwork for manufacturers. We usually start with a main idea. We always design a focal or highlight pattern and then design 5-6 additional patterns to coordinate with the focal. Having coordinating patterns is especially important for fabric and some other manufacturers. We get requests from manufacturers that we work with for certain types of occasions or things they are looking for. In this case, the manufacturer was looking for baby shower ideas. I really love this Jungle theme and hope it gets picked up for fabric or party ware. We are working on some vinyl wall decals, for a new site right now using a version of this collection. We also have this collection in blues for a baby boy. Hope you like it as much as I...
This Sunday everyone will be tuned to their television to watch some hot girls eating doritos, frogs singing about beer, a baby talking about finances, and maybe to watch the Superbowl! There are plenty of websites that have which commercials will be playing and the scoop, here’s one to check out. I also love all of the fun (ny) facts that come out during the game, it’s kind of like the Olympics. Here’s a few random ones: 1. 1.23 billion chicken wings fans will be eating on Sunday (that’s 4 wings per person in the US), 2. Vegetables are the top food eaten in homes during Super Bowl (maybe they were drunk when they wrote these facts or they forgot about the wings), 3. Nearly one-third of U.S. adults are likely to bet on the big game, 4. Of the 10 most-watched programs in U.S. television history, nine of them are Super Bowls. In fact, last year’s Super Bowl tops the list with a whopping 111.3 million viewers, 5. 51.7 million cases of beer are sold to quench Super Bowl fans, 6. Antacids sales increase 20% on the day after Super Bowl, 7. For the first time in Super Bowl history, two brothers will face off against each other as head coaches. Are you having a party at your house? The one nice thing about football is that there are so many commercials it is pretty easy to eat, drink, mingle and go to the bathroom. Try putting a crockpot up with barbequed pork for easy make yourself sliders. Here are some other food ideas from FoodTV including some...
I’ve always loved doing cute personalized Valentine’s for my kids. I always included their picture and then attached it to a glassine envelope with candy inside to hand out at school. Now that my kids are out of elementary school it’s no longer cool to give those kinds of Valentines. I still think planning a party for them and a small group of friends would be fun. I’d start off with a homemade invitation that can be mailed and then I’d go out and buy our new Simon+Kabuki Valentine Party Set. We could do the iron/crayon hearts since they are old enough to use the iron themselves. We could also spend a lot of time in the kitchen making some great treats. They could bring them all home in the cute PotteryBarn Kids felt envelopes or you could even make them yourself if you have the time. Plus once they are a little older they can help with set up and clean up, while I sip lemonade out of a cute mason jar, my kind of party! Looking for some fun Valentine’s gifts for your kids? Check out our Think Pink collection at Frecklebox.com. Crayon Hearts, S+K Party Dishes, Heart Envelope, Think Pink, Bakerella Pops, Straws and Cupcakes, Mason...
Here at Simon+Kabuki we’ve just finalized our holiday designs. We usually finish up our holiday stationery designs for some clients in May, but others are due in July and August. Above is just a small sampling of the many cards we did this year. There were well over 100 new designs added to all of our stationery partners. Most won’t go live until September or October but a few like Snapfish are live now. You can check out our Where to Buy page for specific site links. We will update that page as new sites are added. If you have any questions or are looking for something in particular drop us a line. We hope you like them as much as we enjoyed designing them! You can find Simon+Kabuki stationery on a variety of sites, SimplytoImpress.com, Snapfish.com, Tinyprints.com, Invitationbox.com, Picaboo, and many...
Ready to throw one last shindig for the summer? It’s still hot out and most kids have not started fall sports weekends yet. Plan an easy get together for your kids friends by picking a Friday after school. You can throw hamburgers and hot dogs on the BBQ, along with fruit, chips and fruit sodas. If you are feeling really ambitious you can try your hand at the cute pool cake pops above but if not just buy undecorated store bought cupcakes with white frosting, add some blue sprinkles, a tropical umbrella and the teddy graham and you’re done! Buy plenty of beach balls for the pool and have each child take one home with them. Easy party, Super Mom status! Invite beach balls cake...
We’re doing a swim party at my house for Independence Day and here’s what’s going down: I’m making white chocolate dipped strawberries with blue sugar, it’s super easy! I found an easy recipe at barbarabakes.com. Barbara likes edible glitter but I’m using blue sugar from my local grocery store because I’m too lazy to make a trip to the baking supply store. My guests will think I’m so awesome and culinarily gifted… I’m also doing a pound cake with home made whipped cream with a dash of vanilla, strawberries and blue berries because there is no such thing as red-white-and-blue overkill on the 4th of July at my house. I’m serving Sam Adams beer because it’s more patriotic than Bud Light and little weenies in bbq sauce because we’re sort of white trash. The ultimate goal is to make it look like I went to a lot of effort without actually going to a lot of effort… The playlist will be Toby Keith’s most patriotic songs with some all american classic rock. The finishing touch will be white daisies in mason jars with red and blue ribbons tied around them. This is one of those details that makes a hostess look great without breaking the bank. And to help keep little kids busy, here’s a link to a free download of a personalized coloring page: frecklebox.com. There are a bunch to choose from, you can put in the kids’ names and print them at home, makes a great party...
This weekend we’ll be celebrating all the dads in our family by having a barbeque. We pretty much barbeque and swim all summer long but we like to pretend that we are getting together only for this special occasion. It’s nice to cook outside on hot days and not heat up the house and swimming keeps the kids entertained for hours. We usually throw chicken, sausage, corn and ribs on the barbeque. And then have some fruit salad and a green salad. For dessert we like the classic s’mores but we often make them as s’mores bars, see recipe below, very yummy and make ahead. S’mores Bar 24 graham cracker sqs. 3/4 c. packed brown sugar Dash of salt 3/4 c. butter 4 c. marshmallows 1 bag chocolate chips Line a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan with foil. Arrange graham crackers close together in a single layer. Combine butter, brown sugar, and salt in small saucepan; cook until mixture is blended, stirring, for about 1 to 2 minutes. Spread mixture over graham crackers. Bake in 350 degree oven 10 minutes or until bubbly; top with one bag of chocolate chips (my sister the chocoholic adds two bags), bake a few minutes to melt, then top with marshmallows, bake 3-5 minutes than broil just until the marshmallows brown slightly. Be careful they brown very quickly so watch constantly. Cool 10 minutes. I usually refrigerate before cutting so it is easier. Very messy but yummy! ribs, table setting, smores, invitation, drink station cookies, Superman Apron, Chef...
Hopefully by now most of us have planned out our Mother’s Day brunch, lunch or dinner and have the gift all wrapped and ready to go. Unfortunately I am not most of us! I still have to figure out what to get for my mom who has everything. The brunch part is a little easier to plan and you can always find great ideas on Pinterest, Better Homes and Gardens and other great web sources. If the weather is nice than an outdoor party is a must. You can use a couple of yards of burlap as a table cloth and use potted plants or potted herbs as centerpieces. To keep the kids busy put out a bunch of pictures and have them make crafts with them. You can use the photo jars as centerpieces as well. And since it is Mother’s Day and you won’t be driving, how about a fruity cocktail? You can let the kids get in on the fun with shirley temples and pretty straws. Try to keep the menu simple even if it is just hamburgers and hot dogs. We often have a swim/bar-b-que on any warm holiday. Throwing corn, chicken, veggies and burgers on the bar-b-que is a great job for the men in the family! Men seem to be born to cook with fire outside. So now that I have the day/menu planned I just need to run out and get the ultimate “I love you mom!” gift. Got any great ideas? Ideas L to R: Cookies, straws, photo jars, table setting, french toast casserole, egg toast cup,...
But he turned out okay. I love photo announcements with baby/senior pics… Whether you have a middle schooler graduating and you’re just having the fam over for a small celebration or you’re hosting a college grad party with a big crowd, there are easy ways to make it a memorable occasion. I have a high school senior and I’m teaming up with two other moms to host a grad party so my little brain is overflowing with ideas for a kickass party that my son surely will not appreciate. Here are some of my ideas: • Photo invitation instead of the classic school announcement, this way the faraway relatives get a senior portrait and all of the pertinent info in one card • Photo cake with baby picture/senior portrait • Slide show or collage showing my son starting out cute and morphing into a horrible teenager • School colors for linens and decor (duh) • Yellow & white flowers with a navy ribbon around a vase for centerpieces • Easy food, i.e., taco stand or heavy appetizers so it doesn’t matter what time guests arrive (this is important- guest might be party hopping) • If you have a large party, hire someone to work the party – refilling drinks, emptying trash cans, picking up used napkins, etc. so you won’t have a huge mess to clean up after the party. I use college kids, they need the money and can stay up late • Throw back a shot of the good stuff 15 minutes before the party starts so you can relax,...
Graduation is just around the corner and now is the time to plan your grads announcements and party invitations. Whether your son or daughter is graduating from elementary school, middle school or high school, an announcement is the perfect way to spread the happy news. There are so many choices in cards these days. I love adding photos and if you pick a card with multiple photos you can do a current photo with a baby photo, cute idea! You can also find cards that match your school colors or even your party decor. This Hawaiian themed invitation from SimplytoImpress.com comes both with and without photo options (also in boy/girl versions). The Luau is always a popular party theme. And every party store carries plenty of luau party supplies year round. I love the classic black and white look and the invitation below, found here, is perfect for a more formal look. Add your son or daughters baby picture or even a sports picture, to jazz it up. School colors are always a great option. Blue and gold are very popular. The invitation below from Invitationbox.com comes in a variety of colors. Finding the card is pretty easy just make sure to do it in enough time so you are not rushing around the week before. Start ordering now and enjoy a stress free and exciting day with your graduate. Here are some previous post we did on the subject that you might find useful, Photo Books and Extended Senior...
Warm weather birthdays are the best. Period. Outdoor parties are my first choice for a wound up group of kids. They have space to expend their energy and messes can be hosed down. And the theme potential is enormous (you know how I love a good theme party): Baby Animals complete with petting zoo, Garden Party– each party goer gets to plant a little flower in a cute little pot that he/she painted, Woodland Fairies with magic wands, or Sports Camp. It’s all good. If I still had any cute little kids (which I don’t, mine are big and teenager-y now–ack) I would totally rock a Garden Party. Get it? I would rock a Garden Party… I love this custom invite, it’s adorable and affordable at InvitationBox.com. And for party favors I would pre-order personalized placemats from Frecklebox.com, they double as decorations! And because anything with a bird on it is instantly loved by all (watch this hysterical video to see what I mean– Put a Bird On It.) I’d continue the theme from my placemats to little nest cupcakes. Every great kid party has great kid activities. Just a couple though, I’ve seen uber-moms overdo the projects and the kids get all loaded on sugar and can’t sit still long enough to participate. Or they really just want to play and said uber-mom is now screaming “Sit down and have fun with your damn project! Now!” So my rockin’ Garden Party would include one game that involves big muscle movement, like a nature lover scavenger hunt. They might have to find a leaf, a bug, a long stick and a rock that...
Time to gather all of your friends and family around the tv next week for an Oscar Party. Even if you haven’t watched all of the movies it is fun to see what the stars are wearing (good or bad), listen to funny speeches (mute boring ones) and make bets on who is going to win (or should win). You can start off with a fun invitation or if you are out of time just go with an evite. As your guests arrive have them fill out their Oscar predictions. You could offer a gold Oscar statue to the guest with the most correct answers or set up a pool with various category winners. I think appetizers are perfect for this kind of party and allow guests to mingle more easily. Pick appetizers that are easy to put together before hand. You could serve sliders, small Caesar salads in plastic cups, chips and dip, veggies and dip, plus 2-3 other hot and cold items. You can have a fancy cocktail for the adults, I would go with the Mint Julep in honor of The Help and Shirley Temples are always fun for the kids. Make sure to have lots of gold and black plastic and paperware on hand. An old fashioned candy bar with retro movie candies and sodas would be cute and easy to set up. I also like the popcorn cupcakes another easy idea. You can even use boxed cake mix and frosting. As a final remembrance of a fun night with friends give each of your guest a burned cd with all of the Oscar nominated...
